People Sharing Jesus

King Hezekiah of Judah is an important example to us of the power of passionate prayer.  As we continue to seek God for our city, we need to take some lessons from this king.  During the Assyrian threat against Jerusalem Hezekiah did not pray as a first resort, but when he did pray he prayed fervently.  He set an example that we should follow of presenting God with a heavenly reason to answer his prayer.  He pointed out to God that the King of Assyria had mocked God.  He ask God to vindicate His own name by saving the city. 

In chapter thirty eight of Isaiah, the King is told that he is going to die.  Hezekiah called out to the Lord with tears.  He affirmed his faithfulness through the years and implied that this faithfulness would continue.  God heard his prayer again.  He also gave Hezekiah assurance that the Assyrians would not conquer Jerusalem.  He further provided a miraculous sign of a moving shadow on a stairway.  Hezekiah’s life was to be extended fifteen years. 

    Does God ever change his mind?  Some are very uncomfortable with this question.  It seems that there are some things that are eternally fixed or prophecy would be unreliable.  If words mean anything, God can change His plans in relation to the timing of events and even in relation to some details.  Some would quickly add that God already knew what He would do.  That may be true, but still the witness of Scripture lends itself to presenting a God who moves through prayer and is moved by prayer.  To conclude otherwise sounds like fatalism.

Hezekiah may have been a prayer warrior, but he was often unwise.  He had previously paid tribute to Assyria out of the royal treasury, even going so far as to strip gold from the Temple.  This only provoked further greed by the Assyrians.  Now he will make a similar mistake by showing off his treasury to the Babylonians.  When God tells him of the coming destruction, he is comforted that it will not occur in his own lifetime.  Somehow this picture of Hezekiah is unflattering.  We should be burdened for generations to come and do all we can to influence the future through our prayers, our ministry, and our witness.  Sadly, many of us may be too much like Hezekiah and be content with our own blessings.

Dan Wooldridge

Do you want to grow in Christ?  How badly do you want to grow?  Do you know how to grow?  As much as I desire to see people experience spiritual growth, I have come to realize that it cannot be forced.  When I was a kid I planted some garden seeds in a plot of ground.  I was so eager to see if they had sprouted that I dug them up every day to see if anything had happened.  It really was not good for them.  Living things will grow.  Growing things are alive.  Let me give you a checklist if you are interested in spiritual growth.

1. Get access to growth materials that are suited to your own spiritual development so far.                             Some people need basic materials like a resource I have written called, Following Jesus.  Some need to do a study like Experiencing God.  Some are ready for MasterLife.  All but the first of these is available at Lifeway.  The Survival Kit for New Christians is also a good resource for beginners.          The ultimate spiritual growth book is the Bible itself.  Study John’s gospel carefully.  Read and study the other gospels.  Always start with them so that you are well acquainted with Jesus.  You may need assistance in studying the Old Testament, but read it anyway.  God honors His Word.

2.Be faithful in attendance.  No one ever grew spiritually who was inconsistent in attending worship.  Like the seeds that were continually uprooted so is the person who does not consistently seek spiritual food and fellowship. God does things when His people are together that happen nowhere else.

3. Learn to pray.  One way to learn to pray is by praying.  Another way is seeking specific resources on prayer.  My favorite is The Disciple’s Prayer Life by T.W. Hunt.

4. Serve in some ministry alongside other mature Christians.  A large part of my own spiritual growth came in the laboratory of Christian ministry where I was privileged to minister alongside others who had served more years than I had.  Most churches are constantly needing help in ministry.  Don’t rule out missions opportunities as a way of growing in Christ.

5. Refuse to let Satan discourage you or derail you in your journey in Christ.  When you become a Christian, you can count on challenges to your faith.  Satan is real and he is angry that you have decided to follow Jesus.  He will seek to distract, discourage, and destroy your faith.  “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Dan Wooldridge

Seek God for the City.  Many of us are engaged in an intesive prayer effort in which we are asking God to visit our city in the power of His Holy Spirit.  If anything lasting or transformational comes to pass, it must needs come from God.  We are powerless to change lives, including our own, unless the Spirit of God moves. 

That being said we must not forget that real prayer should be accompanied by real strategies.  Crestview has just completed registration for two weeks of an all day, on campus camp for children.  We registered over 1000 children in slightly over 24 hours.  In that 24 hours there were only a few hours on Sunday and the rest on Monday morning in which a veritable swarm of parents came to sign up their children for an event that happens in June.  We have had more than a dozen years of this event which we have come to call “Camp Crestview”.  God has blessed us to see over 1000 decisions made to become followers of Jesus.  These children are connected to churches all around our area and also around the United States.  Tragically some of these children simply do not have parents who are committed to nurture their children’s faith.  In some cases the parents have no obvious commitment of their own, and therefore have no real desire to see their children discipled.  I am praying that this year God will do such a work through this event that parents will get caught up in the moving of His spirit.  I am praying for us to see what we have always known could happen; God could bring an unprecedented revival from this event.  We also are busily engaged in setting up a free showing of the movie, “Fireproof”,  accompanied by a Veggie Tales movie for children.   This movie not only speaks a powerful word about healthy marriages, but also clearly communicates the life changing power of Jesus Christ.  The movies are set for April 3rd.  Pray for these events that God might create an environment for reaching people. 

Dan Wooldridge

  The prophet Isaiah shares a wealth of timeless truths.  The immediate concern as to the security of the nation of Judah is that of the keys to their survival.  They must truly return to the Lord and trust him completely.  The challenges a revelations in the text are relavent to anyone seeking God’s counsel for a life of peace and strength.

   Isaiah 29: 13-14 remind us of the continual danger of worship that is merely on the surface.  In our day we hear the term “worship wars” to describe controversy which surrounds styles of music in corporate worship.  There is also pressure to break down the nature of preaching to use multimedia and drama.  What is missed in this discussion is the reality that these are all surface issues.  The real issue in worship is to open your heart to God.  We must listen for His voice.  We must hunger for His will.  Styles of worship do very little to bring this about.  This is a matter of seeking God.  You could sit in an empty church building in solitude and experience amazing worship if you were truly hungry for an encounter with God.  The man made rules that Isaiah refers to remind me of the attitude that suggests that if we follow a certain procedure that God will inevitably respond.  God cannot be manipulated.  The further we pursue procedure instead of a real encounter, the more likely we will experience a loss of godly wisdom and lose the capacity to experience real worship.

 Verses 15 and 16 reveal the disconnect between the way people live as opposed to their professing to be followers of the Lord.  God knows our hearts.  We may deceive others and sometimes even ourselves, but we will never deceive the Lord.  It is amazingly foolish to assume that our lifestyle doesn’t matter.

  In Isaiah 30: 1-3, God speaks through the prophet to reveal the folly of seeking help from Egypt.  Egypt would be know help against the rising powers from the north.  On the other hand God could easily withstand any power on earth.  A modern application of this could be made in the way we seek advice.  Often people will parade around seeking counsel until they hear the advice they really want.  Failing to hear what they want to hear they will twist any advice to suit their desires.  God speaks plainly to virtually any situation which life presents.  If we do not have specific direction from Scripture, we at least have principles to aid us in wise choices.  Prayer and the Word should always supercede human advice.  Worldly wisdom leads to destruction.

Much havoc is heaped on those who rush to judgement.  Repentence and rest speaks of turning away from our sins and turning to the Lord.  We can find rest for our souls when our hearts are turned to Him.  Quietness and trust reveal the amazing resources of solitude and faith.  Worry and anxiety should be replaced by prayer and faith.  God will reveal what course we should take.  The 21st verse of chapter 30 puts the perfect exclamation point on this truth, “Whether you turn to the right, or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,’This is the way.  Walk in it.’”

Dan Wooldridge

Before you answer the above question let me define a friend.  A friend is a person who loves you because of who you are.  They are not trying to gain favor by being interested in you.  They won’t walk away from you in your darkest days.  They rejoice in your victories and weep with you in your sorrows.  They care about you on a deeper level than just the surface.  If you were horribly disfigured they would still see you in their heart as whole and complete.  Your memory would be a cause of blessing to them when far away or for that matter after you are gone from this world.  Now, how many friends do you have?

   If there is anything that is obvious to me about the way Jesus changed lives, it is the way he invested in people.  The signs of deep relationships are all over the narrative of the gospels.  Jesus called his followers “friends”.  He of all people knew the meaning of the word.  One of the most distressing things about life in the modern world is the pitiful shallowness of relationships.  When revival comes it will come on the heels of Holy Spirit empowered relationships built between the people of God.  In fact when those relationships exist and are obvious to a watching world, many people are irresistably drawn to Christ and to the warmth of Christian fellowship.  Be a friend!  Make a friend!  Why not start today?

Dan Wooldridge

Friends are a wonderful gift from God.  Paul was my my friend when most people who know me now had never heard of me.  We grew up together, stayed overnight at one another’s home, played football together, roamed the streets of Brown County together, and have stayed in touch.  I will never forget Paul suggesting that we wear our football letter jackets to a class reunion.  My response was, “Which arm should I wear it on?”  A few years ago Paul’s son died tragically in a motorcycle accident.  Shannon and I were compelled to drive to Brownwood to stand with Paul and his family at the funeral home the night before the service.  In taking that four hour round trip, we were saying we love you and will always carry you in our hearts.  Paul listens in on my messages and reads this blog.  I am honored to have maintained his friendship through the years, but I am thrilled to be his cyber pastor in this day of amazing technology.  God’s blessings on you and yours, my friend.

Dan Wooldridge

   There is a principle in interpreting prophecy that should always be considered.  Prophecy should be studied with a view to three points of reference.  To ignore any one of these points of reference is to run the risk of overlooking important lessons from the Lord.  These points of reference are:  1. What did the prophecy mean at the time the prophet spoke?  What immediate applications should be made?  We discover this by knowing the historical situation being addressed.  God had an immediate word for the people of that day.  2.  What does the prophecy mean for all time?  What is its universal application?  We learn this by discerning principles within the text that are always true in every historical setting.  God has a word for each passing age in human history within the words of Spirit inspired prophecy.  3.  What does this prophecy say for this particular time?  What word does God have for us today that is uniquely relavent to our current situation.

The historical context was a time of division between the northern kingdom, Israel with its capital city of Samaria, and the southern kingdom, Judah with its capital city of Jerusalem.  The division was so deep that an alliance between Syria and Israel was threatening Judah.  The prophet was urging the King of Judah to hear a promise from God and trust God.  In that context he used the illustration of a virgin conceiving a child and the child coming of an age of discernment as an analogy of how quickly this threat would end.

The universal application is that God knows how history will conclude.  We can move in confidence and make decisions based on faith.  Some things never change.  The verse which says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” is universal in its application. (7:9)

The current application underscores the ongoing onslaught of the evil one against the person of Christ.  Isaiah uttered that Jesus would be born of a virgin and that He would be called Immanuel.  The name “Immanuel” means God with us.  This points to the fact that Jesus is God.  For several chapters Isaiah develops this theme through astounding prophecies.  The historical occasion prompted Isaiah to bring a word of prophecy that helped in the crisis of that day while also dramatically pointing to God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. 

Dan Wooldridge

     Salvation is in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.  I am not saved because of my ability to figure God out.  I am not saved because I am in the right camp, denomination, theological think tank, or any other such configuration of human origin.  I am not saved because I have done my rituals right, saluted the right principles, or followed the right spiritual leaders.  I am saved because I have had an encounter with the real Jesus and have thrown myself completely on His mercy.  I have surrendered to His Lordship.  I stand amazed in His presence.  Do not hear me say that doctrine does not matter.  I am a seeker of the Truth.  It is just that He is the Truth, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to grasp all of the amazing realities that comprise my understanding of Him.  When Paul met Him on the Damascus road, he had not yet even imagined the letter to the Romans, and yet he readily called Jesus Lord.  In fact, He recognized Jesus as Lord even before he recognized Him by the name Jesus.  Almost no one comes to Christ because they have recognized a doctrinal system that they believe to be true.  They come to Christ because they encounter Him and are compelled to believe on Him.  Then as believers they try to understand as much as they can about His purposes and His ways. 

     Here is an interesting thought.  Could it be that the problem with false teachers and false teaching is that they start with a body of doctrine and then force Jesus to fit their system?  As for me, I have found that I cannot build a filing cabinet big enough to contain the wonders of my Lord.  A good way to illustrate this is to remember that Paul in a moment of ecstacy said, “I know whom I have beleived . . .”.   He did not say, “I know what I have believed . . .”.  The difference in those two statements defines the fine line between worshipping Jesus Christ and worshipping our belief systems.  Think about it.

Dan Wooldridge

Developing strong relationships begins with learning names.  At one point in my life learning names was so easy that I developed a reputation that is hard to live up to.  Now sometimes people will introduce me to someone and say, “He will never forget your name.”  I tremble a little when they say that.  Allow me to share my secret.  When you want to learn a name get it in written form as soon as possible.  Look at the name and visualize the person as best as you can.  Pray for them by name and ask God to help you remember their name when you see them again.  Consider this prayer, “Lord you always were interested in one person at a time.  I have just met (blank).  Help me to remember them and to be able to call their name.  Use me to encourage them and make them feel more special because I have taken the time to learn their name and am willing to be a blessing to them.  Amen.”  Once you have learned a name it is easier to add other information to your memory such as their line of work, their children’s names, where they are from and so on.  I take great delight in being able to introduce people to one another and share such things as where they are from, details about their family, their line of work, where they went to college, and much more.  As I do this I am building community.  Community is a word used today to describe the necessity of interpersonal relationships that have some depth in an increasingly metropolitan society.  It is possible in our day to live in a city of millions and not have a single relationship beyond a working relationship or neighborhood politeness.  Churches have so much to offer people who need real relationships.  In order to do this, it starts with a name.  If I learn someone’s name, then I can point them to the one whose name is above all names.  I can point them to Jesus.  He not only wants us to come to Him, but also to come together.

Dan Wooldridge

Sunday morning as I spoke on the subject “Who Needs the Church?”, there was much more that I wanted to say.  Let me attempt to deposit some additional thoughts here.  For those who were there or who take the opportunity to go to the page where the message is recorded, let me remind you that we spoke of three realities.  1. There are real dangers involved in living in isolation.  2. There are real benefits in relationships.  3. There is a real need to be connected.

   Relationships are inevitably messy.  They are messy because we all, author included, have a sinful nature.  To be sure Christ has changed our lives, but there is a residue of the flesh life that must be dealt with.  Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that we needed to take up our cross daily.  Why daily?  Because the cross is a reminder to die to self in order to live in Christ.  Even the very best relationships must be annointed with grace in order to stay healthy and nurturing.  Open communication and accountability are a necessity.  Forgiveness and kindness should be everywhere available.  As in our relationship with God, we should not take advantage of the grace and kindness offered us.  We should sincerely seek to make wrongs right, to hear criticism, to try to make ourselves better understood, and to love others for Jesus’ sake.  I believe that many avoid relationships out of a desire to simplify life.  Tragically, life in isolation may seem to be the simple life, but it usually degenerates into the selfish life.  Without accountability and the check and balance of community life, people almost inevitably become eccentric.  “Who cares?”, you might say.  Not caring is in fact the greatest problem with social isolation.  God is caring.  Those who see God as isolated and indifferent have totally missed the message of the Scriptures.  Whenever we feel forgotten, we can be sure that we are being deceived.  A God who became one of us in the person of His Son, expects us to move toward people as He has.  We are disfunctional when we do not participate in His purpose of redeeming love.  Even pastors are sometimes tempted to withdraw.  The last time I checked I found that the source of temptation was the Evil One and not the God who loves me.  Resisting temptation involves embracing meaningful relationships with others.

Dan Wooldridge