“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven….”    -Mt. 5:14-16

There are many directives found in scripture that point us to an action step.  This instruction from Jesus is certainly a big one.  “…let your light shine.”  We sing songs about it from the earliest recollections of childhood. “This little light of mine…” (Come on, everybody sing!)

But the challenge lies not in the instruction, but in the implementation.  As a pastor, I have many ask me, “I’m trying to let my light shine, but how?  What do I actually do?”

I believe one the most powerful steps in letting our light shine before all men is found in Galatians chapter 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit.  Here’s a list with a simple definition for each.

Love: living for somebody else’s good.

Remember, all sin is self-centered. Remove self and we find God and others take a much more prominent place.

Joy:  knowing my purpose in life.

When you discover your “why” all of the other parts fall into place.

Peace: Trusting in His character.

Finally surrendering to God’s ability and not fearing our own weakness brings true peace.

Patience:  Time is your friend.

You are going to live forever, so there’s really no hurry.  Relax and enjoy the journey.

Kindness:  Caring for the feelings of others.

The greatest Christians I’ve ever known are kind at their core.  They really are concerned for others first.

Goodness:  Being trustworthy.

When people know that your word is your bond, even to your own pain, goodness is a reality, not a pipe dream.

Faithfulness:  Living your core.

Living out what’s really in your heart.

Gentleness:  Responding to human frailty with grace.

We already know what our weaknesses are, so why are we surprised at the weakness of others.  Show grace, you’ll need it back.

Self-Control:  Staying steady.

Consistency and stability are the greatest evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in anyone’s life.

Think about this list.  Are there any of them you need to work on?  If so, ask the Holy Spirit to produce that fruit in you and in doing so, His light will start shining even brighter in your life.

We are in the final stretch of our 21 Days of Fasting & Prayer.  That news is greeted by many with great sighs of relief.  But I’ve been blessed by the many comments about how much this fast has meant.  Several have told me that this if the first time they’ve fasted.  Remember, sometimes fasting is wonderful while you’re doing it, and other times the fast itself is a prayer with the answer yet to come.  Don’t lose heart if you haven’t “felt something” or “heard a great word from the Lord.”  He’s heard you and sees you.  He’s preparing your answer right now!

My prayer is that the results of the fast would endure and not cease with our official conclusion this Sunday.  I’ve been examining my life, my priorities, how I spend my time and I’m trusting God to help me continue beyond the fast with life long improvements in my spiritual and natural habits.

How about you?  Did you discover any unnecessary distractions that you intend to manage better?  Are there any new spiritual disciplines that you can apply to your daily routine even beyond the fast?  Can you see yourself continuing to devote more time to pray and scripture throughout the year?  A.W. Tozer writes:  “Eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”  Your time fasting probably did just that…but will you continue in it?  I hope so.  You’ll be a more intimate worshipper and more powerful disciple of Christ…and our church will be stronger for it as well.

Another important thing to consider:  Has the Lord given you a specific direction or instruction for your life, your ministry, your church, your family or business?  Did He speak something to you that you know you must obey?  I’ve actually prayed for many of you who have gifts to teach, to love people, to possibly lead a Life Group or a Bible Study.  I’ve prayed for some of you that would be great at working in Children’s Ministry or helping with Work Release.  However, I also know that I never want anyone serving only because the Pastor asked.  I’m relying on God to speak to your hearts.  Is it you I’ve prayed for?  Will you answer the call?

I challenge you to take the next couple of days and ask the Holy Spirit to clarify some of these questions.  Ask Him to give you the strength to endure into a “fasted lifestyle.”  Ask Him to make some of these disciplines permanent.

Have I told you lately that I love being your Pastor?!

Today’s post is something simple, you’ve already probably discovered for yourself.

It’s sort of ironic, but “fasting” is really about “slowing.” I find that fasting is a great time of simply slowing down. I clear my schedule of unnecessary busyness. With the extra time on hand from not watching TV, reading the papers, skipping meals…I certainly spend more time in the Word and in prayer, but I find myself with more time to think. More time to ponder and meditate. More time to prayerfully process decisions. More time to watch my kids while they play. More time to have face-to-face, meaningful conversation with my wife.

Life is simply too busy. And Jesus explains that it’s not always sinful things that can weigh us down. Much of the burden of the believer is the “cares of life, deceitfulness or riches and lusts for other things.” In other words, it’s going to work, paying the bills, cleaning the house, getting the kids to school…living your life.  Very often, it’s the mundane things in life that we don’t necessarily enjoy, they can become like ruts…but they are a necessary ingredient to who we are as people, as Christians. And those mundane things can become wearisome. Life itself can become wearisome.

As you are fasting, SLOW DOWN. Spend that extra time reading your Bible, praying…and slow down enough to rest, physically, emotionally and mentally. When you can slow the soulish realm down, your spirit will get recharged by the power of God’s Word and the glory of His Spirit.

Happy Fasting!

I’ve been praying for you, Believers Tabernacle.  Our staff joined together this morning to pray over your “Get Ready” cards and my heart soared as I sensed the Lord breaking down walls.  Actually, several of the cards I read used the words, “walls coming down” and “tearing the walls down.”

It makes one think of Joshua’s triumph over Jericho.  Jericho’s famous walls stand looming over the army of Israel as an impenetrable barrier; a barrier that stands between them and God’s promise.

What walls are standing between you and God’s promise to you?  Is it a health-related wall?  A financial wall?  A relationship wall?  Self-confidence wall?  Your wall may not rise 50 feet high in the natural, but can be just as intimidating and discouraging.

I think God had a purpose in the process for the Israelites.  They spent six days circling the walls one time each day.  Then, on the seventh, they circled seven times.  Each day, their faith growing, the anticipation of victory culminating in a great shout on the last go ‘round.  Down they come.

I like Arthur McKinsey’s perspective on solving your problems as the Israelites did.

“If you think of your problem as being like a medieval walled city, then a lot of people will attack it head-on, like a battering ram.  They will storm the gates and try to smash through the defenses with sheer intellectual power and brilliance.  I just camp outside the city, I wait.  And I think.  Until one day – maybe after I’ve turned to a completely different problem – the drawbridge comes down and the defenders say, ‘We surrender.’ The answer to the problem comes all at once.”

With prayer and fasting, we take a similar tack.  We can circle that problem from the outside, praying, trusting God, not giving up.  As the Israelites, we quickly find that any attempt to out-muscle the walls will be futile.  We must learn to let the Lord fight our battles.

Look at your life and the battles you’ve faced.  Were they really solved in a planning session or through a self-help book?  Probably not.  If you’re like me, the victories I’ve witnessed first hand didn’t come from my hand.  They came from God’s hand.

Keep praying.  Keep circling your wall.  Allow your faith to grow and get ready for the victory!

I mentioned in my last post that God doesn’t answer vague prayers.  I think vague praying is an emerging challenge to all of us.  Think about it.  We’re just too busy to be specific.  We have too many balls in the air, trying to keep too many things going at once.  When we finally slow down long enough to honestly look at our lives we see that we’re doing a lot…but very little of it really well.  Sometimes I’m simply trying to slay too many dragons at once.

Mark Batterson, in his book, “The Circle Maker” puts it this way: “It’s easy to get so busy climbing the ladder of success that we fail to realize that the ladder is not leaning against the wall of Jericho.”  Our true priorities take a back seat to the immediate urgency.

The children of Israel had a focused priority, to enter into the Promised Land and obtain the blessings of God.  Jericho stood in their way. God had a specific plan He shared with Joshua.  For six days the army would circle the wall and return home.  On the seventh, they would circle the walls seven times in one day then let out a shout.  God had a plan and a specific goal.  The army could not be distracted with anything else. For seven days, nothing else mattered.

I can imagine that the first day may not have been all that special.  They marched out, circled the city and came home.  The next day…same thing.  However, I can imagine that with every day’s march a holy anticipation was building?  Everyday, their pace picked up, their focus more keen, their expectation rising.  On the seventh day, marching around this large city with a great wall looming over them, they make the familiar lap not once, but seven times.  With the last man in place they let out an orchestrated shout that surely confused Jericho’s inhabitants and something supernatural happens.  Archeologists tell us that Jericho’s walls didn’t just crumble apart and fall over.  It was as if the hand of God Himself shoved the walls straight down into the ground with a violent force.

Jesus asks us to fast and pray, not to wear us down and make us hungry.  He asks us to fast because it focuses us on the matter at hand.  Every day you press ahead a holy anticipation builds and a holy power awaits.

Be strong.  Keep pressing ahead.  The walls are coming down!

We’re just a few days into our annual 21 Day Fast.  Boy…have the wheels fallen off!  I should have expected it, because every attempt to press in closer to God is going to be met with resistance.

Last Thursday, a dear family friend passed away suddenly and on Monday I was honored to participate in the memorial service.  I didn’t plan on that.

I received a couple of great invitations by friends to a couple of my favorite restaurants.  I declined.  I didn’t plan on that.

Monday after a full day of no food, I got a splitting headache.  I never get headaches.  I didn’t plan on that.

Tuesday after more than two days of no food and feeling sort of weak and tired, my teenaged boy decided to tackle me and wanted to wrestle with his dad.  Every father of a teen boy knows you don’t pass up those opportunities up.  It’s his way of connecting and showing affection to dad.  It was great, but I thought I was going to pass out.  Didn’t plan on that.

But there is something God has refreshed in me so far…an important truth.

Vague prayers are faithless prayers.  I read a quote by Dr. Paul Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world, in Seoul, S. Korea.  He wrote, “God does not answer vague prayers.”  The more faith you have, the more specific your prayers will be.  And the more specific your prayer are, the more glory God receives.

I’ve been convicted of what my prayers have looked like lately.  I’ve decided to focus my prayers…refining them from broad generalities to targeted objectives.  I’m putting specific numbers on my financial goals and needs.  I’m putting a specific seat number on the size of a new worship center.  I’m praying specifically over my children and my wife.

Two blind beggars approached Jesus crying out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”  Jesus’ response was very direct. “What do you want me to do for you?”  Jesus is asking the same question today.

What do you want Him to do for you?  Be specific.  Write it down.  Pray it daily…and watch what God will do!

Have you had a similar experience so far?  Let me encourage you to press forward and don’t give up.  Expect the enemy to fight hard, but expect your God to be victorious.  Expect Him to hear your prayers and answer your heart’s cry.

I’m proud of you…share with me your battles and victories.  I want to pray with you!

This Sunday, January 8 marks the beginning of our annual 21 Days of Fasting & Prayer. We invite you and your family to join all the BT family for what has become a powerful time each January of fasting and giving God first place in our year. We will spend 21 days seeking God and believing Him for big things to come in 2012. The fast will begin January 8 and end January 28.
I’m posting a series of articles and observations to help you get ready. Fasting is nothing you can take lightly or do last minute. Continue to ask the Lord what He would have you do. Here’s another practical approach to fasting that may work well for you.

Normally, fasting means to abstain from food and/or drink for a certain period of time as a religious practice. However, it may extend to anything that may be a source of pleasure, satisfaction or personal gratification.
Many at BT will be participating in the Daniel Fast which means we deny ourselves sweets and meats and eat mostly fruits and vegetables. Below is an extensive list of what you can and cannot eat on the Daniel Fast.
Watch out for more practical tips on how to approach this wonderful time in your walk with Christ.
Daniel Fast Guidelines
Whole Grains: Brown Rice, Oats, Barley
Legumes: Dried Beans, Pinto Beans, Split Peas, Lentils, Black-Eyed Peas
Fruits: Apples, Apricots, Bananas, Blueberries, Blackberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Cranberries, Figs, Grapefruit, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papaya, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Plums, Prunes, Raisins, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines, Watermelon.
Vegetables: Artichoke, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chili Peppers, Corn, Cucumbers, Egglplant, Garlic, Ginger Root, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Okra, Onions, Parsley, Potatoes, Radish, Rutabagas, Scallions, Spinach, Sprouts, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Yams, Zucchini
Seeds & Nuts
Liquids: Unsweetened Soy Milk, Natural Fruit Juices (no added sugar), Water, Herbal Tea, Honey

As we enter into our 21-day fasting and prayer time, I always anticipate what God is about to say and reveal to us as a church family. He promises to speak to us individually and corporately. It’s an exciting time of the year!

Over the next few days, I’m looking back at some of my teachings on the discipline of fasting. I feel strongly it’s important to equip you with ideas and strategies to make your fasting time successful. Fasting can be incredibly frustrating. Satan knows that God’s power will be released in you if you persist, so he will throw everything at you…and very often, you can fell like it’s simply not worth it. I don’t want you to lose out on this powerful blessing. So keep some of these notes and use them as encouragement over the next few weeks.

Matthew 6:1-18 (NLT)
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.
6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.
8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.
17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.
18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Notice the three core actions of a successful follower of Christ: One who gives, prays and fasts. Jesus never said, “If you pray…if you give…if you fast.” But these are the directives that will lead to righteousness.

Fasting is simply the removal of one action and the replacement of another in its place. Typically, we fast food. Fasting food is the type of fast most taught in scriptures. However, in our culture, with so many voices and activities overwhelming our lives, fasting can be successful in other forms as well.

Fasting media is a big one for me personally. I’m a news junkie. I love to read the paper every day, usually at least two. I read magazines, blogs, periodicals…nearly anything I can get my hands on. I like to know what’s going on in the world. I find that setting aside the talk radio station, the television, the news casts and the newspapers really detoxifies me. It’s important to me to silence every other voice in my life, except God’s…including my own.
I like to replace that “brain space” with worship music, teachings from my favorite pastors and I always read (or re-read) a Christian classic by one of my favorite authors.

Fasting is a challenge. Find out what the Lord would have you do. Fast one meal each day? Fast an entire 24 hour period each week? A 3-day fast each week? Maybe fasting certain foods like sweets, sodas, sugars, fried foods, etc. But please remember this: If it doesn’t mean anything to you, it doesn’t mean anything to God.

One more important thing to remember about fasting: Fasting is not penance for sin. Don’t approach your fasting as a punishment…you’ll quickly get sick of trying to appease God for your sin. Jesus Christ already paid the price for our sin, so that game is over.

Get excited about fasting and prayer and allow your faith to rise. Anticipate all that God wants to reveal to you. He is speaking. Fasting doesn’t cause God to speak. Fasting causes you to hear a God who has been speaking all along.

Fasting will detoxify your soul from fleshly desires. The normal burdens of life can cause unbelief to rise and your faith to be smothered. Fasting and prayer will wash all those contaminants and allow your spirit to soar in faith and fellowship with the Lord.

Get ready to hear! Get ready to see! God is going to blow your mind!

Helpful reading:
“Fasting: The Private Discipline That Brings Public Rewards” by Jentezen Franklin
“The Power of Prayer and Fasting” by Ronnie Floyd
“Pivotal Praying” by John Hull and Tim Elmore
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
“The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer

Is it okay to be honest with you? Things are tough. I know, we’d like to think that as we endeavor to grow closer to our Lord, that things get easier…they don’t. As with Jacob when he wrestled with God at Jabbock, there is something about the process. God is in the wrestling! God is in the struggle, teaching us something of ourselves and certainly of Himself. He likes to wrestle and He likes to win. I think that sometimes we want to win without the wrestling match. But God insists on the wrestling match. We wrestle with God to achieve righteousness. God wrestles with us to accept grace. (I like it when I lose that one.)

We wrestle with lots of things. We wrestle with time. We wrestle at every age. We wrestle with others. We wrestle with the economy, with the boss, with brothers and sisters. Many Christians find themselves wrestling with church or religious activities. We certainly wrestle with calendars. And, we know that scripture tells us that we do “…against principalities, powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Satan likes to wrestle too.

I want to spend some time sharing with you how to win as we wrestle to be intimate with God. Isn’t that our ultimate goal? It’s not to gain a blessing, receive a healing, find peace in a troubled time…we’re wrestling to actually know Him. Everything in our hurried and increasingly frazzled world fights such intimacy. Chuck Swindoll writes about the church, “We have become a body of people who look more like a herd of cattle in a stampede than a flock of God beside green pastures and still waters.” He goes on to write, “You want to be profoundly aware of His presence, in touch with Him at the deepest possible level, thinking His thoughts, gleaning His wisdom, and living as close the His heart as is humanly possible, operating your life in the nucleus of His will.” And everyone said…Amen!”

One of my life verses is found in Philippians 3:10. Paul says, “[For my determined purpose is] that I many know Him – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His Person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the power out-flowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.” (AMP)

Jesus echoed this same goal in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” (NKJV). David famously expressed the same heart in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God….” You can almost hear the ache in David’s heart to go deeper…to know God more completely, more fully. Spurgeon commented about this passage: “David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul…and absolute necessity, like water to a stag….His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence….O to have the most intense craving after the highest good!”

There is nothing so important in this life as to know God more intimately. Everything around us presses in against it, distracts us from it and screams for our first attentions, but God gently draws, speaks softly and lovingly holds us when we draw near. Paul goes on to write in Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.”

Personally, (even as a pastor) I find it so difficult to say “no” to the temptation of pursuing the actions that will bring human success. But I’m encouraged to press ahead, into more intimacy with God. Like you, I’ve found that deep peace doesn’t reside in my accomplishments. True contentment is only realized in knowing Him.

Watch for the next message…we’ll walk through some practical steps in achieving intimacy with God.

I love being your Pastor!

Pastor Marty

The Bible tells some fascinating stories that illustrate powerful truths. But sometimes, I like looking at the side stories. They can have some wonderful revelation in them as well.

Jesus was walking one day, hungry for breakfast. He checks out a fig tree that is fruitless. He takes out His vengeance on the tree and curses it. The next day, Peter notices and Jesus makes another direct comment about having faith.

Another time, Jesus is asleep in the bow of a boat. A fierce storm arises. The disciples are in a panic and wake Him. He comes to the deck, wiping the eye crust away, stretching as He yawns (my inference) and speaks to the sea and winds. Immediately, the storm calms and nearly the same comments for His gang…”What’s up with your lack of faith?”

A desperate dad brings his son to Jesus. The boy has a demon and the disciples couldn’t get the demon to leave. Jesus speaks to the demon and after some kicking and screaming, it has to leave.

One day Jesus was asked to pray for Peter’s mother-in-law. She was sick with a fever. He entered the house, leaned over her and spoke to the fever. Mom-in-law felt so much better that she shot out of bed and began serving everyone.

There are many more stories of miracles, demons cast out, healings, circumstances turned around. What I find so interesting was that Jesus spoke to things…even inanimate things. He spoke to a tree that was a bother to Him. He spoke to the demons. He even spoke to the weather and it obeyed.

Please understand: Jesus would have never spoken to these things unless He knew they could hear Him. He also promised that you and I would be able to the same works and even greater because of the authority given to us as believers.

I hope you know that your problems have ears. Your difficulties can hear you when you speak to them. I have come to realize that the works of the enemy need spoken to, not ignored. The mountains in our lives vary, but the method of victory is the same.

“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”Mark 11:23-24