Tonight while working on my series of sermons on The Twenty-Third Psalm, I came across this quote in a 1921 book by Bibe teacher William Evans.  He was commenting on verse 2:  “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

It is generally recognized as being a very difficult thing to get God’s people to thus lie down.  They will do almost anything and everything else but that.  They will run, walk, fight, sing, teach, preach, work, in a word do almost anything and everything except seek seasons of quiet and periods of retirement from secret communion with God and quiet soul nurture…  We do not like pauses…

From the rush into the hush Jesus calls us.

– William Evans, The Shepherd Psalm (Chicago:  The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1921), p. 27-28.

Tomorrow’s message at The Donelson Fellowship is from Psalm 56:3, which does not say:

• When I am afraid, I will panic.
• When I am afraid, I will get depressed.
• When I am afraid, I will fall to pieces.
• When I am afraid, I will give up.
• When I am afraid, I will run and hide.

It says:  “When I am afraid, I will trust in You” — in Your providence, in Your promises, in Your protection, in Your power, in Your peace.

If you’re in Nashville, join us at TDF tomorrow at 8:45 or 10:15.   For the entire message, click here.

Here’s an outline I used last week from Romans 1:1-17, the prologue of the book of Romans.  The key text was verse 16.

Introduction:  Sometimes we’re timid, intimidated, and embarrassed about our faith, but such feelings were unthought-of in the New Testament.  The early Christians could not help speaking of what they had seen and heard.  This attitude is reflected in Romans 1:1-17.

1.  We Have a Vocation (vv. 1-16a)  – Paul said he was called and set apart to share the Good news of Christ to all the world, just as we are (vv. 1-6).  He said he was:

• Obligated (v. 14)
• Eager (v. 15)
• Unashamed (v. 17).

2.  We Have a Vocabulary (v. 16b) – Romans 1:16 is a basic primer in the great words of the Christian faith:

• Gospel
• Power
• Salvation
• Everyone
• Believes

3.  We Have a Victory (v. 17) – Romans 1:17 tells us that our message is one of faith from first to last, for the just will live by faith (and this is the victory that overcomes the world).

Conclusion:  A message is of limited value without messengers.  We’ve got to be ready to say, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ….”

I’m already looking forward to next year (2010), when I am going on writing-hiatus for awhile.  A person can’t minister from the overflow if his spigot is bigger than his reservoir.  We can’t say, “My cup runs over” if the input lines are reduced and there’s a hole in the mug.  Gauges get low.  Batteries die down.  Brownouts occur.

All of which is to remind us of the old adage: 

If you’re output exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.

Henry Moorhouse was a wild young man who, by age sixteen, was a gambler, gang-leader, and thief.  But during the Revival of 1859, Henry gave his life to Jesus.  He was soon heard preaching the Gospel with all his heart; and his favorite text was John 3:16.  One day in Ireland in 1867, he met the far-famed world evangelist, D. L. Moody; and Henry had the nerve to invite himself to preach in Moody’s church in Chicago. 

Sometime later, Moody returned home from a trip and learned that Moorhouse had shown up, started preaching, and was drawing great crowds.   “He has preached two sermons from John 3:16,” Moody’s wife to him, “and I think you will like him, although he preached a little different from what you do.”

“How is that?”

“Well, he tells sinners God loves them.”

Moody wasn’t so sure about that; but that evening he went to hear Moorhouse preach.  The young man stood up in the pulpit and said, “If you will turn to the third chapter of John and the sixteenth verse,” said the young man, “you will find my text.”  Moody later recalled, “He preached a most extraordinary sermon from that verse…. I never knew up to that time that God loved us so much.  This heart of mine began to thaw out, and I could not keep back the tears.  It was like news from a far country.  I just drank it in.”

Night after night, Moorhouse preached from John 3:16, and it had a life-changing effect on D. L. Moody.  “I have never forgotten those nights,” Moody said later.  “I have preached a different Gospel since, and I have had more power with God and man since then.”

Later, when Moorhouse fell ill and was on his deathbed, he looked up and told his friends, “If it were the Lord’s will to raise me again, I should like to preach from the text, ‘God so loved the world.’”

Friday night we caught a break in the weather and took the grandkids to the Tennessee State Fair.  Lily had a close encounter with a camel, and the rest of us rode the rides until almost closing time.

Ever find yourself a little embarrassed, afraid, or timid about your testimony for Christ?  I’ve got three words for you:  Obligated, Eager, Unashamed.

This week’s memory verse at The Donelson Fellowship is Romans 1:16.  When you read verses 14-16 in context, there’s an interesting progression of thought.  It’s a great built-in outline for any sermon, lesson, or personal meditation as it relates to sharing our faith.  Notice Paul’s three “I am” statements:

1. I am obligated… – verse 14
2. I am eager… – verse 15
3. I am not ashamed… – verse 16

(For the whole upcoming TDF sermon on this text, click here.)

There’s a new survey of 2,525 randomly-sampled American congregations that shows some interesting results.  This survey, conducted in 2008 by Faith Communities Today 2008 (FACT 2008), found:

• Less than half of American congregations reported growth in the past five years of two percent or more.  This is a decrease from past surveys.
• Only 35 percent of congregations described themselves as spiritual vital and alive.
• Only 36 percent reported having a clear mission.
• Only 19 percent reported excellent financial health.
• Three out of four congregations have experienced conflict in the past five years, especially over styles of worship.
• 44 percent of congregations with traditional styles of worship reported growth.
• 60 percent of those with a more contemporary style of worship experienced growth.

What is survey says to me is this:  We have to work hard at staying fresh, relevant, unified, and facing forward.  Worship, worship styles, and worship services must be attractive to the up-and-coming generation whom we’re trying to reach.  Trends are not traps.  Not all change is good; but never changing is fatal.  We’re to be ministries, not museums.  We’re to be firm in our faith, but fexible in our flightplans.

I’ve learned from food writers Jane and Michael Stern to look for small eateries that specialize in regional specialties, so-called “Road Food.”  These restaurants aren’t chains; they may be expensive, but more often they’re cheap.  Sometimes they’re hole-in-the-walls.

Recently when I was heading out to Portsmouth, Ohio, several students told me to eat at Hickies, and I also learned it was a favorite of my friend, Neil Gilliland.  It’s a hamburger joint that serves small 85-cent burgers with onion and pickles in steamed buns.  Hickies has several variations of these burgers, including one served with tartar sauce and another with three patties served on an outsized bun.  French fries with gravy are also a big hit. I noticed lots of people also ordering their bean soup and homemade chili.

Sitting there with my friends, Aaron Reed and David Snow, I felt transported back fifty years to the days when I regularly got burgers and fries (without the gravy) at the soda fountain at Burgie Drug Store in Elizabethton.  I really miss those steaming machines, where the cook put the bun in a stainless box and pump the lever, sending steam around the burger, fusing meat to bun and giving the bread a soft, hot texture.  Whatever happened to those?  Well, they still have one at Hickies.

• Be strong and courageous, and do the work.  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished—1 Chronicles 28:20
• He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him—Psalm 126:6
• As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it—Isaiah 55:10-11
• Therefore, my beloved brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain—1 Corinthians 15:58
• Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up—Galatians 6:9