My Apologies

Yesterday I kept getting emails and messages on a couple of messaging boards from numerous folks making comments about the blog entry about my son going to college. I said something to my wife about it last night and said how weird it was that no one was responding on the blog itself. She told me then that she had tried to respond but that the system would not take it. I checked it out and apparently it was something I had done which prevented anyone from commenting. I have fixed it now, but I regret that the responses cannot be seen here by everyone else. There were some tremendous comments made, especially by other fathers who were going through the same thing this week. To me, it was quite moving to see how many fathers were not ashamed to show deep emotions over their sons leaving the nest. I only wish you all could see them too.

Oh How the Years Go By

This week is one of the most bitter-sweet times of my life. Thursday we will move our son, Daniel to Champaign, Illinois to attend the University of Illinois. I've dreaded this time for the past year. The last week I've watched him so close and I see a man before me, excited as he prepares to launch out on his own. Still at times, I see that little boy running across the room ready to jump into his daddy's arms. Both us know that life is about to change forever. It is a good thing, but it is breaking my heart.

My son and I have always enjoyed a very special relationship. As I have sat and watched him these past few days I have recalled the times I rocked him to sleep, singing the words, "Daniel Zachary, best thing that ever happened to me." His birth marked a defining moment in my life. In so many ways, I grew up that day, at the age of 31. I remember walking down the hallway in the hospital in Cleveland, Tennessee holding him when he was barely 10 minutes old, so proud my heart was ready to leap out of my chest, yet so overwhelmed at the thought that I was now responsible for the care of this new life. I vowed to the Lord to do my best to bring him up in the fear of the Lord. I didn't tell anyone, but I was afraid at that moment.
My wife and I have done our best to do that. We've watched him develop into a young man that absolutely amazes us with the person that he has become.

When Daniel was little, we had a tradition of going to A&W every Spring on the first day they were open for a hot dog and root beer. We've always had those times where we sneak off for lunch together, or make a trip to Starbuck's, just father and son. Last year, when he was a Senior in High School, we did that more and more frequently as we realized that our time together was winding down.

And now that time has come, way too quickly, it seems, to open the door and let him fly. Libby and I are thrilled and excited for him and we know he will be successful... but selfishly, I don't want to let him go. I'm gonna miss my son far more than words can ever express. But love says, "let him fly." So, my son, I thank you for the joy and pride you have given to me. I thank you for the choices you have made which make me so very proud of you. And while I know this is not good-bye or an ending, but just a new chapter of your life, I want you to know son that daddy will miss you terribly. But Daniel, I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment. Not only do I thank you for who you are, I thank you for who you have helped me to become. And you know son, our lunches together will continue. I will be over there as often as I can to continue one of the traditions that matters most to me in this life... time as father and son.
I love you Daniel.

Dad

Upgrade Time

“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more”(1 Thessalonians 4:1, NKJV).

I was watching the Cardinal's baseball game last night and the sports casters were talking about areas where the Cardinals could use some help. One of them said something to the effect of needing an upgrade in the bullpen. As I watched my mind became engrossed in thoughts about "upgrading." It seems to me that every day we here in America are hit upon to pursue an upgrade. Upgrade your TV service, your Internet, your automobile, the type house we live in, our wardrobe and on and on it goes. We continually pay more to get more (supposedly). Things we used to get for free from our banks and telephone companies, we now have to pay for to receive expanded services. The funny thing is, we do it without a whole lot of consideration. "More is better" is the cry of our decade. As long as we perceive that we are getting more and we believe that the benefits are worth it, we will plunk down the extra cash.

I got to thinking how we do this in so many areas of our life, and then I began wondering... Why is it that we are not the same way when it comes to our spiritual lives? It is really a sad indictment that there are surveys by George Barna and others that unveil a sad truth: We upgrade our lives of comfort while often neglecting to upgrade our spiritual devotion.

Some of us attend worship on Sunday, then live the rest of the week as though Christianity is a “Sunday only” activity. We pray on Sunday. We read our Bibles on Sunday. It’s the one day we’ll mention God to others. But while we feel the need to upgrade our cell phones, computers, MP3 players, cars, clothing and retirement funds, we seldom accept offers to upgrade our spiritual lives.

The apostle Paul strongly urged the Thessalonians, and all Christians everywhere, to “abound more and more.” What Paul was actually saying here is that rather than reaching a spiritual plateau where it is comfortable, he encourages us to constantly seek to grow and climb higher and higher in our walk with Christ.

I've been asking myself, just what were the benefits of the last "upgrade" that I made in my spiritual walk? How long has it been since I have upgraded? What price have I been willing to pay to walk on a higher plane with the Lord? Am I willing to pay more to upgrade again?

Yes, upgrading our walk and devotion to God will cost more of our concentration, more of our time, more of our abilities, and most likely a little more of our money. But the gains will far outweigh the costs.

I don't know about anyone else, but as for me, it is time for another upgrade. I challenge others to upgrade with me. I offer this challenge: For the next month, set aside extra time every day to shut out all distractions, concentrate just on God and His Word, and tune in to whatever spiritual improvements He suggests. I am absolutely convince that the benefits of any spiritual upgrade will truly be worth the effort.

General Assembly is over

Well, the Church of God General Assembly in San Antonio is over and I am back home in Illinois. The GA was good in many respects, frustrating in others in that we were unable to bring about some needed changes. The most frustrating thing to me was that we were unable to get the measure to allow women to serve on the Pastor's Council approved. The measure was fiercely debated and then lost by only about 100 votes. To me, it is absolutely hypocritical that in the Church of God we have women who serve as pastors of churches, yet a women cannot serve on a council in that same church. We have women who have retired from pastoring or being a missionary or evangelist who sit in churches and are unable to serve. So hypocritical.

It was great to see friends from around the United States and around the world last week. A real highlight for me was to finally meet, face to face with Adam and Abisag Zygarewicz from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I have spoken to him by phone, email and letter and supported his work for about 7 years now, and it was a real pleasure to get to meet this precious family. We are discussing the possibility of setting up a trip for Adam to come back to the U.S. for a few weeks and preach in some of our churches to share what God is doing in Russia and help raise some very much needed funds for his ministry.

Supporters of Todd Bentley Backing Away

I received this from a friend of mine and thought that it needs to be shared.

Are WAGNER's APOSTLES LEAVING?? -Andrew Strom. Last week we published a number of strong statements against Lakeland by one of Peter Wagner's 'apostles' named Robert Ricciardelli. For those who are not aware, Peter Wagner heads up an organization devoted to setting in place "apostles" over the church. This is known as the 'New Apostolic Reformation' (NAR), and it has been very controversial. I myself have never seen it as any kind of true "Reformation" - because all it seems to do is set up another level of hierarchy over the existing ones. I also question whether many of the "apostles" are true apostles - but that is another story. Suffice it to say, that Wagner runs one of the most powerful and far-reaching global networks in the Charismatic world. I don't know if Peter Wagner fully realized what he was doing when he went down to Lakeland and publicly endorsed Todd Bentley and the 'revival' there. But clearly he started a rift in his own movement that may very well almost tear it apart. However, before we discuss this further, it is also important to note that even some "pro-Lakeland" churches are beginning to have second thoughts about supporting that movement - as more factual information begins to emerge about what is really going on. The following was written by the leader of a "pro-Lakeland" church - and forwarded to me this week. (I have removed the identity of both the leader and the church). This really is an amazing admission for such a "pro-Lakeland" leader to make: "Hi staff, We need to talk, probably as a staff, and go through what I've found out. I had a long talk with Robert Ricciardelli. He's no revival critic... He loves revival, believes in healing, prophecy and all the rest and is delighted to hear about the healings we've had here. He's a close friend of Stephen Strader... He's in an accountability relationship with Lee Grady (editor of Charisma Magazine) and is a writer for Charisma on occasion. He's part of C. Peter Wagner's apostolic network, recognized by Peter as an apostle. I've seen the man's website and he's legit, not a heresy hunter. "The reports he has given me are firsthand, not hearsay. I am deeply troubled, grieved and tormented at what I'm hearing. He attributes most of the anointing at Lakeland to Roy Fields (worship leader). I agree. Roy is nothing but clean and God shows up hugely when he leads worship. I can go into detail later about what is surfacing, but there are huge lapses of integrity going on... Much embellishment. Many claims have been made that simply are not true. The Charisma crew has researched it. I want to weep. My heart is breaking. For now, to be safe and for the sake of integrity, we need to stop speaking about the claimed resurrections. Three of them have been checked out with the doctors and EMTs involved and found never to have happened at all. Todd has been confronted with this and has not adjusted the numbers in his claims. Not a single one of the other claimed resurrections can be substantiated despite diligent effort to do so. Even after Stephen Strader brought it down to 13 (and even those couldn't be substantiated) Todd ran it back up to 27 and more. Misrepresentation and embellishment! "On the financial front, Todd recently told the crowd that God had told him that there were 1,000 people who would give $1,000 and that they would be blessed 1,000-fold. Robert called Stephen Strader to confront the unbiblical nature of that appeal. It came out that Todd admitted he hadn't heard that from God, that it was just an idea he had so that they could raise money to build a big stadium. Robert challenged them to issue an apology the following night based on that false claim of being told by God and they refused to do it on the excuse that it's a different crowd every night. "That's the flavor of what I'm finding. There's a lot more. I'm so grieved I can hardly think. I'm not saying the Lakeland Outpouring is not of God (God is bigger than the men involved), although good men whom I have respected all my life are saying just that (that it's not of God), based on what they know and have seen... "What I am saying is that we need to back up and not identify ourselves closely with Lakeland and that we need to stop repeating claims being made on the air lest we end up getting splattered with the collateral damage when certain issues of false claims, embellishments and lapses of integrity begin to come out more publicly. By the way, no one is saying that some healings have not happened - only that many false, embellished or unsubstantiated claims have been made. A number of really good men, champions of revival through the years, are actually saying that the whole thing is of the devil and that even the healings are demonically inspired. I want to be clear that I'm not going there..." [-end quote]. So here we have a 'pro-Lakeland' church checking out these facts for the first time and now deciding that they "need to back up and not identify ourselves closely with Lakeland." Pretty amazing! Meanwhile - back to the topic of "apostles" and what is now happening in Peter Wagner's main 'ICA' organization: One of Wagner's apostles, Robert Ricciardelli, put out an email this week saying that he has received a great deal of support for his stand against Lakeland - the majority of it from pastors. And he also made the following very significant statement: "As a member of ICA, Peter Wagner actually caused many questions to come my way because of my membership there. I will no longer be involved with that organization and actually have not tracked well with them and some of their agendas since I have been involved with them. However, I have enjoyed the many relationships I have developed from going to the annual meetings. Most all of those relationships are also disengaging from their affiliation with ICA, because of many issues beyond Lakeland." So clearly Robert is now leaving the ICA - as are other 'apostles' that he knows of also. I asked him to clarify this last point. Robert wrote to me: "The ICA leadership continues to adopt belief systems without seeking the advice and counsel of members. Many of the members do not, and will not support these beliefs, including the support of anti-biblical behavior and doctrine currently being expressed through Todd Bentley and Freshfire Ministries. In fact as ICA embraces this, they now have taken a stance that will indirectly have to embrace many of the same ministries, including "New Mystic" John Crowder and others. This escalating focus on angels, experiences, trances, etc is far from the focus of Jesus, His Kingdom, and His righteousness... Many of us who really enjoyed the ICA annual conferences are now forced to make a decision as to whether to continue our involvement with them." Robert has also stated that he personally was never into "Dominionist" beliefs or the "hierarchical NAR agenda." His last statement to me was: "I think that there is a chance that many may disassociate with the ICA depending on Todd continuing to reveal his deceptive doctrine and Peter continuing to support such doctrine." I wonder if Peter Wagner ever imagined that by endorsing Todd Bentley he may be sowing huge seeds of destruction in his own movement? -Perhaps only time will tell.

Too Embarrassed to Praise? (revisited)

For the last couple of weeks I have found myself thinking a great deal about worship, not just others, but how I worship God myself. I realized that many times recently I have found myself struggling with worry about what others might think. Many have a hard time believing this, but I really am an extremely shy person. I struggle with self-esteem issues and worry about people not liking me or thinking ill of me. This often effects my public worship, because I find myself worrying about what others might think. Privately, I dance, I shout and let it all hang out. But get me in front of others and I tend to tone it down. This morning I found myself praying and asking the Lord to help me with this. I recall sitting in a service in Atlanta a few years ago and hearing Robert Sterns teach on worship and it ignited something in my heart. After that service I was talking with Jerome Olds and he said to me "As pastor, you model worship before your church. What you release into your church, they will model themselves after you." I had forgotten those words until this morning. I realize now that if I hold back, those who sit under me will hold back as well. Time for me to confront my shyness and other issues head on and "model worship" before my church. I'm not talking about putting on an act, but worshiping as I normally worship without fear or reservation. I'm sure there will still be a battle, but I'm going to take this one on, starting NOW!

All this got me to thinking about a previous post I made, so I went looking for it and was stunned to discover it was the very first post I made on this blog, and it was made 3 years ago this month. I brought it here for you all to read, but if you have time, you'll find it worth your while to go back to the original post and read the comments that were made.

Blessings y'all!

*****************************************************************************

Monday, August 29, 2005

Too Embarrassed to Praise?

It is obvious that there has been a real change over the past few months taking place in Harvest Church. It is actually a little difficult to put into words, but it is almost like an atmospheric change over the house. Divisions seem to be disappearing resulting in a new unity of the sort I have not witnessed since coming here as pastor. One of the most noticeable changes is in the area of worship. There seems to be a fresh wind hitting the house, and people are worshipping more openly and some with reckless abandon. I am not sure if the worship is ushering in the move of God, or if the move of God is inducing the worship; but either way, something is different. Still there are some (a good portion of the church) who just sit and observe, rather than participate. Last night during the worship, I looked out over the people, and I saw probably 40% of the people either sitting or standing and just watching the others worship. I wondered, "Why are they not worshipping too?" Suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "They are afraid of doing something which will embarrass themselves." I admonished the people to worship, and a few others did; still most remained in the role of observer.

After the service, I privately spoke to a few individuals and they confirmed that they were afraid to worship because they did not want anyone to laugh at them or think that they were odd. I pointed out first of all that they were admitting that this is a pride issue. They were more concerned with what people thought of them than they were with giving God the praise He deserves. Secondly, I asked them if they realized that they were actually in the minority of people in the house, that most people were in fact worshipping, and that they in fact stand out more for not worshipping than they would if they were participating. Isn't it funny that by not worshipping, they were in fact looking like the odd ones in the group? The devil plays this game with our minds and causes us not to see the obvious. He robs us from the freedom to worship God by telling us we will draw attention to ourselves, when in fact, people notice us more for sitting and not taking an active role in worship.

Church, it is time to stop letting the enemy of our souls put chains around us that not only rob us of the freedom and joy that our Lord wants us to live in, but those chains are also stealing the praise that our God deserves! You have no doubt heard me say this before, but it is well worth repeating. "You will never do in the church house what you are not accustomed to doing at home." What I mean by that is that you need to start worshipping God daily in your homes, in your car and where ever you go. If you are one who is too embarrassed to worship in public... start out by worshipping at home. Take time each day in the privacy of your home to praise the Lord. Put on some praise and worship music and just worship the King of Kings. Begin to lift your hands, speak of His goodness and give Him praise. Dance before the Lord. Before long, you will discover that it comes natural, because you were created for this!
A commercial from years ago said, "Try it... you'll like it!" Can I challenge you today to try praising the Lord... I promise you, you will like it. More importantly, our God will like it!

Things That Make You Go... Hmmmm?

From Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, July 7, 2008

Dear Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice.
On June 30 I celebrate my independence day, and on
July 4 I celebrate America's. This year is special, because
it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.

On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba, and a few
months later, I was in the United States to stay That
I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is
just part of the story, but I disagree.

I've thought a lot about the anniversary this
year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot
about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late
1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, so
when a young leader came along, every Cuban
was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and
passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell
in love with him. They never questioned who his friends
were or what he really believed in. When he said he would
help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care
and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he
would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said,
'Praise the Lord.' And when the young leader
said, 'I will be for change and I'll bring you
change,' everyone yelled, 'Viva Fidel!'

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the
executioner's guns went silent, the people's guns
had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal,
they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the
time everyone received their free education, it was worth
nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late,
because they were now working for him. By the time the
change was finally implemented, Cuba had been knocked
down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the
time the change was over, more than a million people had
taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call
those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the
most fortunate Cubans. And now I'm back to the
beginning of my story.

Luckily, we in America would never fall for a young
leader who promised change without asking, what change?
How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?

Would we?

Manuel Alvarez, Jr.

I'm Going For It!

Come on America... I need your vote!

99 Balloons

Just discovered this video and I had to share it. I have no problem telling you that tears are running down my cheeck as I type this. More than just a cry, I hope you see the love of Jesus Christ in this video.

Save our Starbucks!

The list came out from Starbucks of stores they plan to close, and Galesburg was on that list. I think this is really unfortunate and not really fair because this Starbucks has not even been open for a year yet, and the first 5 months that it was open, the management of the store was pretty bad. Since the change in December, the place is run much better and I, for one, have gone back much more frequently. Many that I have talked to are just now warming up to Starbucks because when they first tried it, it was run so badly that they did not return. I have to confess that my first two visits to the store were bad enough that I did not return for almost 6 months. It took word of mouth advertisement from others to convince me to go back. Since then, I am a regular, having all but forsaken my previous coffee hangout. (Which if you know me, that is saying a lot!)

One thing I love about Starbucks is that they stay open late, where "the other place" changed their hours some time back and they are not open in the evening at all. (Bad move Mike and Johon!)

There is an online petition that you can sign if you'd like to try to help save our Starbucks. Will they listen? Who knows... but I do know that if we sit down and keep our mouths shut, Starbucks will be gone in just a short time.

If you want to sign the petition, here is the link: Save Our Starbucks

Following the Map is Not Enough

This morning a storm passed through Galesburg which cooled the temperature and reduced the humidity greatly. I had some time before I needed to run my daughter to work, so I just stayed in bed and turned on the television for a bit. When I turned it on there was a TV evangelist talking about how that the Holy Spirit was speaking to 1000 people right at that time to give some amount of money. (I really did not pay attention to the amount.) What got my attention was this guy saying, "The Holy Spirit is speaking to you to do what I tell you to do." Let me see if I get this... the Holy Spirit is speaking to these people, but then He has to speak to this evangelist to tell him to tell those that He is speaking to already to listen to what the evangelist is saying. Uh, I may be a bit slow, but if the Holy Spirit is already talking to these people, then why did he need to speak to the evangelist to tell him to tell them to do what the evangelist says? Something is amuck here, don't you think? This got the wheels turning and I began to think about how many people fall for stuff like this and follow people blindly. Turn on your TV set for a bit and give a listen to some of these shysters. There is a guy who calls himself "Master Prophet Jordan" who is prostituting the Gospel by selling his services as prophet. Depending how much you are willing to pay, the more he will reveal what god is saying to you. There is Don Stewart who will send you the magical "Green Prosperity Prayer Cloth" with instructions on how to use it, which of course includes sending in your offering; and the more you give, the more you are gonna get. There are countless others... but you get the idea. These men are dangerous. These guys are intentionally leading others astray and making a mockery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I was thinking about all this, I realized how many people actually believe in and follow these guys and would most likely defend them very strongly. For example; I've had countless people call or email me to defend Todd Bentley in Florida. Which made me think that you have got to be careful who you follow... when this thought popped into my head. (I'm finally getting around to the Map reference made above.)

Pictured at the top right of this blog entry is a street map of Galesburg, Illinois. It does not list all of our streets, but using this map, I believe someone who had never been to the Burg before could pretty well find themselves around the town with no problem. It is a pretty decent map which lays out the main streets, so it is a good map for someone who needs to get around Galesburg. But what if I handed you this map as you were trying to find your way around Peoria? Even though this is a good map, it is not going to help you get where you are going. Same thing in the spirit realm.
It does not matter how good your attitude is, or how positive your confession is, or how excited you are in your spirit, you are going to stay lost, because you are using the wrong map. Once you have the right map, you can use your positive attitude, positive confession and positive spirit to move you in the right direction for your life. The Bible provides that right direction, but even still, it must be read right. You cannot look at the south side of a map of Peoria to help you navigate the north-west part of town. In other words, we have to use the Word in the proper context. This is where all these false teachers and shysters lead people astray. They hold up the Bible, say the Name of Jesus... weak, gullible people think they must be right because they used the Word of God and spoke the Name of Jesus, but they are shallow enough in their walk that they do not realize that they are being led astray.

Everyone needs to follow the map... but following "the map" is not enough... you have to make sure you are following the correct map and learn to read it yourself instead of depending on someone else to read it for you.

I'm Coming Back... I Promise!

I've taken a little break from blogging lately and I'm about geared up and ready to go at it again and plan to start in a day or two. I appreciate all those who still check in here every day, even though I've not really blogged in weeks. Thanks for continuing to come back!

Before I start at it again, I wanted to take a couple of my old blog entries and re-visit them. Tonight I was scanning through some of them and this one below just jumped out at me.
Hope it speaks to you too.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Our God Reigns (?)

"Our God Reigns!"
Powerful statement. We sing about it all the time in various songs. We wear it on T-shirts.We say it to one another in religious ceremonies and services and it brings us much comfort and peace to say and to hear, "Our God reigns!"

But, as I have been sitting here this morning pondering that statement, I have found myself wondering; "Does our God really reign?"
No, I've not flipped my lid. Hear me out.

Let me begin with giving you the definition of "reign" from Dictionary.com

1. Royal rule or authority; sovereignty
2. Dominating power or influence
3. To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority
4. To hold the position and name of sovereign without exercising the ruling power.
5. To have control, rule, or influence of any kind.

OK, I am going to assume we all understand that definition. But here is the question, as I have pondered it:
Are we allowing God to reign in our lives?

The reality is that God has give to each of us free will and choice. Part of that free will is whether or not we will submit ourselves to his authority and will... or, his reign.
God has the ultimate power, authority and sovereignty, yet he allows us to make our own choice. For us to proclaim "our God reigns" is nothing short of a lie if we are not yielding our will, our desire and our passions to him. Many proclaim that they have, yet their actions speak volumes louder than their words.

"Our God reigns".... "but my family comes first. God understands."

"Our God reigns".... "but I can't pay my tithe this month because I have so many Christmas gifts to buy. But I'll pay them next month."

"Our God reigns"... "but I can't give to missions or to help a struggling widow, I have a big party coming up and there just is not enough money to go around."

"Our God reigns"... but I can't make it to church again this week, there is just too much to do."

And the list can go on and on.
We SAY that our God reigns but the reality for the vast majority is that he does not because our will, our desires, our wants, our plans ALWAYS supersede His, and folks, that is not reigning, that is making Him our idol that we can take out to worship or put away again at any time we choose! Truthfully, many people treat God more like a pet than they do as the supreme power and authority of the universe. We get him out when we need comfort, when we want to snuggle up to him or when we need protection, but we stick him away in a cage the rest of the time. Once a week (or less) we get him out and love on him and sing to and about him, but then he goes back in the cage until next week.

I think I have said enough.
But let me leave you with this question. Does God "reign" in your life?