Fading Glory

 "unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away." 2Cor. 3:13

Pastor Warner talked about what he called the fading glory last night. This struck a chord with me. It seems that we all deal with a fading glory from time to time. We all suffer from the memories of a glorious past as it compares to our current situation.

Moses at the beginning covered his face with a veil because they told him that his face was shining. But as the shine began to fade Moses still put the veil over his face. Was it because he didn't want the people to know that the glory was fading? Was it out of habit? Was Moses playing mental gymnastics with God's glory?

We all try to cover up what we perceive as a loss of the Divine presence. We cover up by reminiscing about the past. We cover up by doing new things we never did before. We cover up by lying about our current condition. We cover up by changing our theology. We cover up by comparing ourselves to others.

I may not be what I once was, but I'm not as bad as them!

The key to our walk with God is always to be honest before God. To be open, to reveal our hopes and fears. This is for our benefit since God already knows us better than we know ourselves.

Know for sure that glory does fade in this life. But there is a glory yet to be revealed both now and in the life to come.

Verse 10 talks about the glory that excels. It excels our past, it excels our current, and it excels anything that we can impagine.

Worship Leader Is A Distraction

 I started watching the first service in Tucson as they opened their conference. I do not know the song leader, but he is not a song leader or worship leader. He is a lead singer and a great distraction. A song leader ought to lead songs by singing them. A worship leader ought to set the pace by worshipping God in Spirit and in truth and speaking in tongues. He did none of those things.

I will tune in again once the so-called worship is over.

Converts or Disciples?

 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; al lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Mat. 28:19-20.

With our intense focus on evangelism I cannot remember the last time I heard a message from this text or even heard this verse quoted in a sermon. We're all about preaching and winning souls. But the truth is, we're not just trying to get people to the altar. We're trying to get people to Heaven. The core of discipleship is not just a new convert card, but a life lived in fruitful service to Christ.

I understand that they cannot hear without a preacher. But they cannot grow without discipleship. Church planting flows out of a culture of discipleship in our local churches. 

We need an outward vision for a lost world. But we also need to work to add converts to our church. Getting a thousand people to pray is fine, but not if none of those who pray ever come back.

Note that the Lord spoke of teaching them to observe what I told you. Discipleship is teaching converts so that become real Christians, not just  flash in the pan converts. The church world is filled with whiz-bang believers.

Church planting is not just uber-evangelism but it is training young men to become shepherds of God's flock. Discipleship is the training ground for guys and their wives to learn how to be pastors. To learn how to preach and how to teach and how to counsel and how to plan and how to organize and how to love. 

So are we going to continue to only preach to the nations? Or will we become true discipleship based churches who train our converts on how to be effective in the ministry?

Life Is A Daily Experience

 We are in the post boot camp doldrums. Everyone is tired. The thrill of camp is over for our teens. It's back to the real world today. This is why we cannot live only on the mountain top. Moses went to the mountain top to meet with God and to get the Law. Moses lived most of his live in the real world. It was not until the end of his life that the Lord brought him once again up to the mountain top.

It is human nature to only want the best life has to offer. We strive to be happy, to be healthy, to be excited. And we think something is wrong if we are melancholy or sick or bored. We work very hard on exercise or diet or on praying or on Bible study trying to do what the Bible never promises.

The land will have it's sabbaths, it's days of rest. We can stop and regroup, or God will stop us through age or illness. Even God took a day off from all that He did. 

God is not just the God of the mountain top. He is also the God of the valleys. Just because Moses lived in the valley, God still worked for Moses and the people. Miracles still happen in the valley. The valley is not a place of despair, but it is the place where we actually live.

The secret to life is to live life as it is and to live life to the end. Reminiscing about the glory days when your face shone is a waste of time. Dreaming about the mountain top is a fools errand. Manna had to be gathered every day. Life is a daily experience. 

Living on the mountain top takes away the hope of something better to look forward to.

Rules To Live By

 The world, the flesh, and the devil. These three are our arch enemies. They work tirelessly to make us stray and to turn us away from following Christ. The world is the godless society around us. The flesh is the unrestrained human nature within us. And the devil is the commander in chief of all the enemies of God.

The good news is that the newest believer in Jesus has power to overcome all the power of the devil. The weakest saint can say no to sin. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.

So let he heathen rage and let the devil rage. Christ is risen from the dead and is alive forevermore. 

Stay close to the cross and you will never lose your way.

The Key To Stability

 Peace blows so few bugles in most of us. This is the logic behind the call to arms and the sky is falling that we sometimes hear in church. But, I want to share something with you to explain why some people do not live like everything is a four alarm fire.

When you have been through some things in your walk with God and survived you are able to process events in a way that gives you victory over panic. When you have been to the bottom and survived, you do not fear the bottom anymore. Paul listed his experiences to explain why he was as he was. Job told of his experience in the sea. Christ went through terrible persecution and yet lives in resurrection power and victory.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2Cor. 4:17

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself," Acts 20:24

One thing that a survivor can do is to rightly judge what is dangerous and what is critical and what can be ignored. Pastor Wayman Mitchell could do this. Can you?

I used to think that it was maturity that produced this. But you can serve the Lord for 100 years and still be moved by circumstances. You can still live on a razor's edge of excitement. It is not years, but experiences, that produce stability.

So the next time you are tempted to complain about life just remember that God is working to make you more stable.

Creation Makes Science Look Foolish

 When God said let there be light, what did God create? He created light before the sun, moon, and stars were created. Light has to have a source, right?

We have been told that the speed of light is a barrier that cannot be broken. But science also tells us that light has no mass and therefore it does not move. Light just is. There is no space or distance in light. There is no time associated with light. The light on a distant galaxy and the light on Earth is the same.

God does not have to create machines or technology to blow our minds. The natural world is so vast and awe inspiring as to keep us wondering for a lifetime.

In Christ, the God who puts physics to shame, reveals Himself to us.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?" Psalm 8:3-4