Thirty-million: now that’s a lot!

Thirty-million is one tenth of the population of the United States. It’s also twelve million more than the population of New York City (2005 estimate 17,700.00). Even more astounding, thirty-million is also the number of Christians that didn’t show up for church last Sunday because they have been hurt in the church.

Where were you last Sunday? Doing virtual church in front of the TV or computer screen? Are you one of the missing in action?

If the Jesus Christ, depicted as the ‘Good Shepherd,’ would leave the flock and go after one wounded lamb, don’t you think he would leave the flock for 30 million such sheep?

There is a way back for you. It’s on the shoulder of the Shepherd…all thirty-million of you one at a time.

Will you come back?

Share your thoughts at our Facebook Fan Page. You can also email larry (at) peacetalk.com or call with your comments and/or questions at 1-888-660-9535 for Monday 2/28's episode of "PEACETALK" with Larry Wood heard LIVE from 12:30-1:00pm Eastern at http://peacetalk.com.

Hey Sheep, Tend To Your Shepherd!

Have you ever thought that among all of the bruised, hurt, and needy people in a church you would find your pastor? Of course not. After all, he has been to seminary. He has studied the Bible. He knows how to counsel. He has helped others. He has it altogether. The pastor can’t possibly be hurting!

No so. The pastor of a church is just like you and me. He or she suffers the problems of marriage, parenting, economic burdens, personal failures, and the weight of others expectations. The burden of all this can be numbing. The emotional weight can be crushing.

We may not ever think about this because we just don’t think about it or maybe because pastors don’t let on to how deeply they hurt, how insecure they really are, or how bruised and battered they might be by life–how just like the rest of us they really are. Can anything be done to help them? Can the sheep rescue the shepherd?

When the wheels are falling off is there hope? Is there help available and can the pastor and the church find peace? Lots of questions…lets talk answers!

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Power Failure

Ever lose your power? It happens often, particularly in storms. It usually only lasts for a few minutes or maybe an hour or so and there is no great harm. But a few years ago, we lost our power for the better part of a week. When the power doesn’t come back on right away you soon discover how dependent you are. You experience weakness. Sometimes even hopelessness.

There are even power failures in the Bible. Samson was known as man of great physical strength. Then one day, while making “sport” of his strength, the Bible says “he went out as before, not knowing the Spirit, his power, had left him”. He experienced a power failure and the consequences were terrible.

One day Jesus sent out the disciples to minister and they came back confused and defeated. They couldn’t cast out some demons. Didn’t Jesus send them out to do this? Didn’t he promise His power? But the power wasn’t there. They had a power failure.

Like the Apostle Paul, do you know what you should do, but just don’t have the power to do it? Do you know what you should not to do, but can’t stop doing it anyway? Do these “power failure” moments seem to be the “norm” of your life? Do you ever see God working in someone else and long for His power to be evident in your life? Are you tired of defeat, discouragement, and your other power failures?

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A View of Faith

Let me set some background. I'm a lawyer and most of what I do is real estate closings. The real estate world has been terrible and I have had the worst two years ever--worst than getting started. In getting started you don't have anything and don't mind. Its different when you been doing--and now there is little. Anyway, back to the story. It been a very difficult, discouraging, depressing two years. Many times I've thought that God wanted me to pull the plug on real estate and work in the peacemaking area. But I have just not been able to do that. I've thought over and over that it was just a lack of faith. I just couldn't trust God to provide

Recently, I finished up two small closings and realized that for the first time in nearly 25 years I didn't have a real-estate transaction in process--not one, nothing, nada. And I was at peace about that. My first thought, the cynical thought, was that God had just done what I was supposed to do. The second thought was, I think, more insightful. Is it possible that my inability to end the real estate practice was because I wasn't supposed to? God wasn't telling me to do something. He really was telling me that it would end. When I realized that God had done what I thought I was supposed to do--there was grace in the form of peace.

I think what God wanted me to see is that real faith isn't found in taking things into my own hands but in enjoying the peace of accepting what God has done - in His own way - in His own time.

I've spent two years tied in a knot worrying about the lack of work to do. I've not spent two days enjoying what God did.

God works in us in different ways and this is just my story at this time. I hope that it is helpful to you.

Peace: The Finished Product of Grace

In Romans 5:1-2 we are told that having been “justified by faith we have peace with God.” The Bible is the story of how God, through the sacrifice of His son, made the way for the war that rages between God and His creation to come to an end. The “favor” of God, His grace, through faith (another expression of His “favor”) makes our peace a reality.

Grace and peace are tied together.

But there is another understanding of peace that is also tied to grace. When we talk about peace, we often think of security, rest, no worries, the calm after a storm. This kind of peace is a settled confidence. It is the sense that comes when we know we have sufficient resources to meet any need. This peace is a work of grace through faith.

In the Old Testament the word was “Shalom”. Shalom was a sense of total well-being. Shalom was the security that came from knowing everything was in order and that one had sufficient resources for every need – no worry, no lack, satisfied in every area of life. To greet or send away someone with the blessing of “Shalom” was to desire for someone to experience only the best in everything.

Is it any wonder that in the New Testament the Apostle Paul began his letters to the churches with “Grace and Peace to you”. He understood that the message of the gospel brought the grace that produces peace in the believing hearer.

The same grace that God bestows upon our lives brings us peace with Him. When we extend that grace to others, peace will characterize our relationships.

The Golden Opportunities of Conflict

Without minimizing the very real pain, hurt, and loss that conflict brings, it is important to realize that it also introduces three golden opportunities into our lives. As followers of Christ, we can see Him doing good to us in the midst of distress and conflict.

First and foremost, everything in our lives, both the good and the bad, is a backdrop upon which the glory of God is seen. God is always working in our situations to see His glory reflected in us. The Bible and the history of the Church tell the story of God’s children displaying the Father’s love as He teaches us how to respond to conflict, both inwardly and outwardly. We display His character when we, in faith, allow the wisdom and ways of God to be our wisdom and ways. As God’s grace and peace shines through our lives, a hurting world sees His love.

Secondly, conflict not only presents an opportunity to reflect God to the world, but it also serve as part of the process that conforms us into the image of Jesus Christ. Through conflict, believers are given the mind and heart of Christ. The old self is replaced with the renewed mind of the Savior.

The third golden opportunity afforded to us through conflict is that, as we seek to glorify God and be remade in the image of Christ, we are able to partner with God as He redeems a broken world. Conflict is an opportunity to minister grace into the life of another person. As the glory of God and the mind of Christ are displayed in our lives, people will experience an eternal, growing relationship with their Creator.

Conflict is painful. But by focusing on the “golden” opportunities, we can have peace and joy as we experience the eternal work of God in our lives and in the lives of others.