Brought to Belleview - Time To Let It Go

When the twins came, I became so preoccupied with the joys of being a father of newborn twins.  The previous statement should have been read with a touch of sarcasm.  Yes, I did love the softness of the skin when they cuddled and slept in my arms.  There was the curious eyes taking in the new environment that April and I have had been familiar with over time.  It is the late nights I was struggling with.  On top of that, two weeks after their birth I had taken on a new promoted position at work with added responsibilities and changing hours which caused me to miss much of my girls.  Everything else just became an afterthought, including the ministry.  All I knew was in I was going to finish my time as a youth leader and take a little off my plate. 

What happened?  I knew I was going to stop.  I knew that I would not be doing it anymore.  Somehow, I committed to another year of service as the youth leader.  God was reminding me that He was not done with me yet.  Four months after I committed to another year of service to the church, April and I received a phone call that left us in surprised.  We were in the final stages of preparing our new home in which we purchased a few weeks before for our thriving and energetic family of four.  For me it took a while to accept our new house since we moved further from the church and my job.  We truly believed that this home was for our family four but now we have been proven wrong again.  The home would now be a home for a family of five.  Less than 9 months after the birth of our twins, we received the unexpected news that April is pregnant.  Suddenly, my plate became even fuller as I pondered the preparations needed for the arrival of our third child.  What ministry? 

When our son was born, I was off work for two weeks to help my wife around the house as she recovered from the delivery by C-section.  During that time, as I was away from worked and other distractions and my focus was on my young family, I spent much quiet time with God in between sleeps.  During those times, God was not quiet.  He was slowly but surely working within me.  As I pondered my website ministry and the youth ministry, my mind began dwelling on His will for my family and I.  By this time, I had told the church that I will not be serving in the role of a youth leader.  I simply needed a break.  I began searching for churches looking for a pastor to see what options there were but was not fully ready to take that next step.  I had a job.  I have a family of five to help support.  I had neither the time nor the money to search for a pastorate.  After two weeks, I was back at work, but my heart was emptier than it ever had been before.  I was blessed with a wife.  I was blessed with three small children.  I had long given up the promoted position to spend more time with the family and the church and took a leadership role in a department and I was still able to spend time with the church and my plate was less full as I stepped back and let a young Bible college graduate take over the role as the teen leader.  There was still something missing: God’s plan for my life.  Each day I went to work passed, the noose was getting tighter.  I was allowing something to hold me back and God was slowly crumbling the walls around me.  It was as if God was saying, “It’s time to let it go”.  A pillar that I had rested on for several years was now falling. 

Brought to Belleview - Where I Belong

Life was good for April and I.  I was busy with a job and serving as a teen leader in a local Nazarene church.  I had been asked on more than one occasion to fill in the pulpit and we had twins on the way.  For some reason, in my heart, it was not enough.  I had spent countless hours debating with God about preaching.   Was it evangelism He desired for me or pastoring.  In time, that burning desire being placed there by the Holy Spirit had been dampened as I became distracted with the coming twins, my website ministry, my job, and of course working with the teens.  My plate had become too full.  I was stretched too thin.  I told April that it was going to be my last year working with the teen program.  For 16 years I have worked with youth programs in various churches in North Carolina and Illinois.  During that time I have been privileged to be invited to preach in several states and to share my testimony.  God was good to me.  I loved the group of teens that I was serving but I was getting tired.  The desire placed in my heart had all but flickered out.  Whatever desire I had to speak was momentarily satisfied by the opportunity to teach Sunday School.  I must confess, I almost approached it more like a pulpit than a podium.  In the words of my wife, “You got a bit “preachy” in Sunday School today”.  I chuckled.  It was still there, I just ignored it.  As I filled in for the pastor during a Sunday evening service, April said something to me that I could not ignore.  I tried, but her words pierced me to my very heart.  I can still see the tears in her eyes as she shared those words to me.  I can still hear the quivering tenderness in her voice as she spoke.  I can still feel the gentleness of her touch as she held my hand.  All those senses rushed deep within my soul and the Holy Spirit reminded me of a task I had long since ignored.  When she told me those words, I dropped my head for a moment before I turned away and gazed out the window of my car.  It can’t be.  It reminded me of the words told to me by my father five years before his passing.  Much like the words of my wife, the Holy Spirit used his words to pierce me to the very depth of my soul.  Could it be?  Is it possible?  For several days the words of my father from over 10 years ago and the words of April raged against everything within me.  I have learned the folly of saying no, but I still fought in vain.  The look on my father’s face.  The passionate soothing sound of his voice.  The tears that welled in the corner of his eyes still rang fresh to me.

“You know that God has called you to preach because it is burning deep inside of you”, my father said.  That was in 1991.

After I asked my wife what she thought of my sermon.  She responded, “That is where you belong”.

Brought to Belleview - A Look Back

The journey of my wife and I have faced together thus far has run a gamut of emotions.  I ponder the time when we became increasingly frustrated by the lack of success to have a child to now being surrounded by three healthy, playful, robust children: twin daughters and a son.  We thought about the night in a revival in a small church not far from an interstate in eastern Illinois where we asked the pastor and the church to pray for us.  Only the pastor knew what we were praying for.  As we were surrounded by loving members of that church so dear to us, we pleaded with God to bless us with children. Less than two months later, a doctor confirmed her pregnancy.  There was the day a few weeks later where we thought that she had miscarried.  While she was with the doctor, I anxiously awaited the news and prayed for God to do something great.  And He did do something great. The day before we left for a week long vacation in Wyoming and south Dakota the news was that she had not miscarried but, in fact, was having twins.  We are still convinced that God allowed this so that we can inform her parents who we were meeting in Wyoming the blessed and joyous news.  What a wonderful time of celebration our vacation became.  There was the wondrous occasion of purchasing our home in eastern Illinois as God continued to pur out His blessings among us.  As we yearned for the day for our move, we quickly prepared our house for a family of four.  The day before we were to move into our new home we received news that April was pregnant again.  There were the moments of worry when she was suffering constant migraine and elevated blood pressure in the later stages of her pregnancy that forced the doctors to deliver our son by c-section a few weeks earlier than expected or April's health would be further endangered.  Since then, both mom and baby are fine.  God has been with us each step of the way.  That truth has been continues to be evidenced in the journey of the past year.  A dear family member of mine wrote a song entitled "It Had To Be God".  As I read the lyrics to the beautiful song I looked at the journey that brought me to where I am today.  I can only come to one conclusion, "It Had To Be God" that brought me to Belleview.

Blessings from Belleview

It is raining outside. It has been raining most of the day. It is the first time we have had a good rain since we moved here. It has been a long while since they have had a good rain I have been told. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since we have moved here to begin our journey. What a whirlwind of a journey it has been thus far. We are just about completely settled in. Most of our belongings are unpacked except for a few things. I sit here contemplating my sermon for Sunday and thinking of the wondrous blessings of God in my life and in the life of my family. As the sound of the rain lightly pelt the glass storm door just a few feet from me, these words are being played over and over in my mind:
 
"There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing, sent from the Savior above."

I am humbled by His blessings on my life. We are where we are because of His blessings. As I count them, I realized I can't count them in one sitting, but I can daily praise Him.  Yesterday was a gorgeous day. I sat outside with my children. Mitchell was in my lap and the girls were running, chasing each other, and laughing. Mitchell just watched with a grin on his face. He does not yet know what to do outside. I am slowly teaching him. While April worked inside, my heart overflowed at how great God is. I am so thankful for the opportunity God has given to me and my family. I am working on putting together a story to share how God brought us here to Belleview. As I reflect on our journey for the past 4 months, I can truly see God's hand in all this. Trust Him. Rely on Him. He will get you through and to. It is raining....showers of blessings, I hope it never stops.

Behold Your King : Your Redeeming King

These words were spoken by a prominent figure in American history and politics

"Meaning no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can’t help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where...is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father’s shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father’s shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property less young man who...left no written word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that?...unless he really was who he said he was."   - Ronald Reagan  

Who was He?  Imagine yourself in the very spot where Peter stood when he was posed this question in Matthew 16:16, “Who do you say that I am?”  How would you respond?  The importance of our answer is not to reveal what others say or believe, but what we believe.  It is what we believe that will bring forth a transformation in our life like never before.  My King.  The Bible gives us beautiful descriptions that paint a portrait of who Christ is.  His picture is painted by the brushstroke of every book in the Bible.  From the seed of the woman in Genesis, to the Kinsmen Redeemer in Ruth, to the burden bearer in Amos, to the Son of Righteousness, Rising with Healing in His Wings in Malachi, to the Son of God in John, then culminating to the soon and coming King in I and II Thessalonians and then ending with the grand finale of the King of King and the Lord of Lords in Revelation.  Behold your King.  His life was lived like no other man before or after Him.  His death was unlike any man before or after Him.  Since the beginning of humanity’s existence, He has been talked about and waited for.  But now, He finds himself in a position not understood by many.  His followers cried.  They witnessed His miracles.  They saw the blind see.  They saw the lame walk.  They saw the dead live.  Then there are those who oppose Him.  His words cut to the very core of their belief system.  His teachings were undermined their power in which they used to their advantage.  His life was far different than their expectations of who their King would be.  He was not their “King of the Jews”.  He did not meet their expectations.  Behold your king.  Your king who had been brutally mocked at the hands of soldiers stood before an angry throng ready to be not just a ruler, but a redeemer.

I want to present to you:

1.  The King’s Presentation,

2.  The King’s Purpose

3.  The King’s Payment

I.                    The King’s Presentation

A.    He was revealed by the Old Testament

His coming was not unannounced.  Throughout the course of Old Testament history His coming had been revealed.  Behold your king.  From the patriarchs to the psalmist and on to the prophets, words of wisdom have been passed down through the generations that a coming King was to be born.  His arrival should have been no surprise.  Yet the arrival of Christ and His time on earth proved to be a disappointment to those who were awaiting that prophecy to be fulfilled. 

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:7)

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. (Jeremiah 23:5)

“And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14)

B.      He was requested by the wise men

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.  They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULE WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’” (Matthew 2:1-6)

Herod approached the religious leaders of his court and asked for the location of the King.  He was threatened by the very birth of the son of God.  He knew the prophecies of old would be fulfilled.  He feared that the fulfillment would come during his reign.  Behold your king.  His request was not to exalt him but to eradicate the existence of a threat, the Son of God, the King. 

C.     He was revealed by Pilate

Jesus was brought before a bloodthirsty mob.  His breathing labored, pain touching every nerve of His body, Pilate introduced Him to the crowd. “Behold the man”(v5)  He presented to Christ an opportunity to defend himself and to plead for His release.  Pilate even made plainly the power he had to spare His life and to release Him from captivity.  It was then, during the trial for His life, Christ made known to Pilate that compared to Him, Pilate’s power was insufficient.  In utter frustration, Pilate brings him to the crowd and introduces him.  “Behold your king”. This was certainly not the image that many had of their King promised to them over the years, a hope passed down from generation to generation by the stories and the prophecies passed on to them by their fathers and their father’s father before them.  A king.  A picture of power, authority, strength, and courage had now been shattered in the eyes of the witnesses of John 19 when before them, the man who claimed to be King had been humiliated, shamed, and beaten.  They had been looking for a lion, but before them stood a lamb.  

D.    He was rejected by His own

His announcement by the religious leaders was not that of reverence but mockery.  He was not recognized as King, but ridiculed because of His claims.  To get even a hint of Christ as their king drove them mad to the point of hostile insanity.  Behold your King.  They craved more.  Not more in a sense of His knowledge, power, or greatness, but more of His shame.  They desire to see Him suffer more.  Behold your king.  They beat him.  They spat on Him.  They pulled the hairs from his face by the handfuls.  Behold your king.  They dance with glee at the plight of their “King”.             

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His [h]own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. (John 1:10-11)

E.      He was received by the thief on the cross

The scepter, a symbol of power, became an instrument of torture. A crown, a symbol of authority, became an instrument of pain. A scarlet robe, a symbol of royalty, became a target of ridicule. The soldiers openly and defiantly mocked the royalty of Christ. Even His own chosen people rejected His rule instead choosing the way of the Gentiles. Then there was the thief....And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42) In his last hours a thief even recognized the royalty of Christ when he uttered the words "Your kingdom".  How amazing that a thief can recognize the Lordship and the Kingship of Christ!

II.                  The King’s Purpose

A.     His ministry

What was His purpose?  It was an answer that He had revealed during His earthly ministry.  Yes, He was the king, but there was another purpose for His earthly existence.  It was not the purpose that many wanted to hear, but it was a purpose that many needed.  

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10:45)

This was not the image of a King that the Jews had in mind.  A King was to be served.  A King was to be revered.  A King was to be in authority.  Yet the very words uttered by Christ shattered the image of a waiting nation.  Behold your king. He kneeled to wash the feet of others.  He beckoned the curious pressing children to come to Him.  He was in this position for a purpose.  A purpose blinded from the eyes of men, but revealed to those who were ready to believe.  The Son of God was not in this position to be defeated, but to deliver.  Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14-15).  He came to be our redeemer.

B.      His motive

The beauty of redemption is not necessarily in how He did it, but why.  He gave Himself a ransom for us out of His great love.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)  There was nothing spectacular about us that neither deserved His love nor warranted Him to give Himself for us.  Love.  Love planted the tree that would be carved into the beams of the rugged cross.  Love placed the hill that would be called Golgotha.  Love carved a cave that would be his burial place.  For God so loved the world that He gave.  He gave not because He had to, but because He wanted to.  Behold your redeeming king.  He gave the greatest gift a man or woman could ever receive because He loved us.  He gave to us the gift of redemption.

C.     His meaning

It all comes down to redemption.  He came to be our redeemer.  The word redemption comes from the Greek word “lutero”.  It means to set free by a payment of price.  The word “ransom” in the Bible carries with it the idea of a “price paid for a slave who is then set free by the one who bought him”.  Jesus came to be our Redeemer.  He came to pay the ransom.  Romans 5:12 reminds us that we are held in bondage to sin.  To stop there is to miss the blessing.  To stop there is to miss the good news.  To stop there is to miss the goodness, the grace, and the mercy that is found in Christ.  Reading on in Romans 5 is to see that through Christ, we are no longer held in dominion, but free.  Free from our past.  Free from our guilt.  Free from our sin.  Jesus came to be to us what Boaz was to Ruth, a Kinsman-Redeemer.  What is a Kinsman-Redeemer?  It was an individual who had the responsibility of redeeming his kinsman's lost opportunities. If a person was forced into slavery, his redeemer purchased his freedom. When debt threatened to overwhelm him, the kinsman stepped in to redeem his homestead and let the family live as set forth by Old Testament law.

III.                The King’s Payment

A.     He had the right

There are three primary requirements of the Kinsmen-Redeemer as put forth by the Old Testament law in Leviticus 25 and exemplified by Boaz in Ruth 3 and 4.  The first of those three was that there had to be a relation to us.  Christ basically fulfilled that requirement when He became flesh.  When God came to this world to become human flesh, God became one of us.

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! (Matthew 12:46-49)

 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). 

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

“but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:7)

Because God became flesh in the form of Christ, He became one of us, and when He became one of us, He had the right to be our Kinsman-Redeemer.  His humanity was exposed when in the final hours of His earthly existence, in the midst of his torment, cried “I am thirsty”.  It was His last act to show that He was not only God, but He was man.

B.      He had the resolve

A second requirement for the kinsman-redeemer was that He was to be willing.  It has already been pointed out that Christ was motivated by love that He became a willing participant to make the payment. 

For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (John 10:17-18)

who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:14)

No one took it.  He gave it.  Pilate did not take His life.  He gave it.  The Jews did not take His life.  He gave it.  The Roman Soldiers did not take His life.  He gave it!  Behold your king.  He gave Himself to be a ransom for you.  Behold your king.  Out of His love for a living creation formed by His own hands allowed His life to be taken by their hands.  His last words and His last act on the cross of Calvary showed that He did in fact give His life.

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46)

C.     He had the resources

He had to be able.  He was able.  But with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (I Peter 1:19)  He accomplished something no man have ever accomplished, He lived perfectly and sinless.  He lived in a way that He was able to meet the demands of the payment of our sins.  He was the lamb.  A lamb without spot and blemish.  A lamb introduced by John the Baptist as the one who will take away the sins of the world.  Satan could not tempt Him, though he tried.  The Jews could not trip Him, though they tried.  God’s Son was able to make the payment……and He did.  The payment was Himself.  He took our place.  Behold your king.  The lamb of God, the Son of God, the Great Shepherd, the Great Physician, Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who we simply called Jesus made a payment that only a King can make.  He made the payment…..for you.  He made the payment for all. 

Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. (I Timothy 2:6)

Only He was able to shout the words of hope and victory at the scene of Calvary.  Because He was able, and because He was willing, and because He was sufficient as a sacrifice and as a Kinsman-Redeemer, He could say “IT IS FINISHED!”  It is finished indeed!!  Christ is in fact our REDEEMING KING!!