Coffee With The Lord

This morning during “coffee with the Lord” I was intrigued by the topic “The Art of Influence.” Big topic!! Believe me I don’t have all the answers!! (If anyone has a great bibliography of good books on the topic, I’m interested!)

When it comes to influencing others, the only thing some people have going for them is money. Here’s a challenge… Put away your money and see what you can accomplish without it… “stash the cash – boycott the bribe” and see how influential you really are! Me thinks, for many people, it’s about all they’ve got going for them and their ideas.

This is what I read in the Bible about “influence” this morning…

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.” (Proverbs 25.15 NIV)

My interpretation of the advice? Lower your voice (don’t sound so strident and pushy). Think process, exercise patience, and hang in there when you’re trying to influence a decision or a key leader… (might not be a bad idea to bathe things in prayer either 😉 … ask God for “Divine favor!”)

Good stuff from the book of Proverbs this morning, eh?

We were in Jerusalem… they took us to what has been referred to as “the Upper Room” – a rather non-descript room there – where the special “God-event” we refer to as “the Day of Pentecost” is reputed to have taken place… An event that is a “watershed” in Church History… An event that fulfilled Bible prophecy… An event that signified what God desired to do for all believers from that time forward… empower them to be His effective witnesses in the broader culture to all nations!!

As I stood in “the Upper Room” with fellow Christians, I thought… Something special – something earth shattering – happened here in this ordinary room! Something incredible happened to ordinary people! Something with the power to transform ordinary lives, give courage to the timid, gift those who ordinarily feel inadequate, work the miraculous, and fulfill God’s redemptive mission in the world! … And the fire ignited there has spread worldwide!! Wow!!

Here’s how the world-wide, people-group including, movement we call “Pentecost” began…

Jesus told his followers… “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit! … You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth…

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…

“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all who whom the Lord our God will call!”

(From Acts 1.4-5, 8; 2.1-4, 39 NIV)

And to think it all began in a non-descript room in Jerusalem, with a few ordinary people who were followers of Jesus!!

How will it all end? In heaven… “And I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before God’s throne and before the Lamb (Jesus). They were wearing white robes and we holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Jesus).’” (Revelation 7:9-11)

This brief post at the close of “Pastor Appreciation Month” may help bring perspective to someone who is disappointed and disillusioned with a leader today… “Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith!”

And then, with fear and trembling, I add these words of commentary that I personally believe are implied by the very next verse…) [And even if they fail you, remember…] “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (Hebrews 13.7-8 ESV)