The Man The President Asked to Stay

I just read an article written for The Washington Times by a man named Joseph Curl (now the editor of the Drudge Report but covered The White House and politics for 10 years for the Times).  It was a political piece, as virtually everything is.  And, just to get it out of the way, it was pro Bush and I suppose by that one fact, anti-everybody else.

I read it because it was a piece about the opening of the George W. Bush presidential library and I wanted to know how that went - specifically it was about how each of the presidents in attendance handled the day and themselves.  You can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles himself around other men, so I was interested.  What I wasn't prepared for was the last, seemingly unimportant paragraph.

Let me just copy and paste this part of Mr Curl's article so you can read it for yourself.
"The program nearly over, Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. came to the side of the stage to perform the “Star Spangled Banner.” A big, powerful black man, Mr. Powell belted out the anthem. With the crowd applauding, the sergeant moved along the line of people, shaking hands with all. After greeting W, he turned to go. But the 43rd president put his hand on the sergeant’s arm and said, “Stay,” just as a chaplain stepped forward to give a benediction.

So the final tableau of the day: Five presidents, five first ladies, heads bowed in prayer. And Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. No one, really, just the man a president asked to “stay.”"

I think that is amazing.  What does the guy who got selected to sing the Star Spangled Banner have in common with five of the last six presidents of these United States?  Not much.  In fact, he know doubt had been told to shake hands and get out of there so they could wrap up the ceremony.  He may have even been nervous.  No matter what your politics or lack of respect for any man, when you stand on a stage with every living president that's a big deal.  So to have one simply say, "stay."  means something.

I am right now preparing a message for this Sunday at Real Life.  I am going to teach on Peter's denial of Jesus and then Jesus' reinstatement of Peter.  And it's such perfect timing that this story comes across my screen.  What Jesus was saying to Peter on the beach (where Peter had met him for the very first time by the way) was, "stay."  Stay with me Peter.  Hang in there.  Don't walk away because I want you to be here with me.

It's the same thing Jesus is saying to you today.  You may not feel like you belong with Jesus, standing there with him you may feel very nervous, but Jesus is just putting his hand on your arm and asking you to stay.  Whatever song you're singing for the world to hear, whatever part you're playing in life, Jesus is calling you to stay with Him.  Not because you deserve to be with Him, but simply because He chooses you.  Because He put His hand on your arm and said, "stay."  Unassuming.  Reassuring.  He wants you to share the stage with Him.

You're the one Jesus asked to stay.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/25/w-outclasses-barack-and-bill-without-even-trying/?page=2#ixzz2Rb8H00al

Did You Do Something Stupid In Your Past?

Think about your High School career.  Did you have one of those guys who did something really stupid that has followed him ever since?  Usually these things are not very good and I'm sure after sobering up the individuals are pretty sorry they did it.  Some things just stick with you, whether you want them to or not.

I was reading in Mark 4 the other day and told the story of Jesus going to Simon the Leper's house.

At this point, Simon was no longer a leper, if he was no one would have gone to his house.  Jesus had healed him so it should have been, Simon the post-leper or Simon the used-to-be-leper.

I wonder how Simon felt when people referred to him by the most horrific time-period in his life?  Leprosy, back then, was a terrible thing.  No known cure (except a miraculous encounter with Jesus).  No one would touch you or barely speak to you.  You had to move out of your home and the city and live in Leper colonies.  No one would visit.  This was a horrible disease that affected the nerves and it stunk and people thought they could catch it so it was lonely and you just kind of waited to die.

Imagine for a minute if everyone called you by something that represented a period of discomfort or embarrassment in your life.  Let me give you a few examples;

Corey the hemorrhoid sufferer.

John the incontinent.

Sarah the diarrhea girl.

(yea, I know, just trying to make a point)
Strange how we remember people for the worst things.  Even though Simon was healed, cleansed, restored, he was still remembered for something he desperately wanted to just forget.

That's one of the amazing traits about Jesus.  He doesn't remember.  When He talks about you He speaks of you in terms of what you can be, now what you were.  Who you are in relation to Him, not what you did apart from Him.

Hebrews 10:17 - Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.
Psalm 103:12 -as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

You may have done some pretty stupid stuff in your past.   It's doesn't matter.  Jesus doesn't remember who you were He knows who you were destined to become.

Throw off those old titles in Christ and embrace a new life.  A clean life.

How to Deal with the Boston Bombings

How do you deal with tragedy?

In the wake of the Boston Bombings many people are struggling to make sense of what happened.  As of the last news conference I heard, there are three dead and more than 100 wounded from the two bombs that exploded on the sidewalks of Boston near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  And just about everyone involved from the Mayor to the President is saying the same thing, we will discover who did this and why.

We want to know.  We need to know.  Who could have committed this crime against innocent civilians?  The aged and the very young, men and women, runners and by-standers injured and killed and maimed with no regard for who or what.  We want a face.  We need an identity.  We seek a villan.  But we also want to know why they did what they did.  How could they have planned and carried out this act, knowing all along, that it would inflict incredible damage and loss of life?  What brings a person to a place where they could kill those they don't know for reasons that they are uninvolved in?

Let me suggest to you that knowing who and why will not stop events like this from happening in the future, nor will it bring us any real closure or peace.  We will simply know.  But we will not have peace.

We need to know who was behind this because that is the only way we can, "bring them to justice."  Which is really just another way of saying that they will get what's coming to them.  And that really is about vengeance   Retaliation.  Retribution for their crimes.  And we want to know why because that is how we process things like this.  If the person or people involved are crazy we can dissmis them and this act as desperate and we can relax knowing that there are only a few crazy people in the world - the sane would never do anything like this.  If the perpetrators were seeking to terrorize then we will blame religion or fanaticism and lump whole nations of people together as those who should be feared.

But reality is, whether crazy or terrorists or opportunists or carrying out some agenda the root of this act is firmly embedded in evil.  Evil.  Not religion.  Not marginalized individuals.  Not the desperate act of the insane.  Evil.  No matter what the "reason" the reason is, evil.  And where evil exists, as it does in this world, there will always be people who carry it out.

So what is our response then?  If the who, only allows us vengeance and the why is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things how do we respond to what we've seen?

First, do not fear.
Fear seeks to control by force.  When we react in fear we succumb to the terror of the event even if we were not directly involved in it.  Those who would attack anyone, from a bully to a nation rely on fear. Where there is fear there is control.  Most acts of terror whether on the playground or the world-stage are committed first to instill fear and second to inflict damage.

Psalm 37:1
Do not fret because of those who are evil...


1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear...


Second, trust.
When actions like this happen it rallys people, but often around the wrong things.  We become united in our stand against terror.  We come together to seek justice.  We are bound together by our disgust.  But as we saw after 9/11, rallying to these banners quickly dissipates.  Once a villain is found, once the why is discovered the ties that bound us begin to lose their grip.  So we must rally together for something that will last beyond the event - trust.  We can trust that God is involved and watching over the events and that His heart is grieved by evil as is ours.  And we can trust that He will exact vengeance where it is needed and that His punishment is forever harsher than anything we could come up with.
Psalm 34:16

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.


Third, refrain from retaliation.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't pursue justice.  We have laws and will enforce them and have many people in the FBI, ATF, Homeland security and other organizations who will work diligently to discover who did this and bring them to justice.  But you and I should refrain from retaliation.  Much like the days and weeks following 9/11 there will be increased violence against anyone of Middle Eastern decent.  I heard that a plane was rerouted and landed today because two men, not sitting together were speaking in Arabic   Now, it could have something to with the evens of yesterday, but they could have also simply been talking with someone else who happened to speak their language.  I guarantee that if you were on a plane full of people in a country foreign to you, you would talk to the other person who appeared to speak your language.  Too often anger and retaliation only inflame the situation and do not bring peace.

Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.


Finally realize that evil exists in this world.  Evil is the reason terror exists.  Evil is the incubator for crimes against the innocent.  Evil always seeks to steal, kill and destroy.  It was evil that brought about the events of 9/11.  Evil was behind the massacre at SandyHook.  Evil was the seed that led to yesterday's attack and evil will be at the heart of every act of terror that has yet to be perpetrated wether on U.S. soil or elsewhere.  The other option?
Psalm 34:14
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.


Jesus came because evil existed.  He died at the hands of the evil, for the purpose of evil and the perpetuation of evil.  But He rose again to defeat evil and offer hope.  Evil could not keep Him in the ground.  That is why good will always overcome evil.  Peace will always overcome hate.  Love will always be a more powerful emotion than fear.  Trust that God sees it all and will keep an account of all those who pursue and perpetuate evil.  Trust that, in Jesus, death no longer brings fear but hope.  That Jesus, if He is lifted up as the reason we pursue peace instead of hate, good instead of evil, love instead of fear, will draw all men to Himself.  And remember that Jesus went to the cross at the hands of evil men to pay the price for your sin so that there is no longer any retaliation for the evil that you and I have committed.  Let the law of the land bring justice to those involved, but seek repentance and ultimate salvation for those who both killed and were killed.

Luke 6:27, 28
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Holy Vessels

Have you ever considered the question, "Am I Holy?"

The reality for me is that I very seldom think about this.  There are times when I do.  In fact, on a regular basis I consider this thought.  Saturday nights.  I have a routine that involves abstaining from intimacy with my wife, I shower and prepare for Sunday morning and I ask God to clean me on the inside and prepare me to speak to His people.  To wash my heart and cleanse me from all unrighteousness so that nothing gets in the way of His message to His people.  But I'm a preacher.  And that's once a week.

I guess I never really thought about seeking holiness when I prepare for something else, something difficult or even mundane.  It's like I only think about this when it's some big spiritual event I'm preparing for.

In 1 Samuel 21 young David, before he succeeds King Saul and takes over the rule of Israel, is actually fleeing Saul for his life.  He comes to the Tabernacle of God at Nob and to the priest, Ahimelek.  David and the men with him are hungry and looking for something to sustain them as they continue to run from King Saul who is pursuing David to take his life.  The only thing Ahimelek has to eat is The Bread of the Presence.  It was bread that was baked every Sabbath (Saturday) and placed before the Lord as an offering.  It pointed back in time to the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness. It also pointed forward to Christ being the bread of life.  It was to be eaten only by the Priests who come from the line of Aaron (Moses' brother and the only line who could be High Priest) and who had set themselves apart as Holy by following the prescribed regulations and was only to be eaten in a Holy place.

However, this bread was given to David and his men.  Now, it's not my purpose to get into all of this today but let me just say, Jesus referred to this event when He said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  In other words, God gave man the Sabbath (day of rest) as a gift.  Anyway, I found it interesting that Ahimelek said to David, "there is some consecrated bread here - provided them men have kept themselves from women."  Just like the Jerusalem church determined that the Gentile church should not have to follow every Jewish law but only a few specific ones that would be most detestable to the Jews, Ahimelek breaks down the regulations for being Holy to just one thing - abstinence.

But what is even more interesting is David's reply in verse five, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”

That is incredible to me!  David says that even when the missions he goes out on are not holy, or God ordained/directed, his men still prepare themselves and keep their bodies holy.  Which means that they are ready for whatever God is going to do among them because they are ALREADY holy, ALREADY prepared.

Guess what, YOU ARE HOLY!  You are already set apart for God's good works which He prepared in advance for you to do!  Look at 1 Peter 2:9, "...you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

On the cross Jesus paid your price.  His sacrifice makes you holy.  You are now part of the royal priesthood - the priesthood of Aaron, not by your blood line, but by the blood of Christ Jesus.  That makes you God's special possession!

Now your part is to proclaim the praises of Jesus who called you out of the darkness of sin and pain and hopelessness and into HIS wonderful light!

Every day you are holy and ready to do whatever God places in your path.  Every day you can eat the bread of heaven because you are holy.  Every day you can do whatever God asks because you are prepared supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish everything He sets before you.

You are a Holy vessel.

Detained

How often are you detained?  And how do you feel about it?
Lately I've had several incidences of people not using their blinker when it directly affects me.  I'm waiting to turn, they are coming toward me and so I wait and then they turn and I'm like, "I could have gone already but was waiting for you!  Thanks a LOT!"  So I'm telling my wife about how inconsiderate some people are and I go, "I could shaved like 1.3 seconds off my travel time had they used their blinker!"

I have a friend who is always waiting on his family.  He's one of those guys who thinks 15 minutes early is on time (I don't get that!).  I think the rest of his family live by the 30 min late rule.

We get detained by a lot of things.  Family.  Cars on the road.  Accidents.  Work.  Overtime of the game.  "One more level and then..."

But it occurred to me this morning as I read 1 Samuel 21 that it has been way too long since I was detained by God.  Here's what got me thinking about it, Verse 7 talks about a man named Doeg the Edomite.  He was king Saul's chief shepherd and was at the Tabernacle.  The text just says that he was, "detained before the Lord."  We don't know why he was there but only that he stayed longer than planned.

Have you ever been detained by the Lord?  Showed up to church and then just didn't want to leave?  Been in a time of prayer that just went on longer than you expected it to?

It doesn't happen very often to me, but there have been a few times when I just didn't want to leave.  I didn't want the music to end.  I needed more.  More of Him.  Nothing strange or mystical happens, you just get to enjoy the presence of God a little longer.

I asked God to give me a heart that was moved by His Spirit.  To detain me.  I need Him to interrupt my life and get me on His schedule.  To re-align my priorities and my focus.  To help me get tuned in and synched up with His will, His way, His plan.

Father, detain me and let me bask in your presence.  Refresh my spirit with your presence.  Renew me and give me a new heart.  Let me spend a little extra time with You.  Amen.