Renewal

(Audio version; Music: "More And More Of You" (Fike/Lee/Riddle)--WorshipMob--Real. Live. Music.)

Psalm 51:10-13

¹⁰Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

Introduction

            There’s clearly a reason why God insists that we spend part of our lives in quiet contemplation and prayer. I am thankful to all of you who so graciously prayed for Renewal for me during this Christmas season. Your prayers were answered and you’ll see how those prayers for Renewal unfold over the coming months.  What emerged from my time away was a distinct theme of reflecting on what has gone before and anticipation of what lies ahead.

My wife, Laura, and I celebrated the graduation of my oldest daughter, Meagan, from college after four and a half years. The weekend that we first dropped her off, we pick a spot on the college campus and put our arms around one another and prayed that God would protect her and carry us all through that new phase in all of our lives. The day after her official graduation, we went to that same spot to give thanks to God for his faithfulness during her time at college and for the blessings still to come.

Shortly before Christmas, both my girls came home to spend the holiday with us. During their time at home, I had the opportunity to reflect with my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, about how God was using her time in college to break down her preconceived ideas of what faith means and rebuild her faith into a more personal and authentic faith; an enduring faith. We had an opportunity to reflect on how hard pre-med studies have been and we had an opportunity to celebrate the anticipation of her graduation in the spring and the next phase of her continued studies at the graduate level next fall.

In the midst of my time away from this ministry, my wife, Laura, successfully completed the first half of her pursuit of a college degree. We reflected on the rigors of going back to college later in life in comparison to the much wiser path that our girls have chosen. Unfortunately, I played a significant role by not doing more to encourage her to complete her college degree when we first contemplated getting married. Nevertheless, she complete the first phase and that phase was probably the most academically difficult. We had the opportunity to celebrate that accomplishment and we’re now excited as she is just a few weeks away from beginning the next phase of completing her degree and the expanded career opportunities that a degree will give her.

“A Pastor’s Thoughts” Looking Back

            Many Christians are rightly committed to seeking God’s will for their lives in the never-ending pursuit to be conscious of what God is doing in and through them. Unfortunately, not all those Christians take the time to reflect on what God has already done in and through them and pastors are no exception. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to do that during my time away from preparing weekly lessons. A Pastor’s Thoughts ministry is now a little more than three years old. After just the first three months preparing weekly lessons, the website was being accessed in 8 countries by as many as 50 people a month with 10 lessons available in text form only. Now, a little more than 3 years later, the website has been accessed in 89 countries by as many as 1,500 people a month with 165 lessons available all in text and many in audio form. Even I was shocked when I saw those numbers and that God allowed me to be part of it all! Nevertheless, A Pastor’s Thoughts ministry has never been about the numbers like it can be with more traditional ministries. Specifically, more traditional ministries understand the numbers in financial terms. Usually, more popularity and traffic means more money. However, numbers for this ministry is an indication only of the number of people who have the opportunity to hear the gospel message because the ministry still does not solicit or accept any outside financial assistance. God has honored that decision by continuing to provide me with ample carpentry opportunities so that I am able to support the financial needs of the ministry out of my own resources. Consequently, this ministry and the gospel message is in no way polluted or influenced by outside financial contributions. The continued viability of this ministry depends on being faithful to God’s leading and not by being popular, entertaining or saying what people want to hear. As a result, some of my lessons have managed to ruffle a few feathers. In fact, during 2014, I introduced what I somewhat sarcastically refer to as “Hate Mail Thursday.” Weekly lessons are not always accessed by Christians so that I’m not only “preaching to the choir.” Every week I post my lessons on public, electronic billboards where they are accessed by believers and unbelievers alike. I am reminded every week by the hate mail I receive from unbelievers (and sadly from some believers) that the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18).

            However, 2014 also gave me to opportunity to weep with and pray for some of my readers around the world who are being persecuted and face death daily because of their faith. I had the opportunity to walk alongside a number of people as they faced daunting medical trials that stretched their faith and in some cases pushed their faith to the brink of collapse only to witness God’s spiritual Renewal in their lives. I was humbled to be part of God’s salvation work in the lives of others who made the decision to build their lives on the foundation of God’s love and truth revealed in Jesus Christ. I haven’t had the opportunity to see how or if God used this ministry in the lives of everyone who accessed the ministry website but I got a glimpse of it in a few lives and that makes it worth all the hate mail and the long hours of researching, writing and recording.

“A Pastor’s Thoughts” Looking Ahead

            For those of you who know me, I’m a pretty simple man. Most of the time, I feel awkward buying stuff for myself (except for books and couple of other eccentricities). Unfortunately, it can be embarrassing for my family because it means I tend to be a walking advertisement for someone stuck in the 80’s with three pairs of shoes (including flip-flops) and a narrow assortment of ratty jeans and stained tee shirts. Well this year my wife conspired against me and I ended up with a pair new jeans from the 21^st century and handful of new shirts—with collars! I have to admit, it was kind of nice not being mistaken for a homeless man in public. However, there was one relic that I thought would survive—my old wallet. It was old and worn out, held together with a few threads and little bit of shredded leather. But my family is not only thoughtful, they are thorough as well so they got me a new wallet as a Christmas gift. Initially they got me a wallet almost identical to the old one. However, I kept the old one long after it should have been replaced not because it was the right one but because it was comfortable. My wife wanted to get me something better but my daughter said, “No, dad’s a creature of habit.” So why am I boring you with this silly story of a wallet? Because my daughter was right, I am a creature of habit and that goes for this ministry as well. God has been sending me subtle messages throughout the year as my email, which is tied to the ministry website, was hacked no less that six times during the year. So it’s time for this creature of habit to make a change and to inaugurate that change I exchanged my new wallet for a better one and this year, I will be exchanging this website for a better one as well! Change, although not particularly natural for me, isn’t really that difficult for me either except when it comes to modern technology. When it comes computer and internet technology, I resist change because I don’t understand it. I know that sounds strange for a ministry the relies solely on computer and internet technology to communicate its message. However, therein lies the genius of God because there is no way I could take credit for the delivery and distribution of the weekly lessons—I am a pastor not a computer expert or webmaster. As a result, all the credit and glory for the successful delivery and distribution of the gospel message through this ministry belongs to God alone—as it should. I will keep you posted as to the progress of the new website over the coming months and I ask that you pray for strength and endurance for me as the transition will be time consuming, stressful and costly. Pray also that God would provide the right people with the technical expertise to help me faithfully develop and launch the new website according to His leading and in a way that will bring Him even more glory and honor.

Conclusion

            As you can see, God accomplished much during my time away over the last few weeks. I had the opportunity to reflect and give thanks with my wife and daughters on God’s blessings in their lives and I had the opportunity to reflect and give thanks to God for the blessings in my own life. I had time to stop and look back at the people God blessed through me and all the people God used to bless me. I had the opportunity to celebrate the vision of blessings for the year to come for my family. Mostly, though, God used my time away to pour renewed life into me through a renewed vision and renewed direction for this ministry. I want to thank all of you who have faithfully prayed for me and for this ministry over the last three years and I want to thank all of you who have been faithful to share the weekly lessons as often as you can. You have been instrumental in spreading the hope and the salvation message of Jesus Christ to more than a third of the countries of the world! Every year tends to have a recurring pattern or theme. The theme for some is physical trials. For some, the theme is emotional trials. For some, the theme is persecution. For some, the theme is spiritual warfare. For me, the theme of the last year has been perseverance. My prayer for all of you for next year, if it is God’s will, is for salvation, strength, security, peace, health, and rest. For 2015, I’ve been praying, and ask that you pray with me, that God will bless me and this ministry with a different theme—Renewal.