We’re journeying through the Word of God at Bethel, one passage at a time. It’s created some amazing opportunities to communicate the gospel from a variety of stories so far. I will admit the challenge of connecting every passage to everyday life, but I still wouldn’t trade this expository approach for anything. It’s one of my own concerns about contemporary Christian culture. I am positive about a new wave of creativity and evangelistic ingenuity, but often the preaching (the most important part of what happens on Sunday) is limited in its content to only those topics that are deemed most relevant and presentable in a flashy kind of way.

So a study on the Tabernacle seems out of place today. It’s probably one of those things that many contemporary church growth gurus use as a joke to demonstrate howirrelevant expository preaching is. But do I care? Not at all. The Tabernacle is already opening up to me as an amazing symbol of Jesus Christ Himself, and of our life in Christ.

I’ll admit the toughness of organizing my own thoughts - Exodus is a challenge to outline - yet I’m convinced that our people will grow spiritually through this part of our journey. I hope and pray to lay out a blueprint for real intimacy with God, demonstrated by a simple tent more than three thousand years old. So pray for me as I preach, and join us on Sundays or catch us at BibleJourney.org to keep up.

This week is very monumental for me. I am preparing to begin preaching through the entire Bible this Sunday morning. It has been a ministry-long dream. Since reading the autobiography of Dr. W. A. Criswell, who preached through the Scriptures over an almost eighteen year period at First Baptist Church in Dallas, it has seemed an unreachable and impossible task. I can’t tell you how much I’ve thought and prayed about this assignment.

In my mind, I’ve tried to place myself into the shoes of my church members, some of whom may not survive to hear the end of it all in the Revelation. Won’t we get bored? Won’t we get bogged down in the law, the plans of the tabernacle, the genealogical tables? Will people really be interested? Will the messages be relevant to my life? Nobody has asked any of these questions yet, except for me, but they have lingered in my thinking.

Then I think on the positive side. God’s Word is the source of all the divine wisdom we have at our disposal. He grows people through His Word. My calling to ministry is a call to shepherd God’s people by feeding them the truth of God. No book is more special, no other subject matter is appropriate. Why not preach “all the counsel of God?”

One dominating thought, however, is “what if I mess this up?” What if I don’t cover enough material? Life is too short to rely on “do-over’s” and I will probably get only one or two shots at a series like this in my lifetime. From that thought flows the bottom line issue - I have only this life to spend for God’s glory. This may very well be the last series of sermons I ever preach. Will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely! My life and the lives of the people God assigns to me to shepherd will be forever changed and enriched by hearing the whole counsel of God.

The question I’ve come to grips with is, if preaching through the entire Bible in a single series was the only feat I ever accomplished, it would be worth it - I would have to do nothing in addition to it to have fulfilled my calling as a Pastor.

Already, I’ve become familiar with the greatness of modern science. Many Christians today are at war with the scientific community over evolution, the Big Bang, and other modern ideas. I’m not threatened by these, but rather encouraged, albeit for a strange reason. Both of these theories, hard to swallow as they are, actually substantiate the greatness of the Bible. Let me explain…

The Big Bang proposes that the universe is not infinite, that it had a beginning in time. Until 1913, the world thought the universe was infinite, that it had no beginning and would have no end. But because of the discovery that the universe is expanding rapidly, we can postulate that if you work backwards, everything was once together, before the expansion began. In other words, the universe had a starting point. What baffles modern scientists is, what then? What did things look like before the universe began its explosive expansion? To this the Bible says, in the beginning… God!

And what of evolution? Why in the world would I appreciate this crazy and impossible to believe prognostication? Because evolution is really a fragment of a larger idea that there is a logical progression to the development of life on this planet, and that development concurs with the first chapter of Genesis in its order and structure. The only differences are that what science assigns to billions of years really happened in six literal, twenty-four hour days. First the rocks, then water, then marine and plant life, then the beasts of the earth, and finally man. I was taught in Astronomy 101 that all of this took place over about thirteen billion years. The Bible declares God did it in six days. I choose the Bible, but I stand amazed at science’s validation of the order of creation. I’m no more impressed with the Bible, I’m just more impressed with scientists.

Ultimately, what I’m discovering is that Genesis was never intended to be a science or history textbook. It was not intended to stir up debate over the literal nature of the word “day” or whether there was a gap included for the geological ages. Rather, Genesis’ creation account is a hymn of praise to the Creator! Don’t miss this. The story of creation wasn’t given so that we might use it as a source of scientific data (though I believe its perfect, literal accuracy). It was given that we might know our Creator, be impressed with His creative acts, and choose to serve and glorify Him for eternity!

What an awesome discovery for me! I can’t wait to share it all with the congregation of Bethel Baptist Church. Please pray that I will have the necessary time to invest in the study of God’s Word so that I might not fail to present the whole counsel of God with pastoral wisdom and compassion. Pray that I’ll always see the relevance of each passage to our daily living. Pray that lives will be changed for the glory of God as we “journey through the word” together!

I just finished reading Jim Cymbala’s book Fresh Power and it has again revived my thirst for God. One of the most impactful insights from the book is the revelation that if we can explain the success of our churches in terms of programs, personalities, or well-oiled machinery without the power of the Holy Spirit, then we’ve missed the point. Cymbala appeals to A. W. Tozer who proclaimed that if the Holy Spirit were removed from our midst today, most of our largest and most rapidly growing churches would continue as they are because their growth is attributable not to the powerful working of the Holy Spirit, but to a marketing structure, business plan, and organizational genius that is very humanly originated.

We do need to operate in the “fresh power” freely available from the Holy Spirit, God’s operative agent in the world today. We do need to continue the writing of the Acts of the Holy Spirit in our modern world. For the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which Cymala pastors, the secret of this abiding power and presence of God is not merely to be found in a great choir, great preaching, or great buildings. It is found in their Tuesday night prayer meeting which serves as the fuel source for all else that happens.

I believe my favorite chapter is the second, entitled Of Cemeteries and Insane Asylums. Pastor Cymbala writes about the two extremes of today’s Christianity. The insane asylums represent the excesses of the charismatic movement. It describes the counterfeit revivals, the get-rich-quick Christianity, the mass-miracle-crusades without discernment or validation. This is Christianity that has zeal but little truth. The cemeteries are those circles of modern Christianity much like my own denomination, which have so reacted against the charismatic movement that we’ve become boxes of bones with no life. We have our truth, and like Charlton Heston and his rifle, the world can peel it from our cold, dead hands. Shame on us!

What an atrocity that we are so closed to the potential activity of the Spirit of God that we completely deny the possibility that God would want to invade our space, enliven our worship, and move us to a new level of power-filled witness. How we desperately need a fresh infilling of His presence. As we seek a proper biblical balance in all things, let us seek the fullness of power of the Holy Spirit, and let us seek to defend the truth in a pluralistic age. God, may You enliven today’s church by Your mighty Holy Spirit, and may this work begin in me!

“And when it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” -1 Kins 8:10-11

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come… they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” -Acts 2:1, 4

What makes the difference between an “ordinary” church service and a spectacular one? According to much of the modern church growth movement, it depends on the lighting, the style (and volume) of music, the approach to the sermon, and the work of the greeters and ushers. All of these are important aspects of planning a worship service but none are the key factor that determines when a worship service is great. That is left to the discretion of the Holy Spirit.

God blesses excellence, so we ought to plan well and execute our plan to the best of our ability. We ought to think big and dream big, but even more we ought to pray for the Holy Spirit to overpower and overwhelm us. It is His presence that makes the difference.

In the Old Testament, during the days of the tabernacle, the Holy Spirit would come down and visit the holy place with a visible sign of His presence. It was obvious to all who were close by that God’s presence was setting the agenda for worship. In the New Testament, particularly on the Day of Pentecost, another manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence came with the sound of wind, the apostles’ speaking in languages they had never learned, and in over 3,000 souls being saved.

I hunger to have the powerful presence of God to dominate every worship service, to make Himself known by visible reminders of His ability. I thirst to see lives radically changed and impacted by His convicting voice, His healing touch, and His contagious zeal. We cannot physically be with the Lord on earth today, but oh how much I long to feel the warmth of His company through the Spirit’s presence. Won’t you pray with me for God to visit us in a special way this Sunday?