Devotion #3 - The Knowledge of the Holy (A.W. Tozer)

This is a third in a series of devotions written in preparation for the "Waiting 2018" gathering next week, which many of us are planning to attend.   To read from the beginning, click here.

I've been reading the little book "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer concerning the attributes of God.  So many of the words of this mid-20th century prophet of God seem to me to be even more applicable to the early-21st century church than to the times in which Tozer belonged. In this excerpt, taken from the first two chapters, Tozer describes the crying need of modern man to turn away from false concepts of God and began to meditate on the true knowledge of the holy. 

This is not spiritual pablum.  In previous generations of the church it was not strong meat at all, but common contemplation of the majesty of God.  However, for our generation used to "baby-food pureed gospel," it may seem as strong meat.  These are not concepts to lightly read over, but things to think about deeply again and again.  

...The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.

The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.

With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, ”Be still, and know that I am God,” mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century...

The only way to recoup our spiritual losses is to go back to the cause of them and make such corrections as the truth warrants. The decline of the knowledge of the holy has brought on our troubles. A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing them. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is…

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.

Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ”What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow.

Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God….

That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.

A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse...

It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God (today) is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.

All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.

The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.

The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the

garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them.

Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is – in itself a monstrous sin – and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness. Always this God will conform to the image of the one who created it and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.

A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will quite naturally be no true likeness of the true God. ”Thou thoughtest,” said the Lord to the wicked man in the psalm, ”that I was altogether such as one as thyself.” Surely this must be a serious affront to the Most High God before whom cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, ”Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.”

Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt act of worship has taken place. 

”When they knew God,” wrote Paul, ”they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Then followed the worship of idols fashioned after the likeness of men and birds and beasts and creeping things. But this series of degrading acts began in the mind. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true.

Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God...

The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him – and of her. In all her prayers and labors this should have first place. We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past. This will prove of greater value to them than anything that art or science can devise.

Devotion #4 - The Infinitude of God (A.W. Tozer)

Devotion #2 - The Path of Peace

This is a second in a series of devotions written in preparation for the "Waiting 2018" gathering next week, which many of us are planning to attend.   To read the first devotion, click here.

“And the path of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:17)

We live in an anxiety-laced culture. Consider these statistics:

• According to the World Health Organization, anxiety disorders and depression costs the global economy $1 trillion every year.
• Anxiety disorders are said to be the most common mental illness in America, affecting 40 million adults in the U.S., or 18% of the populational.
• People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety disorders.
• The American Journal of Psychiatry in 2006 found that Americans lose a collective 321 million days of work because of anxiety and depression each year, costing the economy $50 billion dollars annually.

Yet the Bible teaches us that there is a way out of this “anxiety pit.” It speaks of a “peace that passes all understanding” which is the opposite of anxiety and depression. The Hebrew word “Shalom”, which is often translated “peace”, indicates an inner wholeness and sense of well-being that is promised to all those who believe and trust in God. Yet, is this a real thing or is it some pie-in-the-sky platitude that has nothing to do with the world in which we live?

I believe that it is definitely a real thing because I have experienced it, as have millions who are alive today and countless millions throughtout the last century. It is the answer to all anxiety and depression. It is the true meaning of the Sabbath-rest which was spoken of by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. But how do we obtain this peace? Is there anything we can do to get it?

The answer is definitely “YES!” Though I believe even most Christians who are alive today have never really experienced “the peace of Christ”, it is available to all who put their trust in Christ as Lord.

Yet, how do we get this elusive peace?

First of all, we must fear God. In a searing indictment of all of humanity, Paul lays out in Romans 3:10-18 the natural state of man ending with these words:

And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:17, 18 NKJV).

To fear God means to hold Him in reverential awe. Thayer’s Greek dictionary states that this reverential fear is “not a mere fear of His power and righteous retribution (though I would say this is definitely part of it), but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him.” Suffice it to say that when we fear God in reverential awe, understanding Him at least in part in all His majesty and desiring to please Him above all things, our fear of man (and hence our anxiety borne out of that fear) begins to evaporate.

Paul gives us another key to finding peace in his letter to the Phillipians:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6, 7)

The key to anxiety and depression that Paul gives us here is simply prayer. Yet, not just any kind of prayer, but a prayer of deep faith in God. I believe Paul here uses two Greek words which both mean “a petition to God” as a way of emphasizing the urgency involved in this kind of praying. Peter describes this urgent type of prayer this way:

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6, 7)

This type of prayer acknowledges our lack of ability to manage our lives on our own. It is a prayer of humility because it recognizes our complete inability to handle our own problems. Out of this humility we cast our cares or anxieties on Him, knowing He can handle what we cannot. What a relief there is in this kind of prayer!

Another key to resolving our anxiety is embedded in the Phillipian verse above when Paul says “with thanksgiving.” As I wrote in a post some time ago (which you can read here), I believe the greatest single ingredient in a successful prayer life is gratitude. When we cultivate thanksgiving in our hearts, striving each day to thank God for what He has done for us and is doing for us, anxiety really can’t find a foothole in our hearts! I have made it a practice for many years to start my prayer time in the morning with thanksgiving, often reviewing the events of the previous few days and acknowledging the places in those days in which I see His hand, and trusting Him for the areas that I don’t understand.

Finally, we can maintain that peace by focusing on God and the things of God throughout the day. This is what Paul is alluding to in the next two verses in Phillipians;

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things...practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8,9)

When we focus on God and whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute throughout the day, we can maintain that sense of peace no matter what is going on around us.

There is a wonderful peace which truly “surpasses all understanding” that God grants to a heart which is truly surrendered to Him, fears Him above all else, and acknowledges His work in our life in grateful praise. This is the path of peace. And it is available to you and I today!

Devotion #3 "The Knowledge of the Holy" (A.W. Tozer)

Devotion #1 - A Voice In The Wilderness (Rev. Loran Helm)

Many of us will be gathering one week from today in Parker City, Indiana for "Waiting 2018",  a time in which we come before God in repentance and rest, and wait upon God for His leading and direction.  The Lord has put it in my heart to publish here a series of devotional thoughts in the next seven days as we prepare our hearts to wait upon Him, which I trust will be of benefit to all, whether you are able to attend the gathering or not.   Lord willing, these will come from some of the great prophetic voices of the past as well as the present, as this devotion is today.

Rev. Loran William Helm (1916-2006), who led the original "Waiting on God" meetings from the 1960's through early 2000's, wrote a stirring book entitled, A Voice in the Wilderness, in which he called upon God's people to deny self, take up the Cross of Christ, and let Christ lead us in our churches and in our lives (You can read a short biography of Rev. Helm here).  I believe that it's fair to say that millions have been impacted by his simple life of faith, and by the wisdom which he shared in his book, writings, and sermons.  Below are excerpts from A Voice in the Wilderness:

On Conviction of Sin

God’s convincing men of sin will really come to a congregation when all the followers in that church are faithful and obedient. Great conviction will fall when the entire body has paid the price…usually conviction does not fall severely upon sinners in a community until those of the church humble themselves, confess their faults to one another, get everything right with God, and do exactly what He wants them to do. Conviction upon the lost will many times be in proportion to the burden which the church carries, and a burden for the lost cannot be achieved: it is a gift from God to the broken, obedient heart.

This is the reason we have so little true conviction in a great number of our churches today. So much secret sin, hidden iniquity, disobedience, and self-assertion in the lives of professing Christians grieves the Holy Spirit. Bible doctrines are still being preached in many congregations, but the power of God to convince men of sin has been greatly limited.

We cannot convict anyone of sin, for conviction comes not to the mind, but to the heart; and only the Holy Spirit can convince a man’s heart of sin. We may have the proper theology and the correct ideas in our churches, but unless we as a people are one together in Christ Jesus through His love, the Holy Spirit is grieved; because of this, God seldom sends His convicting power. Without His divine power moving in their hearts, men will be totally unaware of the desperate lostness of their souls…

Difficulties

Now this is what you want to do all the time. Don’t place your attention on any difficulties at any time. Look only to Jesus through every circumstance. Keep your eyes fixed upon Him constantly. Maintain praise and adoration in your heart even when you don’t feel like it, when it is not easy to praise. We will never be able to work out a single situation ourselves anyway. Leave the working-out to God and simply keep your eyes on Jesus, who is the Answer to every need and every problem.

The Missing Link

(The) night I started toward God’s perfect will...My people were weeping, and I was trying to tell them that God wants us to be faithful and true. He doesn’t want us hot and then cold, up and then down. He wants us to be consistent, alive, radiant, rejoicing --- through every situation which we experience. He wants us to be overcomers.

I had discovered few Christians who had this victorious overcoming experience. I didn’t now the missing links in Christianity then; but God has let me discover one or two of them over the years. I learned that the missing link which connects us to a continuous life as an overcoming Christian is self-denial. We must learn to deny Self in a heart of trust; for then we move, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to obedience and the cross.

We in the church can sing, preach, pray, read scripture, go along with the religious program, and never once deny Self. Often, instead of depending on God to guide us, we plan a little of what we want to do, sing the songs we like to hear, and preach when we want the preaching to take place. We pretty much arrange activities which suit our taste and conform to our schedule. But, you see God wants all of the church’s activities at His direction. He wants to be all of the content of our program. Christ must have everything.

We must wait on Him until He sends, until He guides, until He reveals. We must wait on Him so that He can lead the church, lead the body, and become the true Head of His believing followers.

God Is Seeking A People...

God is seeking simply an obedient people. He is trying to find men and women who will do what He wants them to do; but He has had a difficult time finding them down through the ages. There are many who are willing to try to obey the written commandments as found in the scriptures; but this so subtly leads to a legalistic Christianity – a fulfilling of a minimum degree of service or adhering to a certain set of beliefs. God is seeking a people who will not only obey His written Word, but who will also actually walk with Him day by day, moment by moment, listening to and doing what the voice of the Holy Spirit says…

Relax Like A Little Child

...But we are not to seek for adventure, for miraculous events, or even to be led by the Holy Spirit.  We are simply to pour love back to God, honor Him, adore Him, and try to praise Him for His name's sake.  We are not to become tense or nervous about how to die out, how to be slain, how to be crucified, or how to obey.  We are to relax like a little child, remain right down at the bottom in brokenness, and simply trust God for all things.  

Taking Up Your Cross

You see, the need of our flesh is greater than we know.  It requires a heart firm in discipline to walk the path of self-denial under the cross.  Without self-denial after conversion, we never reach the cross.  And unless we take up a cross, we never truly become a disciple of Jesus, for He said in Luke 14:17, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." 

The cross is not some trial, struggle, or tragic situation which may befall you.  The cross is an instrument of death upon which Self is crucified.  It is never forced upon me or you.  Each person must personally resolve in his heart to unalterably pursue the way of the cross, even as Jesus steadfastly set his face towards Jerusalem where his ignominious death awaited Him.  The cross is actually the life lived in accordance with God's perfect will, and we must volunteer to seek and do only God's will.

For information on "Waiting 2018", click here. (or email me at waynenalljr@gmail.com)
To download a copy of A Voice In the Wilderness, click here.
To read the recap blog posts from this site of "Waiting 2017", click here.

Devotion #2 - The Path of Peace 

The New Evangelism...Contemporary...Sleek...Appealing...and ABOMINABLE! (Reimar Schultze) Part 2

Part 2 of an article by Rev. Reimar Schultze, a modern-day Elijah and Holocaust survivor, who speaks to the world as few are able to do in our day.  To read Part 1, click here.

Paul said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth…”  I believe that the time Paul is referring to is now.  And that being so, it is not time to compromise with the world, to mix Baalism with Christ, to keep them at any cost.  Rather it’s time for us to hold steady, to go deeper, to pray more earnestly, to take the remnant and let them be in white heat for their love of Jesus.  Then the day will come when the fire will fall and sinners will be converted in their automobiles, in the taverns, in the college classrooms, in the factories without even a sermon or an altar call being given, as it was in the case of the Welsh revival.

In the Welsh revival, seventeen men refused Baalism in Christianity, they refused to lower the standard, they refused to go after people with chicken feed; and on that memorable night in 1904, the fire came.  Within a month, those seventeen men who prayed and held steady produced a fruit of 37,000 who repented to receive Christ.  And within five months, 100,000 had been swept into the kingdom of God.  Then even Welsh newspapers began to include columns of the names of those born of God.  Again, this revival did not come by compromise, by making the lukewarm or sinner feel comfortable and ”at home” in the church.  This revival came by holding steady until the Pentecostal flames had cleansed every sin, spot, and blemish out of every heart of the committed remnant of God.

Or consider the mighty work of God in the Hebrides Islands revival from 1948 to 1952.  It was equally powerful.  Here, seven men in a barn and two elderly sisters in their home decided to hold on and see the salvation of the Lord.  Listen to this little excerpt of what it was like in those days:

The little band of prayer warriors made their way to the farmhouse to plead the promises of God.  Just after midnight Duncan Campbell asked John, the local blacksmith, to pray.  John rose to his feet with his cap in hand and prayed a prayer that will never be forgotten by those who were present.

In the middle of his prayer, he stopped and raised his right hand to heaven and continued, ‘Oh God, you made a promise to pour water on the dry ground, and Lord, it’s not happening.’ He paused again and then continued, ‘Lord, I don’t know how the others here stand in your Presence; I don’t know how these ministers stand, but Lord, if I know anything about my own heart, I stand before you as an empty vessel, thirsting for thee and for a manifestation of Thy power.’ He halted again, and after a moment of tense silence cried, ‘Oh, God, your honor is at stake; and I now challenge you to fulfill your covenant engagement and do what you promised to do.’

Here is a man praying the prayer of faith that heaven must answer.  There are those in Arnol today who will verify the fact that while the brother prayed, the dishes on the dresser rattled as God turned loose His mighty power.  Then wave after wave of divine power swept through the room.  Simultaneously, the Spirit of God swept through the village.  People could not sleep, and houses were lit all night.  People walked the streets in great conviction; others knelt by their bedsides crying for pardon (“Bright and Shining Revival” by Kathie Walters; Good News Fellowship Ministries, Macon, Georgia, pp. 11-12)

The word is not “compromise” – not to blend in with the values, the mores, and the customs that   The word is “stay put, dig in, get hotter, close the ranks” and pray and obey and live as if it is a matter of life and death for the church of Jesus Christ and a sinful world.

Pastors Reimar Schultze and Aaron Simms at
Waiting 2017, Parker City, IN

people are comfortable with.

Wait and see the salvation of the Lord.  But don’t pollute yourself to get success.  Success in ministry is not gathering crowds, it is not making ourselves look good, it is not competing, but it is dying out to do the will of God second by second.  We will never get to great revivals by compromise, by giving people what they want in our churches, by making them comfortable in our sanctuary.  The key is no compromise!

This drastic attitude was reflected most clearly by our Lord than when he turned to a multitude and said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). Jesus never compromised the standards for discipleship, and he never stooped to do any of his work through anyone who refused such strict standards.  Oh, my friend, let us not build lukewarm churches, knowing that Jesus will spit every one of those lukewarm ones out of his mouth. (Rev. 3:16).

Man, by his perverted nature, is seeking success, a piece of glory, and as long as any of this element is alive in any preacher, he is the most dangerous man in town, and he has no business being in the pulpit.  Modern evangelism is a compromising, Baalish evangelism that is self-seeking, flesh-glorifying, masquerading in a Hollywood spirit, void of the supernatural power.  It holds no promise for the “fire” to fall again.  The spiritual pastor has and is continuing to crucify the flesh and to seek no glory for his own but only that of the Triune God for him and for his people.   He does not give the church what she wants by what God requires of her.

So, let me close with some more words of Tozer on this subject: “Every effort to smooth out the road for me and to take away the guilt and the embarrassment is worse than wasted: it is evil and dangerous to the souls of men.” (“Renewed Day By Day” by A.W. Tozer, Christian Publications, Inc.)

Please pray for me!

To read a short autobiographical description of Rev. Schultze's experiences as a young Holocaust survivor, click here.

To order Rev. Schultze's captivating autobiography I Am Love, click here.

Rev. Schultze's daily devotional "Abiding In Christ" is available on Kindle for the great price of only $8.99!  Click here to order this worthwhile resource today.

Want to read more about walking with Christ?  Here are some recent articles that may help you in your walk with Christ!

Fenelon's Spiritual Letters - Part 1

The Power of an Endless Life (Andrew Murray)

Waiting 2017 - Recap #1 (Summary of meetings held in Dec. 2017 in which Rev. Schultze and others were used greatly of God.)

The New Evangelism...Contemporary...Sleek...Appealing...and ABOMINABLE! (Reimar Schultze) Part 1

Rev. Reimar Schultze is a modern-day Elijah.  This Holocaust-survivor-turned-worldwide-evangelist preaches today, even at 81, a no-compromise gospel that is alien to so much that abounds in the evangelistic world today.  I am thankful to know him. 

I was going through some papers of mine the other day and an old copy of  Rev. Schultze's newsletter "Call to Obedience" fell out (You can subscribe to this free resource at his website Schultze.org).  As I began to read these words, they stirred my soul as something coming from the mouth of God.  It is my privilege to share it with you here (with Rev. Schultze's permission).  This is the first of two parts.

The New Evangelism!

Contemporary…Sleek…Appealing…and ABOMINABLE!

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…And they shall turn away their ears from the truth…” 2 Timothy 4:3,4

Dr. A.W. Tozer remarked on this text about fifty years ago, “Any Evangelism which by appeal to common interests and chatter about current events to establish a common ground where the sinner can feel at home is as false as the altars of Baal ever were.”

Too many men are willing to make some compromise with Baal to gain an advantage over their fellows.  The desire to be “successful” is very strong in any man’s heart born on this side of eternity.  It is bound up within a man’s nature to want to compete, to conquer, to rise to the top.  Any man who does not have a sense of success feels unfulfilled, restless, discouraged, and depressed.

It is this “let’s do something great” attitude that brought man to the tower of Babel.  Because this attitude is a noble attitude perverted by sin, man seeks something great for himself rather than for God.  It is this sense that is at the root of all competitive sports.  It is this that drives the business machine.  Men want to be first, if not in this or that, then in something else ---but sure somewhere.  If not first on the moon, then perhaps first at a game of chess with a family member, or at being the best driver in the neighborhood, or at being the kindest man in church.  Only those who struggle to the top are assured of a promising posterity.  It is this spirit for success in competition coming from perverted human nature that drives many a preacher to do whatever it takes to fill up his sanctuary and to expand it.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).  What is given to us naturally, being corrupted by sin, is in direct opposition to that which is given to us supernaturally.  This is what Paul means when he says, “For the flesh lustest against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…” (Gal. 5:17).   Jesus addressed this conflict even more drastically when he said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:25). The natural life with all its instinct to advance itself musts be crucified and be replaced by the spiritual life God has in store for us or we shall never be his disciples. 

Yet, American Christianity is mistaking natural attributes as a blessing or as a gift of God.  It is inconceivable to the American “Christian” that a man who is six-foot six-inches in height should not be a basketball player or that a man with the chest like a barn door should not play football or that a man with iron lungs should not be a soccer player (for all the rest of us Christians to watch on Sunday afternoon television).   We assume that this is all given by God for us to enjoy, not realizing that it is merely our competitive carnal nature trying to get on top of others and preventing us from keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

If we can’t win the world with the old standards, with the old gospel, then let’s turn that old gospel into a new gospel.  If people will not endure sound doctrine, then let us give them something less than that to save ourselves from the embarrassment of a Noah who, by refusing to become contemporary in his age, won no one to God in about one hundred and twenty years of preaching.  We just cannot endure such humiliation.  We just cannot have people turn away from us when we preach sound doctrine.  We cannot afford to look like losers, and so we run after them with a Christianity that offers them what they want rather than what God wants:

If they want ten-minute sermons, we give them ten-minute sermons.  If they want sermons that don’t   If they want professional singers dressed in Hollywood attire, we give them professional singers ---saved, sanctified, or not! If they want church or prayer meetings cancelled for the sake of a ball game, we do so.  If they want rock music mixed with Christian lyrics, we do the mixing for them.  When people want drama and entertainment on the platform, we give it to them.  If they want divorce and remarriage justified, we bless them in the name of Jesus (there are now as many divorces in church-going families as in non-church-going families in the United States).  The bottom line is, we do not want to lose them ---at any cost!

convict, we avoid stirring them where they need to be stirred.

My friend, let’s be aware of this compromising new evangelism where we raise children who know all the statistics of dozens of ball players but who cannot name a simple hero of the Christian faith, a trailblazer like Augustine, Savonarola, Luther, Wesley, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Jonathan Goforth, or Mary Slessor.  Their views and their talk is about ball games and the latest accomplishments of their favorite team, and not about the great saints of old who were ablaze with the glory of the Lord, changing their communities and even their nations.  Would it not be wonderful if our boys, instead of following ballgames on Sunday afternoons, would get lost in the books of high spiritual adventures of the mighty warriors of the Lord throughout history?

When women want to come to church dressed to attract men, carrying their Bibles, we let them do so.  When men come to worship the holy God, and they wear the same garments they did to the last ball game, we let them do so.  In essence, it does not matter what you look like on the outside, it is what you are inside that matters.

That sounds good at first, but the fact is that what you are on the inside will show on the outside.  Jesus did not say, by their roots you shall know them, but by their fruits.  The roots reflect the inside, the inner life; but the fruit is the outside, the visible.  The words are: if the roots are holy, so will be the fruits.  Remember that....

To Read Part 2, click here.

• To read a short autobiographical description of Rev. Schultze's experiences as a young Holocaust survivor, click here.
• To order Rev. Schultze's captivating autobiography I Am Love, click here.
• Rev. Schultze's daily devotional "Abiding In Christ" is available on Kindle for the great price of only $8.99!  Click here to order this worthwhile resource today.

Fenelon's Spiritual Letters - Part 2

I continue today with more excerpts from "Fenelon's Spiritual Letters" by Francois Fenelon (1651 - 1715).  To read the first article in this series, click here.  As I read these true nuggets of spiritual truth, I find myself having to go back and re-read them many times.  I hope these are as helpful to you in your spiritual walk as they are to me.

On The Necessity and Benefit of Suffering

A cross borne simply, without the additions of…self-love, is only half a cross.  Those who suffer with this loving simplicity are not only happy in spite of the cross, but they are even happy because of it; for love delights in suffering on behalf of the beloved, and the cross which likens them to their Beloved One is a consoling bond of love.

On Caring For An Aged Person

Bear the heavy burden of a very aged person who can no longer bear her own.  Reason becomes weak at so great an age; goodness itself, unless very deeply rooted, seems to grow slack; temper and restlessness acquire all the strength which the mind loses…

(As a caretaker) take care of your health, and relieve your mind by intervals of repose, of joy, and of innocent freedom. 

As age advances, less and less must be expected of a person who has no resources.  You must expect almost nothing of her, and you must not expect too much of yourself.

On Forbearance To Others

…Suffering (at the hands of others) is needful for us.  We are sent into the world only to be purified by dying to our inclinations and to all of our own will.  Let self die in you then; you have excellent opportunities for so doing; what a pity to let them be lost!...

(In your conversations with others) you must learn at times to slip quietly over certain little matters, while you need all your firmness in those (matters) which you believe essential.  But remember that true firmness is gently, humble, and tranquil.  Anything like sharp, haughty, and restless firmness is unworthy of God’s work.  We are told that Wisdom “sweetly ordereth all things.”…act in the same manner; and, if ever you are betrayed into acting harshly, humble yourself immediately without reserve. 

On Possessing A Calm Spirit

What I most desire for you is a certain calmness, which comes from recollection (collecting yourself, composure), detachment (not being attached to the world), and love of God. 

Occupy yourself as little as possible about external matters.  Give at proper seasons a quiet, calm attention to those things assigned to your care by Providence: leave the rest.  We do much more by quiet, tranquil labor in the presence of God, than by the greatest eagerness and over-activity of a restless nature.

On Carrying the Spirit of Prayer Into All Our Actions

Do not be discouraged at your faults; bear with yourself in correcting them, as you would with your neighbor.  Lay aside this ardor (eagerness) of mind which exhausts your body, and leads you to commit errors.  Accustom yourself gradually to carry prayer into all your daily occupations.  Speak, act, work in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be.

Do everything without eagerness, in the spirit of grace.  As soon as you perceive your natural impetuosity gliding in, retire quietly within, where is the kingdom of God.  Listen only to the leadings of grace, then say and do nothing but what the Holy Spirit shall put in your heart.

You will find that you will become more tranquil, that your words will be fewer and more effectual, and that, with less effort, you will accomplish more good…

I entreat you to try to train yourself to this dependence on the inner voice, then all your life will gradually become a prayer.  You may suffer, but a peaceful suffering is only half a suffering.

On Over-Eagerness

You must stifle your restlessness, renounce your self-will, retrench (cut off, pare back) petty curiousity, your longings after success, and your eagerness to attract what gratifies self-conceit.  Silence, (when used) to cultivate the presence of God, is the best remedy for our troubles; it is the way to deny ourselves continually in the most ordinary life. 

Make good use of your period of repose by calming yourself, softening your temper, fostering (nourishing) charity, humbling presumption… (and) cultivating…the presence of God.  God has given you a great treasure in your (sensitive) temperament, by making it liable to suffer a slow martyrdom every hour of the day.  Things which would scarcely rouse other people touch you to the very core….

On Gaining The Spirit of Composure

…Avoid whatever dissipates (scatters your attention) and excites you, whereby you cut off the source of dangerous distractions, which dry up prayer.   You cannot expect to find interior nourishment if you live only for what is exterior. Faithfulness in renouncing (abandoning) whatever makes you too eager and (temperamental in your conduct) is absolutely necessary, if you would win the spirit of recollection (composure) and prayer.  No one can have a relish for God and the world at the same time; and you will carry to your hours of prayer the same spirit which you have during all the rest of the day.

On Love and Prayer

Let us not bargain with God with a view to what will cost us least and bring us in most comfort.  Let us seek only self-denial and the cross.  Let us love, and live by love alone.  Let Love do whatsoever He will to root out self-love.  Let us not be content to pray morning and evening, but let us live in prayer all day long.  Let this prayer, this life of love, which means death to self, spread out from our seasons of prayer as from a center over all that we have to do.  All should become prayer, that is, a loving consciousness of God’s presence, whether it be social intercourse or business.  Such a course as this will insure you a profound peace. 

On True Fidelity

It seems to me that true fidelity consists in obeying God in all things, and in following the light which points out our duty, and the grace which guides us; taking as our rule of life the intention to please God in all things, and to do always not only what is acceptable to Him, but, if possible, what is most acceptable; not trifling with petty distinctions, between sins great and small, imperfections and faults; for, although it may be very true that there are such distinctions, they should have no weight with a soul which is determined to refuse nothing it possesses to God.

And if, besides this sincere desire always to do what is best in God’s sight, you also do it with joy, are not depressed when you fail, but begin again a hundred times over, hope to the end for success, bear with yourself in your involuntary frailties as God bears, wait patiently for His appointed time of complete deliverance, and meanwhile go on quietly and according to your strength in the path before you… not looking upon God as a spy watching to surprise you, or an enemy laying snares for you, but as a Father who loves, and would (desire to) save you…such you will find to be the path towards true liberty…

BTW -  If these are a blessing to you or if you have any suggestions for future blog posts here, I'm available anytime on Facebook or Twitter.  Also, my email is waynenalljr@gmail.com.

God Bless You!

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I Went To A Town Hall Meeting...And God Showed Up!

How To Be A Lukewarm Christian

The Power of An Endless Life

I Went To A Town Hall Meeting…And God Showed Up!

God gave me an assignment this past weekend.  I honestly didn’t see it as God-inspired task when I decided to go to a Saturday morning town hall meeting in our neighboring town, where four Indiana Representatives and one State Senator would be taking questions.  I’d never been to one before but just decided to go to this one and check it out.

There was a pretty decent crowd there for our small town and I took my seat in the back when the two-hour meeting opened.  Each one of the participants had an opening statement about his or her work at the statehouse.  I knew three of the five and really have a lot of respect for all of them.  Throughout the meeting, I got the sense that all of them, including the one from the opposite party of mine, were really good people who were trying to do the best job they could for our state.  The meeting was very civil…quite the opposite of the raucous affairs that you see on the TV cameras from time to time.  It was also very informative.  I haven’t taken any interest in state politics until the last handful of years, but I’ve learned that much more gets done at the state level than most people realize.  Our Founders actually intended for the lion’s share of the governmental work to be done at the state level not the national…but I digress.

Not too long after the meeting started I began to feel a little nudge from the Holy Spirit about a question that He wanted me to ask.   Now I didn’t come with any idea of asking any questions, but I had felt a nudge before I left home to grab a paper notebook to go with me.  I began (albeit reluctantly) to scribble some thoughts on paper while the meeting was going on.  I really didn’t want to do this, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that this was even the Lord speaking to me.  However, as time I went on I began to feel more and more but that this was God because…I really didn’t want to do it! 

If we want to walk with God, we must listen for the nudges and be willing to obey them when we get them.  One way that I can often tell that it is really God speaking to me in a particular situation is that  He wants me to do something  that I don’t want to do at all.  If it is something that I really wanted to do anyway, well…that’s much harder.  That could just be me speaking to me. Following the Spirit takes much practice, and I confess I’m still a novice at it!

So at some point in the meeting I began holding my hand up when they began taking questions.   There were a number of people ahead of me, and I didn’t really know if they would have enough time to get to me.  Really, that was just fine with me, because…I really didn’t want to do it! (Did I say that already?)

The meeting was to end at eleven.  At five minutes til, the gentleman directing the meeting tapped me

The only picture available from the meeting..
.not the best!

on the shoulder and said, “You’re the last question.”  I had been asking the Lord to give me courage to speak boldly, as honestly, I’m not bold at all in my own self.  It was going to have to be all Him! 

After introducing myself as a local pastor, I told them that I belong to a praying church. I also commended them for their civility and their hard work as legislators.  I told them that they are true citizen legislators, and I really meant that.   I then asked two questions:

1. In light of the myriad of social problems we are facing in our state (and I listed several of them), what would you say is the overarching problem that we are facing in our state which we as the body of Christ can be praying for?
2. What can we be praying for each of you personally?

When I sat down, to my amazement, the room erupted in applause.

Each legislator then responded to my questions. Interestingly, I didn’t get a lot of answers to the first question, although there were a few.  However, the reactions that I got from the second question were truly surprising to me. 

1.  One legislator asked for prayer for safe travel on her frequent trips between Evansville and Indianapolis…a three-hour trip.  Also… “Please pray for my kids!”
2. Another legislator asked for us to please pray for her staff, and the staff of all the legislators at the capitol.  These people are the ones who do the lion’s share of the work at the state level. They are the ones who answer all the irate calls from constituents, and yet they remain largely anonymous to the public (my paraphrase).  Also…”Please pray for those who don’t have anyone to pray for them.” (That was touching!)
3. Another representative asked for prayer that God would change hearts and minds.  He also asked for prayer for his personal health.  This devoted public servant, who has a full time job besides his extensive legislative work, has been constantly sick with colds the last few weeks, and hasn’t had any down to get over them. 
4. The lone Democrat on the panel asked that we would pray for more human moments in the legislature.  He mentioned that he is good friends with a Republican legislator who was also on the panel (#3 above), and they ask about each other’s kids and family and that they really care about each other.  He wants us to pray for more of that.  Also…”Please pray for my wife.  She’s 16 weeks pregnant with our first child.
5.   The lone state senator on the panel, who is a friend of mine and a committed Christian, used the question to talk quite eloquently for several minutes about how much we need God in our  public lives.  He spoke about how that, since we have chased God out of our schools and the public square, we are facing a myriad of social problems that stem from our turn away from God (my paraphrase).  Also…”Please pray for just the weight of the problems we have to deal with.”  He said he wakes up sometimes at 3 am just with a heavy weight of concern on him of all the problems that we are facing as a state and as a society.

Who knew?

Every one of them thanked me sincerely for the question.  There was almost a sense of amazement that anyone would ask this question. One of the panelists said, “We don’t get asked about us.”  In talking to the legislators after the meeting, I was again thanked for the question and was told, “We never hear this!  People always come to us just because they need something.”

I had several audience members tell me things like “That was the best question of the day” and “That was supposed to be the last question.” I know it was.  There was no way I could have engineered it.

Only God…

In reflecting about the amazing things that God did with this very simple question, I realized a few things:

•  Politicians are just people.  Whether on local, state, or national level, they get colds, have issues with travel, get stressed out, and have worries about their families…just like any of us.  They don’t need criticism so much as they need prayer
• These state legislators work hard for very little pay and not much recognition, yet they often receive much criticism.  One of them told me that their job description only mandates them to show up and vote, yet he knows no legislator in our state in either party who does only the bare minimum.  They serve on committees, spend hours examining laws and studying issues, performing services for their constituents, and a host of other duties not on their job description.  One of them, my friend Sen. Jim Thomes, has such a reputation as a man who will try to help constituents, that he gets calls almost every day not only from people from his district, but from many other districts in the state and even other states.  And his does his best to help every one of them.
• This is a much-neglected field of prayer that is “white to harvest!”  Many of us pray for our president on a regular basis (which we should), and our national representatives and senators (which we should), but we also need to be praying for those at the state and local level as well.  I have confessed to the Lord since Saturday that I’ve missed this vital area of prayer, and asked Him to help me and our church to be more engaged.
•  I feel profoundly grateful to be a part of a praying church.  I shared with our congregation Sunday about these events, and told them, “I was just ‘the point man’ on this.  I couldn’t have done this if I didn’t KNOW that I have praying people behind me.”  A group of us meet together for prayer before church on Sunday morning, and again for a dedicated prayer meeting on Tuesday night.  We also have a bible study on Wednesday night where we spend a few moments praying before the study.  And, just as important, by God’s grace, we endeavor to keep Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17), that is, continue in a spirit of prayer throughout the week. 
• God can do so much with so little, when we just make ourselves available to Him.  I felt a little like the little boy with the loaves and the fishes.  When Jesus blessed his little lunch, a multitude was fed!

Days before the town hall meeting, God had begun to put in my heart a message to share with our congregation Sunday.  Part of it had to do with Elijah’s “bad hair day” in 1 Kings 19.  This great man of God had the worst day of his life recorded for us in that chapter.  He was thoroughly discouraged and afraid of an ungodly woman named Jezebel, even after he had been used of God in an amazing way on Mt. Carmel just a few days before.  He hid himself in a cave near Mt. Sinai, where God met him.  God’s words to Elijah that day are the same words that I believe He is speaking to the church today.  “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  In other words, "What are you doing in a place of discouragement and fear, when I have anointed work for you to do?"  Thankfully, Elijah would move out of the place of despondency and powerlessness to do even greater things for the kingdom of God.

As it turned out, the town hall meeting that I attended Saturday provided a perfect illustration for what God put on my heart to share with our congregation on Sunday.   God has called us to get out of our caves! God has called each of us to be “salt and light” in our families, our communities, and our world.  He expects us to be equipped, by spending time daily in His word and in prayer, and to be an active part in our local church body.  Then He expects us through the direction of the Holy Spirit to go love people. 

A pastor friend of mine shared with me yesterday that Jesus had spoken the simple yet profound words to him recently, “Love is your weapon!”  That is essentially the weapon that God was prompting me to use at the town hall meeting.  It is a weapon that I have often failed to use, and a weapon that the church as a whole has seldom used.  Why don't we as a church put down our carnal weapons, and pick up the God-ordained, love-tinged "sword of the Spirit" that we are called to wield and use it daily for His glory?

2/7/18 Update
I received a text yesterday from the representative who asked for prayer for his personal health, as he has been fighting colds for weeks.  I wanted to share this here:

"...later on Saturday, after the Town Meeting, and completely  unexpected, a doctor acquaintance stopped by our house...(My wife was helping his wife with sewing).  He asked me how I was...before he left I had a prescription for antibiotics.  How often do you get an unprompted house call from a doctor who is not even your doctor?  The Lord does answer prayer."


3/17 Update
I just uploaded the rest of the story today...What happened after the Town Hall that led to a prayer at the Indiana Statehouse..."The Question That Led To The Prayer"

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