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|  For the first time in 32 years, I have no facial hair. I tried to shave a few times and just could not bring myself to do it. Vanity, vanity! So I finally decided that it must be a strong hold so off it came. I don't know how long it will last. My kids had never seen me without it so they are in for a shock! | | |
|  About 5 years ago, we visited our son in Birmingham and while there had the privilege of attending several sessions of a conference Student Life was hosting for ministers. At one of the evening sessions, I heard one of the most impacting sermons of my entire life. Dr. Robert Smith, an African American professor of preaching at Beeson Divinity School, delivered a passionate sermon from 2 Samuel, chapter 9. This passage is the account of King David wishing to fulfill his covenant promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to surviving members of King Saul’s family.
The only remaining relative was Mephibosheth, a young man who is initially nameless and referred to as “a son of Jonathan, crippled in both feet”.
This sermon has stayed with me and continued to build in value all of these years. It is such a portrait of grace, mercy, salvation, restoration and reconciliation. This past Sunday, I preached from that same passage at Wells of Mercy Church in Lanseria, South Africa. The LORD had provided some new revelation of the scripture but much of what I shared came directly from Dr. Smith’s sermon.
The impact of the sermon can only be described as a move of the Holy Spirit. One point, in particular, struck home with my Zulu, Setswana, and Sotho brothers and sisters. It was that Mephibosheth was not acknowledged by his name but only by his condition, and that King David looked beyond his condition, called him by name, restored him to his original status and blessed him with a place at the king’s table.
Many of these people are only known by their condition: they are the poor people; they are the jobless; they are the sufferers of AIDS; they are the homeless; they are the hungry. But no one calls them by their name. They identified with Mephibosheth. But King Jesus calls them by their name, looks beyond their conditions and calls them to a place at the king’s table.
Something dramatic happened in the Spirit that day. The entire church came forward to proclaim that they would no longer let the devil just call them by their condition, but that they would listen for the LORD calling their name. They asked that the few white people in attendance surround them and declare them free. This was a prophetic action of tearing down the final walls of apartheid and letting their true freedom in Christ be their reality.
So, I thank the LORD for moving, but I especially thank Dr. Smith for sharing the word’s of the loving Father those many years ago. He was a huge part in “setting the captive’s free” in a little church in Africa on May 28, 2006.
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| For those of you who have not read Kim's blog from Thailand and the associated comments, click on the link below and read it before proceeding.
http://kimk.theworldrace.org/index.asp?guid=F6147692DEBD40DAA9F45A08EE90F2
As Kim’s Dad, I wanted to post this to let you know my feelings about what the World Racers did in Thailand. As of father, you are always concerned about the safety and welfare of your children. However, as a Disciple of the LORD Jesus Christ, the concerns must be transferred to the ONE who can bear them, Jesus Himself. I am so proud of Kim and the others for courageously (and not foolishly) following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It has been my prayer for Kim’s entire life that she would follow Jesus, and now that she has reached that point in her life, I have to trust her to the LORD. Does that mean that I don’t cover her in prayers (pray without ceasing!)? Definitely not, but it does mean that I MUST trust God to protect her since he called her to that place.
Kim’s generation is being called out by God to be the spiritual army that takes the nations. I see the hunger of this generation for a true cause to believe in and be a part of. Jesus Christ is that cause. A lie that I have heard from the pulpit many times is “The safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will”. I challenge that statement every time I hear it. God’s will is for us to make disciples of all nations. If we are to do that, we will enter the territory of the enemy and that is a dangerous place. But it is the place to which true disciples are called.
If the middle of God’s will is so safe, why did the Apostle Paul write these words in II Corinthians 11:23b – 28? “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
I am quite positive that Paul was in the middle of God's will. If anyone in history, other than Jesus himself, was in the middle of God's will, it was the Apostle Paul.
Many of your own children are being called to this life of discipleship. Many other young adults that you care about are being called. Which do you care about more, their safety or their calling?
Despite myself, my love for my daughter, and my parental instincts, I choose to care more about her calling. Kim, I’m proud of you but more than that, Jesus is proud of you. | | |
| Sunday, two weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to preach in the church plant we are a part of in the rural area outside Johannesburg. I really struggled the whole week in preparation for the topic the LORD wanted presented to the people, many whom struggle with poverty, unemployment and HIV.
I settled on the story of Gideon from Judges Chapter 6. There is such a richness of truth in the account of Gideon and the LORD has really made it Rhema word to me over the years.
The service went well and we had many (if not most) of the congregation repenting and coming forward to receive prayer.
But the best testimony from the service came this week. One of the ladies in attendance had been raised a Catholic and had not been in church for 18 years. On that Sunday, she came along with her husband and one of her children. She was especially touched by the part where Gideon makes excuses to the Angel of the LORD with “I am the weakest member of the least family of the smallest clan of the smallest tribe”. To which God replied, “Have I not sent you. Go in this your strength”.
She took this truth home with her. Home is in an area that is ridden with crime, especially drug dealers. Her own son had fallen into drug addiction and crime. Armed with the truth of the LORD, she vowed to “go in the strength of the LORD” and not put up with the drug dealing on her doorstep. She contacted the South African equivalent of the DEA and they have already begun working undercover to clean up her home area. She has taken a step despite feeling for so long that she was the weakest of the least.
Praise God for HIS Word and the truth that is revealed. “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you FREE”! | | |
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