The Battle of New Orleans

As this column goes to press I am in New Orleans, Louisiana.  On the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812 I am recalling the Battle of New Orleans fought in this area January 8 – 9, 1815.  That decisive military action led by Major General Andrew Jackson is still regarded as the greatest land victory of the war.  It, no doubt, helped serve to catapult “Old Hickory” to the presidency later in life.

 Jackson's victory saved New Orleans, but ironically it came after the war was over.  The Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium December 24, 1814 effectively bringing an end to the war.  Hostilities continued in the Mississippi Delta until late February when communications finally reached combatants in Louisiana bringing an end to the conflict.  Sadly, the United States and the United Kingdom together lost 441 soldiers with another 1706 wounded and 645 reported missing in a battle which did not have to be fought.

On a far more cosmic scale many are waging a war that has already been won.  On the Cross Jesus shouted, “It is finished” (Jhn. 19: 30) not “It will soon be finished” or “It is almost finished” as if we must win a victory He only began.  Jesus never does anything partially.  Is work is always finished work and that includes His work of victory for the believer.  We fight from victory in the Christian life not for victory in the Christian life.  Victory is not ours due to self effort but due to the absolute sufficiency of our Savior and the true victory He secured for us at the Cross.

In the Bible victory is never in doubt for the Christian.  “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2: 14).  “No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8: 37 HCSB).  “This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith” (1 Jhn. 5: 4 HCSB).  Jesus Himself terms us “victors” (Rev. 2: 7, 11, 17, 26; 3: 5, 12, 21).  He said, “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous!  I have conquered the world” (Jhn. 16: 33 HCSB).  The world may say we are defeated but the Word says we are dominators! 

One aside to our analogy:  the Treaty of Ghent ended the war but left the issues which led to conflict largely unresolved.  Be assured Jesus’ victory at the Cross was no fiction!  He won a real victory and resolved the issues He came to resolve.

There is no reason for any follower of Christ to permit our external enemy (the world), our internal enemy (the flesh) or our infernal enemy (the devil) to kick our spiritual teeth in and leave us less than conquerors.  By God’s grace and for His glory we can move from victory to victory today regardless of our opposition or difficulties. 

Some Practical Tips for Your Prayer (and Listening) Life

Recently I offered a friend some advice on praying and listening.  I am reproducing some of the material here in an edited version in hope that it is beneficial.  These tips grow out of my own walk with God but I hope they prove helpful to you also.

The question about listening to God is a common one.  Wandering minds are as much of a hindrance to prayer and listening as are wicked minds.  The devil really doesn’t care what we set our mind on as long as it isn’t God and His Word.  Our common mistake is to treat prayer and listening as two distinct things and they are really two dimensions of the same thing – communion with God.  All real communication is twofold.  There is speaking and feedback.  Dividing up our time with God into neat compartments like “prayer” when God hears me and “listening” when I hear Him isn’t the stuff of relationships; it’s the stuff of religious jargon.  My time with the Lord must always be speaking and hearing at every point.  To state it more correctly, it must be hearing and speaking.  Our best prayers are off-base without the Spirit’s tutelage.  If I don’t hear from God at the outset, the onset and throughout my time with Him it won’t be time with Him.  It will be time with myself I pass off as time with Him.  Hurry is the death of prayer but if I sit long enough before the Lord he will speak volumes and a great deal of what He has to say I am disinclined to hear.

Here are some practical tips I have learned through the years:

1.       Whatever I wake up thinking about in the morning I assume to be the appropriate place to start my conversation with God.  God doesn’t slumber or sleep and I expect Him to direct my thoughts appropriately at an hour I may be incapable of truly focusing them.

2.       Certainly specific aspects of prayer (praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession and petition) should be included in our praying but resist the temptation of believing that the same order must be duplicated everyday and on every occasion.  The psalmists certainly did not do that.  Be free enough to respond to what God is saying through your spirit, His Spirit and His Word.

3.       The greatest prayer warriors (and listeners) have been people who incessantly prayed Scripture.  The only way  I can be sure I‘m praying a perfect prayer is to pray perfect Scripture back to God.  George Muller, arguably the greatest man of faith since apostolic times, said he never had success in prayer until He learned to pray Scripture.  When I pray what God has already spoken He speaks again and with clarity and authority.

4.       Trust me, when I pray Scripture, either from memory or from the Bible before me God has more to say than I can possibly absorb.

5.       The apostles gave themselves to the ministry of prayer and the Word.  The two are forever wed.  Prayer without the Word becomes fanaticism, emotionalism and/or mysticism.  The Word without prayer becomes intellectualism and formalism.  The two hold each other in balance at any and all points of the divine communication process.

6.       Sufficient is the evil of the day.  Manna should be gathered daily.  We pray for and receive our daily bread.  God’s mercies are renewed each new day.  God sometimes gives long-range plans but most of what He says is for the moment.  If I obey Him today He has something more to say tomorrow.

7.       The most significant things God says are not new but reinforcements of truths we thought we already understood.

It's on my mind and from my heart!

Are We Trusted and Are We Trustworthy?

My family is heavily populated by people with a communications and journalism background.  My undergraduate degree is in communications, my youngest brother is a newspaper editor and publisher, my oldest son holds a degree in broadcast communications while his wife is trained as a print journalist, my other daughter-in-law is a free lance writer previously serving as a newspaper editor and the young man dating my daughter is a sports broadcasting producer and director.  I’m not searching for kudos here nor seeking sympathy but I do want to offer some transparency before launching into this column.

In today’s news came the latest tracking data on the press from the Pew Research Center.  It’s enough to make the press depressed.  The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has been at this since 1985 but the just released findings reveal public confidence in the media at an all time low.  A significant 66% say that news stories often are inaccurate, an even larger 77% believe stories to be imbalanced and a whopping 80% think reporting is influenced by power brokers and organizations.  One wonders if these findings will headline newscasts tonight. 

If there is any silver lining here for those drawing a paycheck from the press it is in the fact that people reported much higher trust in their own choice of media than the media in general.  The news corps also rated higher than business and government so they are not at the bottom of the stack of American institutions.

The growing dissatisfaction with the American media should give Christians pause.  We are, after all, very much involved in the communications business.  We are God’s Plan A to share His life and love with the world and God has no Plan B.  If we fail, the world fails to hear.  Twin questions must be answered by those desiring a hearing of the Gospel message.  Are we trusted and are we trustworthy are those nagging questions.

Are we trusted?  Sometimes we are; sometimes we aren’t.  Christians are not always viewed more positively than some of the disliked facets of society like the media, business and government.  Will the public listen to the old, old story in this brave new world?  If they listen will they find the truth we tell credible?  There are many factors in this equation like the modern mood for non-commitment and the disdain for absolutes not to mention the stubborn presence of sin.  Though we have little or no control over much of this, one thing which will greatly influence the question of trust is trustworthiness.

Are we trustworthy?  Friends, family, classmates, co-workers and neighbors may and may not find us trustworthy.  Sadly, distrust has often replaced the trust that once existed between us and those we are responsible to communicate the Gospel to.  Earning trust is frequently tough but regaining trust is always tougher.  If I lie about my finances how will anyone trust what I have to say about my faith?  If my behavior is suspect will my belief not be also?  If my word is not my bond why would others trust what I claim to be God’s Word?

Christians often shout and scream a lot about so called “Christian bashing” by the media which leads to media bashing by many Christians.  The truth is we both face the same dilemma; the growing creditability gap in our world.  The questions we must face along with our friends in the media are we trusted and are we trustworthy?  To the first, I pray that we will be and to the second, I pray that we are.

This column originally appeared in The Daily Press

Two Churches, Two Doors, One Christ and Revival

Is there a more stunning contrasting of churches than the one found in the final two fellowships specifically addressed by our Lord in the Revelation?  One church has long been associated with the missions movement while the other is shamefully and inextricably connected to the pitiful state of a church languishing on the edge of eternity.  Of course, we are referring to the church at Philadelphia and the church at Laodicea. 

We have typically contrasted these congregations in terms of our Lord’s commendation and condemnation.  There is certainly no lack of material for commentary there.  I would insist, however, that the contrast held in boldest relief is the position of our Lord in respect to each church.  Indeed if our churches are the churches of Christ as they claim to be the most pressing question is where is Christ in relation to all who attend there and all that transpires there.

At Philadelphia, Christ is inside the church opening a door to a world that desperately needs Him.  “I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close.” (Rev. 3: 8 HCSB).  At Laodicea, Christ is pleading with a church that desperately needs Him to open the door and let Him in.  “I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3: 20 HCSB).  In one instance a church has the world opened to it and in the other Christ has the church closed to Him.

The irony is horrifying!  The church our Lord bought with His own blood has closed the door and shuttered the windows to He who gave them life.  The Landlord has been evicted by the miserable tenants who have not so much as made a token contribution to the purchase of this property.

Is it not downright frightening the message our Lord gives to His people at the close of both Testaments?  At the close of the first testament, God declares that Temple worship is so appalling to Him that it would be better if they simply barred and bolted the doors of that ancient worship center as opposed to continuing the spiritually bankrupt practices which had come to characterize them.  “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar” (Mal. 2: 10 HCSB).  Now as the second Testament is closing, God pictures His Son locked out of His very church and feeling such revulsion to the hyper-hypocritical worship there that He wishes to vomit the nauseating worshippers out of His mouth.  “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3: 16 HCSB).

It’s hard to make the case that we’re doing the best we can in the face of these two bombshell blasts delivered from heaven.  All our alibis seem pretty lame before the excoriating analysis of Christ.  Anything resembling the Temple of Malachi’s day or the church at Laodicea is beyond revolting to God.

Actually only one thing (or should I say one Person) separates these two churches in the New Testament context or present day experience.  That difference is Jesus.  Is He in or out of the church?  His presence and our relation to Him are all determining. 

Termed “One Divine Moment,” a revival swept the faculty and student body of Asbury College in 1970.  For days hundreds lingered in the auditorium confessing sin and righting wrongs towards others.  When the revival broke out the President, Dennis Kinlaw was away from the campus and had his reservations about the experience.   He returned to watch his skepticism quickly melt away in the baptism of love that now engulfed the campus.
Later, a reporter asked him to explain the outbreak.
“Well, you may not understand this,” Kinlaw responded, “but the only way I know how to account for this is that last Tuesday morning, about 20 of 11, the Lord Jesus walked into Hughes Auditorium, and He’s been there ever since, and you’ve got the whole community paying tribute to His presence.”

Revival is that simple!  Jesus is welcomed where He has previously been locked out and Laodicea becomes Philadelphia!

Upbeat or Deadbeat?

Upbeat or deadbeat, you make the call, Dad.  Timed with the national observance of Father’s Day this past week the Pew Research Center released a new study on father involvement in the lives of their children.  It was one of those good news/bad news items we have become so accustomed to in the press.

First the good news: the study indicated a significant upswing in the amount of time fathers living with their minor children spend caring for them.  In 1965, married fathers spent an average of 2.6 hours a week caring for their children.  That figure rose gradually across the next two decades reaching 3 hours on average in 1985.  However, the number spiked from 1985 to 2000 when fathers reported spending an average of 6.5 hours caring for their children.  The trend is encouraging.  Fathers living with their biological children are clearly investing greater allotments of time in the youngsters.  For this we can be grateful.

Now the bad news: the number of dads who do not live with their children continues to rise at an alarming pace.  In 1960, only 11% of our nation’s children lived without their father’s presence in the home.  By 2010, that percentage had rocketed to 27%.  Making matters worse is the emotional distance existing between many of these fathers and their children.  Some nonresident dads are making a real effort to stay connected with their children; others not so much. While four out of ten of the nonresident dads report contact with their children several times a week almost one third of the fathers not living with their children say they communicate with their children less than once a month.  While one in five nonresident dads indicate they visit their children more than once weekly, a larger number (27%) have not seen their children even once in the past year.

As a pastor of over thirty years I can testify first hand to the devastating effects of father absence.  Talk long enough to those struggling with addictions, bondages and even incarceration and a familiar story unfolds.  Either Dad was largely disconnected from them as a child or is the object of great scorn due to real or perceived hypocrisy and/or immoral behavior.  It is not too much to say that America’s ills are largely attributable to father failure.

As a father of five grown children I readily admit personal failures too lengthy to enumerate in this column.  I do, however, know that children spell “love” T-I-M-E.  That’s what draws the silver lining around this otherwise ominous storm cloud of fatherlessness in America.  Increasingly, some dads are getting it.  They are awakening to the realization that responsibility not reproduction qualifies one as a father.  Consequently they are sharing growing hours of their week with their children.  This represents movement in the right direction.

If now fathers can be taught to not only spend time with their children but shown how to teach those same children how to spend time with God, America may yet experience the awakening for which she is long overdue.  Dads, you get to make the call.  Will you be upbeat with your investment in your children both temporally and eternally or will you be another deadbeat checking out on your responsibilities?  The choice is yours but no less than the fate of your children and the destiny of a nation hang in the balance.

This column previously appeared in The Daily Press.

He's at It Again!

By now you probably know that Harold Camping, the eighty nine year old voice of the 150 unit Family Radio network, has assured us that the Rapture is going to occur on May 21, 2011 and the world will be completely destroyed October 21, 2011.  Outrageous as this seems, it isn’t his first foray into such prophetic boasts.  Previously Mr. Camping told us that on May 21, 1988 the church age closed and a 23 year Great Tribulation began.  His boundless audacity further asserted that, “Satan has been employed by God to officially rule all of the churches."

I’m sure you’re pleased to know that, "The Holy Spirit has abandoned all churches (and) those still following any church on May 21, 2011 are not saved."  Camping seems to operate on a “not-invented-here” mentality which rejects two millennia of orthodox Christian teaching as well as contemporary theologians who seek to warn and admonish him preferring instead his “I-alone-have-figured-this-out-and-am-right” views of all things ecclesiological and eschatological.

Even casual Bible students quickly detect the errors of his highly systematized analysis of Jewish festivals and their bearing on the timing of the Lord’s return.  Less informed persons probably would want to know that Camping predicted in 1992 that Christ would return between September 15 and 27, 1994.  Since you are reading this right now, Camping was in error.  Commenting to Christianity Today on September 28, 1994 he conceded, “Obviously this has not happened, so that was inaccurate.”

Inaccurate?  Certainly there is a richer word in the King’s English for prompting thousands to reorder their lives (not to mention sending Family Radio mounds of money) all in pursuit of one man’s fancies!  It pains me to consider which is worse: the audacity of this radio preacher or the gullibility of his listeners.  I guess starving people will always devour stale bread!

Sadder still is the realization that Camping has company across the centuries.  From the second century Montanists to the nineteenth century Millerites and more some have strongly implied a date for the return of Christ while others brazenly broadcasted one.  In more recent years, the late NASA engineer Edgar C. Whisenant penned the catchy title 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 flatly announcing, "Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong; and I say that to every preacher in town."  I muse that he might not be as dogmatic in heaven just now.

In 1997 a lady sat in my office petrified she had missed her entrée into the celestial after thirty nine Nike clad followers were found in a California home dead of suicide induced when they thought the brightness of the Hale-Bopp Comet suggested to them they would reach an alien spacecraft following the storied comet.  The craziness never seems to end does it?

Jesus may return for His people before I finish typing this or you finish reading it!  Very well!  It’s His return, not mine.  I’m on the Welcoming Committee not the Arrangements Committee!  Even so, come Lord Jesus!

It’s On My Mind/From My Heart.

Mayfest

May is an incredibly awesome month for the Autry household.  The month of May is like Christmas only in the spring.  Five birthdays, Mother’s Day and a wedding anniversary make May pretty festive and pretty expensive every year.  This year is even more so.  Added to the normal cadre of celebrations is the very significant date Saturday the 14^th.

On this day five members of our household receive degrees from Liberty University.  This is the culmination of a journey which began in 1999 when our oldest son, Jonathan, entered Liberty as a freshman.

Jonathan Autry who received his Liberty University undergraduate degree in 2003 in Communications is being awarded his Master of Divinity from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary May 14.  He is employed by Home Instead in Lynchburg.

Rebecca Solis Autry (wife of Jonathan) received her Liberty University undergraduate in Communications in 2003 and is receiving her Masters in Human Resources May 14.  This is her third Liberty University masters degree.

Jeremiah Autry receives his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion with a Philosophy Specialization May 14.  He is currently employed by Staples of Lynchburg.

Joseph Autry, a three year veteran of the Liberty University Debate Team, receives his Bachelor of Science in History and a Minor in Psychology May 14.  He is currently in the application process to become a Liberty University Graduate Assistant and coach debate while completing his masters at Liberty.

Jessica Autry receives her Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Development and a double minor in Psychology and Special Education.  She has accepted a position with Jill’s House, a Christian respite facility for special education clients, located in Vienna, Virginia.

Observing the festivities will be Joshua and Jennifer Thurman Autry both of whom are also Liberty graduates.  Together our family has approximately thirty five total years of education on Liberty Mountain resulting in eleven degrees.  Am I proud of this bunch?  You betcha! 

Am I grateful for Liberty University?  Without a doubt!  Liberty is no more perfect than the students who attend there and the professors who teach there but it has provided a healthy environment for our family to explore the many and varied avenues of truth while hearing the Truth unapologetically articulated in both convocation and classroom.

I along with tens of thousands counted the late Jerry Falwell, Sr. a friend.  He threw a longer shadow than any figure who ever graced my presence.  He was an iconic figure truly larger than life.  His legacy lives on the generations who are “Changing the world one degree at a time” but in a highly personalized way in our children and daughters-in-law.

What are we doing next?  I’ll let you know after a week in the Outer Banks.  Pretty good way to celebrate, don’t you think?