Month: July 2016

LEADERSHIP 22: A Prayer for Our Nation

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog. No Comments on LEADERSHIP 22: A Prayer for Our Nation

Leaders pray.  That is part and parcel of our calling.  Whether you pray for those you supervise at work, or the children who play at your feet at home, or the young people you mentor in soccer….you pray.  That is who we are.  That is part of our calling.
And as leaders in our nation, we should pray.  We should pray “for kings and all those in authority” Paul tells us (1 Timothy 2:1-2) but we are to be the ones on the front end of the plow, cutting through the hardened soil of our land that is baked by sin and we do that in prayer.
God calls us to pray.  “If My people, called by My Name….” is a call to a very specific group of named people.  It is not a call for all people to pray.  God does not expect all people to pray.  I had a conversation this morning about a young man in my extended family group who posted on Facebook, ” Prayer is doubt. If you really trusted God’s plan, you would not have to pray about it.”  But my young friend has totally missed the mark with that comment.  And by his belief system, he betrays that he is not among those who are specifically “called by My Name.”
But those who are so called have a responsibility to pray, not to express our doubt that the gracious hand of God will prevail, but our confidence that it will prevail.  We pray to express our dependence on the Lord.  We pray to express our assurance that God’s will is going to be done, but that we want to be a part of seeing that come to pass.
And so we pray for America.  We pray for the city in which God has sovereignly chosen to place us.  Every person one earth is where they are…born where they are….raised where they are because God has put them there.  You are here because God put you here….where ever “here” is for you!  But we are to pray for the peace of the city in which God has chosen to place us.  That word from prophet Jeremiah was spoken to the people of Judah who were captives in Babylon…a wicked, godless culture that mocked the God they claimed to serve.
As we pray for the peace of the city, God’s peace that comes to His people, called by His Name, will flow out to the people around them.  Others will be blessed because God is abundant in pouring out His blessings.  And God is severe when disciplining and calling His people back to Himself.
The prayer of Solomon which we apply today to ourselves is a conditional prayer.  It begins with an “IF.”  There is no promise…no guarantee…if the conditions set forth by God are not me.  Sometimes it is our reluctance in meeting those conditions that close God’s hand against us.
Today God wants to bless.  God wants to overwhelm us.  God wants to give….
…..IF.

FOR MEMORIZATION:  “If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from Heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

FOR REFLECTION:  In your own life, have you met the conditions God has set forth to bless you and the family, the city, and the nations around you?

Leadership 21: A Call to Prayer for America

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

Lord, you have been our stronghold and refuge for generations of our lives.  You have been faithful to Your promises, Your covenant, Your Word.  You have graciously named us “Your people.”  You have made us a “peculiar people….a people You have treasured.
But Lord, we have sinned.  Your Word tells us that “sin is a reproach to any people, but righteousness exalts a nation.”  We have sinned….nationally, corporately, and personally.We live, as Americans, in the midst of a sinful people who value material things over love for You; who treat holy things with disgust and who cherish unholy things that offend You.

We have called pornography art, and elevated it to a protected status in our nation.

We kill our children Who are yet to be born, and call it “freedom of choice.”

We tolerate sexual behaviors that we should shun, and laugh at those who call it wrong.

We have sinned.  We have marginalized the poor, the widow, and the orphan…the refugee and the stranger…the very people You trusted us to protect.

Lord, have mercy on us.  We deserve nothing but your judgment.  We can plead for nothing but your mercy.  And yet we continue in corruption through our courts, our Supreme Court, our national leadership and are complicit in their behavior.We cannot separate ourselves from the worst among us and claim to be without sin.

WE HAVE SINNED.  Lord, have mercy on us.

As we celebrate today around our meals and our outings, we thank You for freedom purchased, provided, and sustained at great cost.  We are grateful for patriots lives given for and in defense of our freedom.  And yet we remember that You love more than just America.  You love the nations….those who dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth and in utter, spiritual darkness.  And too often, we forget that we are to live to see them come to Light and Life in Jesus.  Lord, have mercy.
We move this month into a season of elections and significant decision-making as a people, and yet few will seek Your face regarding this decision. Please help us, as we vote this year, to remember that “our citizenship is in Heaven.”  WE are first Your Ambassadors for Christ, and then citizens of this land of America.  Give us grace not to make the wrong decision with the freedom You have provided.
The righteousness You seek in America, the way we will truly see America great again, is as we humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways.  We want to see our nation thrive, that the light and hope of the Gospel of Jesus may go forth from us again…and that we as the people of God may assume our assigned role as the conscience of our nation.
May freedom ever be ours, as we know that freedom may come only from Your hand and only as we first submit ourselves to You.  Then our freedom is an eternal gift, and not an earthly one.
Thank You, gracious Father, for the blessings of this land….the prosperity we have known….the privileges we enjoy.  And may we ever be a great nation because our God ALONE is great. And may You, our Father, bless America once again.
In the name of Jesus we pray.

Amen

Leadership 20

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog. No Comments on Leadership 20

The final essential item in a leader’s backpack ties together the things we have covered in this week’s blog.  The leader must have a clear objective.  This objective is fleshed out by a plan to accomplish the objective.  An objective is different, I believe, from an agenda.  Some leaders exercise authority or use their position to accomplish an agenda.  An agenda, as I am using it here, is not to be confused with an itemized order of business for a meeting.  An agenda is a personally and sometimes personality-driven goal that will serve the leader’s need for power, for control, for revenge, for selfish ends.  When agenda is used in this context, it is seldom used with a positive tone.  An agenda can be devastating in the hands of an out-of-control leader, who is not under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

But an objective has a more selfless, magnanimous outcome.  Nehemiah had an objective.  He saw a need; the people of his beloved homeland living without security, without comfort, and without protection against the enemies and natural forces around them.  His objective was driven by compassion for the languishing Jews who had returned already to Jerusalem under a governor named Zerubbabel.

It was Nehemiah’s objective to meet a need.  Not to gain notoriety for himself.  Not to become influential as a figure of history or a contemporary leader.  Nehemiah’s objective was to rebuild a wall to complete a promise God had made to His people many years before.  But his heart was pure; there was no personal agenda driving this project.  In fact, it would bring Nehemiah nothing but heartbreak, disappointment, and sleepless nights to offer his shoulder to this task.  He would lead, but he would lead in the attitude of a servant who would not seek his own advantage in this situation.  In fact, several times in the Book of Nehemiah, he journaled how he would not take food, wine, or any payment for the job he was doing.  He was empty of any personal agenda in this work.

As he laid his case before King Artaxerxes, it was with a pure heart.  I believe the king saw that transparency in his cupbearer.  It is essential, but difficult to live life without an agenda.  It is tremendously difficult to lead people without one, and it takes constant self-scrutiny to lead from a posture of humility and servanthood, with a desire only to see God glorified and not yourself.  Yet the finest leaders we have known in business, politics, or the church arenas are people who can embrace an objective but reject an agenda.

And serve the Lord before they themselves.

FOR MEMORIZATION:  And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5)

FOR REFLECTION: A Prayer for today:   “Lord, help me to be a servant in my leadership and not a person with an agenda to serve myself.  And make it clear to those I lead in my office, classroom, squadron, or workplace that my heart is transparent before You as I lead them.  Use me to rebuild, to clarify, to show compassion, and to wash the feet of those in need, and lead from that posture of humility and not self-aggrandizement.  As Jesus led, so may I lead.  Amen.”

 

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