The Hard Heart

THE HARD HEART
Mr. Clarence was the elderly patriarch of a family who lived not far from my childhood home. His wife was godly woman, but he never attended church or professed to be a Christian (at least not to my knowledge). He ran a small country store in the Longs community, and was famous for “stretching the truth” by telling some unsuspecting customer that a perfectly healthy neighbor had “passed away” that morning or the day before. My grandmother once answered the door to find a sad old gentleman standing there giving his condolences regarding my grandfather’s supposed death. Mr. Clarence had told the gentleman that “old man Tharon Hardee was dead” and buried.
“Mrs.Eva,” he said with a sad look, “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am to hear about Mr.Tharon’s passing.” About that time my grandfather, alive and well, came to the door to greet the startled gentleman.
Mr Clarence’s favorite target was a particular neighbor living not far from his store. He would often tell folks that Mr Faircloth had died that morning. I stopped by his store one day for a drink and a snack. As I walked in he met me with sad eyes and said, “Son, did you know that old man Faircloth died this morning?” Without a moment’s pause I responded, “What! Again?” Mr. Clarence burst out laughing. He appreciated my quick response, and seemed to like me after that.
Years later when he was an elderly man in his 80s, my mother and I visited him when he was recuperating from a heart attack. “Mr. Clarence,” I asked, “when you had your heart attack, did you call the preacher to come pray for you?”
“Hell, no!” he replied emphatically and without hesitation, “I thought I was dying. I called the doctor!”
As far as I know, he maintained that disposition right up until the day no doctor could save him.
The human heart can harden to the point that it is “cold” and seared. This is a sad state. One man, when asked if he wanted to give his life to Jesus, responded that all his family was in hell and that he “just as well go be with them” there. He was sincere in his callousness. He seemed to have no fear or concern regarding eternity and his place in it. I should also mention that this man was one of Mr Clarence's sons.
But we must all stand before God to give account. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after death the judgment. I pray that everyone reading this post will have given his or her life to Jesus Christ, and will begin this new year with a heart soft before the Lord and filled with the peace of God.
“For God so loved the world that HE gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

"...AS BRO LARRY BRINGS US THE MESSAGE."

“Hot Off the Griddle of Heaven.”
Pastor and Mrs Varnell did all they could to encourage us young college “preacher boys.” Their little church in a nearby town provided many opportunities for us to speak at their meetings. I remember one special occasion when Pastor Varnell called me and said, “You boys come and preach this Sunday.” Usually one of us would deliver the sermon, but on a couple occasions we did a “tag team” message, dividing the time up between us. On this particular occasion Pastor Varnell was letting us decide who would address his congregation.

Our circle of aspiring ministers consisted of Larry, Lonnie, Mike, George, and me. On this particular Sunday, however, Larry Rodeffer and I were the only ones able to attend the meeting. On our drive to the church I turned to Larry and asked, “Do you have the message?” He shook his head and said, “No, Billy. I don’t have a thing. Do you?” Very confidently I replied, “Yes, Larry. I’ve got the message.”

We arrived at the church, went in, and took our seats on the platform beside the pastor. I began looking through my Bible, doing some last minute preparation for the sermon. Larry was sitting there relaxed with his Bible lying on the seat beside him.
When it came time for the sermon, Pastor Varnell walked up to the podium and said, “Bro Billy and Bro Larry are with us this morning, and one of these boys has a message ‘hot off the griddle of heaven.’ ” He turned and looked at us, and I gave the signal that I would be the one he should introduce.

I walked up to the podium, read a few verses from Luke chapter 4, said a prayer, and then looked out at the congregation. But to my great horror, my mind went blank. I had preached from those verses many times, but this time I could not find the message. As I began to mumble to the congregation I thought to myself, “Oh Lord God, how am I going to get out of this? I have read the scripture and said the prayer.” Once you do that you are into the message. “But I have nothing to say. What am I to do?”

A brilliant idea came to mind. I paused a second, and then with renewed confidence and peace, I looked at all those people and said, “You all remember what I have said---as Bro Larry brings us the message.”
I then went to my seat and sat down, looking at Larry with that “innocent” guilty look on my face.

Without saying a word Larry looked at me in a mild shock, and very slowly picked up his Bible and walked over to the podium. He laid his Bible on the pulpit, opened it up, and then slowly looked back and stared at me for about three seconds with that questioning look of surprise and shock still on his face.
He then gained his composure, told the congregation to turn to the chapter where Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood, and proceeded to give one of the best sermons he had ever given.

“Brother Larry” did have the message. I did not. And though Larry had not planned to speak at that particular moment, he drew from the resources of his life of prayer and study and gave a message that really did turn out to be “hot off the griddle of heaven,” as Pastor Varnell had promised in his introduction. Larry was the only one there who knew I had been rescued from a predicament. His success overshadowed my mistake.

Mistakes are part of growth .
We must be willing to make mistakes and to stumble in order to learn and grow. It takes faith to be willing to take risks. Peter spoke up and was wrong a few times, but learned in the process. In the Bible we see men of God moving in great success, accomplishment, victory, and accuracy in the things of God, yet we also see them in failure, missteps, and errors of judgment. Why is it that we have difficulty seeing ourselves on either end of this spectrum? We are shocked to think that we can experience and participate in the same successes as those men of the Bible. We also are shocked and discouraged when we find ourselves in the same types of mistakes and failures. Too often we are content to stay in some path of mediocrity and safety where we do nothing great and make no major mistakes. We even think this is where we belong. But that is not real life as God intended for us. God meant for us to learn and grow. And to do that we need to be willing to take risks in our walk of faith.

Likewise, leaders must not be afraid for people to make mistakes. Often church leadership is afraid to create an atmosphere where people can take risks, especially in the things of the Holy Spirit. They are afraid people will become strange and spooky or get into some eccentric and crazy behavior. Therefore, they prohibit people from stepping out and taking initiative. My philosophy has been that church members should have freedom to speak up and “step out”, as long as they give the leadership and their brothers and sisters permission and liberty to correct and instruct them in the process. This atmosphere of freedom and love where people are comfortable attempting obedience, unafraid of failure, yet loyal to truth, teachable, and willing to be corrected rather than indulged or rejected is what we see in the relationships of the twelve disciples in their walk with Jesus and each other. This same atmosphere is good for us also. Training and growth require the freedom to stumble and slip a bit.           ---Billy Long

WHERE CAN YOU HIDE?

“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship…paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1: 2

Jonah tried to run from God's call upon his life. He found he was unable to "burn his obedience bridge."

Fleeing From the Presence of God
Jonah boarded a ship headed to Tarshish, a city located on the far west end of the Mediterranean Sea, probably in Southern Spain near Gibraltar. To sail past this point would be to enter the vast unknown Atlantic Ocean. Jonah was going to a remote location that represented the point farthest from and most opposite to where God was sending him. He was fleeing not only from the purpose of God but also from the very presence of God.

 “Asleep”
Jonah went down into the ship and fell asleep. Usually a person running from God is unable to sleep very well, especially during a storm. Generally speaking there is no rest or peace to the wicked, but Jonah was able to sleep. He slept to escape his guilt and to avoid praying. He could not pray as did all the others on board who feared for their lives. He was in rebellion and he knew what God would say. He was trying to forget what he had already heard. So he avoided calling upon God.

 "Throw me into the sea"
Jonah probably saw death as a means of continued disobedience, just another, yet final, step in avoiding Nineveh. He probably assumed he could repent, die, and go on to Abraham's bosom. So he landed in the water thinking he would drown and be out of his misery. But instead he was swallowed alive by the whale.

 “Expelled From God's Sight”
Jonah "woke up" to realize that he was not dead, but in a very dark, remote, and frightening place. As the whale descended into the depths, Jonah came to the realization of what it really means to be expelled from God's presence. He had been hurled into the deep like a stone and felt himself falling to the base of the mountains. The mighty waters covered him with an intensity of distress.

Sometimes the greatest discipline God can mete out is to give us a heavy dose of the very thing we claim to seek in our rebellion. An appropriate judgment upon those who "flee from God's presence" is to be "expelled from His sight".
In reality, however, Jonah was under the discipline of a loving, yet determined, heavenly Father who had not forsaken him, but was allowing him get a taste of what he was asking for while simultaneously being placed back on track toward Nineveh and the purpose of God.
The wicked mistakenly think it will be a relief to get away from God, but it is a most awful terror. It is a cold, hopeless, and fearful place. Therefore, Jonah cried out in horror thinking he had been expelled from God’s presence. How relieved he must have been to discover that he was still alive and in the hands of God, and to know that he had not descended into Sheol in his rebellion.

 A Whale: A Rebellious Person’s Gethsemane
Jonah intended to burn his obedience bridges when he embarked upon that ship to Tarshish, The Mediterranean Sea is large, and during Solomon's time ships from Tarshish came to Israel only once every three years. Therefore, it is obvious that Jonah was trying put himself into a situation in which it would be impossible to change his mind and in which God, even if He should forgive Jonah, would be unable to send him back anytime soon. Jonah assumed God would probably find someone else to do the job.
Jonah was to learn a hard lesson. If we deliberately burn our “obedience bridges” behind us in an effort to make obedience impossible, God can still make a way, a very uncomfortable way, to get us back on track. A person may think he is safe from the will and purpose of God as he sails far out onto the blue Mediterranean Sea. But God sends a storm…and then He sends a whale. Many who tried to run from God have found themselves traveling via "whale belly.” Once Jonah got onto the boat there was no easy way out and no easy or comfortable way back. But there was a way. He had to marinade in whale-belly enzymes for three days. He would definitely return to Israel a lot more tender of heart.
A “whale” is a very uncomfortable circumstance which God uses to return us to His will while giving us incentive not to run away again. A whale is also a place for a second chance, a door to restoration that otherwise would have been impossible. A “whale’s belly” can be a rebellious man’s Gethsemane—a place where even the rebel is willing to pray “not my will, but thine be done.”           

The Goldfish
Like Jonah we cannot escaped the presence or the call of God (Ps 139: 7-12; Romans 11: 29). His incomprehensible mercy and steadfast love will follow us to the ends of the earth (Ps.23: 6). God's word will overtake those to whom He speaks (Zech I: 6; Prov. 13:13). He may give us room to run…but we will meet Him in the way. If God was so persistent with Jonah who was genuinely trying to flee, how much more will He work to apprehend and help those of us who desire to obey but yet struggle in the valley of decision.

 And for those of us who are determined to flee, it is foolish to think we can succeed in escaping and hiding from God. It is like the goldfish that decides to run away from home. He has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. But why would we want to run and hide from such a wonderful God who loves us so much? In the blindness of our humanity we fail to see the awesomeness of His love, power, and wisdom. He is good. His way is right and best. We should embrace Him and His plan for our lives.

“You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me…
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your Presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in hell, behold You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me, And your right hand shall hold me.”    
 -Psalm 139: 5-10        

FLY

Roaches can actually fly. I know I've seen some of those big ones do it. But I've seen them track out across hot asphalt, stick, and die...because they refused to fly. It's in their nature to stick close to the ground and places to hide. We can "fly" if we live for the Lord and walk in His ways. But when we live according to our lower nature and sin...we live "in the gutter" and track into snares and traps that cause us to "lose our lives" rather than saving them.

The Effects of Folly

Ecclesiastes 10: 1 "...So a little folly outweighs wisdom"
Our failures often make a bigger “splash” than our successes. People will often forget all the good a man has done and judge him based on the one mistake or failure in his life. Many contemporary men of God who have done great works and accomplished very significant things for God will be remembered primarily for the sin that was discovered in their lives. A man's folly is more entertaining to the public than his wisdom. His sins will be trumpeted much louder than his accomplishments, especially if they follow his accomplishments.

The enemy would take advantage of our sins and failures in order to produce shame and despair, and ultimately to make us quit. But we should humble ourselves before God, surrender to His discipline, and continue in faith and obedience. Our reputations, as well as our lives, are in His hands.

DEALING WITH REGRET

I look back over my life and see many regrets, things I would change or do better if I could go back and start over. I see areas where I was not a wise and faithful steward of resources, time, responsibilities, opportunities, and potential.
How do I resolve what in the natural seems to be un-resolvable? What do I do when I’ve lost or forfeited something I can never get back? How do I find comfort when something dear to me is gone? The answer: I give it to God.
The prodigal son left home and wasted his inheritance in the world of disobedience and sin. Sometimes I feel like the prodigal who stayed home. I did not waste my life in sin and dissipation, but rather was the “good son” who stayed in the fold but still squandered opportunities, resources, time, and potential.
So what do I do as I look back seeing these areas of lost and so many things I would change? I give it to God. My hope is in the redemptive power of Christ, and in the grace, wisdom, and goodness of God that helps me overcome myself.
“I am not ashamed, for I know Him whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” 2 Timothy 1: 12.
I give it to God, after I have given myself to Him.

LEADERS NEED LISTENING SKILLS

The failure to listen when someone comes with a problem or complaint.

Discipline yourself to listen.  Prov. 18:13

Do not interrupt the person before he has finished.  Let him share all that is in his heart.  People, need to "drain" themselves of what's on their mind and in their heart.  If you interrupt him before he finishes communicating his ideas, his mind will still be on his own issues and he will not hear or be able to listen to you.

It is easy to formulate answers before you listen to the question or the complaint. But even if you have revelation, even if you already understand, it is still important not to interrupt before the person has spoken all he needs to say.

             

To speak before a person has finished is to risk being guilty of presumption, error, misjudgment and condemnation.

Usually people do not go directly or immediately to the heart of the matter. They start at the periphery and work their way the root issue. Therefore, if you answer too quickly, you are only dealing with peripheral aspects of the issue.

           

People become very frustrated if they feel you have not heard them or if you have not given them opportunity to share their heart.

When a leader speaks too quickly and forms a judgment without listening adequately, the person approaching him may become intimidated and close up.  He will become frustrated and withdraw feeling that he cannot talk.  The person may "drop the charges" but leave confused, questioning his own discernment, questioning what is reality--but still with an inner sense that things are not really resolved.

Pastors should listen because the person may have a valid criticism.

 A Pastor should develop the ability to make people feel comfortable and free to communicate.  Learn to help people open up and share their heart.

Be quick to hear, slow to speak.  Do not let your first response be to defend yourself or to attack the other.

After the person has said everything he has to say, then a leader should evaluate and make a response.