November 2 - 8 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
Labels:
Daily Meditations
November 2
Psalms 114
1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2. Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
3. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
5. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6. Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
7. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8. Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
It is no wonder that Moses determined not to go anywhere, unless the Lord would go with them. It was His presence that distinguished the people of God from all the nations on the earth. God’s preoccupation is with His people. All of creation cooperates with God’s leadings and dealings with them. Rivers, seas, and mountains become tools, through which He manifests His presence. For them, rocks turned to liquid and the earth trembled. The Egyptian Red Sea and the Canaanite Jordan responded in like fashion. Wherever He leads and accompanies us, however far from home it may be, mountains will shake, the seas will be stilled, rocks will break, bread will be multiplied, fish will pay taxes, and the fowls of the air will feed.
What Our Hands Have Handled, chapter nine
Labels:
personal testimonies
Just married, Margaret and I went to live in Cacahuatepec, Oaxaca, in October of 1966. Right away, we began to go house-to-house, explaining our reason for coming to the town and also shared the gospel with the inhabitants. Then, we began to visit the next town, called Amuzgos, to the north. The letter on the right is one of three that we received from people in Amuzgos in November, 47 years ago, threatening us not to return. It states: "Amuzgos, Putla, Oaxaca, November 22, 1966. Señor Pastor, Very esteemed sir. We ask, in the most attentive manner, that you not return to this place to disturb our people, because we will not be responsable for what happens to you. With nothing else to say..." I kept going, anyway, because there were individuals, who asked for prayer. One day, a group was waiting in front of my pick-up with buckets of water, with which they soaked me. Oh well, it was a hot day!
What Our Hands Have Handled, chapter eight
Labels:
personal testimonies
Success in Christian service is not measured by large churches or stadiums filled with people. The only true confirmation to a godly calling, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is by that which will someday walk on streets of gold.
CHAPTER 8
FRUIT THAT REMAINS
“Lord, if you don’t give me much fruit, give me fruit that remains.” There are prayers that express our highest aspirations. They are not one-time requests, but are carried in the heart and uttered frequently over the years. One of Erwin Brueckner’s perennial petitions, quoted above, was for lasting fruit.
It seemed apparent that God’s plan for his life did not include pastoring large congregations. The attendance at Quinney Chapel for Sunday morning worship seldom exceeded fifty people. On Sunday evenings, the meetings in small Indian homes in Oneida, Wisconsin, were significantly larger, with upwards of eighty people crowding into a single room. At the close of each meeting, someone would offer his house for the following service. In this way, the gospel spread to various neighborhoods in the area. We also must mention home Bible studies in the city of Fond du lac and in the village of Potter, which Erwin conducted on weeknights. Different people attended in each place, but the total number sitting under my dad’s ministry, at any point in his life, was anything but impressive.
 |
| Ruth, shortly before she went to heaven, and Marshall, who has celebrated his 90th birthday. |
What are more significant are the people, who were challenged through Dad to become fully involved in God’s business. Marshall Averbeck, son of the Quinney Sunday school superintendent, attended St. Paul Bible Institute (now Crown College near Minneapolis) and spent the rest of his life as a pastor. He also married Ruth, my oldest sister, and they are now retired after forty years of ministry. Craig Hendrickson, who grew up in one of their churches and found the Lord under their guidance, made his way to the Philippines as a missionary.
Several years ago, Eddie Burg, who was in the teenage boys’ Sunday school class at Quinney, spent a night in our home in Germany, along with his wife. They now have three sons. Two are pastors and the other son and his family were traveling with them. They had been receiving missionary training in France and today serve in Africa. The son of a butcher in the Quinney congregation, Ken Huber, became a missionary to South America.
October 26 - November 1 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
Labels:
Daily Meditations
October 26
Psalms 108:6-9
6. That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.
7. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
9. Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over
Philistia will I triumph.
10. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
11. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
13. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
David turns to petition, interjected after a season of exaltation. He is beloved by this mighty God with a love that surpasses the earth and heavens. David wants to pray down a manifestation of the right hand of God upon the earth. He knows that the Lord does not begrudge fulfilling his word, but rejoices in it. However, His word never compromises His holiness. David has received a “clean” promise, which will benefit God’s kingdom, give back to God what belongs to Him and defeat His enemies. David is part and parcel of that kingdom and his victories are God’s.
Let the same be said of us. The God, who casts off men because of ungodliness, has spoken in His holiness that He will accompany our armies. When the help of man is cast aside and a God-consciousness prevails, with that comes a sense of victory.
Father of Mercies, God of All Comfort
Labels:
Important messages
I preach on the wrath of God, the horribleness of sin and its consequences, because it is part of the whole counsel of God and we dare not omit it. I emphasize it, because of the extreme imbalance and lack of preaching on these subjects in our day. Christian leaders are not aware of the disservice that they do to their listeners and the purposes of God by avoiding them. To not warn people sleeping in a burning house of their danger is a cruelty beyond what can be described, but that is exactly what pastors do, who have decided not to disturb the consciences of the spiritually asleep in their congregation. There may be those who think I am a cranky old man… or worse yet, a cranky preacher… so allow me to say that the message that follows is an example of the sublime teachings of the Bible, which I much rather enjoy proclaiming.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3
The primary motivation for reading the Scriptures is to see in the Bible the revelation of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. When my friend, the Navajo Herman Williams, was converted, he cried because he had a Bible, but didn’t know how to read. He wanted so much to know more of the One, who had come into his life and given him peace. Our text tells us that it is God’s nature to be merciful and to comfort.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
Recommended Books
