DRAWING NEAR TO GOD

As we walk this wondrous walk with our Heavenly Father, He will call us to draw near or come up to where He is. I will be honest I do not know where that is, but where ever that is it must be heaven. The Bible is full of examples where God calls out to man. In Exodus God wanted audience with Moses so God called out, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” (Exodus 24:1) What a wonderful thought, the God of Gods, the Almighty God of the heavens and the earth wants to have audience with us. Do you hear Him calling you? God through His Holy Spirit is ever calling us to come up and to draw near Him. Now I do not know if God spoke to Moses with an audible voice it really does not matter, but what does matters is Moses was in such relationship and communion with God he could hear Him speak. He was so near Him in heart he could even see the invisible. “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27) Oh to God today we would have such a relationship and communion with God. Strange how this is the heart of God for us all to have a personal relationship and intimate communion with Him and we often do not. God never loved Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Abraham, the Disciples, Paul, whomever more than us He is not (Acts 10:34) a respecter of persons. Well if this be true (and it is) I wonder why we do not draw near or come up to God as Moses and others did in the Bible? I know, maybe God has changed His desire for man to approach or draw near to Him? Or maybe God has changed the way we are to draw near or approach Him? Oh no my friend we must draw near and make our approach to God the same way Moses and all of the rest in past eons of time, with our heart. Jeremiah tells us, “And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 30:21) You know when our heart is broken tears often flow freely, maybe this is why Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet? I promise you my friend the more time you spend with God the more tears you will feel running down your face, but with the tears comes the knowledge of God.

Drawing near to God is always about a turning away from things, a fear, learning more about Him and His ways, so that He can give us His things. And the more we learn about God the more we are able to see how much we are not like Him and His Son. Jesus God’s Son was sent to earth to be the expressed image (John 14:7) of the Father (God); so in the Gospels we can read what the Father would say, to show us how the Father thinks and responds in situations, and to show us how the Father cares and loves His children. So, in turn we too can think, respond, care, and love as the Father does. And do you know what God desires for us? God desires for us too to look like Him and His precious Son Jesus Christ. Our goal in this life is not to do mighty exploits for God, hold great crusades, do wonderful miracles, or even go to heaven, but to become conformed into the image and nature of God’s precious Son Jesus Christ and if so we too will think, respond, care, and love as Jesus and the Father does. Now, if we are obedient to God’s plan for our lives these good works listed above might happen, but they come out from a willing, broken, and contrite heart before Him. Please do not get your priorities off track; God, family, and then ministry is God’s order of success for our lives. We must have a relationship and be in communion with God then our immediate family must be in order, and when these two first things first are in place God can then arrange things for ministry. If things between you and God and your family are in shambles please do not expect God to be involved with what you are doing. Oh some may be going and doing, but God is far for them. In God first things first!

Often times out of good intentions and with a religious approach we try to come up to where God is, but this my friend can never work. Our approach is always from our heart, not with our mind, our emotions (as some denominations teach), or our good works in our hand, but with a heart that has been dealt with by God. Moses, Saul (who later became Paul), John, and more could not stand before a holy and living God, they were dropped to their face. When Abram (later became Abraham) drew near to God in covenant he found himself in God’s wonderful darkness, “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.” (Genesis 15:12) And then again in verse 17, “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” (Genesis 15:17) When we make our approach to God often fear is in us and there is a burning away of things in our lives. We must not be afraid of God, this fear is not that He is going to bonk us over the head for every little thing we do wrong, but a fear of an awe, respect, and honor for being a holy and righteous God. Sadly most Christians see God as having a big stick and is waiting to smite us, well make no mistake God will discipline us for our benefit and if we get too far off track He will raise the stakes even more to get our attention. But this is done in love as a father loveth his son. The writer of the Hebrews (who I believe to be Paul) helps us understand this type of fear, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Strong’s #2124, caution, circumspection, discretion) 29For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29), If this is you please turn from this wrong thinking, but never forget “God is a consuming fire” I think this is probably why we really do not want to make our approach to God with our heart. God says draw near, we know if we do we will get consumed. We do not want to get all burnt up, so we do not come up or draw near. After all it is painful when we have our thoughts, plans, and dreams that are not of God consumed by God. What are we going to do and say if God takes away all of our religious approach? Abram made a covenant with God using pieces of animal flesh and they were consumed by God, “behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces,” but today God desires to make a covenant with us writing His laws on our heart and in our minds, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;” (Hebrews 10:16) My friend let us not follow after the example of the Children of Israel, they never allowed God to write His laws on their heart or in their mind, but like many Christians today (I insert myself here at times) we draw near with shallow words and songs we do not believe. God told Isaiah, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear (Strong’s #3374, dreadful and terror) toward me is taught by the precept of men:” (Isaiah 29:13) I still wonder why we sing songs to God telling Him how holy, powerful, and righteous He is? My friend God knows our heart, He knows all things. He knows if we really mean it or not. It would be best for us to just keep our mouth in the dust (not much talking or singing when we have a mouthful of dust) if we cannot make our approach to God with a true heart and not wavering in the truth. The writer of the Hebrews again helps us here, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” (Hebrews 10:22-26) Now I do not know about you my friend, but verse 26 gives me the willies. To be honest it causes fear in me. The way I read this verse is if “we sin wilfully” (know the difference between the right and the wrong of a given situation) “after we have received the knowledge of the truth” (or after we come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ) “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” well, I do not know what this means for God is the only judge that gets to make this call, but let me tell you my friend these last words gives me great pause and fear, if it means what I think it might means. Make no mistake we all (sinner and saint alike) will come up or draw near to a holy and righteous God some day. And again the writer of Hebrews helps us here, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27) This drawing near to God is serious business. Let us not draw near to Him with an emotional or mental approach, but with a heart that has been broken and crushed by God. Watchman Nee said, “the broken alone are useful to God.” Did you know there is a difference between a gifted speaker and broken speaker? I hear many a gifted speaker, but not many broken speakers. Many are called, but few are chosen. The chosen are the ones that have endured God’s dealings and judgments and now can speak out from a heart that has been crushed (contrite) to powder. How can God give us His things if He is not allowed to conform us into His likeness? He so wants to give us His good things, but He can only trust, with His goods, those whom draw near to Him. Written by David Stahl

MAKE AN IMPACT

Some one once wrote that I should “make an impact.” I’ve already “made an impact.” I’ve been a crappy wife, a crappy mother, crappy sister, crappy daughter, crappy friend, need I go on? I can only hope and pray our kids do better than me. The mindset of “making an impact” comes from a self-centered, egotistical, self-seeking, look-at-me, I am so great worldly attitude, and unfortunately this attitude has crept into the church. So now we have all of these wanna be’s. I wanna be like, you fill in the blank with your favorite preacher or teacher. When Paul told the church at Corinth, “Be ye followers (imitate in the NKVJ) of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthian 11:1) he was not talking about looking or acting like him. He was talking about following or imitating the things of God they see in Paul. God forbid we would just wanna be like Jesus. How many people do you know want to go to the slums of India like Mother Theresa? Do you know what Mother Theresa’s Saint name is? The Saint of the Gutters. I have never heard anyone say, I want to be like Mother Theresa – I’m going to chuck it all, go to India, and take care of the sick and dying. Nope never heard it, but we sure want to see ourselves behind the pulpit in front of 100s, we want the big office, people stepping and fetching for us. We want the big church, fancy building, people knowing our name, the attention, etc. and etc. Just like Jesus right? Folks, Jesus made the impact. He made the name for all of us Christians – little Christ. That is all we should aspire to be. Not all of this other mindless foolishness. We are to be lowly and humble which will make us pretty much invisible to the rest of this world. Dang, no body will see all of the good stuff we do if we’re lowly and humble. No body will pat us on the back – holy smokes we may not get any recognition at all!!! Why we might even end up being REAL Christians if we’re lowly and humble. But unfortunately if we were REAL Christians we won’t be making any impact any where because we’ll just be quietly and humbly going about our business following Jesus. Yeah, I’ve made impact many bad ones, but now I just want to be like Jesus and follow Him. I know I’ve got a long way to go, but with the right heart condition I shall make it. Besides, Proverbs 25:27, tell us, “to search one’s own glory is not glory.” Solomon gives us the conclusion of this article. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) And remember, the best is yet to come. Written by Karen Stahl

THE UGLY SIDE OF TRUTH

Karen and I have been married going on 30 years. After the things of God Karen is the next best gift God has given me. The longer we go together the more I love her and the more I see how at times I fail her. This is an ugly picture in my eyes, but it is the beginning of making Dave a better husband, father, and Christian. One of the many things I really like about Karen is her brutal truthfulness. I know where she got this. As a young girl growing up in New Jersey she was raised Catholic and even went to two Catholic schools. What wonderful story after story Karen tells of Sister Theophane Marie and the pretend iodine to the tongue or the ruler to the knuckles, now that is real love. She was tough, stern, and took no crap, but at the same time she was very fair and compassionate. Every Sunday Karen’s Dad and Mom would take the entire family to Mass. Karen’s parents made sure she had a solid foundation of right and wrong, they put within her a sense and a desire for the truth that has carried over in the lives of our children. Grandparents begin affecting their grandchildren while raising their children. To this day if someone lies or goes against the truth it is a big deal to Karen and it should be. Lying is wrong and must be avoided at all cost, but today we find lying is becoming common place in schools, the work place, and yes even churches. God has nothing good to say about a lying tongue. Please take a look at what God has to say about lying, here are some verses: Psalms 109:2, 120:2 and Proverbs 6:17, 12:19, 21:6, 26:28. Here is one from Proverbs, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19) This may seem a bit silly to you, but I have made an observation that my Protestant friends might find offensive. I have found my Catholic friends to be much more truthful than my Protestant friends. Why I do not know? Maybe it is just the people I associate with (both sets of friends) or maybe it is the message of grace without consequences that dominates the thinking of most Protestant churches and denominations. At any rate, unless we can see our lack in areas we will never be able to see the need to change. Our prayers like the Vineyard song are often “Change My Heart Oh Lord,” but when God comes and exposes areas in our lives so that we can change our heart we deny and reject Him, yet we continue to sing, dance, and run around playing games with God. My friend God is not mocked, the Bible says, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive (Strong’s #1777 to judge, to contend, to plead) with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3) God is a righteous and holy God. My friend there is a time when God will say enough is enough. I do not know about you my friend, but verses like these down right scare me. Paul too had this Godly fear, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) Now this verse and many others are the truth in spite of how we try to wordsmith, spin, or right out deny them away. My friend truth has an ugly side we do not like to know, but if we some day are going to look like our wondrous Savior Jesus Christ we must become very well acquainted with the ugly side of truth.

In John we read one of the most memorized verses (other than John 3:16) in the Bible, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” (John 14:6) What a powerful verse and we should memorize it. It is true from start to finish, but please notice Jesus did not say He was the way and the truth that leads to Heaven. We today in the church want to run off to Heaven. I wonder what God will do on earth to share the Gospel message if they get their wish? I do not know about you my friend, but I am not eager to stand before a holy God. But Jesus did said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” What way, what truth, and what life is Jesus talking about? The way Jesus is talking about is the narrow way of decisions that leads through the strait gate of our heart, “Because strait (narrow or restricted) is the gate (a place of decision in our heart), and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (John 7:14) The place in God we are to be heading is into His life, but please notice, “and few there be that find it.” Not too many Christians come into the life God desires to bring us into. God wants us to come into His life, but like salvation this too is our choice. Are we willing to submit to His dealings and judgments in our lives? If not we will have no life to raise us from the death in the resurrection. My friend serving the Lord is a very narrow, limited, and restrictive way we must go and out from our obedience to His restrictions in our lives come completion and fulfillment in God. Now do not think this way is a burden or boring, a promise comes with Jesus’ command to take His yoke upon us, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” IF we take His yoke upon us. He (Jesus) is the only way that leads to the life of God. Jesus is the truth. The word “the” means one and only there is no other. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the embodiment of all that is true, righteous, holy, and Godly. He said when you see me you see the Father. When we see (understand and know) and hear (take within our spirit) His words we will know the truth and the truth will make us free. If we desire to know truth, we first must come to know Jesus Christ, all other attempts to know truth will be vain and worthless. Many look but few find. John said it this way, “and few there be that find it.” And the life Jesus is talking about is not a life of ease, power, and plenty, but a life of obedience and service to God and man. We can not serve God without serving man. The only way God can bring us into His life is if He is able to open our eyes to the truth about our selves and our critical need for Jesus Christ. Paul had this revelation, “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:16-18) Unless God can open our eyes, through His dealings and judgments, to the truth about the sin that dwells within us we will never be able to come into the life of God. And if we say we have no sin we lie and the truth is not in us. We may have salvation (that only requires believing Jesus died for our sins), but we will not have the fullness of God’s life moving within us. John was right when he said, “and few there be that find it.” Not too many Christians (I include myself at times) are willing to endure God’s dealings and judgments to know His life. The more God deals in our lives the more revelation we shall receive. Please read the Bible, it is God’s dealings with man that brings man to God’s revelation.

Now it is one thing to read John 14:6 and dissect it while looking at who Jesus is, but it is a far different and difficult thing when God shines His flashlight of truth on our heart. Did you know God has a flashlight? No! Well, serve Him long enough and submit to His will for your life and you will become accustomed to His searching light. David a man after God’s own heart said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24) We will never be able to go the way God has for us to go, know the truth, or come into the life of God unless we first, like David, allow God to search our heart. Not our money, talent, gifts, and abilities, but our heart. And if we do the ugly side of truth will be ever before our eyes until we allow God to work in our lives. You know we really like knowing Jesus is the truth and yes some day in the sweet bye and bye we all will go to heaven. And we even are really comfortable with the truth of the dying Jesus on the cross for our sin, but how about when the resurrected Jesus comes to us and asks us about this area or that secret sin in our lives? I do not know about you, but I am not so comfortable when Jesus comes to me and says, “you are the man.” The mirror of truth kills us, but at the same time it makes us alive if we allow God to show us our heart. Over my many years serving the Lord He has brought into my life many mirrors. Most often these mirrors I would call enemies. If you really want to know what kind of person you are please do not ask a friend ask your enemy. Most friends will lie to protect you, your feelings, and your relationship. Some even lie to protect a thought, a cause, or organization. In some churches Karen and I have been to, in the past, we have known friends lying to protect other lies, this ought not to be. This is nothing but the blind leading the blind. Jesus taught this to His disciples when talking about the Pharisees, “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 15:13) For David the man who prayed, “Search me, O God” his mirror was named Nathan. “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.” (2 Samuel 12:7-9) What an ugly truth. Now please know I am not beating up on Brother David, my name is David too, oh me my Lord, but truth especially about ourselves can be ugly and we do not like it. But if we allow God to deal in our lives He (and only He) will give us beauty for ashes. David repented and learned from His ways and was restored. The heart of truth that is always running in the background, in all situations, is always healing and restoration. If this is not your heart condition then you are lost, undone, and of need of salvation.

Well my friend let us learn not to run from the truth, but to run with open abandonment into its open arms and allow God to deal with the areas in our lives He so desperately wants to. John again lays the foundation, “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:21) If we do not come to know truth in our lives we will never be able to come to the light and remain in the darkness of our own heart. Make no mistake my friend “our deeds will be manifested, that they are wrought of God” but, the question I leave us with is will we be ashamed and continue in the lie the ugly side truth has revealed or will we confess (agree with God what He is saying about us is true) and allow Him free sway in our heart and lives? Our answer will be seen by God and those who know truth. Written by David Stahl

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH

“You can’t handle the truth” was the unforgettable line from a movie called, “A Few Good Men.” It was said during a dramatic courtroom scene dealing with the death of a Marine in Cuba. Unfortunately human beings don’t seem to handle the truth too well. And we Christians aren’t much better than the average non-Christian Joe. Now please notice I am including myself as the chiefest of sinners in this article, I have not yet made it. But, when the Holy Spirit points out some – not so flattering truths about ourselves like: the jealousy, anger, strife, lying, bitterness, so much more we run the other way denying His words to us. We can’t handle it. The bad thing about this is God will bring circumstances and people back around time and time again until we “get it.” If you do not like what is moving in your spiritual life please don’t think denying or running from it will change the circumstances, God will bring you back around the mountain until you “get it”, then and only then can you move on to the next thing God has for you. He does have a plan for our lives and if we are to be His child and walk in His will for our lives, we must submit to His plan. Until we agree “yes Lord, I see my lack in this area please help me” we will continue to be frustrated and out of our mouth will speak words from our ugly unrepentive heart. It is so much easier to blame circumstances or this person and that person. Why should we grow up and face the truth, we can just stay like babies on the “milk of the word.” Yes-sir-ree, it’s our choice, isn’t it? How proud we must make Jesus when we refuse for the umpteenth time, the Holy Spirit’s leading for us to do something about our temper, our impatience, our jealousy, our – well you fill in the blank. Yep, we’re real Christians, the Holy Spirit is leading us to go this way and we’re going the opposite way as fast as our fat little feet will carry us. And worse we’ll intellectualize it or slap on some religious bandage and keep deceiving ourselves instead of just repenting of our rebellion and waywardness. Maybe this is why Jeremiah is know as the weeping prophet and learned this truth the hard way, when he said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10) It is only the Lord that searches our heart and really knows it. We must agree with Him when He shows the “deceitful” and “desperately wicked” things to us so they can be dealt with by God and us. We must deal with it here on earth. Folks we may not get another chance after this life. Some denominations teach we will have another chance, I don’t want to take the chance. We all know truth is a very bitter pill to swallow, but Jesus said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) What word was Jesus talking about? It most certainly was not the Bible because it was not yet written. It was the word He speaks to us when we need correction or discipline, when we need to move away from areas in our lives that are not pleasing to Him. Truth is as bitter as death sometimes, but then again we are to die to self aren’t we? The opposite of the truth is lies, deception, and cover ups like two guys on an elevator and one breaks wind, but they both know who did it. So when one is operating in lies, deception, and cover ups don’t think someone else (besides the Almighty Himself) isn’t aware. The freedom Jesus is talking about in John 8:32 is the freedom of the heart the Holy Spirit brings to us when we “continue (walk the same way) in my words” until then we are full of guilt, shame, and frustration. And remember, the best is yet to come. Written by Karen Stahl

GOD IS LOOKING FOR WORSHIPPERS

One of my teacher’s teachers Walter Beuttler back in the late 50s wrote an outstanding article that talked about from God’s perspective the difference between noise and worship. Last month the Banner from Pinecrest Bible Training Center, in Salisbury, NY republished it. As I read the article I was struck when he said, “I regret that in our day there is so much religious entertainment. The Lord is not looking for entertainers, He is looking for worshippers.” Wow if in his day there was an abundance of Christian entertainment I wonder what he would think of today. His article, “Dew on the Roses,” ( I also have the cassette tape) talks about a little town in Gras, France where they grow flowers and process 100,000s and 100,000s of flowers to make genuine perfume, not the synthetic concoctions from chemicals, but the real genuine perfume. Did you know it takes 9,000 rosebuds to make 16 ounces of essence of roses? And once the flowers opens, some of the perfume evaporates, so they harvest the buds very early in the morning. These buds get crushed and boiled and then the perfume is extracted. The higher the altitude in which the roses grow, the greater the yield of perfume. Is that not a great thought? Thus the perfume from higher altitudes are more expensive, so too in our wondrous walk with the Lord. The longer we go with God the deeper we are to go; which is down not up like with the roses. Remember, the way up is down. Yet the cost and price for the fragrant of the Lord, like with the roses, is very expensive and will cost us dearly if we desire to have the genuine Spirit. The essence of perfume; how few people know of the sacrifice and hard work needed to collect and process it, but many greatly want to buy it to smell good. Many then and many more today are willing to settle for the synthetic concoctions as they make their approach to the Lord with their emotions and through a mental assent. They are not willing to go through the crushing and boiling process of the Lord. They are not willing to pay the great price to receive the genuine Spirit. Walter Beuttler made the observation and I very much agree, “there is a great difference between mere noise and worship.” Noise is what we see on stage in most churches today. Words and musical notes that come out NOT from a brokenness and crushing by God, but out from a God-given talent and ability. Now one would say, Dave how can you say this, well my friend it is easy to see and feel the genuine Spirit of God bearing witness in our spirit. Did you know there is a big difference between a broken person and a gifted person? No where is this difference highlighted any more than when a man takes up the things of God to minister life. And yes, there is a big difference between noise and worship. True worship from the heart never leads to defeat in God. Victory is the place God desires for us (we must see and believe this), but this too depends on our ability to walk in the way He has for us to go and are we willing to come down in our hearts and allow Him to work in our lives? In 1 Samuel we see noise does not do much for the children of God. I think in most churches of today there is a lot of look at me noise and God sticks His fingers in His ears until we are done. If the music program, no matter how good it sounds, of a church causes relationship problems among the people how can God be glorified? Unless our words come from a broken and lowly heart they are noise to God. Here in 1 Samuel we read, “So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. 7And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. 8Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. 10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.” (1 Samuel 4:4-11) Even the Philistines where not moved by the Israelites’ worship, and why? Please notice the going up in their hearts of the Israelites or the presumption (presuming to think they were right, but in reality they were wrong) they were moving in because God (the Ark of Covenant) was with them. Unless we have the right heart condition God will not be with us. You can ask Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, and the 30,000 footmen who were slain. My friend do not be deceived by this doctrinal anti-Christ teaching of today like; just reach out in song, dance, whatever, and touch the heart of God. Oh no my friend, we touch the heart of God when we willfully (better us than God bending our knee) lower ourselves in our thinking and willfulness. Now let us please contrast this very sad story with one in 2 Chronicles. “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.” (2 Chronicles 15:12-15) “True” worship in God will separate those who do not have a “true” heart for God and will always be seen in their lack to be able to give honor where honor is due and in their lack of integrity in their lives. It was not the instruments or shouts that moved God, but it was their desire to seek God in an oath and their swearing with their whole heart, and then God was found. Often times we are not willing to go down to the levels of our heart to worship God, but are satisfied (and think God is satisfied too) with the singing, shouting, and playing of instruments. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. God has told us time and time again in His word He is not after the words from our mouth, “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” (Isaiah 29:13) Jesus taught, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9) When will we learn God is after our heart obedience and willfulness to do what He wants us to do?

There is a striking similarity, to be a "true" worshipper of God, that parallels our need to be broken and contrite and us worshipping God. We seem to link our talents and abilities with worship, but God does not care how good we sing, dance, or play an instrument, but He is very concerned “how” we treat our friends and even our enemies. Real worship before God is not a matter of tearfully singing softly or instruments effecting our emotions, but of our brokenness and having a heart that is contrite before God. Watchman Nee said, “the broken alone are useful to God,” the more I see myself not being that broken vessel (even though I so desire) I believe his words with all my heart. Moses learned this lesson 40 years on the plains of Midian and the back side of the desert watching his father-in-law’s (Jethro) sheep in silence and solitude and then learned it again as he led His Father’s sheep 40 years in the wilderness. With each accusing word and accusation he worshipped the Lord. With each goaded misunderstanding and wrongful criticism he worshipped, the One who could save him. I too have recently relearned this again. This seems to be one of those lessons we really never ever learn, but through them all we become a better worshipper. If you serve God long enough He will see to it you learn this lesson too. In Exodus we find Moses interceding for the children of Israel, “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” (Exodus 34:5-9) Here we see “true” worship (Strong’s #7812, to bow down, prostrate oneself ) has nothing to do with singing, dancing, flag waving, or any of this foolishness, but bowing down our heads (our thoughts, dreams, hopes, plans, our self, all we desire) before God. You cannot really worship God unless you have been broken by God. And He alone gets to pick the sacrifices. David too knew the key to “true” worship was being broken and contrite before God. He tells us in the Psalms, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed and ground to powder) spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) and “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) I wonder where he learned this? Maybe when Nathan stood before him and said, “you are the man” “True” worship brings us before God as we are and not what we think we are, but it strips away our selfishness and self-centered heart condition.

I really like the end of Walter Beuttler’s article. “Oh His presence! Do you smell it? How much nicer when you just sit in that quietness and worship God. That’s the real thing. By the way, when you walk through the town of Gras, you can smell the town before you get near it. And after you come out of those factories, the scent of that perfume stays on your clothes many hours. People can tell, I know where you were. You were down in the scent factory, weren’t you?” “True” worship stays with us all of our lives. What is on our clothes? Written by David Stahl

A QUESTION OF INTEGRITY

In the next few weeks I will have to make some tough decisions that will speak to how much integrity I have allowed God to work into my life. Like all tough decisions, God is looking at how and why we make them and not so much to what we decide. God is always looking at our desires, motives, and heart attitude that influence our decisions. Brethren let us “take heed” to how and why we decide to do things. I was reminded by Pastor Greg of the imperfect verb tense of the words “take heed” which means they repeat themselves again and again. In Mark, as the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat, Jesus told the disciples, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. (Mark 8:15) With each stroke of the oars Jesus would say, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod” stroke, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod” stoke, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.” Brethren let us “take heed” to do things with honesty, righteousness, and integrity. This morning before our walk I got a call from Agnes (a wonderful and very special Ghanaian lady living in France) who was one of many great success stories from our church in Germany. During our phone conversation she mentioned she called a mutual Christian friend who promised he would return her call, but never did. I think some Christians think it is okay to say things like; I will come over or I will call you (but never do) and think God does not mind, well I am not so sure about that. Jesus told the multitude that followed Him, “Hear, and understand: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” (Matthew 15:10-11) Jesus was telling the people it is our own words that come out from our mouth that defiles us. It is our own words that we speak from a heart not dealt with by God that defile our lives, not food or drink. Then Jesus called his disciples and said unto them, “Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 12-14) When we quickly speak words that have not yet passed through the pressure oven of God they often are words of flattery and compromise for self-gain ambition, not words of integrity, honor, and righteousness. When we speak such words we are spiritually blind to the truth of our selves, to the word of God, and we stumble and fall out of the way into the ditch. Now God is there for us to recover, but it is our choice not God’s. God wants us to, but whether we do or not is up to us. Will we be people of integrity, honor, and righteousness or will we be people that speak words of flattery and compromise for self-gain ambition? We (and God) know deep within our hearts which person we really are, funny how we try so hard to deceive people.

I feel strong in my spirit as led by God, to speak a strong word about church organization and leadership. Now please know when Karen and I write a strong word we are NOT writing about a certain person, church, or denomination, but if the shoe fits for the love of God please change it. If you get angry we are sorry, this is not our intent. And if you get offended for the love of God please learn the lesson God desires for us to learn and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here again receiving depends not on God, but on our heart condition, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” (Titus 1:15) If someone has ought in their heart for us, they will find fault. In my almost 48 years of being a Believer and serving the Lord at many levels of ministry to include serving as a Pastor I have seen many types of church organizations. Now I will be honest, when I think of the word “church” I think of Godly relationships between people and not an organization or denomination of many churches. My friend we are the church and the Kingdom of God is within us. In Matthew Jesus said, “That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus was not talking about building on Peter, but on the revelation (Matthew 16:15) Peter received “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And guess what Jesus is still in the process (if we allow Him) of building us into His image. This concept of what we know today as religious organizations and denominations has fractured “my church” so bad and I am sure when the leaders stand before Almighty God they will have much to explain. It is no wonder people do not want to come and hear the Gospel message, the denominations and religious organizations have so twisted the word of God for personal gain and are so divisive even dividing families and countries. Maybe in the past they were needed to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth, but today due to technology (something we must be very careful with) churches can reach out and touch other churches on the other side of the world to establish relationships, God’s idea of “true” ministry. All Godly ministry comes out of Godly relationships. The model in the Bible (our book of example and guidance) is one church blessing another church. They are like most things of God that have out lived their usefulness; the longer they say around the more problems they cause. Sadly, I have seen this from an international and national perspective, If you want to see what I am talking about just get out your yellow pages (if you still have a phone book) and look up the word churches. All of them cannot be right can they? Jesus said, “my church” not my churches. It is His church not ours, but we run them like they are ours. The bad that comes with them far out weights the little good they do.

Working down the chain-of-command I would like to address church leadership styles found in non and denominational churches. It is important to remember some non-denominational churches, due to the number of churches in a certain group, are as much a denomination as the major accepted denominations. Basically there are two main types of church leadership control styles; pastor authority (the pastor has complete control in all issues and decisions) and/or board authority (the board: deacons and/or elders who are over the Pastor in most if not all issues and decisions). When I pastored Christliche Gemeinde Stuttgart it was a pastor authority. We were a Spirit-filled, non-denominational, very international church. Now that does not mean I did not have people over me. When I wrote up our constitution and by-laws I wrote in three names whom I would submit to for correction and whom I could count on for guidance and direction. It was standing public knowledge if anyone had problems with me or our church I would pay for them to call any or all three men who personally knew me and has preached many times at our church in Stuttgart. There is a saying and I have seen play out time and time again in churches; power is corrupting and absolute power is absolutely corrupting. I have seen churches change their constitution and by-laws giving the Pastor absolute power only to fulfill a secret agenda of the Pastor and church leadership that they do not share with their congregation. I have learned from past experience when things keep changing at an increasing pace and the people do not know why, stand-by things are in motion and they may not be God ordained. I believe the Pastor authority is what God is looking for, after all the Pastor spiritually is on the hook for everything that happens (what we call good and bad) before God and will have to give account, but the effectiveness of this style is based on the heart condition of the Pastor. Now if you disagree please feel free to contact me I am learning too. If the Pastor is a spiritual man, humble, and contrite then there is no need for a group of men (not ladies, please read the Bible 1 Timothy 3:8-13 for qualifications of a deacon) to sit in judgment over the Pastor. Many Pastors says we need deacons or elders so we will use ladies, well my friend this is a big mistake. Over our many years we have helped start from scratch five churches, one from our home. I have seen this issue time and time again play out, it is better to do without then go against God’s word. I too have seen Boards of unspiritual men tell the Pastor what to do, what to preach and worse what not to preach, and rule the church with a rod of iron. Some Denominations often add a few more requirements to 1 Timothy 3:8-13, which can really get them in trouble with God. For example: I have been told one of the duties of a deacon is to protect the pastor, church, and denomination. Where is this found in the Bible? Sadly this does not appear. The deacon’s duties are to be executed in righteousness, honesty, honor, and full of integrity before God and to the congregation they serve. When I was in the Navy I had 1000s of people who worked for me at times one group of people I detested were the yes men. When I needed sound advice to help make a decision the last thing I needed was to hear from a man with no character or integrity, a man who drifts and goes both ways depending on what he is going to win or lose, a double minded man. James tells us this type of man is unstable in ALL his ways, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8) Often the big losers in power and authority struggles are the people that sit on the pews and with a good heart serve God and their leaders. The cost to others by following unspiritual and ungodly leadership cannot be measured. Only God knows the toll for in secret followers take their tears and loss to God not wanting to make waves or ruffle feathers. But for the truth to be known, uncaring and unspiritual leadership could care less; their goal is in sight so they press on crushing and draining the people of their money, hope, and spirit. As more people come together the more care and feeding is required. We see this in the Book of Acts, but please remember the smaller the administration the more effective it is and the more people that come the more the leadership MUST be spiritual and selfless.

Brethren let us not serve God and His children with a selfish, self-centered heart condition. If we do we are not serving God with honesty, righteousness, and integrity, and why not? Because sadly we have put our trust in man and not in God. In Proverbs we read “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” (Proverbs 23:7) In God we do not make spiritual decisions with our mind we use our heart. In the Greek for this verse “For as he thinketh in his heart” is translated, as a gate swings open wide. All throughout the Bible the heart is the place of decision making and whatever we allow behind our gate (our heart) we will be that. We must allow behind our gate things that will enable us to be full of honesty, righteousness and yes integrity and then do those things that God is counting for us to do. We must allow God to deal and judge in our lives so that we will be able to be filled with His honesty, righteousness, yes always His integrity, filled with His Spirit and life. For this to happen we must walk before men as transparent as a pool of water reflecting what it sees. We also see this truth in Proverbs, “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” (Proverbs 27:19) We must learn to walk with such integrity, righteousness, and honesty that our heart reflects “man to man” as a pool of water reflecting what we allow behind our gate. Written by David Stahl

BUILDING GOD'S JOY IN US

Often times in the English language Americans (and I am sure it is the same in other languages) transpose words and their meanings without really knowing the impact of the difference. Did you know words matter? I think people outside the United States understand this point much better than Americans. Often we will substitute happy for glad, not a big deal, but there is a difference. Sometimes Americans will substitute angry for mad, again a difference even more than with happy for glad. When I first started traveling abroad I often made promises (with good intentions) I did not follow through on. Many times circumstances and situations, beyond my control, kicked in and others times I just wrote a check with my mouth I could not cash with my heart. My heart was in the right place of wanting to help, but was not dealt with enough by God in this area to keep me from making promises I could not fulfill. Our words do matter. The more one depends on someone’s words the more is at stake. Always remember, for the ones who follow us the stakes are much higher. The people at the People’s Temple, Jonestown, Guyana found that out the hard way. Now not our salvation that is not a stake, that depends on us believe Jesus died for our sins and then our obedience to Him in denying our selves, taking up our cross daily, and following Him. These words were recorded in three of the four (not in John) Gospels, “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Now it is interesting to know only in Luke does the word “daily” appear in the Gospel references, maybe because Luke was a doctor and usually they pay attention to detail, but the point is words matter. If we desire to “come after” Jesus or become (a process of sanctification that happens when we allow God to deal and judge in our lives) like Jesus we must “daily” deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Wait a minute, how about all of the good works we must do to be like Jesus? How about all of the denominations and religious folks that told us we must join the church; be a member and keep all of these doctrinal duties and responsibilities? All three of these requirements today seem very strange to us because they are so contrary to our fleshly desires. Who wants to deny themselves? Oh no our flesh screams look at me me me it is all about me. Who wants to take up their cross so that they can die? The only thing a cross is good for is gruesomely killing someone on, except for Jesus He paid for our salvation on it. And who wants to be a follower? Ever since Kindergarten we have been taught to be a leader and now to be like Jesus we must be a follower? This does not pass the common sense test. I am sure when the disciples heard these things they said are we following the right guy? Who is Jesus kidding; deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him, no way. We want to kick the Romans out and set up an earthly kingdom. We have some big plans for you Jesus just follow us and everything will be okay. Now please do not think I have met all three of these requirements I have not. As a matter of fact the longer I go with God on this wondrous everlasting way the more I see I have not met these requirements. Next Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24) Now I was not there, but if I was I would not be too surprised to hear them say (like us today) lose no we are winner. If we follow you we get it all we will lose nothing and get: a new chariot, treasures and money, a big mansion with hot and cold servants, their own squad of Roman soldiers, power and authority to command people, everything. They really must have thought Jesus was crazy. But, Jesus knew if we are going to be able to receive the life of God (which is valued much more than things of this earth) we must die to our earthly carnal selfish self-centered self-life. Please notice losing comes first then we are saved. But who wants to lose? The goal in life as the world teaches is to win. Does not the one with the most toys win? No my friend. In God, the winner in life is the one who can lay down their life so that others may live. Words do matter. Over the years God taught me to measure my words and my promises.

I think one of the biggest synonym word confusion we use today are the words happy (which means: feeling showing pleasure glad contented, lucky, fortunate) and joy (which means: great pleasure, delight). Often to know the future knowing the past and where things come from will spell things out for us. Did you know the word happy gets it origin from the Old English word happen-stance; or depending on happenings in our lives. So too with the word circumstance, an Old English word that gets it’s origin from circum-stance; or depending on events around in our lives (circum), over the years we have dropped the hyphen. But now joy is different. Joy in us is not dependent on circum-stances and happen-stance in our lives. Being happy depends on favorable things (events and situations) around us effecting our emotions and feelings, but joy is something that is built in us not depending on what is going on around us, a big difference indeed. Joy is a thing of the heart and not our emotions and feelings, a big difference. Joy in us does not depend on things around us, but does depend on us doing something. One of the definitions of the word for joy is delight. In Psalms David said, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” (Psalm 37:4) Wow, “the desires of thine heart!” Who would not want, “the desires of thine heart?” We think all we have to do is be joyful in the Lord (sing, dance, work hard) and we will get, “the desires of thine heart.” Well this is very true, but the “Delight” here has nothing to do with being joyful, but pliable, bendable, putty in the hands of God and then He can trust you with “the desires of thine heart,” because His desires will be your desires. This too is why our emotions are so dangerous to use when we make our approach to God. We must never use our emotions and feelings, like many denominations teach, to worship God with. Jesus Himself said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) Emotions and feelings got Adam, Abel, Samson, David, Solomon, Jonah, the Disciples, and the list on to include us if not careful. Our “spirit” and “truth” has nothing to do with our emotions. There is a huge difference in worshiping God with our emotions and allowing God to touch our emotions. Yes God put thoughts, emotions, and feelings, (our soul) in us, but we must never use them to worship God. Our soul (our thoughts, emotions and feelings) will mislead and deceive us. We use either our soul or spirit to ascend us toward God in worship. One will take us to His heart (our spirit) and the other (our soul) will leave us empty and confused, but feeling (when we feel a cold chill up our back) like we have touched His heart. One (our soul) is out from a self-seeking desire to feel God in some way and for Him to touch us (through singing, dancing, flag waving, whatever) and the other (our spirit) is us loving Him enough to come down into a low place (where Jesus is) and allow Him to touch our emotions. One will leave us (our soul) with more questions when we do not get what we want and the other (our spirit) will leave us quiet and still knowing God loves us, not needing to have all of our questions answered.

The aim and goal of joy in our lives is to be our strength when happiness is not enough and to bring us into a place of rest in God. In Nehemiah we read, “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Now please notice it is not our joy, but it is “the joy of the LORD” that is our strength. How do we get this joy? Maybe when we are saved God gives us our life-long portion of joy to use when things do not go our way in life? Or maybe “the joy of the LORD” is something we have work up, maybe when we hear or sing our favorite song? Or maybe “the joy of the LORD” comes to us when we pray a certain number of prayers, pay a certain amount of money to the church, or do a certain number of good deeds for the poor? No I think not, “the joy of the LORD” comes to us unsolicited, like the presence of the Lord, to bring us into a rest that is beyond human comprehension. It comes as we need it, as we have allowed God to build it in us, as we “Delight” ourselves in the Lord, through God’s dealings and judgments in our lives God can build in us an unshakable place of rest. The more we allow God to work in our lives (Ephesians 2:10) the more of an understanding of assurance of His love and care we have. The spiritual progression of maturity in God is: faith (believing for something like salvation and/or healing), trust (uncommon deeper conviction of ones belief and always linked with obedience) and lastly rest (where we are not moved by what we see or feel because we know we are firmly held by God, not we are holding on to God). We know faith; it works by love (Galatians 5;6) and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), but Queen Esther displayed her trust in God when she said, “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16) Now rest is the end of the work of God in our lives. Jesus said it well, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) The rest as does “the joy of the LORD” comes to us as we learn just how “meek and lowly in heart” Jesus is and by allowing God, through His dealings and judgments in our lives, to build in us His character and nature. Why do we not have the rest and “the joy of the LORD?” Maybe, because we have not allowed God to build them in us. Written by David Stahl