Cherokee Legend

Here is a powerful story from the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage.

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from all harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting beside us. Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

"And the survey said!"

Last week I was exercising my gift of "remoting" -- surfing through the 800+ channels on Direct TV -- when an episode of Family Feud caught my attention.

The question given to the contestants was,

"Name something you usually find at church."

There were 6 possible answers. Care to guess what they were? If you guessed "singing," you got the #1 answer. Other answers included, "collection plate" (#2), "praying" (#3), and "sermon" (5).

If you're counting, that leaves 2 answers. After 3 XXX's passed the question to the other family, the new clan had one try to "steal" the money. They couldn't come up with a correct answer either.

Trying to guess the answers to #4 and #6?

If you're thinking "communion" ... or "baptism" ... or "fellowship" ... you get a big X.

Nope, none of these. The final answers were "dozing off" (#4) and "going to the bathroom" (#6). The final answers may not be too spiritual, but you'll find them both in almost every church on any given Sunday.

I am thinking that the answers may not be in the right order. It seems to me that the "sermon" should have been before "dozing." I think you can figure out why. Note: when people nod in church it doesn't mean they are agreeing.

Did you notice anything missing? Worship didn't make the survey.

Okay, you could argue that singing, giving, praying, and preaching are all intended to be expressions of worship, and I would whole-heartedly agree. But is it possible to sing ... to give ... to pray ... to listen to a sermon without worshipping?

Jesus observed the ostentatious display of Israel's worship with its elaborate ceremonies and high rituals -- He wasn't impressed. He said ...

Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips. But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me ..." (Matt 15:7-9).

They said the right things and performed flawlessly, but their worship was a farce. It was a show -- impressive to most, except the One who sees the heart. We can sing from our diaphragm, pray from our lips, give from our hands, and listen with our ears -- and do all of this in grand style -- but true worship proceeds from the heart.

What is the indispensable essential in our worship? We must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Good answer!

"Total" Commitment

Christians frequently talk about "total commitment." Ever wonder why we find it necessary to add the word "total"? Is there such a thing as "partial" commitment? I think not. If it's partial it isn't commitment, and if it's commitment it can't be less than total.

If you're wondering what commitment looks like, ponder the words of a young African pastor who was martyred for his faith in Zimbabwe. The following letter was found among his papers after he was murdered.

I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be
still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.

I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power. My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!

At Calvary

Looking back to the hill of Calvary, these things by faith I see ...

A crown of thorns, splattered with mud,

A soldier's spear, fresh-tipped with blood.

The tears of a mother's age-old grief,

And tears of joy shed by a thief.

A sponge filled with vinegar, a broken reed,

Three rusty nails for which no need.

And tossed to one side is the sign they used,

"This is Jesus, King of the Jews.

A reed and a spear, a crown and a tear,

To remind the world that Christ died here.

But one thing more by faith I see,

At the foot of the cross ...

A place for me.

(Written by a U.S. serviceman in Germany. This poem has never been published.)

The David Company

More than once God has bypassed the religious elite at the temple to choose redneck fishermen in Galilee.

In the early Spring of 1906, a black minister by the name of William J. Seymour went to Los Angeles, California, to conduct a series of revival meetings. When he began the meeting with Acts 2:4 as his text and preached his first sermon on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the people of the Santa Fe Street mission were shocked and offended. When Seymour returned for the evening service he found the mission door padlocked.

He was taken in by Mr. & Mrs. Edward Lee and eventually was able to conduct a cottage prayer meeting in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Asbery at 214 N. Bonnie Brae Street. In need of larger quarters, he moved to 312 Azusa Street -- the site of the old African Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time it was being used as storage shed for construction materials. After much hard work, the building was made ready and services began.

The rest is history. Little did anyone realize “that 312 Azusa Street would one day be renowned as the center from which the most far-reaching religious movement of the 20th century radiated around the world” (William Faupel, The Everlasting Gospel, p. 191).

I am struck by the fact that God chose William J. Seymour to lead the Azusa Street revival and placed him at the head of the Pentecostal movement. He seems to have been the least likely candidate for such an appointment, especially in the light of men like John Alexander Dowie, Frank Weston Sandford, and Charles Fox Parham -- three prominent men who dominated the landscape of the emerging Pentecostal movement.

Who would have dreamed that out of all the people in the world to play such a significant role in the plan of God, the Lord would have chosen a poor, half blind, barely educated man -- a black man in a society deeply entrenched in racism -- as the catalyst for worldwide revival?

But this is not the first time that God has passed over Eliab and Abinadab to anoint David (1 Sam. 16:6ff). More than once God has bypassed the religious elite at the temple to choose redneck fishermen in Galilee. Paul said, “ . . . not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things . . . that no man should boast before God (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

I believe there is a hidden remnant -- a “David Company” -- that God is raising up. They are presently unknown, except among those in heaven and hell. They will care nothing for notoriety and fame; they will shun publicity and refuse to be exalted or promoted by men; they will live their lives for God, work for His glory alone, and serve in a way that only His eyes need to see.

They have been in training for years, faithfully taking care of their Father’s flock. Among them are those who have been passed over.

From the most unexpected places, God will raise up the most unexpected people to do an extraordinary work.

They will not merchandise His anointing or exploit His glory for personal gain, and He will use them mightily because He knows His glory is safe in their hands.

Perhaps I should refer to them as “The Seymour Company.”