The Call- Part 2

 I was watching a really old tv show last night about a crime solving Monk.  Cadfael is the name of the series.  I'm not recommending the show in its entirety as he's not always a saint but there is usually at least one godly lesson in each episode.  In this particular program there was a woman who was weary with the world and decided to join a cloister of nuns to live in peace.  Cadfael and a nun told the lady she should reconsider her plan because they had gone into a life of ministry because they were "running to something and not from something." They also told her that the life of service was a difficult one.  Of course it made me reflect upon my own call and the price of the call we dealt with in part 1.  As I was choosing to pursue the Lord and His Call upon my life I had to meet with a man that had helped me get a job with a promising future.  As I told the man of my decision he became very angry.  This man was a very wealthy family member.  Previously he told me that "if anything happens to me you will be taken care of." As I finished my conversation and headed for the door he spoke and said in anger, "if the going gets tough, don't call on me!"  I knew the legal will was about to be changed.  It was!  Yet, as I walked from the room I was filled with great peace and excitement as I was walking toward something.  I was shedding the mindset of the material world and its goals and embracing to a Kingdom mindset and my only measurement of success would have to be pleasing God through obedience.  I would be tested on this heart motivation many times in the decades to come as the Lord continued and continues still His molding of my life and character.  

The walk of a servant of the Lord is primarily one of a relationship between the servant and his Master.  It is a never ending walk of ministry in the servant and the resultant ministry through the servant.  Our Lord never stops leading us to a higher place of holiness and obedience to Him and His purposes.  It can be a lonely and even painful journey at times but always result in the joy of following Him to fruitfulness.  This journey of personal construction and development needs to be permitted by others looking on.  We need to be careful not to interfere with the process and try to alleviate the pain of the struggle.  Nepotism is one of the ways we can do this.  Like helping a chick from the egg we can hinder and possibly destroy the divine purpose of the struggle.  Placing a family member into ministry into a higher rank than you would others is just such interference.  While they may be truly called, they need to go through the process of maturity so that character can be developed to balance the gifting.  Too many times I have heard people say, "but they are so gifted or they are such a good speaker."  Those things are not found in the Bible as reasons for promotion in life and especially in Christian ministry. The Call is the first step of preparation for faithful service but allowing and submitting to the process is a work of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important to the life of the Called than this.  

The Call

Romans 1:1 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God"

The Call of God is an interesting and mysterious thing. Certainly there is a call to everyone that has responded to the inner working of the Holy Spirit to receive Jesus as Lord and follow him in growing discipleship and service.   But then, as Paul says in this verse, there is another Call for those whom the Lord sets aside for a lifetime of service to Him and His Gospel.  Paul says that he first and foremost is a servant of Christ Jesus. The Call of God begins and ends here.  It is the alpha and omega of the Call of God.  You start here and you should never go outside the parameters of being a servant of Jesus.  Then Paul gives some specifics of his call to being an apostle, a sent out one.  Then he tells us that he was set apart for the gospel of God.  Truly called people can never get away from a genuine call of God.  Some have chosen ministry as a profession and didn't finish the race.  You can't call yourself nor can others call you.  It is something that comes from a covenant call from the Lord to the individual.  We have often said that the thing that happens at a public ordination service is very distinct from the Call.  An ordination service is simply the authorities of the church recognizing and legitimizing the Call of God before man.  I'm certain some have been ordained by man that were never called by God.  Those individuals then try to walk in a grace that they do not have.  Time reveals the true Call of God from the call of man.  Simple desire or determination cannot endure the call of God without the grace of God.  The weight of the call is too great.  As I said earlier there is something about the Call of God.  It is difficult to explain but when you receive it, you know it and it ruins you for the same life pursuits of others.  

There is a great cost that comes with the Call. One of the greatest costs of the Call is the misunderstanding of those without it.  No one truly understands the cost of the Call except others who are under the burden of the Call.  I had worked with many who thought they understood but they can only fathom a portion of understanding the Call.  I knew a businessman once who had an employee that had the Call.  He told me that the employee didn't have what it takes to be successful.  I said, he may not have what it takes to be successful in your business but his Call and grace is outside of your business.  You may need to release him to find his true place.  The businessman didn't understand because he could only understand within his grace and gift of business although he was a deeply spiritual man.  The natural eye doesn't value the Call of God.  The natural eye values heroes in sports, business, wealth and fame.  You don't find many Called men and women of God on the Biography Channel. Even when we see servants of God in tv and movies they are usually portrayed in a bad light. That is all a part of walking in the Call and taking up your cross and following Jesus and His role model of the Servant. 

But there is some good news here. With the Call there is not only the cost, but there is also a Crown.  There are distinct rewards the Called enjoy.  There are outward rewards but more importantly there are inward rewards.  No servant of Jesus has ever enjoyed anything more than the sweet, quiet inward words of the Master saying, "well done good and faithful servant."  The Great Chinese Church leader Watchman Knee, who spent 20 years in prison for his faith, started as a brilliant honor student at Seminary.  He showed great promise of a brilliant future. He chose to go to the countryside and serve people and build small home churches in the rural areas. Years later he visited his old seminary and went to lunch with an old professor.  Knee was tired and his clothes were worn from his hard life. The professor looked at him and said, “I thought you would amount to more than this.”  Watchman Knee said he felt the favor and glory of God like he had never felt it before at that moment. The rewards of the Called are many.  The next time your pastor or another Called servant leader seems overly burdened pray for them.  But then, pray for them often even if they seem fine.  The burden of their Call is great.  Don't try to see it our understand it, just pray.  

Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Eating With The Buzzards

 Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I love the picture of the Believer being renewed by the Lord as he waits upon the Lord.  Then, those renewed and refreshed saints will mount up, they are elevated above the mundane things of this world to live in heavenly places.  As a part of that heavenly living here on earth, we are exhorted in Scripture to "set our affections (or our minds) on things above and not the things of the earth."  We are taught that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  We read in the Bible that we war not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the spirit world.  We are called to soar like the eagles!

Many years ago, I heard a powerful sermon by the great preacher and orator Ern Baxter.  He talked about living in the exalted place in Christ above the dirty things of this earth.  He described the life of the eagle.  He told how the eagles don't live on telephone lines with crows who are noisy and loud.  They don't lower themselves to being loud with gossip and carnal arguments.  The don't eat dead animals on the side of the road because they live in a different realm. They only eat living things and not dead things.  Then recently I was stunned by something I saw that felt like a prophetic moment.  I passed by a dead animal on the side of the road and several buzzards were fighting and tearing at the dead filthy carcass.  I drove a few blocks away and had to come back by the scene again on the way home.  I was sickened by what I saw!  A beautiful and majestic Bald Eagle was in the middle of the flock fighting to get a bite as he ate with the Buzzards!  The Bald Eagle is a symbol of our Republic.  I pondered over this for about 24 hours.  At first I was shocked to see a Bald Eagle in our area of northeast Florida.  Then I thought about the significance of the picture and our Nation.  My mind raced back to January 6, 2021 and the riot at our Nation's capitol.  I remember watching and weeping as rioters broke down the doors of democracy.  I was hurt and embarrassed as I saw Jesus banners among the crowd. I wondered if the Church would ever again gain their evangelistic influence among the unconverted.   Then I wondered what the average Christian at home felt. I hope it wasn't glee or success.  Whatever motivated the rioters it was not the voice of Jesus.  It did not come from the internal motivation of the Holy Spirit.  It was a cry from the lower nature of man.  

The commotion we heard and saw on our televisions that day was not the sound of liberty nor was it the sound of some Christian movement.  It was the picture and sounds of members of a republic, our republic,  leaving the realm of the heavenly to lower itself to eat with the buzzards.  Our Nation fell that day from the lofty place as the guardian of the world to an earthy, dirty place of the mundane.  May God forgive us. May we "wait upon Him." May we humble ourselves before him with repentance and broken hearts.  Father, we ask humbly that you forgive and cleanse us for our love,  enjoyment and participation in sinful and divisive activity that has lowered us far below your plan for our lives as a people. And please Heavenly Father, please elevate us once again to live in your presence and to be lifted up on wings of eagles.  

Grace and Peace

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 1:7(b)

I was having a good conversation with a fellow believer in her 80's the other day.  It was one of those chats where the Holy Spirit is present and you are enjoying the moment.  It is true Christian fellowship in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or Koinonia.  Koinonia, a Greek word,  is a result of friendship among Christians, the body of Christ, where the Holy Spirit is the connecting tissue.  

As we talked, my friend said something like, "I'm satisfied in my present state without any great ambition to go out and do anything for the Lord."  Of course, the present pandemic limits all of us, but I sensed something greater, something beyond this current situation.  I felt that what she was feeling was "grace and peace." Certainly, we must always be willing to obey the Lord in anything He might ask.  Yet, she had arrived at a place that we all should seek, a state of grace and peace.  She said, "she felt no great ambition".  In my early years of ministry, much of my "great ambition", my motivation to serve the Lord was a desire to please Him, build something and to be successful.  I was driven by it.  I had grace but didn't enjoy much peace in my daily life.  My stress level wasn't much different from business people in the world.  It is interesting that in this verse and other verses that "grace" precedes "peace".   Grace comes before peace.  You can't live in peace without grace.  Grace when it is experienced with faith in what Jesus did on the cross releases us from a performance based relationship with God and brings us into a Holy Spirit led life.  The result will be less effort of the flesh and more fruit in life and service.  There is a deliverance that comes with true grace that brings a release from the burden and motivation of what men think and require of us.  There will always be a certain amount of it in life but not to the point of living a performance driven life.  How do we get there, even if you are young and just starting your journey with the  Lord?  Spend more time with the Lord and learn to experience His fellowship.  There is a work to this because your natural man craves results and man's approval.  It is actually much easier on the flesh to work from ambition than to work to live in true fellowship with Jesus.  His fellowship with us must be more rich and important to us than accomplishments or  fellowship with anyone on this earth.  We certainly need wholesome fellowship on earth, but our sustenance doesn't come primarily from there, it comes from genuine fellowship with Him in His Word, worship and prayer. Time with God enhances and enriches His Grace which leaves us with a greater deposit of peace.  The result will be that we will accomplish more because it will be a work of the Holy Spirit and will result in true fruit that remains.  

The Great Deception

Matthew 24:24 "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

This verse has always caused me unease as I'm sure it has you. Jesus tells us that there will be a day near the end of time that a spiritual darkness, a fog of the spiritual atmosphere will be powerfully manifested upon the earth. There will be a confusion about what is Truth and what is not.  Little christs and those who profess to be prophets will "arise".  They will arise, they will be exalted in some way as to demand attention. Maybe the political powers that be will promote them or probably when they teach, preach and prophesy they also work miracles that is difficult to deny. It will probably be that they "arise" through political and spiritual approval.  In the midst of this time of confusion, even the church will have division over what is truth and what isn't.  Why?  Because many of them will be confused too!  So much so that Jesus says the Church will be near being "led astray."  It doesn't say the Church will be led astray because that would mean all hope is lost.  Jesus makes the point that the delusion and the confusion is so strong that there is a tremendous pull upon the church to believe and cooperate with a lie.  Satan is the father of lies.  His stock in trade is a lie, the anti-truth.  

What is our preemptive antidote? We must remove from our sight,  minds and spirits everything that looks in a different direction than the Truth of the Scriptures.  We must be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Anything that takes our minds and spirits away from a pure love of Jesus, a love and obedience to His Word, and the inner peace of the Holy Spirit, is not of God. As certainly as the command to Lot's wife to not look back, we must not gaze upon the temptations to even mentally let our spiritual gaze look to other prophets or prophecies or christs demanding the worship of our hearts and minds.  We must not spend more time gazing upon the works of false christs or false prophets than we do fixed upon God's Word.  We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit "building up our most Holy Faith."  

This is a call to look away from all distractions of ungodly activities and look steadfastly upon Jesus Christ.  If it doesn't look like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and manifest the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus, it is not Jesus.  Cry out to God and save yourself from deception as we move forward. Live daily in the Word of God and ask God to Baptize you in the Holy Spirit.  If you are filled with the Holy Spirit then ask for a daily renewal of that precious and powerful anointing.  Christ is in us and we cannot be overcome because the Overcomer is in us.  Yet, the warning remains!  Remember that Jesus said "hold fast till I come."

Make or Break

 As a pastor I'm convinced I've learned more from spending time with others than they have  learned from spending time with me.  When a person would come to me for spiritual direction they only experienced meeting or hearing from one person.  As a counselor I had the advantage of meeting with many through the years that would share much the same experiences.  So I would hear the same basic story or circumstances many times.  That also meant I experienced watching as different people responded and sometimes reacted  to similar situations or circumstances in very different ways.  It was amazing to see the outcomes of giving the same Biblical advice to people who acted on it differently.  

How we respond to situations or problems determines our future quality of life.  I often say to congregations while I am teaching, "every person in this room is where you are today based on decisions you have made in the past, both good and bad."  It is astounding how people will take a long time to research and process before making a purchase.  Yet, that same person might rush into life altering decisions like a marriage mate.  I've known people who have met people online and married them much too quickly.  Unfortunately, these decisions often end in pain and chaos. The truth is very clear that we all come to moments that are "Make or Break" decision times.  We have all had good experiences based on good decisions and we have all had some that we wish we could have a  "do over."  Unfortunately, we can't have do overs in life.  Decisions are almost always one time events.  So, what happens with those decisions that yielded bad situations? Honestly, even good decisions don't guarantee that we will always like the outcomes. Life is messy!

Now we come to my main thought today.  Why do some come through a difficult or even life altering situation and move forward in joy and are the better for it?  Others seem to stumble and eventually right the ship,  some  are changed for the worse and never seem to get past it.  Some people outgrow some things, some don't survive some things and some mature through things.What makes the difference?When we consider the options here we should all set our sights on the maturing option.  That is definitely what God wants for us.  The Scripture is filled with examples of folks walking right through hardship to become better and not bitter.  Again, here is a choice.  Will we seek vengeance and retribution or will we seek God and his healing for our inner man.  As long as we have our hands on a situation through self effort motivated by a desire for self justification, the Lord can't get his hands on it.  He waits on our releasing a thing and truly turning it over to Him.  You aren't facing anything today that many others haven't already faced. The question is, what direction will you take? I encourage you to pause right now, pray and turn your situation over to the Lord.  Release it and let it go down the stream of forgiveness and healing.

2020 Christmas

• “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (NIV) Matthew 1:23

  
  
  2020 has been a wild ride! It has been a very stressful year with great challenges to walk free from anxiety and depression. A survey revealed 40% of those questioned admitted to an increase in depression due to Covid 19 and things pertaining to it.  11% said they had considered suicide because of it. One of the biggest causes of mental health problems is this outside force of unknown, potentially deadly virus attacking people around the world.  There is this helplessness, this loneliness and people struggle to cope.  As a follower of Jesus Christ we face the same disease and the ramifications of it.  It is easy to say, "well, Christians shouldn't be distressed or depressed by Covid." That is a very simplistic view and not valid.  Many Christians have been very ill including Pastors and some have died.  We are not exempt from the reality of the disease.  Denying the sickness or trying to survive through positive thinking isn't the answer.  The real cause of depression and other issues is that this pandemic can shake the equilibrium of your faith life.  When you lose your equilibrium or balance in life, you lose your footing.  When you lose your footing you can be manipulated away from faith and your dependence on God.  There was a time in history when the world was shaken, countries were dominated by the Roman Empire and faith was questioned.  Were the prophecies of old really true or were the people on their own to try to survive?  Was there any hope for the future? Then a star of hope appeared and a baby was born in a manger in Bethlehem. That Baby was the fulfillment of one of those ancient prophecies that had been questioned. The prophecy of Jesus said his prophetic name was Emmanuel.  That name means today what it meant back then. "GOD WITH US!"  That first Christmas meant that from that time forward things would be filled with hope.  This month we celebrate that same event.  Just as there was a lot of hopelessness then there has been in this year of 2020 as well.  The message of hope for us as we move into 2021 is that without any doubt, God is with us!  He hasn't forgotten us.  He is involved in our lives. He is involved in your life. We must lift our heads above the earth, above the statistics and look unto our heavenly hope and our daily deliverer.  His name is Jesus and he is waiting on us to strengthen our faith toward Him and his active involvement in our lives.  God is with us!  Our Lord is with us!
  
  
                                                   Merry Christmas!

Forgiveness: The First Step Into Tomorrow

(This is a repeat from 7 years ago.  I hope it is a help!)

I was sitting in on a counseling session being led by another pastoral counselor. He was trying to get the person he was counseling to forgive an individual who had hurt them in the past.  To make his point he said, "you must drop the charges."  I immediately saw in my mind a person standing before a judge and the judge saying, "I'm dropping the charges!"  That is exactly what we all must do in order to forgive others.  Forgiveness doesn't mean that we are condoning a wrong or pretending it never happened. It is simply making a decision to let it go.  Someone has said that "refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and thinking it is hurting the other person."  The other person has probably moved on and may not be even aware of you or your struggle.  You need to forgive for you.  Forgiveness is a decision that is made between a person and God.  We make the decision and God gives the power or grace to truly be healed from the effects of holding on to an offense.  There can be no healing and restoration until forgiveness is complete.  

Forgiveness is not a feeling.  Jesus told us to forgive.  He would never ask us to do anything that He wasn't ready and empowered to do for us.  Forgiveness is an action not a feeling.  Once we act by forgiving very specifically, He releases within us His power of cleansing and healing.  That means we need to get alone and verbally forgive with our thoughts and words everything that comes to mind about the person we need to forgive.  Let it out!  The stream may be difficult to start but it often turns into a torrent of emotions.  There is a principle at work here.  Romans 10:9-10 tells us that salvation comes as we do two things.  First, we believe in our heart and secondly we confess with our mouth. This principle of God works in every area of life, not just for salvation.  Make the decision to forgive.  That is the hardest part.  There is this subconscious thing that doesn't want to forgive because it doesn't want to release the person from responsibility.  That subconscious decision keeps a person bound to the offender and the offense.  Make the decision to forgive and verbally speak the specific offenses for which you are forgiving.  You will be amazed at the results!

One last thing, forgiveness is present and progressive.  While forgiveness is spiritually complete the moment it is confessed, it may take time to get completely free in your emotions.  Because forgiveness is not a feeling, uprisings of feelings are common and does not mean a person has not forgiven.  It usually takes time for painful memories to lose their sting.  However, like peeling an onion, verbal forgiveness in an ongoing way will bring total healing in time.  

If you find yourself still holding on to painful memories, remember they are sabotaging  your tomorrow.  
Take action this very moment and open the door on a fresh start.  

"You are the salt of the earth!"

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

 

All my Christian life as I have read these words of Jesus, I have always thought that the way we would lose our “saltiness” or our evangelistic influence in society would be to become so weak in our faith and practice that we would walk away from Christ and disappear into the sinful world.  However, there are other ways that we, the Church, can lose our ability to influence the world for Christ.  Losing our saltiness is done primarily when we start believing, talking and acting like the world and no longer like Jesus.  

 

I have been intrigued by the Christian Church in Nazi Germany and always wondered how was it possible to embrace Adolf Hitler and his ungodly self-promoting schemes to rule the world.  It happened through, as all things do, a process.  Germany had lost World War I and were forced to pay very expensive reparations for their war crimes.  After the shame of the war the German Church were now mixing their thinking with Christian thought and Nazi thought.  They were embarrassed by their nation’s failure in the war as much as the non-Christian culture. There came a mixture of thought in the church which included both Christian doctrine and politics.  The line blurred between loyalty to Christ and loyalty to National interests. Then, when Hitler rose to power there were concerns at first but then the 1920 Nazi Party platform put them at peace.  This is the part of that platform that brought about an embracing of the Nazi system by the Church both Catholic and Protestant:

"We demand the freedom of all religious confessions in the state, insofar as they do not jeopardize the state's existence or conflict with the manners and moral sentiments of the Germanic race. The Party as such upholds the point of view of a positive Christianity without tying itself confessionally to any one confession. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit at home and abroad and is convinced that a permanent recovery of our people can only be achieved from within on the basis of the common good before individual good."

 

The statement that bought the loyalty of most of the church was the first, “we demand the freedom of all religious confessions in the state…”.   Remember, these were the words of Adolf Hitler and his regime.  But in accepting that statement the Church also embraced the statement about “combating the Jewish materialistic spirit at home and abroad…” resulting in time of the murder of over 6,000,000 Jews.

 

Certainly, there were parts of the church in Germany that resisted selling out to the Nazi political system.  The most famous resistance came from the protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed for his actions against Hitler.  But by in large, the church cooperated and even gladly aligned itself with the political movement at the sacrifice of their Christian influence.  They lost their “saltiness” and would never regain it as they had known it during earlier times. 

 

 

 

This picture should bring concern to all believers.  As the Church of Jesus Christ living among society, we must not lose our influence upon a lost world.  They must not see us and our Mission as the same as a political mission.  The unbelieving world will always disdain us as followers of Jesus but that will never rob us of our spiritual influence. Our faithfulness to God during difficulty actually strengthens our influence.  We lose our “saltiness” when the world sees us aligned with political systems above our Christian convictions.  The earth is stained with the blood of Christian martyrs that would not look the other way and compromise their Faith for expediency. May God give us wisdom and discernment and great courage as we walk in these very stressful end times.  Our world needs more salt!

 

 

A Teachable Spirit

I have been asked many times what I regarded as the most important characteristics of a developing leader.  That is a difficult question to answer as there are so many areas of life and character that are necessary to be a servant of God. A servant's heart is critical as well as humility.  Of course, the Call itself should be essential and is a mysterious thing. It is something the burgeoning leader must know for certain they have heard from the Lord.  When the true call of God has been heard then little can stop the journey of Christian ministry though avenues of preparation may be varied.  However, when I am pressed for one critical part of ministry qualification I must always answer that it is teachableness.  Teachableness coming from a motivation of the heart is a pure and beautiful thing.  Nothing motivates me more as a minister in my 70's than to be asked to mentor a younger minister.  I like to know them before I commit and see the motivations of their heart.  If they are on a career path primarily and just trying to gain knowledge or reference for their resume, I try to graciously decline.  However, if I see humility and a desire to grow in their knowledge and effectiveness in God in order to serve God's people, I am always blessed to be a part of their journey.  

We all in ministry embark on that journey as a servant of the Lord.  The child like pliable mentality that we had at the beginning of our journey must remain with us our entire life.  Recently I asked a Christian, "so tell me what is the Lord dealing with in your life these days?"  Their response seemed to be one of surprise and perplexity.  They said, "the Lord dealing?"  I thought by now you would have it!"  In other words you should get to a point in your walk with the Lord where you don't need His dealing and adjusting.  That would be nice, I suppose,  but it doesn't work that way.    God never shows us the completed picture of our lives.  He never shows us all that will be required, all that will need to be changed in our lives.  It would be too much!  We couldn't take the shock!  His plan to guide us along His path is one of ever increasing personal internal formation from glory to glory. Conforming us every day into the image of Jesus.  It is a slow but certain process.  Only the teachable can see it an only the humble will allow it.  The proud stop hearing the voice of change along the way.  They think sermons are for others and discipleship is something for the less mature.  This is probably even more important for leaders because we are tasked with caring for the Church, the Bride of Christ. We must deal with her gently and with compassion as Jesus himself does.  Regular adjusting by the Lord is the only way we can remain in tempo with the Lord and His mission in the earth. 

I pray today for humility to find us through personal repentance and that a teachable spirit be restored to us His Church. 

Teaching and Preaching

Matthew 4:23 "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."

We use the terms preaching and teaching interchangeably in most churches today. Actually, the word preaching has disappeared in many circles as the word teaching and the practice of teaching has become more in vogue. Preaching has become a word that speaks of a style rather than a word with a purpose.  In the verse above it clearly says that Jesus taught and preached.  When we examine the word teaching in the Greek it has the implication of discourse.  It carries with it a picture of one explaining a topic and allowing questions or discussion about the subject.  The word preaching is defined as the "heralding" of a message.  When a message is heralded there is no discussion among the audience.   In olden times a herald would receive a message of importance from an authority, often the Monarch, and the herald would shout forth the message of great importance that directed the behavior of the people under the lordship of that Monarch. Certainly after the herald delivers his edict there is a place for the teacher to give more explanation to those hearing the herald to assist them in their obedience.  But there is not a discussion for the audience to decide if obedience to the command is warranted. As followers of Christ there is a place for both preaching and teaching but there is not a place of rejecting the message of Scripture.  

This brings us to the question, will the preacher be heard in our day?  Is there a place in this hour for the one called to "preach" the Gospel of the Kingdom?  Will the herald be heard? Will the "crier" be obeyed?  A few years ago I wrote about what I felt had become an idol in the American Church.  That idol is "understanding."  "If I understand then I will obey."  God doesn't always give us understanding before He requires us to obey.  The scripture says that Abraham went out (obeyed) not knowing.  That is true faith.  Obedience is not to a man's voice but to God's voice, His Word! I'm not implying that believers should obey everything that comes out of the mouth of the preacher, but we need to lay hold of those sacred Words of Scripture heralded by mere men as they are the very word of God and receive them and obey they without offense if it requires discomfort to us.  There is a place for preaching in all seasons and all generations.  Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 'Preach the Word!"  As members of the Body of Christ may we raise our preference beyond the pleasant easily received, easily understood words to also be open to the Truth that is simply declared with an expectation to obey!  Then the Scripture says that after that teaching and preaching of Jesus, "AND HEALING ALL KINDS OF SICKNESS AND ALL KINDS OF DISEASES AMONG THE PEOPLE." Something happened when people heard and obeyed the word of God that had been taught and preached.  It still can today and we should expect it in faith.

                      

and healing all kinds ofMark 1:34; Luke 4:40; 7:21; Acts 10:38and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 39:39 39 ch. 9:35; 13:54; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:15; Johch. 24:14; Luke 4ch. 8:16; 14:35, 36; Mar

Repentance and Healing

2 Chronicles 7:13[ch. 6:26, 28]When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14if my people who are called by my name [ch. 12:7]humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

In this post I would like to amplify one small section of this very popular portion of Scripture. That section is "turn from their wicked ways."  The ones being addressed in these two verses are God's people.  In our day that is the Church.  I have stumbled around and over this verse for many years.  I would think, God is asking us, His Church, to identify with the lost and ungodly world to repent in some way of identification.  As we take on the responsibility for the world's sin in some substitutionary way then God will hear and heal the land.  I could never pray a strong prayer of faith here because God wasn't asking us to repent for the world, He was asking us to repent for our sins.  What sins would those be?  Sins of abortion and racism that we are hearing so much about today?  Certainly, but it is bigger than that. We can embrace the current highlighted sin of the larger Nation and still not satisfy the sins God is calling for here.  God is calling on individual Christians to search their hearts or simply be aware of their hearts and repent and walk in personal purity and obedience before God.  All of us in the Church must not think of ourselves as being outside the sin problem. We are forgiven but we are not finished with repentance when we are converted.  Just because we haven't been directly involved in some sin like abortion or injustice we feel apart from the sin problem affecting our Nation. We don't relate to God's command to "turn from their wicked ways." That's the world out there that is hindering the healing of our Nation.  But God is a personal relationship God.  He deals with people before He deals with Nations. We must be willing to walk in personal repentance for everything God puts his finger on and we will see healing.  All of our individual sins against God are hindrances to healing and revival in America.  When I resist the Lord convicting me about the lack of forgiveness or when I feel badly about a habit but do nothing. When He touches an area of my life and I callously take my mind to a different, happier place, I have added to the problem.  Each time I do this I delay revival and the healing of our land.  We must stop reading these two verses in regard to it applying to the world or mostly major issues and begin allowing the Holy Spirit to convince and cleanse each of us right where we are.  Then the corporate repentance can arise from our individual honesty, repentance and cleansing and set us in motion for revival and healing.

  

Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Shaking to Strengthen Us

       As I write this most of us have been in some kind of quarantine for about 3 months now.  A worldwide affliction has come upon us with pressures and limitations, the kind of which, we could never have imagined.  Some limitations have now visited our country, though for most of us they have been more of an inconvenience than anything else.  We Americans are used to living in the “land of plenty.” I’m now in my 70’s and I never remember shortages of groceries except for a short time during the Cuban missile crisis and then nothing like those during World War II.  Yet, our affliction is often more internal than external.  We don’t like being told what to do, where we can’t go and what and where we can eat. For the vast majority it seems we have done well.
         My first observations of people when this all began were a kind of nervousness or anxiety that lay just below the surface.  There have been cases of anger and violence coming from some who have been pressed beyond their tolerance but that is the exception.  As time goes by more “shaking” seems to be happening.  Businesses are struggling to make it back as tremendous limitations have been placed upon them.  Now we come to the Church, the people of God.  How are we doing? We have to deal with all the same external pressures of the non-believing world. Yet, we have within us the “Hope of Glory!”  What, or I should say, "Who" is on the inside must be greater than all that is on the outside.  I keep thinking, as I’m shaken as well, “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.” Jesus is the Treasure and I’m that weak and fragile clay jar.  Recently, I was reminded of just how weak I am and how much I am really being shaken by all this.  In a public situation, I was offended by someone and on the spot I reacted negatively! Yep!  Me! Man of God.  Representative of the Kingdom! I reacted in anger!  Oh, I repented and apologized immediately but the mourning over my sin went on for a while.   Why am I telling you this? Because my experience was a revealing of my condition.  It was a building inspection for me personally.  Building inspections are designed to reveal and fix smaller problems before they cause larger ones. 
         Isaiah 28:16  tells us, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste."  The shaking is not supposed to remove us from the strength of the strong foundation of Jesus. Too often we can become deceived into thinking that our strength is something that is fixed in us or that we have “arrived”, and in truth,  it is only fixed in Him.  We can shake and fail.  During these shaking times may we all take a deep breath and return to him as little children dependent upon him for our every breath and every action.  May we worry less about this season passing and more about standing strong in Him for the duration.  “Whoever believes will not be in haste.” May we also remember, 1 John 4:4 " for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

Stubbornness, Ignorance and Pride

I can't think of any more deadly characteristics than Stubbornness, Ignorance and Pride.  Any one of these in our life has the potential for failure.  When you put them all together it is only a matter of time before disaster strikes.  Each of these traits enables the other.  Stubbornness enables and strengthens pride.  I have watched when some who profess to be followers of Jesus, blink and resist Truth when it isn't convenient for them.  They try to reason and reckon their way around Truth with their version of convenient truth.  One time as a pastor, an aspiring young preacher came to me to tell me his latest revelation about Jesus.  He took a portion of Scripture terribly out or context to accommodate his recent "revelation" that he wanted to preach.  I told him that he was wrong but I don't have any idea if he preached it anyway.  Pride can blind us to obvious Truth in order to prove our point.  When trying to help people with Truth, you can actually see the process when delivering that Truth, when that Truth collides with stubbornness and pride enables it.  Prides often resists Truth.  Ignorance is another one of those fruits of the flesh that turns stubbornness and pride into a deadly combination. At times we run into folks who are in places of authority who are ignorant in a certain area.  It must be said that all of us, beginning with me,  are ignorant in some areas.  We can't blindly pretend that we are experts in every field.  As a young pastor I felt great pressure to give people that came to me answers to many different areas of concern.  I gave advice to  almost every area of life.  All too often I gave it in ignorance because I didn't want to say, "I don't know!"  Certainly, as leaders and believers, we can hear from God in areas when we simply don't know.  That is wonderful when it happens.  However, that requires the hearing of God's voice in the moment.  I have experienced that many times and I was surprised when I heard answers come from my mouth that did not come from my intellect. Through the years I learned that it is best to say when I don't know, "I'm sorry but I don't know.  However, I will pray and seek council regarding your question."  There are also times when we won't get the answer to everyone's problems because the Lord wants to reveal Himself to the one seeking answers.  It has been said that God has no grandchildren, only children.  Every believer must come to a place of hearing God's voice and obeying.  Leaders, pastors and mentors are all wonderful gifts from the Lord but they cannot replace a personal, living relationship with the Lord.

May we all search our hearts today courageously making Stubbornness, Ignorance and Pride our enemies and seek God to give us His power to evict them from our lives.













Proverbs 29:1 (NLT) "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism

will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.

Does The Church Ever Isolate?

Is it right for Christians to isolate from the world?  What a far reaching and complicated question.  The heart of an evangelist and frankly, my heart, says, "Never!" But is that personal motivation of the heart always the correct answer?  Once again, is it ever right for Christians to isolate from the world?  The easy answer is that it is right if God says to do it.  Would God ever say to do it?  Certainly, He has in the past and may in the future.  When the Lord was ready to bring judgment upon the earth in Noah's day He instructed Noah to build an Ark.  Then the day came when the Lord said to Noah, go into the ark with your family and the door was shut.  Actually, Genesis 7:16 tells us that "the Lord closed the door behind them."  What followed was the judgment of God, the cleansing of the wickedness of mankind from the earth and the protection of the people of God.  That seems to be a biblical pattern.  Another prophetic and even Messianic directive of the Lord came to Isreal as they lived in the bondage of the Egyptians.  When God's day of judgment for Egypt and deliverance for Israel came, there were specific instructions.  Each family was to take an unblemished lamb(paschal lamb), slaughter it and put the blood of that lamb over their doorpost of their house with hyssop.  When the death angel passed over, the first born child of every family would die except for the houses with the blood over the doorpost.  The blood over the doorpost determined judgment or deliverance and safety for those living under the blood!  Later as Israel is released from the bondage of the world, the Egyptians took chase to put them into bondage again.  This time the Red Sea opened, Israel walked through on dry ground and the Egyptian army was destroyed by water.  Again, cleansing came upon wickedness and the people of God were protected by God.  This process relied upon the timing of God and man's obedience to God's voice when that time came.  Some would argue but judgment still comes even in our modern era.  Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."  Ephesians 5:5  "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."  

Since the Bible tells us in these verses and others that there is coming an end to this age, this life as we know it, what then should be our preparation for a day such as this?  It is important to know that we can't prepare when the crisis is upon us.  Israel, as with Noah, had to make preparation out of obedience prior to the judgment. We must live prepared ahead of time.  Of course when Jesus returns, the door of salvation will be closed and opportunities for avoiding eternal judgment will be over.  Yet there will be other times before the coming of the Lord that will bring judgment.  These will be times of God's love in dealing with the rebellous and giving opportunity to turn away from their sin and rebellion against God in order to be saved. Then, just as in Noah's day, God will separate his people, those who have prepared themselves with the Blood of Jesus and obedience to God's Word, and they will be saved from disaster of the judgment of God.  Ephesians 5:6 makes it clear that "the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."  God is loving, merciful and long suffering but there will be a day of reckoning.  There will be a day when mockers and the rebellious will be caught off guard as surely as in Noah's day.  Then, the Lord Himself will shut the door.  

May God give us anointing, wisdom and boldness to convince as many as possible before the hour of grace ends. 

To Aspire To Live Quietly

1 Thessalonians 4:11 (ESV)...aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs"

It has been very interesting to participate in and observe the reactions of people to social distancing and isolation due to the Covid-19 virus.  It is a quieter world in some ways.  If you remove the panic and anxiety of some, you sense a peace and stillness that isn't our modern norm.  A lot of things are being uncovered.  Addictions are surfacing for what they are.  Addictions for the Christian are idols of the soul.  They are things that share the throne of our spirit man with Jesus.  King Jesus wants to reign in our lives from our hearts without competition.  Certainly, as a spirit, mind and body creation, we are interested and involved in many different activities that are good and healthy.  But none of those things can become idols to us. They can't become things we just can't live without.  Feelings of withdrawal are cracks revealed in our devotion to the Lord. I've noticed that liquor stores are offering to deliver you alcoholic beverages right to your door!  How convenient.  That would only be critically important to the one with an addiction.  But what about other idols of the soul?  What about the noise of activities, the distraction of entertainment, the illusion of service to God by many good works.  Our verse above, the words of the Apostle Paul, tells us to "aspire or set as a goal a quiet life." At least make as an aim a quieter life.  The life of a follower of Jesus, a disciple, is to first hear and then obey the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Hearing and obeying...that's it!  A great man of God that had accomplished much was once asked what was the secret of his success.  He said, "I pray and I obey." Aspire to live  quietly Paul says.  It is in that quiet life that a controlled life is found.  It is within this sanctuary of worship in our spirit that we can actually hear the voice of God.  It is difficult to hear His Voice as a prisoner of entertainment.  It is difficult to hear his voice in the clamor of social interaction.  It is even very difficult to hear his voice in the crowded life of Christian ministry. I know.  I've lived there.  I've had to fight the ongoing war of clearing my life to hear God's direction and instruction.  We often become desperate because we have stopped hearing and get into trouble.  We stop everything, cry out to God and we hear!  He's always speaking.  We only heard because we removed ourself from the whirlwind and entered the spiritual sanctuary of His presence.  

Today, cast aside the anxiety, the uncertainty of the current crisis.  But please, may we all learn from this time of shutdown about "aspiring to live quietly." May we all evaluate our addictions, remove their power over us, and reestablish King Jesus on the throne of our hearts once again.

Isaiah 26:20 "Come, my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourselves for a little while

until the fury has passed by."

Panic, Faith and Actions

As I write this I can hear the Harley Davidson motorcycles rumbling down the road where I live.  I live in St. Augustine Beach, Florida, a favorite spot for bikers during Bike Week in Daytona.  St. Augustine is also the headquarters for the Professional Golfers Association.  Their very special event, The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra has been cancelled after only one round of play.  I'm sure the leaders of that enterprise are getting a lot of criticism for their decision.  Sporting events as well as other larger gatherings all around the world are being cancelled or postponed because of the Corona Virus.  Last night we learned that a Biker from New York on his way to Daytona became ill here and has tested positively for the virus.  Now it is in our little town with scores being affected that  have been in contact with him.  People are wrestling with decisions around the world.  People are asking, "should we cancel our event or should we close our business, should we have church services?  What do I do with my 401K or retirement funds that are in the stock market?"  I'm being asked some of those questions.  One stock broker said this week that the average Wall Street investments had fallen around 35% at one point.  We had the largest single day decline in history.  What guidelines should we follow as Christians in making decisions about  these and other things.  Here are a few thoughts on all of this.

MAKING DECISIONS AS A CHRISTIAN

1.  Don't Panic- Many years ago I taught a message on "Panic Kills Divers!"  It was based on actual event that happened to me while scuba diving.  The summary of that message was that panic can paralyze you with fear and can cause you to make bad decisions and ultimately get you killed.

I had a heart attack once and while getting tested in a Doctor's office, the Doctor said, "he's having an event right now!  Get him to CICU immediately for a heart Cath.!"  I said, "no, I won't go."  He took me out front and in front of his staff and a cardiologist he said, " I told this man to go to the hospital and he refuses.  Make note that he might not make it home alive!" I told them thank you but I would go home and I would come back to the hospital.  They weren't happy but they were telling me the best information they could give. Why would I do such a foolish thing? (I don't advise anyone to do this!) My reason was that I was in a state of fear and panic.  The Bible teaches us that "anything that is not of faith is sin."  I would not submit to any procedure in fear.  I had to get into a place of faith before I submitted to tests and procedures.  I went home, had a bite to eat, walked around in the yard praying and meditating on the Lord and then had Teresa drive me to the hospital.  When I walked in the Intensive Coronary Care Unit they said, "well, we haven't seen anyone WALK in here before!"  I had to get into a faith posture while in a time of panic and fear.  I had to do the same thing a few years later before I would agree to Open Heart Surgery.  I did it from a position of faith and trust in the Lord.  Get into a place of peace and out of panic before making decisions.  ALL DECISIONS!

2.  Make Decisions In Faith- This is critically important.  Don't make rash, knee jerk decisions.  Don't allow people, problems or panic to force you to make decisions.  Wait upon the Lord in prayer expecting to hear a word, find a Scripture or sense that deep abiding peace before acting.  The Bible, God's inner voice and internal peace are three major ingredients to making decisions for those filled with the Holy Spirit.  WAIT UPON THE LORD!

3.  Walk It Out In Faith- Once we have our direction we now move in faith and we don't look back. That Word, that Spirit led decision, was a marker in the ground in our lives.  When circumstances look bad, we look back by faith at the marker we placed in the ground of faith.  We won't second guess our decision or God.  Even in small matters of purchasing an item I ask the Lord for his guidance. I do my best to follow my peace and decision.  Once the decision is made I won't look back and I won't check prices any longer!  Do the same in making and following our Holy Spirit led decisions.  There are always questions after we hear from God.  That is the trial of faith but real faith is faithful!

4.  Individual and Group Decisions - People have to make their own decisions and leaders of groups must make their own decisions.  As leaders, we must allow people the freedom to follow their own heart in decisions.  As members of groups we must trust our leaders and give them the freedom to make decisions for group matters. For example, if leaders feel a group meeting is supposed to be held in questionable times, then, leaders must allow members to follow their own heart without criticism or judgment.  Likewise, members must allow leaders to make group decisions without criticism or judgment.  We are all human and "we hold these treasures in earthen vessels."

We are living in unprecedented hours right now.  It is not a time for new principles or ideas about making choices and decisions.  We must step back, take a deep breath and get into the Presence of Jesus for his answers and reassurance.

Distractions

My wife Teresa is one of the most disciplined and steadfast people I have ever known.  Her faithfulness has motivated me for over half a century to move to a higher place. It is not my nature to remain focused, it is something that I have to strive to do.  Teresa lives a focused life as a part of her steadfast life.  Which came first? I'm not sure but they certainly work together and are necessary.  If I walk through the room and she is in her devotional time, (Bible reading and prayer time) I've learned not to interrupt.  If I try she often doesn't even hear me! She is able to live, for the most part, above distractions.  I struggle with that. I think at one time I even liked being the problem solver more than the visionary leader.  I have often used the excuse that my years serving as a pastor caused me to be a problem solver.  I see, I engage and at times I conquer.  But more often than not I am distracted from the real mission before me.  Too many times I have been on a God given mission and became distracted by a problem and left the mission for the problem.

When Jesus visited Mary and Martha, Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was lazy and not helping as much as she thought she needed to be doing.  The Scripture puts the finger on Martha's problem. The Bible says she was "distracted." Every time I'm involved in the discussion of Mary and Martha I enjoy saying, "yeah but, it was Martha's house.  Mary didn't even have a house. Martha was a worker!" But...Jesus didn't seem impressed with Martha's attitude in this Divine moment of fellowship with King Jesus!  We can miss the Presence of Jesus and we can miss real revival because of what seems like important things.  In Martha's case, intimacy with Jesus was affected by a wrong focus.

Today I hear talk about a need for revival.  But in all honesty I hear more talk about politics, political parties and elections than I do about spiritual revival from the presence of Jesus.  What if God sends revival to America?  Will the church even know the Lord has visited?  Or will the church of today be more like Martha who was blind to the real life changing spiritual moment for some worldly political argument that will pass away at the return of Christ.  May we be good Americans but may we be better followers of Jesus.  Let's shake ourselves from the distractions of our day and hour and press in to know and follow Jesus as never before!  The presence of Jesus can do more in a moment than man and his systems can accomplish in a lifetime.

Christian Maturity: Who is Responsible?

It used to be said, "I'm leaving that church because I'm not being fed!" Today you don't hear that very much anymore.  Is it because people feel they are "being fed" or because they no longer quantify their spiritual growth? Many Christians seem to be satisfied with living a life of eternal shallowness.  Shallowness in the faith life seems to be too prevalent.  The really scary part is that far too many don't seem to know that there is even a lack and think that spiritual shallowness is all that is required or maybe that it is the norm.  In the past, local churches had as a primary goal beyond salvation, the maturing of their members in their faith life.  Today the local church vision is often servicing the herd rather than shepherding the flock. It appears that personal transformation has evolved into personal mediocrity.  The word mediocre is defined as "ordinariness, common place, lack of inspiration." When I read that, I think, "how boring and how dangerous!"  That description is not what motivated me to become a Christian, live the Christian life or pursue a life of ministry.  My motivation was an internal motivation to truly know the Lord, to grow in that relationship and help others grow as well.  My great blessing was that I was surrounded by others who were on that same quest.  Mediocrity was not in our plan.  In all honesty, many of us walked away from christian mediocrity in pursuit of Christian Passion, Excellence and Maturity.  I'm still on that quest as I hope you are.

Who is responsible for the state if mediocrity, the shepherd or the sheep?  Both! The Pastor or Shepherd has to take very seriously their mandate to "shepherd the flock of God" and the believer must take seriously their own primary role in seeking to know God in an ever increasing way.  As a new follower of Christ many years ago I was in a church that was studying the book of Revelation.  I was stunned when we read Revelation 3:15“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. These are the Words of Jesus!

As we begin this new year may we make the personal decision not to blame a person or a church or even our circumstances for our spiritual lack.  May we turn full faced to Jesus and ask in faith for a fresh outpouring of His love, passion and power!

The Shadow of the Cross Over The Manger

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

This is an unusual portion of Scripture to use at Christmas.  But today I am stirred by the thought that from the birth of the Baby Jesus in the manger, a dark but real shadow of the Cross was looming.  I know and understand that the Cross was the most positive event in history and the point of the redemption of mankind. Yet, for the son of God to get to that point required the son of man to persevere through all the temptations common to us all. Hallelujah! He did it and his overcoming life redeemed all of us who have believed on His Name! While we don't need to  pay the price for our salvation again, only Jesus could do that, we do need to walk in the overcoming life to finish our race in Him.  What can we learn from the victorious life of Jesus as a man filled with the Holy Spirit?

First Jesus fought through the temptations of the enemy to compromise the will of God for his life.  Then he ran his race with endurance.  One of the primary ways he was able to run with endurance was focusing on the end result of his life mission.  He saw his faithful completion of his task as a point of joy.  Although he despised the shame associated with his assignment, the joy pressed him through the personal cost. His end result was that He was and is seated at the right hand of God in heaven.  

We are all looking forward in life to that point in time when we are welcomed into the Presence of God for an eternity of celebration around the throne of God.  But we have to endure until the end to get there.  As a part of our Christmas celebration, let's use the Christmas story as a motivation for the year ahead.  Let us begin by laying aside weights and sins that have hindered us in the past year.  Then, let us set our sights on Jesus and his finished plan for us.  Let's commit ourselves to winning this race by living a life in the Joy of our salvation for what is ahead.  May we despise sin and temptation around us and pray for deliverance from the traps of the enemy as we persevere toward our prize, the Lord Jesus!

Merry Christmas and a Victorious Overcoming New Year!