November 7, 2016

Posted on November 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This particular incident was God telling Peter that the door of salvation was open to the Gentiles, which was a huge stretch for any Jew of the day. As I read it just now, however, the image that came to mind was Donald Trump. To be quite honest and blunt, he is a person I have disliked, even despised, for as long as I’ve known about him. I don’t care for “reality TV” to begin with, and his personality and lifestyle to this point have had nothing attractive to me about them. That said, I have become a reluctant Trump supporter, and not just because his opposition fills me with dread about the future of the nation. I have read several reports from different sources recently about his desire to do what is right from this point, and his platform and stated goals are certainly admirable. He is a deeply flawed individual, but the thing is, so is every human being alive. He has surrounded himself with admirable people, and for someone in public leadership, that counts for a lot. As several people have said, the presidency is not just a single individual but a whole team. We have seen the effects of that for the past eight years, certainly, with a whole cadre of people who seem intent on destroying the nation from within. The choice could hardly be more stark at this point.

There is no question that I have never been as emotionally involved in an election as I am at this point. On our recent trip to the US I was able to vote in person for the first time in many, many years, and it was an interesting experience. The past year and a half have been quite a lesson in trust, in letting God be God. Trump was far from my first choice of candidates, but I have come around to the place of believing He is indeed God’s choice for this time. He is a clear metaphor for the nation as a whole, faults and all. God is in the business of cleansing and redeeming. He can do it for Donald Trump, and He can do it for America. I am to pray for the believers of America to wake up to the choices before them and their opportunity and responsibility to participate in the process. It is clear that at this point America does not have a majority of people who place God first in their lives, but it is not devoid of believers. I am to pray that the believers would exercise the authority given them in Christ, to pray, to act, and to proclaim the kingdom of God, so that America would experience a revival to eclipse all past revivals and cause God’s name alone to be honored as holy.

Father, this has been a very educational time for me. I pray that many more would have learned what You have been trying to teach us. I do pray that every one of Your children with the right to vote in America would exercise that right, giving America the chance for the course correction that is so desperately needed. Economics are on the mind of many, but material things are trivial compared to many of the other issues. I pray that Donald Trump, and all of America, would turn to You in genuine repentance on all levels, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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November 6, 2016

Posted on November 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 9:34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and tidy up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

Peter’s focus was on Jesus, first and last and in the middle. We get all caught up in the situation and in ourselves, but Peter had gotten over that. He knew that he could do nothing good on his own, but that Jesus could do anything at all through him. We would do well to learn from his example! From Pentecost on, Peter acquired quite a reputation as someone who did things he shouldn’t have been able to do, from speaking boldly and skillfully before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8-14) to performing assorted miracles. The thing is, he had been self-confident up through the Garden of Gethsemane, even taking a wild swing with a sword to try to defend Jesus, but his failure in denying Jesus three times right after that knocked all of that out of him. Our failures can be marvelous blessings from God, if they teach us to rely totally on Him instead of on ourselves. It doesn’t matter how talented, gifted, or whatever else we are, we can’t do God’s work in our own strength, period. Thinking we can do it, at least a little, is a major hindrance to being used by God. Jesus was actually very clear on that point. (John 15:5) The other side of that is having faith that God can use us. Too often, if we get it through our heads that we can’t do it ourselves, we think that we are hopeless even for God to use. That’s still focusing on ourselves! It is almost an over-used example, but if God could use a donkey to speak to Balaam, He can use us however He likes! (Numbers 22:21-33) Peter knew this, which is why God was able to use him so effectively.

This has been an issue for me all my life. The Lord has blessed me with a wide variety of abilities, and I don’t recall my parents ever saying to me, “That’s beyond you. Give it up.” As a result, I have tended to be cocky and conceited, even while nursing inferiority complexes about such things as sports. That can be amusing to watch in someone else, if a bit on the insufferable side, but it is a serious liability when it comes to being a servant of God. I am not to ignore or denigrate the things God has placed in me, but at the same time I must never think that those things are sufficient to do anything right apart from Him. The fact that I have labored for 35 years here in Omura with so little to show for it should be ample evidence of that! The thing is, God is not limited by my past performance, and I’ve got to remember that. He’s given me a message for this morning on operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I can no more impart that to anyone on my own than I can turn myself into a turnip. However, God is more than able to use even me to open people’s hearts to His Spirit so that He may cleanse, heal, and empower them. My job this morning is to listen obediently to Him and try to stay out of His way.

Father, help me expect great things of You without trying to dictate how You are going to work. I tend to build scenarios in my mind and then try to make them happen. Protect me from that. Help me be a fully willing, available instrument in Your hands, so that You may do exactly what You desire in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 5, 2016

Posted on November 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 9:4-5 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

This famous story of Saul’s “Damascus Road Experience” has a great deal to think about and learn from. What strikes me most at the moment is the way Jesus identified Himself so strongly with the Church. We forget that calling the Church the Body of Christ is more than just a figure of speech. Being told this by Jesus is probably why Paul used the figure of a body so much, in 1 Corinthians 12 and elsewhere. There are many, many implications to this. We need to realize that Jesus lives and acts through the Church, and by extension, through local churches and individual believers. The Roman Catholics have codified this, but there are many dangers to that. In the first place, setting up a human organization instantly sets up a barrier to responsiveness to the Holy Spirit. Then, that organization establishes a hierarchy of who is important and who isn’t, and that generally ignores God’s opinion completely. When Jesus said that Saul was persecuting Him, He wasn’t talking about an organization, but about an organism. As Paul later stressed, we are related to one another the same way the different organs in our bodies are related, and are just as important to one another. (Sometimes I wonder if I’m analogous to an appendix!) With this established, we understand that not only are those who persecute the Church persecuting Christ, those who honor the Church are honoring Christ. We aren’t to worship human institutions, certainly, but we disrespect the Church, and even local churches, to our peril.

I use this terminology fairly frequently, especially in interdenominational settings, but that doesn’t mean I necessarily grasp it fully. I need to remember it more consistently and let it shape how I relate to this local church. I’m the pastor, but I’m not the church! I am to ask and to expect Jesus to build His Church, just as He said. (Matthew 16:18) I am to remember that I am never the final authority, He is. That’s not to say that I’m to run from responsibility, but rather that I am to seek His will, His plan at every turn. I’m not to be paranoid about that either, but trust Him to make Himself as clear as necessary to me, and to the church as a whole. I am to trust and expect Him to provide for His body, while holding nothing back myself. I am to expect, with joyful anticipation, that He will manifest Himself through us, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this very encouraging Word. Help me communicate it to others as You give opportunity. Thank You for the opportunity I’ve just been given to speak at the interdenominational prayer breakfast on the 16th. May I indeed be Your agent in building up the Body of Christ, not just then but all the time, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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November 4, 2016

Posted on November 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”

I think Peter was floored at Simon’s request, because it had never crossed his mind. However, in the centuries since, many have indeed treated the gifts of God as merchandise, things with which to gain money or power or what have you. That was how Simon was seeing them, which is why he wanted to invest in the process. It is ironic that both people in this exchange had the same name, though Simon Peter most often used the nickname Jesus had given him. I think that shows how each of us has the potential to be on either side of such situations. In our flesh we can be like Simon Magus, but by the Spirit we can be like Simon Peter. Peter encouraged Simon to repent and get right with God, but one tradition says that he never did so, but traveled to Cyprus and used the name Elymas, where he had a dramatic encounter with Paul (Acts 13:4-12) That seems unlikely to me, because there are plenty of people who seek supernatural power without wanting to be submitted to God. That, incidentally, is the danger in such things as the Harry Potter series. On one level they are harmless fantasy, allegories of the conflict between good and evil, but the devil can use them to provoke a lust for supernatural power much as Simon Magus had. For some, they might promote a receptivity to the things of God, but for others they might have the opposite effect. The whole point of this encounter being recorded in the Bible is that the things of God cannot be bought and sold, and must not be thought of that way.

This is an important thing for me to keep in focus right now, because I feel I am to start teaching again on spiritual gifts. I’ve got to keep in clear focus, for myself and for those whom I teach, the reality that these are grace gifts, not something earned, much less bought. They are not merit badges! I desire that everyone in the church be fully open to the flow of the Holy Spirit through them, however He chooses to move. I pray that for myself! There is so much I want to impart, and I feel such constraints. My time with them is limited, but even more than that, their receptivity is limited. I need to pray first for open ears and hearts, and then for me not to get in the way of what the Lord wants to do through me. I need to stand firm on behalf of my hearers against the devil who would try to block or confuse the message, so that receiving God’s truth they may be set free to walk in all that He intends for them.

Father, I feel like I have a mountain of material I want to impart, and I can’t do it all at once. I ask first of all that You renew it in me, so that none of it will be simply academic, but all would be living, present reality. I pray that I would have Your wisdom especially as to what to teach when and how, so that human considerations won’t get in the way of the impartation of the Spirit. May we all be filled more and more, continuously, with Your Holy Spirit, so that all of Your plans for us may be fulfilled, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 3, 2016

Posted on November 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 8:15-17 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This passage was widely and vigorously used in the early years of the Charismatic Movement as people in non-charismatic denominations learned about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I can’t say that I’ve heard it used much recently. Whether that is because spiritual gifts are seen as more normative or because people have given up on the idea is a good question. I’ve read that “manifestation” spiritual gifts are in considerable decline even in traditionally Pentecostal denominations, at least in “developed” countries. When speaking in tongues is so central to such denominations as the Assemblies of God that seems very ironic, and sad, actually. It’s not at all that such gifts are essential to salvation, but there still seems to be a loss of energy. That should hardly be surprising, when Jesus expressly connected the baptism in the Holy Spirit with power. (Acts 1:8) The devil loves to have us take anything and everything about God/faith/salvation for granted, because that makes it much easier for him to distract us and trip us up, stealing our joy and our victory. There are certainly pockets of exception to this trend, and churches where the presence of the Holy Spirit is clear and strong. Such churches teach us that there is no deficiency on the part of God, but just in our perception/reception of Him. Many are realizing that America is in drastic need of revival at this point, and that awareness is a very good thing. Individual believers, and by extension churches and denominations, need to repent and seek God, abandoning their compromise with the world that they have dressed up as “political correctness.” They need to give all of themselves afresh to Him so that they may receive more of Him in return. Anything we might have certainly pales in comparison to the glory of Almighty God!

I am talking to myself here. I have experienced all of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, but at this point I would have to say they are at low ebb. I do pray in tongues daily, but it has been quite a while since I have prophesied actively, or even laid hands on someone for healing prayer. What a loss, to me and to those to whom I minister. Just last night at prayer meeting I was talking with someone about how I see this church, and though I used the term, Charismatic, an outside observer might never know it. Some of the members have received the gift of tongues, at least, but I don’t know that anyone is operating in those gifts with any regularity at all. It shows! I don’t want to come across as making any gift a litmus test of salvation or dedication, but I don’t want to deprive the believers of the incredible riches God has prepared for us. I desire to repent, but I’m not even sure how. I talk all the time about focusing on God instead of on ourselves, and I need to do better about practicing what I preach! I need to be so assured of God’s ability that my ability is irrelevant. I know that God desires and intends far more for us than we are experiencing now, and I need to rest in, and operate in, that assurance.

Father, thank You for this wake-up call. Help me not just let it pass, but appropriate and operate in it fully. May we become the people, the church, that You desire and intend us to be, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, right here, in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 2, 2016

Posted on November 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 7:59-60 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

By some measures, Stephen had a very short ministry. However, in his death he made an indelible impact on a young man named Saul, who went on to become Paul the Apostle and write half the New Testament. We naturally make a great deal of Saul’s conversion experience itself, but in many ways the stoning of Stephen was a direct analog of Peter denying Jesus at His trial. Once he had met Jesus as Lord, Saul/Paul probably often remembered his participation in this stoning, and it kept him humble. For his part, Stephen could hardly have been a better example of how to glorify Jesus in martyr­dom. As is recorded here, he kept the focus on Jesus and chose to forgive those who were killing him, just as Jesus did from the cross. (Luke 23:34) Because we know so little about him, encountering him first in Acts 6 when he is chosen as one of the first deacons, Stephen seems almost too perfect. We have no record of his faults, the way we do of Peter, Paul, David, and others. We need to remember that he was just as human as we are, but that he chose to submit himself fully to the Holy Spirit, and that is something we can do as well. We are enjoined to be perfect, (Matthew 5:48) like Jesus, but the way to do that is by consistently choosing to be open and submitted to His Spirit. Our only real description of Stephen is that he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 6:5) Those are choices we can make, choosing to receive the faith that God gives (Ephesians 2:8-9) and to be fully open and welcoming to the Holy Spirit. That may or may not be an invitation to physical martyrdom, but it will certainly put to death the flesh so that we may live by the Spirit. (Romans 8:13)

This is directly applicable to me. I live in a city that had hundreds of martyrs and our church vision is that the city would again be the foremost Christian city in the nation, but if I do not live as Stephen did, I will not participate in what God desires to do here. I am not to be physically or spiritually lazy, but actively press in to receive more of God so that He may have more of me. I tell others that putting off things they don’t want to do doesn’t make them any easier, but I am guilty of that myself at least daily. I am not to worry about my entertainment, but rather focus on what my Lord would have me do each moment. That will include times of rest and relaxation, but that is not to be my focus. My schedule is pretty unstructured for the next several months. I am not to waste this time but make the full use of it that God intends, so that as His agent I may do His will consistently, for His glory.

Father, thank You for waking me up this morning and calling me to Yourself. Help me stay focused on You and Your purposes for me, not allowing myself to be drawn away by all the distractions. You are doing good things here, and some of them need to be in me. May I not resist, but cooperate fully, allowing You to do in and through me all that You desire, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 1, 2016

Posted on November 2, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 6:2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.”

This is a famous incident, and at first glance it might seem to violate something Jesus said: “But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:26-27) The thing is, the apostles weren’t declining to serve, they were simply recognizing priorities and differing ministries. As Moses had to learn, it is very poor practice for leadership to try to do everything. (Exodus 18:13-26) Not only is the leader worn out, others are deprived of the opportunity to grow through service. At least two of the seven chosen at this point went on to stellar service, and not just waiting tables! Stephen was the first martyr, and Philip served mightily as an evangelist. The thing is, the apostles were not demanding that others serve them, they were simply saying that there was more to be done than they alone could do, and others needed to get in on the act.

This is a touchy point for me. I am gifted very broadly, so there are a lot of different things I can do, and in a church this small it is often hard to find anyone else to do them. However, it has been a problem that too often I have felt others couldn’t do things as well as I could, so I never gave them the opportunity to grow into that ministry. The same thing applies to my wife. There are lots of things that if we didn’t do them, they wouldn’t get done. There is always the question of whether they really need to be done, and the jury is still out on a number of things. We’ve recently ordained an assistant pastor, but like me he has to hold down a secular job, and there are a number of things that are relatively simple for me that seem very difficult for him, particularly involving computers. The most attractive answer would be for the church to grow quickly in numbers, with people of all sorts of abilities, and to be able to delegate all sorts of things. However, that’s in God’s hands. The assistant pastor is active in social media, which I’m not, so that is an area I feel we are to pursue. That could well be the key to growth in numbers! In any case, my first priority must be seeking God and listening obediently to Him, and after that, to doing each thing He tells me and letting others do what He has for them.

Father, I feel this has been a weak point of my ministry all along. I ask for Your wisdom and guidance, that I would not let pride get in the way of what You want to do, so that the Body of Christ may be built up as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 31, 2016

Posted on November 2, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 4:28-30 “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Verses 29-30 are justly famous as a magnificent request/response to persecution, but it is actually verse 28 that catches my eye right now. These believers are fully acknowledging the sovereignty of God even as they are asking Him to do specific things. That’s part of the great mystery of prayer. Prayer that doesn’t acknowledge that God is God isn’t going to get very far, but when He is absolutely sovereign, why ask? However, the Bible enjoins us to pray and Jesus tells us specifically that prayers are answered. (Matthew 7:7-8) The whole thing is beyond human understanding, but that’s par for the course! (Isaiah 55:9) It’s a paradox we have to live with, but if we will do as these disciples did, we will get the results they did. We are never to try to manipulate God. That is actually the definition of magic, bending things to our will. That is enormously attractive to our flesh, and some supposedly “Christian prayer” is no more than attempted magic. Prayer that pleases God, that He delights to answer, is fully submitted to Him, in line with His character and will, knowing and trusting that He is more than able to do what is asked, however impossible it might be from a human perspective. Unassisted, we can’t pray like that! However, the Holy Spirit does indeed help us, if we will submit ourselves to Him, just as Paul said. (Romans 8:26) We are to seek God first, and then pray as He directs.

I feel I am very much a learner when it comes to prayer. I would love to be a master at it! That’s one reason I’m deeply grateful for the gift of tongues, because when I pray in tongues I can be confident that my own will isn’t getting in the way of God. I have experienced the Spirit’s guidance in prayer both in English and in Japanese more times than I could count, and I am deeply grateful for that as well. It is always a joy to hear words come from my mouth in prayer that give clarity to the situation being prayed for that I didn’t have before. That’s actually pretty common. However, if I don’t choose to pray, I don’t get that clarity. That’s one of many reasons I am convinced that true prayer is supernatural; it couldn’t really happen from a strictly human standpoint. As a pastor, I desire that everyone in the church learn the joy, the power, the peace of prayer, because those things can really be had no other way.

Father, I guess prayer comes down to fellowship with You, and that makes perfect sense. Help me press in continually for deeper fellowship and lead others to do likewise, so that as good children we will be accurate representatives for You, in the world and to the world, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 30, 2016

Posted on November 1, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

This is of course an extremely familiar story to anyone who ever attended Sunday School. A very nice little song has been made from this verse and verse 8 that I have sung countless times. That said, there is truth here that is often overlooked, even – or maybe especially – when this story is taught in Sunday School. That truth is that any believer who is fully committed to Jesus Christ as Lord has what Peter and John had, and may be used by God as they were. Frankly, if children started believing God and acting on that faith, their Sunday School teachers, not to mention their pastors, might be embarrassed! The thing is, we focus on the vessel instead of the contents, and so we miss God. The thing that made Peter so powerful here was that after his failure in denying Jesus, he knew without the shadow of a doubt that he was incapable of good in himself, but he had also seen and talked with the risen Jesus, and he was fully assured that God could do anything, even using him to do it. I will put in a note of caution here, and that is that Peter doubtless had a prompting from the Holy Spirit to act as he did. We aren’t to go running around looking for miracles to perform! However, we are to be sensitive to the Spirit and do whatever He indicates, regardless of how impossible that might be for us on our own. Heidi Baker comes to mind here. She has had quite a few experiences that are fully as dramatic as the ones Peter had. The thing is, when the Church became institutionalized, the necessity of direct connection to God was forgotten. If we trust in our forms and traditions, we won’t be seeing miracles like this! God wants us all to know what we have in Christ, as fully as Peter did, and act accordingly.

I have said for quite a few years that if and when the average Japanese believer in Christ wakes up to who they are and what they have in Him, not only the Church, but the nation and the whole world will be transformed. To be honest, the “faith climate” in the world today militates against miracles. It is no accident that the stories from Heidi Baker and others are from areas that most of us would consider “backward.” Modern technology isn’t bad, but we are too prone to depend on it instead of on God. The things you can do with a phone these days would have indeed been miraculous 50 years ago! I am not to ignore technology, but I must not let that distract me from God, which is all too possible. Frankly, I haven’t seen that many miracles in my own ministry, though I have seen a few. I would certainly like to see more! I perhaps need to know better what I don’t have so that I will know better what I do have, and so be as available to God as Peter was.

Father, this is yet another case of my not yet walking fully in the truth I know. Help me open up more and more to the flow of Your Spirit through me so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, in Your way on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 29, 2016

Posted on November 1, 2016 by jgarrott

Acts 2:46-47 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What pastor wouldn’t love for this to be an accurate description of their church! We know from the rest of Acts that problems did arise, and fairly quickly, but this is the base pattern established at the start of the Church. The NIV doesn’t include this, but the Japanese specifies that they met in the temple “with one heart.” That is to say, they were so overwhelmed at the grace of God in salvation that they didn’t quibble over small stuff. This sort of unity is not difficult when the focus is on God by His Spirit, but it is only possible when that is the focus. It’s pretty well a binary situation, either on or off. We let all sorts of things get in the way, and then wonder why we don’t have unity! This is all the more true when, like these early believers, we spend a lot of time together. That of course creates more opportunities for fellowship, but it also creates more opportunities for friction, as the early Church discovered soon enough. The thing is, when you do have this kind of unity it is enormously attractive, and that is one of the most powerful forms of evangelism. Many churches labor at evangelistic programs, when active, genuinely Christian lifestyles will pull people in automatically.

These two verses are part of the message the Lord has given me for tomorrow, under the title of “Daily.” I earnestly desire this to be a description of this church! For many years I have sought to impart this vision, this concept of the local church, to believers, but with less than stellar success. I’ll have another chance tomorrow! I’ve got to remember that I can’t do it by my strength, wisdom, or force of personality; I’ve got to depend on the Holy Spirit. The Lord has been working in very encouraging ways recently, bringing people back who had been separated and bringing people in who haven’t been involved. I am to rejoice in that, but not presume on it either. I am to keep my focus on Christ and His kingdom, His righteousness, or the focus of the church as a whole will be off as well. Genuine fellowship cannot be forced, but it can be enabled and encouraged, and I am to be instrumental in that. A couple came by yesterday, and the Lord did something good. I’m not sure exactly what, at this point, but I trust it will bless them and us. I am to anticipate, and teach the believers to anticipate, God working in and among us daily, so that we may greet each day with joy and commitment, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this confirmation of what You have placed in me for tomorrow. Thank You for everyone who is to be here. May our fellowship be in and by Your Spirit, in all depth, richness, and joy, so that we may be transformed more and more into What You created us to be, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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