Wanted to let you know that the website for my new book is now live! The address is simple: www.macgoddard.com [click here and you will be directed to it.]

I think it really looks good! I am trusting that it will be a vehicle to help get the book into the hands of many. Your help will be much appreciated.

Please share the site with your friends on Facebook and any other venue you might have!

If you are involved in a local church, maybe your Bible study group or Sunday School class would benefit from it.

Just so you know: you can also order the book from amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

Thanks!

Mac

GRACE IS ABOUT LOVE.

You cannot love until you have been loved, and then you will love in direct proportion to how much you have been loved. (Steve Brown)

You cannot extend grace until you have been loved and, thus, had grace extended to you. Love is not love, unless you do not deserve it and know that you do not; otherwise, it is reward.

Grace is not grace unless you do not deserve it and know that you do not; otherwise it is reward.

TEXT:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In Love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the rich of His grace, which He lavished upon us” (Ephesians 1:1-8a NASB; emphasis mine).

I want to begin by reminding you of the six “tried-and-true” suggestions I made to you in an earlier message, suggestions that I believe will enhance the quality of your life as a Christian, suggestions that, when practiced, will make whatever method you might choose to develop your relationship with Jesus a genuine joy, rather than a burdensome, carrot-on-a-stick task. As a reminder, those six suggestions were as follows:

Number One: Purpose to be slow to speak.

Number two: Consider the other person as being more important than yourself.

Number Three:  Give generously, especially your time, expecting nothing in return.

Number Four: Generously and liberally extend grace to others, and do it in direct proportion to the grace God has so generously and liberally extended to you.

Number Five: Learn the value of solitude and practice it often.

Number six: Cease making foolish decisions and practice making wise decisions.

Today, I want us to take a more careful look at the fourth of these suggestions: Generously and liberally extend grace to others, and do it in direct proportion to the grace God has so generously and liberally extended to you.

If you sincerely want to improve the quality of your life as a believer, then be a grace extender, one who extends grace to others in direct proportion to the grace God has so lavishly extended to you. To withhold grace—unmerited favor—is to hold grudges, and those who do, do not enjoy the quality of life—the more abundant life—that God intended for them. For the grace extenders the relationship is always more important than the method—always.

Many years ago now, God revealed a specific truth to me, one that I have never forgotten. It was early on in my ministry, back in the days when the He was revealing the gospel to me, graciously allowing me see that the gospel is really the good news of His grace toward sinners. As I have told you, I grew up in the Wesleyan-Arminian world, where one’s salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) was tied to works. Yes, they would use the “man is saved by grace through faith” passages, but that is not what they preached.

Anyway, on this particular day, I was in my office at Benevolence Baptist Church doing what I was talking about last Sunday—spending time in solitude—and basking in the amazing truths of the gospel. Truths that said—

• Jesus died for all of my sins—past present and future
• My sin debt has been paid in full through Jesus’ death
• I am eternally forgiven, i.e. I get off scot free
• God will never remember my sins again—never
• I am as righteous as Jesus is righteous, because of Jesus
• I am seated in Heaven in Jesus at God’s right hand
• I am a joint-heir with Jesus to God’s estate
• I have eternal life and, thus, can never lose my salvation

Back then, these truths were relatively new to me and they were definitely contrary to what I had been taught all of my life; however, they were life-giving truths, like none I had ever known. Consequently, they were very precious to me. (Just for the record: they have become even more precious throughout the years!). As I sat there that morning, basking in these truths, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, and He spoke as clearly as did when God called me to be a pastor. Interestingly, I remember verbatim what He said on both occasions:

• The first occasion: “Mac, I want you to pastor a small country Baptist church close to home.”
• The second occasion: “Mac, if you are going to accept these truths for yourself, then you must also be willing for them to be true for others, even those who you do not think deserve them.”

On that day, in that office, during that time of solitude, God gave me an incredibly significant gift, one without which I would not have survived as a pastor: the gift of being a lavish extender of grace.

Now, allow me to clarify what I mean by extending grace to others:

• Extending grace means that I believe that Jesus will receive everyone who comes to Him, even murderers, child molesters, terrorists, and hypocrites; consequently, I purpose to treat everyone as a potential believer.

• Extending grace means that I purpose not judge another Christian’s relationship with God by his behavior or by his belief system. Through the years, I have learned (1) that each one of us, even the ones that God seems to use most, desperately needs the finished work of Jesus applied to our lives every minute of every day, and (2) that, although I have been a diligent student, I know very little that I would dare to cast into cement.

• Extending grace means that I purpose not hold grudges against those who hurt me. To be sure, I have been hurt by the words and actions of others many times, since that day in that office, but because of that incredibly significant gift God gave to me that day, I have been able not to see them as being in debt to me.

• Extending grace means that I purpose not to keep a record of the wrongs I have suffered. Yes, I do remember some of them, but I do not keep a record of them. There have been times when I have been tempted to write a book describing the wrongs I have suffered, wrongs that at the time, I never thought I would forget. But then I remember what love is, and I remember that loves keeps no record of wrongs suffered. The truth is this: I couldn’t write the book, even if I wanted to because I wouldn’t remember couple of those wrongs, try as I might.

Extend grace to those who don’t deserve it and don’t know they don’t. I dare you . . .

Today, I want us to take a look at the value of solitude. In my mind, this is a no-brainer. How could it be possible to know anything of the discipline of the Christian life without times of solitude with the One who loved us enough to die for us, with the One who is pursuing us? As a matter of fact, if you are not practicing solitude you cannot be enjoying the quality of life that God intends for you, and whatever method you are using to develop the relationship is already more important than the relationship.

First, what do I mean by solitude? Solitude, in this context, means being alone for the purpose of undistracted devotion to God, as He is revealed in three very specific entities:

1. The written Word of God;
2. The Holy Spirit, who reveals the written Word of God; and
3. The person of Jesus, who is the Word of God.

The second thing I want to say is this: so far in my journey, every person I have ever read or known, who has an intimate relationship with Jesus, who lives the more abundant life that Jesus promised those to whom He gives His live, spends large amounts of time in solitude. If you should read the great writers of theology, those who really knew Him, whom to know is eternal life, you will find that they spent large amounts of time in solitude. There is simply no way around it, no shortcut to intimacy with Jesus.

To show you just how important undistracted devotion was to Paul, listen to these words from 1 Corinthians 7:23-35: “. . . and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” As you can see, he is not referring merely to regular times of solitude, but to a life of undistracted devotion to the Lord; it was his intention that nothing, not even one’s spouse, would distract us from devotion to Him.

All I can tell you about that is this: we will never know that level of undistracted devotion, until we have first incorporated regular times of solitude into our lives, those regular times of undistracted attention to the written Word of God; to the Holy Spirit, who reveals the Word of God; and to the person of Jesus, who is the Word of God.

The third thing is this: focusing on the method one uses during times of solitude, robs the worshipper of the value of solitude. Countless books have been written about how to have an effective time of solitude, and some of them are quite good. However, if one is not careful, his focus will be on method he uses and, consequently, he will be distracted before he even begins, and, thus, robbed of the value of solitude.

Religion is a very dangerous distracter, and, sadly, much of what is done in the name of solitude is nothing more or less than walking (running!) on a religious treadmill: it takes up lots of time, but gets you nowhere. This is the truth of the matter: solitude is a joyous way of life for those who truly want to know Him, not some imposing intruder.

The fourth thing is this: in my opinion, the primary purpose of solitude is to experience the Presence of the Holy Spirit, the second Person of the Triune Godhead, in such a way as to encourage intimacy with Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s revelation of Him in the Scriptures. To that I will add this: most of the time I spend in solitude is spent focusing on the Scriptures, and I have learned over the years, that the more I focus on them, the more the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to me.

That is not to imply that I have arrived in my knowledge of Him, as I surely have not; however, it is meant to imply that I know Him far better than I know anyone else. And that is a fact. And I can say that only because He has faithfully revealed Himself to me, as I have spent time in solitude focusing on the Scriptures, not as a rule book, but as the revelation of Jesus. It is my prayer that you can say the very same thing!

The fifth thing is this: one of the main reasons people give for not having times of solitude is a lack of time. To that, I simply say this: if you really want to spend time in solitude, you will find the time. If you really want to know Him better than you know anyone else, you will find the time—period—and it won’t have to be a 3:00 AM; it can be, but it won’t have to be.

If you life is in such disarray that you do not have time for solitude, you are in dire need of reorganizing your priorities, of pruning the vine of your life, even if that means pruning good wood, and it probably will.

The sixth thing is this: after all the years of my journey, and after all the hours in solitude, I still have to tell you that undistracted solitude is oftentimes not easy. Even when I am completely alone, the enemy has ways of causing my mind to wander from Him. It never ceases to amaze me how I can be completely enthralled with something in the Scriptures, only to find my attention wandering to something completely unrelated.

For example, just this week, I was engrossed in a passage, when out of nowhere, I thought, “I need to return a phone call to Amy.” I actually had to fight back the urge because she is my daughter, and I decided the moment she was born that, for as long as I am alive, I will be available to her. That struggle actually took several seconds, maybe even a minute.

If this notion of solitude is appealing to you, please remember that you have an enemy, one who is out to keep you distracted. He has, however, been defeated and it is helpful to keep that in mind.

Finally, I want to say this: Back in the early days of my Christian life, solitude was referred to as “quiet time” and this “quiet time” was considered an essential element of the Christian life. When I entered the ministry, I soon learned from “those in the know” that the time I spent studying to preach, which was considerable, was not to be counted as “quiet time.” Thankfully, that religious cloak was discarded and for good reason.

Somewhere, early on, it occurred to me that every believer is a “preacher of the gospel” and is, thus, responsible for accurate preaching. Every believer in this room is a “preacher of the gospel” and, as far as I know, the only way you can really be prepared is to spend time in solitude (as I described it earlier), so you can get to know Him.

Some of the richest times of my life have been those hours when I was sitting at my computer with my Bible and my word processor—reading, listening, and writing. There have been many times when hours would pass without my even realizing it. I was not only preparing to preach, I was being drawn into intimacy with Jesus. For me that IS solitude.

Yes, I know that some of you are thinking, “Well, you have the time to do that because you are a preacher; preaching is your vocation.” I will give you that; however, I must also tell you that, if you really want to know Him, doing so will be in direct proportion to the time you spend in solitude, time alone for the purpose of undistracted devotion to God, as He is revealed in three very specific entities:

1. The written Word of God;
2. The Holy Spirit, who reveals the written Word of God; and
3. The person of Jesus, who is the Word of God.

Now with all of that said, what is the value of solitude? Why is it so important for believers to spend time in solitude? Why doesn’t group Bible study do just as well? Why isn’t Sunday worship enough?

Group Bible study is wonderful, as long as the members of the group are seeking truth.

Sunday worship is also wonderful, as long as it is not a performance for God.

The problem, however, is this: Christianity is first and foremost about a relationship and relationships require solitude. This particular relationship is one of incredible intimacy, and intimacy requires solitude. If, therefore, you desire to know Him, whom to know is eternal life, solitude is a must.

That said, I will tell you that, when I discovered that Jesus desires and requires solitude for relationship, not as a “boot camp” experience, my entire perspective about solitude changed. You see, early on in my journey, I purposed to do everything that I was told I was supposed to do: have an early morning quiet time; memorize Scripture; have a prayer list and use it; read the “great writers”; and fast, if I were really serious. Again, I am not implying that any of those things are somehow bad. What I am implying, however, that, at least for me, doing them was much like being in boot camp, training to be a soldier in the army of God.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that Christianity is not about “boot camps” but about relationship, everything changed, even the message I preached.

With that, what is the value of solitude?

1. It serves as my reminder that, unlike any other book, God’s Word is alive, not just ink on parchment paper.
2. It provides opportunity for the Living Word to speak directly to me.
3. It stirs my emotions, and that is a good thing.
4. It encourages me to trust Him, even when doing so seems foolish.
5. It makes me increasingly aware of His Presence in my life.
6. It satisfies the deepest longing of my heart.
7. It nourishes my hungry heart.
8. It offers me gift after gift from the heart of Jesus.
9. It motivates me to continue loving others, even the unlovely.
10. It reminds me that He is the “pursuer” and I am the “pursued.”
11. It keeps me reminded of where I came from, of where I am going, and of who I am in the journey.
12. It keeps my mind and heart ready to preach the Gospel.

What do I mean by “solitude?” Solitude, in our context, is the practice of being alone for the purpose of undistracted devotion to God, as He is revealed in three very specific entities:

1. The written Word of God
2. The Holy Spirit, who reveals the written Word of God; and
3. The Person of Jesus, who is the Word of God

See you tomorrow morning at 10:15!

Grace lavished (even to those of you who come in late!),

Yesterday, I made my rounds at Flint River Memory Care Center and found Ralph & Data eating lunch. Life for them is somewhat different nowadays. It seems to be fine with them, but it isn’t so fine with me. From what I can see, they are in the best facility around, and seem to be well taken care of by the staff. It ain’t cheap by any means, but you do get what you pay for–usually.

Alzheimers is a terrible disease; one of the worst, if not the worst. Yesterday, Data kept asking me how the store was doing. I asked her what store she meant. She replied with, ” Hell, you know, the House of Hines!” She told the lady sitting at the table with them that she had worked for me for many years and I was the best boss in the world. I agreed.

They probably won’t know who you are (though they might act like they do!), but do yourself a favor and go by and visit them. It will bring a bright spot in their, otherwise, rather drab day.

Ralph & Data at Flint River eating lunch

This afternoon I was privileged to play golf with a local State Farm agent, who must be on the Championship Team. On the first hole, he hit the ball down to the ladies tee, so I politely drove him to his ball. As he leaned out the cart to pick up the ball, out he went, head over heels! I did not laugh. In fact, I didn’t even smile. He finally go up brushed himself off and all he said was, “Don’t tell my wife!” I think we will play again–soon–if he is able.

Good morning!

I just wanted to give you a heads-up regarding this Sunday’s message: Learning the Value of Solitude. Let me encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 7:23-35 and, then, to ponder it, especially in light of the title of the message.

I would also encourage you to read the Song of Songs in its entirety.

Have a great day and plan to “present and accounted for” this Sunday.

Grace lavished,

Mac

Preparing to Preach!

Kathy’s surgery went according to schedule today, even a bit earlier than expected. The Doc said he got the job done and she should be fine in a few weeks. For the next week she is to be on a liquid diet; after that, she can begin eating soft foods, a little at the time. She will return to the Doc in a week.

When asked about the “new woman” promise, the Doc backtracked at bit saying, “I am only a surgeon.” I don’t know what he meant by that, so I will leave that up to your imagination.

As to the liquid diet: Travis thought he said “liquor” diet and boy was he excited. I guess he was going to join Kathy in her new diet. I had to pull him aside and tell him that he had misunderstood what the Doc said. He was saddened.

Both Kathy & Travis are now at  home enjoying a liquid diet. If you want to bring food and such like, water will suffice, as liquid is the word of the day.