The Integrity of a Man (or Woman)

While at a School of Pastoral Nurture last week, we listened to a presentation from the CFO of Church on the Way.  He talked about the quality of integrity in the servants of the Lord, and told a story or two to illustrate.

Near the end of the presentation, one of the pastors had a confession to make.  He told us that during the previous evening he had “nicked” a certain parked car while trying to parallel park his own car in front of the house we were meeting in.  While listening to the CFO’s presentation, he was convicted that he needed to confess what he had done, and hidden.  He told us all what he had done. 

I thank God that this pastor responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and obediently confessed before his group of brothers.  What this showed me was that his heart is tender towards the Lord.  While he should have revealed the “nick” at the time of the occurrence, his posture of humility and obedience to God would not let him continue to hide the infraction, as minor as it may be.

A hard heart hides the “nicks.”  A tender heart is moved easily by the Spirit of the Lord, and makes amends.

God wants us to live a holy life.  He wants us to have nothing holding on to us that our flesh or the enemy can use to bring shame to ourselves or to the cause of Christ.  He wants us to be free. 

How wonderful it is to live free!

My Nigerian Friend

Hello Friends,  I so want to show you photos of our goings-around Yosemite and the Bay Area, and tell you about his home town that he told me about.   But I’m not going to because I want to protect my friend.  In our church, we have missionaries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and we write little about them online for the same reasons.  Their names and location need to be withheld for their protection from those who would want to bring harm to them and their families.

So you want to know my main take away from two weeks of living with a pastor from Nigeria?  Pray about everything.  The first time I met him, last year, I asked him how he got the money to buy a plane ticket, knowing that it cost him roughly six months income.  His reply:  “I prayed and asked God for it, I believed for it, and by God’s grace it came in.”  For him, everything is “by God’s grace.”

Lord, my prayer is that by God’s grace, I will enter into that place of prayer that hears, sees, and receives…to your glory.

You do not have because you do not ask.  You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (James 4:2b-3, NKJV)