The Ministry of Tears

(Picture in public domain)

The Ministry of Tears

2 Corinthians 2:1-4

And when they had come to him, he said to them,

   “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews… (Acts 20:18-9 – NASB)

Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:32 – NASB)

Robert Murray McCheyne was a minister of great power in the mid-nineteenth century. God used him in a mighty outpouring of His Spirit in revival. He served God with such intensity some believe it led to his early death at the age of twenty nine. His ministry lasted only seven-and a half years, yet his influence continues to the present day.

After his death a visitor came to the church where the man of God had preached. He engaged in conversation with the custodian of the church. He enquired as to the secret of the preacher`s effectiveness in ministry.

The custodian, a man who had been close to the minister asked the visitor if he really wished to know. The visitor replied in the affirmative.

“Follow me,” the custodian commanded, and led the visitor into the minister’s study. “Sit behind the desk,” he further instructed.

When the visitor had complied, he said, “Now put your elbows on the desk and your head in your hands.” When this was done the custodian said, “Now weep.”

But the tour was not over.

The custodian now led the visitor into the sanctuary. The pulpit was of the kind common in that era, built high above the congregation, with a winding wooden staircase giving access to its summit.

Climb into the pulpit and lean over .pews with your arms outstretched, as if you were pleading with the congregation.”

Entering into his role, the visitor followed the instructions given to him..

“Now weep,” The custodian said.

God grant us all tears as we minister to, and intercede for, the lost.

Give me Tears

(© Saturday 3^rd January 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:32 – NASB)

Lord, please grant me the grace to weep,

And plead for revival to come;

Let me not rise up from my knees

Till I’m sure the work has been done.

Lord, let tears flow unabated,

As I ask that mercy should fall

Upon the lost and the weary

Until upon Christ they will call.

The words that I speak have no power

Till all have been drenched in my tears;

I know when my heart is aching

For sinners, that God always hears.

Oh what would I give for a heart

That knows how to weep for the lost?

I’d give all my treasures on earth,

And care not just how much it cost.

 Please check out my books at My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
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Peasant Sitting by the Fireplace  (‘Worn Out’), by Vincent Van Gogh. 1881. In the Public Domain.

Drawing a Circle

Drawing a Circle

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Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more… (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 – NASB)

The Thessalonians drew a wide circle around themselves to include all Macedonia as “their world.” We do not know how they did this. Perhaps they did it by keeping contact with the other churches by letter. Perhaps they supported missionaries to the whole region. Or, maybe it was just that they had a disciplined prayer ministry. Whatever their method, they did not become ingrown. They did not just get into their own little holy huddle. They drew a wide circle to include others.

How wide is the circle you draw around you? How big is your world? Is it just big enough to include you and your immediate loved ones? Does it only include your own church fellowship, or have you learned to draw a wide circle of love around your heart to include more than just your own circle of friends and acquaintances?

We must learn, as we grow in grace, to enlarge by degrees the circle of our love.

THE PEOPLE NO ONE ELSE WANTS

The pastor had moved and the people were left

To the task of soul-winning and some felt bereft.

For, what could they do when their leader was gone?

How to replace him? – They could find no one.

But the first prayer meeting conducted alone,

Could even have softened some hearts made of stone.

For the first prayer prayed by the deacon up front,

Was, “Send us the people whom no one else wants!”

You can well imagine the stirring inside,

And the silence that settled, as though one had died;

Till someone else cried a spontaneous response:

“Lord, send us the people whom no one else wants!”

Soon, like a rare, contagious disease,

Touching the company down on its knees,

Fell the Spirit of prayer, and they prayed all at once:

“Lord, send us the people whom no one else wants!”

What do you think was the outcome of this?

Why, the people there gathered each knew Heaven’s kiss.

And the people God sent in response to this prayer,

Were the hurting and broken ones, needing much care.

The first was a drunk and his beaten up wife:

They both knelt up front and received a new life.

Then a thief and a robber, who came to repent,

Stood up to praise God for the Grace He had sent.

A junky, a prostitute, contacted next,

Heard God speaking clearly from some simple text

In the Bible, the Spirit made plain:

In a moment of time, she had been born again.

An unmarried mother, and a “gay” person too,

Wept long at the altar until they prayed through.

It seemed that these broken, despised, needy folks,

Could hardly wait to be rid of their yolks.

When nine months had passed and twenty four came,

To the foot of the Cross and shed all their shame,

It wasn’t so hard to decide then and there,

That the miracle wrought – was an answer to prayer.

And what was the prayer that the deacon had prayed?

What was the thing that the heart of God swayed?

It was the prayer that was prayed o’er the weeks, o’er the months:

“Lord, send us the people – whom no one else wants

– by Christopher Shennan

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Tailor-Made for Other People

Tailor-Made for Other People

Have you ever thought about what God made you for? As a born again Christian, having experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ, for whom does he intend you to live?

Of course we must live for God, but how do we do that? Is all our attention meant to be upon ourselves and our own spiritual growth? The most practical way of advancing our own spiritual lives is to live for others – shift our focus from our own needs alone, to the needs of others. All the great men of God in the Bible, and out of it, were marked by their selflessness and service to others for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

The apostle Peter made this very clear, as did the apostle Paul in referring to a Christian brother named Epaphras:

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. (1 Peter 1:22 – KJV)

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. (Colossians 4:12 – NASB)

God did not create us in Christ to live for ourselves alone; He tailor made us for other people.

Tailor-Made for Other People

© May 17th 1995 – by Christopher Shennan)

“Tailor-made for other people,”

Are the words that touch my mind,

When I think of all the trials

In my life — of the ugly kind.

 

I had felt as if the scissors

had snipped away some part

That was desperately needed,

To fully satisfy my heart.

 

You see, I had found the pattern

That I thought was best for me;

That I thought would suit ambitions

That my inner eye could see.

 

The pattern of my future life,

And the cloth from which it was made,

Would have to fit the image

Of the plans that I had laid.

 

But then, when the cutting started,

And the pattern soon took form,

I knew it would never fit me;

I wished that I’d never been born.

 

So I cried to God, my Tailor,

And complained that the suit He’d made

Fell sadly short of the fashion,

In colour, in shape, in grade.

 

He replied, “You’ve been mistaken

And deluded in your thoughts.

Your life was the cloth I needed —

With my own blood it was bought.

 

“You are not your own. I fashioned

Each contour, each colour, each line,

For the needs of other people —

For a purpose truly Mine.

 

“You’ve been tailor-made for others,

Not to satisfy your whim;

And I’ve made your life on purpose

So its light will ne’er grow dim.

Check out my books at: My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
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Picture by Joanne Shennan – used with permission