I just enjoyed an Email exchange with one of our church members, and I’m stealing a phrase from my friend’s last Email. He mentioned the kind of “seismic change” that only God can make in the world, and in our lives, and that really got me thinking. Lucky for you, I’m dragging you into my “thinking.”
Only God.
For starters, the word “impossible” appears less than a dozen times in the Bible. It must not be part of God’s regular vocabulary. That’s likely because (I’ll quote Jesus from Matthew 19:26), “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Only God.
The more that I think about this, the more that I find it exceptionally hopeful! Yes, it humbles me, but that’s as it should be. Yes, it places parameters on my own abilities, but that’s really no surprise. Yes, it demands a response of faith – but even that I can depend upon the Lord to supply me with when I need it most. But the fact that God is never limited by the limitations which plague me … now that’s some good news that will warm even the stubborn heart of yours truly!
Here’s the fascinating thing: I’m often shocked when I see one of God’s seismic changes! In my spiritual slumber, I somehow sink into forgetting the Lord’s perfect ability to transform any situation, as well as the fact that He’s so much more invested in redeeming the world’s messes than I could ever imagine. Friends, here’s what I’m admitting to you: in my sinful heart, I secretly place limits on God. (Thus, the surprise when God acts like God.)
Before I was born, A.W. Tozer issued a stirring challenge which I hope never to forget: “Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do here; anything He did any other time He is willing to do now; anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us! With our feet on the ground, and our head cool, but with our heart ablaze with the love of God, we walk out in this fullness of the Spirit, if we will yield and obey. God wants to work through you!”
That quote both convicts and inspires me. Maybe you can relate. Far too often I live in that world of unbelief, but I long to live in that world of faith.
Christ generally stirs my heart as I sit down to write these blog postings, so I’ll simply share with you what’s happening in my soul today. If any of it is a blessing in your life, I am both humbled and grateful.
First of all, I’d like to make a simple observation: God loves Green Hills. And I’m not just talking about our church, but I’m meaning to embrace in my statement all of our surrounding community. It’s easy to get lost in the traffic and trendy shops – and even the beauty of the surrounding “green hills” (thank you, Jesus, for the recent rain) – but I’m here to tell you that God loves the people! All of them! And so must we. Our area may be known for its blue-blooded history and sprawling mansions, but what’s of inestimable significance is that every person strolling by the Pottery Barn is a precious soul. Every one of them has been created for eternity. Every one of them needs a Savior. Every one of them matters. God loved Nineveh, for goodness’ sake! God loves Green Hills. You and I ought to expect nothing less than that He would delight in shaking up this place with the wonder of Christ’s gospel!
Secondly, I’ll say it like this: 2022 is no mere footnote in human history. R.C. Sproul used to say, “Right now counts forever.” He was right on! So was Coach Mike Ditka: “You gotta live in the moment. I don’t care what you’ve done in your life; it has nothing to do with what you’re gonna do or what you can do. The past is history; tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift – that’s why they call it the present.” Here’s my point: let’s keep reminding each other that our Sovereign God has an unstoppable and great plan for Planet Earth – including Green Hills – and that He’s working even as I pen these words in important ways that we can’t always observe with human eyes. Even now.
Lastly, I’m thinking back to some of the surprising moves of the Holy Spirit in history …
In 1857, America was headed toward a Civil War, as you well know. The stock market crashed, and along with it there emerged quickly the sense of national panic which we would expect. There was widespread political disintegration over the issue of slavery. And there had been such a season of false “end-of-the-world” preaching that many were struggling with spiritual disillusionment as well. A man named Jeremiah Lanphier was part of a church that was shrinking, and he wasn’t trained as a pastor, and he may have been the last person that anyone would have sensed could have turned things around. And this was in Lower Manhattan of all places. But Jeremiah started public prayer meetings in a rented hall on Fulton Street (with banks and railroads failing, who in the world could afford to take that risk?), and he started purposefully issuing the invitation to come and seek the face of God … and in less than half a year 10,000 people were coming together to pray in New York City!
Of course, God wasn’t just working in New York. He was working in Chicago, and in some smaller cities in our nation’s midsection, and – for that matter – He was working everywhere.
Only God.
Why not here? Why not now? Why not us?
Pastor Charles
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