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Ephesians 5: 15-17 “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”
Time is the one commodity that can’t be retrieved once used. It is forever racing past us, like it or not. The million dollar question is—how will we use it? Inescapably, the time allotted each of us will be used one way or the other. Will it be wasted? Squandered? Ignored? Used for evil things? Or will it be redeemed; seized and utilized for the glory of God?
Poet Linda Ellis wrote a poem called “The Dash” that set a lot of people to thinking. It begins with the following words:
I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.
Before reading the poem further, think with me a moment. By God’s grace we have been granted another year—2012. God willing, most of us will still be here to ring in its close. This New Year will comprise a part of our “dash.” Let’s read on:
For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.
Well put! When our dash is finished, the toys we accumulated, the stuff we owned, and the money we made will count for little. What shall matter most is what we did for the glory of God, how we loved others, and how true we were to our God-given callings. Paul advises us by the Holy Spirit to “make the most” of every God-given opportunity to touch this dark and desperate world for Christ.
So, imagining 2012 to be a dash all its own, how will we spend it? Will this “dash” be comprised of the same old, same old? Taking care only of ourselves? Running hither and yon in a cloud of hectic busyness? Or will this dash be used to impact our city, country and world with a genuine outpouring of His Spirit and a great harvest of souls?
I believe the dash is what we make of it. Time is a gift, not a right. It will either be seized to serve God’s glory, or will be squandered in the numbing blur of vacuous routine. In light of this, I have a dream for our 2012 dash. It is simple and goes like this:
 That TPC will focus like a laser on our God-given purpose—IN REACH, OUTREACH, AND UP REACH. No successful distractions, detours, or delays allowed.
In case you aren’t aware of the vision of Turning Point and wonder what I mean by those three purposes, here it is in a nutshell:
IN REACH means building Christ in every person: “…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Eph.4:14-15).
OUT REACH means preaching the Gospel to every person we can, by all the means we can, as fast as we can: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you” (Matt.28:19-20).
UP REACH means leading every person into the Presence of God through heartfelt, genuine worship: “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way” (John 4:23).
At the end of this New Year dash, I want to be able to say that we did just this, and did it well! “The Dash” poem ends better than I could ever put it. Read and Selah:
So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash? |
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Christmas in the Bull’s- eye |
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Matthew 2:16 “Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.”
There is no season like the Christmas season. It is filled with wonder, joy, goodwill, and, well, something magical. What is it about the Christmas mystique that has held such a grip on the world all these centuries? I believe it is the aura of the miraculous that surrounds it—the miracle of angels, of a strange and mysterious star, of wise men traveling from afar, and of a virgin with child. Christmas is that time of year when our thoughts are carried beyond the dull monotony of daily life and transported into the realm of supernatural possibilities.
And, no wonder! For Christmas is the celebration of a startling invasion from heaven. Somehow, someway, God Almighty chose to wrap Himself in human skin and become one of us. He voluntarily entered the restrictions of time and space, of dust and dirt, of human pain and suffering, and walked among us. In the body of Jesus Christ He sweated, He wept, He laughed, He worked, He studied, and He slept. And beyond all comprehension, He allowed His own creation to crucify Him on a cross of shame in order to purchase our salvation from sin and its dire consequences.
It’s no surprise, then, that from the get-go the arch foe of mankind placed Christmas in his hellish crosshairs. Obliterating the truth surrounding Christmas—a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb—became the devil’s dark dream. Wipe out all children two years old and under in a fiendish attempt to kill the Christ? No problem. Try to exterminate the Jewish race several times in the Old Testament period to prevent His arrival? No big deal. Anything to stop the reason for the season—the salvation of fallen man.
But, thank God, nothing worked. Christ was born on that first momentous Christmas morn in a lowly feeding trough in a darkened barnyard behind a hotel that had no room for Him. The world knew nothing of it. But, the angels rejoiced as they peered over heaven’s gates in wonder.
And now, here we are, twenty-one centuries later. While millions around the world still celebrate the historic miracle of Christmas, the forces of darkness are trying to muzzle even the mention of the word Christmas. Employees of major department stores are instructed to say “Happy Holidays,” as opposed to “Merry Christmas,” so that no one is offended. And we are lectured that there should be no nativity scenes in public squares, Christmas plays in our children’s schools, or mention of Christ at public gatherings, lest we be “insensitive” to other’s beliefs.
It all reminds me of when Pilate was handing out orders to the guards who were concerned about the dead body of Jesus being stolen away at night. He said, “You have soldiers for guard duty. Go and make it as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:65). In other words, be doubly sure there is no way He can be stolen away by His disciples, lest they claim He was resurrected.
Similarly, the current crop of atheistic, agnostic grinches and grouches of our day parrot the same thing—Go and make it as secure as you know how. “Be sure,” they intone, “that the Christ child is not recognized, honored, or worshipped. If we must blame it on the possibility of ‘offending’ others, that will do. Whatever it takes to keep a lid on it.”
But truth is like a jack-in-the-box. Push it down with all of your might and it will suddenly pop back out just the same. It’s Christmas time and you can’t keep it down! The time is here to celebrate the historic fact that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16). Let’s shout it from the housetops and declare it for all to hear. This is the season to celebrate the mystery of a miracle. Our Savior was born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord!
Pastor Jeff
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2 Corinthians 6:2 “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
John Phillips relates the story of a hard lesson learned by the great 19th century evangelist, D.L. Moody. In 1871, Moody began a series of messages on Bible characters at Farwell Hall in Chicago. Large crowds were soon attending the meetings. On the fifth Sunday night, he preached to the largest congregation he had ever addressed in the city. He preached on the text, “What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ.”
At the end of the service, Mr. Moody did not call for an immediate decision. He said, “I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds during the week, and next Sabbath we will come to Calvary and we will decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.” He later considered that to be one of the greatest mistakes of his life. For between those two Sundays the great Chicago fire broke out.
Even as Moody went home from the service that Sunday night, he saw the glare of flames and knew it meant ruin to Chicago. About one o’clock, Farwell Hall, where he had just preached that evening, was destroyed. Soon afterward, his own church on Illinois Street went up in flames. When he arrived home, the family retired for the night, but within an hour a loud call summoned everyone on their street to flee for their lives. The fire had leaped across the river and was bearing down on them. Only what could be carried in their hands was saved.
On the twenty-second anniversary of the great fire, Mr. Moody was again addressing a large Chicago audience. “I have never dared to give an audience a week to think of their salvation since,” he said, recalling the fateful previous occasion. “If they were lost, they might rise up in judgment against me.”
Then later, in his anniversary speech, he confessed, “I have never seen that congregation since, I have hard work to keep back the tears today. I have looked over this audience, and not a single one is here that I preached to that night.”
Finally, Moody came to the statement I want to drive home today. He said, “I want to tell you of one lesson I learned that night, which I have never forgotten, and that is, when I preach, to press Christ upon the people then and there, and try to bring them to a decision on the spot. I would rather have that right hand cut off than to give an audience now a week to decide what to do with Jesus.”
As a preacher, I fully understand what he meant. This is why the Bible says “Today is the day, the time is now” to receive Christ Jesus or to accomplish His will for our lives. There is always a measure of urgency and immediacy in God’s call to men. Yesterday has gone forever. Tomorrow may not come. All we have is today.
The present is the living instant through which the ever-oncoming future becomes the endlessly receding past. The present presents us with that precious fleeting moment of time when we can transact business with God. We have now. That’s it.
I recently made a statement while preaching one Sunday morning: “The devil’s favorite word is ‘someday.’” Someday I will accept Christ. Someday I will serve Him. Someday I’ll yield to His calling. Someday, someday, someday. But someday never comes for too many. Pilate never had another opportunity to decide for Christ. Blind Bartimaeus recognized that it was now or never for him. Jesus of Nazareth was passing by (Luke 18:37) and would never come that way again. Felix imagined he could make a decision for Christ at any time he pleased. “Go your way for this time,” he said to Paul, “when I have a convenient season, I will call for you” (Acts 24:25). That “convenient season” never came.
As my all-time favorite pastor, Howard Conatser, lay dying, he said to the handful of men in the room, “Whatever you’re going to do for Jesus, do it now.” I’ve never forgotten those words. They ring in my ear to this day. I often recall them when making future plans. What is the Lord asking of you today? Do it now.
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It's Time for an Awakening |
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Acts 17:6 “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
In 18th century England, times were dark. To begin with, the official Church of England was dead as a doornail. Zeal of the spiritual kind was actually frowned upon, and church services provided the best opportunity to take a nap. If one got saved it was by mistake, for the gospel wasn’t preached. Meaningless form and dead ritual ruled the day.
As they say, nature abhors a vacuum. This was never truer than of England in those days. With no Bible world-view to guide them, the philosophical vacuum was filled with an embrace of deism. Deism claims that God created things at the beginning, and then stepped out of the picture entirely. He didn’t involve Himself with the affairs of men, answer prayers, or intervene whatsoever in history. Hence, God was viewed as cold, distant, and apathetic to men’s plight.
As goes the pulpit, so goes the pew. And as goes the pew, so goes the country. Since the pulpit and pew alike were dead, and the toxic philosophy of deism held sway, the country of England spiraled into a cesspool of sin and depravity. Immorality of the grossest kind took over. Crime was so bad that the only measure authorities could come up with to stop it was to mete out severe punishment for even petty offenses. Up to 160 crimes were punishable by death. Hangings were utterly commonplace and became gala affairs of celebration. One man’s execution was attended by multiple thousands of people who cheered as the offender’s body dangled.
During this dark hour the “gin craze” was born. In 1689 prohibition had been passed. Not to be outdone, Englishmen began to brew their own. Within a generation, every sixth house in London became a gin shop and the nation wallowed in an uncontrollable orgy of gin drinking. Children were born addicted to alcohol. The English people became what they had never been before— cruel and inhuman. One woman, in order to get money for gin, strangled her child to sell his clothes for her next bottle.
The old saying, “It is darkest before the dawn,” may have sprung from the knowledge of how God works. History shows that God often chooses to move mightily in the midnight hour when things couldn’t look bleaker. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him” (Is.59:19). This is what happened in England.
It was among a people broken by gin and sin that a voice suddenly began to shake the land. A young man of 22, George Whitefield, began to preach the simple message, “You must be born again!” His voice was extraordinary. In a day with no sound amplification of any kind, he could be heard by as many as 30,000 people at a time. The Church of England, unimpressed with his fiery message, had shut the doors on the young evangelist. George decided to take to the fields.
Soon, immense crowds quickly gathered to hear the young wunderkind. Whitefield was known to preach so hard that he would go behind a tree afterward and vomit blood. The fire of God’s Spirit consumed him. The King and Queen, along with other English aristocracy, requested his presence in the court that they might hear his message for themselves. Benjamin Franklin attended his services to see if the legend of his marvelous voice were true. It was, and the two became friends for life (though Franklin remained a deist).
John and Charles Wesley, friends of Whitefield’s from their days at Oxford University, soon joined his efforts at reaching the masses with the gospel. The flame they lit became known as the Great Awakening. It’s fire devoured England and made its way across the channel to early colonial America. Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and New York were engulfed in its irresistible wave. There is no doubt that the Awakening paved the way for the American Revolution, and greatly influenced the philosophy behind the American Constitution. As our verse above has noted of the disciples of old, these men also “turned the world upside down.”
One historian describes the Awakening this way:
“A religious revival burst forth…which changed in a few years the whole temper of English society. The Church was restored to life and activity. Religion carried to the hearts of the people a fresh spirit of moral zeal, while it purified our literature and our manners. A new philanthropy reformed our prisons, infused clemency and wisdom into our penal laws, abolished the slave trade, and gave the first impulse to popular education.”
Church, it’s midnight again. America is desperately ill. Without an awakening, there doesn’t seem to be much genuine hope. But hear me: The God that did it then can do it again! Let us gain strength from this great testimony of history and believe God to once again “turn the world upside down” by His mighty Spirit! |
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