Treasure the Voices

Voices…sounds that are formed in the larynx and uttered with the mouth.

That which varies in pitch and resonance, giving us peace or angst, joy or sorrow, contentment or longing…voices.

A voice can bring a different feeling for each individual, depending on the tone and spirit behind it.

Hearing a baby uttering their first word (and prayerfully it is “Mommy” or “Daddy” and we do not hear a defiant “NO!”) or enduring their tired whine…

Listening to the laughter and nonsense chatter of children at play or the screeching words that grip the spine of every adult, “MINE! MINE! MINE!”…

Enjoying the sweet and dulcet tones of a gifted singer or the crackling that comes from someone who couldn’t find the right note with a flashlight and a road map, bless their heart…

It all involves a sound, emanating from the voice box.

As a lifelong lover of good music, there is nothing more pleasant to these tired ears than the clear and certain sound from those gifted in song.

My brother, Jim, says that you really can’t beat family harmony, and I know it is true. What makes this so is that family members tend to have the same rhythm and sound to their speech. Consequently, when they sing the harmony is tight and they blend so much easier than the average group.

While it would be wonderful if every voice was a pleasant sound, the truth is, there are just some voices that grate on the last nerve. Even my own voice sometimes makes me weary.

But then there are those voices you would love to hear again…

The last time I heard the voice of my brother it was last year on this date. David called to wish me Happy Birthday. We spoke for a short while, maybe 10 minutes or so…not long at all considering it was to be our last conversation.

Had I only known I would never hear his voice again…oh my! There were so many things left unsaid, but we thought we had all the time in the world, ya know? And we had just spent a weekend together a few weeks before, so I suppose we didn’t feel the need to stay on the phone all day. We talked a bit, I thanked him for the birthday call, we both said, “I love you,” and it was over.

Two days later he was gone.

I treasure his call. I don’t think I shall ever celebrate a birthday again without remembering that it was the last time I heard his voice.

But thank the Lord for memories. Memories warm the heart and bring a smile to the tear stained face. My brother was a funny dude, and what a time he would have had with this birthday, as it marks another milestone…as a friend says, “Today I am 50-10!” David would have gotten great mileage out of that.

Today let me encourage you to treasure the voices, for when they are silenced, and all that remains is a memory, it is too late to reach for words left unspoken.

Make the call. Drive the distance. One day, you will be SO glad you did.

What Do You See?

The Roman philosopher, Cicero (106-43 B.C.), is quoted as saying, “Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi” (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter).

Mr. Cicero must have known what he was talking about, for I have often been told that my eyes and facial expressions reveal what I am thinking. Woe is me, I am not always adept at hiding my true feelings, but I rest, assured in the knowledge that I am not alone. The eyes are very telling.

Such is the mirror of our eyes that I heard tell there are doctors who specialize in “reading the eyes” of a patient, accurately determining their illness. Amazing!

We are all aware that there are numerous expressions used every day regarding the eyes, and I dare say that we use them without even thinking about it: keep your eyes peeled (remain alert, watchful); pull the wool over your eyes (deceive, deception); beauty is in the eye of the beholder (a judgment call, an opinion); in the eye of the storm (middle, center of an unfavorable situation); looked with the naked eye (bare, nothing added); in the wink of an eye (fast, as in the time it takes to blink).

And we are all familiar with the expression used when someone looks at us cross eyed, it is said that they gave us the evil eye… I sometimes say, “Why did you look at me in that tone of voice?”

Spiritually speaking, there is an idiom used a lot today in religious circles, and it is the eyes of our understanding. It is taken from Scripture, when Paul told the Ephesian church that he prayed that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18).

I’m all for that. My prayer is that my understanding of His Word and will be revealed to me and in me, but in this there is also a caution. You may wonder why one should use caution when desiring a deeper understanding, and I’m so glad you asked.

If our zeal for enlightenment does not line up with God’s Word, or moves us away from the traditions and principles of our forefathers in the gospel, then much knowledge hath made us a fool (Acts 26:24).

We see this happening today on an ever widening scale. The hunger for a greener, yet less strident pasture has led some to lay aside time-honored values and traditions of the Church.

It’s not called that, of course. The political term is that it is merely “the changing face of Pentecost,” and many see this as a necessary and correct thing. Hmmmm…

Well, if we are talking about how we ought to show more love and be less condemning, I agree, we need a face-lift. If we are looking at those who fall prey to finger pointing and making false assumptions based on personal bias, I will give you two thumbs up on that. A change is in order.

But if we are talking about casting off the principles of conduct and such which have long been our standard or line of demarcation, then please mark me down as one who does not agree.

This has been said before, but bears repeating…

Enlightenment never takes AWAY from light already given. It will only ADD to it.

Allow me to say that again…revelation that is divine will not remove the old landmarks, but will build on the foundation already laid.

I am prepared for those who will not side with me on this. Some will be quick to point out that this is “old school thinking/teaching,” however, I am convinced that ‘old’ is not a bad thing.

Someone agrees with me, and wrote, “In the truest sense, the principles in the Bible are not ‘old’ as much as they are timeless. While written ages ago, they are still fresh and applicable.”

Before someone jumps up, and cries, “But this is written by one of our ultra-conservative Pentecostals,” take note that it was printed in Our Daily Bread, a quarterly Christian/non-Pentecostal publication, and penned by Dave Branon.

Let’s come off our soapbox of “nobody believes this but us four and no more,” and realize that there are people the world over who just may walk a tighter road than we.

Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but trust me, y’all…there are folks who have not taken our right hand in fellowship and do not frequent our clubhouse, but yet they cling, desperately cling to principles which surpass our own convictions.

There is an old and tired concept of ‘drawing a line in the sand,’ but this line drawing works two ways. When we draw lines, whether tight or not so tight, it can become a judgment thing. Everyone not on our side of the line is bound for yon lower regions. Everyone who doesn’t see it the way we do is either in bondage or loose as a goose.

To be more explicit, lines are drawn by those who are willing to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water, as well as by those who stand against everything that looks or sounds new and innovative.

I read this recently, and find it powerfully true…

“The problem with a line in the sand is that it is easy to erase and redraw at your convenience. It is far better to draw a ‘Bloodline.’ There are some places the Bloodline will not let me go and some things the Bloodline will not let me do.”

If our eyes have been opened to anything…if our territory has been enlarged…if our horizons have been elevated…if our awareness of what is real has been enhanced…if we have seen anything of value, let it be because of the Blood, and draw the line there.

I would admonish all today who believe they have a revelation from on High, and are certain that the traditions of the past are archaic and cultural, check your vision. Ask yourself, Can my new opinions be supported with the Holy Scriptures?

You see, we can view things in a new and different light because of peer pressure or by listening to voices unhappy with the past. Those we have placed on a higher plain than the average bear can have a tremendous influence on our spiritual thinking. All of this plays into enlightenment.

It is has even happened that some folks have rejected their spiritual upbringing because of inconsistencies with application and administration, and think this ‘revelation’ is from the Lord.

But, is it?

Please hear me…no one says that perfection is with the old and destruction with the new. Admittedly, many things now viewed as just a leisurely past-time or forms of entertainment were preached against in my youth. But I am convinced that the men and women of old had our best interest at heart. I believe they circled the wagons for our protection and to make a distinction between clean and unclean.

In this new and enlightened day, we want to remove, or at least move a tad the fences and leave the range wide open. But again, I caution you to not be so hasty to drop the boundaries that have been set. Strive for godly balance and moderation. Living too far to the left or right will cause us to be lopsided Christians, but maintaining a middle of the road stride will keep us from falling in the ditch.

Honest to goodness, while they are the norm today, we didn’t play golf, go bowling, or frequent ball parks and movie houses. Oh my stars! Heavens above! Those things were never allowed in Pentecostal circles!

We were never allowed to play games with dice or cards, and we certainly did not dream of playing with a real deck of cards. But again, it is common today, and no one thinks anything about it.

For the record, I see nothing wrong with golf, bowling, or going to a ball game, and never have. But it is not my opinion that matters in such areas, for the only soul I must give an account for is my own.

For those who do have an issue with these things, that is your conviction and I respect that. What troubles my spirit is when those who have no issue or those who do have issues condemn folks with a differing opinion.

Thumping my chest, crying out that no one is holding to a standard/principle but me is as damaging as those who call us out for holding to one. Am I making sense here?

Those who have not altered their stand, moaning that they are the only one’s right are like Elijah. He thought he was all alone until the Lord stopped his wailing and said, “Dude, I have 7,000 men who have not bowed their knees unto Baal!” (I Kings 19:18).

And if you have altered your place from where you once stood, lay aside the attitude that no one is as enlightened as you.

In other words…if someone thinks golf or a ball game is wrong, don’t do it, but please don’t assume the rest who do are lost and undone.

Likewise, please do not label those who hold to a different degree of separation than you or your crowd as being in bondage.

Fair, don’t ya think?

If “the changing face of Pentecost” is about anything positive, let it be about cutting each other some slack. Can we not give each other room to be a Christian? Can we not trust the abiding Spirit to lead and guide without hanging our personal opinions and views on them?

If our eyes are opened to enlightenment, let it be that which edifies and brings glory to God. Alan Redpath (1907-1989), noted British Evangelist and pastor wrote, “The condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart.”

Therein lies a key to it all…surrender, obedience, compliance with a thought, idea, thing, even if it goes against the flesh.

When our eyes are opened to that which is divine and surrendered to it, we will be like John the Baptist, who saw the Spirit descending like a dove. We will be like Stephen, who saw the Lord seated on the right hand of power. And we will be like Isaiah, who not only saw the Lord high and lifted up…he saw his own heart condition.

True enlightenment will indeed bring about a change, but it will begin with a heart change. Our hearts will retain what is planted and plant the more, or we will throw the harvest to the trash heap and plant anew.

Ask yourself today, what do I see?

Are you Able?

The saying goes, Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unfortunately, many never grasp this simple concept, for it seems to be the nature of man to want to be on top, in charge, at the helm…what I call, “the big dog syndrome.”

What folks with that mindset don’t understand is that having authority and being power driven is not the same thing. With God-given, God-ordained authority comes tremendous responsibility, and those who understand this never, ever think about the power position might bring. It is often the shallowness of spirit or inexperience of life and ministry that allow for such a temporal thing as a desire for power.

That there are people in the Church with a power hungry attitude is not a new thing…Jesus met the same challenges with His disciples. Remember that these were men whom the Lord had personally selected. Jesus was God in flesh, and knew the intent of their hearts from jump…yet He chose them.

So, the Lord was not surprised when the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with a question (Matthew 20:20-28). He knew full well that she was speaking on behalf of her sons, James and John, and that they desired a place of importance, more so than momma.

Jesus turned from momma and looked directly at the boys, answering their question with a question…“Are you able to drink of the cup that I drink of?”

He didn’t ask, “Can you,” or “Will you,” but “Are you able? Is your heart and temperament prepared for the cup of suffering that I will endure, and that you will endure? Are you up to the task? Have you conditioned yourselves for that which comes with position? What experiences and sacrifices make you a candidate for a right-hand place of authority in Kingdom work? Is your sole purpose for a position so that you can lord over my people?”

For those who would walk in ministry/Kingdom work, God is asking the same questions today, but they are not questions easily dealt with.

Sacrifice is just that…sacrifice. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else more important or worthy. It is devotion to others. It is time spent when time is at a premium. It is sacrifice for the sake of the call.

To the uncommitted or self-serving, sacrifice and suffering is a bitter tasting cup. If this attitude of “it’s all about meeee” is not dealt with, major problems arise. Full-time ministry becomes just another job or duty in the church, and the love of souls, if it was ever present, fades. And then one day, the absolute power they crave turns on them, corrupting their heart at the core…sadly, they will not recognize that it has even happened.

William Barclay writes, “There is no one cup for the Christian to drink. His cup may be drunk in one great moment; His cup may be drunk throughout a lifetime of Christian living. To drink the cup simply means to follow Christ wherever He may lead, and to be like Him in any situation life may bring.”

Following the gentle hand of the Master is not a quick road to power, and it is a tragic tale that some want the quick and easy way. They aren’t willing to be a novice and allow for mentoring by the aged and wise among us. No, they want it all, and they want it now!

At the heart of the matter is the failure to realize this key factor: being equipped and being ready are two different things. We are equipped when we are called, but readiness is a process, and folks don’t like the process. Everyone has to start somewhere…even if daddy hands us the position, we are still a novice.

A novice is a beginner, learner, an apprentice, trainee, greenhorn, fledgling, freshman, rookie. Not exactly a description we might like to make a claim to, yet it is the natural process of life that all things have a beginning…even in ministry.

Saul of Tarsus was not born Paul, writer of most of the New Testament. Though he was trained by a great Hebrew mind of the day, there was still a time of preparation and teaching necessary. He found it while sitting at the feet of Ananias and the disciples.

Moses spent 40 years getting in a position where he could walk into the presence of Pharaoh as God’s man for the hour, rather than an heir to the throne. He found it in the backside of the desert.

What the Lord was saying to James and John, and what He is saying today, is simply go out there and get your feet wet in the waters of experience. It doesn’t have to be a 40 year preparation, but do something. Teach a Home Bible Study. Hold a revival in a storefront assembly; someplace where they may not have enough money for gas fare. Knock on doors and pass out tracts. Spend a Saturday afternoon witnessing for the Lord on a street corner.

Be faithful in the small things. Teach a toddlers Sunday School class…this is not a job for women alone. Encourage the youth in your realm of influence to clean the neighborhood park, and while there, minister the love of Jesus. Faithfulness in that which seems small prepares us for the more that God has to offer.

Be submissive. We cannot expect to go from point A to point L or M without being submissive. Please do not be disillusioned into thinking we are all peers…wrong! The playing field is leveled at the Cross; however, God ordained that there be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in the Church (Ephesians 4:11).

It was never the intention of the Lord that the Church be set up where we all sit reading the scriptures, breaking the Bread of Life together, with no one person in charge…everyone having the same responsibility and authority. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

The offices mentioned above were set in place for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the Body (v. 12). The Word cannot be any clearer than that.

Do not suppose that your understanding of Greek and Hebrew grants you the right to forsake the plain and simple teachings of the Bible. I understand biblical hermeneutics, but not everything is cultural, y’all!

Do not run from those with experience. Be willing to allow the elders to deposit their wealth of information into your spirit. Ask questions and wait for the answers. Listen. Learn.

If you dismiss everything in this post, please remember this point: enlightenment never takes away from truth already given. Enlightenment that comes from the Throne Room will add to and enhance what has been deposited in us by the Spirit of Christ.

The Scripture reads…

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [therein] (Isaiah 35:8).

The highway is the Word of God, and is called the Way of Holiness because it is holy, right, and true. It is not a complicated document, but is life to all who will trust and obey, and is so simple to understand that a man, though a vagabond and a fool, shall not err in its teaching.

For the record, this Scripture is not an indictment against education and higher learning. It is merely showing us that the Word is not difficult to comprehend.

Degrees are nice. Hanging a certificate on the wall is impressive and may open doors in this arena, but God is not impressed with how much we know, or think we know. God is moved by a teachable spirit and a submissive heart.

All the rest is window dressing. It looks good on a resume when we apply for a job, but is not a sign of favor or a promise of advancement in the heavenly realm of Kingdom work.

The Lord concluded His remarks on this by saying…

… but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (v. 26-27).

We will never attain greatness outside of servitude. It is impossible.

My god sister and her husband have pastored for many years, in many different places. I love the uniqueness of this, in that God often places people in a specific arena for a season and a reason. The lives they have touched and those whom the Spirit of the Lord has changed only eternity will determine. But one thing that I have heard again and again is that my friends are servants. What a wonderful description of a lifetime of ministry.

There are those who would have us think that being a servant for the Lord is a worn out dinosaur that is no longer relevant to this church age. But there are men and women everywhere walking in true service, concerned not with the power of the call, but careful in the care and nurturing of God’s people…

They are seeing after the widows; making hospital visits; answering calls in the wee hours; cleaning the homes of the infirm; cooking and baking for church events; teaching a Sunday School class; cleaning the church restrooms; spending endless hours on their knees; studying and more study; paying the church bills out of their personal account; devoting themselves to counsel in season and out; leaving hearth and home to take the Gospel where others fear to trod.

It is often behind the scenes and not noticed by the undiscerning, but while the masses are sleeping or busy with other things, these are they who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. My own pastor stands in this field of service, and was trained and mentored his entire life for this moment. He and those like him are pastors of the highest caliber.

A great definition of a pastor is simply someone who knows where the green grass is. A shepherd doesn’t find the green grass in a textbook or by only conferring with those they deem worthy to be called a “sheep herder.” They learn by experience and time spent in the field.

Really, there can be no other way…

So if the vitality of youth has caused you to seek position for position sake…if the weariness of your senior years has left you with a desire for affirmation, and that one thought nags at you night and day…if your values are skewed by listening to too many inexperienced voices…if your vision is blurred by opinion and uncertainty, this post is for YOU!

Let me encourage you today to take another look at the Cross, for if we see power and position as a means for advancement, we have looked away from Calvary.

The Cross is a place of suffering and sacrifice, and so must everyone who kneels there. We just cannot bypass sacrifice, expecting to jump into a place of authority overnight…it will not happen. We cannot neglect submission and humility, thinking our Bible college credentials is all that is necessary. We may one day have a following, but the sheep produced from such a meager pasture will be malnourished, and the end will be spiritual death for everyone.

Not what you’re used to gleaning from my posting, eh? True enough, but the day is long past that we sugarcoat while men and women run headlong into destruction. If they go astray…if you go…if I go, it should not be because no one rightly divided the Word and shared the simplicity of it with us.

Today I pray that anyone desiring a life of ministry weighs their desire in the balance with the call. Wait on the Lord. Seek His face. Don’t be so quick to run to so called ‘self-help’ books for life’s answers. I am not suggesting we not read other books, but really, ‘self-help’ books? That is the biggest misnomer, because if I could help myself, I wouldn’t need their book.

The point is, listen to the soft voice of the Master. Seek out seasoned men and women of God with time and experience under their belt. They have walked where you fear to go and have a vast amount of wisdom and truth to share. Let them pour into your inner beings the basic truths of the Bible, and not some feel-good, no-sacrifice-required theology. Religion and theology that is not based on Bible truth is destruction…run for your life from it!

How tragic it will be to have had 3 or 4 years of Bible school, applying ourselves to ministry according to our own vision, attaining the popular, and frankly, overdone titles of the day, forever and always striving for accolades and pats on the back…only to find that our selfish motives made it all for naught.

On that great day when our works are tried in the fire of merit, may it be that they stand through eternity as testimonies of a life spent in sacrifice and faithful service. Not seeking attention. Not looking for a position of greatness. Only seeking to please the Lord.

“Today while you hear my voice…”