Not Happy With God’s Plan

2 Kings 20:1-3 “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,  I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.”

Hezekiah is angry!  He has been trying his best to walk before the Lord in truth and with a heart that is completely given to God.  He has been doing good in God’s sight, and now God tells him to set his house in order because he is going to die!

I am not sure if you have ever felt angry with God for what He has planned for you, but I know I have.  There are times that I don’t like what God allows to happen to me.  I get frustrated and disappointed and even bitter.  I know that I shouldn’t, but I do.

Getting upset with God and His plans for our life is a very, very foolish thing to do.  Here are some reasons why:

1. God’s plans are always for His glory and our greatest good. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Even the terrible things in this life that happen to a child of God can be turned into a “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).  We will look back at “the trial of [our] faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth…” (1 Peter 1:7).  Hezekiah was angry with God for taking his life, but what he failed to realise is that death for him as a believer would have been a graduation to eternal life with God.

2. The way which seems right unto a man leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). Hezekiah deeply desired to live longer, so God gave him what he wanted.  He granted him 15 more years of life.  In the next fifteen years, however, Hezekiah would make some very grievous mistakes.

• First, he allowed the king of Babylon to see all of his treasures (2 Kings 20:12-13).  God promised that one day the king of Babylon would have all of Israel’s treasures and would make slaves of Hezekiah’s sons (2 Kings 20:14-18).
• Second, his values changed.  When he heard that the king of Babylon would conquer Israel in the future, he was only concerned that he would see peace and truth in his days (2 Kings 20:19).  He really only cared about himself.
• Third, he reared a son who became one of the most wicked kings ever to sit on the throne in Jerusalem – Manasseh (2 Kings 20:21-21:1-18)!

As you can see, getting what he wanted and despising God’s plan for his life was not the wisest thing for Manasseh to do, nor is it the wisest thing for us to do.  The next time you are tempted to be unhappy and complain about God’s plan for your life, just remember that God’s plan is a good one, and the way that seems right to you may end up in destruction, regret, and heartache!

A Refuge In Times of Trouble

Psalm 9:9-10 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Northern Ireland is famous for “the Troubles”.  If you type that phrase into google, you will find that BBC and Wikipedia talk about “the Troubles” being a time of conflict from the 1960s to the 1990s in Northern Ireland.  Recently there has been more trouble here with soldiers being shot, a policeman being shot, and a lot of people losing jobs because of the recession.  Around the world, there have been reports of 10 people shot in Alabama, 15 people being killed in Germany, and a pastor shot and killed while preaching in Illinois.  Everywhere we turn people are dealing with financial problems, sickness, cancer, death and suffering.

We are clearly going through times of trouble, but it is so nice to know that in these troubling times, we have a refuge. The verse above says, “The Lord also will be a refuge…”  I don’t know what trouble you are dealing with, but I hope you will turn to Him.  If you know His name as it says in verse 10, you will put your trust in Him.

God will not forsake us.  He is our shepherd.  Even when we walk through the vally of the shadow of death, He is there to comfort us.  Run to Him for help.  Run to Him for refuge.  Run to Him for safety and strength.  If you draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to you.  God is our refuge; He wants to help us, but we have to be willing and want His help.

Family Outreach Breakfast

Let me to encourage you and your family to come out this Saturday, 14 November, to Northwest Baptist Church for our Family Outreach Breakfast from 11.00 AM – 1.00 PM.  We will meet up for breakfast of pancakes and bacon, a devotion, and then go out and give out gospel tracts and church invitations.  I hope to you see you there.  We will have a great time.  If it is raining, we will still meet to eat and pray.

Spread It Before the Lord

2 Kings 19;14 “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.”

King Hezekiah had just received a threatening letter from Sennacherib, the king Assyria.  In the letter, Rabshakeh, the leader of the Assyrian army, tells Hezekiah not to trust in God to deliver him because all the other nations trusted in their gods and were not delivered.

In verse 14, Hezekiah does the right thing.  He spreads the letter before the Lord and begins to pour his heart out to God.

• He praises and exalts God (v.15).
• He asks God to see and hear what Sennacharib the king of Assyria has said (v.16).
• He acknowledges that the kings of Assyria have destroyed other nations (v.17).
• He admits that the gods of the other nations did not protect them because they were not real gods (v.18).
• He beseeches the Lord to save them so that all the kingdoms of the earth would know that He is the only true God (v.19).

How does this apply to us?  Do doubt, we all have heard or will hear bad news sometime in our life.  The question is not, “Will trials come?” but “How will we respond?”

Let us learn to respond like Hezekiah.  Let us take the cares and burdens of our life and give them to God.  Let us remember that he is greater and mightier than the strongest forces on this earth.  Let us cast ourselves on his mighty arms, and beg God to do a work that will magnify His name!

What are you going through?  Financial crisis?  Health problems?  Tragedy?  Betray?  Do what the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” Take it the the Lord in prayer and see what He will do!

Latest Family Photo

Here is our latest family photo.

Leading on Softly

Here are some great truths from Pastor Gardner about leadership:

Genesis 33:14

In leadership and discipleship training the shepherd teaches us many principles that we must practice.

First you must know the condition of your flock. Jacob knew that they were tender, had their young with them. He knew where they lived. He knew how their lives were.

How can you truly train a man or woman if you do not know them personally? Jesus spent time with his men. It was not a classroom environment. It was not instruction but inspiration. Not only did he give them principles but he showed them how to put it into practice. He lived with his men. It was life on life discipleship.

True discipleship is the teacher investing his life in his disciple. You cannot descend from the heavenlys and deliver your message and ascend back to the heavenlis if you truly want to impact the world. Obviously you have to spend your time with the right people but you must spend and be spent if you truly desire to have a world impact.

Not only does Jacob know the condition of his flock but he is careful in how he treats them. He will not allow himself nor others to overdrive them. How often have we tried to make the external man conform to what we believe he should be without investing in the inward man? How often have we tried to change a man from the outside in instead of the inside out? How often have we preached messages or given lessons that asked more than the tender were able to bear. So often we have a revolving door in our churches. Somehow we must stop this mistreatment or overdriving of our sheep.

Jacob as a shepherd knew that he had to lead on softly. He had to do what the children and the flock could endure. He knew that he would arrive at the desired destination but only if he moved at the right speed.

I am sure that no man of God has ever meant to hurt his people but so many times in our eagerness to be all that we can be we use our people to build our work rather than our work to build our people. As a young pastor I wanted my people to be good Christians. I wanted them to look the part and act it as well. I am sure that I had no idea how much I wanted these things for how it would make me look more than the good of my people but I proceeded to hurt people in more ways than I can explain.

I preached hard messages. I dictated how they were to dress, how they were to give, how they were to carry on every aspect of their lives. I didn’t lead on tenderly. I did overdrive them.

Finally when the men came to see me in a group to tell me how I should be a little kinder and preach more than my few favorite pet topics I proceeded to tell them that I was God’s man and that I would preach what God told me to preach. Their only concern was not that what I was preaching was wrong, but maybe the spirit I preached it in and the speed at which I wanted them to change.

They didn’t ask me to change my convictions, they asked me to consider preaching more than just my pet topics. I was young, I heard the big boys talk to so I was right and they were wrong. I basically told them it was either my way or the high way. They took the high way.

In my eagerness to have a product I could show off as a young dedicated pastor, I soon found myself without a salary and with a clean but empty church. I had asked a pastor friend what he thought and he simply said you’re obnoxious. His comment hurt so deeply that I couldn’t quit crying, but maybe that comment put me on the road to changing my philosophy of ministry.

I still believe the same things but I know now the flock is tender and with young and I have learned to not try to over drive them. I once heard a great man of God say whenever you preach against sin, make sure there’s a tear in the corner of your eye, because your not against them but rather trying to deliver them from the pain that comes from the sin they are about to commit.

Pastor, disciple, spiritual leader, please remember that they are but children and must be treated as such. We must only teach them what they are able to bare today. No one expects a six month old child to feed himself, dress himself, or even use the bathroom on his own. In our wisdom we understand where he is, and therefore have patience and tenderness as we watch them grow up.

Pastor could I venture an opinion about what we preach. I know I am treading on dangerous waters but discipleship in my opinion is the place you say so many things that apply directly. Many of us are afraid of personal confrontation so we use a bully pulpit to beat on our people.

What we would be afraid to say face to face we say to a crowd and hurt many people, and by the way we lose standing with our people, because many of them figure out what you are saying and to who you are saying it.

The people side with the under dog and since you are publicly attacking a weaker brother or a brother who gets no pulpit time you may lose the confidence of your people. Why not develop discipleship in your church. A one on one relationship. Life on Life that changes people. How many times do we preach messages that are true and important but not applicable to the spiritual level of our people?

Preacher’s Fellowship @ Vision Baptist (Georgia)

Our home church is hosting the Georgia Independent Baptist Preachers’ Fellowship. The fellowship is this coming tuesday.  If you are in the area, I hope you will go! I know it will be a real blessing.  Here are some more details below taken from Pastor Gardner’s Blog!

On November 17, 2009 Vision Baptist Church will host the Georgian Independent Baptist Preacher’s Fellowship. The meeting will begin at 10 am. All preachers, missionaries, and pastors are invited to attend.

Here is the address and map to get to the church:

We will be honored to have Pastor Glenn Anderson from Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in Stockbridge. He is also the founder of Atlanta Baptist College and a good friend to our ministry here at Vision.

Pastor Derik Lawrence will be our second preacher for the day. He is the pastor ofVictory Baptist Church in Loganville, Georgia.

I am excited that God is giving us this special opportunity.

The moderator of this meeting is Pastor Gary Ledford from University Baptist Church.

Lunch will be provided after the service.

All missionaries will be invited to share a short testimony before the men. Please come and enjoy a special time with us.

It would greatly help us plan if you could confirm that you will be with us.

No King Like Hezekiah

2 Kings 18:5-6 “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.  For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.”

I really like what I read about Hezekiah in this passage.  He was a king that really served God with his whole heart.  The Bible says there was no king like him that lived before or after him.  Notice what he did:

• He removed the idols and places of idol worship in Israel (18:4).
• He trusted in the Lord His God (18:5).
• He clave to the Lord (18:6).
• He departed not from following Him (18:6).
• He kept his commandments (18:6).
• He refused to serve the heathen Syria (18:7).

I want to live like Hezekiah.   I want to remove all idols and opportunities to serve other things from my life.  I want to trust in the Lord and cleave to Him.  I want to keep His commands and not depart from following Him.  I do not want to serve the world, my flesh, or Satan.  May God help us to live for Him today!

Baptist Churches Committed to World Evangelism

This is a list put together by Pastor Austin Gardner that represents some very good goals for us to strive toward as a church.  He preached these goals to our church on Sunday night, and I hope that you will ask God how you can be involved in helping us to be this kind of a church.

Baptist Churches Committed to World Evangelism pledge to do the following:

The pastor and the leadership of our church do hereby commit themselves to whole heartedly to endeavor with God’s help to do the following as soon as possible

1. Work at evangelizing the world in their Jerusalem by committing to knock on and evangelize a minimum of 50,000 people that live close to their church at least twice a year

a. That means knocking on a minimum of 13,000 doors at least once each year and preferably twice a year in a systematic and organized fashion leaving a piece of literature in the house or on the door. This works out to approximately 250 doors a week if you plan to use another means to get the gospel to your area in the same year

b. Use the postal service or other means to get the gospel to each one at least one more time a year

c. Use radio, television and or Internet to reach their Jerusalem with the gospel.

2. Commit to have their church divided up and organized to pray to the Lord of the Harvest that he send forth laborers to His harvest.

a. Every part of the world will have leadership interest in prayer

b. Every missionary will have someone who takes a personal interest in the work and the country

3. The church will organize its ministries so that World Evangelism is taught and put before the people every week through the church, the pulpit, the Sunday School, VBS etc

4. The Church will strive to give 50% of its income to the support of World Evangelism as soon as God so enables them.

5. The church will commit to be a discipling church. Where discipleship is important from the pulpit, every person is involved in discipleship and being prepared for the work

6. The church will encourage, enable and motivate its people with a goal of having a minimum of one third of the church on the mission field and visit regularly getting involved in actual mission work. Short term missionary endeavor

7. Be a soul winning church where the members are accustomed to seeing people get saved and lives changed

8. Provide material to its members that will motivate and prepare them to do more to reach the world

9. Get everyone involved in the ministry and carrying the load of God’s work in their local church. Preparing men to take the load of the ministry even to the point of preparing a man with the ability to take the pastors place in the future

10. Aggressively seek to plant other local churches here in the USA sending their own members, money, prayer, and labor.

A Day of Good Tidings

2Kings 7:9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.

The city of Samaria is under seign by the Syrians.  They are starving to death.  Things are so bad that a donkey’s head and dove’s dung are sold for alot of money.  The people are even resorting to the cannibalism of their own children (2 Kings 6:24-33).

Four lepers are sitting at the gate of the city.  They know they are going to die; so instead of sitting there and dying, they decide to go to the camp of Syria and see if they will help them.

Early the next morning, they come to the Syrian camp.  When they get to the camp, it is a ghost town.  All the animals, tents, food, money, and clothing was there, but none of the Syrian soldiers remained.  The Syrians fled because the Lord caused them to hear the sound of a great army.

The lepers are estatic!  They run into the tents and begin to eat and drink.  They carry out gold and silver and hid it.  But then they say to one another, we are not doing well.  Today is a day of good tidings for the whole city and we have not told anyone.  So they go and tell the people, and the whole city is delivered from death.

Noticed several applications of this passage to us:

1. Certain death awaits every man just like the Samarian people were going to die from salvation or the soldiers.  Because of our sin, we are condemned already.  The payment for our sin is death.
2. God has provided for our salvation.  God miraculously scared the Syrians away, and God has miraculously provided Himself as a substitute and payment for our sins.
3. We must humble ourself and get desparate enough to cast ourselves upon the Lord’s mercy.  The lepers were desparate.  They did not know where to turn, so they entrusted themselves to the mercy of the Syrians.
4. Once we have experienced God’s salvation, we do not well if we do not tell others.  The lepers could not just stay there enjoying the blessings of their salvation knowing that the whole city was starving to death. 

Today is a day of good tidings!  If you are not saved, God can save you.  If you have been saved, then tell others how they can be delivered from sin, death, and Hell and enjoy the wondering goodness of a relationship with Jesus Christ.