Fear Not

I am scared. I understand that is not the nature of God because "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind", and with that said, I am still scared. I am quoting the Word of God to calm my spirit, "Greater is He that is in me"......., "I can do all things through Christ"......, God is our refuge and strength"............, and yet I still remain scared.

I have the honor and privilege of hosting The 88th Session of The Original General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Indiana Inc., here at Macedonia and therein lies the source of my terror. I am scared. What if we fail? What if we don't have enough? We are not a large church like other sister convention churches, maybe we can't do it, our town isn't as large or great as Gary or Indianapolis, maybe we should just be part of the state but not host the state. We can't do it like other cities do it so maybe we shouldn't even try.

I have been around convention work my entire life from a young man, associate minister, assistant Pastor and now as a Pastor/Teacher. I understand the demands, the pressures, the attitudes and arguments that can happen when a church hosts a convention. I have been around the ministers who publicly praise you but privately won't to see you fail. I am scared.

It is this feeling that over took me last night in my bedroom. There is no worse feeling in the world then being in the bed you bought on the mattress you picked out with comfortable sheets that you discerned would be perfect for sleeping and you can't go to sleep. I would rather someone take a hammer and hit me upside my head than to lie in agony waiting for sleep to come but never arrives because your brain won't shut off.

Henry David Thoreau said ,"Nothing is so much to be feared as fear". Fear is that internal warning cry that signals danger is nearby and we better do something quick. It is so unpleasant of a feeling, it motivates us to take action and remove ourselves from whatever is threatening us. Flee or fight, hide or hunker down, trust or throw in the towel, watch God or watch your enemies.

John Ortberg in his book, "If you want to walk on water you've got to Get Out of The Boat", says Fear that ceases to be sporadic and becomes habitual moves to a category of worry and Ortberg says, "Worry is a special form of fear; Worry is fear that has unpacked its bags and signed a long-term lease. Worry never moves out on its own, it has to be kicked out".

If fear and worry has to be kicked out, how do I kick it out? I am not strong enough! My foot isn't large enough! My words aren't powerful enough! Thanks be to God He already took care of it for me! Lloyd John Ogilvie says in his treatment on the subject that the most common command in Scripture is God's way of taking care of it.

The most common command is not to be more loving although God wants us to be. God wants us to walk with integrity, holiness and humility but even those virtues are not the most frequent imperative found in the Bible. Ogilvie says, "The greatest command in Scripture that occurs more often than any other is formulated in two words: FEAR NOT.

There are 366 "fear not verses in the Bible--one for every day of the year including leap year. Last night instead of a hammer to the head or a late night hoagie to the lips or a sip of hennessy to the liver ( I realize that no one eats late at night or drinks anything other than water, I was just on a H kick, please forgive the references,) God gave me a fear not and I went to sleep. I look forward to the convention because God has got it all in His control.

Owens

Is Anyone Really Looking for Jesus?

Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus? I will kick off Advent season by using the John Ortberg book as a Title for my series,"God is Closer Than You Think". Advent is seen by many as a denominational thing: catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc., but the celebration of Advent is not bound to one group or one church.

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God.

Advent is the beginning of a celebration where the Church looks forward with expectation and anticipation for our coming Lord while making great preparation to that end.

However, I must ask again, Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus"? A Post-Thanksgiving crowd of New York shoppers burst through the doors at Wal-Mart knocking down a Wal-Mart worker while thousands of people trampled on, stepped over and stepped around but never stopped to help.

Dozens of employees came to help their fallen brother and they too were trampled on, run over and knocked down by a feeding mob fed by the assumption that they were saving money even if it meant they were taking a life.

When they announced that they needed to shut the store down because someone had died, people yelled, screamed and cursed saying, "I have been in line since yesterday morning" and they kept shopping. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus?

On the left/west coast, two men are shot inside a Toys R Us, whether for toys or an argument over rival gangs no one knows, and yet more people are concerned over the economic impact ensuring shoppers that it is still safe to shop, please ignore the shooting of some misplaced individuals, feel free to continue spending your money here with us. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus?

As tragic as it is that America cares more about Macy's and the Mall then they do about the Messiah and the Manger, as amazing as it is that Black Friday from a Wall Street perspective means more now than Good Friday does to a Christian from a salvation perspective, it is mind-boggling to think some of our churches are missing Jesus as well.

We have developed a Martha mentality where we have become so lost in the details that we have forgotten that the deliverer is in our house. The positioning of the poinsettias mean more than the proper placement of the Prince of Peace in our houses of Worship. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus? I will start this Sunday to began a search for this "so called elusive Jesus that is so hard to find to help show someone this advent season in the words of John Ortberg, God is closer than you think.

We will start Sunday in John 1:14 with the hope of simply saying, God took off divinity that he might kiss with grace we the disfigured that we might have the chance to be delivered back to our Daddy. Pray for us in this adventure as we are excited about the journey.