The Greatest Life Ever

God is looking for?

I have spent the day in prayer for the church I pastor, it's leadership, staff and my family.  It has been very rewarding.  One of the most grabbing moments of the day was when read from one of my favorite authors, E.M. Bounds and his book "Power through Prayer".  I have quoted him directly.  Since he lived in the 1800's the language will reflect that.  It's interesting to hear him speak of the problems of and the solutions needed in the 1800's and how they most certainly apply today.

E.M. Bounds wrote, "We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization.  God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else.  Men are God's method.  The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men...The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it...What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.  The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men.  He does not come on machinery, but on men.  He does not anoint plans, but men-men of prayer."

I kneel convicted.  Pray.  Pray.  Pray.

Driving through Jericho changed the way I drive through Life.

 

One of the observations I made on this trip is how oblivious or non-chalant the locals are regarding the religious treasures in their back yard.  I'm sure they don't mean to be, but life has a way of doing this. Here I was watching people going on about their life while just over a couple of streets was the old city of Jericho and looming overhead is the Mount of Temptation where Jesus spent some of his 40 days of fasting.  It was like their life daily life and religious life were separated or compartmentalized.

And then I realized that it isn't that much different even here in our neighborhoods is it?  I found myself wondering where this happens in my life.  Without meaning for it to happen, my religious life can take a back seat to the pressing needs of what is before me.  What about you?

I believe the greatest life ever is experienced when both streams of life are brought together to form one river.  Would you like your life to be fuller?  If so, pray the following prayer with me.

"Oh Lord Jesus, enable me through the power of the Holy Spirit to live completely for you.  Make me aware when I begin to separate my spiritual life from the temporal and bring it back together.  So be it." 

Fire on the Teaching Steps

This may be where it all began.  Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, pilgrims and the teaching steps.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be uploading a video taken on the Teaching Steps.  This is it.  This was one of the more significant moments of the pilgrimage for me.  Watch and you'll learn why.  When you're done, ask yourself, "Do I have a place to go to where I learn about Jesus and his ways?"  "Do I put myself in a posture to receive God's grace?"  "Where are your teaching steps and when was the last time you stepped there?"

Pentecost on the Teaching Steps from Bryan Fink on Vimeo.

 

The Jericho Road

Finally back in the good ole US of A. The return journey will be fodder for a future blog. Now that I'm back however, I'll slowly be posting some of the experiences, photos and videos.

Today I want to share with you a video that Teddy took of me in the Wilderness above the Jericho Road. From where I was standing I could see Jerusalem to my right and Jericho to my left, about 20 miles separates the two. Down below me, in the valley and gorge is the Jericho road that links both cities. A portion of it is also known as The Valley of the Shadow of Death. And once you've been there and looked into it you would know why.

A friend of mine named Carol Grace wrote a poem about the Jericho Road. A poem that I said I'd read while at the road. I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen and to note the geography of the wilderness.

 

On The Jericho Road from Bryan Fink on Vimeo.

 

 

Trouble on the Temple Mount

I couldn't believe it. Larry, his son and I weren't allowed on the Temple Mount with the rest of the group because our shorts didn't cover our knees.

Believe it or not something akin to Temple Police wouldn't let us go any further unless we bought a scarf or shawl like piece of clothing to wrap around our waists. "How much?" I asked. "Fifty shekels.". "What!". That's $15. I wasn't going to pay that. Larry and his son did. We walked back to the group and I told my guide That I wasn't going to pay that and I would meet them on the street on the other side.

Wissam my guide spoke to one "fashion police" and before I knew it I thought I was being frisked. He started tugging on the bottom of the legs on my shorts pulling them down over my knees. Praise the Lord that I had a long shirt on today.

I have never understood the "saggy" pants thing and have often spoken against it. And here I find myself on the most sacred ground in the world and I'm forced to "sag."

Go figure.

 

One of the Most Unusual Places I ever prayed.

This view puts life in perspective for me. I'm standing in the courtyard of the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. Jesus was being kept in a deep cistern just sixty feet from here. I'm standing in the area where Peter stood when he denied knowing Jesus. You can see a statue to my left that commemorates the occasion.

From where I'm standing I can see the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the far hill, the Kidron Valley between it and walled city of Jerusalem and the ancient steps that date back before Jesus' time coming up from the Kidron Valley along side the house of Caiaphas. There's no question Jesus used these steps when he left the Upper Room to go to the Garden and when he returned later that night Under arrest.

I don't have a photo of it but I stood in that cistern today and read Psalm 88. It was probably 20' deep and 10' wide with a small opening in the top that Jesus would have been lowered through by ropes into the hole in the ground. Definitely the most unique place I've ever read scripture and then prayed The Lord's Prayer with others.

Wow!

First of all I want apologize. I had hoped to be able to blog about my pilgrimage daily but the Internet connections and speeds have very slow and the majority of time my laptop dies on me. Thank God for the iPhone!

I can't believe that I was in Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday! Unbelievable. I was in the city where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples occurred. An I was here on the day it is celebrated. Several pilgrims and I web to Saint Georges Anglican Church for worship on Pentecost Sunday. I introduced myself to the pastor who then asked if I would be willing to read Acts 2.1-21. The story of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I couldn't believe it. I'm reading the Pentecost passage in a service of worship in Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought this was possible. Could it be any better?

Oh yeah. I may have been at ground zero for Pentecost. But I will have to wait to show you the video when I'm back in the States and have faster internet.

Until next time and as they say in Israel, "Later.". Okay "shalom".

It Just Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

It just doesn't get much better than this.
I'm standing on the patio of my hotel with the Sea of Galilee behind me.

If I close my eyes and concentrate I can hear Jesus standing in his boat just off the shore teaching those who have gathered on the shoreline. If I listen I can here him yell the disciples, "Don't be afraid it is I." If I listen I can hear Jesus with love in his voice saying to Peter, "Do you love me?"

What do you hear Jesus saying to you these days? Nothing? Can't hear him because of the noise in your life?

What's one step you can take to change that?

You Might Be Lukewarm - Part 4

God seems to be telling me that He wants me to quit being complacent and comfortable with my version of Chrsitianity.  I am learning that I still have to room to grow when it comes to being a fully devoted disciple of Jesus.  I would like to think that I am completely sold out to Christ, that I've "arrived" so to speak.  But when I reflect on passages like the following, I realize that I am still holding back.  

"Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.  They assume such action is for "extreme" Christians, not average ones.  Lukewarm people call "radical" what Jesus expected of all His followers." (Crazy Love, Francis Chan, pg. 70-71)

I agree.  What we consider radical Christians is what Jesus had in mind for baseline for his followers.  What's the implication for you?

You Might be Lukewarm - Part 3

"Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives."  (Crazy Love, Francis Chan, pg. 69)

This comment by Francis Chan really hit home with me.  What about you?