Power for Everyday Living

“The gospel is the power for everyday living.”

This phrase struck me with particular force in a recent sermon by my pastor,  Tullian Tchividjian. First of all it has great implications for the practical application of the good news of Jesus Christ’s deliverance. Secondly, when I heard it, I suddenly thought again of a similar phrase that was a part of my vocabulary for many years–”power for abundant living.”

“Power for Abundant Living” was the title of a bible study course offered until the last decade or so by an organization started by Victor Paul Wierwille in 1942 called The Way International. For more than two decades I was involved with the Way as a student and a small group leader.

The Way teaches a “health and wealth” gospel, but with an insidious twist. Since they claim that their teachings are the result of “biblical research” and their aim is to teach the “accuracy and integrity of God’s Word,” they appeal to many Christians.  The Way claims that they are “a fellowship of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ for the manifestation of the more abundant life.” But this group teaches anything but the true gospel of Jesus Christ for they deny His divinity.

In the truest sense of the term “The Way” is a cult.

For 23 years I served the leaders of this cult rather than my Lord Jesus Christ. I was a pleaser of men rather than a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). Then in 1996, as happened to many of their adherents during that period, I was banned from attending any of their meetings. Since they claimed they had no “members” I couldn’t be “kicked out” of  their group, but I was not allowed to communicate with any of the Way followers until I was restored to favor by my state leader. When I called him at the end of my six months “probation” to seek reinstatement, I was once again rejected.

I was rejected by a cult that had been my church, my community and my friends for half of my life. But God had not rejected me. He had already in His providence led me to Florida where I started listening to christian radio and the preaching of Dr. D. James Kennedy. In September 1997 I finally had the courage to attend Dr. Kennedy’s Church.  The first sermon I heard him preach was, “Second Chances.” That sermon was the good news I needed to hear–that just like Peter and Paul, and so many others, God was willing to give me a second chance to serve Him. I was ready to become a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, not a “follower of the Way.”

My prayer is that anyone who comes across this blog who may be involved in any of the branches of  The Way International (known variously as The Way, La Voie, El Camino), or who has taken their current course, The Way of Abundance and Power, or is involved in the Disciples of the Way Outreach Program, would seek an answer for the question that The Way will never truthfully answer, namely, “Who is Jesus Christ?”

If Jesus spoke the truth when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by me,” (John 14:6), then it is imperative that we answer this question, “Who is this Jesus?”

According to the Way, Jesus is the Son of God, but not God the Son, the Incarnate Word.

The testimony of Jesus Christ Himself is that He is the I AM. Isaiah testified that he saw the preincarnate Lord sitting on the throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His glory filling the temple. John saw Jesus Christ,  the Word of God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords coming to judge in righteousness and wrote of it in Revelation 19.

It is this Jesus, our exalted Lord, that Paul proclaimed will worshiped by all, for “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,” (Philippians 2:10). If we do not worship Him now, we will bow down before Him at the day of His appearing, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,” (Romans 14:10).

Who’s Nudging You?

One of Richard’s and my favorite things to do is take morning walks on the golf course that adjoins our condo. As we stroll beside the glassy smooth ponds and through a cypress grove with hanging moss, our souls are nourished by the beauty of God’s creation. The dewy freshness of the day and the exultant songs of the birds remind us to lift our hearts in praise.

Weekdays, there’s not enough time for such pleasures and Saturday’s are full of a list of things to do, if it’s to happen, it’s got to be on Sunday, when we can fit it in before getting ready to attend worship.

This morning we were out early enough to catch the sun rising behind a bank of pink-tinged clouds that rimmed the rooftops of the homes across the horizon. On our last walk, however, I suggested we should take a shorter circuit than usual so I’d have enough time to get ready when we got back. As we briskly moved along, Richard came up close to my right side and started gently pushing against me, keeping me on the fairway. Instead of allowing me to turn back toward the buildings, Richard was nudging me to take a longer path.

“You’re nudging me!” I said, and then I walked around his back and turned toward the building. We both laughed. But our laughter had a double meaning. Richard recognized my reference to radical Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein’s book, NUDGE.

As we turned toward the neighboring condo, our conversation took a turn as well. We considered, who is nudging us, and where are we being nudged? One obvious example are the radicals in the current administration, like Cass Sunstein, who are putting mandates and regulations in place and passing legislation that is nudging our nation toward a socialistic state. With bigger government and more regulations of our economy and our health care, it’s clear that unless we somehow find a way to roll things back, we’re looking at a future with high inflation, and higher taxes, more government control, and loss of many of our freedoms.

Is there any way out of this grim scenario? There is some, but not much, political hope on the horizon. But Republicans can’t even muster themselves to support the bills to repeal the odious health care bill, which Representatives Michele Bachmann and Steve King,  and Senator Jim De Mint have introduced.

As more people lose their jobs and their homes, where do they turn to find help? Do we think the government is going to bail us out? In what direction are circumstances like these nudging us? Into the arms of God or the hands of government?

Dr. D. James Kennedy, my former pastor, said that God’s curriculum for our lives has one lesson, learning to trust Him. That is all He wants us to learn, whether we’re facing loss of our job, loss of our home, or (as I did at age 37) the loss of a spouse. God’s promise is “He will never leave us or forsake,” (Hebrews 13:5).

Furthermore, God has promised He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, “but with the temptation will also make the way of escape,” (I Corinthians 10:13). So many times in my life, God has opened a way of escape for me—escape from a graduate assistantship with a woman who was pressuring me to pursue women’s studies; escape from a devastating illness that took the life of my first husband, but never touched me; escape from the tentacles of a religious cult that claimed to be Christian, but did not acknowledge Christ’s divinity.

Will God not do the same for you? Will He not provide for His children who trust Him to carry out His purposes in their lives? “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” (Romans 8:28).

If you know you are among those who love Him and are called by Him, take heart. His promises are true. He has promised that He will never forsake the righteous, (Psalm 37:35).

If, on the other hand, you do not have the assurance of your righteousness through Christ, seek Him today. He is a friend of sinners and will never cast out anyone who comes to Him, (John 6:37).

There is a way of escape when we are being nudged. For those of us who know Him, let us go tell the wonderful story!

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He Makes My Everyday Life Thrill with Eternal Significance

- by Karen Gushta 4.6.10

According to C.S. Lewis, (whom my pastor is fond of quoting) “our inconsolable secret is that we are full of yearnings, sometimes shy and sometimes passionate, that point us beyond the things of earth to the ultimate reality of God.”

Why do we long for something “beyond the things of earth?” Is it, as Don Richardson says, that we have “eternity in our hearts?” I remember thinking as a teenager growing up in a small Iowa town situated in the middle of verdant corn fields where the evening mists spread tranquil quietude, “Is this all there is?”

And yet, I thought that children living in the heat of inner city Omaha would enjoy experiencing that “tranquil quietude.” At age 16, I organized a group of fellow teens to work with the churches in our town to bring kids in from an Omaha church to live with families for a week, so they could experience the joys of rural America.

However, that question, “Is this all there is?” drove me to reach beyond the “everydayness” of life in NW Iowa. It propelled me to leave the small college town where I grew up for the urban, international cultural mix of Toronto, Canada.

I found out, however, that I could leave home, but I could not leave behind what was in my own heart. I was searching for something more. . . .

That something was not just knowing the gospel message and receiving Christ’s salvation from my sin. I had experienced that, I believe, at age 10, when my godly grandfather prodded me with the question, “Do you love Jesus?” I, of course, answered the way I knew I should. But I realized that my knowledge of Jesus was not personal. I knew about Him. I did not know Him. So, riding back to Iowa over wintry snowy roads, I started to pray to Jesus in a different way, wanting to establish a relationship with Him.

The nightmares of an unknown terror stopped. Jesus had delivered me from fear of death.

The following year, when my 6^th grade teacher began teaching about us Moses, showing us what the author of Hebrews says about his life; i.e., that he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt,” I was gripped by Moses’ example—the example of one who gave up all the world had to offer in order to receive a greater reward.

I wanted to live with that same passion for Christ. But how was I to live that way in the midst of the “everydayness” of life in NW Iowa? For a time, during my high school years, we had a pastor who preached with kingdom vision and I was inspired by a larger view of Christ’s supremacy over all of life. He left to pastor another church, however, just as I was entering college, and a pastor came who preached the right words, but exuded no passion for Christ and His kingdom.

I continued my search for the way to live for a “greater reward.” But sadly, in my early twenties I wandered, like Bunyan’s Pilgrim, into By-path Meadow. I met a group who claimed to be Christians and taught an appealing “gospel”—Jesus Christ came to bring us an “abundant life.” Like all cults, however, they denied that Jesus was God. I was tricked into taking a side road that led me not to the Heavenly City, but to the rock pile of works righteousness. There I slaved for twenty-three years, trying please my “spiritual leaders.”

Nevertheless, God delivered me—this time from the bondage of false doctrine. In April 1996, I was kicked out of the cult. I didn’t want to go—I was comfortable where I was. I thought I was serving God. I thought I was earning heavenly rewards.

In the fall of 1997 God brought me to Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and I started on a quest to get to know my Savior afresh. I wanted to see Him in the Gospels. I wanted to know Him as God incarnate. I wanted to come unto Him and learn of Him and be yoked to Him.

He is a gentle teacher. What I have learned of Him over the past 13 years has been gradual and gracious. But now I have no doubt that Christ has delivered me from both the fear of death and the fear of man. I know that He left the empty tomb and opened the door of heaven for me. He has opened my heart’s understanding to see Him as God and as man—as Lord of all and as my good Shepherd. He is the one whose face I long to see, either coming in clouds of glory, or when He relieves me of this earthly body.

He is my joy, my song, and my eternal rest. He makes my everyday life thrill with eternal significance.

Go tell the story!

“An Unseen Hand”

“An Unseen Hand”

In his book, A Table in the Presence, Lt. Carey H. Cash describes an incident that occurred while the Marine battalion, to which he was assigned as chaplain, was moving in on Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad on April 10, 2003.

An RPG struck the driver’s side door frame of a Humvee carrying Staff Sergeant Bryan Jackway and three other men from Cash’s battalion. Jackway had already survived a mortar explosion days earlier near the Saddam Canal that had launched his body fifteen feet into the air. He knew God’s protection was real from that incident. Then the RPG hit his Humvee.

Cash retells the story:

As the rocket struck the door frame, it was as if an unseen hand channeled its force. The brunt of the round’s explosion passed through the driver’s open window and impacted, with full force, the inside of the front glass. The windshield exploded—from the inside out. In a millisecond of deafening sound and overpressure, the thick bulletproof front glass windshield disintegrated into a fireball. Thousands of jagged shards showered the paved road in front of Jackway’s still-moving Humvee…. All four men were engulfed in a scorching wall of heat and flames.

When he opened his eyes after the blinding flash, Jackway realized he was unharmed. “Dear God… I’m alive!” he shouted. Miraculously, none of the men in the Humvee were wounded either. As they kept driving toward their destination, the words of Psalm 91:14-16 ran through Sergeant Jackway’s mind,

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.

Lieutenant Cash tells many other stories of how his battalion experienced God’s presence in the midst of the war in Iraq in his book, which I highly recommend. I also recommend our prayers for this man who is now serving as chaplain of the chapel where President Obama occasionally worships when he goes to the Presidential retreat at Camp David.

But this story of “an unseen hand” struck me forcibly for a very personal reason. While I was in college I too experienced protection of an “unseen hand.” Distracted by conversation, I pulled out in front of a huge Mack truck that was barreling toward me in the oncoming lane. For a moment the truck seemed suspended in the air before coming to a full stop, just feet from my car door. God’s unseen hand had lifted the truck up and prevented it from slamming into me. I drove on my way—not fully comprehending what had happened.

Years later, when my husband and I were on the staff of Evangelism Explosion International with Dr. Tom Stebbins, he would tell us of the many times God protected him from hostile North Vietnamese, while he was serving as a missionary in Vietnam. Tom would always conclude, “God will not take us home to heaven until our work on earth is done.” It was as clear as that in Tom’s mind.

So, I have no doubt that for Sergeant Jackway, for Tom Stebbins, for me, and for the many others who have seen God’s unseen hand of protection in our lives, He still has work on earth for us to do. That gives me reason to give thanks and to go tell the story of my deliverance.  As it says in Psalm 92: 1-2,

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High:

To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night.

Go Tell The Story!

“Stay small in your own eyes”

“Stay small in your own eyes!” my favorite Knox Seminary professor would repeatedly exhort  us in his classes.  

“Stay small in your own eyes.” Not an easy thing to do—no matter what our social-economic status. Am I proud of my education degrees? Of my job? Of my family? Where am I tempted to become a “legend in my own mind?” 

Our new pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, has recently expanded this concept for me by contrasting the ”tribal” mindset of many Christians with the “missional heart of God.”  We are “tribal” not “missional” when we think the world would be a better place if people thought like us, acted like us, and everyone had the same opinions we do. 

That mindset is a long way off from the example of Christ. He set aside His glory to take on human form and then poured out His life as a sacrifice for our sins. For sure, my thinking shows more evidences of ”tribalism” than of the “mind of Christ.”

So—here’s my personal challenge to myself for the coming week: to stay small in my own eyes by eschewing “tribal thinking.”  Perhaps then I can begin to understand a little more of what God has given me in the mind of Christ. 

 Go tell the story!

“Pray-4-1″

On Thursday Richard and I celebrated our 97th monthiversary.

Since we married relatively late, (Richard was a bachelor for 48 years and I had been a widow for 13 when we met), we decided that each month together deserves to be celebrated!

We give thanks to God for bringing us together, and for each happy day He gives us. Every moment we have together is a gift from Him!

It is all God’s grace that we are married. Inverterate bachelor that he was, Richard needed a sign that he should leave his life as a seasonal itinerant evangelist in Fiji, based in New Zealand, and come to Florida to meet this “American woman!” God graciously gave it to him. (That part of the story is saved for another posting.)

It is God’s grace that we found each other through the Internet. We met at a Christian website for singles. Everytime I would log in, I would pray that if God wanted me to meet someone there, He would help me find that one. My password was “pray-4-1.” Typing it, I would say, “pray for one” and remind myself that I did not need to meet a hundred men, or even ten. All I needed was to find the one God had chosen for me.

When Richard and I met, he suggested that we use Instant Messenger to communicate. He set up an account for me and told me that my password was “Chozen-4-U.” My heart nearly stopped when I read it. Could it truly be that he was the one God had chosen for me?

Of course, it took a period of months for us to grow in our friendship and trust and recognition of what God was doing in our lives. And at one point, if God had not resurrected our relationship, it would never have come into full flower. 

Nevertheless, I know that God answered my prayer. Richard is my one. One who cherishes and treasures me above all other women. One who has begun to show me what it means to be loved as the bride of Christ. One whose presence I enjoy as no other, making me long to be in my Savior’s presence.

Is there one thing in your life that you are praying for right now? Pray with believing and do not be astonished when God answers your prayers! Remember Jesus’ promise, ”And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,” (Matt. 21:22).

Pray for one, and then,

Go Tell The Story!

Climbing the Learning Curve

Since starting my new job working on curriculum development for a Christian ministry last fall, I’ve been on a steep–I mean steep!–learning curve. Not that I was not qualified for the job I’d been given, but there were lots of processes and procedures to learn and the interfacing with other departments was a new aspect to my work that I’d never had to handle before.

Last month things seemed to lighten up a little after we had completed a couple of major projects in time to market them for Christmas. Then, two weeks ago we had to downsize and some of our staff were cut. In order to help fill the gap I was suddenly back on the learning curve, trying to quickly pick up procedures and processes from another department to help cover a project. I joked that I was on a “perpendicular learning curve” again.

But doesn’t God put us in situations like this if we’re wanting to learn to follow Him and trust in Him? Aren’t we all on a learning curve all our lives as followers of Christ? What are we learning in this life anyway?

In one of the most memorable evening sermons I heard my former pastor, Dr. D. James Kennedy, preach, he said God has only one lesson for us in this life. It is summarized in two words, “Trust me!”

So, as I’m climbing this perpendicular learning curve, what am I learning? To complain about what I don’t know or can’t do because I’m once again out of my “comfort zone” and into the realm of the unknown? Or, am I learning to trust Him, asking Him to help me (again!) to do something that seems far beyond my own abilities and even propensities.

In my (much) younger years, I had the opportunity to do some rock climbing in New Mexico. There was someone at the top belaying me up to the top and the climbs were not that difficult–since I was a novice, I was put on the easier climbs. But there were a couple of times when, in order for me to make it to the next foothold or handhold, I needed “grace.” That was when the person at the top would give me a little tug on the line that was just enough to boost me to my next move on the rock.

I remember well those “grace points!” Without them I might have hung there on the rock for a mighty long time. My climbing skills were limited and my physical strength and agility even more so. But with grace, that extra undeserved help from above, I was able to make it to the top of the climb.

So tomorrow, as I go back to work and there is a mountain of things for me to handle, I will seek to “Trust Him,” and ask for His grace to pull me to the top of this perpendicular learning curve.

And I pray that the Lord will help me to learn this one lesson in life, to trust Him! 

Go tell the story!

What’s in your china cabinet?

Yesterday I spent the day at a management training seminar. It was packed out . . . but not because any of us knew of the presenter. She did make the day enjoyable; but most of us had been sent by our companies for the generic training. I had been given the option to attend. And, although I needed the day to work on a project with a looming intractable deadline, I knew I needed this training for the long run.

What did I learn? Was it worth the day spent?

I did learn that when it comes to hitting the target date for urgent projects I should stay CALM; i.e., 1) Categorize the project goals and objectives, 2) Assign tasks, 3) Limit distractions and interruptions, and 4) Measure progress.

Those (seemingly common sense) bits of wisdom justified my working at home today on my project, thus avoiding the interruptions that inevitably come when I’m at my office.

But what will probably stick with me the longest is Jen’s opening illustration of her mother’s china cabinet. It had precious china and dishes that had been given as gifts and were therefore rarely used. Even when she broke a piece, it was not discovered until they had to pack up the contents of the cabinet for a move to the United States. 

The point? What’s in your “china cabinet” that you aren’t using? Do you have many precious talents and abilities that you’re keeping behind a glass door and not sharing with others? A marvellous analogy!

I feel like the door to my “china cabinet” has been opened by God! He’s placed me in a spot so perfectly tailored to my interests, talents, experience, and education that it has to be by His Divine Design. It’s also a spot where I have to be Fully Relying On God. (Be a F.R.O.G.!) Only He can empower me to complete the big task before me! Could life be more exciting? What a joy it is to know that we are walking on the path He has set before us. (See Ephesians 2:4-10).

Go tell the story! 

What I learned from Kelly Pavlik

My husband and I watch boxing. He’s never boxed. I did some kickboxing for a while after one of my sophomore college students gave me a particularly hard time. (It was very therapeutic!)

Over the seven years of our marriage, watching boxing has become one of the few types of TV entertainment that Richard and I watch together. Usually he watches TV with one eye, while he’s at his computer researching news articles, checking eBay, etc. I don’t have time these days to watch much of anything on TV except the Brit Hume, Rachael Ray, and the Weather Channel.

Tonight the Pavlik-Taylor fight for the middle-weight championship was scheduled to air during the evening church service, so Richard set the VCR to record it while we were gone. 

I had seen bits and pieces of Pavlik’s and Taylor’s bios during the fight promos. I was ready to share all my insights with Richard as to who should win, which I did on our way to church.

When we got home Richard settled into his easy chair to watch the fight–I sat down at my computer to sort through emails. I would have liked to have sat down and watched it with Richard, but had a few urgent emails to send . . . so I looked up occasionally from my desk where I could watch the fight in a mirror. (My resourceful husband has strategically positioned a large mirror on our living room wall so I can see the TV from my computer in my home office!)

The odds against Pavlik, “The Ghost,” were 8-5.  Germaine Taylor was the champion and I’ve learned that the odds usually favor the champion, unless he hasn’t been training hard. Taylor appeared to be in good form and ready for this fight. The odds should have been in his favor.

And so I guess most people weren’t surprised when Pavlik hit the canvas in Round 2. I don’t remember how Taylor did it, but Pavlik went down. Then he got up again, barely surviving another minute of pummeling until the bell. The fight continued.

Pavlik rallied, and in the following rounds it looked like they were fairly evenly matched. But the judges were scoring each round in favor of Taylor.

In the 7th round Pavlik backed Taylor into the ropes, hit Taylor with a strong left jab, a punishing right flush to his jaw, and followed by several effective uppercuts. Taylor sank to his knees and didn’t get up. The ref called the fight and Pavlik was soon wearing the belt over his shoulder.

After the fight was over, Pavlik said he thought he was winning each round and was surprised by the judges scoring. When asked what he thought after Taylor knocked him down in the 2nd round, he said, “To tell you the truth, I thought, ‘s***, this is going to be a long night!’”

What did I learn from Pavlik?

1.  It’s not over until it’s over.

2. It doesn’t matter whether other people think you’re winning or not. What matters is whether YOU think you are.

3.  To win, you have to be willing to stay in the fight for as long as it takes.

4.  When you win, give the glory to the One who has helped you. (Pavlik did)

5.  Like the story of David and Goliath–we’re always inspired by stories of courage and winning against the odds. And in this case, we are also inspired by Pavlik’s perseverance.

6.  And, finally, it’s a lot easier to WATCH the fight from an easy chair or sitting at a computer, than it is to BE the one fighting. 

Go Tell The Story!