A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller

Phillip Keller, before becoming a pastor and author, was a shepherd for eight years. It is out of that experience that he brings this most beloved Psalm to life.  Keller was born in East Africa and was trained as an agrologist. He loved the outdoors.

Keller uses his unique experiences to bring vibrant meaning to an otherwise trite phrase we have heard all our lives. Through his book one can experience the rich blessing of knowing what is means to have the LORD as his Shepherd.

Psalm 23 will never be the same after you have studied it with Keller’s book as a resource. Be sure to read it with a pen in hand. You will underline almost the entire book.

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. You can get more information at www.christianbook.com

 

 

Taking a Walk with Logan

We are blessed with three wonderful children. Michelle and I both realize that we are not able to spend as much individual time with them as we would like. Yet we make time for things we deem important.

Last week Logan and I went for a walk. Just the two of us. What an amazing time it was. When I have Logan all to myself it takes our father/son relationship to a whole new level.  He had some good questions to ask me about heaven. He asked if we would eat in heaven. He asked if we were going to wear robes in heaven.

He even asked me about Michelle’s dad who passed away about three months before Logan was born. Logan loves hearing about his Grandpa. It is amazing how alike they are. If Mark were alive today, he and Logan would be inseparable.

Logan is left-handed like his Grandpa. He has a great ability to fix things like his Grandpa. Logan is itching to go fishing just like his Grandpa. I told Logan about all the catfish his Grandpa used to catch. We called him Catfish Brown.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Logan. If you haven’t spent one on one time with your children, please do before he or she grows up and no longer wants to walk with you. You will discover how unique and wonderful your child really is. This time is priceless.

Taking the Gospel to the Unreached People Groups of the World

Our church just completed a missions awareness weekend in which we highlighted some of the unreached people groups of the world. Though there are many people in the Charlotte area who have never heard the Gospel, we do have churches, Christian neighbors, Christian radio, etc. The Gospel is available through the faithful church. Unreached people groups are those who have no access to a church, a Christian, a copy of the Scriptures or even a missionary. How can we reach these people with the Good News?

We have several members of our church who are intricately involved in praying, planning and strategizing on how to reach the unreached people groups of the world. As we focused on God’s work in Latin America and Africa, our attention was turned to the persecuted church.

May the church be encouraged! God is doing an amazing work on a global scale. The Gospel is being proclaimed through His church. He is revealing Himself to people who have never heard of His name. These are truly exciting times we are living in.

Let me introduce you to a group called “Ethne to Ethne.” This is a global network focused on serving the 28% of the world’s people without access to the Good News. “Eth-nê is the Greek word Jesus used for ‘nation’—a word which means tribe, ethnic group or people.

• Our world today has 6.4 billion individuals living in 234 geo-political nations but over 16,000 ethnê, or people groups, by country.
• Of those ethnê, more than 6,900 groups remain least-reached.
• This simply means they are a people group lacking an indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their own people group.
• This means 1 in 4 people still remain without reasonable access to the gospel—the Forgotten One Fourth World.” Please visit their web site for more information on prayer and church planting. (http://www.ethne.net/)

The work to reach this “Forgotten One Fourth World” is very large, especially when we look at the current condition of the church. Here are some statistics that will paint a picture of the health of the church in England.

•  66% of the U.K. population have no connection with any religion or church
• On average only 7% of the U.K. population attend church each week
• 48% of the U.K. population have never seen the inside of a church building
• Within 20 years the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations will cease to exist in England
• The U.K. has the 4th lowest rate of church attendance in the entire European Union
• Between 1995 and 2002, 1,792 churches closed (went out of business) in the U.K. That equates to 4 churches closing there doors every week!
• In a recent survey only 35% of the U.K. population stated it believed in any kind of “God” or “supreme being”
• Islam is the fastest growing religion in the U.K.

Why give the statistics for the church in the UK? Because in many ways the saying is true, “As England goes, so goes the U.S.” England was once a mighty place of Godly men and women who were used by God to impact the world.

May the church in America wake up from our heavy slumber. God is faithful. His church will not fail. The Gospel will continue to be the power of God for salvation. People will continue to be saved.

Brad Ferguson

 

My Prayer Comes Before You

“But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.” Psalm 88:13

Observation: This timely reminder comes in the midst of the Psalmist crying out to God for relief. His companions have turned away. All his strength has abandoned him. The Psalmist describes his life as being in the depths of the pit. He indicates that he is going to die if God does not intervene. Yet everyday he calls out to God and spreads out his hands to the LORD. He simply will not cease to abide in God.

Application: Often times when our circumstances are at their darkest one of the first disciplines that is ignored is our personal devotion with God. Make every effort to maintain your time with God. Jesus told us in John 15:1-11 to abide in Him. A fairly prominent pastor of a huge church was asked if he has devotions everyday. He replied, “No, not everyday. Sometimes I skip a few days. Isn’t it cool that I don’t have to lie about that?” Yes, thanks for telling the truth! At the same time, this is an area to raise the bar not lower it.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I ask that You would bring me to the point of abandonment to You. I ask that my passion for You would trump my desire to spend the best part of my day serving myself. I want to cry out to You every morning.

Refreshing the Spirit

“And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.”  2 Corinthians 7:13 

Observation: Paul was comforted at the work God was doing in the lives of the Corinthians. It was a work of bringing them to godly grief leading to repentance. Yet he was even more comforted as he saw the people refresh Titus, a faithful laborer with Paul for the sake of spreading the Gospel. Titus was refreshed as he saw the people for which he had great affection living in obedience to God.

Application: What comes to your mind when you think about refreshment? Do you think of rest? Taking a break? Are you reminded of a cool breeze on a hot day? Breathing fresh life into the soul of another person is vitally important no matter how spiritual you think the other person is. We all need our spirits refreshed. Refreshment for your spiritual leaders comes when they see us living to glorify God. Our leaders are refreshed with an encouraging word, a display of care to their family or simply a prayer. Are you speaking godly refreshment to your spiritual leaders or are you weighing them down?

Prayer:  Lord, I pray that we would take the time to refresh those You have placed in our lives as spiritual leaders. Help us express gratitude to our parents, grandparents, a mentor or a leader at church. Let us be careful to bless their spirits and not reject their godly instruction. 

Halloween: Right or Wrong for Christians?

Is it me or does Halloween get “darker” every year? On most mornings I am out of the house before sunrise to walk (and sometimes run) through my neighborhood. Each October I notice more horrifying scenes decorating houses and yards. I see gruesome murder scenes with axes chopping heads, fake people hanging from trees and skeletons digging their way out of their graves. One yard is set up like a cemetery including about five tombstones. It has a large sign over the garage decorated with orange lights that reads “Screamatory.” To top it all off, there is a large countdown clock in the front yard counting down the days, hours, minutes and even seconds until Halloween.    

Darkness is not the only concern for the discerning Christian parent. Safety has become an issue as well. We all recall news reports of homemade goodies laced with poisons and drugs.

Halloween is no small celebration. Consider a few Halloween facts.

• More than 50 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year.
• Halloween is the third most popular occasion among adult for partying following Christmas and New Years.
• Halloween is second only to Christmas for holiday decorating.
• An estimated $400 million is spent on Halloween each year.
• An estimated 35 million Halloween cards will be sent this year.

Many Christian parents do not understand the significance of October 31^st on the pagan calendar. October 31^st (Halloween) “…is the end and beginning of the witch’s year. It marks the beginning of the death and destruction associated with winter. At this time the power of the spirit world is unleashed and spirits are supposedly free to roam about the earth. Halloween is considered the best time to contact spirits” (Halloween: What’s a Christian to Do; Steve Russo; Harvest House; 127).

Given this information (not to mention that Halloween is thoroughly pagan in every tradition from pumpkins to trick or treat and it has its roots in Druid and Occult practices) is it right or wrong for Christians to participate? Let me share with you a few principles from Russo’s book that will help you decide.

1. Not everything is beneficial (I Corinthians 10:23).
2. Guard against unholy practices (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).
3. Stay focused on what is good and pure (Philippians 4:8).
4. Sidestep all evil (I Thessalonians 5:22).
5. Be aware of the battle (Ephesians 6:12).

     Is it right or wrong for a Christian to participate in Halloween? The Bible does not specifically forbid it. However, we must acknowledge that the Bible will never mislead us. Halloween is a force that can not be ignored as it grows in popularity. Be sure to do two things. First, pray and ask God for wisdom, understanding and discernment before you decide. Second, do not judge others who do participate. Do not mistake harvest decorations for a celebration of Halloween.

Interestingly, October 31^st is also Reformation Day. On that day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses or statements of true biblical Christianity to the chapel door of Wittenberg University in Germany. This is a far better occasion for Christians to celebrate and a great reason for kids to dress up.  

Brad Ferguson

Teaching Our Children to Worship; part 3 of 3

Parenting in the Pew

If you were asked, “What is the greatest thing you could ever teach your children?” what would your answer be? This is indeed a probing question because in thinking about it we just may discover that the thing we deem most important to teach our children is something we are not doing in the least bit.

My answer to this question is worship. Worship is acknowledging God in all His glory, splendor and radiance. It is proclaiming His immeasurable worth in our lives. The goal of our parenting is to turn our children towards the Lord. This goal will never be reached if we segregate our children during times of corporate worship at church. Our children should learn from us how to worship.

Robbie Castleman’s book, Parenting in the Pew offers some thought provoking points and some practical tips to help our children transition to worshipping with their parents.

 1.  Attitude check: Make it a priority throughout the week to have your children’s mind and heart ready to worship on Sunday. If you are excited in anticipation about worship then your children will be looking forward to it with great expectation.

2.  Zapping the entertainment bug: Our kids are bombarded with entertainment all day. This places them as the focus. Our children must understand that they are not the focus at church. God is the center of our attention. We are there to worship Him.

3.  Sitting with friends: It is usually helpful to not sit close to your child’s best friend. Young children can become easily distracted. Parents should try to eliminate as many of these distractions as possible.

The church is not the main discipler of children. When families worship together the parents are placed in their biblical position of being the main disciplers of their kids. Parents are easily able to teach their children about giving, baptism, the Lord’s Supper and prayer among other acts of worship. The joy of seeing your child worship is unmatched.

Brad Ferguson

Scalded Skin Syndrome

The past several days have been difficult. Our youngest child, Luke who is 3, began the week with a doctor’s visit. We thought he had an ear infection but he did not. By Wednesday Luke began swelling around the eyes and lips. He developed red spots and drooling.

We took him back to the doctor on Wednesday. The doctor thought he may have Infantigo. We came home with some antibiotics and were told to watch him closely and bring him back on Friday if there was no improvement.

Wednesday night was a hard night for Luke. By Thursday morning his eyes were swollen completely shut. His lips were swollen so much he could not close his mouth. We quickly took him in to see the doctor and he made arrangements for us to go directly to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

Luke looked very bad. We did not know what the problem was. His skin was now painful to him. The doctor diagnosed Luke with Staph Scaled Skin Syndrome. Here is a web site to give you information on what that is. Luke looked just like the picture except with a lot of drooling out of both sides of his mouth.  

http://dermnetnz.org/bacterial/scalded-skin-syndrome.html

The bacteria that causes Scalded Skin Syndrome only lives for up to 2 hours on surfaces. This condition is rare. One doctor and several nurses had never seen it before. I will not soon forget a nurse’s assistant who came in the hospital room, looked at Luke and said, “Oh my God.”

We could not hold him. He was in a great deal of pain. It was like he developed a very bad sun burn. Some of his skin began to fall off on his arms and bottom leaving a moist and very sensitive layer of skin. He developed blisters on his face. He would not lay down to sleep because it hurt. His open wounds were treated with a cream that is given to burn patients.

It was very hard to see him in this condition. We had 10 churches praying for him including two in Honduras. Many people were lifting him up. The Lord took many people to Psalm 91 when they asked God how to pray for Luke.

His recovery from Saturday to Sunday afternoon was incredible. His skin is still flakey and he will be on some powerful antibiotics for about two weeks. Thanks for all your prayers. God has been very gracious to us.

Brad Ferguson

Teaching Our Children to Worship, part 2 of 3

Parenting in the Pew

It has been said that we typically worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship. Castleman makes the point that we need to work at our worship. That work does not begin on Sunday morning but is a reflection of continual fellowship with our Creator throughout the week. Worship on Sunday mornings can be hard enough but when children are present it can become more difficult. But don’t let that scare you away. When we see our children following our lead in worship the extra time teaching them about worship is returned ten-fold.

Castleman says, “And parents in the pew can show by example what it means to seek God, to love his Son and to respond to the Holy Spirit in worship. Children learn that prayer is important when they see their parents make it a priority. Children learn to give generously when their parents do. Children dress, sing and participate by following example as well as instruction.”

 Here are some more helpful tips as we teach our children to worship.

 1.  Help your children participate: Participation in every part of the service is important to training your child how to worship. Kids have a substantial capacity for worship. God knows that children are ready to believe. We can help them learn the songs, take notes during the sermon by filling in the blanks and find the Scripture references in the Bible.

2.  Being Attentive: Castleman uses what she calls “affectionate control.” This is when the parent holds the child very close. It may be an arm around them or some show of affection from the parent that will help the child stay focused. It is more of a hug than a tug.

3.  Reading the Bible: Help your child read the Scripture as it is being read out loud. This will help them participate and be attentive. It would be helpful to use the same translation as the pastor so you are reading the same words. Children will benefit much more than we think when they read Scripture.

Next week I will give a few more tips from Castleman’s book.

Brad Ferguson

Teaching Our Children to Worship, part 1 of 3

Parenting in the Pew

Worshipping our Creator and Savior does not come naturally to anyone due to our fallen nature. One of the primary goals of every parent should be to teach their children how to worship through prayer, reading Scripture and singing. Yet too often, churches practice total segregation when it comes to our worship. Children are seen as a distraction in church worship services. This is missing the heart beat of our role as parents. We are to be intentional about teaching our children how to worship God.

The answer is not to just throw them in the service with their parents and tell them to be quiet. Over the next few weeks I am going to post some tips for parents to help them guide their children in worship. Robbie Castleman authored a book titled Parenting in the Pew. This book is a great resource and I will be sharing Castleman’s tips.

1.  Parents must lead by example. It is important for our children to see mom and dad singing, clapping and lifting our hands in worship to God. It is important that they see us pray, read the Bible and other worship activities such as taking communion. This can generate questions that will open a great window of spiritual discussion with our children that we would have otherwise missed.

2.  Worship begins Saturday night. Just as children look forward to birthday parties they also have the capacity to look forward to church on Sunday morning. Parents should create a deep sense of expectancy throughout the week. Then on Saturday night mom and dad can share their own excitement about worship the next morning. Our children need to see that worship is more important to mom and dad than anything else.

3.  Keep Sunday special. Sunday is the most special day of the week. It is the day Jesus rose from the grave. It is the day set aside for corporate worship. Parents should protect their children from the ever encroaching “normal day” activities. Sunday should be protected.

Perhaps you have noticed already that parents cannot teach their children the joy of worship if they do not possess the joy themselves. We cannot teach what we do not know.

More practical helps on the way. Stay tuned…

Brad Ferguson