Berean Journeymen

His Word continues to speak to our revival and the next steps we must take to live a glow stick life. As I was reading Ezra, I was again reminded of my sinfulness of allowing myself to get intermingled with the world and yet shown lovingly that God does provide us hope of restoration and a way to deal with our sins – all part of being broken for Him.

Read Ezra 9 and 10 so you have the entire story but here is the background and gist of what transpired.

After Babylon was defeated by the Medes and Persians, God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to proclaim that Judah and Benjamin go up and build God a house in Jerusalem. 42,360 sons and daughters of Israel went up to Jerusalem taking with them many of the articles of the temple removed by Nebuchadnezzer. The temple rebuilding was started, stopped two years later by reports to the king by enemies of Judah and Benjamin. After 14 years it was started again and completed four years later and the Passover and the Feast of Unleaven Bread were celebrated by the exiles and those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land.

58 years later, Ezra the priest set his heart to study the law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. King Artaxerxes decreed that any of Israel and their priests and Levites who were willing could return with Ezra to Jerusalem and that all his subjects should support Israel. After journeying to Jerusalem with the silver, gold and offerings for God’s house under God’s protection, they settled in.

Princes of Israel approached Ezra to confess that the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land and their abominations, for they had taken some foreign daughters as wives for themselves and their sons so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands and that the hands of the princes and rules have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.

When he saw their transgression, Ezra tore his robe, pulled out his hair and sat down appalled in humiliation, arising later at the evening offering only to fall on his knees and stretch out his hands before God in a powerful prayer of confession – much like Sunday night of Thirst – saying,

“And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since Thou or God hast requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us an escaped remnant as this, shall we again break Thy commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Wouldst Thou not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? O LORD God of Israel, Thou are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, at it is this day; behold, we are before Thee in our guilt, for no one can stand before Thee because of this.”

The sons of Israel then made a covenant with God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of Ezra and those who tremble at the commandment of our God (10:3). Shortly thereafter (v 9), all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem before the house of God, trembling because of this matter.

As we ponder the next steps of revival, perhaps a healthy dose of trembling before the Holiness of God is in order.

See you at His altar,

Tom Culp

Last week was quite intriguing as God brushed by Berean, but He wants to come closer and do more in the weeks and months to come…much more. The question is do we want to be part of it, because the choice is ours.

Do we want to feel the Holy Spirit moving and working in our hearts as we felt last week? Do we want to hold onto and build upon what God is doing; knowing deep down it is good and right? Or will we choose to let ourselves slip back into our usual patterns and self-built pits…I’ve been in the pit too many times and know I’m sick and tired of its emptiness.

Despite our unworthy selves, God loves us and is reaching out to you and me once again, in a very special way. Regardless of where we are, He wants to meet us there and draw us back unto himself.

One thing seems clear this week; God is reminding us the process starts with brokenness and repentance. We need to humbly come to terms with the areas of our lives that fall short of what God wants; reflecting on all of the sin in our lives, asking for God to forgive us, and committing to do our part to purge it from our lives and allow God to change us.

Guys, if we’re not talking with God, then let’s commit to start this week…as awkward as it may seem at first, let’s start. If we are spending time with God in prayer, then let’s commit to being more consistent and praying more often throughout the day, every day.

If we’re not reading the Bible, then let’s commit to start this week – maybe starting with Psalm 1, maybe James 4, maybe the book of Matthew…anything, even if it’s only a small amount at first. If the Word is dry to you as you read, stick with it in honor of God while asking him to freshen it and God will honor your discipline by making it alive again in due time. If you are spending consistent time in God’s Word already, commit to doing so more genuinely - before reading, bathe yourself in prayer; ask for wisdom, ask for revelation, ask for joy, ask for God to show you how to live out his Word in your current circumstances.

If you provided your information at Sunday’s service, know that you are being prayed for by fellow Berean Journeymen and will be contacted within the next week or so to see how you’re doing and help you get plugged-in. If you did not provide your information and want to, please do so on this website. If you are already plugged-in and serving and meeting with accountability partners, then examine your heart to ensure you are doing so with transparency and gladness, delighting in God and others as you do.

Guys, if we do these things in ever-increasing measure, emptying ourselves and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us…will our lives, our marriages, our families not be better off than they are today…will we not be satisfied by the Spirit’s fruit…will God not be glorified…

Last week was amazing, but today is not the end of experiencing something more, it is only the beginning…if we so choose.

I cannot think of a better illustration of how to live a Christ-centered life than the glow stick.

Just as a seed must die for life to come from it, a glow stick must be broken inside and shaken up for light to come from it.

In order to live a glow stick life, I must choose to be broken inside and shaken up; first choosing to agree with God that I have set up idols in my life which keep me from Him and acknowledging my need to be like Jesus so that I crush those idols at the foot of His Cross – the HUMILITY part – then shaking up my will by doing what He tells me when He tells me with a servant’s attitude until my every response is under the Holy Spirit’s control – the OBEDIENCE part.

Only then will I shine with Christ light – the glow stick life!



Get some glow sticks and put them where you see them often. Break one as often as you need to remind you of the work our Messiah is doing in you and live a glow stick life!

To the praise and glory of Jesus, Our Messiah!

See You at the Altar

Tom Culp

Good morning brothers!

Last nite’s Thirst time was a very humbling and profound experience for me. For some time now I have felt dry and distant from God, even in the midst of reading His Word, studying, worshiping and praying. I’ve just felt mechanical and empty. I have joy but I have not enjoyed Jesus. I long for a new way of living; fresh and alive, full of Jesus to overflowing, connected to His Body.

Last nite, when Ryan challenged us to really look at what we’ve substituted for God Himself, at our idols – those things we love more than God, evidenced by how we spend our thoughts, time and devotion – I realized that my biggest idol was not even on the list. Yea, some on the list like lust, our farm, technology, Bible knowledge, teaching ability, TV are on my list too but not on target.

My biggest idol is ME. My own God-given skill set and talents, my own independence and self-reliance, my goals; I am the idol I love more than God.

I suspect that this may be very true for most of us men, especially in today’s culture, in America land of the free and home of the brave. How wrong we are!

Writing these idols on my Thirst cup and going forward did not affect me greatly but as I passed the cross and looked up at the thorns atop it, my Jesus met me anew. I could not stand but broke down crying at His feet, crushing my cup and the idols written on it and handing myself to Him for His will to be done in and with me. Jesus met me at the foot of His cross, exactly where each of us should spend our thoughts, time and devotion. When I was able, I made my way back to my seat with Marilyn and we prayed together, not caring one bit that others saw my tears.

This morning, just as the temptations of the day’s tasks began to scream, demanding my attention, I read the following passage in 2 Chronicles 15: “Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet with (King) Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.’…Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abdominal idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephriam. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephriam, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.”

Exactly what I needed to see at exactly the time I needed to see it – as I was seeking God’s face this morning in His Word – God let me find Him in His Living Word. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!!!!

So may it be with each of us: seek out our Living God and as He shows Himself to you, take courage and remove your idols from all your lands and gather those who reside with you so they can see that God is with you.

Amen!

See you at the altar!

Tom Culp

Without question this election will likely impact many things we know are important, from new Supreme Court justices to social policies to economic policies to our international influence, etc. so we must get out and vote.

I also encourage followers of Jesus not to get consumed by the election’s outcome. We’ve had many presidents come and go, making their various marks on history; but the mark that is of far greater consequence is the spiritual state of the people; the reliance and relationship of the people with God makes and will make a far greater impact on this country than one person ever will.

We live in a time when people of our country are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Maybe we ‘Christians’ even show signs of some of these characteristics; I know I have in my life.

Our focus and trust in these times must be on the Lord. Christians of today must rise up and join the saints of the past in true repentance, in fervent faithful prayer, in reaching out to the people, neighborhoods, and communities around us. The reason we find our country in such moral decay is not because of the overwhelming power of darkness; no, the reason for the decay is because the light Christ intended, his very body, has ceased to shine. Have we forgotten that light will always overcome darkness if it shines; are we not called to be that light?

Friends, this is a critical time but not because of the election; it’s a critical time because the spiritual war being waged is not being won, or hardly even fought, by God’s people. God has assigned each one of us to be part of his army in this time and place. Regardless of what the next president will do or what congress will do…what will we do? Will we continue to be self-focused and whine about the state of our country, will we cower in fear of the unknown if ‘our’ candidate is not chosen, or will we humble ourselves and repent and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways and reach out in love to others for Christ…if we do God has promised he will hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land.

Whose promises do you trust, a presidential candidate’s or God’s? Who is more likely to really change our country, a man or God? I choose God…and He is choosing us. May we all rise up in this time and place fore it is our time and our place; and may we be his hands and feet and fulfill our purpose. If we don’t…who will?