Fighting who I am is my greatest battlefield. I say ministry is not about the numbers but then I find myself thinking and acting as if numbers are the ultimate goal. I stress the need for prayer and then find my own prayer life languishing. I speak of our need for the power of the Holy Spirit and then I rely upon myself. I cannot help but believe there is more to ministry than this. To take a metaphor from the Mosaic tabernacle—I’m tired of sitting in the courtyard—I long to stand in the Holy of Holies and revel in the unlimited, unfettered glory of God.

Sunday (yesterday) we spoke of Christ and the blood atonement and because of time restraints I didn’t really get to where I felt the Lord wanted me to get—beyond the logic there is the Logos. As believers we need to remember that Christ is nearer than our own soul and our most private thought and He is our high priest. HE IS HERE. Prayer is not our attempt to shout across an infinite space to an absent God. HE IS HERE. The Holy Spirit is not an “it”. HE IS HERE. The kingdom of God will never be advanced by explainable marketable church growth.

As your pastor I want to encourage you to intensely long for Christ. The church’s shallow satisfaction with numerical increase has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff wooden quality that we have tried to replace with fake choreographed religious antics is because we lack holy desire. Satan is counting on our complacency. No matter how legitimate our excuses may seem if they quench our passion for the deep things of God they are the enemy of our soul. Intense passion for God is essential and without it there will be no real spiritual progress. Our goal is not a momentary swelling in the body of Christ but spiritual health and strength that lasts beyond our generation into the next. Come with me, let us deny our apathetic proclivities, and hunger and thirst until HE fills us with HIMSELF.

Today begins my first full year as the pastor of Burgaw Baptist Church…a calling that comes with great privilege as well as great responsibility—and one that I do not take lightly.

I have been with you for six months and we’ve gotten to know each other a little.

Church and being a pastor is not a job for me…it is my whole life…it is the life of my family.

• We didn’t move to PA, away from a beautiful home that we owned in Burgaw NC, to live in (at the time) a dumpy 950 sq ft parsonage, to pastor a church that had experienced three splits in 5 years, and take a 16k cut in income because that was our choice—God sent us—when God called me God called my family.
• My wife didn’t turn down a six figure salary to stay in PA, the first time, and then to come back to NC the second time, because that was the wisest financial decision—our family belongs to God. In fact, if we could financially survive without my wife’s salary she would quit today to invest her life working in the church—Heather is working and traveling so that I can do what God has called me to do.
• And I don’t want you to cry any tears or have admiration for us by thinking we have made some great sacrifice—our sacrifice is insignificant compared to the thousands of God’s servants who have given up fortune and family for the gospel. If we look big in any way it is only because we are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. And we are thrilled to be numbered with those who are the servants of the Lord.

This verse that I have read to you today is my life’s verse and in order for you to see and understand the significance of it I want to share with you a little of my life’s story.

You already know that I was raised in church and in a godly home with godly parents…and I as religious, but I was not a follower of Christ…I, like a lot of people in churches still today, just played the religion game. When I graduated from Pender High I went off to Bible College to study music. It was in my first semester in college that I was able to look past all the religious stuff and see not only that Christ loved me, but that I needed Him in my life if I ever hoped to rise above the level of common mediocrity.

So I started following Christ and finding out what that looked like for me…not imitating my parents…or someone else in the church…but what me in relationship with Jesus Christ looked like. I must tell you that it was pretty ugly the first three years. I was now a follower of Christ but I was very adamant that I was not, nor ever would I be, a minister….no, my calling was music—or so I thought.

It was in my final year of earning my Bachelor’s degree in Education…the month was October. A missionary (Peter Ng) from Singapore and brought with him a young preacher—Rev. Chacko. (Tell the story) The reason I am telling you this is because I want you to know that something very spiritual and supernatural happened in my heart and life that night…beyond faith…I had no doubt that God had called me and there was no question in my heart—I had surrendered my life to God that I would be His, forever.

As certainly as I sought authenticity and genuineness in my salvation I endeavored to do the same thing with my ministerial calling—What did it look like for me to follow Christ and be his minister?

In April of 1987 I came to be the pastor of King’s Chapel

By 1994 I was going through a lot of internal struggles. At the time I thought I was struggling with my beliefs but looking back now I realize what I was really struggling with was my own “self-righteousness” and the ethics of my ministerial association.

In 1996 three things happened: 1)I turned in my ordination papers to my ministerial association, 2)I committed my life to be a Baptist and was re-ordained as such, 3)I received a call from Bob Powell and on the phone he said, “Nathan, we are about to close the doors here at Friendly, can you help us.”

I went into 1997 as both the pastor of King’s Chapel as well as the pastor of Friendly Community Baptist preaching four times on Sunday and two mid-week services on Wed. and Thur.—and both churches began to grow.

I’m not sure what the actual average attendance was at Friendly but my first Sunday there we had 16 in attendance there and 47 at King’s Chapel—but within the first 18 months Friendly began to grow and in time I left King’s Chapel and became the first full time minister in the history of Friendly Community.

At every church God has taught me something specific. At Friendly it began with the church sign. God had led me to preach a series entitled “Repairing the Breach and Restoring the Paths” from Isaiah. Somehow the “t” from my name had gotten pulled off of the church sign—it was then that I learned that the name “Morton” without a “t” is the word “moron.” And so for about 6 weeks or so the minister at Friendly was Pastor Nathan Moron. Although I had been in the ministry for a number of years—I still had a pretty thin skin…and it hurt. I remember being on my knees praying and crying…probably more out of self pity than anything else…and God spoke to me. Not in an audible voice…it was more real than that. But God impressed upon my heart: “Nathan I have called you to repair the breach…the broken places.” But in order for me to do that God had to break me first; my pride, my goals, my desires, my ambition…. It was in that time of prayer that God put his stamp upon me that this would be the tenor and direction of my life.

Before long Friendly began to grow even more and before long we were averaging around 100-120+ on Sunday Morning. I’d be preaching and see people drive around the church and then drive away because there wasn’t any room left. I thought and told that church that I would never leave…but God had other plans. It seemed that as soon as it became obvious that Friendly was financially and congregationally stable….I needed a job and a salary, more than they needed me to be their pastor…the Holy Spirit began to confirm in my heart that my time was up. That was in the month of July 2000.

I am made of flesh like you are and I hoped that God would lead me to a larger church, that would pay more money, and would have prominence….But I’m glad that God is better than our best ideas.

So instead of moving up the proverbial ladder I ended up at a church named Fundamental Baptist Church that, back in the 70′s and early 80′s, had an average attendance of around 300 on Sunday morning but through a lot on inward turmoil and three splits had dwindled. I have to tell you that at first FBC was the saddest group of people I had ever seen.

I preached, I was voted in, they offered me a salary that was pretty low and I said, “There is no way I’m going to call up my wife and tell her that we are going to move 600 miles, away from our new home, for 16k less than we are living on now.” But, they asked me if I would pray about it before making my final decision and I said I would. But, I called Heather up the next morning and said, “Don’t worry, we are not coming to this church.” (Tell of what happened on Crescent Mountain during the drive home to NC)

While I was in PA God developed in my heart certain truths from Isaiah, that are necessary for a broken church to be repaired. In fact, I wrote a book, that I never published, entitled: The Isaiah Principles—it was built around this chapter that we are in this morning in Isaiah.

The first four years in PA were unquestionably the hardest four years of my life. [But God had called me to repair broken things and in order to do that He had to keep breaking me—I just didn't think there was anything left to break.] Through the pain and the many tears that I wept over that dear church and those people God allowed me to work with Him to see that church not only repaired, but given a new name “Hilltop Baptist”, a new reputation, great deacon and trustee leadership, and this year for the first time they seated delegates at the State SBC convention.

I still remember the day, when like at Friendly, I knew my time was up. There were times I prayed that God would let me leave that church and there were times I prayed that God would let me spend the rest of my ministry at that church…Thankfully, God doesn’t pivot on my emotions and desires, God does what is right.

Heather and I had gone to visit Harvard Divinity School to see about possibly going there to finish my degree. My plans were to leave the ministry for a few years, finish my degree, and then return to the ministry. In my application to Harvard I had to include a statement of purpose. I would like to read you an excerpt from that:

As a 22+ year veteran of the ministry I am often disappointed by what I see coming out of evangelical Christianity. We are addicted to worn out cliché’s, slogans that have no meaning, a belief system that is accepted without question, and a reading repertoire that is entirely comprised of popular writing. Both the liberal and conservative churches suffer from intellectual laziness and moth eaten presuppositions. Nietzsche aptly characterizes much of the modern pulpit when he wrote in the second section of Beyond Good and Evil, “from the beginning we have contrived to retain our ignorance in order to enjoy an almost inconceivable freedom, thoughtlessness, imprudence, heartiness, and gaiety—in order to enjoy life.”

New paradigms of ministry are good but they are not necessarily better than the traditional ones. If done properly Biblical pastoral ministry still meets the needs of hurting helpless humanity. Substance never goes out of style. Denominational fads and hip cool ministry trends will soon pass but true scholarship will outlive the scholar. Today the ministry of the gospel is as vital, necessary, important, and life changing as it was in Paul’s day.

Sadly, the sanctuaries of America’s historic churches have become empty echoic crypts sparsely inhabited by the last faithful few. This ought not to be. The minister’s challenge is not to reinvent the gospel but to reinvigorate himself, and in so doing reenergize the ministry. He must know that his calling is essential, efficacious, and divine. It must consume his intellect, emotions, and will. Scholarship coupled with passion and humble piety is what the church needs. It is what humanity longs for. It’s time for those who stand behind the sacred desks of America’s churches to give the people a reason to come and keep coming.

I believe that the “church growth” lust of ministers and ministries coupled with the religious fads generated by Christian commercialism has produced a wide streak of local church instability that will not go away in a few years. Pastors are not supposed to be entrepreneurs we are to be shepherds. I denounce this ungodly idea that the ministry is a chosen profession—it is not—it is a divine calling. What a minister does and where he ministers must be God’s calling, God’s appointment…and God’s timing.

As certainly as I know that God called me to be a minister of the gospel, as certain as I am that God told me my time was up at Friendly, as certain as I am that God led me to Hilltop Baptist in Indiana, PA, I know that God has put me in this place, at this time, to be the senior pastor of Burgaw Baptist Church. It was no accident that another church in the Burgaw area contacted me as a possible candidate last Christmas…God didn’t want me to go there but He did want me to turn my eyes away from Harvard and be open to the possibility of coming back to Burgaw.

It was no accident that last December I sat in my car in front of this church and told my daughter Melanie, “Now, that’s the church I would like to pastor…..” Not just to get me to consider the possibility of this church, but so that my daughter could, all of her life, look back at that moment and say, “I know that the divine hand of a good God, led my family, and guided our paths.” Melanie doesn’t know everything but she does know that God is alive and at work in our family…even in these days.

Now let’s be practical. I had to be willing to come, and you had to be willing to let me…but there is no question that God, for at least two years, had been working in my life, and in the life this church to put all of this together…I know, without any doubt, that God has called me and led me to be the pastor of Burgaw Baptist…not to build a church (that’s Jesus’ job)…not to make the church what I think it should be…not to make a name for myself…not to climb the religious corporate ladder….but to win the lost, disciple the saved, and shepherd His flock—and work with God as He heals, and repairs, and builds, and strengthens His Church in this place.

With that thought in mind I would like you to look at your bibles at Isaiah 58:1 and I would like you to walk with me through the first 12 verses of this chapter—and then I’m going to close.

58:1—We read God’s instruction to the prophet Isaiah of what he is supposed to do:

“Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins. (Isa 58:1 NAS)

The Greek word for pastor is—shepherd. The shepherd must preach the truth, not what people want to hear, but the truth and he must do it with boldness.

I know from experience that when you preach against sin there will always be those people who will label you has heartless, unloving, and uncaring but the opposite is true.

Those who use tolerance as an excuse to not clearly identify sin are guilty of hateful negligence. If I were setting on my porch watching my child play with gasoline and matches…and not stop him…the law would charge me with negligence—and rightfully so. A pastor is equally negligent if he does not warn people of the destructive power of sin. I don’t preach against homosexual and heterosexual immorality because it makes me feel better about myself…I do so because I care about people and I don’t want them to miss heaven.

In order for health to return to a body, the disease and sickness must be identified and removed.

58:2—God tells Isaiah why he must “cry loudly…”

“Yet they seek Me day by day, and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness, And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. (Isa 58:2 NAS)

Because they have confused being religious for being in a relationship with God. They pray, they talk about God’s word, they follow the religious rituals…they say they long for the nearness of God…in their mind they think everything is alright.

Do you want to know one reason why churches die? They confuse religion for relationship.

Let me interject a thought here. The problem isn’t that older churches are unwilling to change tradition. The problem is that old traditional ritual and contemporary traditional ritual don’t realize that both ways are just ritual. The old says, “well this is the bible way and it has worked for years and we are unwilling to change.” The new says, “our way is spirit lead theirs is dead and lifeless—both positions are not only arrogant and self presuming—they are both wrong.

When you mistake religion for relationship you fall into the devil’s trap.

“I know that they are murderers but they can’t help it, they were born that way. It’s hateful to condemn them and call them sinners. Where is your compassion preacher…In fact they have their own “murderer friendly church” in Raleigh….and they are very spiritual, they pray, serve in the church, they seem like good Christians.”

This was exactly the case in Isaiah’s day…except their sin was that they worshipped idols, they were very unjust…but they were religious and they thought that made everything OK.

58:3a—Look at the people’s complaint

‘Why have we fasted and Thou dost not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice?’ (Isa 58:3 NAS)

We have done everything right God….why don’t you bless us…why don’t you reward us!?

So God answers their question—and gives them 3 reasons.

58:3b–
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. (Isa 58:3 NAS)

First God tells them that not only do they fast for the wrong reasons but while on the one hand they are being very religious on the other hand they are secretly fulfilling their fleshly desires while at the same time they are guilty of injustice toward their workers.

58:4—“Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. (Isa 58:4 NAS)

Secondly they fast (do religious things) and they are in competition with each other.

Thirdly they are not even fasting (doing religious things) so that they will have influence with heaven—in fact—they are only doing these things so they will “look holy”—look at the next verse:

“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed, And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? (Isa 58:5 NAS)

This is the same reason God rebuked the Pharisees and warned the disciples against in Matthew 6.

God has no desire for us to impress each other with our spirituality…the goal of following Christ isn’t that we will become very religious…but that by our relationship with Him we will be changed.

The work of the church is not to make people religious…it is to bring people into relationship with God—and in the next six verses God list 10 positive things that a genuine relationship with God produces.

1. ⁶ “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness,–we are freed from living a life that is overruled by sinful actions

1. To undo the bands of the yoke And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?,–the slavery to addiction is broken

1. ⁷ “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house;—makes us generous
   

1. When you see the naked, to cover him; –makes us compassionate
   

1. And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?—makes us honest to ourselves about ourselves and delivers us from self-righteousness
   

1. ⁸ “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
   –gives us victory in our lives that brings glory to God—not to self.

1. ⁹ “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’—They are complaining that God doesn’t hear their prayers. Here God says, “If you will follow me then your prayers WILL be effective.

1. If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
   

¹⁰ And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. –Your depression will leave and it will be replaced by joy.

1. ¹¹ “And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.—You will have a life of purpose: God will guide you, God will satisfy you in even the most difficult, barren, scorched places, he will give you strength when you have no strength, and you will be a refreshment and an encouragement to people around you.
   

1. ¹² “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.—This will be your legacy: this will be your heritage, your reputation: A repairer of the broken things, and a restorer of path to God.
   

The average female model weighs up to 25% less than the typical woman and maintains a weight at about 15 to 20% below what is considered healthy for her age and height. The average American sees 40,000 of these images every year. Not only does this have a negative impact on the self esteem of many girls but a study from the University of Missouri has found that these same female images have a negative impact on males as well. As with girls it makes them feel self conscious and inadequate—never good enough.

We see so many representations of these ideal, emaciated, underfed, heroin, crack addicted women that we begin to believe that this is true beauty. What I am saying is we are allowing our society, our culture, to tell us what beauty is. What happened to Americans being independent free thinkers? Wives begin to feel that if they don’t emulate this modern ideal of beauty then their husbands will leave them for someone younger and prettier. Let me just say this. Men do not leave their wives because their wives aren’t beautiful any more. Was Tiger Wood’s wife ugly? No, men leave their wives because they lack character, integrity, and yes godly ideals.

Let me propose this. If society can train me into to thinking that something boney and undernourished is beautiful don’t I have the power to train myself otherwise? Yes. Our appetites, our tastes, our ideals of beauty are learned. If you look at other women and allow yourself to believe that they are beautiful you will become dissatisfied with your wife. But, If you look at your husband and wife and tell yourself—he or she is the ideal of handsomeness or beauty—tell yourself and believe it—it will not only reinforce the truth in your heart and mind. It will strengthen your marriage. This is what the bible means when it tells us to think on things that are good, just, pure, holy, etc…

Men if you will train yourself to think biblically you will discover deeper joy and satisfaction in your marriage—emotionally and physically—than you could have ever imaged. Ladies the same is true for you. Can the heart help what it wants? Yes it can because it wants what it is trained to want. Let’s train our hearts to want our mates more deeply than ever before.

So, what is love? Well, the answer to that question is broad. In our language, the things we “love” can range from hamburgers to husbands, from guacamole to girls. The topic of love is wide but in “our quest for enduring love” we want to concern ourselves with the aspect that relates to romance and relationships. This relational aspect of love is admittedly deep, some elements are illusive, perhaps beyond human expression, but please don’t make the mistake of assuming that love is irrational. It is not.

In some ways the English language is simplistic and limited—we use one word to mean a variety of things, many words for the same thing, and certainly every language has these same limitations in different ways. Greek, the source language of the New Testament, is one of the most beautiful, expressive, and historic languages. It uses three different words to communicate different aspects of love: Eros, Philia, and Agape. A better understanding of the culture of these, I believe, will give us deeper insight into the science of love.

Agape refers to the fatherly love of God for man, man’s highest love for God, and in Greek writing it extends to include a brotherly love for all of humanity. I think you can see the spiritual aspect here. The best definition of agape is the great commandment to “love God with all our heart, mind, strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Out of a love for God flows our love for our neighbor. Who is your closest neighbor?—your mate. There is no substitute for God. God is love and in order to have real love, you have to get it from him. It may seem “old school” but if you want your love to endure then you need to be regularly involved in worship. A marriage without a healthy spiritual life is a marriage without a healthy social and sexual life. The road of enduring love is paved with desire and friendship and it leads through the garden of worship. This is the trinity of enduring love: desire, friendship, and God.

Be cautious early on. Sure you are “feeling” him or her. There is a lot of passion. The text messages they send are sweet. When you kiss everything seems right….and the emails… Stop for a moment and ask yourself. Is this a two way street? Does he/she feel as deeply about you as you do about them? Some of the best advice I have ever gotten about marriage I got from Paul Polinski, “The one who cares the least controls the relationship.” Have you met your “significant other’s” friends—boys and girls? How does he/she treat them? Does he/she have a job? Are you allowed to call him/her there? Have you seen them angry yet? Are they forgiving? With you? With their friends? With their family? You need to really find out if this person deserves your commitment, or if he/she is just another broken heart waiting to happen.

Do you really feel good about everything?

Step away from the relationship for a moment and ask yourself? How does he/she make you feel about yourself? Are you both investing the same time and energy into the relationship? Is he/she willing to pick up the check, make plans, do the calling, or be inconvenienced? Is it all about what they want or what you both want? To quote and old song, “Is there any mountain high, any valley low, any river wide enough to keep them from getting to you?”

Beauty is skin deep but ugly is to the bone…

Beauty fades away but ugly holds its own. What is good about the relationship will diminish but what is bad will only increase. If he/she isn’t paying their bills now what makes you think they will pay them after you are married. If he/she is looking at other women/men while they are on a date with you they will be doing more than that after 5 years of marriage—how can you possibly feel good about exchanging marriage vows with this person. Look closely at what is good and bad about this relationship, expect the good the stay good and the bad to drive you crazy in a few years and then ask yourself—can you live with that?

Discover the core values

Talk morals, talk politics, talk religion—what is their personal code of ethics—what is yours. It takes a little bit of digging and objectivity but this is discoverable. Maybe they tell “little” lies. Are they dependable? Do they call when they say they will? Are they moody? (For me that is a big one.) How important is Jesus to them. Are they committed and serving in their church or do they just go every now and then? Will they put you first and themselves second? Being unequally yoked, on any level, will prevent you from having an “enduring love.” Men and women are different in tendency, nature, perspectives, and strengths but we can only be one if we agree on those core issues that matter most.

1. Put God First

Make your faith in God the cornerstone of your marriage because if your love for God is weak your love for each other will also be weak. Look for ways to encourage each other’s faith. Draw your value and worth from God, not from each other or your children. Remember that God is not just a loving God—HE IS love. There is no true love apart from him and there is no putting past brokenness behind you without Him. When your love for God is healthy your love for your mate will flow from that. Simply put: the past will never be past until you put God first.

2. Fill Your Home With Grace

Allow your home to become a safe place where family members can identify, share, negotiate and blend their needs, concerns, disappointments, and disagreements, without judgments, put-downs or repercussions. Authentic relationships are built as family members feel safe, protected, valued and trusted. Build values in your home that reflect the character of Jesus, who loved powerfully and saw the very best in others.

3. Follow Biblical, Not Sentimental, Priorities

Most remarriages I have dealt with have struggled with this one and although it seems counterproductive it is not. If you and your mate nurture and strengthen each other both of your children will see something they haven’t seen before—A Marriage That Works!! This is something they desperately need. This does three things: First, it prevents the children from manipulating the situation for their own gain. Second, that minimizes the child falling into the “blended family” trap of becoming controlling or narcissistic. Third, they learn that they are part of a community rather than the center of the universe. Children do need self esteem but too much, out of balance, makes the child egocentric. The detrimental effects of this show up in adulthood with a lack of stability, defensiveness toward constructive criticism, and the tendency to see one’s self as a victim.

4. Build the Family Community

Make your relationship a priority. You must work to establish a sense of shared partnership; “we” instead of “me.” Commitment is about sacrifice and dedication; it will get you through the tough times. Commitment is a decision, not a feeling and it is a decision that pays off.

5. Adapt

Adaptability is probably the single most important remarriage life skill. A blended family comes with a new set of challenges and rewards. You must go into remarriage understanding this. A blended family had different rules because of the variety of experiences that are not shared by all. Learning to “go with the flow,” learning when to speak and when to be silent, learning when to press and when to let go—all of these skills, and more, will help you build a brighter future for everyone involved.

6. Be Realistic

Everyone will bring baggage into the relationship. The baggage of mistakes, hurts, broken dreams, etc… You must realize that some burdens are impossible for you to carry. You must give them to Jesus. Sometimes extra fasting and prayer are needed to do this—be willing to do the work, it is worth it. Accept that “family love,” for a blended family takes time and there is no “quick fix” magic potion—again, be willing to do the work and you will receive the rewards.

7. Find a Program that Works and Stick With it

Being the right kind of stepparent is essential for success. This means both you and your spouse will have to develop effective strategies for resolving the parent/child/stepparent triangle that has, at times, devastated some marriages. Don’t isolate yourself from the stepchildren but, at the same time, don’t hover or smother. Include, if possible the ex’s in this process because they will need effective strategies as much as you. One of the best ways to start this process is be involved in service and ministry in your local church and involve the children as much as possible. If they see you authentically passionate about Jesus it may go a long way to helping them find their place in Christ as well.

Today this wandering becomes a public quest, and it is a quest that orbits around a singular word, a word that is more often misused and misunderstood than not. This word is love. Learning to love God more than anything else is the key to the Christlife. What led Jesus to Calvary was his love for the father. “Father, not my will but thine be done.” Certainly the implication is this: that will of Jesus was something other than the will of God but, Jesus loved the Father so much he drank the bitter cup of sacrificial sorrow in order to purchase our salvation. Christ’s love for the Father exceeded all other loves and, because of that, I am redeemed. Can you and I have this kind of love? Can this kind of love become the framework upon which we build our families, our homes, and our relationships? Can this kind of love become our strength to overcome temptation and overthrow discouragement? I believe that it can. Come with me on this quest.

Below is an open letter I wrote to the church I was the shepherd of in 2003. If you have read much of A.W. Tozer you will recognize many of these words to be his but, although I borrowed his words. I meant them, and mean them, as sincerely as if they were my own—this is my prayer and my heart.

I’ve been in too many powerless churches, endured too many powerless songs, and preached too many powerless messages. I may have done my best but all I’ve been able to do is muster up is a faint hint of something immeasurably better. I’ve been on the wrong side of the veil far too long. In 2003 I long to slip underneath the curtain, stand in the holy of holies and bask in the unadulterated, unfettered, undiluted glory of God.

I really am thankful for all of God’s blessings but what I really long for is Christ. That Christ would be realized in me and in you—in us as the church. Our praying is not shooting arrows in the dark or shouting across an infinite space to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, and our most secret thought. If, in this new year, we will consecrate ourselves to concentrate on Him, in tim,e Christ-likeness will become our mindset, our lifestyle, our habit— our JOY! The kingdom of God will not be advanced by our church just being filled with people. It only will be advanced by our church being filled with God.

As your pastor I want to encourage us all to pray for, and strive, to have an intense longing for Christ. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff wooden quality in our spiritual lives is because we lack holy desire. Satan is depending on you to forget that complacency is the assassin of all spiritual growth. No matter how legitimate an excuse may be, if takes you away from the things of God, and exempts you from the demands of the scriptures, it is the enemy of your soul. Intense passion for God is essential and without it there will be no real manifestation of Christ to his people.

For HIM
Pastor Nathan

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