Holy Spirit

Long Songs and Love Affairs…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Don McLean’s 1971 hit American Pie is a long song. It goes on for over 8 ½ minutes telling the story of “the day the music died.” 

Let’s call American Pie one of the longest songs to become a hit and receive regular airplay on U. S. radio stations, because generally, we don’t sit still for long songs. American Pie pales in comparison to the length of some other songs, though. Pink Floyd is known for some rather lengthy songs: Dark Side of the Moon runs almost 43 minutes, and Echoes coming in at just under 24 minutes are but two. Neither of those compare with Longplayer, though. Longplayer is a one thousand year long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st of December 1999, and will continue to play without repetition until the last moment of 2999, at which point it will complete its cycle and begin again. Conceived and composed by Jem Finer, it was originally produced as an Artangel commission, and is now in the care of the Longplayer Trust. Longplayer can be heard in the lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, where it has been playing since it began. It can also be heard at several other listening posts around the world, and globally via a live stream on the Internet.[1] I’ve listened to it. It’s actually very weird! But, I suppose a 1,000 year-long song should be weird.

I mention these long songs because of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 goes for 176 verses, making it the longest chapter in the entire bible. Here’s what’s interesting about the 119th Psalm: There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 stanzas to the 119th Psalm. Each stanza of this song coincides with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. For example, the first stanza represents the letter aleph, and all eight verses of the first stanza begin with the Hebrew letter aleph. Likewise, the second letter beth begins the second stanza, and all eight verses of the second stanza begin with the Hebrew letter beth. That pattern continues through all twenty-two stanzas.

heart wordsOh, that the English language could capture the pain-staking labor of love that is the 119th Psalm! It truly expresses the love affair the author has with God’s word. In these 176 verses, the author (whom many commentators believe to be David) magnifies God’s word, praises God’s word, thanks God for it, describes it and asks God to continue to use it in his life. The Psalm is also a testimony to the knowledge the author has of God’s word. We’ve said the best songs are those written out of the writer’s own experience. Luke Bryan, reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, recently said, “I like to hunt, fish, ride around on my farm, build a big bonfire and drink some beers — and that’s what I sing about. It’s what I know.” Well, that may be what Luke Bryan knows, but the Psalmist knows God’s word, and the advice he offers was not wishful thinking on his part. He had lived it, believed it, practiced it and had seen the benefits throughout his life. He was simply trying to communicate that value to others, and he chose to do it through the longest song in the Hebrew hymnbook.

So, what is the value in having a love affair with God’s word? If we took the time to survey the entire Psalm we would hear the Psalmist tell us there is no more rewarding endeavor, and no exercise pays greater spiritual dividends than reading, and dare I say, memorizing God’s word. Here’s what we’d find through these 176 verses:

  • Our prayer life strengthened,
  • Our ability to share our faith sharper and more effective,
  • People would seek us out for advice,
  • Our attitude and our outlook would be transformed,
  • Our mind would be more alert and observant (might cure a little of our ADHD),
  • Our confidence and assurance would be enhanced, and most of all
  • Our faith would be solidified.

Every one of these traits of the spiritual life are addressed by the Psalmist, but I especially like verses 9 – 16:

9 How can a young person stay pure?
    By obeying your word.
10 I have tried hard to find you—
    don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 I praise you, O Lord;
    teach me your decrees.
13 I have recited aloud
    all the regulations you have given us.
14 I have rejoiced in your laws
    as much as in riches.
15 I will study your commandments
    and reflect on your ways.
16 I will delight in your decrees
    and not forget your word.

Verse 11 is especially telling: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Knowing God’s word can keep us from falling to temptation. What do I mean?

Jesus is our example. Matthew records after Jesus’ baptism, he went into the wilderness for forty days, and during those forty days, Satan came to tempt Jesus on three different occasions. Once, he came when Jesus was hungry and said, “Turn these stones to bread.” Jesus replied by quoting Deuteronomy 4:3: “No! People need more than bread for life; they must feed on every word of God.” Jesus quoted scripture when facing temptation. Another time, Satan came and challenged Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the Temple. Satan even quoted scripture in an attempt to deceive Jesus (Yes! There’s a correct way and an incorrect way to interpret scripture), but Jesus responded with his own quotation of scripture, again from Deuteronomy 6:16: “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not tempt the Lord your God’.” In the third instance, Satan took Jesus to the top of a high mountain and showed him the kingdoms of the earth, and said “I’ll give you all these if you will bow down and worship me.” Once more, Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 6:13: “Get out of here, Satan. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve him only’.” Jesus was prepared to meet every temptation because he had “hidden” God’s word in his heart. When temptation came, he went to the Word.

Notice, though that hiding God’s word in our hearts is more than simple Bible memorization. Hiding God’s word in our hearts means to have his word live within us and transform us in the process. The written word becomes the living word, and it breathes life into our weak mortal bodies. The Holy Spirit works through the written word to transform it into the living word as he moves in our old, dead spirit, and the word becomes a source of life and strength.

Many years ago in a Moscow theater, matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled Christ in a Tuxedo. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, “Give me my tuxedo and top hat!” But as he read the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors. Finally, recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian Orthodox church, he cried, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!” (Luke 23:42). Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.[2] The written word had become the living word in Rostovzev’s life, and so it may in ours, as well.

So, here are some simple ways to begin to hide God’s word in our hearts.

  • Read the Bible every day, even if it’s only one verse.It’s better to learn a little bit perfectly than to learn a lot poorly. The New Living Translation is one I’ve found that is easier to read.
  • Join a Bible study group.
  • Start memorizing verses.

Isn’t it time to begin a love affair with God’s word? Can we hide God’s word deep in our hearts, and let the Holy Spirit breathe into our spirit so it becomes the living word so that we can live the kind of life God is calling us to lead—a life of holiness, even when we face temptation. I remind us that God is not calling us to lead a happy life. God is calling us to lead a holy life. Perhaps then, our lives will reflect the deep, abiding love affair about which the Psalmist sang.

Until next time, keep looking up…

[1] http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question108744.html

[2] https://bible.org/illustration/romans-1017

Who Said Church is Dying?

/ pastorlynnmalone / 2 Comments

This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. For those from non-liturgical traditions, Pentecost Sunday is the day we acknowledge the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first disciples 50 days after Jesus resurrection. Luke records events in Acts 2 that occurred that day. Let’s call it the birthday of the Church, and it was one of the most awesome displays of God’s power recorded in the Bible.

pentecostUnfortunately, in many circles today the Holy Spirit is either neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood. The Holy Spirit was given to unite the body of Christ, but the Spirit has become the center of controversy. Sometimes I wonder if we lack unity because we’ve quenched the power of the Holy Spirit in our churches, and in our personal lives. I wonder if we could actually have worship without a bulletin on Sunday morning. Dr. A. W. Tozer, author and pastor, said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.” He said that prior to 1963. I wonder what he would say in 2015?

The first Pentecost was a demonstration of God’s power that changed the world forever. God’s power brought transformation. That’s what God’s power does. Not only was this past Sunday Pentecost, but it was historically significant for those of us who call ourselves Methodists. We Methodists call May 24th, Aldersgate Sunday. It was May 24th, 1738 that Wesley recorded these events in his journal:

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death…     After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.”

John Wesley had an experience with God’s power, and it too, changed the world. It was Wesley’s Methodist movement that is credited with reforming England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Historians have suggested that England didn’t go the way of France in the 18th century because of John Wesley. It was Wesley’s Methodist movement that swept across North America when, by the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest Protestant denomination in America. One in five Americans called themselves Methodist. Today, 80 million people worldwide find their religious roots in Wesley’s Methodism. That’s what happens when the power of God explodes on His people. The same power that was present on that first Pentecost is the same power that was present with John Wesley on Aldersgate Street in London, and it’s the same power that’s available to you and me today, and it’s the same power that fuels the church.

The recent Pew Research Center study on religion in America reveals some interesting findings about the faith of American Christians. As one who has served as a denominational official, and has studied the decline of our own denomination, the research only confirms what we already knew. I am blessed to serve a mainline church that is bucking the trend, but the truth is that mainline Protestantism has been in decline since the high-water mark of 1955. Someone said, “If 1955 ever comes again, the mainline church will be poised for explosive growth.”

While we may lament the decline of the Church in North America (and other places in western culture), the church is a long way from dying. The power of God revealed in the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost is still active today, and it is just as transformative as it ever was. The Washington Post ran a recent article sharing some of the amazing and encouraging facts about the growth of Christianity around the world. Here are a few facts worth noting:

  • Africa’s Christian population stands at 500 million today. Roughly one in four Africans are Christian.
  • Christianity in Asia grew at twice the rate of the population on the continent. In the next ten years, it’s projected that 110 million more people will convert to Christianity on the Asian continent.
  • Demographers estimate that more Christian believers are found worshipping in China on any given Sunday than in the United States.

As United Methodist, I’m particularly encouraged by what’s taking place in Africa. Today, there are nearly 5 million African Methodists, with an average of 220,000 more being added each year. Within ten years there will be more African United Methodists than in the United States. The Philippines is also seeing an explosion of Methodism. There, nearly one million people are  being reached through the 24 Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church.

There are other statistics I could point to that affirm the fact that Pentecost is still happening. People are being touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, and their lives are being changed. Though we lament the direction of the church in America (which says a whole lot more about us than it does the power of the Holy Spirit), it is a bit like Mark Twain said, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” No, the church is not dead. It’s not even dying. It’s more alive today than ever before. If we would be the Church, and see the power of God revealed then we must, once again, open ourselves to the mind-blowing, life-changing, and as John Wesley wrote, the heart-warming Holy Spirit.

Let the fire fall, O God! Let the fire fall!

Until next time, keep looking up…

Some days are like that…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

I can’t remember where I heard the saying, but as a preacher, I appreciate the sentiment: “It’s better to have something to say than to have to say something.” That’s the way I felt Sunday–I had a lot more to say than I had time to say it. It was communion Sunday, and it was All Saints Sunday, so that meant time for the sermon was limited (yes, there are those who wish time for the sermon was limited every week–but, that’s another blog!). I’m currently preaching a sermon series entitled Crossings: Facing the Challenge of Change, and Sunday’s message was “Overcoming Obstacles,” from Joshua 6. I really felt like I didn’t have enough time to do the passage or the story justice. To use another old cliche, I felt like I left too much meat on the bone.

Of course, I shouldn’t be too bummed about it, though. One of my old preaching professors taught us not to use all our material in one sermon. We will have to preach again someday. I don’t know if others find this to be the case, but it’s harder for me to write a short sermon than it is to write a longer one. And, I never know if I’m leaving out the right stuff or including the wrong stuff in the sermon when I shorten it. I suppose that’s why the Holy Spirit is so important in preaching, huh?

I also believe the power of the Holy Spirit makes it impossible to preach the same sermon twice. Yes, I might use the same manuscript, but something has changed. I notice it every Sunday morning. We have three worship hours at FUMC, MONROE every Sunday morning, and the same manuscript doesn’t preach the same way at any of the three. There are three participants in every sermon: The Holy Spirit, the preacher and the audience. If the preacher has prepared appropriately, the Holy Spirit has been active throughout the process, and He is certainly active in the moment of the preaching. I can preach the same manuscript, but the work of the Holy Spirit determines what the congregation hears, what they respond to, what touches their heart, and I’ve discovered every group will respond to different parts of the message. I just find that fact interesting, and I just laugh when I hear a preacher say they never preach the same sermon twice. I’m of the considered opinion that if a sermon was good once, it can only get better with use. But, I ramble…

So? What did I leave out? I’m glad you asked! Click on the link “Overcoming Obstacles” above to hear the sermon, so I won’t rehash it here, but I left out (at least for me) one major point: Obstacles in life present an opportunity to learn patience. I know patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit, but this is one area where the Spirit continues to challenge and convict me. I’ve often said I’ve quit praying for patience because the Lord doesn’t give me patience. He gives me opportunities to learn patience, and that becomes very frustrating.

I can’t imagine how frustrating it must have been for the nation of Israel to march around the city of Jericho every day. Day one–walk around the city, and wait. Day two–walk around the city, and wait. Day three–well, you get the picture. The city was only 8 – 12 acres (depending on the commentator consulted), so it couldn’t have taken more than an hour to walk around it. Suffice it to say, there was a whole lot more sitting and waiting than there was marching. I’m thinking that got old after the first couple of days, but this was more about doing God’s work God’s way than it was about the conquest itself. Sometimes, there are days we have to wait for God’s plan to unfold. As frustrating as it can be for us in our digital, get-it-now world, waiting (ergo, patience) is a spiritual discipline–and one we desperately need to practice these days.

traffic lightI’ve learned I need to count to three when the traffic light in front of me changes from red to green. If I don’t, I’m likely to get run over. It’s because fewer people pay attention to red lights anymore. I was sitting at an intersection near the church I serve last week. I was stopped because my light was red. My light changed to green. I counted to three. As I started to move, this lady in her nice SUV turned in front of me, either oblivious to the fact she just ran a red light, or not caring that she ran a red light. I would like to pass it off to inattentiveness on her part, but I’ve witnessed too many people, not hastening through caution lights, but blatantly running red lights. A person can get killed these days!

What’s the lesson, you ask? Beyond “Don’t run red lights,” you mean? Try this:

I think too many of us see red lights as obstacles that keep us from where we want to go, where we NEED to be (as though where we need to be is any more important than where anyone else needs to be, but that, too, is another blog). Rather than seeing red lights as obstacles, why not view them as opportunities to learn patience, to use red lights as a spiritual discipline? Why not use the time sitting at red lights to give thanks to God for my vehicle? Why not use the time sitting at red lights to pray for my family, or my co-workers, or friends? Why not use the time sitting at red lights to pray for the person in the car next to me? Why can’t I see that red light as an opportunity to be patient? Honestly, it generally takes more than one prayer to see the hand of God move. Every circuit around the city of Jericho was an opportunity to pray for the hand of God to move through the nation of Israel. Every red light can be an opportunity to pray for the hand of God to move in our lives, or the lives of someone else.

God’s timing is always right. Sometimes, we have to do some marching around to see what God can do. Now, here’s my confession…I blew my horn at the lady in the SUV! Whew! I feel better now.

Until next time, keep looking up…