ADs December 2014 Devotional

It’s December 2014 and the world is ablaze. A spark of rage from Ferguson MO lights a nation-wide fire of perceived injustice. ISIS uses the pent-up anger of naïve and disenfranchised youth to recruit them to their horrific cause. What a perfect time for us as believers to show His peace to a world that has none.  
    Paul, facing extremely unjust circumstances, said, “I have learned the secret of being content.” (Phil 4:11).   His secret? “I can be content in any and every situation through the Anointed One who is my power and strength” Phil. 4:13 (Voice). This type of contentment is not natural; it is learned!
    My prayer for you this Christmas season is that you are learning to walk with Jesus, depending on Him whatever your challenges. If we are to speak prophetically to our angry and discontent generation, we must learn this secret of contentment. Let’s let His peace radiate through us as we speak prophetically to our world desperate to know Him.

ADs Devotional November 2014

Nearly 40 years ago, I held my marriage proposal in my hand anxious to know how Patti would respond. In a rare moment of poetic inspiration, I had scripted the events of our relationship past, present, and future as a dream we remembered. This is a small portion of the proposal:

“I remember the sparkle in your soft brown eyes when first we met. You were standing alone. I was standing lonely. I remember a life of ministry together, first God, then each other, then the world. I remember life together. But how can I remember the joys of the future yet to be lived… is it a dream?

Dreams are the unfulfilled wishes of the future, yet to be realized until faith declares the present to be now. Patti, declare with me, the dream of the future to be now. Say you remember, say you’ll marry me.

   Thirty-nine years of life and ministry together testify to the power of that dream. With maturity comes a greater capacity to understand the power of a vision and dreams. Joel 2:28 (The Voice) declares  “Your elders will dream dreams; your young warriors will see visions.” Whether you’re an elder or a young warrior, allow the power of your visions and dreams to declare your present to be now, a God-shaped reality that trumps whatever obstacle you may be facing. Dream with me the vibrant and rich dreams God has yet to fulfill in your lives and ministry. There is power in those dreams.

AD's October Devotional

Nothing demands our focused contemplation on the value of life as the death of an innocent child. Philip and Darla (Eytzen) Brown laid their 17-month-old baby boy to rest. The memorial service was a powerful witness that hope trumps sorrow when believers choose to live their lives on purpose. The courage of the extended family and the compassionate koinonia of lifetime friends corporately declared victory over death, Jesus the victor over the grave. This is life… lived on purpose.

   On the way to the interment, I saw this vision statement on a local church: 

“Love God, love people… on purpose.” 

What a commanding counterbalance to the unexamined life of Proverbs 19:3 

“A person's own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.” NIV

   As believers, let’s live our lives on purpose. Choose to take full responsibility 

for your decisions. Bring Glory to God in every phase of your lives. As 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, 

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.

 The process never ends until we die.

 And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

   Living life on purpose. It’s a potent ideal. Our prayers and our love 

are with our missionary colleagues Dale and Delight Eytzen and the family, especially Philip and Darla. 

AD's September Devotional

Life is a journey not measured by landmarks of accomplishments as much as a deepening sense of who and whose we are and where we’re going. God has planted eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The sense that we’re not really home until we’re home with Jesus compels us to live as transients in this world in our journey of faith, traveling lightly, unencumbered. (Hebrews 11:8-16) It also gives us a sense of identity.
   In the 2001 movie, “A Knight’s Tale,” young William Thatcher sees a Knight riding through his medieval town and declares, “Someday, I’ll be a Knight.” A man locked up in the stocks, laughs and says, “A thatcher’s son becoming a Knight! You might as well try to change the stars!” William asks his father, “Can a man change the stars?” “Yes, William. If he believes enough, a man can do anything!”
   Young William gets a chance to be a Squire to a Knight. As he is leaving for his journey he says, “Father, I am afraid. I won’t know the way back home.” His father says, “Don’t be foolish, William, you just follow your feet home!”
   By a twist of fate, he gets a chance to prove that he is worthy of Knighthood. As a man, now back in his hometown, in the hearing audience of his father, he is declared to be “Sir William Thatcher."
   William would not settle for the status quo. He followed the destiny that was placed in his heart by his father. His journeys of faith led him in his quest for Knighthood and eventually back to his father. Our Heavenly Father puts eternity in our hearts and we must follow His sense of destiny for our lives as we follow our feet back home… to Him.

ADs August Devotional

The Day after Tomorrow 

the day after 

the Centennial Celebration

   One hundred years ago, a group of 300 delegates of a newly formed Spirit-empowered movement pledged themselves to do “the greatest work of evangelism the world has ever seen.”  

   In August, at the Centennial of that movement, the Assemblies of God will celebrate how God Sovereignly molded and shaped us with a clear and compelling mission to reach the lost. We’ll celebrate our miraculous growth from 300 members to 67 million members in 300,000 churches worldwide.  

   The day after that celebration, what will be our defining vision? Sure, times have changed. Methodologies have to adapt to those changes. But, in those changes, we must never forget that our reason for being must not change.  

   Humanity is still lost without Jesus. Our General Superintendent Dr. George Wood defines our ageless mission clothed in the contemporary vernacular as the “human right.” Former AGWM Executive Director Loren Triplett once said, 

“You don’t measure yourself by your success. 

You measure yourself against the unfinished task.”  

   The day after tomorrow’s celebration, I pray we will sense the urgency of the hour to thrust us into the next 100 years of evangelism should the Lord tarry. 

    John 4:35 (NASB)  

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, 

and then comes the harvest’? 

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes 

and look on the fields, 

that they are white for harvest.

ADs July Devotional

A well-dressed street musician stands statute-like holding his string bass instrument. It’s Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 6 pm in the middle of a prominent plaza in Sabadell, Spain. A little girl around 10 years old runs up and drops a coin in a hat lying upside down by his feet.  He begins to play a deep and beautiful tune, “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Soon, one by one an entire orchestra and two choirs join in the celebration of joy that mesmerizes and delights everyone within hearing distance of this captivating flash mob.
   Sure, this “spontaneous event” was orchestrated and sponsored by Banco Sabadell in celebration of its 130th anniversary. Sure, the 100 members of the orchestra and two choirs had spent their lives in disciplined training for occasions just like this one. Sure, someone had meticulously planned where and how this experience was going to take place, but don’t tell this little girl! As she stands transfixed by the impromptu crescendo of the members of this group, she knows! She started the music! It was her coin that began it all.
   At times in ministry, all we have to give is a small coin. Our talent, resources and time may seem insignificant (Matt 13:31-32). Let’s be honest. It has never been about our resources, but God’s. Take your little coin. Drop it at God’s feet. Then watch in wonderment. God has already prepared a joyous event. Soon His joy will be evident in all that hear His music.
http://www.Godtube.com/watch/?v=WKKZ6LNX

ADs June Devotional

 

Just Too Much Stuff in Our Heads!

One of our granddaughters (GRD) had just petted a black bunny rabbit in a pet store and was in a crisis.  Riding home in the van, she cried for 15 minutes desperately trying to convince her mother, “I don’t want to wash my hands.  I don’t ever want to wash off the bunny.  I want to feel it forever and remember it forever.  (Sob)  I want that black bunny…Stop laughing Mom!”  One hour later…”I feel like I should be able to have my own things now.  I feel like I should be married now.”  Her Mother, “Oh yeah…”  GRD, “Yeah, because I am the oldest one.  So, I am old and young.  And I should be able to have my own bunny now.”  Her younger sister, “Why are you still talking about this?  You are killing me!”  GRD, “You are killing ME!”  Younger Sister, “You’re the one who won’t stop talking about a black bunny”.  GRD, “There is just too much stuff going on in my head right now, the bunny, math, 5 and 10s, clean the cage, feed the dog, feed the fish, feed the hamster, there is too much in my head, I can’t handle it!”

Sometimes as missionaries we’re just like my granddaughter…too much stuff in our heads!  In those times of insanity, we need to find our peace in Jesus.  As Isaiah 26:3 (TLB) says, “He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!”  Whatever your black bunny crisis is put it in right perspective as you turn your thoughts often to Jesus.

ADs May Devotional

 

Never Underestimate the Power of One

In a LACC chapel following a powerful sermon, the invited speaker challenged the students to be available to God for ministry.  The anointing was there.  There was a genuine desire to respond but peer pressure kept the students in their seats.  Finally, one brave boy came forward to declare his commitment.  As his peers looked on, the Holy Spirit began to convict others.  Soon, the altar was full.  One student’s bold declaration of faith broke the fear barrier.  God used the one to reach the many.

Never underestimate the power of one.  As Edward Everett Hale said, “I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

As we seek God’s anointing, believe with me for great victories.  “For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”  (Deuteronomy 20:4)

ADs April Devotional

Not Owning it Could Lead to Disowning it: Neutrality is not an Option

The 1989 song “In the Living Years” captured the sense that each generation bears the burden of the previous one.  The lyrics assert, “Every generation blames the one before…I know that I am a prisoner to all my father held so dear.  I know that I am a hostage to all his hopes and fears.  I just wish I could have told him in the living years.”  The hopes and dreams of his father exasperated him yet the songwriter was tethered to those values and lived with regret for not telling his father so.  Each generation must respect the past while staking claim on the future.  If AGWM and AG are going to be resilient and relevant in the years to come, the next generation must fashion their own vision or be in jeopardy of losing everything, neutrality is not an option.  There is an ominous message in 2 Chronicles 24 where Joash, a semi-committed young leader sealed the fate of a nation.  When he was seven years old he became king.  While Jehoiada the priest was his advisor, ‘he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’ (v.2) but his commitment was superficial.  Although he fought to have the Temple restored, all that changed when Jehoiada died.  Leaders played to his ego and persuaded him to abandon the Temple.  When Jehoiada’s son Zechariah confronted his disobedience, he had him killed.  He disavowed his loyalty to his childhood adviser by killing his son.  Then he disowned the God of his Calling.  His people suffered defeat, turned on him, and killed him.  “He was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery” (V.17-25).  What a sad ending for a passionate young man who lacked his own vision!  With the 100th year anniversary of the Assemblies of God taking place this year, we need ministers and missionaries with a fresh vision for the future.  Our past formed us.  Our values have sustained us.  Now we need to own our own vision that will carry us into the future.  Own it or lose it!  It’s our time now! 

ADs March Devotional

 

“But it doesn’t matter.”

      A disgruntle teenager chaffing at authority hears the frustrated threat of her mother, “Clean up your room or you’ll be grounded for life.”  She moans in resignation, “Yeah, whatever!”   In an act of defiance strangely mingled with compliance, she is saying, “I hear you but it really doesn’t matter.”  Acquiescence to a fate not of our choosing is the normal sense of “it doesn’t matter” which is a destructive and hopeless fatalism.   Unwanted circumstances plus the inability to determine one’s destiny equal resignation and fatalism.

     But when Paul, the man of God, uses those words, the victim becomes the victor.   He’s in prison.   Some insecure colleagues jealous of his ministry seize upon his misfortune to “preach about Christ for selfish and wrong reasons, wanting to make trouble for (him) in prison.”  (Phil. 1:16 NCV)  Paul’s reaction?  “It doesn’t matter.”   He knows God is in control.  Paul is confident that whether it’s for the right or wrong reason, people are still hearing about Christ and in that he rejoices.   His resolve is strengthened.

     He exclaims, “So I am happy…. I expect ... that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage … to show the greatness of Christ in my life…” (Phil. 1:18-20 NCV portions)   Unwanted circumstances plus trust in the Greatness of God to work despite the circumstances equals rejoicing and greater commitment.  

     Your circumstances don’t determine your destiny.   God does and He is at work in your life!   “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”  (Romans 8:28 NIV)  Live on the victory side of your circumstances!

ADs February Devotional

How’s Your Aim? 

 

   Never has the old proverb, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” been better illustrated than a phone message I just received.   I had 8 voice mails waiting from me when I landed in Miami after being in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) for 2 weeks.   An unidentified number left me this message, “Hi baby Jean, it’s momma Sam.  Bye.”  I wasn’t entirely sure who baby Jean or momma Sam were but I was convinced that that loving exchange wasn’t meant for me!  Momma Sam randomly threw her loving comment into cyberspace hoping it would connect.   It didn’t!  Momma’s love needed better direction.   So does our prayers.

   My time in TCI illuminated this reality.  The two-week course I taught was on Evangelism Today.  We learned techniques for sharing our faith.   We were inspired to share our faith.   We had two outreaches into the neighbor sharing our faith.   Still, the most powerful night was when the class members identified one person in their lives allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them in creating a strategy for reaching them. After their “reports”, we interceded for their friends, claiming victory over every hindrance to their surrender to God’s Grace.   Powerful, directed, insightful, an yes, anointed!   Two things left an indelible impression on my spirit.  We must pray for those we hope to reach.   Those prayers must be directed by the Holy Spirit.   Take better aim and let’s see what God will do!  "For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:15-16 (NIV)

ADs January Devotional

Honor Whom Honor is Due

 

 

Our heartfelt thanks go to our beloved colleagues Ron and Carolyn Hittenberger who will be “retiring” from their many responsibilities after 48 ½ years of faithful service.   Honored as unsung heroes in our MR in 2009, their life story serves as an inspiration to the next generation, which has always been the focus of their ministry.   They’ve served 23 years in Haiti, 4 years in the Bahamas, 10 years as the Academic Dean of the Caribbean School of Theology and finished their career as the Global Caribbean Director.  When Ron transitioned from CST to Global in 2009, the leaders of CFAGE honored Ron with endearing words of appreciation for his impact on their lives.  As Ron announced his final resignation, words of praise continued.  Rev. Dr. Patrick Paul from the Bahamas writes, “You have indeed left a legacy in these parts of the world and we know that a rich reward awaits you in Glory!”   Rev. John Smith writes, “From Guyana we wish to record our deep appreciation for your labor of love in the Caribbean in all areas. ”  In 2011 in a prayer covenant, Ron wrote, “The Lord impressed upon my heart the importance of finishing strong in my walk with Him. My heart's desire is to be faithful in serving the Lord to the end of my days.”    Ron and Carolyn, as your colleagues, we honor you.   You are indeed finishing strong and are definitely leaving a legacy of godly and selfless service for the Glory of God.  [Ron’s favorite scripture Deut 31:8 ESV  ^“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”]