SelahV Today by hariette petersen

THE CHANGE WE NEED...

won't happen on November 4th--no matter who is elected as the next President of the United States.

As it stands, the polls all across the nation reflect that the number one issue on voters' minds is the economy.

Some folks want the government to enlarge, to tax the wealthy and take their money and give others unearned handouts.  They seek to change government into the big-umbrella of distributing healthcare, retirement and income.  They plan to reduce our dependence on the Chavez and Middle East oil producers (who'd like to see us crumble as a nation) by banning our own oil-drilling opportunities, eliminating coal-mining jobs and axing any designs on nuclear facilities. 

Other folks want the government to get smaller, to tighten their belts and stop spending needlessly on programs and pork-barrel projects that destroy the economy and increase the deficit.  They seek to freeze spending and balance the budget.  They seek to create jobs by building nuclear plants, drilling offshore in our own waters, tapping into our endless supply of natural gas and using every available method of energy production from wind and sun and reprocessing.

But none of those things represent the change we really need in America.  We need people to stop, drop, and roll. 

STOP.  Stop living like the world.  Stop investing in the things of earth; start investing in eternity.  Stop giving into Satan's temptations.  Stop condemning brothers and sisters in Christ.  Stop criticizing and complaining; begin encouraging and praising.  Stop counting your losses; begin counting your blessings.  Stop changing for the world; begin changing for Jesus.

DROP.  Drop to your knees and begin praying like you've never prayed before.  Drop bad habits and replace them with good habits.  Drop unseemly attitudes and change.  Drop what you're doing and do what the Spirit of God leads you to do. 

ROLL.  Roll your works on God.  Roll over your minutes to greater hours of service to others.  Roll on towards the prize set before you and don't look back, be discouraged or disheartened.         

We need people to turn their eyes away from the lure of the world and turn towards God.  We need to seek our power from the Spirit of God--not seek the power of government to control us.  We need to change our habitual need to serve ourselves and gratify our inner sensualities.  We need to empty ourselves and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  We need to prune away the deadwood from our lives and the suckers of ambition that rob us of the joy of our salvation.  For things to change--we need to change.  So stop, drop and roll.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]      

ECONOMIC GOSPELIZATION

"It's the economy."  A good economy fuels complacent thinking.  We are lulled into a false security that we are in control of our lives.  We don't have to sacrifice anything to accomplish anything.  We do not need faith to proceed or move toward the Red Sea.  We do not need God to help us; we are self-sufficient.  We do not need God's commandments to guide us; we can rely on our own logic and reason.  We do not need to follow His moral guidance; society's tolerant mindset is more palatable and less confrontational.  We do not need archaic Biblical history, we need cultural progression.  We don't need God's approval; we need society's.  Our status and success will sustain us. 

"It's the economy."  A bad economy breeds fearful thinking.  We are lulled into a false belief that since we have no control over our lives, that the kings of earth--the president, the government, the entities and agencies--will provide.  In fact, we believe that they are obligated to provide.  We do not have to work harder, spend less, or look in the mirror.  We do not need to reevaluate our lifestyles; we simply blame the affluent for theirs.  We do not need to have faith in God; we need to place our faith in man.  We do not need God's commandments to guide us; we can rely on economic gurus and financial advisors.  We do not need to follow Biblical principles; we need only trust in the principles of economics.  And we believe our worth is measured by what we have and who we are in the world, rather than what we give and Whose we are.

We need.  We borrow.  We vote our pocketbooks.  Others need Jesus and we feed them economic porridge instead of the Bread of Life.  People need Jesus and we invest our time, energy and emotions on how to make more money, keep our money, and use our money to advance our own comfort and ensure our own pleasures.

"It may be hard to be a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is just as hard for a poor man to seek first the kingdom of God." Oswald Chambers, The Highest Good, 1938.

Economic gospelization.  What does it take to bring a rich man to his knees?  What does it take for a poor man?

Confession of self-centered attitudes and action.  Repentance of self-serving habits and self-satisfying desires.  Trusting in God--not oneself or another.  Seeking God--not things of this earth--but things eternal.  Preaching God--not feel-good messages--but words of warning and admonition.  Exemplifying Christ--not the world--but Christ alone.

Jesus himself said that "the poor would always be with us."  Jesus said that "it's more blessed to give than to receive."  Jesus had no house, nor even a pillow on which to lay His head yet His Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  Did Jesus complain about a lack of air-conditioning?  a hard pew?  an ear of dried corn to eat or a sponge of gall to drink?  Did Jesus worry about a 401K or a fat bank account?  Did Jesus invest in that which would rust, decay and wither or disenigrate in an financial crisis?  The Gospel is not about money.  The Gospel is about Jesus and the Good News He has for each person who places their trust in Him, who relies upon Him for deliverance, who clings to Him in enduring faith.

The Gospel is about giving to those in need of a Savior.  He is the best savings plan we could offer the world today.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]

  

"IF YOU WILL LISTEN...", BUT YOU PROBABLY WON'T

God knew.  He knew from day one that we would not listen.  He knew that Adam and Eve would succumb to the temptation and not obey Him.  He also knew we, today, would be as stiff-necked and self-serving and disobedient as we are now.  What is the matter with us?  Why can't we read God's Word and hear His voice?  Why is our hearing so impaired by the wiles of the world and the attractions of things that pull us away from Him?

"If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." Deuteronomy 28:1.

Blessing upon blessing is guaranteed Israel.  God will set them high above all the nations of the earth.  But rather than follow Him, they chose idols, gods, temporal sensual pleasures.  Sound familiar?

As Christians we are given instructions to follow Christ.  We are in Him and He is in us.  Yet so very often we turn away from His voice and follow after our own ways.  We seek temporary pleasures that are sinful.  We covet the wealth of others and are not willing to work for it ourselves.  We demand our rights at the expense of another's and we water down the commandments of God to suit our purposes.  We won't rock boats; we won't stand for righteousness; and we won't fight for change unless it is economically in our favor. 

"Listen diligently?"  We don't even listen in passing.  And what befalls us for our apathy, we deserve.  We have no excuse.  God's "law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8b.  God's law is no longer written on tablets of stone.  We know what to do and we do not do it.  And that is sin.  And the wages of sin is death.  And death comes in various ways, my friends.  It kills our desire to love God and His ways.  It destroys our hope for His ways and replaces it with the false securities of man's ways.  It rewards complacency with indifference.  And indifference deafens us to the voice of God.

God has a plan for us, my friends--if we "will listen diligently"...if we "will be watchful".    selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]

STAYING POSITIVE IN A NEGATIVE WORLD

It ain't easy.

I try to recall scripture that gives me hope.  I lie in my hammock, look up into the blue sky and breathe deeply.  I switch channels on the television and hit the mute button when someone comes on that is absolutely ridiculous in their viral spew.  I don't watch manipulatively written or produced reality shows such as Survivor or Big Brother.  Recently I have done my best to stay totally clear of all blogs which serve up post after post of negative bile.  I usually never read the comment sections.  If I make it past the title, and then the first few sentences spit in my face or the face of someone I care about, I click off and move on.  Then I take a minute or two and have a conversation with God and ask Him to clear my brain of all the negative garbage I've read.

I love to click on a couple of sites that always, and I do mean always, have a positive thought on Jesus and ministry.  And very often these same sites have wonderful Christian music playing as I read them.

I've been spending alot of time meditating on those things which are most important to me.  My husband.  My family.  A few friends.  And my life in Christ.  I love to peruse photographs and recall the moment I snapped that shot and the joy going on at the time.

I've been doing my best to see the white side of black and rest in the promises of God.  And what time my mind is stayed on Him, I truly am at perfect peace.  How about you?  What are you doing to stay positive in this negative world?  selahV 

PERSUASIONS OF MAN, WOULD YOU BECOME AS I AM?

What persuades you?  Is there something in your life today that so energizes you that it cannot be turned off?  Is there something so critical that you feel demoralized?  Who do you trust?  To whom do you turn for advice and counsel?

The last few months our world has been so infected and indoctrinated with political ideologies, that light has all but gone out on what is truly important in life.  People say they no longer have any trust.  People say they are frightened, angry, enraged, depressed.  The gloom and doom of the present crisis in life is taking a toll on people.  One man in California killed his mother-in-law, wife and children, and then killed himself because he felt his financial crisis was insurmountable; he could see no other way.  An 90 year-old lady shot herself because her home was scheduled for foreclosure.  She had no hope.

What does it say about our focus on life when all we are is what we have?  What does our politics, economics and ideology say about us as children of God?

"In politics, it is difficult to steer a course, there is a complication of forces to be dealt with which most of us know nothing about.  We have no affinity for this kind of thing, and it is easy to ignore the condition of the men who have to live there, and to pass condemnation on them." Oswald Chambers, Shade of His Hand, 1936.

In the midst of America's economic downturn, political campaigns for president, and the pursuit of dreams and change--another war rages on:  4,015 homes in 300 villages were burned displacing more than 50,000 people.  "Two pastors were killed, six priests severely injured, one nun was gang raped, two ladies burned alive, 24 other Christians were killed and many injured."  A young pastor of a church was brutally killed and the mob dragged his dead body and threw it in a field by the roadside.  His wife and 2 year-old daughter are missing.  A pastor was asked to deny Jesus.  When he refused, his throat was cut.  His house and church were destroyed.

While we worry about our 403b's, and 401K's, and whether or not the government will fulfill their promises to seniors collecting Social Security and paying for Medicare, Christians in India are dying for their faith.  Ah, Eastern religion at its worst.  As people continue to laugh at Christians in the theaters showing "Religiousity"--the blasphemous parody on faith--India's Christians are dying for Jesus.  Ah, Eastern religion influence at its best.  As Louis Farrakhan endorses Obama and proclaims he is the Messiah, India's Christian's are being burned alive.

Friends, we have so very much more than our bank accounts, annuities, and stock portfolios.  We own more than our houses, our Chevy Malibus and closets filled with clothes we do not wear.  We have Jesus.  We have, for now, the right to proclaim Him in our land.  We have, for now, the freedom to worship Him every day of the week if we choose.  We do not face, for now, the threat of being raped, murdered and maimed for daring to proclaim Him as our Lord.  We have hope where others have none.  We have victory where others have defeat.  We have grace where others have condemnation.  We must take a page out of Paul's bold proclamations before Porcius Festus and King Agrippa. [see Acts 25-26] 

This crisis in America is an opportunity to offer the best plan for anyone's future.  Jesus Christ and His salvation.  We must not take for granted the privileges God has bestowed upon us in a free society.  We must use our every resource to help one another and thereby show the love we have for Christ by the love we have for each other.  We must give more generously than we've ever given to missions around the world.  We must invest more of ourselves into the lives of our children and families.  We must fret less about ourselves, and encourage a world in turmoil.

We have a Message worth sharing.  We have a Message worth blogging about.  Jesus.  Jesus.  Jesus.  Can we join Paul in saying, "whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who are listening to me today, might become as I am..."?  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]

[For the full story on India's horror, see Oct. 9th edition of the Baptist Messenger, Editorial, India Burning.]

PASTORS IN THE AGE OF QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY

Does integrity exist anymore?  Is everything we say worth repeating?  Is everything we do worth exemplifying?

We are living in an age of questionable integrity.  With the flick of a remote, our giant flat-screen TV's parade every sort of politician, teacher, priest, minister, every-day-person before us via live satellite filtration.  Sadly, the most negative of creatures is the norm of public myopic magnification and microscopic scrutiny.  As they are examined, vilified, impugned with innuendo, half-truths and out-right lies, the public has nibbled upon the appetizer of thinking that the whole pie is as poisoned as the waft of viral misinformation that's infected the air.  i.e., If one priest molests children, all priests are suspect; if one minister is unfaithful, all ministers are culpable; if one police officer abuses his power, all police officers are abusers.

Availed to us is the fact-checking methods of Google, on line Newspapers, internet encyclopedias and Biblical interpretations.  Yet, few people have time (or take time) to sit and get the information they need to make judgment upon the facts and evidence at hand.  Most people are satisfied to take the nibble and consider it truth.  Most people want to believe the worst of others.  Most people do not trust anyone anymore.  Why?  Our world lacks integrity.

"Integrity means unimpaired purity of heart," writes Oswald Chambers.  "Jesus Christ is not teaching ordinary integrity, but supernormal integrity, a likeness to our Father in heaven."  Studies on the Sermon of the Mount, 1960.   

Few people need exemplify this kind of integrity more than men who have the highest calling of God.  Pastors.  Ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I've heard and read from pastors who think that their flaws should be written off with the idea that they are only human:  They are just like us.  They are simply ordinary Christians standing on a higher geographical location on Sunday mornings than the folks in the pew.

I beg to differ.

I believe the men God calls to minister to His people are subject to the highest degree of integrity, the greater example of servanthood, the finest exhibit of spiritual fruit, and the noblest of intentions and motives.  I believe it behooves our ministers to be above reproach.  I believe God holds them accountable to this higher standard.   

My pastor once preached from Job and he said, "If you have integrity, nothing else matters; but if you don't have integrity, nothing else matters."  I can't remember if he quoted someone else.  I just scurried to remember the statement as I scribbled it down on my notes.  It plucked at my conscience and led me to post it by my computer.  I've often looked at that little epithet as I've written things, and read things on my monitor.  It begs me now to say, When we expect no better of ourselves, we get less than the best...and so does our Lord.

Christ has set the highest of examples:  Forgive as He forgave.  Give mercy as He gave mercy.  Endure as He endured.  Be submissive as He is submissive.  Show compassion as He showed compassion.  Sacrifice as He sacrificed.  And as we dwell in Him and yield to Him in us, He will pour forth the seeds of change we need implanted in this world to bear fruit worthy of His name. 

Never has the integrity of God's people been more examined and scrutinized than it is today.  Never have we needed men of God to give us the walking, talking visible pattern of integrity than we do today.  Never have we needed humility more defined, joy more expressed, and love more identifiably displayed.  We need our pastors to lead us by their Christ-filled examples.  We need them in our church hallways and hospital corridors.  We need them in the pulpits and counseling offices.  We need them in the vestibules of our lives--in our communities--in check-out lines and at restaurant tables, in sporting events.  We need them to be the salt and light Christ called them to be and feed us with the Word of God as never before.  We need their inspiration to hold our standards for Christ as our most valuable attribute and to live according to His teachings.

In an age of questionable integrity, we need pastors filled unquestionable integrity worthy of God's calling.  We don't need ordinary men doing ordinary things.  We don't need resume builders.  We don't need maneuvering politicians.  We don't need charismatic orators.  We don't need word-parsing bloggers and argumentive critics.  We need men willing to admit their mistakes without broad explanations.  We need men willing to bow more to the Lord than bend to the ways of culture and the world.  We need ordinary men doing extraordinary things that exemplify the "purity of heart" given them in Christ Jesus alone.  We need them, and the world needs them.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]

BURDENS OF THE RACE

"We must distinguish between the burden-bearing that is right and the burden-bearing that is wrong.  We ought never to bear the burden of sin and doubt, but there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off.  He wants us to roll them back on Him." Oswald Chambers, Run Today's Race, 1968.

In life's race, some burdens weigh so heavily upon us, we are left immobile.  Illness tears at our bodies and twists at our ability to reason.  Attacks from others pierce our hearts and bleed our emotional will of strength to walk, let alone step forward.  Financial pressures and difficulty limit our resourcefulness to change a thing in our lives.  The relentless evil of this world does not slumber while we sleep.  And when we awaken our spirit is filled with doubts leftover from yesterday's trials.

Let this not be so.

"...let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (every unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1b Amplified.

If I had been Joseph and my brothers tossed me in a pit and then sold me into slavery, I don't know that I would have become the person he became in Egypt.  He had some pretty heavy burdens in his life after that.  Slavery, separation from his beloved father and mother, false accusations, imprisonment.

If I had been Job, I don't know that I would have withstood the pain of loss, the physical misery, the betrayal of friends and the lack of support from my spouse.  I don't know that I could have risen above it.

Today, I face so many things in my own life.  As I inventory in my mind, the burdens I must endure, I sometimes want to give up.  I truly do.  Sometimes I want to forget this race of life, sit down on the side of the road and let my brothers and sisters run on by me.  Sometimes I lose the will to fight another day, another hour, another minute.  But in these times I find my Lord brings me a refreshing drink of water.

Sometimes He brings it through a friend who comments on an old post I've written.  Sometimes He brings it through a loved one's hug.  Sometimes He brings it through a verse in His Word.  And when He does, I stop and consider the burdens I must bear and the burdens I must set aside.  The one's I must set aside, I do, over and over again.  And the ones I must bear, I cast upon Him, and pray for strength to rise and take another step in the race He has "appointed" for me.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]   

A BIT OF SMALL TALK

So much emphasis today is on the election, the economy, the future.  Isn't it a wonderful opportunity to inject a bit of faith in the mix?

When a conversation shifts to the election, we could talk about the glory of being part of the elect of God.  We could introduce how faith in Christ is at the center of our future.  We could say that man has been trying to place their trust in man from the beginning of time and it has failed over and over again.  Self-sufficiency always fails.

We could share a Red Sea experience in which only God could be credited in our lives.  (Don't you have ONE?)  We could describe that even though we've experienced tough times in our lives financially (which I have, have you?), that we have seen the provision of God and known the sufficiency of His sovereign grace.  When folks share how desparate they are because impending job loss, or business demise, we could offer to pray for them--right then and there.  When it is apparent to us that someone we know is having financial difficulty, we could forego our trip to our favorite restaurant and send them an anonymous twenty in the mail with a tract that says, God cares and so do I.  (Make up a few of those tracts yourself.)

"Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities," Hebrews 10:24

When fear rules the heart of man, faith is absent.  Oh we of little faith that we trust in chariots and horses.  How many blessings have we missed in life because we lacked the faith to see God move?

My husband and I were chatting over our morning coffee today as we watched the Dow drop 192 points.  Pundits paraded people across the screen to add to the gloom and doom of the uselessness of the bail-out bill.  Critics chopped Palin and Biden to mincemeat as each tried to affix our attention on the negatives of each person who would debate tonight.  It was not very inspirational.  It gave no hope for today or tomorrow.

My husband got up to get the coffee pot (it was his turn to refill our mugs).  And I said, "Ya know what?  It doesn't matter if the economy tanks and the Dow drops to negative 1,000.   We have each other, and we have Jesus.  So many people have no one, nor Jesus."

I felt rather blessed at the thought of all I have, how about you? selahV 

BEST AND WORST THING ABOUT THE BAILOUT

I've got good news and bad news about the "bailout plan".  I'll start with the bad:

WORST:  It exposes the sad truth about most folks.  It shows that the main thing people really care about is money.  Possessions.  And the love of money is the root of all evil.  Not money.  The love of it.  Congress was historically inundated with calls.

BEST:  It breeds a bit of hope.  It tells me that when American people care about something, they will contact their Congressmen and women and voice their opposition or support.  We can change the course of our government, if we want to.  The millions of emails and phone calls that produced the rejection of the plan prove this.

May we all pray that the best in us seeks the better of our country and ourselves.  And may we make a difference worthy of our calling in Christ.  selahV