Vineyard Boise Men’s Ministry
“Encountering Jesus”
“A Man’s Journey Into Real Faith and Relationship With God”
Guest Speaker David Parker Senior Pastor Of Desert Vineyard
Friday June 22nd to Sunday June 24th
Living Waters Ranch Challis, Idaho
View the facilities
http://livingwatersranch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=2
| A Man’s Guide to Mother’s Day |  |
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| Written by Patrick Morley |
| PASS IT ON! Forward this article on to the men in your church! Just send this link: http://tinyurl.com/mothersdaytips to your men via email. NOTE: It’s been a few years since we published this article. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I decided to give it a fresh look. May God richly bless all the mothers in your life! If you’re like me, you’ve probably never done much advance planning for Mother’s Day. Yet motherhood is one of the highest callings any woman can have. What an opportunity to change the world for Christ! In this article I want to show you how to make this the best Mother’s Day ever!
This year why not do something for all the moms in your life? That might include your wife, mother, mother-in-law, married daughters, daughters-in-law, grandmothers, and granddaughters.FORETHOUGHT: THE KEY INGREDIENT In a moment, we’ll talk about a lot of specific ideas. But first, there’s one key ingredient that supersedes all others in making a big impression on Mother’s Day: forethought. The big idea for Mother’s Day is: Anything counts if it’s not last minute. For years I was a last-minute guy. I’m one of those guys who would work the picked-over Hallmark card racks on Saturday night after dark at the 24/7 drugstore. I’d be one of those guys standing in line at the grocery store florist department on Sunday morning to find the best of the “Is this all that’s left?” corsages. I think, Oh, that would be a good idea, when I see the Mother’s Day chocolates in the check out line.(Boy, am I grateful for those impulse purchase displays!) So what’s wrong with that? “Last minute” says “not that important.” She will probably never say that-maybe never even think it exactly that way. But “last minute” says, “I didn’t care enough to give any forethought.” On the other hand, when we think ahead it shows up in the details. Forethought gives your imagination time to work. “Little things” are what make moms feel honored. They appreciate something planned in advance. Now, some ideas…. “THE LETTER” Idea: Each year write one of your moms a special letter. Start with your wife. Next year write to your own mom if she’s living. A couple of weeks out, take a sheet of paper and write across the top, “Why I Love and Appreciate __________.” Let it incubate. Every day or two write down something you especially love or appreciate. Your goal will be to write a two-page letter one week before Mother’s Day with specific stories that illustrate each quality you mention. For example, if you wrote, “I really appreciate your kindness” you would also want to tell her why. Maybe you would write, “It touches my heart to see the way you treated those children with such tenderness when we visited the hospital the other day.” “THE DINNER”Idea:Invite all family members to a special Mother’s Day dinner or brunch. Let the restaurant cook! If that won’t work, then you and the children cook. If you don’t have a big family, consider getting other families involved. Consider a cookout with an afternoon of games. “THE PURCHASES”You have several items you must buy, and several to consider. The must-buy items are a card and flowers or a corsage. Consider these items the minimums. If you are feeling financially expansive, go for a gift. Even a small gift like chocolates can be a big hit. There are some other ideas below: SET UP A PLANNING CALENDAR AND CHECKLIST:Don’t just react to Mother’s Day. Make it happen. Here’s a schedule to use and adapt. Make it the foundation for your own Mother’s Day traditions. -TWO WEEKS OUT…
-ONE WEEK OUT…
-THE DAY BEFORE…
-THE BIG DAY
IMMEDIATE FAMILY SITUATIONS We Have No Kids…Focus on your own mothers and grandmothers. Orchestrate “The Dinner.” Be servants. We Are Expecting… Dad-to-be, this is your big chance. You can start well by “making” a “Pre-Delivery Mom” card. In fact, make two if you don’t know the gender-one for a boy and one for a girl. Tell her to keep whichever one turns out to be right! We Have Young Children… A woman’s self esteem is usually at its lowest point when she has young children. It’s hard to stay pretty, to keep a clean house, and to get everything done. Earn points by giving this mom homemade gift certificates, such as “Good for one deep house cleaning” or “Good for one night out while I baby sit.” Have the kids draw Mother’s Day cards. Teach them to honor Mom each year on her special day. Assign your kids to look on Google and print the history of Mother’s Day. (America’s first Mother’s Day was May 10, 1908-a church service to honor the mother of Anna Jarvis of West Virginia, a spinster who really missed her deceased mom. In 1914, Congress passed a resolution and President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day as an official national holiday.) We Have Teenagers… I’ll pray for you. We Have College Students… Surprise Mom by flying the kids home. Or, arrange to go there. Give students a heads-up one week out so they can get a card in the mail. Call the day before and remind them to give Mom a call. Our Children Are Grown… Hopefully, by now they understand the significance of Mother’s Day. Include them in “The Dinner.” Encourage them to write their own “Letter.” Give them a copy of this article. Our Children Have Children…. “The Dinner” is getting bigger! If you are in town, get together. If your grandchildren are out of town, Mother’s Day brings great weather nearly everywhere. Pack your bags and go. Respect the traditions your children want to set up. This article may help them, too. Remember: Anything counts if it’s not last minute. Forethought is the key to showing that you really care. Last minute loses. APPLICATION Why not share this article with the men of your church and agree to implement it together? Learn from one another and share ideas. After Mother’s Day, get together and talk about how things turned out. End with a time of prayer for the mothers in your life, asking for God’s blessing during the next year. Pat Morley is the Founder and CEO of Man in the Mirror. |
You are invited to a special showing on the movie Courageous.
Sunday April 29th @ 6:00pm
Everyone is welcome, no cost, just come and be blessed by one of the most inspirational movies of our time.
| The Goal of A Father | |
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| Written by David Delk |
| When I was 8 years old, my father thought that my brothers and I should learn to do some “real work”. Since we lived in the suburbs, “real work” meant that we were going to the farm to plant 5000 pine tree seedlings — by hand, in the dead of winter.
My two brothers and I were each outfitted with a bucket of seedlings and a “dibble” (a metal tool about 3 feet long with a “t-bar” handle and a wedge shaped blade). We were assigned rows in the large open field, and told to take 4 steps between each seedling so they would be adequately spaced. But that still left the problem of veering off to either side. My dad solved this by erecting two straight poles at the end of each row, one about fifteen feet behind the other. He told us that when we were ready to plant a tree, we should stop and look up toward the end of the row. As long as the two poles lined up one behind the other, then we knew that we were right on track. As fathers, each day we face a tremendous number of choices about how to invest our time, how to interact with our kids, how to discipline, how to get time alone with our wives, what leisure activities to engage in, and on and on. In the midst of this bewildering array of options, we need something to help us stay on track. Just like when I planted those trees many years ago, we need a goal that we can look toward to be sure that our fathering is not veering off course. THE GOAL OF A FATHER There are many different goals that parents have for their children. Some of the goals prevalent in our society are a good education, proper behavior and manners, high self-esteem, social or economic success, and happiness. While these are good goals, they each fall short of our ultimate purpose as parents, because they miss the heart of the matter our children’s relationship with God. Our ultimate goal should be God’s ultimate goal, to help our children live a life of faith and dependence on Him. The primary purpose of parenting is to create an environment that helps our children be transformed into the image of Christ. The Bible shows time and again how God changes men’s and women’s hearts so that they can have a renewed relationship with Him. As parents, we cannot change our children’s hearts — only God can do that. But we can be His instruments by helping our children learn that they desperately need to depend on Christ. As the psalmist wrote, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps. 146:5). 3 KEYS TO REACHING YOUR GOAL How do we create an environment that helps our children learn to depend on God? We do this by showing unconditional love, administering discipline, and being honest and vulnerable. 1. Show Unconditional Love By loving our children unconditionally, we model God’s love (Psalm 103:13). During the times of stress in our families, when waves of crisis come crashing over the walls, our children should never doubt that we have a deep and abiding love for them. They learn to depend on our love in much the same way we want them to learn to depend on God’s love. Our children have an emotional bank account, just like our spouses. Often, disobedient attitudes and actions come when their bank account is empty. Make daily deposits into the emotional bank accounts of your children by reading stories, playing wrestle, taking a walk, shooting baskets, or catching a movie. Keeping the bank account full lays a solid foundation for a life of dependence on the love of God. Here are some more ideas for showing unconditional love: Eyes — Don’t look your children in the eye only when you are angry with them, but communicate “I Love You” with your eyes at times when they have done nothing special to deserve it. Focused attention — Concentrated time with your children communicates “you’re important” and “I’d rather be with you than do something else.” Many of us need to put down the paper, turn off the TV or computer, and focus on our children. If we establish a pattern of really listening to our children about “unimportant” things, they will feel the freedom to approach us with more serious matters. Look for Open Doors — Keep an eye out for the times when your children are especially open to expressions of love: 1) When they find something funny; 2) When they have accomplished something; 3) When they are ill and want your love; 4) When they are hurt emotionally; and 5) During times of pleasant experience (camping, athletics, etc.) 2. Administer Discipline God disciplines us to help us return to a right relationship with Him (Hebrews 12:7-11). In the same way, when we discipline our children, we help shape their attitude and character. As Christian parents, we cannot be satisfied with children who simply act moral. The heart governs the actions, and God will judge our children’s hearts. We don’t want them to grow up thinking they can be self-sufficient and righteous in their own strength; rather we want them to realize that only God can change their hearts and give them the righteousness of Christ. Here are some keys to effective discipline: Remember that your goal is to shape the attitudes of your child’s heart. Discipline your child’s attitude, not just the action. Continue the discipline until your child shows that his/her attitudes have changed. Don’t stop short just because he is willing to stop the offending action. Appeal to his conscience so that he will see his sinful heart and know that he needs God. Always affirm your love for your child as you discipline. Require “First Time” Obedience. At the heart of many disobedient actions is an attitude of defiance. If we do not require obedience the first time we ask, we simply encourage our children to creatively develop this defiant attitude toward us, and, by extension, toward God. Once your children know that you will discipline them the first time, they will obey the first time. This prepares them to live a life of obedience and dependence on God. Praising positive attitudes helps prevent discipline problems. When you praise your child, he will gain an appropriate self-esteem and sense of accomplishment. Make sure that you praise for attitudes as well as behavior (“Johnny, you had such a kind and helpful spirit when you put those blocks in the basket.”). Be sure that your praise includes focused attention, affirmation, physical contact and eye contact. All of these things help to shape your child’s heart. Discipline is for the child, not the parent. There is a tendency to use discipline as a way for the parent to stop unwanted behaviors and get a few minutes of peace. Then the child returns to normal activity without ever being confronted with his sinful attitudes. But discipline should primarily be focused on helping the child, not the parent. Make sure that you follow-up discipline with an appeal to your child’s conscience, seeking to transform the attitude that led to the disobedience and defiance. 3. Be Honest and Vulnerable. Sometimes men want to parent by reputation rather than reality. They don’t want their children to think that there are any “chinks in their armor”. But if we want our children to learn to depend on God, we need to be open and honest with our children about our own failures and weaknesses. We need to let them see that we are not self-sufficient, that we can’t make it on our own. They need to see us living a life of dependence on God. When we fail to love our children the way we should, or when we discipline them in an unrighteous way, we need to ask for their forgiveness. If we sin against our wives or others in the presence of our children, we need to let them know that we have asked for forgiveness and restored the relationship. Our kids already realize that we are not perfect, we may as well go ahead and admit it. They need to know that although we will not always meet their needs, God will. CONCLUSION When we love our children unconditionally, we teach them that they are valuable and that God has created them to live in a relationship of dependence on Him. When we discipline our children, we help them see the limits of their own “self-righteousness” and their desperate need for the righteousness of Christ. When we are vulnerable with our children, we model for them a life of dependence and faith in God. As fathers, we cannot afford to be distracted by the multitude of choices and options that confront us each day. We have a limited amount of time to impact our children, and we need to make each day count. Commit today to lift your eyes and focus on the goal that God has for you — helping your children live a life of obedience and dependence on God. David Delk is the Executive Director of Man in the Mirror. |
| Man in the Mirror: A Man’s Guide to Work. An Excerpt from Pat’s New Book |
| Written by Patrick Morley |
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Preamble Here’s an excerpt from A Man’s Guide to Work: 12 Ways to Honor God on the Job, January 2010, Moody Publishers. From the Introduction YOU WERE CREATED TO WORK, and you will feel most happy, most alive, and most useful when you are doing the work you were created to do. Unfortunately, over 50 percent of all workers are dissatisfied with their jobs — a record high — and as many as 80 percent are not in jobs best suited for them. That’s tragic, since about half of your 112 waking hours each week will be devoted to work and your work commute. Most men do not have what we might call “a theology of work.” They feel theologically stranded-left to cobble together their own doctrine of work. They have not been trained for the marketplace. Ask most Christian men, “Is business or plumbing a calling, like being a pastor? What is God’s purpose for you in the marketplace?” or a dozen similar questions, and you will probably get blank stares. That’s not because the Bible is thin on the subject. Far from it. The Bible is replete with wisdom for every work situation you will ever encounter. From Chapter 1-Calling: Businessman, Plumber, or Minister-Same Thing MEN WHO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST are an occupation force “ordained” to serve in the markets of men. We should regard work not just as a platform for ministry — work is ministry, and we are stewards put in charge until Jesus comes back, a fifth column who infiltrate a world stained by sin, acting as salt that preserves the way of Christ and light that leads broken people out of darkness. Same Work, Two Results Picture two airline ticket agents. They do exactly the same job, but one views his work as something he does to earn money, so when he finishes his shift, he can do what he really wants to do. He is easily irritated by customers complaining when their travel plans go awry. The second agent views his work as a calling. Every time someone comes to him with a problem, he sees it as an opportunity to serve the customer and represent his great God. The agent does what he was called to do to the glory of God, even when facing resistance from a particular customer. That second ticket agent understands the big idea of this chapter: Whether you’re a businessman or a minister, your work is a calling. It has intrinsic value, and it has potential to bear eternal fruit that honors God. Is Work a Blessing or a Curse? Many assume that work is part of the curse that resulted from Adam and Eve’s sin-what we commonly call “the fall.” As a result of that sin, God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:17-19). Ouch! But work itself was created prior to the fall in Genesis 2 as a blessing from God, not in Genesis 3 where, because of the fall, work was made difficult. Because of the fall, though, we must do our work while feeling the prick of thorns — it is both a blessing and a curse. Is a Career in Ministry More Spiritual than a Career in Business? Once I visited a church in my hometown. For about forty minutes, the guest preacher said, in essence, that if you really love Jesus, you will go to the mission field. When the service was over, I slinked out of the sanctuary. I felt that if I didn’t become a full-time career missionary, I always would be a second-class citizen in God’s kingdom. That distorted view, severing our work life from our spiritual life, is biblically inaccurate. Work, it turns out, can be a calling just like going into the ministry. Every vocation is holy to the Lord. God makes no distinction between sacred and secular. If you look up the word secular in your Bible concordance, what will you find? Nothing, because the word secular is not in the Bible. Twentieth-century evangelical theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer, in answering practical questions written to him by everyday people, noted, “One thing you should very definitely have in mind — that is that a ministry such as teaching the Bible in a college is no higher calling intrinsically than being a businessman or doing something else.” God calls some people to be pastors or teachers or evangelists. And He calls some to work in businesses, hospitals, fire departments, or construction. You Are an “Ordained” Worker I remember a man who once visited the Friday morning Man in the Mirror Bible study I lead, who told me, “All my life I wanted to be a high school math teacher. Finally, my dream came true. But I soon saw two problems. First, my students were coming to class with problems math can’t solve. Second, the Christian teachers in my school don’t know each other. God has put a vision in my mind about how to address those two issues. I am an ordained math teacher.” He sure got that right. If you are a Christian in the marketplace — whether driving the truck, fixing the computers, or running the company — you are “ordained” to that position. Work Is Ministry As already noted, work is not just a platform to do ministry — it is ministry. If you are a waiter, every couple sitting at your station is a divine appointment. They provide an opportunity for you to serve them in the name of Jesus Christ. “How may I help you?” “May I take your order?” If you are a salesman, every appointment is holy, and every closing is sacred. If you are a manager, every time you intervene between two employees who cannot see eye-to-eye, you have an opportunity to demonstrate the reconciling power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The landscape designer, the building contractor, the UPS deliveryman, the chief executive officer — all of these people have chosen employment that can be spiritual when accomplished within the circle drawn by Scripture. Every vocation can be holy to the Lord, if we look to Him day by day for His help. For the Christian, all of life is “spiritual.” Work Should Bring Glory to God Not everything you do has to result in someone’s immediate salvation. Just working in a way that wins the respect of other people is valuable to God’s kingdom. And furthermore, it is valuable to work in such a way that you limit your dependence on other people (e.g., not going into debt). Those simple aspects of living out your calling will enhance God’s reputation in our culture. Simply put, your work is a summons to follow Jesus. Your work enables you to go where Jesus would go, to be what Jesus would be, and to do what Jesus would do. That is a calling. We will experience resistance — that’s part of the curse. But when we see work as a calling, we know we can do it for God’s glory. Work is a noble and holy vocation. That’s the “big idea” for this chapter: Regardless of whether you’re a businessman or a minister, your work is a calling. It has intrinsic value, and it has potential to bear eternal fruit. I pray your work will be a place where you can feel happy, alive, and useful because you know that you’re doing what you were created to do. |
| A Road Map for Spiritual Revival and Awakening in America |
| Written by Patrick Morley |
| In describing what happened in Jonathan Edward’s Northampton, Massachusetts church in 1734, observers said, “It pleased God…to display his free and sovereign mercy in the conversion of a great multitude of souls in a short space of time, turning them from a formal, cold, and careless profession of Christianity, to the lively exercise of every Christian grace, and the powerful practice of our holy religion.”1
That’s about as clear a definition as we’ll ever get! During a revival, God supernaturally transforms believers and non-believers in a church, locale, region, nation, or the world through sudden, intense enthusiasm for Christianity.2 People sense the presence of God powerfully; conviction, despair, contrition, repentance, and prayer come easily; people thirst for God’s word; many authentic conversions occur and backsliders are renewed. Revival and awakening are, generally, synonyms. The larger the geography a revival covers, the greater the tendency to call it an awakening. America has a deep, rich history of revivals and awakenings. Revivals in America: A Well-Travelled Road
The Great Awakening, 1734-43. In December 1734, the first revival of historic significance broke out in Northampton, Massachusetts, where a young Jonathan Edwards was pastor. After months of fruitless labor, he reported five or six people converted–one a young woman. He wrote, “[She] had been one of the greatest company-keepers in the whole town.”3 He feared her conversion would douse the flame, but quite the opposite took place. Three hundred souls converted in six months–in a town of only 1,100 people!4 The news spread like wildfire, and similar revivals broke out in over 100 towns.5 Starting in Philadelphia in 1739, George Whitfield’s dramatic preaching was like striking a match to the already-underway awakening. An estimated 80% of America’s 900,000 Colonists personally heard Whitfield preach.6 7 He became America’s first celebrity.8 The Second Great Awakening, 1800-1840. In 1800, only one in 15 of America’s population of 5,300,000 belonged to an evangelical church.9 Presbyterian minister James McGready presided over strange spiritual manifestations in Logan County, Kentucky. The resulting camp meeting revivals drew thousands from as far away as Ohio.10 11 Rev. Gardiner Spring reported that for the next 25 years not a single month passed without news of a revival somewhere.12 In 1824, Charles Finney began a career that would eventually convert 500,000 to Christ. An unparalleled 100,000 were converted in Rochester, New York, in 1831 alone–causing the revival to spread to 1,500 towns.13 By 1850 the nation’s population exploded fourfold to 23,000,000 people, but those connected to evangelical churches grew nearly tenfold from 7% to 13% of the population–from 350,000 to 3,000,000 church members!14 The Businessmen’s Revival of 1857-1858. In 1857, the North Dutch Church in New York City hired a businessman, Jeremiah Lanphier, to be a lay missionary. He prayed, “Lord, what would you have me do?” Concerned by the anxious faces of businessmen on the streets of New York City, Lanphier decided to open the church at noon so businessmen could pray. The first meeting was set for September 23–three weeks before the Bank Panic of 1857. Six attended the first week, 20 the next, then 40, then they switched to daily meetings. Before long all the space was taken, and other churches also began to open up for businessmen’s prayer meetings.15 Revivals broke out everywhere in 1857, spreading throughout the United States and world. Sometimes called The Great Prayer Meeting Revival, an estimated 1,000,000 people were added to America’s church rolls, and as many as 1,000,000 of the 4,000,000 existing church members also converted.16 The Civil War Revival, 1861-1865. The bitter dispute over slavery thrust our nation into the deadliest war we’ve ever experienced. By the end, 620,000 Americans lay dead–one out of every 50 of the 31,000,000 people counted in the 1860 census. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, it seemed as though the soldiers for both sides had left their Christianity at home and gone morally berserk. By 1862, the tide turned, first among the Confederate forces. An estimated 300,000 soldiers were converted, evenly divided between the Southern and Northern Armies. 17 18 The Urban Revivals, 1875-1885. Young businessman Dwight L. Moody participated in the Great Revival of 1857 as it swept Chicago.19 Moody later conducted revivals throughout the British Isles where he spoke to more than 2,500,000 people. In 1875, Moody returned home and began revivals in America’s biggest cities. Hundreds of thousands were converted and millions were inspired by the greatest soul winner of his generation.20 At this time, the general worldview of Americans was shifting away from a Christian consensus. Darwinism and higher criticism were gaining traction, and Moody became the first evangelist to come under attack–accused of making religion the opiate of the masses.21 By the turn of the twentieth century, the mood of the country was changing. Outside the church, it was the era of radio, movies, and the “Jazz Age.” World War I led to a moral letdown and the Roaring Twenties. When that era came to an abrupt end on October 29, 1929, followed by the Great Depression, there was surprisingly little interest in spiritual revival.22 Inside the church, a half-century long battle raged between evangelicalism and theological liberalism which had penetrated major denominations.23 The effect was that twentieth century revivals were more limited in scope, and lacked the broad impact on society of earlier awakenings.24 The Revivals of 1905-1906. Word of the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 spread to Welsh-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania in late 1904 and revival broke out. By 1905, local revivals blazed in places like Brooklyn, Michigan, Denver, Schenectady, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Taylor University, Yale University, and Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky.25 Billy Sunday, who became a key figure about this time, preached to more than 100,000,000 people with an estimated 1,000,000 or more conversions.26 The Azusa Street Revival, 1906. In 1906, William J. Seymour, an African-American Holiness pastor blind in one eye, went to Los Angeles to candidate for a pastoral job. But after he preached, he was locked out of the second service! He began prayer meetings in a nearby home and the Spirit of God, which they called “the second blessing,” fell after many months of concerted prayer. Eventually, the interracial crowds became so large they acquired a dilapidated Methodist church at 312 Azusa Street where daily meetings continued for three years. The resulting Pentecostal Movement and the later Charismatic Movement, which both exploded worldwide in the twentieth century both trace their roots to this revival.27 28 29 The Post-World War II Awakening. After World War II, in 1947 and 1948, Pentecostals experienced two strands of an awakening, one the Latter Rain Revival and the other the Healing Revival. Large numbers of evangelicals also experienced revival resulting in many conversions. It was at this time that a great generation of Christian leaders emerged. Bill Bright began Campus Crusade for Christ. In 1949, Billy Graham’s distinguished career, which popularized evangelical Christianity for a new generation, exploded on the scene during his Los Angeles crusade sponsored by the Christian Businessmen’s Committee.30 31 An estimated 180,000,000 people attended his nearly 400 crusades, and millions more viewed on television.32 College Revivals started as early as 1946, but when the prayer-based Wheaton College Revival of 1950 achieved national publicity, it sparked other college revivals throughout America.33 The Charismatic Renewal and Jesus Movement. During the late 1960s and early 1970s more revivals of national scope developed. The first strand was the Charismatic Renewal which spread far beyond Pentecostal and Holiness churches to college campuses, the Catholic Church, and mainline denominations.34 The second strand, the widely publicized Jesus Movement, emphasized turning from drugs, sex, and radical politics to taking the Bible at face value and finding Jesus Christ as personal Savior.35 Not surprisingly, this revival spread to college campuses, most notably the 1970 Asbury College Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky. Within a week the revival had spread throughout the entire country.36 In 1976 America elected a born-again president, and evangelicalism has continued to prosper from then to now. The Mid-1990s Revivals. Despite the widespread secularization of society since the Cultural Revolution that began in the late 1960s, in the mid-1990s God once again brought a series of revivals, mostly to Charismatic and Pentecostal groups. In 1994 it was The Toronto Blessing, and 1995 ushered in the Melbourne Revival on Florida’s Space Coast, the Modesto Revival, and the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida, which recorded 100,000 conversions in two years.37 College Revivals swept across America, starting at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, under the preaching of Henry Blackaby, a Southern Baptist.38 The Promise Keepers Revival, the most publicized of the mid-1990s Revivals, began in 1991 when 4,200 men descended on the University of Colorado to be challenged to live up to their faith. In 1993, 50,000 men assembled from every state and 16 nations. In the following years, stadium events were conducted in cities throughout the United States. A spirit of revival and transformation swept across America as millions of men attended. The revival reached it’s zenith on October 4, 1997, as 1,000,000 or more men gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. By the close of 2000, Promise Keepers reported 5,000,000 had attended 100 conferences. An additional 1,000,000 men have been impacted since.39 Ten Characteristics of Revivals Each revival or awakening leaves its own heat signature; in 1740 youth led the way, in 1857 businessmen and prayer took center stage, and the 1906 Azusa Street revival was decidedly interracial. Yet all share common themes. What are the most frequently mentioned characteristics of revivals and awakenings in literature? 1. TIMING: Revivals emerge during times of spiritual and moral decline, which leads to intense prayer.40 2. PRAYER: God puts a longing into the hearts of many to pray for revival.41 3. THE WORD: The preaching or reading of God’s Word brings deep conviction and desire for Christ.42 4. THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit takes people to a spiritual depth they could not achieve on their own.43 5. CONVICTION: Affected sinners are inconsolable except in Christ. 6. GLORY FOR GOD: God receives praise, honor, and glory for bringing revival. 7. REFORMATION AND RENEWAL: Revival produces lasting fruit. New ministries are founded and society experiences a reform of morals as more and more people convert.44 45 46 8. MANIFESTATIONS: Manifestations like fainting, groaning prayer, and miracles vary by culture and denomination.47 9. MESSY: Revivals are messy–controversies swirl about miracles, abuses, excesses, suspicions, and theological disputes (to name but a few).48 10. CYCLICAL: Revivals inevitably crest and decline.49 50 Is America Ripe for Revival Today? A majority of Americans believe our country is going downhill. Yet church attendance as a percent of population has held steady since 1990, and probably since 1940.51 America added 50,000 new churches in the last 20 years of the 20th century to total 350,000.52 The number of born-again Christians has grown steadily to 46% of adults today.53 Given the state of moral and spiritual decay, how is that possible? The answer is simple. Today, Christianity is prevalent but not powerful. The solution is spiritual revival and awakening. We’ve not had an awakening in America of historic proportion for a long time. With such a great tradition of revival and awakening, a great base from which to start, and a great need to counteract the increasing moral and spiritual decline, our nation appears ripe for a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit. But history tells us that national revivals and awakenings cannot be manufactured. They are sovereign acts of mercy and grace by God Himself, when He supernaturally achieves in a short span what seems otherwise impossible. However, God loves to respond to the prayers of His people (e.g., 2 Chronicles 7:14). While the decision belongs to God alone, He gives us the privilege of hastening the day through humble repentant prayer. Let us pray…. |
| How to “Walk in the Spirit” |
| Written by Patrick Morley |
| When Bill was in his twenties he asked Jesus Christ to forgive his sins and give him the gift of eternal life. During the last fifteen years he has had a few spiritual “moments,” but mostly Bill has struggled against his lusts, his anger, his pride, his selfishness, and his worldly ambition. He stumbles when he tries to balance his priorities and usually ends up scheduling his family right out of his life.
Bill likes church, but the messages on Sunday just don’t seem to do very much for him. All in all, he feels pretty lukewarm. He’s not cold toward God, but neither is he passionate about his relationship with the Lord. Bill, like millions of other Christian men, lives a defeated Christian life because he does not understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As a result his experience is like that of the man Paul describes in Rom. 7:15-23: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. WHY DO WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT? Why is it so troubling to us when we aren’t walking with God? Exactly because we know we can have a deeper relationship with Him by walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Here are four reasons why we need the Holy Spirit. 1. The Holy Spirit quenches our soul’s thirst for a deeper relationship with God. Jesus said, “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit” (John 7:37-39). 2. There is an ongoing battle that can only be won by the Spirit. All men struggle with temptation and sin. The flesh and the Spirit want different results. “For the sinful nature (flesh) desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature (flesh). They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Gal. 5:17). A man said he felt like two dogs were fighting inside him. “Which one is winning?” asked a friend. “The one I feed the most,” he answered. 3. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s truth and points us to Christ. Jesus said that the Spirit would come and “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness” and “lead (the disciples) into all truth” (John 16: 8,13). Today, only the power of the Holy Spirit can change our deceitful hearts and allow us to know God. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by pointing our hearts towards Him; without the Spirit we would still walk in the darkness of unbelief. 4. Learning to walk in the Spirit is the turning point from cultural Christianity to Biblical Christianity. Yet, according to Campus Crusade for Christ surveys, 95% of Christians do not understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Still, God desires for us to walk in dependence on the Holy Spirit every moment of our lives. At its core, the normal Christian life is the life of the Spirit. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? The Holy Spirit is God. He is co-eternal and of the same substance as God the Father and Jesus Christ. What would be left without the Spirit? “If God were to withdraw His Spirit, all life would disappear and mankind would turn again to dust” (Job 34:14, TLB). Some of His roles include converter (Titus 3:5, John 3:3-6), comforter and counselor (John 14:16), teacher (John 14:26), witness to Christ (John 15:26), intercessor (Rom. 8:26-27), empowerer (Acts 1:8), and seal until redemption (Eph. 1:13). He is the giver of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7,11). If you need comfort, counsel, conviction, assurance, someone to intercede with God the Father on your behalf, power to witness, strength to overcome temptation, or forgiveness of sins – the Holy Spirit will meet your need. When we talk about “walking in the Spirit”, we do not mean that there are two “levels” of Christianity. Either you are a Christian or you are not. If you are a Christian, the Bible teaches that over time you will be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Still, while the Holy Spirit indwells every true Christian, not all Christians live in daily dependence on the Holy Spirit to the same degree. Every Christian can grow in his understanding of what it means to walk in the Spirit. ONE BAPTISM, MANY FILLINGS The Bible reveals two basic experiences with the Holy Spirit. First, the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” means that we are washed clean of our sins and are renewed in our inner man. All Christians receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion (Eph. 1:13-14). In fact, we cannot become a Christian without the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6). Did you know that our bodies are actually the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16)? Second, the “filling of the Holy Spirit” is our daily dependence on the Holy Spirit and commitment to God’s word. You can be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in His strength and power. In fact, it is God’s will for you to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 puts it this way: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be “under the influence” and living in the light of God’s word. The allusion is to deep drinking, but always under control. HOW CAN WE BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT? We can be filled with the Holy Spirit by faith when we prayerfully depend on Him and follow God’s word. You can be filled right now by asking Him to fill and empower you. Here is a prayer you can pray and commit to depend on the Holy Spirit. . . A PRAYER TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Lord Jesus, I need You. I have succumbed to my sinful nature (the flesh) and I have sinned. I have not been living by the Spirit and the teachings of Your word. I desire to be reconciled with You and to again experience Your love and forgiveness. I confess my sins to You and ask You to forgive me (Note: confess specific sins to Him). Thank You for forgiving all of my sins. Holy Spirit, I want to live in dependence on You and allow You to continue changing me. Help me live in moment-by-moment fellowship with You. Empower me to be a Biblical Christian. Amen. HOW TO BE CONTINUOUSLY FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Being filled must be maintained. It is not an automatic, once-for-all thing. We have one baptism, but many fillings. When God shows you that you have sinned, acknowledge and confess that sin. Thank Jesus that He has forgiven all your sins. Then ask the Holy Spirit to again empower you to obey God’s word. The key is to keep “short accounts” with God and maintain your commitment to His word – don’t let unconfessed sins take root in your life. Examine yourself at least daily. You will get better by practice and increasing spiritual maturity. Pray a prayer such as this anytime you find that you are out of fellowship with God. A PRAYER TO BE CONTINUOUSLY FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Lord Jesus, I confess (name the specific sin). I thank You that You died for this and all my sins. Please forgive me, and take control of my life. Holy Spirit, by depending on You, I commit to walk in Your power. Amen. APPLICATIONS 1. Which of the following best describes your experience with the Holy Spirit prior to reading this newsletter, and why? I consistently walk in dependence on the Spirit. 2. If you have not already done so, are you ready to pray “A Prayer To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit”? If so, pray it now. 3. Meditate on “A Prayer To Be Continuously Filled With The Holy Spirit.” Why not make it a habit to pray a prayer such as this whenever you find yourself losing focus in your Christian life? Keep this newsletter in a convenient place until walking in the Spirit becomes a habit for you. |
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| Written by Patrick Morley | ||
| The following article is adapted from Chapter Four of Pat’s new book,How to Survive the Economic Meltdown.Over the last year, Mark has watched his small business teeter on the brink.
Sometimes when he can’t sleep, he repeats the words of Jesus over and over, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Eventually, he dozes off. Mark said, “Sure, it’s tough. But I’ve grown more spiritually in the last year than in the previous ten years combined. Yes, it’s scary, but it’s also exciting. Because I know that only God can make this right.” How God Sees You Let me summarize what the Bible has to say about you. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He knows when you sit or stand. He knows every word before it forms on the tip of your tongue. He determined the exact times and places where you would live. When Jesus looks at you He is filled with compassion, because you are harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd. God our Savior wants all men—including you—to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. He takes no delight in the death of the wicked. You are His “special possession.” You are the full expression of God’s creative genius. God was at His very best when He made you. His love is staggering. God’s Great Desire The first time I had a kidney stone, I was afraid I was going to die. Then, after two hours of intense pain, I was afraid I wasn’t going to die! At the Emergency Room I was begging them for some relief. Finally, they gave me a shot of morphine. Praise God! Next, an orderly wheeled me out to get an x-ray. My wife, Patsy, came too. When we arrived, there was a line, so the orderly pushed my gurney against the wall and left. I began talking to Patsy in a loud voice. “I feel a love for God right now like I have never felt before. I feel the presence of Jesus! I can feel the Holy Spirit coursing through my veins!” Patsy said, “Shut up, you dummy. That’s the morphine.” Of course it was. But let me ask you. Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of love for God? God’s great desire is to have a reciprocal love relationship with you. He loves us, and the most important thing we can do is love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—the totality of our being, every ounce of our energy, and the sum of our strength. We are to bring an intensity to the loving of God. The Patience of God The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God is not in any big hurry. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.” Why? “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). So God has a plan—to allow people to repent and love Him. But God is also patient. Ironically, His patience presents a problem. Because God doesn’t quickly spank us, we tend to mistake His patience for permission. So what is God’s plan when you’ve gotten off track? The Removal of the Shakable Kingdom At the zenith of my business career, I could tell what my religious friends were thinking: “Wow! He must really be under God’s blessing.” But I wanted to shake them and say, “No! You don’t understand. I’m ‘gagging’ here. I have everything I ever wanted, and I’m miserable! I hate my life.” That led to me surrendering my life to the Lordship of Christ. God must have believed me, because I soon found myself in “the meltdown.” It’s as though God said, “You know, Pat, I really believe you. But you’ve given me so little to work with that I’m going to have to start over with you.” God leveled me to the foundation. Fortunately, I had the foundation of Christ. Then, when my economic meltdown hit, I could tell what those same friends were thinking: “Wow! He must really be under God’s curse!” And, again, I wanted to shake them and say, “No! You don’t understand. This is a blessing, not a curse. God is faithfully removing the shakable kingdom I built so His unshakable kingdom may remain. I’ve never been so happy.” Here’s how the writer of Hebrews put it:
A Blessing, or a Curse? If you’re in the meltdown now, you may be wondering, “How could losing so much be a blessing?” It’s simple. You were rushing to your own destruction, and God intervened. As Hebrews 12:7 says, “God disciplines us for our own good.” Spiritual pundit Jamie Buckingham cleverly put it this way: “He whom God loveth, he beateth the hell out of!” No one in their right mind would be thankful for a curse, right? Hebrews 12:28-29 says:
God will not force you to revere Him, but He will make it impossible for you to be happy until you do. “It Was Good For Me To Be Afflicted” God called King David “a man after my own heart” (Acts 14:22). God loved David. But David became proud and sinned. Because God loved David, He afflicted David’s life. He removed something David thought he could not live without. Listen to what David had to say after God melted him down.”
So What Is God’s Plan For You? You may be in one of several situations. First, you may be a Biblical Christian. You’re caught up in the economic meltdown through no fault of your own. It happens. Daniel 11:35 says, “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.” Continue to walk with Christ by faith, trusting that His promises are good and true. Second, you may be a Cultural Christian. You’ve made a profession of faith in Christ, but you’ve gotten caught up in worldly ways. So your task is to come humbly to the foot of the Cross and there surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I suggest you do this right now. You can either pray in your own words, or this suggested prayer:
Third, you are a Seeker who has yet to invite Christ into your life. Frankly, an economic meltdown is a small price to pay for eternal life. In this chapter I’ve explained how God sees you, His great desire to have a reciprocal love relationship with you—forever, and His patience. Isn’t it time for you to reach out to the One who is always reaching out to you? Pray the prayer above, then find a pastor or mature man from your church – or find a church – and tell him you want to commit the rest of your life to Christ. He’ll clarify any questions you have and help you make sure you’ve received Christ as your Savior and Lord. Do it as soon as possible. Experiencing how people respond will encourage you and bolster your faith in your decision.
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| How to Love God More Deeply |
| Written by Patrick Morley |
| Excerpts from The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life (Zondervan Publishers)
I have a confession to make. In 1991 I retired from the day-to-day responsibilities of my business to devote more time to the noble purpose of helping men find success that matters. Yet almost immediately, something felt amiss. AN “ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE” Within weeks I found myself evaluating “how I was doing” with the same old methods of measuring performance as in business. How many people were in attendance at that speaking engagement? What percentage of them indicated they gave their lives to Christ? How many books did we sell this month? Was it more than last month? And I began to hate it. So, I began to pray and ask God to give me some sort of “organizing principle” around which I could order my life. A few months later I was reading The Letters of Francis Schaeffer. I can’t recall exactly what I read, but I was prompted to put down the book, pick up my legal pad and write, “I will commit myself to a life of devotion and study of God, then speak, teach, and write about what I am learning.” Eureka! I thought. That’s it! The key to staying on track is a life of devotion and study of God. A life of devotion means to love Him more and more, and a life of study means to know Him more and more. To love and know God. These, then, should become my chief pursuits, and everything else should proceed out of the overflow of what God is doing in my life. I realized that my relationship with Him must always be a higher priority than the work I do for Him. A UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE This “organizing principle” – however one might word it -has application for us all. In other words, we each should be committed to our relationship with Christ as our first priority. We each should be committed to a life of devotion and study of God. Then, after we are filled up to the overflow with enough Jesus for ourselves and some left over to give away, we go do whatever it is we are called to do – practice law, fix plumbing, sell, manage, mow lawns, drive a truck, perform accounting or whatever. In other words, in God’s economy paying attention to our relationship with Him necessarily takes priority over the work He has called us to do. Beginning a work day without some time for reflection and planning leads to a day of wasted motion and fatigue. In the same way, if we do not spend time praying through our concerns and listening for the voice of God in Scripture, throughout that day we will not enjoy the guidance that comes from standing regularly in the presence of our Maker. We won’t be salt and light if through neglect we lose our flavor and let our batteries run down. So, how can a man learn to love God more deeply? FINDING THE RIGHT LOVE LANGUAGE Recently, my wife, Patsy, and I had the serendipity of learning about Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages. I had to chuckle. For twenty three years I have loved Patsy the way I want to be loved. I feel loved when Patsy spends large blocks of quality time with me. Since that’s how I want to be loved, I assumed that was the best way to love her. So, I have smothered Patsy with long talks and doing things together. For twenty three years Patsy has loved me the way she wants to be loved. She feels loved when I help out with household chores, run errands, or do small acts of kindness, so that’s how she loved me. If I needed a clean shirt I might say, “That’s okay, I’ll just re-press this one. Nobody will know.” She would always say, “No, that’s okay. Really. I’d love to run up to the cleaners for you.” In other words, we have loved the way we want to be loved but really didn’t know how the other wanted to receive love. Here’s the question: Do you know how God wants to be loved? Are you loving God the way He wants to be loved? I fear we have not thought deeply enough about how He wants us to love Him. How does God want to be loved? LOVE GOD WITH INTENSITY The first way God wants to be loved is with intensity. A lawyer told Jesus that the way to eternal life was to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Jesus commended his answer (Lk 10:25-28). Job’s wife said, “Why don’t you just curse God and die.” Job replied, “Oh, you are speaking like a foolish woman. Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” When persecuted, Jeremiah wrote, “But if I say I will not mention Him or speak anymore in His name, His word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones! I am weary of holding it in! Indeed, I cannot!” Wouldn’t you love to have that kind of passion for God? To love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind is to love God with the totality of our being, with the sum of our strength, with every ounce of our energy. We are to bring an intensity to the loving of God. WHY WE CAN LOVE GOD AT ALL We can’t love God with intensity because we are good or strong. We love God because He reached His loving hand down into the slough of human progress and pain to capture our souls through the grace of Christ. The Bible puts it this way: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9, 10). In other words, we love Him because He first loved us. Jesus Christ is God’s message of love to our broken generation. LOVING GOD LEADS TO OBEDIENCE Jesus said that if we love God in our hearts, we will obey Him with our lives, If you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15). Thank God if you love Him. If you want to love Him more, draw closer to Christ. The loving of God must triumph as the top priority for every true follower of Christ. APPLICATION 1. With which of these three statements do you most identify? I love God with everything that is within me and long to know Him more intimately. 2. Consider the following ideas to bring you into a deeper personal relationship with God: Get up before dawn, sit in your backyard, look into the sky, read Psalm 8 with a flashlight, and contemplate the majesty and glory of God. Business leader, author, and speaker, Patrick Morley has been used throughout the world to help men and leaders think more deeply about their lives, to be reconciled with Christ, and to equip them to have a larger impact on the world. © 1996. Patrick M. Morley. All rights reserved |
Building Romance Into Your Marriage |
| Written by Patrick Morley & David Delk | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Excerpted and adapted from The Marriage Prayer (Moody Publishers, Fall 2008)
Some mornings there is dew all over the ground, almost like the remains from a heavy rain. Other days the grass may be nearly dry. Why the difference? Dew forms when the temperature drops low enough to cause the moisture in the atmosphere to condense. The more water vapor in the air, the higher the temperature at which dew forms. The dryer the air, the colder it has to get. Romance in a marriage is like dew condensing from the air. If the atmosphere of your marriage is dry, romance is hard to come by. Rather than being romantic, small actions toward one another—a smile, a word, a held hand—can seem forced or even manipulative. But if you saturate your marriage with love, time and affection, then small moments of connection mean a lot more. In the right conditions, those small, tender actions condense into something that becomes romance. How can you help your spouse feel cherished? It won’t usually come as a by-product of a few big actions; it will flow out of the atmosphere from lots little things that demonstrate daily love. When Romance Is Gone In our busy world it’s easy for the feeling of romance to fade away. “There’s just no fire there.” “He doesn’t love me anymore.” “She acts like I’m her brother, not her lover.” “It feels like we’re just living together as roommates.” We hear this from men and women all the time. What’s going on when this happens? There are at least two possibilities… The first is that you have unrealistic expectations. Every day won’t feel as electric as the movie theater at eighteen years old. The loss of a job, sick in-laws, teenagers whose grades aren’t what they should be, the death of a friend, and intense projects at work—life is filled with all kinds of circumstances that simply cannot be romantic. That’s okay. As Pat has said before, all disappointment is a result of unmet expectations. Make sure you and your spouse are on the same page about the stresses and realities of what’s happening in your life right now. Your life-stage and current circumstances profoundly affect the state of your romantic relationship. Still, when weeks and weeks go by with no romance, then there’s a problem. Often what has happened is that we have forgotten to treat our spouse with care and respect. We have misplaced our priorities and let other things distract us from moment-by-moment care for our spouse. Why is there a lack of romance in your marriage? Perphaps you have forgotten what your “love” actually looks like to your spouse. You aren’t actually cherishing your spouse the way God cherishes you. You don’t love God more than them and them more than anyone or anything else. When we “love” like this, romance withers and dies. First Corinthians chapter 13 is a great diagnostic to evaluate our daily love. It shows us how true love acts toward others. Perhaps you’ve read it many times, but what if we made this passage specific for you? How would your love measure up? Insert your name in the blanks below (where “love” appears in the original). ________ is patient, ________ is kind. ________ does not envy, ________
Glad you asked. Here are some key ideas for how to create an atmosphere that promotes romance. As you read them, consider which one might best apply to your situation.
NBAS (No-Brainer Action Step)
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Seriously, many teens worship their moms. Include them by letting each teen add to “The Letter.” Show them the importance of building Mother’s Day into their value system.
