Words from a Watchman

I have been a student of Clay McLean's for many years and consider him a spiritual mentor.  He and his wife, Mary, have a pastoral care ministry out of Hickory, NC.  Clay sends out a monthly newsletter and a podcast (which you are invited to subscribe to), and I wanted to share the November and December 2011 podcasts with my circle of family and friends because I believe we are in a critical time in our lives as individuals and as a nation.

Please set aside some time to listen to each of the messages, starting with the November 2011.  Each message is approximately 1 hour in length, so try to set aside an hour each time so you can get the full impact of each message without interruption.

I do not want to be in a "stupor"!  I have heard various people say lately that God is preparing for the third Great Awakening in our nation, and I want to be ready for Him!  We are long overdue, as a church, as the Body of Christ, as individuals and as a nation!

I want my family and friends to join me however we can, either via email, or facebook, or phone, or local gatherings, to communicate with each other on a regular basis and prepare for whatever is coming our way.

Each one of us, as Clay says in his December message, can form little "circles of compassion" around our families and friends, and extend those circles of compassion to those who are on the outside but desperately need to be secured and protected and made aware of what is coming!

So, here goes:  I hope you are up to the challenge!  The first challenge, of course, is to set aside an hour of uninterrupted time to listen to the November message, and if you're like me, you will want to listen to the December message as soon as you get through with November!  You will not be disappointed!  This is not a Chicken Little, "the sky is falling" word - this is one of those "truly, truly" words!  (Although I personally believe that the sky is falling, in more ways than one!)

November 2011 Message

December 2011 Message

Love you all - let's talk!

Jacque

"Bloom Wherever You Are Planted!"

I was out walking today, and saw these beautiful "weeds" growing in all sorts of places...the little brown-eyed susies were growing in a pile of horse manure, the wild orchid growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, or beside a dried up canal.  And I was thinking, "Why is it so hard for us to do what these little "weeds" are doing?  We are always so concerned about where we are, what's going on around us, what's going to happen to us, who's going to be impressed by what we are doing, what's in it for us, and on and on!

I love these beautiful "weeds"!  And I was thinking when Jesus sat on the hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee on the Mount of Beatitudes, He probably was looking at the "weeds" and flowers growing all around Him and the birds flying above Him when He spoke these beautiful words that are just as alive today as they were when He spoke them over 2,000 years ago:  

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own."

And then I was thinking about all the times we are told throughout the living Word that we are to do whatever our hands find to do with all our might, and to do everything we do to the glory of God:

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (I Cor. 10:31)

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  Colossians 3:17

Yes, I absolutely believe that God has a perfect plan for each of our lives, and that plan often involves a particular place, but I think more often than not, we are to do everything we do in the name of Jesus, to the glory of God, giving thanks to the Father!  And that means no matter where we are, who happens to be looking, whether we ever receive kudos from those around us - in other words, blooming right where we happen to be planted right now!

I was reading John Piper's blog today entitled, "Don't call it simplistic - call it grace!"

We should be slow to treat Jesus as if he doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not naïve in the way he deals with our anxiety. In Matthew 6:25-34 he tells us three times not to be anxious (vv. 25, 31, 34) and gives us eight reasons not to be anxious.

Evidently he thinks this will help. So don’t call it simplistic. Call it grace. Believe him. Take every reason and preach it to your soul as true. Say,

Soul, this is true. Jesus Christ says so. Trust him. He died for you. He loves you. He created you. He knows you. No one — no counselor, no pastor, no friend — knows as much about you as he does. Listen to him. Let these reasons sink in. Bank on them. Now, let’s get up and do what we need to do. Be gone anxiety.

Here’s a summary of what he said:

1. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing (Matthew 6:25).
2. God feeds the birds and you are more valuable than they are (Matthew 6:26).
3. It's pointless. It adds not one hour to your life (Matthew 6:27).
4. If God clothes ephemeral grass, he will clothe eternal you (Matthew 6:28-30).
5. Unbelievers are anxious about stuff. And you are not an unbeliever (Matthew 6:32a).
6. Your father (!) knows that you need all these things you're anxious about (Matthew 6:32b).
7. When you seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, what you need is added to you.
8. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Tomorrow's trouble stays there (Matthew 6:34).

(John Piper - Don't Call It Simplistic - Call It Grace!"

So, do not worry, do not be anxious, do whatever your hands find to do to the glory of God, giving thanks to God the Father that He knows what He's doing, He has planted you right where He wants you, so BLOOM, BLOOM, BLOOM, even if He's the only One looking!

Teaching the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation!

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation but for our acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither He went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love Me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from Me,” now we can look at God taking His son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that You love us because You did not withhold Your Son, Your only Son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold Him and uses His new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves His stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes His people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk His life, but gave His life to save His people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you – it’s about Him!

(excerpt from a sermon by Timothy Keller)