Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
TOWARDS HOLINESS, PART 4: PRAYER POWERS PROCLAMATION
Not being a full time pastor, but a bi-vocational ministry leader for a couple decades now in area-wide men's ministry in Central Illinois, affords increasing opportunity to share the message of the Kingdom, in various venues (including secular ones).
Recently, the privilege to speak at my first Good Friday service was such a time. It demanded a level of preparation and prayer which has led me far into a place, I have never previously been. In reflection, it should have been the first stop. I was asked to speak on Statements 3 and 4 of the Seven Final Statements, which Christ delivered from the Cross. He made those statements just minutes before He paid the ultimate price for all sin, of all mankind, for all time.
For weeks, I struggled with how to present Statement 3 from the Cross, which can be found in John 19:26b-27: "“Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” That is, until days before I was to speak, I cried to Jesus and asked Him "Lord, these are Your Words....how do I present them at this service?"
As I sat outside the church in my car, half hour before the noon service, in tears, the enormity of what had occurred during Holy Week, how I got there and what it took was just too overwhelming. Operating within the confines of the Word and the Holy Spirit is not only empowering, but liberating at the same time. In essence, it drives us to even more distance between us and the foolishness of this current world. In practice, it moves us towards Holiness.
Several lessons were taught to me which can be universal, if observed by anyone who is called to inspire, encourage and/or move others to action in service of the Kingdom of God. In short, here they are:
- Jesus has all the answers! We may think that we are wise. We are nothing outside of Christ. It does not matter if you are "Reverend Dr. So and So", or a seminary dropout like me - without His Knowledge and Power, we can DO NOTHING!
- Humility is key. You can read all the Hebrew and Greek and google Bible passages on every topic under the sun. Until we realize that we are like the disciple in John 19:27 who was "volun-told" by Jesus "Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.", we are operating in pride.
- Put your own agenda to the side. One of the greatest speakers in America in 1863 was the former Secretary of State Edward Everett. On November 19, 1863, on the National Cemetery Dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spoke for 2 hours at this event. The very next speaker spoke for only 2 minutes. That final speaker was President Abraham Lincoln, whose two-minute "Gettysburg Address" remains one of the greatest speeches in history. We, who speak in the Name of Jesus, from the Bible, represent the King. We are commissioned, from Scripture, as His Ambassadors. We are not here to promote ourselves, our products or our performances. We are to proclaim the Savior and love His people, by encouraging them. Strangely, this sounds like the Two Greatest Commandments!
- Listen, then follow directions. The Holy Spirit is not just the Power of God living in the lives of authentic born-again disciples of Christ. He is God. When He speaks, we should listen. We all have ignored the prompting of the Spirit's leading too many times to count. When we do listen, however, the results are incredible. The key to listening is all of the above: Jesus, humility and putting Him first. All three items above reduce our tendency to operate in the flesh, to even sin and to remove obstacles which prevent the Spirit's free flow in us. When we ask a question in Prayer, He will respond 100% of the time. Then when we pay attention AND DO what He says, the fruit is immediately obvious.
It is really this clear-cut. The simplicity and beauty of the Lord and the Kingdom, to which where ordinary men and women are fortunate to be blessed to be called, are not to be dismissed. This brief discourse may seem elementary and ho-hum or even trivial to the over-educated or the weak and non-believing, but yet, it remains the internal combustion which ignites great men of great power and preaching like D.L. Moody, Billy Graham, Luis Palau and Greg Laurie to lead countless millions in total, over a lifetime.
Do not neglect the basic road map to the exciting life in His Kingdom. This road map will surely direct our journey towards the life powered by prayer, to a place called "the realm of Holiness". Many will seek, few will find. Those who are wise, will shine.
Several lessons were taught to me which can be universal, if observed by anyone who is called to inspire, encourage and/or move others to action in service of the Kingdom of God. In short, here they are:
- Jesus has all the answers! We may think that we are wise. We are nothing outside of Christ. It does not matter if you are "Reverend Dr. So and So", or a seminary dropout like me - without His Knowledge and Power, we can DO NOTHING!
- Humility is key. You can read all the Hebrew and Greek and google Bible passages on every topic under the sun. Until we realize that we are like the disciple in John 19:27 who was "volun-told" by Jesus "Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.", we are operating in pride.
- Put your own agenda to the side. One of the greatest speakers in America in 1863 was the former Secretary of State Edward Everett. On November 19, 1863, on the National Cemetery Dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spoke for 2 hours at this event. The very next speaker spoke for only 2 minutes. That final speaker was President Abraham Lincoln, whose two-minute "Gettysburg Address" remains one of the greatest speeches in history. We, who speak in the Name of Jesus, from the Bible, represent the King. We are commissioned, from Scripture, as His Ambassadors. We are not here to promote ourselves, our products or our performances. We are to proclaim the Savior and love His people, by encouraging them. Strangely, this sounds like the Two Greatest Commandments!
- Listen, then follow directions. The Holy Spirit is not just the Power of God living in the lives of authentic born-again disciples of Christ. He is God. When He speaks, we should listen. We all have ignored the prompting of the Spirit's leading too many times to count. When we do listen, however, the results are incredible. The key to listening is all of the above: Jesus, humility and putting Him first. All three items above reduce our tendency to operate in the flesh, to even sin and to remove obstacles which prevent the Spirit's free flow in us. When we ask a question in Prayer, He will respond 100% of the time. Then when we pay attention AND DO what He says, the fruit is immediately obvious.
It is really this clear-cut. The simplicity and beauty of the Lord and the Kingdom, to which where ordinary men and women are fortunate to be blessed to be called, are not to be dismissed. This brief discourse may seem elementary and ho-hum or even trivial to the over-educated or the weak and non-believing, but yet, it remains the internal combustion which ignites great men of great power and preaching like D.L. Moody, Billy Graham, Luis Palau and Greg Laurie to lead countless millions in total, over a lifetime.
Do not neglect the basic road map to the exciting life in His Kingdom. This road map will surely direct our journey towards the life powered by prayer, to a place called "the realm of Holiness". Many will seek, few will find. Those who are wise, will shine.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
EMPOWERED - A BOOK REVIEW
Dr. Bowman does as masterful job in weaving a narrative direct from Scripture, in full context, while keeping the reader engaged through both some little known historical facts, as well as some personal humorous anecdotes. Without giving away anything, all I can say is I have, myself, forgotten to put in a blank video tape in my camcorder one time, when I went to record one of my daughter's ballet dance recitals! Fortunately, there was a professional crew there too, and I was able to buy a copy. There I was recording all the angles, only to get home and find out I had not tape in the camcorder!
EMPOWERED will empower the Christian man or woman, of any stage of spiritual maturity, to be lifted to the next plateau of intimacy with the Savior, if we can just grasp the historical background of the Holy Spirit and how we can truly come into an effective prayer life, which will then enable that graduation to a higher plane.
There are both practical steps, sometimes paralleled by the examples of the Early Church and how they prayed in tougher circumstances, than we experience today. Yet their ground-shaking prayer and evangelistic intercession led to a divine movement with over a billion Christians worldwide today. How did those early saints do it? They were filled with the Holy Spirit, remained "topped-off" and exploded from a sect in Jerusalem to take the world by storm.
Get your copy of EMPOWERED by Pastor Bowman, here. It is a great gift for the Resurrection Week ahead!
EMPOWERED is published by AUXANO PRESS.
Foreword by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and the National Day of Prayer Task Force.
Monday, April 8, 2019
DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT TO IGNITE FAITH THAT INSPIRES
It is indeed an honor to announce the release of my new book – ONE ONE NINE – albeit almost three months behind schedule. This book has been an absolute joy to write. It is designed to be, not just a fast read, but one flowing document on great faith, enthusiastic faith, joyful faith and solid bible-based Faith.
ONE ONE NINE’s platform for 90% of this book is its dynamic 21st century look at the longest chapter in the Bible – Psalm 119! This is NOT a seminary book on the theology of the Psalms but a literal look at what God says and how it applies to our lives, almost 3000 years after His Spirit inspired King David to write it. Also, please do not let the physical length of the Psalm intimidate. On the contrary, this Psalm is an ongoing love letter to the Lord, for Who He is and what His Word, Precepts and Counsel should, would and could mean to each and everyone of us.
All twenty two sections of Psalm 119’s one hundred and seventy verses are kept the way which the Bible presents them. However they are examined in twenty two short fast moving modules (or very short chapters) which take a deeper look at what God wants us to know, and what it means to us. God is a God of order and discipline. This book stays true to this fact and everything ever written on this site or in my books, will always reflect our Heavenly Father's unchanging attribute.
This examination of Psalm 119 actually begins in Chapter 5 because I thought it necessary to present an easily understandable look at the true definition of Faith. This is done in Chapters 2-4. This leaves us with Chapter 1 – The Signature of God.
Most Bible readers and most defitnitely, the vast majority of Christians, do not know that the Lord Himself left His Signature in the Scriptures, right from the Beginning in the Book of Genesis. His “signature” is signified by the two well places letters – אֵ֥ת (Aleph Tav) – in Genesis 1:1 and elsewhere which when translated into English, via the Greek Language, is the Name which Jesus called Himself – The Alpha and the Omega (or the Beginning and the End). The various placement of these letters in the Old Testament leaves them untranslatable because they are only there for indentification purposes
My purpose for starting the book off with the Signature of God is to present the Author of the Bible and thus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith. This sets the springboard from which our Faith definitions plunge directly into THE most incredible Biblical work outside of the Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My purpose for starting the book off with the Signature of God is to present the Author of the Bible and thus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith. This sets the springboard from which our Faith definitions plunge directly into THE most incredible Biblical work outside of the Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A lot of this work actually began when I prayed through every verse of this incredible psalm – twice – over a total of 5 months. The more you pray the Scriptures, the more alive they become. So is it with Psalm 119, and each of its eight-verse per – sections, all headed by every twenty two letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
May this book, a celebration of Faith in the Lord, through Jesus Christ, lead the reader into a closer relationship with Him. Amen
ONE ONE NINE CAN BE PURCHASED HERE (CLICK)
May this book, a celebration of Faith in the Lord, through Jesus Christ, lead the reader into a closer relationship with Him. Amen
ONE ONE NINE CAN BE PURCHASED HERE (CLICK)
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