Drill Sergeant Preachers

You never got religion when you got saved; or did you? None of us were “made” Christians when we came to Jesus any more than I was made a soldier when I was sworn in at the U.S. Army processing center. It would take some orientation, some basic training, and further specialized training before my superiors would say that I was a soldier.

The old saying, “He or she got religion” was used to describe someone that had accepted Christ as their Savior. Religion was an honorable thing at one time but it came to be more important to people than salvation did, not intentionally I do not believe, but subconsciously. A person who was saved had to become perfect in the eyes of the unsaved or they were labeled a hypocrite. This type of social stigma motivated the believer to conform to society’s idea of a Christian and thereby caused the person to become religious in their talk, their behavior, their dress, and their social associations. As hard as they tried they found that it was impossible to be happy in their faith as they tried religiously to live a life of perfection. There was no basic training or a learning curve for them, they had to “hit the ground running” and be a good soldier for Jesus Christ or be considered a liar and a failure.

This explains why so many people today are not as enthused to accept Christ. To many Christians today are still living in the religiosity of the past. Today, people who have no discipline yet boast as being Christians are on one end of the spectrum and those who are fanatically religious are at the other end! One guy summed up his opinion with a bumper sticker I saw on the interstate the other day. It read: “God, save me from your followers!”

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT).

If we were made Christians upon coming to Christ, why would He Himself say, “Let Me teach you?” He never intended for us to “hit the ground running” on our own.

Maybe we need some good drill sergeant preachers in the church who will do like the one I had in Basic Training who pushed the brim of his Smokey Bear hat hard into the bridge of my nose and shouted in my face: “YOU WILL LEARN TO BE A SOLIDER (Christian) OR YOU WILL DIE TRYING, HAVE YOU GOT THAT?” Well, maybe not, but we do need to let new converts know they have a lot to learn about being a Christian and we know it will take some training.

Are We Praying Correctly?

I have been bothered for some time now by those who pray with the “name it and claim it” mentality. They give me the impression that they can command God to do what they want Him to, or to give them what they want. I believe it moves God alright; to anger. I believe it infuriates Him when someone will demand something instead of asking for something. Many have said to “pray the Word of God” if we want our prayers answered. Many say to “remind Him of His promises in His Word.” Are you kidding me? Do they really think that we have to remind God of His promises in His Word? They somehow think that His Word is to be used only to obtain what they want. “Well, God, You said You would do this.” God knows what He said.

It is a social trait that has been impressed upon us for so long that we apply it to everything in our life. What trait? Demanding. From the time we come into the world we learn to demand what we want. The little infant cries to demand food or attention. We are constantly having things demanded of us, or we are demanding things of others. We can cross the line when it comes to prayer if we apply this trait to God. We have to remember what even Jesus Himself said to the Father; “Not MY will, but YOURS be done.” Jesus ASKED if there was another way to secure our redemption without having to have our sin put upon Him but knew that it was the Father’s plan and He would carry it out. Asking and demanding are entirely two different things. I am not telling you anything you do not already know but perhaps I am reminding you that you demand more than ask sometimes when you pray.

Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”  We have a tendency to skip over the “You did not choose Me, but I chose you,” part of praying. James and John asked Jesus if one could sit on His right and the other on His left when He came into His kingdom. He said, “No.” It was not His to give He said! That prayer was not answered the way they wanted it to be. How does it make you feel when someone comes to you and says, “You WILL do what I want” as opposed to asking you to do what they want? Most of us rebel and would die before we would do it. It rubs us the wrong way and causes us to feel indignation when someone demands something of us.

Some say we are not praying in faith if we do not “demand” what we have been promised. Let me tell you something about praying in faith, if you think faith is linked with demanding you need to go back to the altar. If you think God owes you something because of His promises, you need to go back to the altar. If you think God is obligated to give you what you want wrapped up in a prayer that is supposed to be prayed in faith; you need to go back to the altar. Praying in faith is asking God what we want and accepting His will to do what He wants. Jesus said to ask the Father in His name, not to tell the Father in His name.

I'm a Hypocrite . . . are you Disappointed?

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. (Nehemiah 1:4 CSB)

I will have to confess to you in this blog that I have been hypocritical in my attitude toward disappointment. As a Christian first and then a pastor, I have tried to give the impression that I am not set back nor discouraged when things do not turn out as I had prayed they would or hoped they would. I have looked at disappointment as a fiery dart from the adversary and therefore have refused to accept it in my mind. My heart says something else though; Mike, this is disappointing. That is where the hypocrisy comes into play. Trying to convince myself that I am not disappointed but being tested somehow. Trying to refuse feeling something that I have been programmed to feel by my Lord and Creator.

Old Nehemiah never played the hypocrite. He felt disappointment to the extent that he sat down and cried. I cannot tell you how many times I have felt the same way upon being disappointed but yet my spiritual pride kept me from accepting the feeling. I have counseled people through disappointment. I have prayed with people that have been disappointed. I have encouraged people not to give up when disappointed, and all the while knowing in my heart how it really feels yet trying to convince others it is not as bad as they think it is. Can I share what I have learned with you today? It is OKAY to feel disappointment. It is not a sin to experience the disappointed feeling of something we had planned on, or hoped for, or expected to happen, not actually happen the way we wanted it to. See, the old devil laughs when we refuse to accept disappointment because even he knows what we really feel in our heart. He has seen to many people disappointed and how it affected them and has learned that every one of us feels the same way. What he loves about it is that we as Christians sometimes lie to ourselves and try to convince ourselves we are not going to “accept it.” The devil loves to see pride in someone because he knows God hates it.

Now don’t go giving in to it. Just because we have been disappointed does not give us an excuse to give up. Nehemiah never sat down and cried and quit. He felt it, accepted it, dealt with it, and allowed it to motivate him to do something. The devil will use disappointment to stunt your spiritual growth if you allow it. God will use the disappointment to increase your spiritual growth if you will allow it. It is not about being disappointed but rather what we do in the wake of it. Psychologists have a favorite question they like to ask; “how does that make you feel?” The devil has a favorite question he likes to ask; “do you still believe God is who you believe He is?” God has a favorite question He likes to ask; “do you trust Me?”

Worship Styles

Just worship God. I have read a lot of articles recently about worship style, worship music, worship programs, worship leaders, and worship atmospheres. All of them have truths in them in that most are just observations of the writer, coupled with his or her opinion. What ever happened to just “worship?” Well, here is another opinion; mine.

 

We humans are a strange lot. The smarter we get the more complicated we make things. Do you seriously think Jesus would hold a worship conference in our society today? That He would rent Madison Square Garden or some big sports arena and invite every pastor and worship leader to come and hear about how to have “Super Bowl Worship?” I think not. I think not because He never taught how to worship God; just to worship God. God gave detailed instructions to the Israelites on how to worship after commanding them He was the only One they would worship if they wanted His favor! He even told them how to construct the Tabernacle in which to worship Him. They followed His orders; for a while. Then their “worship” became work and they lost the intimate relationship with God it was intended to bring. Jesus came to restore that relationship and He did not dictate how to build the building or how to carry out the rituals; in fact, He said it would be destroyed, but another Temple would be raised up; referring to Himself! His instructions for worship were simple; eat the bread, drink of the cup, and remember Me and what I have done for you that you may have your relationship restored with God. 

Some say that worship services today have become Broadway presentations. Some say that we totally skip worship and just eat doughnuts, drink coffee, talk about the Bible a little, then go home. I find it interesting (not that normal people would) that a lot of emphasis is put on doing church and not as much on being the church. Mankind likes to express him or herself in different ways; just read a few blogs here on the net or read a few bumper stickers on the highways. Now it may just be me, but I do not consider worship just expressing my feelings toward God. To me, worship is my life. God is who I serve every minute I am alive. I do not preach every minute, or sing every minute, or pray every minute, but I am aware of Who has given me that minute. With every breath I take I am reminded of Who puts that breath in me. 

When I express my feelings toward God in public is indicative of how I feel about Him all the time; not just when I am in church. To me worship is what I do and not when or how I do it. The Apostle Paul said that “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”  The poets of that day had ways of expressing their feelings in words and Paul said that God is more than just words; He is our life source. We could not even exist without Him.

Here is a pastoral secret of mine, so if any Draper Valley folk are reading this you will know why I am not on stage when the choir is singing our worship songs. I bring my worship into the church with me and my focus is not on the songs, nor the music, nor the singers, nor the congregation even. I do not depend on them to “lead me into worship.” I worship God with them when I am with them and I worship God when I am not with anyone; I guess that’s my “style.”