What do you want Me to do?

I am currently reading a book by Andrew Murray titled, With Christ in the School of Prayer. I read a chapter today that I felt was powerful and very relevant in my own life so I wanted to share some things I highlighted in this particular chapter. The chapter is titled, Prayer Must Be Definite.

"And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God." (Luke 18:40-43 ESV)

Murray's comments:

"Our prayers must be a distinct expression of definite need, not a vague appeal to His mercy or an indefinite cry for blessing....... So much of our prayer is vague and pointless. Some cry for mercy, but do not take the trouble to know exactly why they want it. Others ask to be delivered from sin, but do not name any sin from which a deliverance can be claimed. Still others pray for God's blessing on those around them and yet have no special field where they can wait and expect to see the answer. To everyone the Lord says, 'What do you really want, and what do you expect Me to do?'....... Our expressions of need, sin, love, faith, and consecration must be accompanied by an explicit statement of what we are asking for and what we expect to receive....... How many prayers are wishes sent up for a short time and then forgotten! And how many are sent up year after year as a matter of duty, while we complacently wait without the answer?"

With the Peace of Christ,

- Terry

Merry Christmas from E-Fellowship!

Making Wise the Simple

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;" (Psalm 19:7 ESV)

The word "sure" found here can also be translated as "trustworthy". The testimony of the Lord through the Scriptures is worthy of your trust and can give refreshment to your thirsting soul. The moment you place your trust in the testimony of Jesus and begin to drink a nice warm cup of His refreshing word, you will find yourself enlightened. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." The truth that the testimony of Jesus grants wisdom to the simple can be clearly seen in the life of the disciples. The disciples had not gone through the advanced training of the rabbinic schools like the religious leaders of their time. But when they spoke before the religious leaders in Acts chapter 4, the leaders were astonished by their confidence in what they were proclaiming. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus."

I also believe the truth that the testimony of Jesus grants wisdom to the simple can be seen through the faith of a child. Children get it. Children have no problem believing the testimony of Jesus and even believe in a matter-of-fact, that just-makes-sense kind of way. Critics will argue that children believe because of their ignorance and naivete. Therefore they should not be indoctrinated with the testimony of Jesus. I argue differently. Perhaps we are not to view a child's mind as ignorant and naive but rather as pure and uncontaminated. Perhaps its not the testimony of Jesus, but the indoctrination of the world that leads the child astray. Jesus said it Himself, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Children get it in a way in which we are called to get it! Children have faith that we as adults strive to obtain. They believe with assurance that the testimony of Jesus is trustworthy and that is true wisdom. An eight-year-old girl expressed it well. When asked why Jesus was called the Word, she said, "Because Jesus is all God wanted to say to us."

May we find the testimony of Jesus trustworthy and once again possess the wisdom of the simple.

- Terry

HE'S MORE

Ever been asked the question "Why should a non-believer believe"? Well, I'm sure you have. Here's what I used to say. I would say "what are the drawbacks? If I live my life more pure, avoiding such things that would get me and my family in trouble, and I treat everyone with respect and kindness, and love everybody...... then if I find out later I'm wrong.... well what was the drawback?" That's what I USED to say. But, right now, i'm finding some serious problems with that answer. While all those things are nice and maybe things we should try anyway they just aren't enough to describe my God. My God is more! He's more than some blanket "just in case" insurance policy. How weak is our faith if we only believe "just in case" its true? Let me tell you why I believe. Because The Holy Spirit poured into me and made me believe!!! I couldn't do anything about it. Trust me, I tried. I was a serious skeptic. I was a serious sinner. I didn't deserve Jesus. People had told me about Him my entire life, and still it didn't matter. The Spirit had to intercede. I think sometimes we, as humans, over think things that are more simple than we make them. To prove this I asked my 5 year old daughter this question.

Question: Why should someone believe in God?
5 YEAR OLD: So they can go to heaven! (with a duhhh type of an attitude and rolling eyes)
Question: IS there any other reason?
5 YEAR OLD: So we can live in heaven and be happy forever. And because He told us to.......

Profound isn't it? How true are those answers. How pure are those answers? Why should we believe? Because He told us to, to spend eternity in Heaven, and to be happy forever. Pretty good answers. We think we are so smart with our degrees and all. Sometimes I think kids are the ones who understand things the way they are supposed to be understood. Innocent, uncorrupted, truth hearing little things, those kiddos.
When God created me He loved me. When I sinned against Him countless times, He loved me. When He sent His Son to die for me, He loved me. And, when He filled me with His spirit, He loved me.... and I loved Him. What does He ask? Love Me, and your neighbor. Seems simple. Why do we make it so hard. There are many things I don't know. Here are some things that I do know. God deserves my love and faithfulness. He deserves more than I can give Him. He deserves more than the three times a day prayers for meals, and more than the ten minutes a day I give His word. He deserves everything. I deserve nothing. God's grace has saved me. All He asks is that I obey His word. He's a person, and longs for our hearts. Jesus, take my heart, my soul, take it all. I love you.

-Adam (aka grateful non deserving sinner)

Let's Get Personal

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2 ESV)

Do most of us today understand what it is to delight in the law of the Lord? I think we all respect the law of the Lord in some form or fashion, but do we actually find pleasure in it? Or do we find more pleasure in the counsel of the wicked? What do we meditate on day and night?

Can I get real for a second without you, the reader, getting defensive? Do you enjoy most of the garbage that the entertainment industry puts out more than you enjoy the Word of God? Do you have a greater desire to live like a celebrity or a disciple? Is the "American Dream" more appealing to you than the way of the righteous?

Don't dodge, duck, dip, dive or dodge these questions. Lets be real. I raise these questions because I know what's its like to wrestle with these misplaced desires. Can you honestly say you delight in the law of the Lord and that you meditate on it day and night? Or is your living room furniture full of seats for scoffers?

"In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways... My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times... Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors... Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!.. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it... Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways... I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes... At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules... The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces... Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (bits and pieces of Psalm 119)

- Terry

Marinating in the Word

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

(Joshua 1:8 ESV)

The Word of God possesses powers that transform character. Meditating on what God has to say to us through the Scriptures can radically transform our vocabulary, thoughts and behavior. I often like to use the phrase "marinating in the Word". Tanner (my wife) is not a fan of ordinary grilled chicken. "It taste to chickeny" according to her. But when I marinate the chicken in some honey barbeque sauce with brown sugar then she really enjoys the flavor. Allowing yourself to marinate in the Word of God adds flavor to your life that makes you pleasing to God and to those around you.

By marinating in the Word, our speech may be gracious and seasoned with flavor. (Col. 4:6)

By marinating in the Word, our mouth may proclaim the abundance within our heart. (Matt. 12:34)

By marinating in the Word, our behavior may be pleasing and tasteful to our God. (Psalm 19:14)

What you marinate yourself with will always reveal itself in your speech. If you saturate your mind and your thoughts with the Word of God it will come out in the things you talk about. If you saturate your mind and thoughts with other things, they will come out in your conversations as well. So what do you talk about? May we all marinate ourselves with the sweet flavor of God's Word.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

(Psalm 119:103 ESV)

Penn St. Protests

A 24 year old aerospace engineering student at Penn St. was asked by the New York Times about the riots taking place on campus at Penn St. This is what he had to say....

"Of course we're going to riot. What do they expect when they tell us at ten o'clock that they fired our football coach."

This controversy at Penn St. has really got me speechless right now, but there are two things about this particular comment above that I have to address.

1. "Of course we're going to riot" - Since when is rioting so widely accepted as the appropriate response to inconvenience? All over the country we are now seeing more and more demonstrations of violent temper tantrums over anything and everything.

2. "they fired our football coach" - This is worth rioting over? I recently read the indictment against Jerry Sandusky which stirred up a cocktail of emotions such as pain, sadness, hurt, anger, rage and disbelief. There are eight known victims in this scandal, and Joe Paterno is not one of them. I have no intent to accuse or defend Joe Paterno. I am just shocked that given the recent circumstances, the firing of Paterno was the thing that enraged these students to protest and not first and foremost the abominable accusations against Jerry Sandusky. Have we become so misguided in our perspective of the world around us? Can we please open up our eyes and redirect our attention and sympathies on the actual victims in this controversy - the eight young men who were victims of horrific sexual assault as young children. May appropriate justice be served.

- Terry Evans

No Escaping a Fathers Love

Tell me if you're like this. My wife, Jenny, and I love the opportunity to get out of the house for a real date every now and then. We have two little girls, and a third little girl arriving any day. When we get tired and towards the end of a week when the kids have been tough, we call the babysitter. Here's an example of what we might say. "Man, I just need a few hours to re-charge my batteries. The girls have been wearing me out, and i can't believe she did this, or she did that, etc". We were encouraged years ago at a PAO conference to always make time for at least 1 date night a week. The logic is simple. We get so caught up in being mommy and daddy that we sometimes forget to be husbands and wives. So, we do everything in our power to make it at least once a week. But here's what happens. We rush out the door, get in the car headed towards a movie or dinner, so grateful for our time away. Then what do we do? We spend the whole dinner talking about our kids! We talk about how cute they are, and how we can't wait to watch them grow up, and all kinds of stuff like that. By the end of our dinner we're rushing back home to see the kids, because we feel like we've been gone so long. This happened to us again the other night on our anniversary. While on the way home from dinner I started thinking about my role in my daughters lives. There is nothing that my kids can do to lose the love that I have for them. They can't mess that up. They're stuck with me. I am their father, and no matter which direction they go in life I will remain their father. No matter how many times they disobey me, and no matter how many times I have to punish them.... I will still be their father. There is no report card, strikeout, or little white lie that will make me stop loving my daughters. Nothing. So, here's what i'm getting at. If you can relate to me about how much you love your kiddo's I want you to think about something. Our God in Heaven, has one Son. His Son's name is Jesus. Do you think that God loved His one and only Son less than we love ours? I can't even fathom how much God loves us. All I know is this. Our God loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to DIE for us so that we could have eternal life in Heaven. After all we have done....He is our Father and He loves us. As followers of Christ we cannot escape His love. We may move away from Him, but He isn't going anywhere. No matter what happens, He will always be our Father. We don't deserve this awesome gift from God. I'm blown away by this, and just wanted to take a minute and reflect on this because as a believer I should know this already. Yet, somehow, I always need reminders. And, for some reason, God keeps reminding me. Thank you God for the reminders. Thank you God for loving me when I don't deserve it. Thank you God for your Son........Thank you God...............

- Adam Wainwright

Starbucks and Jesus

Tanner scheduled a play date at the house this morning so I made the conscious decision that this would be a good time to make a Starbucks run. Rather than playing zone defense for the next two hours trying to defend my house from 4 children under the age of 3, I am sitting quietly on the outside patio of the Starbucks down the street. True application of wisdom taking place. Anyway, as I sit here and cherish my Tall Italian Roast coffee, the Spirit takes a seat next to me and takes advantage of this quiet time to offer His wisdom aimed directly at my heart. I'll share with you our time together.

I am a drink person. I love coffee every morning, tea in the afternoon, and a nice glass of wine or cold Sam Adams in the evening. I have a coffee maker with a timer on it so I can prepare the coffee before I go to bed and wake up with a fresh pot brewed for me each morning. I love my morning coffee time. As you can see, I even took careful consideration as to what kind of coffee maker to buy in order to enjoy it even more. I love sitting at a coffee shop and enjoying various kinds of coffee from all over the world. Coffee is something I desire and something that I go out of my way for each and every day to enjoy. If I go a day without a cup, I miss it. Quiet time with a cup of coffee, I desire, but what about quiet time with my Father in heaven? Do I desire communion with God each and every day and pursue Him with the same consistency that I pursue Starbucks? Is a day without a cup of coffee a bigger bummer to me than a day without conversation with God? I may sound silly (thats debatable) but there's some truth here.

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." - Jesus

I, personally, do not know how to pray as I ought. I am currently reading a great book titled, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Murray), and it encourages me to be taught by Jesus as to how to pray. Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach only how to pray. Jesus tells us to seek God in the secret places and that is where He awaits for us - basically, to seek out quiet time with God. To shut out the world and to shut yourself in with God. I find a way to make time for a cup of coffee every single day, but I fail to make time for a conversation with God each day. Father, free me from the thought of prayer as a duty or burden and may my secret place be my most treasured piece of earth. Yes, may my secret place with God be more treasured than Starbucks.

A humble student in the school of prayer,

- Terry Evans

Not of this world?

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world." -1 John 2:15-16 ESV

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:37-39 ESV

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ..." -Phil 3:20 ESV

Heavyweight verses here that make me feel pretty worthless. Perfect! I love God's word for this exact reason. The moment I realize how bad I need Jesus and how messed up Blake Hawksworth is the better i'll be. To hit your knees and say "Jesus, I need you, I can't do anything alone." That's not weak, that's strong. God is after that very thing... YOUR HEART. Lets jump back to the first verse and see how it ends...

"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." -1 John 2:17 ESV

The world is marked for destruction (John 12:31) and it's man that jacked up the system. Living for the now is short sighted. You want to be satisfied and honored now.

"Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry." -Luke 6:25 ESV

In contrast, those who love the Father have a long-term perspective and wait for God's reward. Listen to what Jesus said to his disciples...

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.... Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven." -Luke 6:21-22 ESV

Rejoice!!! I need Jesus and I don't deserve His grace. Me, get rewarded? Wow. I'm down here sinning and trying to make sense of everything, and yet He makes it so clear. So what are we going to do? What are we going to do with this Jesus?

Lord I need you, ALL of You. Help me see this world through your eyes!

- Blake Hawksworth

Who Are You Hangin With?

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."
- Proverbs 13:20

Who you hang out with determines who you will become. If you want to be a godly person, then hang out with godly people. If you want to grow in your love for Christ, then hang out with people whose hearts are set ablaze with love for Christ. On the contrary, if you want to be lukewarm in your faith, then hang out with people who are lukewarm in their faith. It's really not a difficult truth to understand.

In fact, I have found in numerous business books this same principle. They say if you want to be a succesful salesman, then hang out and learn from other succesful salesmen. If you want to be a millionaire, then hang with the millionaires.

You see this in the sports world too. There is a reason in sports we talk about coaching trees. Coaching trees are lines of succesful coaches that can be traced by to one individual (i.e. Bill Walsh or Bill Parcells). The reason they become great coaches is because they spent hundreds of hours with a great coach!

Just to be clear, what I'm not saying is that you should avoid spending time with non-believers or new believers. But what I am saying is that whoever you spend the bulk of your time with will determine who you become. Aa a matter of fact, it is the height of foolishness to say that you want to become a mature follower of Christ, but never spend time with mature followers of Christ.

This is a call to be wise in who you develop long-lasting, deep relationships with. The most important one is with Jesus Christ, because apart from Him we can do nothing. But also, those of us who bear the name of Christ, and want to grow in godliness, need to be intentional about having close relationships with other wise, mature believers.

Think about who you want to become as a Christian, then surround yourself with people who are ahead of you, or right there with you, on that journey.

- Tyler Durham

Daily Bread

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength... But they who wait for the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 60:28-31 ESV

- Blake Hawksworth

Jesus and The Occupiers

As much as I'd like to stay out of it, I feel the need to bring up the "Occupy" movement going on nationally and extending globally. CNN recently posed the question, Would Jesus Occupy Wall St.? What do you think? What should I think? Are you for the Occupy movement? If so, why and what does being for it even mean? What about the Tea Party movement? Are you for that instead or are they the same thing? What side would Jesus walk with? What side should we walk with? What about our President? Do you support or oppose our President? What about capitalism? Is it evil or is socialism evil? As a believer should you be a Republican or Democrat? Liberal or Conservative? Where should you get your information on all these topics? Fox News or MSNBC? Amidst all this division and turmoil, where would Jesus stand and how should we follow Him? My own humble answer may surprise you (or perhaps disappoint you).

To answer quickly, I don't want to argue that Jesus might walk amidst the Occupy movement. I do however claim that if He was found there, He would not be there to protest. You see, Jesus isn't for the 99% or the 1%. Jesus is for the 100%. Be careful with picking sides and feeding your head with a particular side's agenda. As a follower of Jesus, we are called to love those like us and those unlike us even more so. But Terry, our political system is full of corruption and something must be done! Ok, I don't argue with that. But if we're going to take action, let's take Biblical action.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

The verse says enough (especially if you consider the context). So as a follower of Christ are we loving the 100%? Are we spending more time and energy complaining about or praying for our leaders? Sorry. Somebody had to bring it up.

- Terry Evans

Martin Luther

"The Christian feels the unholy condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble."

- Blake Hawksworth

Matt Chandler Quote

"Do you know what a better human being you are... How happy you are... If you understand that ultimately everything is about God and NOT ABOUT YOU. It is a freedom that few taste."