Monday, November 16, 2009

LEARNING FROM EVAN ROBERTS

I have been reading an article, "Evan Roberts &
the Welsh Revival" by Ken Horn in the Nov. 15. 09
issue of the Pentecostal Evangel. pp.11-13.
It really grabs me. Oh! that we had preachers and
teachers like that today. Roberts humility and
utter desire to only lift up Jesus seems foreign to
us now. Ken points out several things about Roberts.
  • Roberts never let himself become the center of attention.
  • He granted no interviews.
  • He would not allow pictures to be taken of him.
  • If he felt people came to see him, he would apologize and leave.
  • His sermons became briefer as the revival progressed.
In "Higher Praise Greatest Preachers (Evan Roberts)" we find
Roberts was anything but conventional. Some times he would
only lead the people in prayer or read the Scriptures. Other
times he sat silent as people confessed their sins and gave
testimony of Christ's victory. "He was a constant example
not of how to preach, but of how to be led by the Spirit."
That sounds more like a New Testament meeting than a
meeting of today.

After reading several accounts of Evan Roberts life and
work, one thing stands out to me, his motivation. Even
from a young age, when he was seeking after God and
thirsting for Spiritual things, it seems that his motivation
was not to be a preacher or teacher. But his motivation
was simply to glorify Jesus and the salvation of his fellow
country men.

Is it any wonder that he was an instrument that God could
use in drawing 100,000 Welsh people to Christ.
"Lord help me to die to self and only lift you up."

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

DADDY'S STRESS SERMON



My youngest daughter was/is experiencing some heart problems. She sought my prayers in particular, and any advice I might have. (Maybe Daddy just wanted to give some.) Emailing her back she was assured of my prayers. And knowing my "little girl" [She is a grandmother, but will always be my little girl.] I suggested that she eliminate the stress in her life. Then jokingly told her I would send my "Stress Sermon" later.

It occurred to me the thing I wanted to convey to her, might be of help to someone else also. So my "Stress Sermon" was turned into a post.'

What qualifies me to give any advice. Well nothing. But consider the source - this old man. When I was a teenager the family doctor diagnosed me as having a heart problem. [No. That was not in horse and buggy days. We actually drove cars by then.] I had an irregular heart beat or murmur or something. Probably trying to be an Israelite. You know, murmuring and complaining in the desert. The stuff they gave as medicine was awful. It didn't help either. I suppose nothing did until I met my little girl's mother.

About that time the selective service called me up in the draft. But I flunked the physical because of my heart. That was good for what we called a 4F then. I really wanted in the Naval Air Reserve. As you can figure, I flunked that physical too. But someone in the administration building messed up and swore me in anyway. I was in whether they liked it or not.

After my little girl was born, I was trying to act like an insurance salesman for an old line insurance company. Trying to buy insurance for myself they turned me down because of my heart. My staff manager went after them. Well! Selling insurance and not having any myself? You figure it out. I was taken into the home office and a team of doctors tested me with all kinds of neat high tech stuff. They relented enough to sell me a rated policy. That is I had to pay a lot of extra money just to get insurance. So what? I am seventy five years old and work harder six days a week than most young people. That's what.

The answer really is in God. He is the one that deserves all the thanks, honor and glory. He is the one that keeps my old pumper pumping. But what about my part? The precautions I have taken are to have a cheerful heart. (Well, when I can.) The good book says, "A cheerful heart is a good medicine...." -Proverbs 17:22 NRSV The way I have a cheerful heart is diet. That is, lots of candy, cookies, pie, cake, ice cream and anything else sweet I can get. You know. Attitude adjustment. No. I am not joking. I don't do any thing for my heart. Zilch. Nothing. Don't even go to the doctor. If I did he would just try to put me on something expensive so they could take all my money. Then I would be broke and have all the side effects to suffer too. Of course the sweets do not help my heart. It's the Lord who watches over it.

By nature I am hyper or high strung. So I do preach this sermon to myself, sometimes. Our text for today is Proverbs 14:30 NRSV Please stand in honor of God's Word. [That's the way we do it in our Church.] "A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh,"

Now the point I want to make. Years ago I was listening to "Focus on the Family". They told of an incident that went something like this. One of their staff members had a heart attack. Latter in a recovery group they were trying to determine the common denominator that caused their heart attacks. As I remember in the recovery group were all sizes and shapes of people. Some had been in excellent health, and some not. But they had one common denominator. STRESS. Stress will kill you. Even with a good heart.

Now get rid of the stress. Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry..." -Matthew 6:25 NRSV Paul said, "Do not worry about anything," -Philippians 4:6 NRSV Peter said, "Cast all your anxiety on him," [That's Jesus.] -1 Peter 5:7 NRSV There you have it. Jesus wants to take your stress and let you enjoy life with him. Take your problems, dump them on the Lord. Then lighten up and live.