Jesus Never Fails

Preacher Brown and his wife, Emma, came to the Smoky Mountains by way of Persia. She is said to have had royal blood which must have made their descent into missions scandalous. They followed God’s leading to the backwoods of Cocke County in the early 1900’s. It’s the same county for the setting of the historical fiction Christy written by Catherine Marshall. A short description of the Christy book gives you an idea of what life must have been like for the Browns. “The novel explores faith and mountain traditions such as moonshining, folk beliefs and folk medicine.”

In the mid-forties just after the war, my grandparents came to carry on the work. At that time the Browns were not only leading churches but also went into many of the small country schools to teach Bible lessons – a work our family continued into the 80’s. Among the things they left behind was a small handmade plaque of Preacher Browns that read simply, “Jesus Never Fails.” It became a fixture in their home, and I can remember growing up with its ever present proclamation.

The plaque even impacted our family in a Balaam’s donkey sort of way. My aunt had taught her parakeet, Buttercup, to say things like, “Buttercup is a pretty girl”, “Kept by the power of God, 1 Peter 1:5”, “Are you happy?….Hallelujah” and, yes, you guessed it “Jesus never fails.” One morning as my grandpa poured out his heart in prayer concerning work for my dad, almost on cue Buttercup belted out a timely reminder, “Jesus never fails.”

Now we are privileged to have it hanging in our own home pouring forth the same proclamation it has for almost 100 years. It’s a great refrain during these days of economic uncertainty, world unrest and personal searching. I can almost hear it interwoven into Scripture (Psalm 136 fashion) as a blazing reminder of His faithfulness:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, Jesus never fails.
and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus never fails.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, Jesus never fails.
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Jesus never fails.
Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus never fails.

Foggy Mountain Addendum

A 437 word post is just not enough space to say everything that’s on my mind concerning discovering God’s direction. I should have known it would take another post when I started cutting and slashing awkward one sentence add-ons. They all seemed to be important but detracting as well.

“You didn’t say anything about…” keeps rolling around in my head. So here’s a little addendum. I can’t guarantee it will be my final thought. As a matter of fact I expect it not to be.

First Then Principle – Sometimes we want to know God’s will in the things the Bible is unclear about, while knowingly disobeying the things it addresses very clearly. First we give our heart to the direction He has revealed in the Bible, then we’re in a position to ask for the more personal direction He hasn’t.

He Never Contradicts Himself – Does God ever lead us to have an adulterous affair because our spouse is difficult? Does He ever lead us to cheat on income tax returns? Does He ever give us the go ahead to be drunk with wine? No! No! No! He never ever gives us any leading that contradicts what He has already told us in His Word.

More Hints – I listed various “hints” God might use in our lives as signposts for us to follow. Here are a few others “Most times God guides us in subtle ways, by feeding ideas into our minds, speaking through a nagging sensation of dissatisfaction, inspiring us to choose better than we otherwise would have done, bringing to the surface hidden dangers of temptation…” (Yancey)

Still Unsure – Sometimes those subtle hints lead us to confidence in knowing exactly what we should do. Sometimes we come to a place where we remain unsure, but a decision has to be made. When that happens I find myself praying something like this, “Father, I plan to_________, which is the decision that makes the most sense at the moment. I want your will to be done and ask You to redirect if needed.”

Seeing in Retrospect – It’s often easier to understand God’s leading by looking backward then looking forward. We might find ourselves saying, “So that’s what He was doing in that situation.” It’s just another reason to stay close to the One who is orchestrating it all.

Foggy Mountain Discovery

While traveling through Pennsylvania last fall we crossed over a foggy mountain into a huge storm. I probably should have pulled over, but fear of being rear-ended kept me going. Just ahead of us the tail lights of an 18 wheeler became our guide. With steering wheel gripped tightly my concentration remained fixed on those lights until we had finally reached our destination. Even as I relive that moment through writing, I let out a sigh of relief.

Fog can be scary. It can be as equally scary when facing a foggy personal uncertainty not addressed for us in Scripture – job, mate, school, weekend plans, which medical procedure, timing. Two opposite end approaches seek to bring clear objectivity to this fogginess.

The first says that the will of God is found exclusively in the Bible, and as long as you are living in obedience make any choice you desire. It’s a good start but seems to remove God’s supernatural outworking in the specifics. The second says God speaks in various ways to give crystal clear direction. I like the idea but I also fear my humanness – a humanness that can be confused, can mix in my own wishes or even be mis-led. I’m not quite comfortable with either. For me there seems to be a middle ground.

Recently I have discovered the benefit of fog. Because of the fog, the uncertainty I begin a jourey of seeking the face of God – lingering, enjoying, acknowledging, worshiping, wrestling, listening, surrendering, returning. In the end it increases our intimacy together and gives me an opportunity to walk by faith. And those benefits are more valuable than storehouses of gold.

I have further discovered that in the foggy times as I seek God, He gives little hints of leading (never contradictory to Scripture of course) - a circumstance, a prompting, a small decision, godly counsel, a specific Scripture, something remembered, an impression, a chance encounter. Seldom does the end view come into sight immediately, but instead it’s a one step at a time journey that eventually leads to the destination.

Sometimes we will miss or misunderstand these gentle hints. That’s okay. We’re all human enough to make a mistake, and He is gracious enough to redirect….multiple times. We so want direction to be in a straight clear path that saves face when outsiders think we are making a mistake. Life doesn’t work that way, neither does the integration of the spiritual life. Both can be messy. Thankfully we have a God who understands the messiness, the mountains of fogginess and our need to discover Him in the process.

Above: Maria and Christina meet Rachel Black at the Dare 2 Share conference. Rachel and her husband Zane are also on staff at Timberline Lodge.

Top: Daniel snowboarding in CO

Middle: Girls snowboarding at Winter Place, WV

Living the Cross-Centered Life

More than ever my sights are set on the cross and living the cross-centered life. I credit it all to God’s graciousness. He has been sending fresh winds of insight from unexpected corners of life – a chance meeting, a weekend retreat, a recommended book, an illuminated thought. The latest was an internet discussion group involving John Piper with this thought provoker, “The apex of the glory of God is seen in Christ and the apex of His glory is seen in the cross…therefore to be God-centered leads to Christ-centered leads to cross-centered.”

The message of the cross has so many aspects – deity, humanity, perfection, death, resurrection, atonement, salvation, reconciliation – to name a few. Everything that is involved in the message of the cross is the stuff that makes up a comprehensive doctrine. It’s the foundational basis of truth for living the cross-centered life. Yet more importantly than being able to articulate a doctrinal outline of the cross is for it to break through the structures and to sense it in our heart. In other words, the theology of the cross is not just an intellectual act but an interaction process that authentically thrills and transforms our heart.

So how does the cross break through and become a powerful reality? I’ll offer a few ideas that have been gleaned along the way. Just keep in mind these are growing possibilities not a Pharisaical "to do" checklist.

The Cross of Christ continues its heart-permeating work in us as we:
• Lean heavily on the Spirit’s supernatural interaction within us (mysterious and unexplainable as it is)
• Don’t lean heavily on ourselves (we are so prone to older brother moralism/legalism)
• Read about, dwell on, pray over, rejoice in and talk about its comprehensive message
• Ask God to apply its freeing power to specifics (like anxiety, pride, control issues, fear, anger, self-hate, emptiness…at their roots)
• Begin grasping and concretely affirming our belief through worship
• Are conscientious to live out of our true identity in Christ
• Remember His death at the Lord’s Table

The chance encounter I mention above was with Colombian missionaries Phil and Deene. His words after a late night conversation still ring in my ear. I leave them with you. “If you give yourself to this, you will be changed. It will come into effect.”