Prayer

To the Church:  
   A praying church is a church with staying power. Nothing eternal can be achieved without spiritual intercession. To say that we live in important days, and that we are facing critical situations, both locally and worldwide, is an understatement. Our world needs us now.

   In the economy of God, the altar of sacrifice was the central and significant item of furniture in the tabernacle and the temple. Without it there could have been no worship of sweet smelling incense. God’s plan has always been the altar, and God’s program has always been prayer. We do not dare think that we have a better plan, or that we have a better program.

   Together, let’s renew our efforts and our zeal for the altar and for times of prayer. Come when you can. Pray as long as you can. Pray sincerely. Pray fervently. Pray for each other. Pray for our missionaries and pastors everywhere. Pray for our country. Let our neighbors, and those that pass by the church, see people coming and going at all times for prayer. Let them see the glow of God and the peace of His presence as we leave.

"Units of prayer combined, like drops of water, make an ocean that defies resistance." E.M. Bounds

pastor hilderbrand

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Sorrow goes farther backwards than regret.
We all have regrets. I wish I would have. I should have.  If only I had done this or gone there, or said this. . .

Sorrow dwells longer in the past than regret.Sorrow builds a dwelling place in the past and says, "this is your address". Have all your mail delivered here on Regretful Lane in a house called Sorrow.

Sorrow also looks into your every tomorrow and reaches farther and farther into you future and begins to steal not only your past , but your tomorrows and tomorrow’s hopes.

Sorrow steals hope and preaches a continuous message:  "there will never be any change. Things will always be the way they have always been."

The apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Ghost, commands. . . sorrow not. Concerning them which are asleep in Jesus, I would remind you of our hope.  Do not dwell in the ancient history of your lives or the lives of those you love.  Do not build a house of Sorrow on Regretful Lane.

I REMIND YOU OF OUR HOPE
OUR HOPE that is founded and anchored in the unchangeable, unmoveable, forever-settled promise of the Word of God. . .

I remind you of hope:  It is a hope of an assured future without regret, sorrow, or shame.  If you have been living on Regretful Lane, change your address.
 
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words
We shall FOREVER be with the Lord.

Honor in high places

I recently had a longing to hear the sounds of noble speech.  Too much of the current content of radio takes its toll on the human spirit.  I remembered listening and watching portions of the funeral service of President Ronald Reagan, so I went to "you tube"  and searched for Prime Minister Mulrooney from Canada.  I remembered listening to his tribute to our President.

 I watched and listened again to his uplifting and honoring message that day in that service where he elevated his friend -- our departed President.  Both the eloquent words and the dignity, as well as the marvelous voice of the Prime Minister were captivating.  So noble were the memories.  So honoring were the comments.  So encouraging were the images that were brought back to my mind.

I also remembered the Prime Minister of England, Margaret Thatcher.  What a dynamic and forceful lady and leader she was.  On that day of the funeral she could not speak in person due to personal health issues.  She had taken the time, however, to pre-record a video of her tribute to her friend and compatriot -- our president.  The video tribute which was shared was astounding and outstanding.  I watched again that video which was played at the funeral.  It was a captivating memorial given by one great leader to another. 

I began to search for the evidence of why President Reagan was so honored by his friends, and even those who had been his foes in politics and on the world stage.  I watched his speech given in 1964 and another given at the Republican national convention in 1980.  I wished as I watched and listened. . . "is there anyone in leadership today that could, and would, stand up and communicate these same principles as he did?"

 I feel that his success was a composite of many good things.  He loved his country.  He had high morals.  His self-deprecating humor made you feel that you knew him personally.  He stood his ground on the issues that really mattered.  He called things like they were, and his enemies became his friends.  He was not afraid to talk about God and made frequent references to the Bible.  He was real. 

He fought against many of the precise issues that are again being dragged through the cluttered streets of our public forum today.  Government intrusion, socialism, over-regulation, spending, the economy, and etc.  I noticed however, that where he used the term "billions" we now use "trillions".
This blog really isn't about a man, however. . . it is about honor.  I pray that we haven't totally lost our sense of propriety and honor and Godly morality in the realm of our political leadership. 

It doesn't take much searching in the books of the Kings and Chronicles to see that God very much weighed and counted the actions of kings.  He saw the direction and measured the response of the leaders of nations.  He heard what was whispered in the bedchamber.  He knew what the thoughts of men were.  He still does.

There were times when God sent a prophet to face a king with correction and warning.  It may have been a story of a lamb to a king who had sinned.  It may have been a prophet with another copy of the Word delivered to a king who had burned the first copy.  It may have been the hand of God himself writing the summary of a kings life on a wall for all to see.  God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart.

May God give us leadership that is in tune and in touch with higher things; leadership that has a sense of what is noble and just and pure; leaders that are not afraid to humble themselves in the presence of God and humbly ask for guidance.  We need it so much today.

She took him to church and left him there

She took him to the house of God and left him there.

It doesn’t sound significant until you realize that it was not a "day care" we are talking about. Nor was it that he was left in church by accident as was one of my 5 brothers. (We arrived home after a Sunday night service and realized that my brother was forgotten on the pew where he had fallen asleep. A hasty trip back to church found him still asleep in the big dark empty church sanctuary. It was a good thing he did not wake up.)

Hannah left Samuel in the house of God at Shiloh on purpose. He had been the miraculous answer to this barren woman’s prayer request. He was the subject of a promise she had made when she prayed. "Lord, if you give me a son, I will give him back to you for as long as he lives." Quite a promise.

She was true to her promise when the Lord granted her request and blessed her with a son whom she named Samuel – "asked of God."

When the young boy was old enough to be separated from his mother, she dressed him in an ephod – a miniature replica of the priestly garment – and she took him to Shiloh and left him there in the house of God. Her covenant and intent was that he would grow up and serve the God who had answered her persistent, heart rending petition.

The marvelous part of the story was that she left him there – even though Eli the priest was old, had poor eyesight, was slow to hear the voice of God, and did not have control over his own boys. The sons of Eli were utterly profane. They were greedy and cared nothing for spiritual things. They were immoral to the max. This was not a warm healthy climate to grow a son. What an atmosphere in which to leave your miracle child.

Hannah left her son in Shiloh nevertheless. Even though the lamp in the temple had been allowed to go out. The oil ran dry and Eli was too old to notice and his sons did not care. Any spark of revelation or inspiration was gone from the house of God. Eli’s sons committed unspeakable, immoral sinful acts.

But Hannah left Samuel there. She did not "pull him out of church". She did not go searching for another place, another occupation, another situation where her son would find "more potential for growth". She had made a covenant with God and fully expected God to take care of her boy.

When she went up from year to year to worship, she did not take her son home with her. She left him there.

She did the right thing. It was in that dark temple in a rough time of history that the God, who had spoken to Samuel’s mother, spoke also to her son. The conclusion of the conversation and the fulfillment of the promise made to Samuel was that he would become a prophet and judge of Israel.

He would anoint kings. Kings were to wait for his counsel. When a king failed, he was the one to remove that king from his position. He would anoint David, ‘the man after God’s own heart’ to be the next king.

He would fight one military battle against the Philistines. He would need to fight only one, for God "thundered" and the enemy left, never to return during Samuel’s time of influence.

Too often we judge a situation by our own limited understanding and we do not give God a chance. Who knows how many young men or young ladies were destined to places of great influence, yet they were pulled from a situation that God himself had ordained for their refinement.

Let God lead.  It is often that God chooses to lead us in darkness when we need it the most.  I do not remember where I first heard or read the following quote --   "Do not doubt in darkness what you have seen in the light."  This quote is not original with me.  I wish I would have said it.  Logic sometimes robs us of a miracle. Our perception sometimes prevents the perfect will of God from being fulfilled in a life. What if Hannah had taken Samuel back home?

The Simple Grandeur of Christmas

The stable and the manger attracts the littlest children.  They crowd up and around the scene of Bethlehem.  It is familiar to most of us who are older.  It is new to many of them. 

Wonder and understanding are mixed together and easily accepted by even the smallest among them.  They have simple questions.  "What is a baby doing in a wooden box filled with straw? . . .  and why are the grown-ups standing there?"  "Why are they carrying sticks?"  "I wish I could have animals in my room like that."  "Let me hold the sheep."  "Can I pick up the camel?"  "I want the baby."  "Why is the star there?"

It is a simple story.  Is there anyone who wouldn't like a story like that?

Are the events which are involved in the incarnation of God in Christ Jesus simple or are they complex?

The adults crowd up and gather around the scene of Bethlehem.  It is familiar to many of us.  Wonder and understanding are mixed together and easily accepted by some, not accepted at all by others.  Some of us, perhaps, have learned too much of the wrong thing.  Or, maybe, some of us have forgotten too much of the right thing. 

We have either remembered, or we have forgotten that He is the source and the wellspring of all creation.  The heavens declared His glory long before the angels declared His arrival.  His written Word prepared the willing hearts for his coming.  The stable and the manger spoke with silent eloquence of His humility and approachability.  The invitation and attendance of the shepherds at His first crib revealed to them that they would soon be out of a job.  Their job was to raise sheep for the sacrifice. . . His purpose was to be the Supreme and final sacrifice. . . the Lamb of God which would take away the sin of the world.  Once and for all. 

It is story so simple and attractive that little children, and people of faith, are drawn to it.  "Read it to me again" they say.  It is a complex and grand revelation that the erudite are confused by it, and they stumble over it, and are offended by it.  It is a wonder of wonders.

Compassionate Counsel of John

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” I John 2:15-17

     Every sin will fall into one of these three categories. Every moral failure will be a consequence of yielding to one of these three basic realms of temptation. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
     The elder apostle John, in the twilight years of his ministry and of his life wrote passionately and kindly. He wrote with the burdened heart and the warning spirit of a grandfather who watches his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren trying to wade through the confusion and noise of life. He wanted them to make it. They must not fall. They must not fail.

When I read his brief epistles, I cannot help but take it personal. It is like a father talking with me. Though I am no longer young, I am not “home free” yet, and I cherish this kind of compassionate counsel.

These three verses are magnified in their importance when we compare them to the account of Jesus’ temptation recorded in Matthew 4. The three temptations that Jesus was faced with were these:
* ‘the lust of the flesh’ – in verse 3 Jesus was hungry from his extended fast.  Satan tempted him to turn the stones to bread and satisfy his flesh. 
* ‘the pride of life’ – in verses 5 and 6 Satan encouraged Jesus to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and "wow" the people.  Make a grand entrance and they will follow you anywhere.
*  ‘the lust of the eye’ -  in verses 8 and 9 Jesus was shown a fast motion view of all of the kingdoms of the world.  "Look at all of this".  "I will give you all of this, if only you will fall down and worship me."  Jesus refused to yield to each of these three temptations.  He answered and overcame them by the written word of God. 

We read in Hebrews, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."   Hebrews 4:14-16.  There is nothing that we face or experience that Jesus did not face.  He met those three basic temptations "head-on" and, without hesitation, dismissed them with the written Word of God.

Our temptations also are, in reality, rather simple.  We inevitably complicate issues that would be better left in simple and basic form. John’s inspired admonition was simple. . . “love not the world.” “The world passes away.”

Why love that which has no lasting importance? Why surrender the everlasting love of the Lord Jesus Christ to grasp for something that is gone in a fleeting moment? Why sell your honor, your integrity, your purity of heart, or your clear conscience in the attempt to satisfy a profane appetite, an issue of pride, or a lustful eye?

Life is too short, heaven is too near and dear, and eternity is too long to forsake the counsel of the elder John, or to ignore the temptation of Jesus. If it was important to Jesus, and it was important to John, it certainly must be important to us.

Plans

The gate of a city was more than the entryway.


The gate of the city was the place where the city council met and determined plans and programs. It was where decisions were made and judgments were declared concerning the many issues that were brought before the leaders for settlement. It was the place where plans for defense from, as well as aggression toward, its enemies were drawn up. It was the place where the respected leaders of the city gathered to govern. Lot was one of those leaders who sat at the gate of the city of Sodom. (He is not the subject of this note however.)

Consider the following excerpt of Jesus’ conversation with his disciples. Then consider with confidence his reply to revelation.
     He (Jesus) saith unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?”
     And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
     And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:15-19

It is no doubt that hell has plans for every church. Hell has plans for every home, every family and every person. The enemy plots, schemes, connives, orchestrates, and facilitates a plan to spoil every effort that is birthed in a righteous heart. The gates of hell are busy places. Hell has a plan for every life and an intent to spoil every Godly vision.

But Heaven also has a plan for every life, every home, every church, every preacher – known and unknown. Heaven has a plan for every young person, every small child, every unborn infant whose members are already written in a book. Heaven has heard -- and stored -- every prayer prayed, and weighed every grief endured. God knows, and God also has plans.

Jesus proclaimed to Peter and to the disciples in that close cluster of wonderers, that the plans that hell has made, the counsel that hell has gathered, and the conclusion it has come to, will not prevail against. . . will not, cannot, succeed against the church that is built on the revelation of the deity and the authority of Jesus Christ.

Whatever “new” plan hell conspires against the church cannot succeed. Those plans, however fearsome and traumatic they may appear, cannot succeed. (Hell has no new ideas.  Every idea hell has is simply a regurgitated and re-packaged leftover of a former effort.  Satan has no new tricks.)  They will not prevail against a church that is founded on the revelation of who Jesus is and who we are. The authority that comes with the revelation of the Mighty God in Christ will prevail against any flood-tide of agnosticism, atheism, humanism, and the list goes on. (Many names, shades and nuances, but the same source.)

I like the word “shall”. Jesus did not say “might not”... “Perhaps not”... “Probably won’t” prevail against the church.  He said “SHALL NOT prevail against the church.” We can stand with confidence in a shaky world.

The darkest council chambers are not hidden from the eyes of God. He knew what wicked kings said to themselves in their bedrooms. He who controls the winds can change the words of wickedness. He turned Balaam’s curse into blessing.

(Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.