It Is Time!

It is time for me to dust of this old blog and begin afresh.  I feel God is moving me into a new facet of my life.  I am not sure what that is or even what that means.  For me, I plan to follow where He leads and do what he asks.  I have come to a place where I feel stagnant.  Not because of what I am doing or not doing, or where God has me, but rather because of... well... me.  

I recently had someone come to me for counsel and when I confronted them with Christ gave the response, "What has Jesus or the Cross ever done for me?"  The answer, which escaped me in that moment, soon became undoubtedly clear in my own mind and heart.  God asking, "What have you ever done for me?"  

What am I doing for Him?  Not just in ministry or by my overt actions but within my relationship with Him... What am I doing for Him?  We can ask ourselves this question easily when we are at  a spiritual mountain top, but it becomes increasingly hard to ask this of ourselves when we are in the "valley of the shadow of death."  

However, we can respond when we take God's advice to Job in Job 38:3a, "Brace yourself like a man..."  In today's terms... "Man-up!"  Make a decision and stick to it.  Quit sitting on the bench and get in the game.  Start now doing whatever it is that needs doing.  No more excuses. No more regrets.  It is time to take action.  To be sold out for Him.

IT IS TIME!

The Door

I find myself in that place once more… The air is thick and reeks of the things I have done. The nauseating feeling begins again. That knot in my stomach begins to rise. Swallowing hard in a vain attempt to restore myself to the ignoring state I have become so used to. Why now? Why at this moment do I begin to realize where I am? It has been so long that I’ve been here. Days? Weeks? Months? It has been so long that I’ve trapped myself in this place. So long that I can’t remember when I came here. It didn’t seem so bad to me then. But now…
Now I sit in a cesspool of my own filth. The walls are covered in it. In one upper corner near the ceiling a smattering of rotting garbage is stuck to the peeling paint. The walls are stained and dripping by my own doing. “Why would I come to such a place? Why have I locked myself here? I don’t remember? Does anyone even know I’m here? If they did they would come for me!” Anger begins to rise. “Why would everyone I love turn away from me? Why would they leave me here to rot?!? Why?? WHY?!?!?!?..... “
The echo of my screaming subsides. I feel as though I have been punched in the gut. They don’t know I am here. I came here on my own. No one knows. No one… Except him. I am going to vomit. He is the only one that knows… I begin to rise to my feet. My head is spinning. I struggle to stand and bend over to support myself with my hands on my knees. The weight of the memories of what has happened in this place seems to be pulling me downward. Then I see it, far down at the other end of this room that now looks more like a garbage dump than a room. There it stands, covered by a layer of dirt and the remainders of what might have been years of cob webs. The door.
There is only one. I entered through it so long ago. I remember. When I first came through it I would sit near it. Knowing that I should go back through but wanting to stay here. I am a fool. A tear runs down my filthy cheek. It washes a trail down through the grime. I should have never come here. Can I ever leave? The guilt of my time of solitude rises in my throat. I find myself drawn to the door. I can’t seem to take that first step. I want to run to it but can’t put one foot forward. Anther tear drops. I stumble and fall forward, my face in the muck that covers the floor. I compel myself to rise to my feet. I shake off the trash that has wound around my foot. Trudging toward the door I trip and stagger barely maintaining my footing. And I am there. My heart is racing. Fearful thoughts begin to race through my mind. Do I dare try to leave? Can I simply open the door or has it been locked. I wouldn’t blame him for leaving me here forever. I reach up, hands shaking, and begin to pull at the dirt that is hanging across the doorway. I’ve gone through it before. But do I dare to go through it again. How can I, after all I’ve done.
The large wooden door is stained blood red. I reach for the doorknob and realize that there isn’t one. I can’t open it! Dread seizes my mind. I have to knock. I apprehensively extend my closed fist. Is he even on the other side? Will he here me? Will he open it? Why should he after what I’ve done. Anxiety overtakes me. I turn to run but stop short. I don’t want to. My nostrils burn with the stench of this place. I must leave. I can’t stay here any longer. I return my focus to the door. Reaching out I again am halted by my fear. Sobbing I fall to my knees, my chest heaving to draw in breath, my hand bracing itself against the door. I reach out with the other hand and knock. Softly, afraid that he will hear. The sound of my soiled knuckles gently rapping at the door seem to echo through the vast room. Startled by the sound I knock again this time a bit harder. Nothing…
I am lost. I am going to live out the rest of my days in this awful place. No one will hear me. No one will open the door. I am trapped. Trapped by my own hand. I came here because I chose to and now any hope of leaving is gone. No… it can’t be… I have to get out of here. “Please! Someone let me out!” Weeping now I bang my fists against the door. “Please!!!! I don’t want to be here anymore!! I have to get out of here!!!” I am screaming. “Help me!!! I’m Sorry!...” As those words escape my lips it seems that everything has gone quiet. I bury my face in my hands sobbing softly. It is true. I am sorry, sorry for everything.
I hear a creaking in front of me. I can’t bring myself to remove my hands from my face. The knob on the other side is being turned. Through my fingers I can see a blinding light pouring in through the crack in the door. It creeks and the heavy wooden door is opened. The light surrounds me and I feel warm for the first time in so long. I feel a strong hand on my shoulder. I can’t move from my knees. He pulls me to my feet, my face still covered, tears flowing like rain down my face and over my hands.
He pulls me to him wrapping his powerful arms around me. I put my arms around him, my eyes still clenched tightly. I feel like a child in his embrace. I slowly open them. They begin to adjust to the bright light here. They focus on the hand that wraps around my shoulder. The hand that first touched me when the door opened. I see the familiar wound. It is where the blood came from that stained the door. Over my shoulder I can see back through the open door. The room where I have been for so long is clean. All of the rubbish and filth are gone. I sigh. Then I here him speak softly, with the voice that could command all creation, he whispers, “Welcome home my child. I’ve missed you. All the time you spent away I was right here waiting by the door for you. All you had to do was knock.”



Luke 11:10 - “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds’ and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

James 4:7-10 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, morn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Not Life and Death... But Death to Life!

So often during this passion week I start to focus on the transition Christ made in going from life to death for me. He sacrificed the life He had for death. This is, and should be a sobering thought. However, to focus on it and stop there is to miss the true purpose and meaning to the cross.

The enemy of our souls would want nothing more than for us to focus on the death of Jesus this Easter season and stop there. But, Jesus wants us to look at the bigger picture.

Jesus10:10 "10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

The entire purpose of His death was to bring life. Another version of this verse says that we may have "life more abundant." What does that mean??? This has always been a hard one for me. God wants my life to be full! To be full of LIFE!

Christ death was necessary to bring forgiveness for our sins. But the entire focus shouldn't be on His death. Three days later, He rose from the dead!

Romans 4:8-10 "8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God."

Oswald Chambers, in his book My Utmost for His Highest, puts it this way: "The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.

The entire goal is that we be forgiven and as a result our lives are changed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Today, make it a point to focus not only on His death but that He rose from the dead to give us life! Abundant life!

If Only You Knew Me!

If only you knew me. I mean really knew me, and all of my faults and failures. I have taken up a catch phrase over the last few years. It came from a sermon I preached some time ago. The phrase is, “Hi, I am Dave Buncher and I am a dirty rotten low down stinking sinner!” The process believers in Christ go through called 'sanctification'. This is the lifelong process of God making us more and more like Jesus Christ throughout the course of our lives.

Truthfully this has been a rough process for me. And, I do believe for most Christians, though we rarely admit it, even to ourselves. But God has been revealing Himself to me through times of personal trial.

I would like to share two portions of scripture with you and what they have meant in my life.

Psalm 19:12-14
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

Verse 12 asks who can know my sins, even the secret ones. The answer is God. He knows all that we do and all that we are. This can be a scary thought but also a comforting one. God and God alone knows everything. He can, and wants to be our confidant. He wants to be the one that we can rest in, let down our defenses, and feel safe. Even though we have hurt Him to the very core He still wants us!

Verse 13 brings in the knowledge that all of us, even the best of us, purposefully sin. We set in our hearts and minds that we are going to do what we want to do because it will please us. Let us beg Him to keep us from this outright defiance.

The rest of 13 gives us insight into David’s soul. He wanted to be blameless and sinless. He wanted to be completely righteous (righteousness is making ‘right-choice-ness”) before God.
The passage completes on this thought: Even though we may fail let our wanting be acceptable to God. David truly wanted to be blameless and innocent before God.

Psalm 106:1-3
Praise the LORD!
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!

This passage comes at the same principle from another perspective. Verse one begins by giving praise to the only one that deserves it. God is the only one that is completely righteous and holy. He has never made a mistake, never been wrong, and never failed to hole true to a promise He made.

Verse 1 continues by stating that God is undeniably good and “His mercy endures forever.” God’s mercy, His forgiveness, lasts forever. Once He has forgiven you, you are forgiven forever. We see this repeated in John 8:36. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

I have been set free from sin! I am no longer guilty. When Christ died on the cross for me I have been made innocent of all my sin. And because Jesus Christ is eternal and timeless, I am innocent of all my sins past, present, and future!

So why can’t I just rest in this truth and get on with life? Why am I always assaulted with guilt at every turn? I am completely forgiven right? I believe it is for the same reason that I feel guilt when I do something to hurt my wife. Even after she has forgiven me I still feel the guilt because she still feels the pain. Forgiveness does not eliminate the consequences of sin just the blame. Though I have been forgiven for my sin, myself and others must still deal with the consequences of my bad choices.

So the bottom line is this: Lord, help me to run from my sin, both the secret and the blatant. Help me to keep from making the same mistakes over and over again. And help me to deal with the consequences, which, though I am forgiven, I still deserve. And help me to sin less and become more and more like Christ daily! In Jesus name. Amen

"GO!"

I signed up for this blog several weeks ago. I have been hesitant to start it and it has sat here empty since. Why should I have a blog? Who will read it? Why should they read it? What will it be about?

As these questions kept running through my mind I realized the answer. "Go!" That simple word answers them all. Jesus told His disciples to "Go." "Go into all the world and preach the gospel..."

It amazes me that two little letters can mean so much. To "go" into all the world. I always thought that meant to go somewhere else. Like a missionary or something. But, it is a simple command to us all. "Go!" We are directed by our Lord to "go." Wherever I am. Whatever I do.

I spend some part of nearly every day on the internet. Facebook, email, studying... and yes... gaming. So shouldn't I spend some part of that time doing the very thing I have been commanded to do? Yes!

Thus, PDave's blog. My prayer is that this becomes a place where God's family can meet on a regular, if not daily, basis to come a little bit closer to Him. My hope is that through this outlet I might do the same.

So for this first post on my new blog I ask one question. DO YOU KNOW HIM? In order to come closer to Christ you must first know Him. I've known Him for 23 years, and I can introduce you to Him. You can go to this site: http://www.chick.com/information/general/salvation.asp. or you can email me at pastordavebuncher@yahoo.com.

If you would like to suggest topics for this blog or would like to contact me please feel free to email or facebook me. I will try to post daily but will fail. Thanks for checking this place out and please invite your friends to come as well.

Because of Christ,

PDave