The "passion" of one Pastor!

Paul's words, “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” (Phil. 3:10) have describe the two passions that control my life very day.First, I want to know Him more and more every day. I want to know Him through His Word and through His Spirit. I want to know Him through history and mystery. Like David I long for Him in a dry and thristy land. Like Solomon I need His kisses, repeatedly. It appears that nothing is more important than knowing Him.Intellectual knowledge lost it’s attraction a long time ago. Mental gymnastics no longer spark this soul. Logic has failed modernity and rationalism has divided us all. Knowledge that can only come from above and beyond human reason is now the food of choice. To know what can’t be taught. That intimacy that is found in the transparency of lovers is all that will satisfy the deepest of hungers.Secondly, I want Him to demonstrate His power. I long for the manifestation of the invisible glory. I want Him to manifest His goodness to the world. I want everyone to “taste and see His goodness.” I am convinced that all the confusion will disappear once we have sat at the table of His Presence and tasted His cooking.Like the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, our eyes will be opened only as we see the Christ! In one moment of clarity everything will become clear.I get what Paul is saying, everything else fades in comparison to these two things. To know the Christ and to encounter His power.One might ask what creates such hunger? That  is a fair question. Was it taught? Perhaps it is a result of the group that I associate with?Frankly it is much more base than that. I’ve met Him! And honestly, having met Him has both satisfied and dissatisfied me. He vanished as quickly as He appeared, and yet there is this lingering reality of His Presence. Once you’ve met Him you want to be with Him more and more. The more I know Him the more I want to know.I’ve seen Him demonstrate His power. I watched His manifestations and I know what it is to be visited by Him. He is not toying with us. He longs to be known and to make Himself known. He has pursued us that we in turn might pursue HimI must confess that yesterday I stood beside the bed of a dear friend. He is on a breathing machine. They are feeding him through a tube in his stomach. It has been a miraculous few days and yet he needs several more in order to live.  He confirmed my hope by confessing Christ on Saturday. Thus, I stood with his family and baptized him. We celebrated the table together. We wept, we laughed and we prayed.I left that room and went to another room down the hall. There, I held the hand of a sixteen year old girl who slipped out of her bedroom window night before last. There on her beautiful skin were cuts on her arms. She was shaking! Her parents were (are) worried! When I asked her if she ever thought of hurting herself she lifted her eyes and said, “every day.” My heart sank. My soul broke. I groaned in my spirit.Yes, I am hungry for more of Him for more of His power!I don’t have answers to the questions of this world. But in the middle of the question I know that He “is” the answer. I don’t have any formulas or programs or principles to offer either my friend or my friend's daughter.I do, as I’ve said, have two passions!  Again Paul says it better than I, “….that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings….”(Phil.3:10). In the Latin the word ‘passion’ means ‘to suffer’.ISIS is killing Christians! (They don’t care if they are catholic or protestants) Children are being sold into sexual slavery. The cold has frozen most of the country. The politicians are blaming every one but themselves. The church remains divided. Race still rages it’s ugly head. There is still no solution to the immigration issue.But let’s all take a breath,…..Hollywood has it’s Oscars.“….I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…..count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ….(v8).I need the “Christ.” We need the Christ. Not merely the historical or allegorical one. No, I need the Presence of the Christ. The tangible “Emmanuel.” I need Him to be with me, today! I need Him to be with you!I want to know, (to be intimately and personally aware of His Presence) as I stand beside my friend. As I speak to this beautiful, struggling girl. As I pray for my country and the world.Show me Your Glory! I need You to manifest your visible Goodness, today! In the midst of the sufferings of Your people ….Lord, hear our prayer.