Hey, I want you to know that this is my last entry until after the summer.
The plan is to re-launch the blog in September—new and improved. I believe that God has some great things in store for the future.
Follow me on Twitter @jamesmacdonald to keep up with what’s happening at Harvest Bible Chapel and Walk in the Word.
Have a great summer,
James
We’ve covered some powerful ground on the subject of forgiveness, but I don’t want to leave without saying this. The bottom line for you and your family is: There are no enduring relationships without forgiveness. I’m sure that you have a lot of dreams for your family. You will never see those dreams realized without forgiveness. There’s no way around it. If you want to make it to your golden wedding anniversary, it’s going to require several major forgivenesses and a truckload of minor ones. If you can’t deal in the forgiveness environment, then you will have a lot of pain in your family’s future. But here’s the good news: You can forgive. And God wants to help you. Never are we more like Christ than when we choose to forgive.
The time to forgive is now, and it starts with a decision. You can’t succeed in the process of forgiveness until you come to the crisis. Who is the person whose face has been in your mind’s eye as you’ve been reading this today? Is it a parent? A brother or sister? Maybe your child has hurt you and hardly knows it. Make a choice to forgive. Maybe you need to write a letter this week. Maybe you need to make a phone call.
Make a choice to forgive. Tell the person, “I choose to release you from the pain that resulted when you injured me. You don’t owe me anything. I forgive you.”
One of the things that I’ve learned in more than twenty years of ministering to people (and I have seen it in my own life as well) is that my capacity for forgiveness is directly related to my comprehension of how much God loves me. When my concept of God’s love is very small, my capacity to love others is very small as well. Paul said, “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV). So often I see that the Lord’s people need to have a breakthrough in their understanding. God doesn’t love like our parents. God doesn’t love according to our human experiences. God loves fully and unconditionally. That’s what we’re after.
Are you serious about sin? Because God is. And the people of Harvest Bible Chapel did some serious soul-searching and sin confession to put unforgiveness to death. Take a look at this video of the funeral we held at the Elgin Campus for those sins.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about forgiveness. The past two weekends at Harvest, I preached a series on forgiveness that God used in a powerful way. Find below a summary of what we have been learning together. If you apply some of the things we have been teaching you can get your heart to a much better place very quickly.
Forgiveness comes in two parts. It begins with a decision, an act of my will. We call this the crisis of forgiveness. When I make the choice to release a person from the obligation that resulted when he or she injured me, I am completing the crisis of forgiveness. I am not looking for vengeance; I am not trying to get even; I am not wishing for bad things to happen to them; and I am not focused on their failure. In fact, I am not thinking about them at all. I’ve release them from all obligation that resulted when they hurt me.
Maybe you remember completing a crisis of forgiveness in the past, only to retract that act of grace and begin again to nurse and nurture the injury of someone else’s sin. Maybe you have responded publicly in a church service and committed yourself to forgiveness, or knelt alone and promised God that you would forgive but fell into your old patterns of hate or resentment when you crossed paths with the one you had chosen to forgive. If that is your experience, you need to understand the difference between the crisis and the process of forgiveness. Beyond the crisis is the process of forgiveness, without which you will never experience the healing that forgiveness can bring. In the crisis of forgiveness we say, “I choose to forgive,” but in the process we say, “I will treat you as though it never happened.” Here is how that process works:
1. I won’t bring the offense up to the person, except for his benefit;
2. I won’t bring the offense up to others; and (hardest of all)
3. I won’t bring the offense up to myself. I will not go over it and think about it and dwell upon it.
When you are doing that effectively, you are succeeding in the process of forgiveness. This is a lesson that I am learning little by little in my own life. I could share several acts of forgiveness that I have been working on for ten or fifteen years. I am still in the process. Praise God, I am doing a lot better than I was ten years ago. But here is the key: When I fail in the process, I have to go back to the crisis. If you do that faithfully, you will get free.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32
To listen to the whole message, please follow this link.
People often ask me if I have a life verse.
If I do, it is Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” It’s kind of my testimony. I was going nowhere in a hurry and I found this book God wrote and began to feast on it like a soldier devouring his last meal. When the Word of God is absent from my life my heart is hungry. When I feast on the Bread of Life, my heart overflows with joy.
I love the vivid pictures with which the Bible describes itself.
FIRE
“Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts, ‘Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them’” (Jeremiah 5:14).
I experience the reality of that Scripture on a weekly basis. I have the privilege of standing before thousands of people with God’s Word in my mouth and seeing the incredible impact that it makes. I see the truth penetrate their hearts, grip their minds, move their emotions, and, best of all, engage their wills toward transformation. God’s Word is like fire; it consumes people’s hearts.
SWORD
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than and double edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Not a knife or dagger, but God’s Word is a sword, the weapon of hand-to-hand combat. The sword of God’s Word cuts to the heart of the matter. Ephesians 6:17 says, “And take . . . the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.” When Satan is trying to tempt us or discourage us, it’s the Word of God we use to defeat him. Amazingly, Jesus Christ Himself used the Word of God as a sword to deflect the temptations of the enemy (Matthew 4:1-11). Can we afford to do less?
HAMMER
“Is not my word like . . . a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
If God can’t get to you with the fire or the sword, guess what? The hammer’s going to fall. Many of those whose lives have been changed by the Word of God reference a time when their hearts were very hard and God had to break them. And it was painful. Nobody wants to meet the hammer of conviction and change. That is why the Scripture exhorts us, “Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7-8).
SEED
“Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23 NKJV). In one of His parables Jesus said, “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11 NKJV)
A seed starts so small and takes time to grow. Similarly the Word of God starts to work in our hearts, but it takes time. Sometimes we have to hear the same thing several times before it really starts to connect. In the same way, God’s Word planted in the human heart will bear much fruit over time, but it requires a willingness to plant the seed by faith and wait.
MILK
“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow” (1 Peter 2:2).
We were born with our mouths open. What mother’s milk is to little babies, so the Word of God is in the life of a sincere person of faith. I don’t see adults crying because they haven’t been physically fed, but how many are filled by anxiety, fear, and discouragement because they have neglected God’s only provision for their spiritual nourishment?
MEAT
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word or righteousness” (Hebrews 5:12-14).
If you’ve known Christ for any amount of time at all, you find yourself saying, “Isn’t there more?” The answer is yes! There is more–the meat of God’s Word. Milk is like the elementary or basic things of the Bible. “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (v. 15).
LIGHT
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
Here’s the great thing about light. If you’re walking around in the dark, you will stumble over stuff and hurt yourself. The Word of God works in our lives so that we don’t walk down dark alleys anymore. We don’t make dumb mistakes. If you know what it is to be perplexed about an important decision hanging over your head, then you understand the value of having God’s Word light your path.
MIRROR
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effective doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:23-25).
God’s Word shows us ourselves! It confronts us with truth and convicts us about our true need. If I have a blob of mustard on my face and, after looking in the mirror, forget to rub it off, how silly would that make me? So the real power then is not in the words exclusively but in my doing what the Word of God says.
I can personally testify to the power of God’s Word when I’ve invited it to drill down into my heart, driving indifference and complacency from my soul. Long before I proclaim God’s Word in our church service, I sit alone in my study with His Word and invite God to change me, to hammer the reality of what God is saying into my soul. I ask Him to fill my heart with faith as I focus on His words and to accomplish His purpose in me as Isaiah 55:10 promises.
God is faithful to His Word and we who place ourselves in the flow of that unceasing work are the continual benefactors.
Looking back over more than 20 years of church ministry, I see how the role of the Elders has changed at Harvest. But one thing should never change. See what that is.
I’ve been working with people long enough to know that when I say God is love some people pull back and look at me sideways, “Really? God is love? Well, if that’s true, then how could He have allowed . . .”—and out comes a painful story. Are you like that?
Something happened to you. A wrong was done to you. A selfish person broke your heart or took what wasn’t theirs, and you cannot reconcile the pain they brought with the message that God loves you.
I’m so sorry for your hurt—I really am.
Please hear me now, the way out of that corner of confusion is not to deny or run from God’s heart for you. Instead you must turn and look squarely into the reality of who He really is. Too often we self-define God’s love: “This is my concept of love, and God must conform to this view or I can’t believe He is loving.” Many have made this mistake without realizing it or calculating the fallout from such a belief-banishing choice.
God has never represented His love for you as that pampering, “here Billy, have another cupcake. Take the one with the extra icing,” permissive-mother kind of love. But I do understand why people sometimes struggle to see God as loving.
For example, most people would agree that when you love someone, you protect them, right? God’s love is a protecting love, but it’s not always a preventing love. God doesn’t always keep hard things from happening. Here’s why: He has a higher purpose for our pain. He allows it to humble us so we see how much we need Him.
Sometimes God allows pain to restore us
Some of you were so far from God, off on your own, going who-knows-where. God allowed some hard thing in your life so that the pain of it brought you back to Him. If you would have never turned to Him without that heartache, isn’t it also true that in some sense that it was a loving thing for God to allow? Wasn’t it the hurt that brought you to the wonderful place of asking for His help? Is a father unloving for insisting that his child goes to college? Will the child ever feel love before the graduation and career satisfaction to follow are in place?
A hundred years from today, as awful as that pain was, you’ll thank God for it if you choose to let its purpose be fulfilled in you. God’s love is revealed in the ultimate purpose for which He allows our momentary pain. God does not have to prove He loves us at the end of every hour or every day. He does invite us to trust what He is doing and choose to embrace the truth that time will reveal the reality of His love. Oh, choose to believe He loves you!
Sometimes God allows pain to refine us.
Sometimes He allows pain to refine us so we can be more like Him. I’ve said to Kathy many times, “I hate to think of the person that I would be apart from God in my life.” I shudder to imagine where I would be without God’s refining influence. Without God allowing painful things into my life, what kind of husband and father would I be today? What kind of pastor or friend would I be? What kind of man would I be without the excruciating hurts that have driven me to my knees before the God who loves to refine me?
Looking back, it’s His love and mercy I see even when His protection does not always prevent pain in my life.
Yes, God loves you with a perfecting love. You are under construction, my friend. God is working on you. There will be difficult times, but you can trust Him. No pain is allowed into your life but that He chooses to use it for your good. Your loving, protecting Father measures out the trial and carefully watches over you every moment. His eyes are upon you. You are never far from His thoughts. He counts the hairs on your head. He saves your tears in a bottle. He loves you with an everlasting love. But let His love be what it really is—a perfecting love.
I choose God’s love.
Try to preach with authority, and you won’t have it. Authority comes instead from one bedrock conviction.
(This is an interview by Brian Larson editor of Preaching Today a ministry of Christianity Today. He recently published it on their site.
Editorial note from Brian Larson: On my commute home from work, I used to drive by a big-box, home-improvement store called Handy Andy, but eventually that store went out of business, and it was with delight that I one day realized a church steeple was being added to the structure. The new owner was Harvest Bible Chapel, pastored by James MacDonald. Their church in the Chicago suburb of Rolling Meadows was growing quickly, and they needed lots and lots of space. One reason for that growth has unquestionably been MacDonald’s preaching. How would I describe his preaching? Let’s put it this way: he’s not shy, and the only time he sticks a wet finger up in the air to see which way the wind is blowing is when he’s on the golf course. When the editors of PreachingToday.com began a series of articles on the theme of preaching with authority, we knew that James was one person we needed to talk to. James MacDonald is author of When Life Is Hard (Moody, 2010), and radio speaker for Walk in the Word, which is broadcast regularly on Moody Radio.
PreachingToday.com: Many would say our culture is anti-authority and that people today don’t respond to an authoritative style of preaching. To me, you are the epitome of someone who preaches with authority, and yet you’re having great results. How do you explain that?
James MacDonald: One of the pillars of Harvest Bible Chapel from the very beginning was preaching the authority of God’s Word without apology. That’s very different from the phrase “preaching with authority.” I would never refer to myself as preaching with an authoritative style. But I know why you’re saying that, and that’s coming from the unapologetic proclamation of the Word. The prophets used to say, “Thus saith the Lord.” God says this.
I try not to spend any time in my message preparation thinking about what people want to hear or what questions the culture is asking. I just don’t spend any time on that at all. I have believed now for 21-plus years that if you try with all of your heart to say some things that God wants said—God has some things he wants said; that’s why he wrote a Book—God would get some people over here to hear it. Twenty-one years later, with a little over 13,000 people in weekly attendance, that’s happening. It’s been a steady journey. It hasn’t been explosive growth. It hasn’t been a ton of transfer growth from other churches. Like all churches, we’ve seen some of that, but mainly it’s just been a ton of people coming to know Christ.
The most common thing people would say about the teaching of Christ, after they had listened to him, was that he teaches as one who has authority. Of course, his teachings are filled with Old Testament quotes, and he is the Word of God, so every Word that proceeds from his mouth is the Word of God. That’s certainly not true about any of us, least of all me. The disciples on the road to Emmaus said, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he walked on the road with us and expounded to us from the Scriptures all the things concerning himself?” So Jesus was a Bible preacher. He had great authority because he didn’t apologize for God’s Word. He didn’t back down from anything that God’s Word said.
I just preached two weeks ago on Revelation 6. The message had one point: Repent; the wrath is coming. That’s not very seeker-friendly, but I believe that people are hungry for truth—truth that is openly expressed without reservation or prevarication. Paul said, “By the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God,” and that’s what I believe. Paul said, “My preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” A lot of preaching today leaves people with faith in the wisdom of men. “Wasn’t that a clever talk? Wasn’t he an eloquent speaker?” It glorifies the messenger. Instead, when we just try to say what God wants said and get out of the way, that glorifies the message and the source of the message, which is, of course, God himself.
To read the whole article, follow this link.
Real humility vs. actual humility? What’s the difference? And why should you care? See for yourself.
I hope you are having a great week. I have been too busy–which in this case was not really avoidable. Up early and in God’s Word, I was reminded of a passage of Scripture from John 11 that always kind of rattles my windows.
He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” John 11:7-10
There were times in Jesus’ earthly life when He did or said things that made people scratch their heads. Even those closest to Jesus couldn’t figure Him out. One of those times was in John 11:7 when Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” Their mouths probably dropped open. Judea? Is that really a good idea? “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” But Jesus’ answer showed no fear. “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Jesus’ point was that some people walk in the light and some walk in darkness. If you’re living in the light, you have nothing to fear. Jesus certainly didn’t dodge the bad guys or go shirking around the countryside. Earlier He had consoled the disciples that “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). He would not leave this world one second early.
What an awesome attitude with which to live your life. As long as I’m seeking to follow the Lord and doing what pleases Him, nothing or nobody can hurt me. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing worry about, nothing!!!
Let’s go for that same confidence and refusal to fear as we follow Christ today! As long as you are in the light, NOTHING can hurt you!!!
Have a great day today, lift up your head. You are a son/daughter of the King and His protection is your birthright!
My heart beats for pastors, so I am glad to share with you what God has allowed me to learn, often the hard way, about some practical areas of ministry. Here’s a word about staff transitions.
Staff Transitions from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.
Hey, I’m down to the final week of the Walk in the Word Bus Tour. Albany (NY) on Tuesday night, Buffalo on Wednesday, and we finish in my homeland of Canada in Toronto, Ontario, on Thursday night.
In every city, I have preached a message entitled, “Why Trials?” from the series When Life Is Hard. It resonates with everyone because you are either in a trial, coming out of a trial, or about to enter a trial. Knowing that to be true, I’d like to leave you with some hope for when your life is hard.
Counting our trials as joy is only one of the many truths we’ve learned. It’s hard to absorb them all in one brushstroke. Depending on where you are in your walk with Christ and specifically where you are in your season of difficulty, these truths have hit you in different ways. Praise God that our feet are not stuck in mud but running hard after God and all that He has for us.
So, I want to make sure that you have four lessons for yourself. We need to place these truths into our hearts and into our heads to remind ourselves what to think and believe as we walk through the times when life is hard.
Let these truths nourish your soul. You just flat out need to have
them . . .
• when crazy thoughts steal your sleep in the middle of the night.
• when an unexpected storm threatens your home or your future or your loved ones.
• when what you thought was safe is hijacked by someone else’s sin.
• when God enrolls you in some graduate-level course in character development.
In these times and countless more, these four passages from God’s Word and four principles can’t be far from your mind.
1 Peter 4, Hebrews 12, James 1, 2 Corinthians 12
Principle 1
Every trial I face is allowed by God for my ultimate good.
Principle 2
Trials need not steal my joy.
Principle 3
God is never more present than when His children are suffering.
Principle 4
Until I embrace my trial in unwavering submission to God, I will not reap the good.
I’ve said it for years: There is nothing good that God brings into your life by way of transformation that He doesn’t bring through the funnel of perseverance. If you let God place perseverance into your life, He can truly make you what He wants you to be.
After a great weekend of preaching through Revelation 14, we left Tuesday morning on the second (final!) leg of our Bus Tour with Walk in the Word. This week, I have 40-some pastors from Harvest Bible Chapel traveling with me and the Worship Team. Praise God for the lives that He is changing for eternity in every city on the tour.
I am on my way to Indianapolis today on the Walk in the Word Bus Tour. And Indy is where the Final Four took place. So, this seemed like the best day to announce the winners of the March Madness bracket contest.
I chose Kentucky to win it all and many of you did, too. So, my final score was 700. If you got more than 700 points, as promised, everyone who beat me gets a free copy of When Life Is Hard.
Third Place goes to: W. Fisher
He gets a personalized copy of each of my books.
Our Second Place winner is: S. Deedrick
He gets a brand-new iPad filled with “Best of” Walk in the Word teaching.
Finally, drum roll, please. Our First Place, Grand Prize winner is: J. Solarek
J. Solarek gets a trip for two to an amazing conference at which I am speaking called The WhiteBoard Sessions in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on May 21, 2010.
You will be glad to know that ESPN keeps your identity secure. So, if you beat me and qualify for any of the prizes listed above, please send your name, your ESPN name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address to: customerservice@walkintheword.com by May 7, 2010, to claim your prize.
Congratulations to our winners and thanks to the 553 people who participated.
Ok, been out of town, on the road for the Lord, etc. So I haven’t been reviewing all comments personally. This morning I had to post a number of comments questioning or criticizing me for mentioning Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in a negative light in my recent video blog about the importance of seminary. I mentioned in a humorous way that my single course there was a negative experience for me and that the tonality was one of anger. Seems like the new president found out and wrote a blog http://gloryandgrace.dbts.edu/?p=305 criticizing my comment and some others were pretty offended too.
Deep Breath:
1) I apologize for speaking negatively about a school I took only one course from and haven’t heard a word about in almost 25 years. I have no knowledge of the current strength or weakness of the school and certainly wouldn’t want someone to comment publicly about what I was like 25 years ago. My bad, totally.
2) I stand by my statement that the tonality of the school was anger. Most fundamentalists were at the time and that was surely the tonality of the movement as a whole. I often say, “I am still a fundamentalist, but I am not angry about it.” 
3) The course itself was led by a dignified and gracious man, but the content centered around the co-operative evangelism strategy of Billy Graham and was constantly pejorative. There was no distinction made between outcomes and motives. The points the course was trying to make were eventually made more effectively, I believe, in a book by Ian Murray called Evangelicalism Divided. Murray writes regarding the BGEA evangelism strategy, “the policy was seen as a necessary expedient designed sincerely for the best end, namely, to gain a wider hearing for the gospel,” (p.58). The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association didn’t blur the gospel out of malice, or even deliberately. It was the sad result of a good intention to preach the gospel to as many as possible, even if that meant compromising on what Graham thought were some “non-essentials” of the faith.” (from a review of this good book on the 9Marks blog)
It was the tone of the class more than the content that was offensive to me and I know that many biblicists of my generation struggled with the tone more than the doctrine of fundamentalism. As an anecdote I remember the professor and students debated a whole class period about whether they would allow Billy Graham to preach in their church, (unlikely to say the least) 
4) I am sure it is true that I was too inexperienced to appreciate some of the nuances of my experience at DBTS, and in my disillusionment I chose not to even transfer the credits to my program and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Looking back, that was kind of dumb too.
My journey in ministry has been in pursuit of contemporary ministry forms without compromise of the Word of God. Looking back, I have found a lot more value in the fidelity to scripture my fundamental roots gave me than I have found in the contemporary forms. I stand corrected, and thankful.
“This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes” Psalm 118:23. Take a minute to see what God is doing through Harvest Bible Fellowship.
Last week when I challenged you to consider your trials joy, I said there would be more to come. Here it is.
About the Faith Test
“The testing of your faith” (v. 3). A trial is a test of your faith.
I hated tests in school. I was way smarter than the grades I got, and I remember going into those tests completely stumped. No, I don’t know the answer to this question. I don’t even understand the question.
I still don’t like tests, but I understand why they are important. I’ve come to see that being tested by God is very loving. Frankly, I’d rather find out now that I don’t have the real thing than get to heaven and be surprised. You want your faith tested. You want to put your full weight down on the faith that you have in Christ and see if it holds you up, because if your faith hasn’t changed you, it hasn’t saved you. Better to find out while there is still time to get it right.
Take the Faith Final Exam
Testing is God’s good plan to get some good results. “For you know that the testing of your faith produces . . .” You have to take the faith final exam over and over in your life. I’ll give you the three essay questions up front:
1. Do you believe that God is in control? (Please support your answer from Scripture.)
2. Do you believe that God is good no matter what you see, no matter what you face?
Here’s the final question:
3. Will you wait on Him by faith until the darkness becomes light?
Will you wait? If you say, “I’m not seeing it right now,” then you get an A for honesty. But do you believe God is in control? Do you believe that He is good? Are you willing to wait by faith until you see His goodness? Because you will see it. Now or later—you will see the goodness of the Lord.
Psalm 27:13 has meant so much to me: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (NASB). “My trial would have overwhelmed me, “the psalmist said, “unless I had believed.” But I do believe it. I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord and not just in heaven but in the land of the living—right here on earth. While I’m drawing breath in these lungs, I will be able to sum up all that has happened, and I will say, “Somehow in it God has shown His goodness.”
Take the test, and if you pass with flying colors, your life will be immeasurably better.
Hey, I just got home from the first of two bus tours with Walk in the Word. 10 cities in 11 days. Great time, but it’s good to be home. I preached at Harvest over the weekend. And I’ll be teaching at Harvest University for the next three days . . . then back in the pulpit next weekend. On April 27, we travel to Indianapolis to kick off the second bus tour. 8 more cities in 10 days. I’m fired up just thinking about it.
My son, Landon, put together a video blog of our trip. See what God’s been doing. Check this one out from Asheville, North Carolina . . .
To see all of the videos, check out this link.
Seminary is great. I have spent a lot of time enrolled in and speaking at seminaries. So, I have been asked, “If you could custom design a seminary program for training pastors, what would it look like?” To me, it’s about learning how you use the tools.
If you live in the Chicago area, you’re invited to attend the graduation ceremony of our 2010 Harvest Training Center class on Tuesday night, April 20 at 8:00 P.M. at our Elgin Campus. Come see for yourself!
I’d like to nominate James 1:2 as one of the most outrageous statements in the Bible.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Count it all . . . joy?
That is what James wrote, through the inspiration of God’s Spirit, but it doesn’t add up from our perspective. Getting a more biblical definition of joy really helps make sense of the encouragement to find joy when life is hard. Joy is something very different than what we commonly refer to as happiness. So when Scripture says, “Count is all joy,” the Lord is not saying, “Be happy about your trials.”
You cannot make yourself joyful. Joy only comes from God. When James says, “Consider it all joy,” he’s telling you, “Reach out to God. Get God’s heart in this matter.”
So, what is joy? Here’s a definition: Joy is a supernatural delight in the Person, purposes, and people of God.
“Count it all joy . . . when you meet trials” (v. 2, italics added). The New King James Version translates “when you meet” a little bit better: “when you fall into.” Because that’s how it happens, right? I was going along. Life was just rockin’ out, then BAM! I was flat on my face. I did not even see it coming!” Is that how it’s been for you? That’s been part of the pain for the MacDonalds—people we trusted, circumstances we couldn’t see, events beyond our control and . . . surprise! But here the Word of God is honest and true to reality.
“Of various kinds” (v. 2b). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, various kinds is the same phrase that is used to describe Joseph’s coat of many colors. Our trials are very different. My trials are different from yours. Some trials are tough and some are tragic. Some are difficult and some are devastating.
Watch out for the temptation to think, I wish I had her trial! It’s never helpful to compare God’s work in others to what He’s doing in and around you. To do so is to question God’s wisdom in what trials He allows into someone else’s life. That is a very bad plan. Don’t get between the hammer and the work on that one. Just leave other people’s situations with God and focus on what He is doing in you.
“For you know that the testing of your faith produces . . .” (v. 3). If you don’t know it now, you will know it tomorrow. Trials separate men from the boys; sheep from the goats; wheat from the tares. The proof of whether you are a true follower of Christ often comes with trials.
When life is hard, you discover whether you’re really in Christ or just an imposter who showed up for a sunny day at the beach. Matthew 7:20 declares, “By their fruits you will know them” (NKJV). One of the fruits of a genuine believer is that you endure hardship. You continue. You don’t give up.
Defection is proof of a false conversion. John said in 1 John 2:19 (NASB), “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us.” When the heat is turned up, false believers run in a hurry. That’s why I thank God for Bible-teaching churches that actually deepen people’s faith. Otherwise when trials come, a lot of people who have been served up pep talks from smiley preachers will bolt for the exits. They didn’t lose their salvation; they never had it as their response to hard times testifies.
You say, “Okay, so my hard times are testing my faith, but what benefits do they bring me beyond a confidence in my conversion?” More to come.
We just celebrated ten years of church planting at Harvest Bible Chapel. By God’s grace, we have planted 45 churches in the past ten years. So, I am often asked what should a church consider before it plants a church. Check this out.
Hey, I am on the road today heading toward the first stop of a bus tour with Walk in the Word. You can follow the trip at WalkintheWord.com/bustour. Please join us at a stop on the tour if you live near one of those cities.
Anyway, my message on the tour is about trials. Why trials, you might ask? In the New Testament, the Greek word has the idea of proving through testing. An event that demonstrates the genuineness of your faith in Christ and refines the quality of your spiritual life. By studying the term in all of scripture and by experiencing quite a few of my own, I’ve come up with this definition:
A trial is a painful circumstance allowed by God to change my conduct and my character.
My conduct—that’s what I do. And then to a deeper level, my character—that’s who I am.
Trials are about what God is adjusting in the actions I choose, and what God is doing to the character that helps me choose the actions. Several of the biblical terms covering this concept or kind of interchangeable: suffering, hardship, tribulation, chastising, and discipline. Trials are hard times!
These hard times vary both in intensity and duration. Tribulation can take you by storm, fast and furious. Or a trial can stretch over months or years or, in some instances, decades. It can be small and irritation or huge and shattering.
The thing we know for sure about trials is that all God’s children experience them.
In fact, if you’re one of God’s children, you’re going through a trial right now. Some size. Some shape. It is the most difficult aspect of your life: Is it physical? Is it relational? Is it economical? Is it emotional? Is it circumstantial?
It’s hard to argue with Hebrews 12:11? “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant but afterward it yeilds the peaceful fruit of righteousness [a synonym for holiness] to those who have been trained by it”
To make the most of the Lord’s discipline through trials, remember these three things:
1. The pain is momentary. This is not going to go on forever. Better days are ahead. God won’t let it go on one minute more than it needs to.
2. The profit is immense. You will receive “the peaceful fruit of righteousness,” the practical quality of godly living—a bushel of blessing, a barn full of bounty. My mom recently told me, “I wouldn’t want to be the person I would have been were it not for my trials.” Wow, that’s it!
3. The promise is conditional. The peaceful fruit of righteousness comes “to those who have been trained by it.” Your trial can train you for righteousness. I hate the thought that I ‘m wasting my time here or going through this pain for no purpose. Make sure your not just ‘gutting it out.’ Make sure you are actually being ‘trained’ by your trial or it will go on too long and you’ll have to come back to it again.
Why trials? Because the God who loves you and saved you through His wonderful son Jesus, is also committed to changing you and He is using the painful circumstances of life to accomplish that purpose it you. Make sure your cooperating through submission and letting God have his way today.
James
“Can’t leave Easter yet. Almost 17,000 worshipers, the Gospel going out with power, and a lot of great singing like this . . .
“Everybody Rise and Sing” from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.
Tomorrow we will take some time to remember the amazing sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross through some powerful, yet reflective services at our church. I trust that you will set some time aside do the same. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
It will be Good Friday. But Sunday’s coming! Take a minute to watch this clip from the Easter 2009 service at Harvest Bible Chapel featuring our choir and Heather Headley.
Celebrate His resurrection at a church this weekend where the name of Jesus is lifted high in worship and God’s Word is proclaimed without apology! “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:6
He is risen indeed!
James
Hey, let’s do the greatest thing we can do as Christ followers. Yeah, let’s do it together as we approach another Easter. It’s just a few days away, so let’s do it . . . let’s focus on the cross!
The cross of Jesus Christ is the signature symbol of the central event in the history of civilization. Not until the second century was the cross welcomed as the central symbol of Christianity. The emperor Constantine saw it in a vision and banned it as an instrument of execution. In fact, the cross was never thought of as anything but a hideous instrument of death until everyone who had actually seen a crucifixion had died off. Only then did people represent the cross as something sacred in sculpture, paintings, and other artistic forms.
Today, we depict the cross as common. Jewelers pound it into all sorts of finery so we can staple it to our ears and wear it around our necks. Merchandisers manufacture this symbol of unlimited atonement into fuzzy things for my rearview mirror or stand-ups for my garden. From teacups to t-shirts, the cross has cornered the market on crassness. Department stores hawk chocolate-covered ones for “holy week.” Baseball players and businessmen cross themselves before a big moment. The cross itself has become big business. But it was never intended to be some lucky trinket. This is profanity in the truest sense. Is it any wonder we have lost the wonder of what happened on Calvary?
The resurrection of Christ was the event that accomplished salvation and verified Christ’s victory over death but it was the cross of Jesus Christ that showed us the grace of God. Everything that God wants us to know about Him comes together in those crossbeams.
Our entire purpose in life is to elevate the cross. Think on Him there. In your mind’s eye, picture Jesus stretched out against the sky.
What’s Jesus Doing Up on the Cross? He’s Substituting for You.
Jesus lived His life on earth at a time of revolution and unrest in the nation of Israel. The Romans had conquered and dominated the land and every day, Hebrew insurgents battled in the streets. They didn’t need TV; they watched drama right in front of them as their hometown boys were captured as resistance fighters and injured, killed, or carted off to prison. They definitely played the underdogs to the forces of Rome. You can imagine how the families and communities suffered every day in the aftershock of such conflict.
So, with that background, we enter the Easter story “at the time of the Passover.” This is Jewish culture’s most celebrated time of year. They were commanded in the Old Testament to remember the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:43) and they called it Passover. Over the centuries it became bigger than their Christmas and New Year’s celebrations combined.
The “Passover party” culminated in the People’s Choice Awards when the governor released any one prisoner they wanted (see Matthew 27:15). The governor traded that one criminal for a little relief from their anger and frustration with the Roman occupation. This was Pilate’s perfect opportunity to avert the murderous demands for Jesus’ death by offering either Jesus or the most “notorious prisoner called Barabbas.” Pilate tried his best to position Jesus as the favorite. He said, you choose. Do you want this mad revolutionary or Jesus?, believing their sense of self-preservation would force them to choose Jesus. Verse 17 says, “So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’” In effect, Pilate was offering, “do you want Osama bin Laden or Jesus? Mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech) or Jesus?” Surely they would want Jesus. But Pilate “knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Jesus up.” While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream” (v. 18-19). Even Pilate’s pagan wife was disturbed by the injustice being done to Christ.
But the crowd was irrationally determined to see Christ die.
“Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.” Destroy, a very strong word, actually means “annihilate him,” to erase not only His person, but the memory of Him. Wipe Him out as if He never existed. Verse 21 records the question again, “The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” And they answered, “let him be crucified!” Pilate was stunned. Everyone knew Barabbas’ evil reputation but “Why? What evil has Jesus done?”
Jesus was crucified between “two thieves,” verse 30 says. Other translations say robbers. In the original language, robbers weren’t burglar types who combed neighborhoods looking for homes where the owner forgot to lock their patio doors. Barabbas was the most notorious of them all. It was his cross on which Jesus died in between the other two revolutionaries. It’s not stretching it at all to say that Jesus took the cross that had been reserved for Barabbas. Jesus died in Barabbas’ place.
You can’t understand the Gospel until you understand this idea of substitution. First, Jesus died in place of Barabbas. His death then was in the place of every other member of the human race who has ever lived. Barabbas was the first in the line, but behind him stands every person in history. I am in that line. You are too. Each of us deserves to die in payment for our own sin, but Jesus stepped in and took that penalty for each of us. I deserve to die that death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. That’s substitution. The fact that Jesus took my place on the cross is the central tenet of the historic gospel; without this there is nothing else to say. Jesus in my place.
Picture Christ on the cross and ask yourself: What’s He doing up there? Answer: He’s subbing for you. He’s taking God’s wrath for your sin. He’s satisfying the just demands of a holy God. He’s paying the price that God’s holiness requires so that you and I can be forgiven.
Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” and 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
What’s Jesus doing up there on the cross? He’s substituting: Jesus in my place. My heart overflows with gratitude when I think of Jesus Christ taking upon Himself the penalty that was mine to bear! God demonstrated such love that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.
I want to talk to you about the ways that we get a word from God, how frequently those different things happen, and how you can test and know that it’s really a word from God. Are you ready? Watch this.
You can download the chart in the video at this link or find it at HarvestBibleChapel.org at “Revelation Resources” under Media: This Week’s Message.
I have often said that healthy things grow. And back in 1999, Harvest Bible Chapel was really growing. So instead of continuing to add more services, the other Elders of the church and I believed that God gave us a vision to plant 10 churches in 10 years.
At the time, that seemed almost unimaginable. But, we had faith to believe that, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
So on March 12, 2000, we sent Ron Zappia, our High School Pastor from Rolling Meadows (original Harvest), one of our main worship leaders, and 300 of our best people to plant Harvest Bible Chapel, Glen Ellyn (now Naperville). Here we are on March 23, 2010, celebrating their ten years of fruitful ministry. Happy Anniversary, Harvest Bible Chapel in Naperville, Illinois!
Ten years later, by God’s grace, Harvest Bible Chapel is still really growing. The mother church has grown by more than four times over this ten-year period, reminding us of Proverbs 11:24, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” It’s so important to me that pastors understand that church planting does not compete with the growth of the mother church; it accelerates it, proving the scripture true. We have planted not 10 churches in 10 years, but 45 churches in 10 years. There are now 36 self-supporting Harvest Bible Chapels in North America and nine international churches. Some of those churches were planted by a Harvest Bible Chapel church plant! We actually have “granddaughter” churches. Instead of just planting churches, we now plant churches who plant churches.
As thankful as we are for this number of churches, we are more grateful for the number of people—more than 17,000 men, women, and children attend a Harvest Bible Chapel on a weekly basis. That number does not include the five locations in Chicago where I serve as the senior pastor. If you add the people on those campuses, the number exceeds 30,000 people every weekend who hear the Word of God proclaimed without apology in a high-impact weekend service where the name of Jesus Christ is lifted high in worship.
And more than just people who attend a weekend service, God continues to change the lives of the people of these Harvest Bible Chapels by the power of His Word and His Spirit. In 2009, 785 followers of Jesus Christ obeyed the Lord and were baptized.
So what’s next?
Lord willing, we will plant 18 additional churches in 2010. That number includes 11 churches in North America and 7 international churches. If Jesus Christ does not return for His church first, my prayer is that there will be 1,000 Harvest Bible Chapels planted in my lifetime.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Psalm 115:1
James
Hey, here’s a look at my bracket for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The games start today. Follow along and see how I do.
One of my favorite events on the sporting calendar every year is the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Every year since I can remember my friends and family fill out brackets and watch the upsets and buzzer beaters with excitement. The fun part is that you don’t have to know very much to be successful picking the games. My son Landon picks by the mascots. My daughter Abby usually chooses by what colors she likes. My son Luke watches dozens of games all season long and almost always does the worst of anyone . Here are the rules for our pool on the blog.
Click Here.
Group Password: walkintheword
First Prize — A trip for two to an amazing conference I am speaking at in May (U.S. and Canada Only).
Second Prize — An brand new I-Pad filled with ‘Best of’ Walk in the Word Teaching.
Third Prize — All of my books personalized.
All entries who beat me will receive a copy of my new book When Life Is Hard.
Click Here.
Group Password: walkintheword
Happy Madness…
James
This prayer stands the test of time for me. I trust it will meet you where you are in your walk with Christ on this Monday.
Original Postdate – 2007
My Prayer Today
Here’s a prayer I pray in some way almost every single day. When I don’t, I wish I had. Pray with me today . . .
Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. I can’t fix yesterday, and tomorrow seems a long way off.
Today, Lord: Cleanse my heart from the fleshly residue of yesterday’s fallen humanity.
Today, Lord: Scrub my thoughts and motives till they shine with singularity – wanting Your glory alone.
Today, Lord: Wash me and I will be whiter than snow, purposed afresh to follow Your footsteps.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. The tasks ahead are too much. If I must go alone, I cannot go at all.
Today, Lord: I’m not smart enough to know what is best, and not strong enough to choose what is righteous.
Today, Lord: My wife, my family, my friends, my church . . . I am not sufficient for these things, and I know it.
Today, Lord: Or what unfolds in the hours ahead will fade into the abyss of worthless, wasted time.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit right now. Come, make these 24 hours all You created them to be.
Now, Lord: You know how to ‘give good gifts’ and I am so thankful to be called Your child.
Now, Lord: By faith, I receive the Presence You’ve promised, and delight to know that Your Word is true.
Now, Lord: You are filling my life with peace and purpose and freeing my soul to sing.
Galatians 5:16, 22, “Walk then in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of your flesh. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control.”
Have a great day,
James
