Better than a cage......

My friend and sister in Christ who is a member of our church (Cheryl Alverson) sent the the following exerpt from an article she was reading. I loved it and thought it would be a blessing to you. THE CAGE IS A SCARY PLACE TO BE!! Be blessed by this article – launch out today – use your faith. Don’t get comfortable in “the cage.” Whatever God is calling you to do – where ever God is leading you – BE OBEDIENT.

HERE'S THE ARTICLE:
Read about a pastor considering whether or not God was leading them to start a church in NYC. He admitted he had a lot of fear in his heart about the city. He just couldn't imagine moving his family to a city that lived under the steady threat of attacks. Also, it was not known to be a place where a new church could become a sustained presence. He admitted that his lack of interest in the city was more about personal fears than about the city itself or God's intentions for them.

Sitting in the hotel room after spending the previous few days in New York City at the invitation of a friend, reading the last book of Tolkien's trilogy, The Return of the King, he came to a dialogue between Aragorn, the heir of Gondor, and Eowyn, a noblewoman of Rohan. Eowyn is pleading to join Aragorn on a dangerous journey. After Eowyn says she fears neither death nor pain, Aragorn asks what she does fear, and Eowyn replies with a profound statement:
~~A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

At that moment, he said he sensed God was saying something like this to him: "The longer you play it safe and avoid risk and the potential of loss, the more you will accept the present and lose your capacity to dream about and shape the future. When you give your fears more authority than the Spirit of God, all chance of God-exalting valor and generational impact is lost." He resolved that morning not to make decisions based on sensitivity and submission to his fears but on sensitivity and submission to the Spirit.

He said from that moment, God clearly began to move their hearts to NYC. One year later, they were closing on an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and preparing for the most significant move of their lives. Since that time, they had come to realize that NYC is one of the greatest places on the planet, a wonderful place to raise a family, and , by God's grace, Apostles Church has become a sustained presence in the city, seeking to renew all things with the message and mercy of Christ. That is much better than a cage.

From:
The What If or If God? article if by Rev. J.R. Vassar, founding and lead pastor of Apostles Church in New York City. This article was in Ligonier Ministries' Tabletalk Magazine, Sept. 2011 pg. 12

The Cardinal and the Blue Jays

THIS BLOG ENTRY IS DEDICATED TO MARTHA SIMS WHO WENT TO BE WITH THE LORD IN JANUARY, 2010.

Yesterday morning as I was sitting in our kitchen at the breakfast bar, some movement caught my eye outside the French doors which open to our back yard. When I turned to see what was moving I noticed a beautiful, bright red Cardinal sitting on the edge of the fountain/birdbath. Just about the time the Cardinal started to take a dip into the water, like a flash, a Blue Jay swooped in and tried to knock the him off of the bird bath. Unsuccessful, the Cardinal tries to go in for refreshing morning dip and the brilliantly colored Blue Jay swoops in again. Well, the Cardinal had enough of the Blue Jay’s swooping and started to fight back. I have never seen a Cardinal and a Blue Jay fight before! Let me just say, the Cardinal was losing! However the red bird kept flapping and yelling; the Blue Jay kept swooping and flapping and even called in back up. Two Blue Jays ganged up on one Cardinal and pretty soon the Cardinal gave up and left. The Blue Jays flew away. None of them enjoyed the cool refreshing water.
As I was watching this spectacle, I could not take my eyes off what was happening. I even made my early morning status on Facebook coincide with what was happening in my back yard. People who are my friends on Facebook even made comment about how there would probably be a sermon in that story somewhere. So I started to think about it and even ask for suggestions about providing a text and a title for a future sermon. I was laughing to myself and just waiting for all of the ideas to come forward. Some suggestions were made but honestly, no sermon -- just a good lesson for all of us to learn.
Many times when we come to worship together, we are just like the thirsty Cardinal. All we really want is to come and drink in the living water of the Lord as we worship Him and hear from His word. But sometimes the Blue Jays show up in the form of a person, an event or a physical ailment. We try to fight those feelings but sometimes they seem to multiply and gang up on us so we just quit and we miss the blessing of the refreshing water of life.
The next time that happens remember the Cardinal and the Blue Jays and don’t let some bird steal your joy!
• “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8
• “As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” Psalm 42: 1-2
• “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” John 4:13-15

Good News!!! The Truth....finally!!

I was born Timothy Wayne Childers on December 18, 1954 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Gadsden, Alabama. I was born again on August 26, 1982 in Leeds, Alabama. I will never forget the night I sat across the dining room table from my pastor, Alk Kavli. I bowed my head, prayed and accepted Jesus as my Savior. It was 17 years after Jesus accepted me that I learned what it meant to be accepted by my heavenly Father....to experience His life flowing with power through me. I had spent 99.9% of my Christian life working FOR God. In 1985 I surrendered to the ministry, moved my family to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Since that time I have served Palestine Baptist Church in Bogaloosa, Lousianna...Lakeside Baptist Church in Metarie, Lousianna...Emmanuel Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...First Baptist Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee...College Heights Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama, Sr. Pastor at First Baptist Church in Mableton, Georgia. Presently I am the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Sylcauga, Alabama. I am retiring from that position on December 31, 2011 so that Debbie and I can concentrate on getting the message of God’s grace around the world!

In 1999 God showed me the truth. I learned what it meant for God to work THROUGH me. The following is my journal entry for November 3, 1999.
"This journal is full of entries where I have made commitments to start fresh. As a matter of fact just about a week ago I made the entry just before this one. As usual something filled the space and I did not keep my commitment to come in early and have my quiet time, etc.

I have been growing increasingly concerned about myself. Over and over I have felt like I was turning into my Daddy. (Note: My father committed suicide in 1991.) I have acted like him lately. I have experienced some of the things he experienced. I have felt as if I was headed for some kind of show down. Debbie even confronted me the other night with the reality that I have every symptom of someone who is clinically depressed. I did no want to hear that but the symptoms do no lie. The past few weeks have been some of the most miserable of my lifetime. I have been on edge, to the point of tears, weeping openly for hours, stressed out over things at church - even though if things got any better there I do not know what I would do - I even go so low that a couple of weeks ago (after a fight with Debbie and a few days of low living before hand) that I prayed that God would take me out of this world. I had been having thoughts of just driving away and never looking back. It is not that I do not love my family, it is just that at that time I was under the delusion from the devil that they would be better off without me. We were leading a conference in Prattville that weekend and my topic was - "How to Get Over Life in the Pits.? How appropriate that God would have me lead a conference about being in the pits. I certainly could give them first hand information about what it felt like to be there. I thought as I got up to lead the conference that I would die. As I began to lead the conference, something began to happen. God began to speak to me. I was leading the conference for me. The conference was based on Psalm 40:2 where David said that the Lord has lifted him from the miry clay, set his feet upon a rock and established his steps. Well the Lord did that for me and He pulled me up?but I knew that there had to be more to this. We returned home on Saturday and I began to try to get to the place where God would speak to me about what to preach on the next day. Nothing came. I am not surprised given my state of mind. The next morning I arrived at church at my usual Sunday morning time around 6:15 a.m. I sat in front of the computer and could barely pray. Nothing I looked at in the Word jumped off the page at me. Nothing was coming. I was supposed to preach about vision because we are in the midst of a stewardship campaign. I went through my files and decided to preach my sermon on commitment that I preached as a trial sermon at CHBC. It was decided. That is always such a relief. I could not get excited because it was not a fresh word from the Lord and I was feeling like I was slipping back into the miry clay again."

Pretty depressing, huh? Well, it was depressing then, but now when I look back on those days I can truly rejoice because of what God has done in my life. That night when it was so dark in my life something wonderful happened! I died to myself. I did not really know what had happened until I started reading Handbook to Happiness by Dr. Charles Solomon. I called my wife and said, "I am reading a new book and if it is true I will spend the rest of my life telling people about it.? It is true and I am happier and more fulfilled than I ever dreamed I could be.

I was the kind of pastor that wanted results. If I did not get the kind of results that I wanted, I blamed myself. I always assumed the answer was that God is not pleased with my preaching, leadership skills, or my abilities. My response was to make commitments to pray more, study more, visit more, plan more, and program more. I never kept those commitments because I too busy. The guilt was unbearable. I was burning the candle at both ends and I ran out of wax. Oh, I was getting results! Things could not have been any better in my ministry; but it was never enough for me. When I came to the end of myself and began to understand the truth of the crucified life - the resurrected life of Christ in me, I began to really "rest.? I am busier now than before, but full of passion for the ministry. The difference in me now unbelievable! I have learned what it means to live in Christ. I no longer feel guilty when throngs of people do not respond during our services. I have been set free from worry. My marriage is stronger. I have stronger relationships with my church family. I am more relaxed. I can have fun again! It is a great life?. HIS life!!!

The Secret Place

Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” NKJV

When I was younger there was a popular television show called, “I’ve Got a Secret.” It had several hosts, but the one I remember was Bill Cullen. The format of the show was pretty simple. Sitting together on one side, behind a desk, each of four panelists took a 30-second turn questioning and then guessing a contestant's secret. The contestants were a mixture of ordinary people and celebrities. In the opening show in 1952 it was revealed that Boris Karloff’s (horror movie star) secret was that he was afraid of mice!

We are intrigued by secrets aren’t we? I love the promise of the secret place in Psalm 91:1 -- “the secret place of the Most High.” The obvious truth here is that we as Christians are dwelling in the secret place of God.

The Hebrew word for “dwell” is yashab. It means to “sit down, specifically as judge.” The English word is simply not strong enough to convey what dwell really means. In contrast, if one were to relax around a table in a casual setting, the word “recline” would have been used to describe their posture. We know from scripture that Jesus is sitting in authority at the right hand of the Father. (Hebrews 12:12)

Friend, in Christ we have may precious promises. One of the greatest promises in scripture is spoken by Jesus in the Revelation.

20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “
Revelation 3:20-21 (NKJV)

Do you realize what you just read? The child of God is granted the privilege of sitting in Jesus’ lap on the throne of God! The secret place is a glorious place.
In Christ, as over comers, we are already there. (READ: Ephesians 2:4-6) However so many times we refuse to believe it! Aren’t you glad that scripture does not lie! We are there with Him now – resting, reigning with Him!

Living in God's Amazing Grace!

God's GRACE is an important to me!! In 1999 I started God revealed the truth about grace, acceptance and forgiveness that is mine through Christ, and my identity and inheritance in the Kingdom of God. I’ll never forget the day God revealed the truth to me. The whole front of my shirt was wet from my own tears of joy! I called Debbie and told her that God had shown me something that I had never heard preached from a pulpit. I also told her that if I determine that it’s the truth, I will spend the rest of my life teaching others about what God was teaching me! Good news folks! It was and is and always will be the truth!
This blog is one of the resources God has given me to share HIS message and MY story! It is a constant theme in my preaching/teaching. As I said, I will spend the rest of my life telling anyone who will listen about the grace of God!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE IN THE GRACE OF GOD?

The following statements reflect what it means to live in God's grace. There is great power that results from exchanging your life for the life of Christ in and through you!!

 It means serving God because He has fully and permanently accepted us through Jesus Christ, not because we want to gain His acceptance or become more pleasing to Him through our works.

 It means motivating Christians to live out of love and thankfulness, rather than guilt and duty.

 It means believing firmly in Biblical absolutes and trusting in the life of Christ within to enable us to live by those absolutes, but rejecting attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules.

 It means unconditionally accepting people at their current level of spiritual growth and development without condoning their sin, just as God does, then encouraging them to grow in an atmosphere of grace.

 It means creating an environment of honesty and transparency that models God's love and acceptance; not ignoring or approving a person's sin, but loving people in spite of their sin with a goal of bringing them to truth about it.

 It means placing the primary emphasis of the Christian life on inner motivations rather than outward behaviors, believing that when inner motivations are right, the right outward behavior will follow.

 It means refusing to deny or minimize the pain that comes into our lives because of our own sins and failures or the sins and failures of others; rather, it means viewing pain as a means of bringing us to an experience of God's grace and life.

 It means following the relational style of Jesus, who accepted and forgave sinful, lost people, even though they may have failed miserably, then through truth and love led them to a better life in Him.

 It means interpreting the Biblical commands as describing a mode of life befitting someone who has already been accepted by God, not as laws that bring us more merit with God.

 It means resting IN the life of Christ and operating from our new identity in Him, not in our own strength, but His.

I am constantly amazed at God’s grace in my life. There is nothing I can do to earn it, I do not deserve it but God gives it to me anyway!! What a great God we serve!

A Great Song of God's Grace and LIfe!

This song says it all for me! I spent most of my life thinking that God was mad at me! But...in 1999 I came to the truth of God's grace and love! When God sees me - He sees the righteousness of Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:21 is proof!! -- "He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might BECOME the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus." (Caps are mine.)

Now enjoy listening to this song and realize just how much God loves you!!

Guilt Vs. Conviction

When I was a kid I had several chores that I was required to do by my parents.

• Help work in the garden

• Take out the trash

• Make up my bed

• Clean my room

• Cut the grass

During the days of summer I would dread doing some of those chores. I particularly hated cutting the grass. We never seemed to have a lawnmower that wanted to start! My daddy would work on those mowers and try to keep them tuned up, but I would pull and pull and pull.

Many days I would pray for rain so I would not have to cut the grass. As time passed during the day and it would it would be time for daddy to come home -- well, I would panic! Guilt would start to overcome me. I felt so guilty when I did not do what my daddy wanted me to do. The reason I felt so guilty is that I WAS GUILTY! I was disobedient because I knew that I should have cut the grass early in the day.

Feeling guilty is one of the devil's greatest weapons in his arsenal of deception. You see, when I felt guilty for not cutting the grass the real feeling of worthlessness is what overtook me. When my dad started to call me lazy, etc., I felt guilty. Guilt never motivated me to do anything.

Conviction on the other hand affects me differently. It is a tool that God uses to help me see that I are missing His blessings if I disobey Him. Conviction motivates -- guilt paralizes! Conviction is simply realizing that what you are doing is wrong and changing direction. Conviction leads to repentance. Guilt leads to more guilt.

In my relationship with God I have come to realize that He does not want me to feel guilty -- He wants me to feel convicted. For many years I related to God to the way I related to my earthly father. When I would miss the mark, disobey, willfully sin -- I would start to feel guilty. I would feel worthless. I would feel so hopelessly rejected by God. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was not rejecting me -- He was convicting me -- showing me, loving me, teaching me, and helping me!

• Guilt = Satan's tool

• Conviction = God's instruction

Rest! Ahhhhhhh!!!

This morning when the elliptical machine at the gym was trying to kill me I thought to myself: “I have been on this thing for 30 minutes and have not moved forward one inch! What am I doing? I need to rest!” I finished my workout and stopped to rest for a couple of minutes and then I sat down on the abs machine. Notice I sad abs! Right now I have a “one pack.” My goal is to have more than one! I set the machine on 110 pounds and started my routine. I made it to 20 reps. I’m sure the look on my face indicated that I needed to rest…and I did. I rested for about 30 seconds and started the second set of reps. I made it to 20 again; this time with sweat dripping off the end of my nose. I stopped and rested again. Now, I was on my final set. My goal was to make 10 more reps for a total of 50. I made it! Then I rested for about 1minute and started to work out my chest muscles. During the course of the morning at the gym, I took several minutes just to rest between exercises and weight machines.

I have met Christians who approach their Christian life the way I approached resting in the gym this morning. They will get very excited about a project or ministry in their church. They will go at it like gang busters for a while and then – POOF! Where did they go? It’s as if they disappeared. In reality what has happened is that they are resting. They get tired. Some people call it being “burned out.” I’m always cautious of folks who operate in their Christian lives this way because their actions are a sure fire sign that they are operating in their own strength instead of “resting” in Jesus!

Look at what our Lord said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (NKJV)

I have studied this passage numerous times but have never noticed the word “give.” It jumped out at me this morning. Jesus said that he wanted to “give” us rest. Resting is a gift from Jesus? YES!! But, not the kind of rest I described earlier. It’s not about resting between projects or works that we do in service to the Lord. The rest Jesus gives is a state of mind; a REALITY for all times.

I have finally come to understand what “resting” means when it comes to my relationship with Jesus. The rest that Jesus GIVES is understanding who I am in Christ. The rest that Jesus gives is understanding what I have in Christ and living out my life in HIM rather than “trying” to live the Christian life. It is impossible for YOU and I to live the Christian life!

I felt like I had earned a rest this morning in the gym. I had worked hard, sweat was dripping and my muscles were aching! I earned a rest. You and I cannot earn the kind of rest that Jesus gives. The Christian life is not about working so hard that you work up a sweat! (Thank you Jesus!) The Christian life is not about earning anything! The Christian life is about receiving the gift of “rest” from Jesus without working to earn anything!

Christianity is not about what you do it is about who you ARE! Now…..think about that for a while and take an eternal rest period in Jesus! You might just find yourself more energized and busier in the Kingdom than every before. The difference will be that you are not tired! Wow!