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I knew my copy was soon to arrive. When it came, I ripped open the packaging and there it was, Ron Dunn: His Life and Mission by Ron Owens. My understanding is that the nationwide release occurs this month at the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston.

No one knew how to ask the pointed questions about the journey with God through difficult moments like Ron Dunn. God used him to impact many struggling people with the clarity of the Word of God.

The recent television images of storm damage in Moore, Okla., and the photographs of our Hannibal campus and the surrounding communities remind us that people walk through dark valleys of loss, brokenness and despair. Sometimes life feels like the piles of rubble left behind in a tornado’s wake. Even good, godly people are not exempt from the pain of suffering, loss and disappointment. In the midst of the debris, the inevitable questions show up. (more…)

While the religious folks cast lots for their next leader, I am captivated by the One who is my personal Lord and Savior. By faith I receive all that His is and is revealed to be in the Word of God. It’s overwhelming!

“You have taught me the necessity of a mediator, a messiah, to be embraced in love with all my heart,
as a king to rule me,
as a prophet to guide me,
as priest to take away my sin and death,
and this by faith in Your beloved Son who teaches me
not to guide myself,
not to obey myself,
not to rule and conquer sin,
but to cleave to the one who will do all for me.
You have made known to me that to save me is Christ’s work,
but to cleave to Him by faith is my work,
and with this faith is the necessity of my daily repentance
as a mourning for the sin which Christ by grace has removed.

Continue O God, to teach me
that faith apprehends Christ’s righteousness” Vision, p45

As he did with Eve in Genesis 3, one of the goals of the enemy is to isolate the believer. It is there that he devalues the handiwork of God in a person’s life and fallen creatures begin to believe his lies.

The enemy also loves to lure or lull believers into forgetting all that has happened so that we might have life and have it eternally. The world, the flesh and the devil lies night and day and attempts to devalue the eternal transaction that happened on the Cross so that we could reconciled to God, restored to relationship, and live as royal children of the most High.

Reflect on the Heavenly transaction:
“Christ was
-all anguish that I might be all joy,
-cast off that I might be brought in,
-trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,
-surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,
-stripped that I might be clothed,
-wounded that I might be healed,
-thirsty that I might drink,
-tormented that I might be comforted,
-made shame that I might inherit glory,
-entered darkness that I might have eternal life.

My Savior
-wept that all tears might be wiped away from my eyes,
-groaned that I might have endless song,
-endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
-bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
-bowed His head that I might uplift mine,
-experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
-closed His eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
-expired that I might for ever live.

O Father
who spared not thine only Son that You might spare me,
All this transfer Your love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore You by lips and life.

Go forth, O Conquering God, and show me the cross.” (Valley of Vision, p. 42)

Of all the delicious fruits on God’s green earth, there is one that rises to the top of my “I-sure-hope-we-have-these-in-heaven list.” To me there is nothing quite like the blackberry. These tasty morsels are a sublime treat to my palette.

I can vividly remember sitting on the porch at my Granny’s house near Maytoy, Oklahoma (you won’t find it on the map anymore) eating a big bowl of blackberries with a sprinkling of sugar. Once I ate all the berries, this boy would raise the bowl to his lips and drain the berry juice. M-m-m good! I know it’s not good manners but think of the total injustice of leaving the juice to the flies instead of finishing it off.

Blackberries are a delicious fruit but they can also seriously stain your clothes or your body. My dad tells of the time, in the early 40’s, when he and his brothers were to ride the train to California. While waiting on the train, they had America’s first paintball war. Only paintballs were not invented yet. So, the brothers armed themselves with blackberries. They loaded the berries in their slingshots and fired at one another. Dad says the green ones really hurt and the ripe berries would splat seeds and squirt juice on anything or anyone standing nearby.

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These amazing times call for convictional boldness. One of the bold things that people who walk in the light must do is articulate the truth, even though we know busting myths with biblical truth causes friction. This doesn’t mean we have permission to be obnoxious. Nor does it mean we are be intimidated by those who reconstruct the facts to fit their individual whim or sense of political correctness.

In a mere 125 days a significant adult decision is to be made at the ballot boxes of the United States. Never in my lifetime is so much at stake as it is today. This is an unprecedented time.

Never has religious liberty and freedom of conscience been under so much attack. The mind cannot comprehend what would possess a sitting Attorney General and his department to go before the Supreme Court and argue against the freedom of a church to hire employees without government intervention. In January, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the government could not interfere with a church’s ministerial hiring practices but left the door open for interference with support personnel.

The fact that the Supreme Court’s June 28 opinion did not slam the door on the massive ObamaCare Act creates a renewed challenge to religious institutions. The press continues to call this a Roman Catholic problem. However, Baptists are in the thick of it, too. As a result of the ruling, the guidelines from the Health and Human Services Department continue to stand. These guidelines require insurance policies provided by our ministry institutions such as our universities and children’s home to include coverage for abortive pharmaceuticals. This violates our biblically based prolife convictions.

To take the problem deeper, what shall we do when our tax dollars are used to underwrite the medical exchanges that provide abortive services? This is a serious matter causing some to dust off the books pertaining to civil disobedience.

This is the day for the prophets of God to speak to the issues of the day – not .without compassion for hurting people but with conviction explaining the truth about God’s Word and the value of a biblical worldview.

According to historians, on the day that George Washington was inaugurated, he placed his hand on the Bible opened to Deuteronomy 28. He chose this passage because it explains the blessings and the curses that occur when a nation exalts God or rejects God.
Like no other people on the planet, we have experienced the blessings of God. Yet we stand on the precipice of biblically proportioned curses that will be our demise.

Our hope is in the return. Will we humble ourselves and turn back to our God?

So what can we do?

Take responsibility for your own thinking. Do your life choices reveal you are a person who believes God’s Word is the standard for right decision making or do you comply with man’s opinions and polls? Let your words, your purchases and your ways reveal that Jesus is Lord of all you call yours.

Encourage your pastor by praying for him and letting him know that your faith is built by the whole counsel of God’s Word, even those parts that rebuke and challenge us to seek the Lord with a pure heart. Some will be offended. The Gospel is an offense to many people but it is the aroma of holiness, compassion and truth that draws people to the Lord. Courageously stand with your pastor and support the man of God when others want him to comply with political correctness.

Register to vote. It is mind boggling that so many people in our churches are not registered to vote. With the age of computers, there is public record of those who are and those who are not registered to vote. Make it a church goal that every adult is registered to vote. All they need is their name, address and birthday. That’s it.

Vote. Big issues are on the horizon. The general election is on Nov. 6 to determine the destiny of the United States and who the next judges will be. This is when we look right past this stagnate economy and vote in light of convictions relating to the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage and religious liberty.

Pray for mercy. Our nation’s current moral climate is the result of a people who reject God. Only the Gospel can change people from the inside out. So those of us who are changed need to call out to the One who hears and beg for mercy so that with renewed passion we can share with people about the great redemption of our mighty God.

You have heard it said and it is so, “We must have revival in our churches; so that restoration will come to our families; so that reformation will change the culture.”

If not in 2012, when?

By now we’ve all read or heard too much information about the Secret Service prostitution scandal. At least 20 women were in hotel rooms with U.S. agents and military personnel just before President Obama arrived for a summit with Latin American leaders.
Eleven Secret Service agents and 10 military personnel are now under investigation. The 11 Secret Service agents were recalled to the U.S. from Colombia and placed on administrative leave after a night of partying that allegedly ended with at least some bringing prostitutes back to their hotel room. On Monday, April 17 the agency announced that it also had revoked the agents’ security clearances. The 10 U.S. military personnel staying at the same hotel were also being investigated for their role in the alleged misconduct.

As with all immoral sexual encounters, a lack of truth is evidenced by multiple stories about who the women were. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee stated, “Some are admitting (the women) were prostitutes, others are saying they’re not. They’re just women they met at the hotel bar.” A lie to yourself and others always accompanies sexual sins.

This incident is despicable enough. However, the vast majority of the commentary by national media is further evidence that we are a nation in trouble. On more than one occasion and on more than one channel, collectively we have heard the commentators attempt to justify the sexual immorality with phrases like, “Boys will be boys” or “They deserved some down time and de-stressing” or “The women were simply providing services.”

Obviously, from the national media perspective, the potential national security threat was of greater concern than the immoral behavior of the agents, service men or the prostitutes. There were those who use the word “shame” to speak about the breach in national security. However, the word is never attached to the immoral behavior of those involved in the incident.

This is clear evidence that the moral fabric of the United States is ripped apart. Be assured, our enemies know it. The only reason we don’t confess it is because we prefer denial to reality and authenticity.

After decades of parading hedonistic behavior on the networks and in the movie houses, after decades of affirming self indulgence (What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas), after decades of social experiments on our young through a-moral educational processes and the affirmation of fatherless families, we are reaping a whirlwind of disaster.

The only hope for my great grandchildren to experience the freedoms that we so love in our nation is a mighty movement of God. How can that happen? It starts in us when we value the purity of a relationship with God more than the sirens’ song of our culture. It starts with God’s people when our children and our friends see that we believe spiritual disciplines are better than entertainment, power or making the next buck. It begins when we use words that depict our authentic relationships and personal responsibility instead of culture words of pleasure and individual rights.

Such a movement continues when the people of God embrace His agenda of transforming lives through the Gospel of Jesus our Lord. When thousands of churches are less concerned about themselves and begin to see the true condition of people’s lives, we will know that God is moving across this land. When the altars of our churches are full of people shedding hot tears of repentance and calling out for the salvation of the people they know and love, then we will know that God is restoring the fabric of our nation.

Lord, bring us back to You.

In a day of massive culture change, our rest is found in the One who never changes.

Consider this from A W Tozer
“What peace it brings to the Christian’s heart to realize that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith.

He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen, the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.

God never changes moods or cools off in His affections or loses enthusiasm. His attitude toward sin is now the same as it was when He drove sinful man from the eastward garden, and His attitude toward the sinner the same as when He stretched forth His hands and cried, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

God will not compromise and He need not be coaxed. He cannot be persuaded to alter His Word nor talked into answering selfish prayer. In all our efforts to find God, to please Him, to commune with Him, we should remember that all change must be on our part. “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Knowledge of the Holy, p. 82-83)

Plugged pipes are not good. I understand plumbing better than I do the sphere of medicine. However, I understand clearly that the gradual build up of impediments within a copper pipe or an artery have a way of eventually disrupting one’s life.

Such a principle has application in a believer’s walk with God. A holy life, a clean life is imperative. God’s passion is that we be conduits of His grace to the people in our sphere of influence. That’s why the word of God exhorts us to “Be holy, as I am holy” and at the same time it condemns self-righteousness.

The standard of holiness, the measure of a clean heart is the Lord Jesus Himself. The way He conducted Himself before the Father and people is our highest pursuit. When we choose something less than His ways, we clutter our lives with impediments that distract us from His fullness—the potential we were designed to experience.

Among the impediments are the personal distractions that swirl around our lives. Add to our busy lives the phenomenon of social media and every second can be absolutely consumed with something less than God’s best.

For example, accommodating too many extra-curricula activities for our children can consume so much of a family’s time that they cannot find time each week to eat together and debrief.

There are so many things that can distract us and one size doesn’t fit all. However, if we invite the Holy Spirit to examine our ways, activities, attitudes and alliances, He has a way of pointing out our distractions and helping us respond appropriately.

The same can be said about churches. They can be so distracted by activities that they forget their reason for existence. Some believe Southern Baptists have more meetings than any group on earth. We have committee meetings, children’s ministries, women’s ministries, men’s meetings, and the list goes on indefinitely. Then we add to the meeting list all the events. But how many events are targeted for the people outside the church?

Granted that collective meetings and events are part of the way God’s people learn to love one another and serve together to fulfill God’s purposes. Should we not ask a question about each meeting and each event–“Does this activity facilitate a higher level of holiness and increased evangelism?” Or “have these good things become impediments to what the Lord actually wants to accomplish through His church?”

Conventions have a way of falling into similar snares. While Southern Baptists know that revival is the greatest need in their churches, we can be distracted by ecclesiastical politics, the latest methodology, a contemporary theological fad, current political conservative positions or even think that if we change our name, more people will accept our churches.

Obviously, our preaching should be informative and our ministries relevant but do we spend too much time embracing public relations techniques to “spin” our message out to the contemporary culture? So much time and resources, that we fail in equipping people for a vibrant life in Christ.

Are we better at equipping people with organizational techniques than we are at mobilizing people to seek God’s face and engaging lost people in conversation? Are we beating the drum more loudly for the latest worship techniques instead of teaching people the value of a holy life? We must resist the distractions and focus on what is most important to our God.

If we are brutally honest, we must ask, “What is a major contributor to the moral and spiritual decline in our nation?” Isn’t it the negative impact of the inconsistent living by  Christians who have never experienced a transforming work of the Holy Spirit? Christians that do not know what it feels like to be clean as a result of individual repentance and fresh surrender of his/her life before the Lord. We cannot skirt this issue anymore than a homeowner can neglect the plumbing.

The primary impediment is that we, the church, must understand that such a movement starts with us. We are tempted to point our finger at “them” or “those people” but the Holy Spirit is looking at our own hearts and our need to be honest about the iniquitous impediments in us.

So what will we do? Will we examine ourselves and pursue the Lord with open, transparent hearts? Will we run to the altar and prostrate ourselves before Him and not leave until He grants us a renewed vision for a life in pursuit of God’s own heart?

Revival or Awakening is the movement of God’s Spirit among His people who are desperate enough to do whatever it takes to seek Him above all things.

On the very day I began to pen this column for the Pathway, I learned about the grave affront to religious liberty by the Administration. Later in the day, I learned about the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn the marriage sanctity amendment that was overwhelmingly adopted in California. And then to top it all off, one of our female Supreme Court justices made it known that she prefers the South African Constitution over the U. S. Constitution.

My thoughts are, “Have we lost our senses? Do the social engineers believe they have collected enough moxie that they can now make government rule our consciences and convictions?”

There is a solution. It is not found with government or economic strategies. It starts with God’s people. In my latest book, “Revive us, O Lord” (AuxanoPress, 2012), I wrote in the introduction that my heart yearns for the refreshing winds of revival to move across the landscape of American churches.

I asked myself repeatedly, “Are we, am I, desperate enough to seek the face of God above all else. Am I willing to be brutally honest about the condition of my heart?”

An interesting thing about the God of the Bible is that He doesn’t grade people on the curve. We are either clean before Him or we aren’t. We are either filled with the Spirit or we aren’t. There isn’t really a “good enuf” category of acceptability before God. He knows the deep recesses of our hearts.

What happens when the searchlight of the Holy Spirit begins to explore the motives and behavioral patterns of our lives? What’s going on in the deep crevices of our lives has a way of showing up in our every day living.

Pastors, do we preach to appease the listeners or to expound on what God says is so? Would our teaching be classified as pandering to the emotional needs of people instead of exposing the people to truth? Do we speak so people will give us accolades to meet our emotional needs? Such preaching may produce larger attendance but does it produce greater godliness? If we genuinely want revival, there are some people who will be hostile to what the man of God says from the Word of God.

Have we mastered the art of euphemism to such an extent that we attempt to explain away sin? Sin that nailed Christ to the cross is too often rationalized as a disease, emotional distress or a by-product of our heritage. Would we dare preach with the anointing of the Spirit and call out sins of prejudice, hatred, envy, greed and adultery, even if it cost us our “jobs?”

Have our churches forgotten that godly pastors are not hired? They are called and the church affirms the call. But what will you say when there are certain people in the congregation who are ready to vote you out or to make your life miserable unless you capitulate to their perspective? Will you continue to humbly share the Word and graciously call for repentance and faith instead of cowering to the voices of those who want to control God and His man?

There cannot be a fresh wind of revival until the preacher has taken his identity to the altar and repented of fearing man more than he fears God. “Search me, O God. Have I lost my courage? Do I impede revival by my timidity?”

There cannot be an awakening that transforms our families and our communities without the people of God acknowledging, “if I regard iniquity in my heart, He will not hear me.” (Psalm 66:18) But “if I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

One impediment to the moving of God’s Spirit has to do with resisting the examination of the Holy Spirit in every venue of our lives. When we study the historical records of events from other movements of God, we know that revival or spiritual awakening cannot occur without the examination of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord offers us the fresh wind of His Spirit, would we actually be willing to settle for the mere dregs of religiosity?

Back in seminary days, the late Dr. C. L. Culpepper told this story to a group of hungry hearts. He said that during the Shantung Revival of China that missionaries Bertha Smith and Marie Munson stood at the only exit from the room where the evangelical missionaries held their annual retreat. As the missionaries filed out, these two women would ask, “Are you filled with the Spirit? Are your sins confessed up to date?”

Dr. C. L. Culpepper reported that the ladies would make him so angry. That is, until he was quickened by his need of dealing with the unconfessed sins in his own life. Once the Holy Spirit was granted access to the secret, unconfessed places in his heart then a movement of God’s Spirit burst forth in his own life, in the lives of his missionary colleagues and in the province of China.

Can we be the people of God with confidence and authority when there are secret sins in our personal lives? Is there the fear of being “found out?” Does the enemy condemn because of a secret closet of sinful behavior (I John 3:21-22)?

The solution to what ails our culture begins with us. We, the church, must understand that such a movement starts with us, not them. So what will we do? Will we examine ourselves and pursue the Lord with open, transparent hearts? Will we run to the altar and prostrate ourselves before Him and not leave until He grants us a renewed vision for the life we call ours?

O Lord give us the bitter tears of repentance.

The movers arrived on Thursday. They brought all the boxes into our house. Now, every box must be opened and a determination must be made about the contents. When you have amassed a lifetime of items and memories, moving makes for long days and late evenings. The goal is to have everything in every box appropriately set.

As we were putting the finishing touches on my study, we discovered one more box. “What’s in that box?” At this stage of the game, I’m thinking I don’t want to know what is in that box and I really don’t want to deal with its contents. However, it must be opened and I must make appropriate determination of its contents.

As I unpacked the box, a spiritual analogy pops in my brain. If you will be so kind, follow my thinking.

One of the passions of my heart is for a spiritual awakening to sweep our lives and our churches. No one can make such a movement occur except for the Lord Himself. The faith activity I am to do is to position my life so the Lord is welcomed to move in a dynamic fashion through my life and my church. The result is, I possess my birthright as a believer and I’m endowed by His Spirit to genuinely love others in His name.

The way to position my life for such an awakening is by humble confession—to lay bare my inner most before Him (1 John 1). My heart must be clean and vulnerable before the Lord. As I pray, I ask the Lord to search my heart for areas, attitudes and actions that are not congruent with His purposes for my life. The Lord reveals the unconfessed impediments in my relationship with Him.

Back to the box analogy.
Even in my attempt to be clean before the Lord, there are those moments, while praying, that the Holy Spirit has spoken to my heart and said, “What’s this box?”

My immediate response is denial, “What box?”

If I won’t leave the prayer closet until wholeness comes, the Spirit of the Lord patiently prompts me to be honest with Him and myself. He then let’s me take a fresh look at the box, “Oh this box. Let’s see, it is marked spiritual pride and it seems that its destination is self-righteousness.” Or maybe it is marked “inattentive,” “indifference” or “hurtful words.”

“Lord, you really don’t want me to unpack that box [of iniquity]. Let’s just leave it. I can handle it another day.” But such thinking won’t let me taste of the fullness of His fellowship.

I desperately need Him. My church desperately needs the fresh touch of His Spirit. If our self-efforts were sufficient, we have planned, promoted, and programed enough to win the whole world for Christ. Instead, this life we call the “Christian life” must be lived from the inside out—from the context of holiness. And holiness cannot exist without a pure heart.

The tragedy is that far too often we don’t take this issue seriously and we stack boxes inside lives. If we are brutally honest with ourselves, we find that the corridors of our lives are lined with boxes of iniquity that need to be unpacked. Our sin needs to be confessed. It’s time we experienced what it feels like to be spiritually clean once again.

Can we even begin to imagine the results of an inner life in full restoration with the Lord? How would that impact our marriages and our families? Instead of us hoarding a box of indifference or resentment, think about the impact God would make with our lives among the vast sea of lostness in our communities and our state.

A wonderful lady by the name of Miss Bertha Smith was a Southern Baptist missionary in China. She was there when an atmospheric movement of God broke out in her province. She taught that God moved because of the clean vessels (Christians) who hungered for holiness more than they hoarded the uncleanliness in their lives.

Would God awaken His people in this generation? I pray so. I trust you share such a vision with me. To be His vessels, we must begin with humbled confession of our sin. We must have a willing heart to unpack the boxes that we’ve hoarded and protected. When we do, we have the greatest possibility for God to move in power.

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