A GOD WHO LOVES TO SAY “YES!”

Occasionally I read things in the Bible that make me scratch my head and ask, “Is this for me? Is this promise really mine?” You see, sometimes I feel like I have lost God’s favor, that I am no longer really part of the family, that perhaps I have sinned too much to be able to claim God’s promises.
Can you relate?
This dilemma kills my assurance. I know that the “prayers of a righteous man has much power in its working.” (James 5:17) I also know that I am not a righteous man all the time. Does this mean that the promise of God hearing and answering my prayers is dependent upon my obedience? And I know “if we walk in the light the way HE HIMSELF IS IN THE LIGHT, we continue to have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, HIS Son keeps cleansing us from all sin.” But how does this work in life? HE HIMSELF IS 100% light, there is no darkness in HIM, NONE AT ALL! So, if I am 100% perfectly obediently, then I continue to enjoy Christian fellowship and forgiveness of sins? Again, God’s fulfillment is dependent on my perfect obedience?
While it is true, God’s perfect, holy nature demands of HIS creation perfection and holiness, God also provides! What we could never accomplish on our own, weak as we are in the flesh, GOD DID. Jesus Himself lived absolutely, completely obedient to God in every way. He shared our EVERY WEAKNESS yet was without ANY sin. Having the value of every human being who has ever lived or who would ever live (or even every person who could live) – HE HIMSELF being CREATOR GOD, HE took our place, legally and legitimately, and totally, absolutely dealt with our sin while hanging on HIS cross. HIS death is our victory. HIS resurrection is our LIFE!
JESUS stands completely, 100% in perfect relationship with God. There is not even a hint of a
twinge of possible shadow of doubt in that reality. JESUS AND GOD ARE ONE! You and I,
having surrendered ourselves to HIM totally and continuing to trust HIM now, LIVE IN CHRIST.
God placed us solidly in Jesus and HIS SPIRIT lives in us. That is what happened in your immersion into Christ --- you surrendered to Jesus as your MASTER, you were buried into CHRIST, into HIS death, and you were raised to walk in HIM, in new LIFE! (Romans 6:1-4) Your obedience and your righteousness have been accomplished as a finished, perfected act of Christ. It is HIS gift to you.
You are now in Christ, and so, you now possess all that is HIS! Unless you deliberately, flagrantly
turn your back on HIM and walk away back into a life of sin (Galatians 5:19-21) or attempt to
establish your rightness with God based on any legalistic set of rules and rituals (Galatians 1-5), you will always remain in HIS grace. Otherwise, you have “fallen from grace, severed yourselves from Christ” (Galatians 5:1-5)
Bottom line is this: as you continue to live your life trusting in Jesus and learning to live from Him (grow as HIS disciple), you remain in Him and He is remaining in you. AND 2 Corinthians 1:20 is still true for you – “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.” Are you in CHRIST? THEN EVERY PROMISE OF GOD TO THE CHRISTIAN IS “YES” TO YOU TOO!

WHAT A GREAT SCREENING!

It's been a week now since the screening of the television show but I am as excited today as I was when we watched it. Around 150 showed up for the screening at the theater (nearly 30 of them from our church family). Everyone who commented on the show thought it was a winner.
My prayer is simple --- Lord, whatever you want to happen with that will give YOU the greatest glory and open the door for me to reach and teach the greatest number of people is what I want to happen!

A STAR IS BORN??????

This past January I had to go to Boise State campus to pick up a text book which the publisher had promised five times on the phone the week before would be delivered to my home. I knew God was up to something; in fact, I prayed on my way to campus, "Alright LORD! You've got something up your sleeve, don't you? Help me see what you are doing today, ok?"
I went to the library and returned a book. Nothing special happened. I went to the Communication Department to pick up the Organizational Communication text and interacted nicely with the receptionist, adminstrative assistant, and head of the department, but still nothing much really happened to write home (or in this blog) about!
Figuring I had misread the Lord, I started to leave for my car. As I rounded the corner of the building, I spotted Eric and Randy, two of my former students, standing by a bench talking. We made eye contact and Eric said, "Skidmore! We were just now talking about you!"
I said, "Oh really." I knew this was the something!
"Yeah," Randy continued, "You ever thought about acting?"
"Well, when I was a kid. But nothing serious."
"Ever thought about television?"
"Yeah. Again when I was a kid, but it wasn't serious then, and I haven't thought about it in years and years. Why the questions?"
Randy explained how he had just landed an internship with a television production company in Boise and they were beginning to cast for a children's television show. "A kind of kids fantasy that takes kids on a magical, musical, colorful flying ship to a magical, musical land where they meet all sorts of interesting characters. We are looking for someone to play the captain, and Eric and I both were just saying how you would be perfect for the role!"
ME? I thought. "What kind of time commitment am I looking at?" I asked. Randy assured me that it would be overly time consuming.
I said I would go home and discuss this with Jan, and we would pray about it. "By when do you need to know?" (Yes, I actually speak like that occasionally.) "Tomorrow would be the audition."
"Tomorrow? All right. I can tell you now, yes. We'll talk about it and see if the Lord opens that door or not."
To make a long story just a little longer, I did audition. Dave Turner, actor and stand-up commedian for over 60 years (co-starred in Barnaby Coast with Doug McClure and appeared on Sanford and Son about 7 times) said, "They done chose another guy for the part. But I think you're better. So, I'm gonna overchoose 'em!"
They agreed with his choice, we practiced, filmed, and they edited it -- applying computer graphics and animation -- and it now completed, the first show, the pilot. Saturday will be the premiere screening for the public at a local theater where they can meet the actors and crew who made it.
Here is the punch line, God's punch line I think. There is a chance Nickelodeon or Disney may pick this up. If not them, then perhaps another children's cable network. If this happens, it will broadcast nationally. This may propel me into a position of tremendous influence -- I can see the local news teams reporting, "Local pastor costars in children's television program picked up by Nickelodeon. These and other stories at 10." Perhaps schools will have me come and speak to the kids as well as other groups. Maybe, just maybe, it will put me in the position I have been praying for for years and years (especially since we moved to Boise), "LORD, use me to reach thousands and thousands of people with the good news. Help me move from line fishing to huge net fishing!"
Could this be HIS answer to those prayers? Stay tuned -- SAME BAT-TIME! SAME BAT-CHANNEL!

REVIVE US AGAIN!

We need reviving. We need a heart-fire, a fresh vision, a renewed commitment. At least I do. "Can these bones live?" "Only You know, Lord!" "Prophecy to them!" Ezekiel did and REVIVAL swept through - re-life. First, the dry, bleached bones reconnected (bones flying through the air - arms, legs, trunks, necks, heads, feet, hands - all fitting together like they were supposed to - an army of skeletons!) Ezekiel kept prophesying; flesh formed around the bones. People stood. They looked ALIVE! Ezekiel ran down and grabbed one - he was cold, no breath! Ezekiel prophesied and a wind blew from YHWH. The lifeless came alive! A mighty army filled with the LIFE of God HIMSELF. I crave revival. I pray for revival. I ask God regularly to sweep the land with revival and let us be a part of it. I ask that a fire be lit that cannot be put out, that hundreds and thousands in Boise, Treasure Valley, Idaho, the North West, the U. S., the world would come to know Jesus and sell out to HIM as Lord of their lives. I pray that I can be a part of a movement that will reach thousands and thousands of people with the good news. I want to move from line fishing to massive net fishing. I don't know how God is going to answer these prayers. But I am sure that He is answering them, has been answering them long, long before they were ever prayed by me or others. God has been at work throughout eternity to answer these very prayers because they are exactly where HIS heart is. Oh God! Create revival in our land and throughout the world. And let it begin with me.

I love our shepherds. These men, Ted, Stan, and John, are godly and wise. They are not perfect but they are gold.
They take very seriously the charge Jesus has given them to feed, protect, and grow the flock of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). They genuinely care for people and they are willing to do what it takes care for their sheep.
I have had opportunity to work with elders in several of the churches I have served. I have seen good and bad, mature and weak, prayerful and self-determining. There are a few who have really shone as great beacons of encouragement to me and many others as well. There are some who seemed to me to be little men with little agendas trying to walk in big shoes! Good business men, shallow leaders. (I realize how judgmental this sounds, and I guess it is. I take seriously the good fruit is evidence of good tree and bad fruit is evidence of bad tree criteria.)
God has strategically placed these shepherds and me together for exactly this time in this place for this work. I don't know when I have felt as "in the will of God" as I have since we moved to Boise.
I felt this way some everywhere we have lived for the most part. But never to the degree I do here. Right now, I feel like EVERYTHING that has happened in our life to this point has been in preparation for what we are doing now. And that is such a great feeling!

FED UP!!!!!!

I am pretty upset right now with us - "us" being the traditional churches of Christ. I'm upset because I care. If I didn't care and I weren't committed, I'd jump ship. I don't jump ship, not because I believe the coc is the only right group, or even the "closest group" around to the "new testament church". I don't leave mostly because it's my heritage. I am what and who I am a lot because of my affiliation with this non-denominational denomination. I stay because I still see and hear people stating that they want only to be Christians, nothing more, nothing less.

Three major things about me == I am totally sold out to Jesus, I want to see thousands and thousands come to KNOW Jesus as LORD AND SAVIOR, and I want to see all of them grow up to be just like Jesus in every part of their lives and bring others to HIM. To these ends, I try to do all that I do - preach Sundays, write, teach college classes in communication, act, spend time with others over breakfast, lunch, or coffee, etc.

It is also because of these things I get so frustrated with us! I am angry at how satan can and does use conflict over such minor issues like instrumental music in videos in church, or singing with them or singing with a praise team, or seeing videos that make us feel uncomfortable because they are bloody (scenes from Mel Gibson's "The Passion"), or women praying in the presence of men, or women passing communion trays in an assembly, or . . . as if the major, primary thing God is interested in in all the universe is what we do during that hour to hour and a half on Sunday mornings that we call worship.

First of all, God never called it worship, never commanded it, never authorized it, never mandated things be done or not be done in this "worship" which He never commanded nor authorized! Secondly, this thing we call worship (or corporate worship) is something we have inherited and constructed for more than 2,000 years of tradition being handed down primarily from the Roman Catholic Church. WE have taken this "holy construct" and determined all the things we are allowed by God to do or not to do within that time frame. WE then read this entire worship structure back into our Bibles to justify our conclusions, argue with each other, and ultimately divide the loving followers of Jesus into various worship camps. Thirdly, WE do this at the expense of reaching the world with the good news of Jesus! While we bicker and haggle over minor, unimportant, and non-biblical issues (like worship), the world (our own families and friends) are running blindly and wildly headlong into an eternity into a raging hell of separation from the God who loves them! But that seems ok with us -- as long as we "worship on Sunday correctly" - because that is what God is all about! That is why Jesus came and did all that HE did - so we could "worship God in spirit and in truth."

I'm here to tell you - it is not worship either in spirit or truth - if we celebrate, praise, eat the Lord's Supper, pray, study, give, fellowship - all to worship God and ignore all week long either living under HIS lordship or worshiping HIM everyday in serving others and NEVER TELL A SINGLE PERSON ABOUT JESUS, we mock the Jesus we claim to follow! How can we ever say that we are worshiping Christ if we neglect any of these?

To be continued in next blog:

SEEING THE UNSEEN WORK OF GOD

I have no idea most of the time how God works. I am just sure that HE is working. HIS work is in the invisible realm (seed germinates and grows UNDERGROUND; sperm and egg unite and child begins, grows -- IN THE WOMB; water evaporates, rises, forms into clouds, and rains down on us). True in the physical, truer in the spiritual. Because we can't see it, aren't aware of it, or have no direct hand in it doesn't mean it is not happening. Word-of-God-seed-work in the heart of a person is invisible. You may have had a hand in planting God's word in someone's life that later takes sprout due to a series of unfortunate and difficult circumstances (farmers are not the only ones who can use manure to cause things to grow!) The amazing thing about this is that it may take 25-30 years to produce fruit, and the person and you may not even remember the initial planting, but GOD brought someone else to water the seed, and/or caused/used stressful circumstances to fertilize the seed, or sent great blessings to add sunshine.
Got a call from a fellow who showed up to church one day with the woman and three kids he had connected with. They said they were seeking a church family. We befriended them and helped in some rough spots. Then after Christmas they dropped out of sight. I and others tried to make contact. No luck.
Four months have passed and suddenly out of the blue he calls and states that he has two questions: "How can I get into the ministry? I think God wants to use me to help people find HIM." And, "Could we talk about me getting baptized? I haven't been baptized yet and feel I need to do this as a sign of my surrender to the Lord." I don't know what has been going on but I know this --- GOD HAS BEEN WORKING!
The final chapter on this young family's life has not been written. I am excited to see how the Lord is going to grow them and use them in kingdom enterprise.
So, why am I writing this? To encourage you to keep going even when you don't see God working. Just know that HE IS. And to encourage you to open your eyes and be aware that white fields to harvest are already around us everywhere because God has already been working in the lives of people we haven't met yet. And to encourage you to pray that the Lord will open more opportunities to tell the good news, will give you eyes to see the opportunities, will give you boldness to take the opportunities, will give you wisdom to know what to say - when to say it - and how to say it, and then help you realize that you played a role by allowing HIM to use you as a part of that person's coming to and growing up in the Lord.

It has been a long time, hasn't it? Well tonight I have something to say.
Jessica and I went to EXPELLED: THE MOVIE. Fantastic! Ben Stein does an excellent job hosting the documentary which exposes the lack of freedom of thought in the academic scientific community. In fact, as presented in this movie the scientific community is not only hostile to those who suggest Intelligent Design is a viable theory to explain the origins of life, but to those who even question Darwinian Evolutionary theory. If you haven't heard of the movie yet, check out http://expelledthemovie.com to view trailers.
Perhaps the most moving and convincing part of the movie is where Stein explores historical logical conclusions of Darwinian Theory - the Nazi regime being the most hideous extension of the evolutionary argument. Darwin himself had concluded that if the theory is correct then it is best to exterminate those who are handicapped, elderly, or could not add to the enhancement of the gene pool.
The movie also makes a strong argument that acceptance of the Darwinian Evolution leads to athiesism. "This is liberating", states Robert Hawkens who claims that religion is major cause of most of the ills of mankind.
Though there is an obvious attempt at persuasion in how the documentary is presented, Stein does an effective job of giving voice to academic scientific community allowing the major proponents time and opportunity to explain in their own words why they believe that it is best that people not accept God as real nor Intelligent Design as a viable explanation of the complexity of the universe or the origins of life.
My review: 10 fingers and 10 toes up! Not only should everyone see this movie to become more aware of this issue, everyone should see it to support this kind of movie -- to make a strong statement to Hollywood and the world.

PERIODIC TUNE-UP

TODAY - I am at home while our next-door neighbor tunes Jessica's new piano. Well, it's new to her. And to us. It is great to have music in the house again. I enjoy listening to her plunk on the keys.
Which brings me back to today - to this very moment in time.
Out neighbor friend is presently tuning the piano as I tap out this blog. One note - over and over again - occasionally with a tune up or a tune down. Several minutes (seems like hours) on the same note. He is here for his week after tune-up check-up. Last week Richard worked several hours initially tuning up the old piano. He said that every key was flat when he started. He got it as good as he could (which sounded a heap-site better than when he began the process). We talked, he left, and I began to nurse a headache that had developed in the hours of hitting the same notes over and over. He was meticulous and did a great job. Did it mention it took him several hours to do?
I wondered. I have sung a song for years that includes the phrase, "Tune our lips for praise!" I wondered.
Is it possible that for the past several years of my life the Lord has continued to hit on the same keys - anger, lust, greed, arrogance, forgiveness, patience, etc - in the attempt to tune up my life. I have looked over the past couple months and the song I hear playing has been rather discordant. I seem to be like the mother who told the band director, "You all did a good job but I noticed my son was the only one who was in step!" Or "You choir was fantastic but my kid was the only one on pitch!"
I think I have been doing fairly well as I listen to the tune I am producing - at least, in contrast to those around me. Fairly well -- until I looked back the past couple months and listened to the music of my life in contrast to that of Jesus. Boy! Am I ever out of tune!
Bad news - good news: first the bad - He has a long way to go to get my life perfectly in tune with His. Now the good - He plays and sings His song through me so loudly that it drowns out my mistakes. His grace covers my discordant moments, my times of falling in weakness, my sin and rebellion, my missing the great opportunities to do good but didn't. He plays so loudly that it seems as though I never missed a note or even forgot the song we were singing. And, better still, then He treats me that way- as if I never missed a note or forgot a single word.
AMAZING! He treats me as if I am first chair and I never missed the mark once. And people wonder why I love HIM and want to be like HIM? Just listen to Him sing and play His song.

IDENTIFICATION, PLEASE?

I really wasn't going that fast -- at least I didn't think I was until I saw the police car facing me just off the left side of the road. When I saw him I glanced at my speedometer at which point I began applying my brakes -- I was going 52 in a 35 mph zone! I had just passed him when I noticed his lights go on. "Sure hope he got the guy in front of me and not me," I thought. Nope - no such luck.
"May I see some identification, please. License, registration, and proof of insurance."
I already had it out of the glovebox ready to hand him when he asked for it.
"Identification, please?" Reminded me of the story of a professor who warned his class that they only 20 minutes left on a test. The time ran out and the professor cleared his throat loudly and asked all to hand in their tests. Everyone but one did. 10 minutes went by, then 20. Finally, the old professor loudly bellowed, "Young man - you're past time. You get a zero for this test!"
The student got up and walked down the steps of the large classroom with his test in hand. When he reached the desk he said sternly, "Do you know who I am? Huh, do you? Do you have any idea who I am?"
The professor said, "No, I don't."
The student placed the paper in the middle section of the stack of tests and said as he left, "GOOD!"
Just who are you? Who do think you are? What are you all about? May I see some identification, please?
At your very core who are you? If I asked you to list the top ten descriptors defining you (husband, father, teacher, friend, athlete, student, son, daughter, etc), what would you list? Then, if I asked you to choose one of these that would be your core descriptor, that one descriptor that informs all the others, what would you choose? (No matter what else I am, I am always this, and this one will always affect my decisions and behaviors in all my other roles.)
What did you say? I want my answer to be Christian. The central point of identity that informs every relationship, every attitude, every belief, every action, every whatever - is what Keith Green used to say was the definition of a Christian - "Someone who is bananas for Jesus!" It is my goal to bananaize all my life. That is one identity no one can steal.
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Addendum to Post: 2-13-08 No, I did not receive a speeding ticket from that incident. He informed me that I was traveling fast enough to double the fine - it should have been $140. BUT he was letting me go with a warning; I thanked him and went on my way rejoicing!