Good Grief

And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' 2 Corinthians 12:9

I remember when our oldest child, Mitch, was born, he was born blue. He came out with the cord wrapped around him. And as soon as Mitch came out, they grabbed him and about sixteen specialists raced into the room, people that I didn't even know were there. They were pumping his little chest and trying to get him to start breathing. And finally one of the docs leans over and looks at me and says, Hey, are you the dad? I said yes. And he said, Well, you ought to come over here and speak to him, because you're the only voice he'll recognize.

So I walked over there and I'm telling him, Breathe, baby. And I realized that God is like that. In the midst of your grief, grief so intense that you don't even know if you can breathe again, His voice is right there, speaking over you, My grace is sufficient for you!

Well, praise God, Mitch came home. We were so thrilled to have him. But five months later he's sick again. Like way sick. His whole little lungs and chest would just sort of cave in with every breath. We raced him back to Children's and into this oxygen tank he went for three days and three nights. I was scared to death.

In fact, the family that we shared the room with lost their child to the very same thing that our child had. It rocked us to our core, and I cried out as many of you haven't-Lord remove this. Take this. Give it to me. Don't give it to him.

Our grief in that moment was more than we thought we could handle. But I can tell you that it was that moment of the unbroken presence of the Lord that our faith as a family was catapulted, and our church was birthed out of pain and grief and out of really feeling a loss of control, leading us to completely trust in Jesus.

I remember years later, Mitch was fine and healthy and doing good, but then Bon got sick. My wife gets sick. First they thought it was MS, then something else, and they're scaring us to death, but then the final news came: It was ovarian cancer at off the charts levels.

Making a very long story short, God has completely healed my wife, but here's our testimony of God's grace in our grief: Our family has been forever bonded together during these times God has allowed, proving that His grace is sufficient and teaching us things that we never would have learned otherwise.

All of you have had grief and pain. Let God's grace come in today and create something good out of the grief.

Prayer Lord God,

I cry out to You that my grief really hurts! I honestly don't know how much more I can bear, but I put my trust in You and ask that You use this to create something beautiful and wonderful for Your glory.

Amen

Recommitment

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because...He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.' Luke 4:18

Here is a list of the devil's greatest weapons against marriage: Broken hearts, imprisoned lives, and eyes that fail to see reality.

None of us plan to get divorced when we are standing at the altar to be wed. This tells me that, under normal circumstances, we would choose to stay married for the rest of our lives. Why is it, then, that so many people get divorced? The answer is that these weapons sneak into our hearts and pervert our will until we make choices we would never normally make. For example, broken hearts never completely mend with time. Instead, they become like infected wounds that, though they are not bleeding anymore, still painfully hurt every time they are touched. So when our spouse does something that remotely hits that sore spot, we react out of pain-not from what our spouse did, but from what someone else once did that broke our heart. This reaction often causes more pain and begins to divide our marriage, and soon we wonder how we are ever going to feel the love again when all we feel is hurt.

Or consider a life imprisoned by pornography, drugs, or alcohol. You can try with all your might to remain faithful to your spouse, but your addiction leads you to do things you hate. You know the destruction your habits are causing, but you don't know how to get free. These issues lead to our last one-eyes that fail to see reality. Broken hearts and captive lives communicate certain devastating lies-He doesn't love me. Our marriage is hopeless. These are not the truth, but they are things that people say out of pain and desperation. He does love you, but he's captive and needs help. She does love you, but her heart is broken and she needs you to be her hero right now and not deepen the wounds by abandoning her.

We try to reason away these lies by saying, If I had known she was that kind of person, I never would have married her. Well, guess what-Jesus knew you were that kind of person and that's why He came-to heal the brokenhearted, give sight to the blind, and set the cap-

tives free, and in so doing prepare for Himself a pure and spotless bride.

We have all been part of the problem, but He came to be the solution. Whatever difficulty you are facing in your marriage right now, there is hope. Turn to Jesus today and ask Him to do in your marriage what He has promised.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

You are God and You can do all things! I need a miracle in my marriage. Please heal our broken hearts, set us free, and help us to see true reality. Please make our marriage all You desire it to be!

Amen

All Aboard

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

You've got to think things through. Have you ever heard that before?

I have, and it's amazing how much most of us need to hear it again. Because here's the deal-we can be passionate about something, but if we don't think things all the way through to a plan, then our passion will go unfulfilled. We'll get to the end of the day and it won't have gotten done.

Yes, kids, I want to play with you, but just let me finish this first. But then something else comes up, and then another thing, and then another, and you never play with the kids to show them that they're important. But what I was doing was important! Really? It was more important than your kids?

We couldn't write a tithe check this week. We had to pay our bills first. But if you hadn't financed your way into debt-buying that top of the line entertainment system, that brand new vehicle to replace the one that worked just fine, that house you wanted instead of the one you could afford-then maybe you could write that check that God requires.

We have to understand something very important. Maybe your kids are a top priority in your life. Maybe you really have a generous heart and want to give (maybe you even like it when I preach on money!). Maybe you love God more than anything else in the whole world.

But if you don't know how to plan, then the urgency of the moment will always trump your deeper passions and loves.

When you make decisions today, pause for a moment and consider what impacts those decisions will have later in life. Or even better, consider where God has called you to be in the future and determine what steps are required to get there.

Then, the next time you need to write your tithe check, respond to an opportunity to serve someone, or are called to play with your kids, you will be able to say yes because you will have prepared for it in advance.

Don't be a slave to the moment. Plan, and be prepared to live your life according to God's will on purpose.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

You have a plan for my life, and I want to do more than just stumble upon it someday; I want to purposefully live it out every day. Please help me to plan so that when Your call comes, I will be fully prepared to say yes.

Amen

The Closet Connection

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as Hit is in heaven...Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

How's your prayer life these days? Is it filled with life and life abundantly, or is it on life support?

You know, prayer is not how we think if it, like sitting on Santa's lap and giving him our wish list. No, prayer should be about God's thoughts for you, not your thoughts for Him. It should be about you coming into His presence and being overtaken, overwhelmed by His thoughts for you, filled with His dreams for you, filled for His visions for you, filled with His plans for you.

Prayer is to step you out of this world and into this eternal realm of God's purpose and destiny. It's a destiny in which you now are letting go and letting God fully take over your life, your marriage, the raising of your kids; letting Him have His way fully and completely with you.

It was about fourteen years ago that something absolutely transforming happened to my life. It actually happened in a little room that used to be off to the side in the church sanctuary, a small storage closet.

Dr. Bill Bright was the president of Campus Crusade and we had the privilege of having him come to Horizon. Between the services that weekend, Bill Bright invited me to go into that closet with him. In that small room, he looked at me and he said, Bobby, are you praying?

Wow. I'm like, Well, Bill, I pray.

He goes, No, I mean like really praying. Because, Bob, I just really sense the presence of the Lord in this church and He wants to show up and mightily move through this ministry, but He needs to have all of you. Are you praying? Are you fasting?

Long story short, I started praying. I called a small group of leaders to a forty day fast. Since that time, we've gone from two services a week to nine a week and from a fulltime staff of one or two to 152. We have a school that is packed full. Our sermons are broadcast on the radio all over the world.

All because Bill Bright taught me to pray, and to really pray. Because God is faithful and He has great big plans for Horizon, and without Him, none of these things would have happened.

God has great big plans for your life. Who knows what would start happening around you if you simply really prayed?

Prayer Lord God,

Thanks for the big plans You have for my life! I come to You today to hear from You about those plans, and whatever they are, I want them. Please come and have Your way in me and teach me to pray until Your plans become my reality.

Amen

When the Church Gets It Wrong

When the Church Gets It Wrong

For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. 2 Corinthians 11:5-6

It seems like no matter what culture you go to, there's something you never get away from: Status.

Across all age groups, income levels, and geographical locations, it can be easy to get caught up in the pressure to attain a certain level of degree, prestige, wealth, influence, or other marks of status.

Sadly, this pressure can invade church culture, too, and there's no clearer example than the one we find in Corinth. Back in Paul's day in Corinth, it was all about doling out the gratis of status.

Do you know what the gratis of status is? It's like the praise of one's position, title, and status. It's like you and I go to a doctor's convention. When you show up at the convention, you're walking down the hallway and it's like, Good morning, doctor. How are you, doctor? Good to see you, doctor. Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, and on and on.

It's even worse than that in Corinth, because here's what it is in Corinth: Apostle, apostle, good morning, apostle. Apostle. Apostle. Most eminent apostle. Apostle.

Paul tells them, Nonsense. You're doling out a bunch of self-ranking positions and titles. Yes, for the record, when the church buys into that, the church is jacked up and doing it wrong. Any church that is into self-promotion, self-appointing, self-proclaiming, selfordaining is wrong.

I ordained myself.

Really? How?

Online. Just ordained myself.

Well who holds you accountable?

I do. I'm self-accountable.

No you don't, because self-accountable is an oxymoron.

Gosh, we've got too many examples of this where someone is put in leadership, given a title, and all of a sudden they become a completely different person. Now they think they know everything, and it makes them talk and act differently, but not in a good way.

Listen, inside the church or outside of it, don't get caught up in what people call you. You're a son or daughter of God, and that's enough of a title for any of us.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for making me Your child! I'm sorry for any times that I have gotten caught up in the status of what other people say and think about me. Please forgive me for that, and help me to be secure in all that You say that I am!

Amen

Gifts Onboard

Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 1 Corinthians 14:13-14

You got gifts onboard? We're going to talk about these gifts together today.

When it comes to the gift of tongues, the Bible speaks to three separate categories. The first category is natural languages that we find all over the world. That's what broke out in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. It wasn't so much speaking in an unknown tongue, but rather it was speaking in some known languages that God, by His Spirit, had given them the ability to speak.

If you go to Haiti, you better know how to speak Creole; otherwise you're just not going to be much help. You need to be able to speak the language. And I know people in Haiti to whom God has supernaturally given them the ability to understand that language without having to learn it the normal way. It's just been given to them as a gift.

Secondly, tongues is a private prayer language for when your normal language, English or Spanish or whatever it is for you, just isn't cutting it anymore to communicate your heart of love unto the Lord. This is where your mind and will are given over to the Lord and you begin to pray in the Spirit because you've just run out of words, you don't know what else to say, so you let the Spirit intercede through you and for you.

Thirdly, tongues is a language that needs an interpreter. Tongues are great, but they are way better with interpretation, and if you're speaking in tongues publicly then interpretation is necessary.

I remember going and speaking in Malaysia at a pastor's conference. When I arrived, they said, Here's your translator. And actually, there was such a strong contingency of pastors from Hong Kong and from Shanghai that it was translated from English into Malay, then into Mandarin, and then into Cantonese. And if that wouldn't have been the case, then everybody would have left confused, not getting it.

Whenever that private prayer language spills out into a corporate church setting, there had better be an interpreter there, too, so that everyone benefits and is blessed. That's how we honor the purpose of the gifts, which is love, so that not only ourselves, but the entire body of Christ is blessed by the gifts we have.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for giving me gifts so that I can bless Your Church! Please put Your love more and more inside of me so that I can use these gifts for Your glory in my life and in the whole Church!

Amen

The Essential Elements of Redemption

And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. Exodus 12:51

Life with Jesus is just that-life. What's the alternative? Well, life without Jesus is a lot of things.

First, life without Jesus is a life of lust. It is a life filled with desire for things that do not belong to us, for things that our flesh wants for the sake of satisfying its own desires. It is a life of selfishness, self-pleasing, self-appeasing, and self-exalting. This is a life that is lonely and fearful, left on our own, feeling like we have to take care of ourselves because we have refused to put our trust in a God who provides for all our needs.

Second, life without Jesus is a life of ignorance. The world knows that it has a hole in its heart, but it thinks you can fill it with stuff, status, or sex. None of these things fulfill people's true needs, so they think they need more of what already didn't work for them and they fuel their lusts with their ignorance.

Third, life without Jesus is a life of aimlessness. It's life in the dark, and when you can't see, it's hard to know where you're going. That's why the world pursues this thing and that thing, but none of it really matters. It's like, Well, I tried money and I wasn't happy, so I had an affair. That was painful, so I tried counseling. That didn't work, so I tried meditation. That felt like a waste of time, so I buried myself in my career. That got me money again, but I'm still not happy. It's aimless.

Fourth, life without Jesus is a life that is held back by traditions. Well, my parents raised me to know that it was important to have a successful career and they always bought the best toys that were available. It's just what people do. Yeah, well, were your parents happy with their lives, or were they just slaves to what they did? And how is that working out for you?

Jesus came to redeem us out of this old life. He came to give us a new life that really lives up to its name-life.

And the important part of this for you is simply this: Whatever it is you're pursuing determines who you're becoming. Whatever it is that you're pursuing, whatever it is you're focusing on, whatever it is you're going after is determining who you are, what you're becoming, and where you will ultimately end up.

So pursue Jesus. Let the old life go. Cross over into a life of redemption. Come begin real life.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You have life for me that is so much better and more real than everything I have tried to live until now! I freely give You my old life and ask You to give me something new. I want to live real life!

Amen