Praying Powerful Prayers

Sunday Musings

I am convinced that when the historical backdrop is truly understood, most narrative texts require very little interpretation. When the historical situation is understood, when the people of God’s situation is unpacked, most narrative meaning almost “falls out” with very little effort on the part of the preacher simply by reading the text closely.

Of course, understanding that context and historical setting takes some hard work and some tactical work and organization for maximum impact, but still, once the congregation understands the historical context, they can easily interpret most texts and the preacher’s job is made much easier.

Today I preached from Nehemiah 1:1-11. Took about 15 minutes to explain the historical context of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther and Zechariah, Malachi. Placed those five books in their historical situation and moved on to the exposition of chapter 1. Primary focus was Nehemiah’s prayer. Specifically, his approach to God and what I see as three results of that approach.

1. He Approaches God with Reverence and Awe. (1:5-6a)
2. Which leads (always) to a confession of individual and corporate sin. (1:6b-7)
3. Which makes him yearn for and remember God’s promises and power. (1:8-10)
4. Which produces a humble boldness in his heart [humility toward God and boldness toward the king he serves.] (1:11)

Oh how we need such prayers (long “a”) in our congregations today.

“Change us oh God and make us like Nehemiah, who reminded his heart of Your greatness and power in a time of national crisis, confessing his sin and his nation’s sin, yearning for Your goodness and promises to be fulfilled and was made by that process a bold and effective servant of You. Make us like him Lord, for Your glory and the joy of all people.”

Marty Schoenleber, Jr. is the founding pastor of one church, the interim pastor of another and the church planting trainer/mentor of over 200 other church planting pastors. He is adjunct professor of Church Planting at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and has taught Preaching at the International School of Theology, and Evangelism at Moody Graduate School of Theology. He is also the Director of the Saint John’s Pastoral Center, a pastoral care and retreat center located in a growing number of Bed and Breakfast houses across the mid-west. His latest book is Picking a President: Or Any Other Elected Official (CrossBooks, [late May 2012]). To enjoy a free subscription to his blog, log-on to www.chosenrebel.wordpress.com, where you can post your comments, view past blogs in our archive and read the latest reflections on church planting, Biblical Expositions and musings about church, culture and spiritual formation. Follow Pastor Marty on twitter @1Chosenrebel4JC.

 

For Every Mother on Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!

I had a wonderful mother. She now lives with Jesus. This August it will be two years. She is greatly missed and loved by all seven of her children, all 26 of her grandchildren (or will be when they hear the story of her life), and her growing list of great-grandchildren.

Today, men and women alike, you might call your mother, visit your mother, take your mother out for dinner, give her flowers, do any number of things to say you love her. But can I make just two suggestions?

1. Take a moment and sit down with a pen and a piece of paper and write her a note of thanks for all the sacrifices she made to make your life possible.
2. Send her the link below and give her time to read it and take some time for herself.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/05/a-perfect-diy-mothers-day-otherwise-known-as-a-diy-rr-day/

And to my bride: You are the treasure of my heart and I am the most blessed of men to have you as the mother of our three children.

 

Bonhoeffer Speaks on Unemployment and the Church

Sunday Musings

“In a Christian community, everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A community which allows unemployed members to exist within it will perish because of them. It will be well, therefore, if every member receives a definite task to perform for the community, that he may know in hours of doubt that he, too, is not useless and unusable. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship.”

http://dailychristianquote.com/dcqbonhoeffer.html

 

A Jealous God Longs for Your Affections

Sunday Musings

Preached on Ezra 7:6-10 this morning. Here’s the outline:

We need to be doers of the word, walking into the day with hearts atune and ready to do the will of God. Here’s how the process starts.

1. Set Your Heart in the Direction of the Word of God.
2. Set the Pattern of Your Heart to Study the Word of God.
3. Set the Behavior of Your Life to Do the Word of God.
4. Make it Your Ambition and Practice to Teach the Word of God.

“God wants to be the primary pursuit and goal of all that you study. He wants to be at the center of your intellectual and emotional universe. He is a jealous God and He longs for your affections.”

 

Celebrating the Grace of God with the People of God

Sunday Musings

Tomorrow I get to worship and celebrate with a church we helped to plant ten years ago and now is well over 600 worshipers. 

I love seeing the church of God grow. Jubilee Baptist Church in Bolingbrook is a church born out of crisis, led by a mountain of a man in Dr. John Byrd, and learning new wonders of God’s grace. Enjoy your worship of the living God.

 

The Burdensome Ballast of Human Rules on the Gospel

Sunday Musings

“The real trouble is that the pure Word of Jesus has been overlaid with so much human ballast–burdensome rules and regulations, false hopes and consolations–that it has become extremely difficult to make a genuine decision for Christ.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, (p. 35)

Praying that the Word that was preached all over the country today breaks through the “human ballast and burdensome rules, regulations, and false hopes” of the Christ-less Christianity that is too often offered from the pulpits of America. 

Let Jesus shine. Let the world see the beauty of his person, the wonder of his person, the glory of his righteousness, Show the glory of Christ. Get out of the way and let his glory shine. Let the whole of your life declare that you are living for a completely different set of values because …

The tomb is empty. The tomb is empty. The tomb is empty! Sin has been conquered. Death is overcome. Eternity is ours. Let’s set our hearts and spirits to love one another and love the world in such radical patterns that the greatness of our God is made impossible to deny for every truth seeking, honest heart.

 

He is Risen Indeed!

The tomb is empty. It has been empty for almost 2000 years. It will be empty for eternity. He promised he would rise and today we celebrate that he kept and will keep every promise he ever made to his people.

 

In Awe of the People of God and their God

Sunday Afternoon Musings

I am in awe of the people of God down in here in Watseka, IL. Three weeks ago, I pitched an idea to them about taking the devotional book I wrote back in 2004 and doing something similar to what New Song Church in Bolingbrook had done. New Song had taken the book and created 14 stations or devotional points to help people enter into the passion of Christ, the last 18 hours of Christ’s life, as a run up to Good Friday and Easter.

New Song generously allowed me to plunder their storage of the materials for what had been called EXPERIENCE THE PASSION. I borrowed and carted the materials down to Watseka, IL and Connie Hustedt took over and assembled a team to execute the project. My thought, was the given the short time and no budget, Trinity Church might scale it down and do something that would be a dramatic learning experience for all members of the church as well as an outreach to the community. Phil Goja, a member of the church even put together a video promo for the event. (See here, for a 3 minute video)

Wow! They have outdone themselves. I can’t wait till tomorrow morning when the exhibition opens up at 5AM. It is going to be a profoundly moving experience for all who participate and I think it will be mightily used of God to grow people in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

If you are anywhere within two hours of Watseka, IL between 5AM and 9PM on Monday through Friday of this week, I want to encourage you to come. It will enhance your understanding of the gospel, stimulate you to love Jesus more and may even give you some great ideas for what you could do in your church to unleash the power of the gospel in the future.                                                                                                                                                  

The original devotional (pictured above) was written to coincide with the release of Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ. It is based roughly on the 14 medieval Stations of the Cross found in most Catholic Churches. 

 

Tree Escapes from The Lorax Movie Set

Sunday Musings

I want to officially report this tree as an escapee from the Dr. Suess movie set.

It was last seen in Watseka, IL.

 

The False and Vaporish Love of American Christians

Sunday Musings

God’s indictment of ancient Israel:

“Your love is like a morning cloud, 
        like the dew that goes early away.”  (Hosea 7:4b) 

“Oh God, how is this not exactly like what You would say to American Christians? Please Lord, make us different. Don’t let my love for You ever be like this. Inflame our hearts oh God, with a zeal for You and Your word. Make us holy. Make us holy, thrice holy God, that we might be a blessing to the world and glory to You. Amen”