A World of Unrest
Fulfillment of Prophecies
2 Timothy3:1
I was reading an email I received about Missionaries being in high danger in Africa. I don’t personally know all the information, but it reminded me of the scripture in where Paul wrote to Timothy, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”
Anyone who really studies God’s Word knows that the end times are closer. If we look at the world as a whole, we find people anxious and busybodies everywhere. People are doing just what God’s Word teaches they would. In 2 Timothy 3, we find that Paul describes people, and things they would do, that are currently happening today. Wars and rumors of wars; other religious trying to push their beliefs upon Christians, people being persecuted and tortured all under these humanistic ideas. Descriptions of bad things happening to Christian people everywhere is on the news also.
The word ‘perilous’ means dangerous. Can anyone remember of any more dangerous times than there are now? Our children can’t play outside without being fearful of their lives; People cannot feel safe, because of drive by shootings and other murders, and America still has, for now, freedom to preach God’s precious Word. There is no safe place in the world now, anywhere. America comes close to being safe, but we have to worry about Americans killing, hurting, or destroying each other, and of course the terrorists too. How important is God to America? How important is God to people who are faithful in church? Would we stand up for God if our lives were in trouble? Would we? A lot of people, who stand under the name of Christ can’t be man or woman enough to stand up against what God’s Word teaches, but we say we love God, don’t we?
The missionaries I’ve read about are great men of God. They have to deal with situations that we, in America, only read about happening in the Bible. Some missionaries loose their lives and/or their families for standing up of Christ. This will get worse too. My statement is based upon what the Bible tells us. Still we sit at home and enjoy our freedom and leave God out of our day to day living. We also try to ignore God when He is trying to get our attention too.
It’s time for us to start getting over our petty differences and start preaching the gospel and living for the Lord while we have the freedoms to do so. Missionaries literally give their lives to preach Christ and Him crucified to people who need HIM. We waste our time on other things, because after all, we go to church. There are many scriptures that point to the returning of the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS, but yet the prophecies have not yet all been fulfilled. I read an article that a man said he thought we were in the great falling away part of the prophecies, and even though people are walking away from God, we haven’t seen the worse part of it, I don’t believe. Prophecies are hard to interpret, and I’m not one that is well versed enough to describe them all, but it is plain to see that we are seeing one fulfilled – PERILOUS TIMES. We are definitely in the latter days, but there is much more to happen. Jesus told the disciple that ‘the fields are white unto harvest,’ but where are the harvesters? So, while we wait on His coming to come to pass, let’s get busy doing what we’ve been told to do. Do you remember what that is? “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:” We need to remember our directives, and we can also be reassured that when HE said, ‘lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,’ HE meant it.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thought of the Day 01/29/08
The Death of Darkness
A life without light
John 3:19 -21
Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love messing with plants. I told some people one time that the reason I like messing with flowers and plants are two fold. First they are pretty when they are healthy and secondly they don’t talk back. Yeah, that is kind of funny to me. Every year, for the past 4 years, I have cherished some of the plants. I had hibiscus shrubs, in pots that were 8 foot tall. They were actually outgrowing their pots and I was going to plant them this spring. I also had several different types of hanging baskets, roses, etc. You get the point, I’m sure. I always stuck them in a shed that had windows which allowed light inside and a shop light for night. When it was too cold for them I turned a heater on and even though they would loose leaves and make a mess, they always came back in the spring. They were an enjoyment to me.
My shed is full of pots and plants. Yesterday, I went in to water them and found that the cheap shop light quit on me. It was pitch dark in the shed, but the heat was still on. When I looked in the shed I found every plant I had put in the shed dead. No chance of them coming back it seems. This would have usually upset me, but for some reason it didn’t this time. As I was driving from Louisiana this morning God started showing me some things while I was thinking about how I had not been able to save the plants.
If you look at people today, you see people going about their business day in and day out and there is no change usually. We choose to do things that provide us a lively hood and try to enjoy life to the uttermost. We even catch ourselves doing things that God cannot be pleased with us about either. I was reminded today that we are much like these plants that I’ve lost. We need food, water, and tender love and care. We want to be warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. Just as the plants need food, water, tender love and care, they also need light, so they might live.
If you look in the New Testament part of the Bible you will find that men’s lives are full of darkness. Darkness represents sin, and therefore we are dying in our sins. People in this world seem to have their own agendas. Oh, I know we all have certain agendas, but people in general do not have God anywhere on their agendas. We live in darkness and wonder why we aren’t spiritually healthy. We are condemned to death, just as my plants were, because they were not in the light. No light showed down on them. Jesus explained it this way, talking to Nicodemus, who was a teacher of the Word and didn’t understand what Jesus was telling him at first. He said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”(John 3:19-21 KJV) Our deeds, everything we do, as individuals are evil. Paul said, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23.). Even people who claim to love the Lord and claim to be HIS children try to remain in the darkness of this old world. We don’t feel accepted by the world, while we are living for Christ, so we live like them, do like them and act like them. Here is the bad news about that: The world hates you anyway.
Paul told us to be separate from the world. When you are truly saved there is a change that tells the world that you are different. Jesus said that we can’t live for the world and HIM too. John tells us that we cannot love the world and God at the same time. He goes on to say if we love the world the “Love of the Father” is not in us. What does that mean to you? Saved people can use the excuse of just being a sinner saved by grace all we want too. Even though it is true that we who have put our faith in God are sinners who were saved by His marvelous grace, we should not take advantage of that grace. We should follow the light to be stronger and spiritually healthier. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,” (John 8:12 KJV).
I am reminded of the fact that when Jesus called upon the disciples HE said just two words, “Follow ME.” They dropped all that they did and followed HIM. Did they have issues? Yes, they did have issues, but they still followed Christ. Had my plants had the proper light they would not have died. They would have gotten stronger and healthier, and when spring came around they would have provided fruit for the eyes to see. But, darkness took all the life out of them and they died.
Darkness kills everything and everyone. Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23. Only true light can make something live. Men who choose darkness rather than light end up dead and empty for all eternity, unless they really seek the light, Jesus Christ. Choosing darkness over light is rejecting Christ. Child of God remember what Peter said, in 1 Pet 2:9 KJV, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” He has called us all out of the darkness in to HIS light that we may all have eternal life. Do you want to live? Child of God; let’s all remember that HE is the LIGHT of our Life and that we should seek to get even closer to HIM. Just some food for thought.
A life without light
John 3:19 -21
Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love messing with plants. I told some people one time that the reason I like messing with flowers and plants are two fold. First they are pretty when they are healthy and secondly they don’t talk back. Yeah, that is kind of funny to me. Every year, for the past 4 years, I have cherished some of the plants. I had hibiscus shrubs, in pots that were 8 foot tall. They were actually outgrowing their pots and I was going to plant them this spring. I also had several different types of hanging baskets, roses, etc. You get the point, I’m sure. I always stuck them in a shed that had windows which allowed light inside and a shop light for night. When it was too cold for them I turned a heater on and even though they would loose leaves and make a mess, they always came back in the spring. They were an enjoyment to me.
My shed is full of pots and plants. Yesterday, I went in to water them and found that the cheap shop light quit on me. It was pitch dark in the shed, but the heat was still on. When I looked in the shed I found every plant I had put in the shed dead. No chance of them coming back it seems. This would have usually upset me, but for some reason it didn’t this time. As I was driving from Louisiana this morning God started showing me some things while I was thinking about how I had not been able to save the plants.
If you look at people today, you see people going about their business day in and day out and there is no change usually. We choose to do things that provide us a lively hood and try to enjoy life to the uttermost. We even catch ourselves doing things that God cannot be pleased with us about either. I was reminded today that we are much like these plants that I’ve lost. We need food, water, and tender love and care. We want to be warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. Just as the plants need food, water, tender love and care, they also need light, so they might live.
If you look in the New Testament part of the Bible you will find that men’s lives are full of darkness. Darkness represents sin, and therefore we are dying in our sins. People in this world seem to have their own agendas. Oh, I know we all have certain agendas, but people in general do not have God anywhere on their agendas. We live in darkness and wonder why we aren’t spiritually healthy. We are condemned to death, just as my plants were, because they were not in the light. No light showed down on them. Jesus explained it this way, talking to Nicodemus, who was a teacher of the Word and didn’t understand what Jesus was telling him at first. He said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”(John 3:19-21 KJV) Our deeds, everything we do, as individuals are evil. Paul said, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23.). Even people who claim to love the Lord and claim to be HIS children try to remain in the darkness of this old world. We don’t feel accepted by the world, while we are living for Christ, so we live like them, do like them and act like them. Here is the bad news about that: The world hates you anyway.
Paul told us to be separate from the world. When you are truly saved there is a change that tells the world that you are different. Jesus said that we can’t live for the world and HIM too. John tells us that we cannot love the world and God at the same time. He goes on to say if we love the world the “Love of the Father” is not in us. What does that mean to you? Saved people can use the excuse of just being a sinner saved by grace all we want too. Even though it is true that we who have put our faith in God are sinners who were saved by His marvelous grace, we should not take advantage of that grace. We should follow the light to be stronger and spiritually healthier. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,” (John 8:12 KJV).
I am reminded of the fact that when Jesus called upon the disciples HE said just two words, “Follow ME.” They dropped all that they did and followed HIM. Did they have issues? Yes, they did have issues, but they still followed Christ. Had my plants had the proper light they would not have died. They would have gotten stronger and healthier, and when spring came around they would have provided fruit for the eyes to see. But, darkness took all the life out of them and they died.
Darkness kills everything and everyone. Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23. Only true light can make something live. Men who choose darkness rather than light end up dead and empty for all eternity, unless they really seek the light, Jesus Christ. Choosing darkness over light is rejecting Christ. Child of God remember what Peter said, in 1 Pet 2:9 KJV, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” He has called us all out of the darkness in to HIS light that we may all have eternal life. Do you want to live? Child of God; let’s all remember that HE is the LIGHT of our Life and that we should seek to get even closer to HIM. Just some food for thought.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thought for the day
The Gospel
The Power of God
Romans 1:16
I was given the great opportunity to preach at Woodlawn MBC, in Denison, Texas again. This time is was different though. The man who had been the pastor there, which is a great friend, had resigned the church. Going into a church a week after a good pastor has resigned gives me a weird feeling. There was a since of unrest in the pit of my stomach, and I was only filling in for this church. I was not being considered as a candidate to be their next pastor. A preacher only knows what God lays upon his heart. If most would be honest, the message you study up usually sounds better on paper, while you are writing it up, than a man is capable of presenting it. With that being said, I think of Paul. What a great example to us all!
If you look at Paul and his ministry, you see the qualities that only most pastors can wish they had. He was a man that stuck with his principles. Paul was a religious man and at one point on the wrong side of the ball. Some conclude that Paul, who was Saul at the time, may have already been saved, but didn’t understand the Christian movement and didn’t want to hear about Jesus. He was a Pharisee, (Acts 26:5,) which was his life of religion. He was a member of the Sanhedrin and had commission for the chief priests to persecute and punish people who claimed the name of Jesus. He had a sense of pride and arrogance about himself. However, one day that would change with an impact that lasted the rest of his life.
He had been consenting unto the death of a devout man of God. Stephen, from what I’ve read, was kind of a tall man that people didn’t push around easily. He was a deacon that loved the Lord Jesus Christ and preached the gospel. Saul, whose name was later changed to Paul, held the coats of other men while they stoned Stephen to death. It was a gloomy day for Christians that day, but later that day things would change with that huge impact. Paul, who was going down the road to Demascus, met Jesus face to face. If you study the book of Acts, you find in that Jesus told the church of Jerusalem, “Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,” (Acts 1:8). The church at Jerusalem had apparently gotten comfortable in their situation. A church of 3000 plus people was satisfied at just being themselves and serving the Lord there. This did not sit well with the Lord and therefore HE allowed Saul, later to be known a Paul, to persecute and cause havoc in the church. The scripture teaches that this church was scattered abroad. After Paul was saved, and received training from the Lord, he was sent out to this scattered people and started new churches. What a great story!
With the things that it took for Saul to be against the church, now Paul would be just that strong for the LORD. He said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first, and also to the Greek,” (Romans 1:16). Paul had the opportunity to preach the gospel that he once despised, and he did it with all that was in him. The people he once hated, he now loved. The people he once represented, he now preached the truth too. He really wasn’t ashamed of the gospel and its power at all.
With this quick look at some of the things about Paul, I am reminded of where I came from and what God has done for me in my life. I can’t say that I’ve always been as on fire for the Lord as I should be, but I know that I have a duty. That duty is to preach the gospel; to serve God with everything I have. Why? The reason I have the obligation of serving God is simply this; HE GAVE ALL FOR ME; WHAT DO I GIVE BACK? Preaching at a church or in a crowd shows me just how powerful God’s Word really is. The Lord reminded me, again yesterday, that it’s not about the preacher whatsoever. It’s all about Christ and HIS WORD, which is HIS power. There are times that as preachers, deacons, and teachers that we feel that we have done God an injustice in trying to teach the Word or Gospel.
If a man surrenders to the opportunity of preaching or teaching God’s Word the way God leads him too, and that man follows God’s direction, that man can not fail. Oh, yes, he can stumble with words, fumble around with the scripture, or just plain mess up in his delivery, but when God’s in it, it makes and impact. I cannot tell people how many times that I felt like I did yesterday, when I thought I had basically blew the good message God had given me, with my pitiful delivery. However, God showed me different. When we blow it, is usually when God uses it the most. People say that ‘the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God, (I Cor. 1:18)’. The lesson I that I was shown yesterday, as times before, reminded me that the Power of Christ is in the Gospel. It is in HIS WORD and if I share it the way HE intended for me too, that HE would bless it and it would bring honor and glory to HIM. We all can be like Paul in this one way: Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Tell people about Christ and use HIS WORD to allow its power to burn in the hearts of people. If we are obedient to that extent, then HE will bless it. Preaching or teaching can be tedious at times, but if we humble ourselves and allow God to use us, we will show we aren’t ashamed of His Word either. So the next time you preach, teach, give a devotional, or just lead a Bible study, keep this one thought in your mind the whole time: It is all about HIM; not about me, and don’t be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Show it to people like it is the matter of life and death; because it is.
The Power of God
Romans 1:16
I was given the great opportunity to preach at Woodlawn MBC, in Denison, Texas again. This time is was different though. The man who had been the pastor there, which is a great friend, had resigned the church. Going into a church a week after a good pastor has resigned gives me a weird feeling. There was a since of unrest in the pit of my stomach, and I was only filling in for this church. I was not being considered as a candidate to be their next pastor. A preacher only knows what God lays upon his heart. If most would be honest, the message you study up usually sounds better on paper, while you are writing it up, than a man is capable of presenting it. With that being said, I think of Paul. What a great example to us all!
If you look at Paul and his ministry, you see the qualities that only most pastors can wish they had. He was a man that stuck with his principles. Paul was a religious man and at one point on the wrong side of the ball. Some conclude that Paul, who was Saul at the time, may have already been saved, but didn’t understand the Christian movement and didn’t want to hear about Jesus. He was a Pharisee, (Acts 26:5,) which was his life of religion. He was a member of the Sanhedrin and had commission for the chief priests to persecute and punish people who claimed the name of Jesus. He had a sense of pride and arrogance about himself. However, one day that would change with an impact that lasted the rest of his life.
He had been consenting unto the death of a devout man of God. Stephen, from what I’ve read, was kind of a tall man that people didn’t push around easily. He was a deacon that loved the Lord Jesus Christ and preached the gospel. Saul, whose name was later changed to Paul, held the coats of other men while they stoned Stephen to death. It was a gloomy day for Christians that day, but later that day things would change with that huge impact. Paul, who was going down the road to Demascus, met Jesus face to face. If you study the book of Acts, you find in that Jesus told the church of Jerusalem, “Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,” (Acts 1:8). The church at Jerusalem had apparently gotten comfortable in their situation. A church of 3000 plus people was satisfied at just being themselves and serving the Lord there. This did not sit well with the Lord and therefore HE allowed Saul, later to be known a Paul, to persecute and cause havoc in the church. The scripture teaches that this church was scattered abroad. After Paul was saved, and received training from the Lord, he was sent out to this scattered people and started new churches. What a great story!
With the things that it took for Saul to be against the church, now Paul would be just that strong for the LORD. He said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first, and also to the Greek,” (Romans 1:16). Paul had the opportunity to preach the gospel that he once despised, and he did it with all that was in him. The people he once hated, he now loved. The people he once represented, he now preached the truth too. He really wasn’t ashamed of the gospel and its power at all.
With this quick look at some of the things about Paul, I am reminded of where I came from and what God has done for me in my life. I can’t say that I’ve always been as on fire for the Lord as I should be, but I know that I have a duty. That duty is to preach the gospel; to serve God with everything I have. Why? The reason I have the obligation of serving God is simply this; HE GAVE ALL FOR ME; WHAT DO I GIVE BACK? Preaching at a church or in a crowd shows me just how powerful God’s Word really is. The Lord reminded me, again yesterday, that it’s not about the preacher whatsoever. It’s all about Christ and HIS WORD, which is HIS power. There are times that as preachers, deacons, and teachers that we feel that we have done God an injustice in trying to teach the Word or Gospel.
If a man surrenders to the opportunity of preaching or teaching God’s Word the way God leads him too, and that man follows God’s direction, that man can not fail. Oh, yes, he can stumble with words, fumble around with the scripture, or just plain mess up in his delivery, but when God’s in it, it makes and impact. I cannot tell people how many times that I felt like I did yesterday, when I thought I had basically blew the good message God had given me, with my pitiful delivery. However, God showed me different. When we blow it, is usually when God uses it the most. People say that ‘the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God, (I Cor. 1:18)’. The lesson I that I was shown yesterday, as times before, reminded me that the Power of Christ is in the Gospel. It is in HIS WORD and if I share it the way HE intended for me too, that HE would bless it and it would bring honor and glory to HIM. We all can be like Paul in this one way: Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Tell people about Christ and use HIS WORD to allow its power to burn in the hearts of people. If we are obedient to that extent, then HE will bless it. Preaching or teaching can be tedious at times, but if we humble ourselves and allow God to use us, we will show we aren’t ashamed of His Word either. So the next time you preach, teach, give a devotional, or just lead a Bible study, keep this one thought in your mind the whole time: It is all about HIM; not about me, and don’t be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Show it to people like it is the matter of life and death; because it is.
Sunday
What a great day in the Lord! Yesterday, Becky and I was in Denison and I had the opportunity to preach the morning service from Isaiah 41:10. As on a number of times, I thought I butchered the message up, but God used it anyway. Everyone seemed to really respond to God's Word and several said it was exactly what they needed. It is just another way that God shows me that He uses His Word to reach hearts when effort is made to preach it. I hope that God continues blessing them, and I have encouraged them to start praying for the new pastor that the Lord had for them. The crowd, apparently, was a lot larger than most of the members anticipated. After services, we were invited to go to lunch with Ron Brown and his wife. We had a great visit with them and feel like we have made some really great friends. Hopefully this church can go on serving God in an even larger way. I know that their former pastor is still very much loved and appreciated, and they all hope that he follows what God has for him. It has always been a blessing to me to be able to go there and preach, and I thank God for those opportunities. He is surely a great God.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Just a thought
I had a post on here earlier that could have been misunderstood. So I deleted it and decided to try to be clearer on my thought. We are in a society that never seems to be satisfied. Unfortunately, what we do in this world and at home eventually sneaks into our churches. I've been a Missionary Baptist for most of my life. For a short period of time I went to an Independant Baptist church, where I really started learning the Bible. I came back to the Missionary Baptist because of what their stances are, and I believe that they are the closest to teaching the real truths of God. Although I do not agree with some of the individual churches stand hard on, I choose to not hold grudges toward those churches because they don't necessarily believe as I do.
With that being said, I am certainly not shocked at anything that goes on in churches to much any longer. I realize that the scripture teaches that there will be a great falling away before our dear Savior's return. I guess that I've always believed that the falling away was the fact that people just didn't want to come to church any longer. However, I realize that this is classically a correct belief, but I see major changes happen among Christian people that at one time excited me, but looking into it further, I descovering people are getting away from really serving God. We have gotten away from teaching the Bible and started trying to teach men's opinions. Christians do not study the message the pastor teaches or the lesson someone else teaches to make sure it is doctrinally sound. We accept it a face value. After all, the pastor went to a Seminary or College and he has a degree, so he has to be right. I am not knocking higher education, because it is needed. However, just because a preacher or teacher has initials behind their names doesn't mean they are always right and doesn't mean that they cannot teach false doctrine.
Education is good, but if churches are still falling appart, it should bother us! One of the problems I see is that we make serving God more convienant for ourselves, instead of ourselves more accountable to God. What I mean by this is we do not see the need to serve God. Many times I have heard, and I have been guilty of preaching, that we only give ourselves to God an average of 5 - 6 hours a week, when HE gave everything for us. I can remember when sports were not played on Wednesdays or Sundays at all. If there was a softball game or football game being played around town, it usually consisted of members of certain churches playing them after lunch and they were done by 4 p.m. Why? Because church started at 6 p.m. and it was understood that you had to be there. I can remember when stores were closed on Sunday just so people could go to church. If you had baseball, football, or basketball practice on Wednesdays, you were home by 5 - 6 p.m.m to go to church. We did not overlap these times. Now, churches have to schedule functions, revivals, etc, around school activites, summer sports, and whatever else we have. Today, there are very few revivals that go longer than 3 days. I can count on one hand of churches that I know of that still have 5 days of revival services and two of them still have morning and evening services. That's just unheard of, huh? People have gotten out of really living for God and have focused on living for this world. What's wrong with this picture?
Churches are closing their doors, people who call themselves Christians are falling out by the wayside, simply because they don't have any moral values anymore, and worse than this is people are dying and going to hell because 'Christians' do have time to do what God instructed us to do.
I honestly don't understand the movement that is going on, but God's Word tells me this would happen. I've been to some churches that when a preacher made a good point and someone said 'Amen,' others would look back at that person like they lost a screw. Can someone please explain to me what they don't believe that church is necessary any longer? What needs to change in churches? I can remember churches in the town I live in building gyms for the young people, just to attract them so the numbers would come up. Kids would enjoy it for a short period of time, but then they would quit coming too. We have gotten away from the basics. Mom's and Dad's need to get their children back into church, so they can be taught to serve the God that sent HIS Son to die for them. Not only that the parents need to be with them. We need to work on building churches up and not tearing them apart.
Churches are hurting because there is a generation of people who have decided to follow their own beliefs instead of listening to God. Moral of the story.......Don't only hear God; let's listen to HIM. Just a thought.
With that being said, I am certainly not shocked at anything that goes on in churches to much any longer. I realize that the scripture teaches that there will be a great falling away before our dear Savior's return. I guess that I've always believed that the falling away was the fact that people just didn't want to come to church any longer. However, I realize that this is classically a correct belief, but I see major changes happen among Christian people that at one time excited me, but looking into it further, I descovering people are getting away from really serving God. We have gotten away from teaching the Bible and started trying to teach men's opinions. Christians do not study the message the pastor teaches or the lesson someone else teaches to make sure it is doctrinally sound. We accept it a face value. After all, the pastor went to a Seminary or College and he has a degree, so he has to be right. I am not knocking higher education, because it is needed. However, just because a preacher or teacher has initials behind their names doesn't mean they are always right and doesn't mean that they cannot teach false doctrine.
Education is good, but if churches are still falling appart, it should bother us! One of the problems I see is that we make serving God more convienant for ourselves, instead of ourselves more accountable to God. What I mean by this is we do not see the need to serve God. Many times I have heard, and I have been guilty of preaching, that we only give ourselves to God an average of 5 - 6 hours a week, when HE gave everything for us. I can remember when sports were not played on Wednesdays or Sundays at all. If there was a softball game or football game being played around town, it usually consisted of members of certain churches playing them after lunch and they were done by 4 p.m. Why? Because church started at 6 p.m. and it was understood that you had to be there. I can remember when stores were closed on Sunday just so people could go to church. If you had baseball, football, or basketball practice on Wednesdays, you were home by 5 - 6 p.m.m to go to church. We did not overlap these times. Now, churches have to schedule functions, revivals, etc, around school activites, summer sports, and whatever else we have. Today, there are very few revivals that go longer than 3 days. I can count on one hand of churches that I know of that still have 5 days of revival services and two of them still have morning and evening services. That's just unheard of, huh? People have gotten out of really living for God and have focused on living for this world. What's wrong with this picture?
Churches are closing their doors, people who call themselves Christians are falling out by the wayside, simply because they don't have any moral values anymore, and worse than this is people are dying and going to hell because 'Christians' do have time to do what God instructed us to do.
I honestly don't understand the movement that is going on, but God's Word tells me this would happen. I've been to some churches that when a preacher made a good point and someone said 'Amen,' others would look back at that person like they lost a screw. Can someone please explain to me what they don't believe that church is necessary any longer? What needs to change in churches? I can remember churches in the town I live in building gyms for the young people, just to attract them so the numbers would come up. Kids would enjoy it for a short period of time, but then they would quit coming too. We have gotten away from the basics. Mom's and Dad's need to get their children back into church, so they can be taught to serve the God that sent HIS Son to die for them. Not only that the parents need to be with them. We need to work on building churches up and not tearing them apart.
Churches are hurting because there is a generation of people who have decided to follow their own beliefs instead of listening to God. Moral of the story.......Don't only hear God; let's listen to HIM. Just a thought.
A Cold Rainy Day
A day when I finish early from work finds me wishing I could go outside and do some things. However, the cold rain is a very big deterrent. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to preach God's Word to a church, which I have come to love and appreciate. They really need our prayers as they search for a new pastor. Filling in, this time, is different. I have filled in for their now former pastor a few times and knowing things were okay at the church made it really enjoyable. Filling in at a church without a pastor is somewhat different. God has laid a message on my heart for these folks, and I ask my friends who read this to pray that HIS will is done in this message. Pray for these people. They really need it.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A cold tough day
Today has been especially tough. The cold north wind in open areas was almost to much to bare. Becky has a head cold, and I've been hurting most of the day. No real pain, just aching. My back hurt for about two weeks, but it has eased up, thank goodness.
For my friends, who might read this, please pray for me. I really need it. March 1, we go back to seven days a week, and I really love to go to church on Sundays. I've got a class to teach, and I need to be there. However, I have bills to pay too. I thought I was going to be given a chance to pastor again, but the church who lined me up, decided to not listen to me. It's kind of disheartening. If some of my preacher friends need a fill in or just want to allow a man to preach, feel free to call me. I'm available. Pray for my friend, Wayne Butler, as he seeks God's will in his life. Later.
For my friends, who might read this, please pray for me. I really need it. March 1, we go back to seven days a week, and I really love to go to church on Sundays. I've got a class to teach, and I need to be there. However, I have bills to pay too. I thought I was going to be given a chance to pastor again, but the church who lined me up, decided to not listen to me. It's kind of disheartening. If some of my preacher friends need a fill in or just want to allow a man to preach, feel free to call me. I'm available. Pray for my friend, Wayne Butler, as he seeks God's will in his life. Later.
Thought for the day 01/17/08
Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
Observing the Sabbath
Exodus 20:8 – 9
Committing to obeying the Lord is a very important commitment. For a person to make a covenant or promise that they are committing to doing anything are also very big steps. When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments, He intended for His children to obey them. The Lord continued with the Commandments by writing, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor they stranger that is within they gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it..” We find that the first four Commandments are focused on what we need to do for the Lord in worshipping Him. The fourth Commandment is concerning the Sabbath day or the day of rest. In the New Testament age, when the Sabbath is mentioned, most Christians want to say it is Sunday, when we go to church. Sunday is not the Sabbath day whatsoever. Sunday is the day we choose to worship God, but it is not the Sabbath day. A study has shown that between Friday evening and Saturday evening that the human body, when rested, gets what’s called ultimate rest. The reason for this is simple. God intended for man to rest. Society however, has made it almost impossible for people to be off on weekends. We demand electricity, gas, water, etc, and therefore we push the seven day work week. Many of us can remember when there was a ‘Blue Sunday.’ The only places that might be open on Sundays were gas stations. However, the love of money, by man, and the demand for products, by man, has made Sundays another business day. Still, this is not the Sabbath we are commanded to remember.
The Fourth Commandment starts out with the word "Remember" not only because many seem to have forgotten, but also because He wants us to always remember the seventh day in honor of Him and what He has created. This memorial established at the end of the creation week is the only known basis for the seven week cycle we know today. When God decided that He was satisfied with what He had created, He set the seventh day apart as a perpetual, weekly appointment to celebrate the creation with Him and He asks us to rest from all our works as He did from His. As the longest of all the commandments, this one contains what many believe is God's Seal. Much like a Presidential Seal, this commandment contains three important parts. A close reading of this commandment reveals His Name (Lord), His Title (made, Creator), and His dominion (Heaven and Earth). It should be noted that this claim by God makes the devil very angry and jealous. In fact, the devil hates this so much that he has worked very hard to have this commandment altered in an attempt to deceive mankind.
Many men have chosen to set Sunday aside as the Sabbath day. However, we need to remember that Sunday is the first day of the week. I look at the Sabbath as God intended for it to be. It is suppose to be a day of rest. In my mind, if we rest on Saturday, to get the ultimate rest, then on Sunday we worship God with all our strength. That is the way it should be with God anyway. God first – Man second. This is the way God intended for it to be and He expects it still. Remember, the Ten Commandments are laws with purpose. I found this saying on the net which really hits the point concerning our world and God’s laws.
"Never in the history of the world has there been ten rules that have caused such a disturbance in the conscience of a people as to affect a society, church, and government as do the Ten Commandments." - Founder, GodstenLaws.com
Ten Commandments are laws with purpose
A Commitment to Obeying
Observing the Sabbath
Exodus 20:8 – 9
Committing to obeying the Lord is a very important commitment. For a person to make a covenant or promise that they are committing to doing anything are also very big steps. When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments, He intended for His children to obey them. The Lord continued with the Commandments by writing, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor they stranger that is within they gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it..” We find that the first four Commandments are focused on what we need to do for the Lord in worshipping Him. The fourth Commandment is concerning the Sabbath day or the day of rest. In the New Testament age, when the Sabbath is mentioned, most Christians want to say it is Sunday, when we go to church. Sunday is not the Sabbath day whatsoever. Sunday is the day we choose to worship God, but it is not the Sabbath day. A study has shown that between Friday evening and Saturday evening that the human body, when rested, gets what’s called ultimate rest. The reason for this is simple. God intended for man to rest. Society however, has made it almost impossible for people to be off on weekends. We demand electricity, gas, water, etc, and therefore we push the seven day work week. Many of us can remember when there was a ‘Blue Sunday.’ The only places that might be open on Sundays were gas stations. However, the love of money, by man, and the demand for products, by man, has made Sundays another business day. Still, this is not the Sabbath we are commanded to remember.
The Fourth Commandment starts out with the word "Remember" not only because many seem to have forgotten, but also because He wants us to always remember the seventh day in honor of Him and what He has created. This memorial established at the end of the creation week is the only known basis for the seven week cycle we know today. When God decided that He was satisfied with what He had created, He set the seventh day apart as a perpetual, weekly appointment to celebrate the creation with Him and He asks us to rest from all our works as He did from His. As the longest of all the commandments, this one contains what many believe is God's Seal. Much like a Presidential Seal, this commandment contains three important parts. A close reading of this commandment reveals His Name (Lord), His Title (made, Creator), and His dominion (Heaven and Earth). It should be noted that this claim by God makes the devil very angry and jealous. In fact, the devil hates this so much that he has worked very hard to have this commandment altered in an attempt to deceive mankind.
Many men have chosen to set Sunday aside as the Sabbath day. However, we need to remember that Sunday is the first day of the week. I look at the Sabbath as God intended for it to be. It is suppose to be a day of rest. In my mind, if we rest on Saturday, to get the ultimate rest, then on Sunday we worship God with all our strength. That is the way it should be with God anyway. God first – Man second. This is the way God intended for it to be and He expects it still. Remember, the Ten Commandments are laws with purpose. I found this saying on the net which really hits the point concerning our world and God’s laws.
"Never in the history of the world has there been ten rules that have caused such a disturbance in the conscience of a people as to affect a society, church, and government as do the Ten Commandments." - Founder, GodstenLaws.com
Ten Commandments are laws with purpose
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Thought For the Day: 01/10/08
Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
Using God’s Name Wrongly
Exodus 20:7
I’m reminded of a friend of mine, who is an Independent Baptist Pastor, in Houston, who told me an incident that happened while he was going to school. He was going to college, during the day, and I believe he was a night supervisor for UPS. He can correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m sending these to him also. If I remember the story correctly, he said there was an employee who acted upset. He said every time that he consistently cursed and used the Lord’s name in vain. He told me that he got so fed up with the attitude and language of the man that every time is used God’s name in vain or cursed, that he would start praising the Lord by saying hallelujah, glory to God, etc. After a while this man asked him what he was doing. He answered him by saying, “Well, you are praising your god, so I thought I would praise my God.” The man shut up then. Amazing huh?
In our study of Exodus 20, we come upon the third Commandment, found in verses 7, that the Lord gave; “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” This Commandment is probably one that real Christians hold to very hard. My God’s name does not end with the “D” word. It’s unfortunate that as a child that man I respected in church turned out to be what my mother used to call, ‘potty mouths.’ One of these men was a big member of the church I went too, and was in a leadership role. I always stayed away from him simply because of his attitude. However, when I got older, I saw this man in a local barber shop and it seemed every sentence had curse words in it and lo and behold, he even used God’s name in vain. Should this shock me? It shouldn’t shock me, because using God’s name in vain and cursing is something that people train themselves to do. Most men and women who do this do not even realize that they do it. And, then again, some don’t care. I’m reminded of a Steven Curtis Chapman song entitled, “What About the Change?”
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away: behold, all things become new.” So why does the old man hang round so much? The problem as I see it is that too many people are hooked on their baptisms, and the idea of just praying the prayer. They think because they were baptized at a young age, they were raised in church, or that they said the prayer that one of these is enough. My Bible teaches that if the Holy Spirit isn’t dealing with them and that they then don’t truly repent of their sins, that they aren’t saved. Baptism doesn’t count for anything but obedience after salvation of the lost soul. If a person is really and truly saved, there is a definite change that doesn’t just last for a few days and goes away. It is seriously noticed by others. All of a sudden God becomes real to that person and they start depending on HIM.
I’m not saying that a child of God can’t fall back to their old habits, but there again God usually gets their attention fast. People who fall into this trap of what we call “backslidden,” get there because they choose not to train themselves to stay close to God. They don’t make efforts to be there. It would have been real easy for me to have stayed out of church when I left the first church I pastored. I could have used that as an excuse. Worse than that, I could have let my relationship with God go. It is a choice we make, and when we ask HIM to help us, HE will help us stay on track.
I do not know any person’s heart! Neither do you! Only God does. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us something that really “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The Lord answers that question with this; “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings,” Jeremiah 17:10. That answer gave me some insight to some of my issues. He gives us according to our ways and to the fruits of our doings. I guess that could be said in a different way, like, “You reap what you sow”. We reap the fruit of the sin we sow. On top of all this, we should understand that we can keep the evil thoughts and saying from coming out of our heart through our brain and out of our mouth. How do you keep the trash of our hearts pushed down where they can’t come out? By filling it full of God’s Word, praying, etc; basically the same spiritual nutrition as God expects us to do.
We need to understand that there are other ways of using God’s name in vain, and not by just the common one you might hear. A lot of times we use HIS Name in slang. The words gosh and golly are just two words that come to mind. Usually when these words are said, the person saying them catches themselves before the name, “God” comes out. The terrible thing about cursing is that once the habit is formed it is used as a tool for Satan. A 2 year old says a dirty word that mom or dad says and they laugh because it is cute to them. However, saying these words is not cute. The parents later hear the child of age 10 – 12 let out a few bad words and then they want to say something about it. It’s too late! Christian parents who may us foul language as by words need to realize that they are killing their testimony to their kids and may be driving their kids away from God, unknowingly. There are many things that we tell our kids not to do that we do ourselves. Bottom line is; we need to clean our lives up by being obedient to God’s Commandments. Take them seriously, because the Lord was serious when HE wrote them. Committing ourselves to the Lord, is committing one’s self to being obedient. Remember Ten Commandments are laws with purpose.
A Commitment to Obeying
Using God’s Name Wrongly
Exodus 20:7
I’m reminded of a friend of mine, who is an Independent Baptist Pastor, in Houston, who told me an incident that happened while he was going to school. He was going to college, during the day, and I believe he was a night supervisor for UPS. He can correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m sending these to him also. If I remember the story correctly, he said there was an employee who acted upset. He said every time that he consistently cursed and used the Lord’s name in vain. He told me that he got so fed up with the attitude and language of the man that every time is used God’s name in vain or cursed, that he would start praising the Lord by saying hallelujah, glory to God, etc. After a while this man asked him what he was doing. He answered him by saying, “Well, you are praising your god, so I thought I would praise my God.” The man shut up then. Amazing huh?
In our study of Exodus 20, we come upon the third Commandment, found in verses 7, that the Lord gave; “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” This Commandment is probably one that real Christians hold to very hard. My God’s name does not end with the “D” word. It’s unfortunate that as a child that man I respected in church turned out to be what my mother used to call, ‘potty mouths.’ One of these men was a big member of the church I went too, and was in a leadership role. I always stayed away from him simply because of his attitude. However, when I got older, I saw this man in a local barber shop and it seemed every sentence had curse words in it and lo and behold, he even used God’s name in vain. Should this shock me? It shouldn’t shock me, because using God’s name in vain and cursing is something that people train themselves to do. Most men and women who do this do not even realize that they do it. And, then again, some don’t care. I’m reminded of a Steven Curtis Chapman song entitled, “What About the Change?”
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away: behold, all things become new.” So why does the old man hang round so much? The problem as I see it is that too many people are hooked on their baptisms, and the idea of just praying the prayer. They think because they were baptized at a young age, they were raised in church, or that they said the prayer that one of these is enough. My Bible teaches that if the Holy Spirit isn’t dealing with them and that they then don’t truly repent of their sins, that they aren’t saved. Baptism doesn’t count for anything but obedience after salvation of the lost soul. If a person is really and truly saved, there is a definite change that doesn’t just last for a few days and goes away. It is seriously noticed by others. All of a sudden God becomes real to that person and they start depending on HIM.
I’m not saying that a child of God can’t fall back to their old habits, but there again God usually gets their attention fast. People who fall into this trap of what we call “backslidden,” get there because they choose not to train themselves to stay close to God. They don’t make efforts to be there. It would have been real easy for me to have stayed out of church when I left the first church I pastored. I could have used that as an excuse. Worse than that, I could have let my relationship with God go. It is a choice we make, and when we ask HIM to help us, HE will help us stay on track.
I do not know any person’s heart! Neither do you! Only God does. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us something that really “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The Lord answers that question with this; “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings,” Jeremiah 17:10. That answer gave me some insight to some of my issues. He gives us according to our ways and to the fruits of our doings. I guess that could be said in a different way, like, “You reap what you sow”. We reap the fruit of the sin we sow. On top of all this, we should understand that we can keep the evil thoughts and saying from coming out of our heart through our brain and out of our mouth. How do you keep the trash of our hearts pushed down where they can’t come out? By filling it full of God’s Word, praying, etc; basically the same spiritual nutrition as God expects us to do.
We need to understand that there are other ways of using God’s name in vain, and not by just the common one you might hear. A lot of times we use HIS Name in slang. The words gosh and golly are just two words that come to mind. Usually when these words are said, the person saying them catches themselves before the name, “God” comes out. The terrible thing about cursing is that once the habit is formed it is used as a tool for Satan. A 2 year old says a dirty word that mom or dad says and they laugh because it is cute to them. However, saying these words is not cute. The parents later hear the child of age 10 – 12 let out a few bad words and then they want to say something about it. It’s too late! Christian parents who may us foul language as by words need to realize that they are killing their testimony to their kids and may be driving their kids away from God, unknowingly. There are many things that we tell our kids not to do that we do ourselves. Bottom line is; we need to clean our lives up by being obedient to God’s Commandments. Take them seriously, because the Lord was serious when HE wrote them. Committing ourselves to the Lord, is committing one’s self to being obedient. Remember Ten Commandments are laws with purpose.
Thought For the Day: 01/09/08
Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
“Idol Worship
Exodus 20:4 – 6
Yesterday, I neglected to write my daily devotional. I got preoccupied with something else, and when I came to my desk, I had no focus. I did start one on something, but I couldn’t finish. Maybe it was because I was concentrating too hard on the one statement I heard on the radio. I’ll do a ‘Thought for the Day,’ on it later, maybe. I continue on my thoughts of the Ten Commandments. We need to remember that the Ten Commandments are laws with purpose. God put these laws in the hand of man to guide each of us closer to HIM. The second Commandment in the book of Exodus covers 3 verses. It could be taken as a continuation of the first Commandment, but if you look at the punctuation in the verses, it separates itself from the second one. The Lord said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Some of the things that I’ve thought about are being written and some people may say that I am reaching. However, think these things out and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in these areas and show you if I am wrong or not.
About two years after I was saved, I was going to an Independent Baptist church then, I was studying the Bible one night and came across these scriptures. I really looked at all of them, and I’ll admit, I was really ignorant to the scriptures then, and some would be glad to know that I feel like I still am. At that time, I was into wildlife big time. One of my favorite birds is the owl. Deer of course is right up there with them, maybe a little above. I really just love wildlife and how my God made them. However, I had pictures of owls, statues of owls, and figurines of owls. I just found them really neat. Yes, I’ve got antlers of deer that I’ve killed, pictures of deer, and I have been tempted to buy figurines of them too. Today, you can go to any whatnot store and find figurines of anything you like. If you can’t find them at a store you can find them on the internet. We just have more than you, or I, can afford, and too many venues. If you look at verse 4, the Lord is specific in what HE says. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Notice the colon? This is a complete sentence, or statement. Now think about how many people pay money, and some big money, for angels. Oh no! Not the Angels! See we can’t draw a line on this verse. Granted, I don’t know anyone personally who bows down to any of the wild life statue, or figurines. However, the word ‘any’ in verse 4 is very specific.
If you ask anyone who believes in the Lord, you will find all of them believe in angels too. And, yes, angels do exists. However, they are not meant to be worshipped. Today you can find angels anywhere. I know a lady who collects the graven images. Does she think those angels protect her? In all actuality I don’t believe she does. I know I’m picking on different things, but the Lord was very clear in what HE said. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” Man always wants to redraw the lines that God has already drawn, don’t you think?
The second part of this commandment is clear too. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:” There’s another colon. People make gods of things in their lives. When deer season comes around, people spend thousands of dollars to do this hobby. Some spend as much as 10,000 dollars to kill the ‘big one.’ Others do the fishing thing, and still others do even more hobbies. People devote a ton of time to doing these activities and can’t spend more that 5 hours a week serving God. It’s seems impossible for us to spend an hour a day in studying God’s Word. Something that really hits home is this; we spend more money on these activities than we give to God. Could this be bowing down to other gods? It’s just a question for thought. Of course I’ve only picked on two or three things, but we are all guilty of devoting tons of time to activities we like. Football is one of my most favorite sports. I officiate it, I watch it, I record it, and yes I’m a die hard Cowboy fan in the NFL. The Longhorns are my favorite college team. I have favorite teams in a lot of sports. It could probably be said that I’m almost to the point of allowing a sport to be a god to me. But, I’m not. I can remember times when I would miss church simply because I wanted to watch football. Shame on me! I’ve picked on hobbies, but some allow their personal lives and jobs and maybe other things to come between them and the Lord. We need to be careful about the neglect of God in our lives, and I think the points that the Lord is making is that HE does not want anything to come before HIM. Why?
He steps up and tells us why in the third point of this passage. “for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” He desires our time. Hobbies are there because the Lord allows them to be. There is nothing wrong with doing these hobbies, or any other hobbies that people like to do, but they all have their place. I realize that we go on vacation and do things on weekends, including Sundays, and I don’t believe God gets angry at us for doing this periodically. However, the Lord needs to be in front of these hobbies. I dare say that if they are put in front of God in our lives, that we are serving other gods. There is a penalty for these poor decisions on our part, and they are tough. The punishment extends to the third and fourth generation of our families, for those who hate HIM. Hate is a word that isn’t necessarily expressed just by words, it is shown by action. This means our children, grandchildren, great and great great grandchildren suffer for our choices.
The one thing that does stand out more to me in this commandment is the statement that God makes in verse 6. “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Jesus Christ shows mercy to those who seek HIM. Thousands on top of thousands have been saved because they sought HIM. HIS children who choose to go in different directions at times always come back to HIS mercy. However, HIS mercy has a stipulation. We must love HIM and obey or keep HIS commandments. Jesus told the disciples, in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In John 15:14 He said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” These are two statements that back up the Lords statement in Exodus 20:6. If, and that little two letter word is a larger word than it appears: If we really love the Lord, we will put HIM first and will make every effort we can to obey HIM. To do this we must put all of our ideas and wants to the side and ask HIM for guidance. The first of two commandments are stipulations in how to love God, with all thy heart, soul, and mind. It is up to us on how we decide to choose. The choice is clearly stated on what God wants us to do, but now it’s your move.
A Commitment to Obeying
“Idol Worship
Exodus 20:4 – 6
Yesterday, I neglected to write my daily devotional. I got preoccupied with something else, and when I came to my desk, I had no focus. I did start one on something, but I couldn’t finish. Maybe it was because I was concentrating too hard on the one statement I heard on the radio. I’ll do a ‘Thought for the Day,’ on it later, maybe. I continue on my thoughts of the Ten Commandments. We need to remember that the Ten Commandments are laws with purpose. God put these laws in the hand of man to guide each of us closer to HIM. The second Commandment in the book of Exodus covers 3 verses. It could be taken as a continuation of the first Commandment, but if you look at the punctuation in the verses, it separates itself from the second one. The Lord said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Some of the things that I’ve thought about are being written and some people may say that I am reaching. However, think these things out and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in these areas and show you if I am wrong or not.
About two years after I was saved, I was going to an Independent Baptist church then, I was studying the Bible one night and came across these scriptures. I really looked at all of them, and I’ll admit, I was really ignorant to the scriptures then, and some would be glad to know that I feel like I still am. At that time, I was into wildlife big time. One of my favorite birds is the owl. Deer of course is right up there with them, maybe a little above. I really just love wildlife and how my God made them. However, I had pictures of owls, statues of owls, and figurines of owls. I just found them really neat. Yes, I’ve got antlers of deer that I’ve killed, pictures of deer, and I have been tempted to buy figurines of them too. Today, you can go to any whatnot store and find figurines of anything you like. If you can’t find them at a store you can find them on the internet. We just have more than you, or I, can afford, and too many venues. If you look at verse 4, the Lord is specific in what HE says. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Notice the colon? This is a complete sentence, or statement. Now think about how many people pay money, and some big money, for angels. Oh no! Not the Angels! See we can’t draw a line on this verse. Granted, I don’t know anyone personally who bows down to any of the wild life statue, or figurines. However, the word ‘any’ in verse 4 is very specific.
If you ask anyone who believes in the Lord, you will find all of them believe in angels too. And, yes, angels do exists. However, they are not meant to be worshipped. Today you can find angels anywhere. I know a lady who collects the graven images. Does she think those angels protect her? In all actuality I don’t believe she does. I know I’m picking on different things, but the Lord was very clear in what HE said. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” Man always wants to redraw the lines that God has already drawn, don’t you think?
The second part of this commandment is clear too. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:” There’s another colon. People make gods of things in their lives. When deer season comes around, people spend thousands of dollars to do this hobby. Some spend as much as 10,000 dollars to kill the ‘big one.’ Others do the fishing thing, and still others do even more hobbies. People devote a ton of time to doing these activities and can’t spend more that 5 hours a week serving God. It’s seems impossible for us to spend an hour a day in studying God’s Word. Something that really hits home is this; we spend more money on these activities than we give to God. Could this be bowing down to other gods? It’s just a question for thought. Of course I’ve only picked on two or three things, but we are all guilty of devoting tons of time to activities we like. Football is one of my most favorite sports. I officiate it, I watch it, I record it, and yes I’m a die hard Cowboy fan in the NFL. The Longhorns are my favorite college team. I have favorite teams in a lot of sports. It could probably be said that I’m almost to the point of allowing a sport to be a god to me. But, I’m not. I can remember times when I would miss church simply because I wanted to watch football. Shame on me! I’ve picked on hobbies, but some allow their personal lives and jobs and maybe other things to come between them and the Lord. We need to be careful about the neglect of God in our lives, and I think the points that the Lord is making is that HE does not want anything to come before HIM. Why?
He steps up and tells us why in the third point of this passage. “for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” He desires our time. Hobbies are there because the Lord allows them to be. There is nothing wrong with doing these hobbies, or any other hobbies that people like to do, but they all have their place. I realize that we go on vacation and do things on weekends, including Sundays, and I don’t believe God gets angry at us for doing this periodically. However, the Lord needs to be in front of these hobbies. I dare say that if they are put in front of God in our lives, that we are serving other gods. There is a penalty for these poor decisions on our part, and they are tough. The punishment extends to the third and fourth generation of our families, for those who hate HIM. Hate is a word that isn’t necessarily expressed just by words, it is shown by action. This means our children, grandchildren, great and great great grandchildren suffer for our choices.
The one thing that does stand out more to me in this commandment is the statement that God makes in verse 6. “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Jesus Christ shows mercy to those who seek HIM. Thousands on top of thousands have been saved because they sought HIM. HIS children who choose to go in different directions at times always come back to HIS mercy. However, HIS mercy has a stipulation. We must love HIM and obey or keep HIS commandments. Jesus told the disciples, in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In John 15:14 He said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” These are two statements that back up the Lords statement in Exodus 20:6. If, and that little two letter word is a larger word than it appears: If we really love the Lord, we will put HIM first and will make every effort we can to obey HIM. To do this we must put all of our ideas and wants to the side and ask HIM for guidance. The first of two commandments are stipulations in how to love God, with all thy heart, soul, and mind. It is up to us on how we decide to choose. The choice is clearly stated on what God wants us to do, but now it’s your move.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Thought of the Day - 01/07/08
Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
Exodus 20:03
The book of Matthew records an event where a scribe asked Jesus, ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,’ (Matt. 22:36 – 40). What a statement! Just for the record, you cannot love God and hate your neighbor. This was one of the times that Jesus shut up the media and the religious leaders. Jesus in return asked a question of the scribes (media) and Pharisees about Christ’s father? They couldn’t answer. Jesus’ questions and answers continually confounded the religious leaders and the press. Today there is nothing different. The press and religious leaders argue about things that only the Lord knows and even things that God teaches in HIS WORD. His Word still baffles a lot of religious people and the liberal media all together. However, as I study the text of the Ten Commandments, I wonder how seriously real Christians take them. I, for one, know that I don’t take them as seriously as I should. The first Commandment of the Ten is very clear. It is not condensed, nor is it anything to baffle or confound anyone. The first Commandment reads, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”
All of man’s laws hinge on of these Ten small, but yet, large Commandments. Some people look to the Constitution of the United States to condone their life styles, the ways they live, or to make a point. We need to remember that this country was founded on Biblical principles and that the Constitution actually backs up God’s Word. This being said, we all know that people consistently amend our Constitution with humanly thoughts, which in my mind, undermines God’s Word. Of course, the argument could be made that the multiple additions of the Bible, veering away from the KJV, which I believe is the closest to actual transcripts have been amended too. In other words, we change God’s Word to fit our lives instead of changing our lives to fit God’s Word. Either way you look at it, man always seems to think they have a better way; don’t we? However, this Commandment cannot be amended. Loving God is not a suggestion it is an order. The words, ‘Thou shalt not,’ appear 240 times in 219 verses. In those verses, it appears 218 of the 240 times in the Old Testament, which is in 204 verses. It is implied more though. The Ten Commandments are not the Ten Suggestions. Yes, they were given to the children of Israel, but they apply to us all.
To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul is something that we could all work on. It is easily said, that one loves the Lord, but is it readily read, or shown in their lives. Another way of saying this would be, ‘it is easy to talk the talk, but are you walking your talk?’ Living for Christ is not easily done when a person puts self in front of God. I can hear people now; ‘I always follow God.’ Do you? We need to realize that the only way to love God, HIS WAY, is to put our way out of the way. That’s where pride comes in. Remember, pride separates us from God; always has, always will. To serve God with the love HE desires means we must put ourselves to the side. This first commandment seems to be easily understood, doesn’t it? We could have the attitude, ‘just don’t serve any god, but the one and True God, and everything is okay.’ This would solve everything, right? If we looked at it that way we would still have problems; mainly because of this world and its god, which is Satan. Loving and serving the One and True God would help us, but sometimes God allows things to happen so we can depend upon HIM. If we look at it in the way the first Commandment is meant, it is a lot harder to do. Just because we assume that the Lord is just talking about idols doesn’t mean that HE is. He addresses idols in the second commandment, which we will look at another time. We need to understand that if there is anything that we do that takes the place of God in our lives, then that activity can become ‘other gods before HIM.’
There are three things that we can do to help us not have other gods before HIM. We all can study God’s Word, but we all can make excuses for not doing it. Reading the Bible is great, and I encourage everyone to do it. However, sitting down and really studying something out is totally different. I can remember something that happened in one of my very first Bible studies. I can remember when the real ‘meat of the passage’ I was studying was revealed to me. It made me want to study even more. I couldn’t get enough. As a young person and even after I was saved, I used the excuse of not understanding God’s Word for not studying it. Shame on me! I have come to the conclusion that we allow activities, jobs, friendships, hobbies, etc, become gods in our lives. When it gets to the point of having to do it with our all, we come very close to doing just that. I can remember when deer hunting became that way to me. NO, I am not saying that hunting is a god. I’m saying that when it becomes more important than God does, we make it a god in our lives. Hunting is one thing for me to use, but there are other things that may be in your life that become as gods in your life. Fill in the blank, so to speak. Praying is a good way to keep other gods out of our lives. Asking God to help us daily to do what HE wants for us to do is the biggest key to not allowing other gods between you and HIM. So we have studying the Bible, praying, and now we have praising Him. Giving praise to Him for good things in our lives is easily done, but neglected. We should praise HIM and thank HIM daily for the great things HE does for us. Praising or thanking HIM for the tough times in our lives is really hard to do. However, the tough things in our lives develop us in our physical and spiritual lives. We usually want to play the blame game instead of thanking HIM. Spiritual growth is dependant upon all three of these things.
I challenge anyone reading this to look at activities, readings, hobbies, etc, and see what you have done to become more of an expertise in these areas. Does it take time away from studying the Bible, praying and worshipping the Lord in our lives? Do they keep us from being faithful to HIM in church and in our lives? HE should be on top of the list. If these three things are not at the top of our lists, then we could, and probably do have other gods in the way. Just a thought. What is your’s?
A Commitment to Obeying
Exodus 20:03
The book of Matthew records an event where a scribe asked Jesus, ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,’ (Matt. 22:36 – 40). What a statement! Just for the record, you cannot love God and hate your neighbor. This was one of the times that Jesus shut up the media and the religious leaders. Jesus in return asked a question of the scribes (media) and Pharisees about Christ’s father? They couldn’t answer. Jesus’ questions and answers continually confounded the religious leaders and the press. Today there is nothing different. The press and religious leaders argue about things that only the Lord knows and even things that God teaches in HIS WORD. His Word still baffles a lot of religious people and the liberal media all together. However, as I study the text of the Ten Commandments, I wonder how seriously real Christians take them. I, for one, know that I don’t take them as seriously as I should. The first Commandment of the Ten is very clear. It is not condensed, nor is it anything to baffle or confound anyone. The first Commandment reads, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”
All of man’s laws hinge on of these Ten small, but yet, large Commandments. Some people look to the Constitution of the United States to condone their life styles, the ways they live, or to make a point. We need to remember that this country was founded on Biblical principles and that the Constitution actually backs up God’s Word. This being said, we all know that people consistently amend our Constitution with humanly thoughts, which in my mind, undermines God’s Word. Of course, the argument could be made that the multiple additions of the Bible, veering away from the KJV, which I believe is the closest to actual transcripts have been amended too. In other words, we change God’s Word to fit our lives instead of changing our lives to fit God’s Word. Either way you look at it, man always seems to think they have a better way; don’t we? However, this Commandment cannot be amended. Loving God is not a suggestion it is an order. The words, ‘Thou shalt not,’ appear 240 times in 219 verses. In those verses, it appears 218 of the 240 times in the Old Testament, which is in 204 verses. It is implied more though. The Ten Commandments are not the Ten Suggestions. Yes, they were given to the children of Israel, but they apply to us all.
To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul is something that we could all work on. It is easily said, that one loves the Lord, but is it readily read, or shown in their lives. Another way of saying this would be, ‘it is easy to talk the talk, but are you walking your talk?’ Living for Christ is not easily done when a person puts self in front of God. I can hear people now; ‘I always follow God.’ Do you? We need to realize that the only way to love God, HIS WAY, is to put our way out of the way. That’s where pride comes in. Remember, pride separates us from God; always has, always will. To serve God with the love HE desires means we must put ourselves to the side. This first commandment seems to be easily understood, doesn’t it? We could have the attitude, ‘just don’t serve any god, but the one and True God, and everything is okay.’ This would solve everything, right? If we looked at it that way we would still have problems; mainly because of this world and its god, which is Satan. Loving and serving the One and True God would help us, but sometimes God allows things to happen so we can depend upon HIM. If we look at it in the way the first Commandment is meant, it is a lot harder to do. Just because we assume that the Lord is just talking about idols doesn’t mean that HE is. He addresses idols in the second commandment, which we will look at another time. We need to understand that if there is anything that we do that takes the place of God in our lives, then that activity can become ‘other gods before HIM.’
There are three things that we can do to help us not have other gods before HIM. We all can study God’s Word, but we all can make excuses for not doing it. Reading the Bible is great, and I encourage everyone to do it. However, sitting down and really studying something out is totally different. I can remember something that happened in one of my very first Bible studies. I can remember when the real ‘meat of the passage’ I was studying was revealed to me. It made me want to study even more. I couldn’t get enough. As a young person and even after I was saved, I used the excuse of not understanding God’s Word for not studying it. Shame on me! I have come to the conclusion that we allow activities, jobs, friendships, hobbies, etc, become gods in our lives. When it gets to the point of having to do it with our all, we come very close to doing just that. I can remember when deer hunting became that way to me. NO, I am not saying that hunting is a god. I’m saying that when it becomes more important than God does, we make it a god in our lives. Hunting is one thing for me to use, but there are other things that may be in your life that become as gods in your life. Fill in the blank, so to speak. Praying is a good way to keep other gods out of our lives. Asking God to help us daily to do what HE wants for us to do is the biggest key to not allowing other gods between you and HIM. So we have studying the Bible, praying, and now we have praising Him. Giving praise to Him for good things in our lives is easily done, but neglected. We should praise HIM and thank HIM daily for the great things HE does for us. Praising or thanking HIM for the tough times in our lives is really hard to do. However, the tough things in our lives develop us in our physical and spiritual lives. We usually want to play the blame game instead of thanking HIM. Spiritual growth is dependant upon all three of these things.
I challenge anyone reading this to look at activities, readings, hobbies, etc, and see what you have done to become more of an expertise in these areas. Does it take time away from studying the Bible, praying and worshipping the Lord in our lives? Do they keep us from being faithful to HIM in church and in our lives? HE should be on top of the list. If these three things are not at the top of our lists, then we could, and probably do have other gods in the way. Just a thought. What is your’s?
Thought of the Day - 01/04/07
Dying Christianity
A Prevailing Churches’ Decease
Revelation 3:1 – 6
There are many things that are in the book of Revelation that are unexplainable. If you poll many church members in your church on a book of the Bible that they would like to have a, scripture by scripture, through the book study on, you will find that the book of Revelation is the number 1 book asked for. The book of Genesis and John run distant seconds or thirds. I’m one that is no less interested in the book of Revelation. I call it the book of the unknown stuff. Of course, I hold it just as holy as any part of the Holy Bible. I love to read it and study it too. I’m not an expert on the book of Revelation, and if most preachers, theologians, or just your everyday Christians would be truthful you would find out that would tell you they weren’t either. There are things that you can figure out, but the big picture may not be complete. However, in reading something this morning, I came across a very interesting passage, which I’d love to share with you. If you have opinions about it, I’d love to hear them.
In chapters 2 and 3, we find that Jesus is addressing the seven churches. The church at Smyrna is one that HE exhorted and seemed not to have anything against them. The church that really caught my eye was the church at Sardis. Jesus knows all these churches and their works. This church was no different. I did note to myself that Jesus didn’t say, ‘I have somewhat against thee.’ One might assume that HE didn’t have anything against the church at Sardis, but that would be a big mistake. This church looked alive from outside, but inwardly they were dead. Jesus said, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. All too often churches get so focused in one or two areas and miss a big thing. That thing is this; EVERY CHURCH ROLL IS NOT MADE UP OF JUST CHRISTIANS. This fact should not shock any of us. There are many reasons for this. People thinking baptism is what saves them instead of Christ, people not really repenting, but just going through the motions, and of course the old statement, ‘I was raised in this church,’ just to name a few. I guess that why Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them, (Matt.7:20). In Revelation 3:4, the Lord told Sardis, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” Sardis also probably thought that their works where great. They may have thought they were doing everything right. However, the Lord said, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” The saved people in this church may have become influenced by the world. They had decided that it was okay to live the ways of the world and go to church too. They weren’t being watchful of HIS church. They had a ‘don’t care’ attitude.
In the United States we can see that Christianity and our churches have weakened. I can remember in the 60’s and 70’s when churches were strong and Christianity was the motivation of the land. I’ve heard of how much stronger they were before then, but I’m not old enough to remember that. However, I can remember when Christians stood firm on God’s Word and things that were right. Today, I believe our churches to be weaker and more accepting to things of this world that are slowly killing churches. I would be one that agrees that this is not the only thing that is killing churches either. One thing that this preacher believes is a big key element of churches dying is that Christians do not study God’s Word for themselves and just take preachers’ and teachers’ teachings at face value. After all they ‘know what God’s Word says more than I do.’ Sin is a prevailing factor in churches, that much of the time goes unnamed or ignored. After all, we want numbers and money, and the more people we have in church and the more money we get, means that we can build bigger buildings and be seen more. I agree that Christians absolutely need to be seen more. However, building bigger buildings is not a way to grow. A church must grow spiritually before it can grow in numbers. Think about it. Constructing bigger buildings is the wrong motivation. The only church I’ve ever pastored was a great lesson for me, in many ways. The one that stands out the most was how many members of that church that were on that roll that were saved by God’s grace while I was there. Even more so I saw God move in many other lives there. Why? Those people were really seeking God at that time. God used me, but I wasn’t the factor for these decisions. I really believe that we, as saved people, have stopped seeking God. You can argue that statement, but our nation shows that many Christians have stopped really seeking God’s will in their lives, in their churches, and as a spiritual guidance. We are so busy doing what we want too, that God and HIS direction are put on the back burner, so to speak.
This church at Sardis had good works. Not everything they were doing had died. The Christians that were there had good works! However, they were between a rock and a hard place. They were probably trying to straddle the fence. Live for the world and God at the same time. This was a wrong decision by them. The Lord told them, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent, vs. 3.” Churches seem to hold fast to traditional beliefs more than they do scriptural teachings. Many saved people believe, by the show of our actions, that being the quiet majority is best. I’ve wondered what would happen, in the little town I live in, if preachers started preaching on the corners of the streets and Christians were more vocal in their stands for God. It is a huge possibility that the preacher or preachers that decided to do this everyday would eventually be told to leave or even get arrested for disturbing the peace. Why would this happen? People in the world simply don’t want to hear it. The preaching of the gospel is foolishness to the world. Paul talked about that in 1 Corinthians. Of course if Christians are living with the world and doing the same thing as the world, the lost would listen anyway. They would use those Christians as excuses, don’t you think?
We all know that Christian people gathered together in a common bond to serve God make up individual churches. Today, Christians, in general, have totally lost focus on what we should or shouldn’t do. The church at Sardis apparently lost focus too. The Lord went on to tell the church at Sardis, in laymen’s terms, “If you don’t change I will come as a thief and you will not know when.” What is meant by that? I am a man that believes if a church does some things wrong continually that God can, will, and has removed His Spirit from that church. How can you tell when God’s Spirit is removed? One thing is the church is completely dead. People aren’t being saved. The few saved people in that church are stifled. There is coldness in that church. Just because there are big numbers and lots of money in a church building doesn’t mean that this church is really serving God. There is no Spiritual leadership there. Can a church that is dead come back to life? It can if it chooses too. REPENTANCE and a desire to serve the LORD is the only way. Not every church comes back though. Many churches shut the door simply because they locked God out. God must be allowed in the individual churches to really grow.
So, what is the cure for a sick church? His name is Jesus Christ! We’ve got to be willing to serve Him with our all. Real Christian men and women need to separate themselves from the world. We need to stop trying to straddle the fence. We cannot serve God and the world at the same time. Churches need to be separate from the world. We need to be about God’s business. The lost in our churches need to hear the gospel, because it ‘is the power unto salvation.’ How do we know whether we are separate or not? If we know it is wrong, then stop doing it. Ask God to prevail in our lives, and be serious about it. Allow HIM to prevail. Encourage members of your church to stand against sin and stand up for what is right. This is the beginning of good and perfect works in serving a great KING. Remember: There are no gray areas with God; it’s all black and white.
A Prevailing Churches’ Decease
Revelation 3:1 – 6
There are many things that are in the book of Revelation that are unexplainable. If you poll many church members in your church on a book of the Bible that they would like to have a, scripture by scripture, through the book study on, you will find that the book of Revelation is the number 1 book asked for. The book of Genesis and John run distant seconds or thirds. I’m one that is no less interested in the book of Revelation. I call it the book of the unknown stuff. Of course, I hold it just as holy as any part of the Holy Bible. I love to read it and study it too. I’m not an expert on the book of Revelation, and if most preachers, theologians, or just your everyday Christians would be truthful you would find out that would tell you they weren’t either. There are things that you can figure out, but the big picture may not be complete. However, in reading something this morning, I came across a very interesting passage, which I’d love to share with you. If you have opinions about it, I’d love to hear them.
In chapters 2 and 3, we find that Jesus is addressing the seven churches. The church at Smyrna is one that HE exhorted and seemed not to have anything against them. The church that really caught my eye was the church at Sardis. Jesus knows all these churches and their works. This church was no different. I did note to myself that Jesus didn’t say, ‘I have somewhat against thee.’ One might assume that HE didn’t have anything against the church at Sardis, but that would be a big mistake. This church looked alive from outside, but inwardly they were dead. Jesus said, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. All too often churches get so focused in one or two areas and miss a big thing. That thing is this; EVERY CHURCH ROLL IS NOT MADE UP OF JUST CHRISTIANS. This fact should not shock any of us. There are many reasons for this. People thinking baptism is what saves them instead of Christ, people not really repenting, but just going through the motions, and of course the old statement, ‘I was raised in this church,’ just to name a few. I guess that why Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them, (Matt.7:20). In Revelation 3:4, the Lord told Sardis, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” Sardis also probably thought that their works where great. They may have thought they were doing everything right. However, the Lord said, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” The saved people in this church may have become influenced by the world. They had decided that it was okay to live the ways of the world and go to church too. They weren’t being watchful of HIS church. They had a ‘don’t care’ attitude.
In the United States we can see that Christianity and our churches have weakened. I can remember in the 60’s and 70’s when churches were strong and Christianity was the motivation of the land. I’ve heard of how much stronger they were before then, but I’m not old enough to remember that. However, I can remember when Christians stood firm on God’s Word and things that were right. Today, I believe our churches to be weaker and more accepting to things of this world that are slowly killing churches. I would be one that agrees that this is not the only thing that is killing churches either. One thing that this preacher believes is a big key element of churches dying is that Christians do not study God’s Word for themselves and just take preachers’ and teachers’ teachings at face value. After all they ‘know what God’s Word says more than I do.’ Sin is a prevailing factor in churches, that much of the time goes unnamed or ignored. After all, we want numbers and money, and the more people we have in church and the more money we get, means that we can build bigger buildings and be seen more. I agree that Christians absolutely need to be seen more. However, building bigger buildings is not a way to grow. A church must grow spiritually before it can grow in numbers. Think about it. Constructing bigger buildings is the wrong motivation. The only church I’ve ever pastored was a great lesson for me, in many ways. The one that stands out the most was how many members of that church that were on that roll that were saved by God’s grace while I was there. Even more so I saw God move in many other lives there. Why? Those people were really seeking God at that time. God used me, but I wasn’t the factor for these decisions. I really believe that we, as saved people, have stopped seeking God. You can argue that statement, but our nation shows that many Christians have stopped really seeking God’s will in their lives, in their churches, and as a spiritual guidance. We are so busy doing what we want too, that God and HIS direction are put on the back burner, so to speak.
This church at Sardis had good works. Not everything they were doing had died. The Christians that were there had good works! However, they were between a rock and a hard place. They were probably trying to straddle the fence. Live for the world and God at the same time. This was a wrong decision by them. The Lord told them, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent, vs. 3.” Churches seem to hold fast to traditional beliefs more than they do scriptural teachings. Many saved people believe, by the show of our actions, that being the quiet majority is best. I’ve wondered what would happen, in the little town I live in, if preachers started preaching on the corners of the streets and Christians were more vocal in their stands for God. It is a huge possibility that the preacher or preachers that decided to do this everyday would eventually be told to leave or even get arrested for disturbing the peace. Why would this happen? People in the world simply don’t want to hear it. The preaching of the gospel is foolishness to the world. Paul talked about that in 1 Corinthians. Of course if Christians are living with the world and doing the same thing as the world, the lost would listen anyway. They would use those Christians as excuses, don’t you think?
We all know that Christian people gathered together in a common bond to serve God make up individual churches. Today, Christians, in general, have totally lost focus on what we should or shouldn’t do. The church at Sardis apparently lost focus too. The Lord went on to tell the church at Sardis, in laymen’s terms, “If you don’t change I will come as a thief and you will not know when.” What is meant by that? I am a man that believes if a church does some things wrong continually that God can, will, and has removed His Spirit from that church. How can you tell when God’s Spirit is removed? One thing is the church is completely dead. People aren’t being saved. The few saved people in that church are stifled. There is coldness in that church. Just because there are big numbers and lots of money in a church building doesn’t mean that this church is really serving God. There is no Spiritual leadership there. Can a church that is dead come back to life? It can if it chooses too. REPENTANCE and a desire to serve the LORD is the only way. Not every church comes back though. Many churches shut the door simply because they locked God out. God must be allowed in the individual churches to really grow.
So, what is the cure for a sick church? His name is Jesus Christ! We’ve got to be willing to serve Him with our all. Real Christian men and women need to separate themselves from the world. We need to stop trying to straddle the fence. We cannot serve God and the world at the same time. Churches need to be separate from the world. We need to be about God’s business. The lost in our churches need to hear the gospel, because it ‘is the power unto salvation.’ How do we know whether we are separate or not? If we know it is wrong, then stop doing it. Ask God to prevail in our lives, and be serious about it. Allow HIM to prevail. Encourage members of your church to stand against sin and stand up for what is right. This is the beginning of good and perfect works in serving a great KING. Remember: There are no gray areas with God; it’s all black and white.
Thought fo the day - 01/03/07
Lord, What Do You Want Me To Do?
His will verses Man’s will
Jeremiah 29:11
In Jeremiah 29:11, King James Version, we see where Jeremiah wrote a letter to the captives in Babylon. In this passage, we should take note that the Lord had something to say also. Jeremiah writes, “For I know the thought that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you and expected end.”
We know the Bible tells us that God foreknows everything. He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Omnipresent means He is everywhere at all times. Omniscient means He knows everything. For a friend of mine, He is the only one that knows when you have been bad or good. He is the only one that knows when you awake and sleeping. He knows all things about you. Omnipotent means He is ALMIGHTY. He has unlimited power, authority, and influence. HE IS GOD! We can be comforted in knowing that these facts are true. But there are questions that we all ponder at times. With God being Almighty, with unlimited power, authority, and influence, why doesn’t HE influence man to do HIS will? Good question, huh? The answers are simple to this question, or are they?
We find throughout the Old Testament where the Lord had rules for His children to follow. They were held to the letter of the law. I’m reminded of a man named Achan. The Lord had told Joshua to take Israel into Ai, after Joshua had taken Jericho, and smite all the men, women, and children. He told them to kill their animals, and then burn all their possessions. However, Achan saw some things that he liked, and probably desired to have before, so he took them. From Jericho, Joshua sent spies into the land of Ai, to see what was needed to take this location. The spies came back and said, “Just send two or three thousand men to take this place, because they are few.” As you read further in Joshua 7, we find that Joshua did just that. As Israel approached Ai they found Ai prepared and they chased Israel down the mountain and killed 36 of the Israelites. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord and asked why? The Lord told him, “There is sin in the camp.” As the story goes on, we find out that Achan’s sin caused this to happen to Israel. He, his family, which included all women, children, and possibly grandchildren and their animals were stoned to death. Then they were burned. Achan’s lineage was stopped dead still.
We find that there are still rules for Christians to follow today too. There are many religious people who think that the Old Testament does not apply to us, but we find that the New Testament fulfills and backs up the Old Testament. However, what is the difference. If one of God’s people did not do what he had been told to, there was a good possibility that their lives on this earth would cease. God seemed to hold the children of Israel to a higher standard, or did He? In fact, the Lord expects His children to be just obedient as He expected Israel to be in the Old Testament. The key word for this day is, yep you guessed it, “GRACE.” We know Jesus gave His life for us and opened up grace. Wow! What a word! Paul told the church of Ephesus, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast,” (Ephesians 2:8 – 9). However, we need to understand that grace is not a ticket to do whatever we want too. All too often we find people, who under the heading, “Christian,” lead lives that they think are okay to do. Even after being taught by the Word of God to be separate from the world, we decide, ‘well I’m under grace, so it won’t matter.’ I realize nobody thinks that before they do wrong things, but the action of these people say it loud and clear; don’t they?
These actions are not the only thing that people do either. There are people who live Christian lives, serve the Lord, and seem to really love the Lord, who still make decisions against God’s will. Why do we do this folks? Why doesn’t God, who is everywhere, all powerful, and knows everything we do, just take us by our hand and say, ‘here Ronnie, or whomever, I want you to do this and really persuade or force us to do it? Wouldn’t that be the simple way to do it? Or, as Becky would say, “God just give me a billboard sign, so I will know what you really want me to do.” I know God has the ability to do this, but there is a reason He doesn’t do this all the time. I feel He does persuade us to do things sometimes, but then there are times He doesn’t. If He made us do what He wanted us to do, we wouldn’t have a choice. Choices are a big part of life.
The Lord wants us to choose HIM! He doesn’t want us to be forced to choose HIM. If He made us choose Him, then grace would not be needed, would it? What does this have to do with Jeremiah’s writing? He does know what He wants for us. He knows His plan for us. It is not always easy to wait upon the Lord for Him to show us His will for us. However, we have to work our faith in Him. I personally have had a hard time waiting on Him in areas of my life. I know I’m not the only one that has. However, waiting is a key ingredient to bringing Him honor and glory. After all, it’s all about Him. I have a desire to do something, and many times I have gotten really discouraged. A couple of times I got so discouraged that I almost threw my hands up and said, ‘why do I even go to church any more?” I almost dropped out, because I felt like God just didn’t want to use me any longer. I lost focus! I’m so focused on me that I can’t see Him. I find that there are victories that come from waiting. Discouragement comes from not being as close to God as we need to be. Why do I say this? We need to understand that Satan attacks those who are weak faster than those who are strong. You get stronger by being closer to the Lord. You get closer to the Lord by doing his will. We know Satan attacks strong people also. When we rely on the Lord, He blocks Satan for us. Discouragement comes from not relying on the Lord enough.
How do we get closer to Him then? We get closer to Him by talking to Him. Studying His Word and obeying His Word, which in turn makes us stronger. People are always going to make decisions. Some of their decisions will hurt others. Do they intentionally hurt others? Sometimes, they do, but most of the time they don’t. People have choices. Not all choices or decisions we make are God lead decisions though. To accomplish making God lead decisions, we must listen to Him, which get us out of the way. We have a choice to accept Christ as Savior or reject Him. We have a choice to follow Him or do our own thing. We have a choice to do whatever we want. Many times when we do what we want, it’s not necessarily what God wants us to do. Are there penalties and rewards for doing it our way? Absolutely! We reap what we sow, period. The Lord desires us to be obedient, to be His child, and to serve Him. As many of us have found, doing it God’s way is always better. Eventually it turns out that we are going to do it His way any way. Remember; it has got to be all about HIM anyway. When we get “I” and “me” out of the way, we usually find out what His will is for us a lot faster. I believe that this is a lesson we could all learn from
His will verses Man’s will
Jeremiah 29:11
In Jeremiah 29:11, King James Version, we see where Jeremiah wrote a letter to the captives in Babylon. In this passage, we should take note that the Lord had something to say also. Jeremiah writes, “For I know the thought that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you and expected end.”
We know the Bible tells us that God foreknows everything. He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Omnipresent means He is everywhere at all times. Omniscient means He knows everything. For a friend of mine, He is the only one that knows when you have been bad or good. He is the only one that knows when you awake and sleeping. He knows all things about you. Omnipotent means He is ALMIGHTY. He has unlimited power, authority, and influence. HE IS GOD! We can be comforted in knowing that these facts are true. But there are questions that we all ponder at times. With God being Almighty, with unlimited power, authority, and influence, why doesn’t HE influence man to do HIS will? Good question, huh? The answers are simple to this question, or are they?
We find throughout the Old Testament where the Lord had rules for His children to follow. They were held to the letter of the law. I’m reminded of a man named Achan. The Lord had told Joshua to take Israel into Ai, after Joshua had taken Jericho, and smite all the men, women, and children. He told them to kill their animals, and then burn all their possessions. However, Achan saw some things that he liked, and probably desired to have before, so he took them. From Jericho, Joshua sent spies into the land of Ai, to see what was needed to take this location. The spies came back and said, “Just send two or three thousand men to take this place, because they are few.” As you read further in Joshua 7, we find that Joshua did just that. As Israel approached Ai they found Ai prepared and they chased Israel down the mountain and killed 36 of the Israelites. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord and asked why? The Lord told him, “There is sin in the camp.” As the story goes on, we find out that Achan’s sin caused this to happen to Israel. He, his family, which included all women, children, and possibly grandchildren and their animals were stoned to death. Then they were burned. Achan’s lineage was stopped dead still.
We find that there are still rules for Christians to follow today too. There are many religious people who think that the Old Testament does not apply to us, but we find that the New Testament fulfills and backs up the Old Testament. However, what is the difference. If one of God’s people did not do what he had been told to, there was a good possibility that their lives on this earth would cease. God seemed to hold the children of Israel to a higher standard, or did He? In fact, the Lord expects His children to be just obedient as He expected Israel to be in the Old Testament. The key word for this day is, yep you guessed it, “GRACE.” We know Jesus gave His life for us and opened up grace. Wow! What a word! Paul told the church of Ephesus, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast,” (Ephesians 2:8 – 9). However, we need to understand that grace is not a ticket to do whatever we want too. All too often we find people, who under the heading, “Christian,” lead lives that they think are okay to do. Even after being taught by the Word of God to be separate from the world, we decide, ‘well I’m under grace, so it won’t matter.’ I realize nobody thinks that before they do wrong things, but the action of these people say it loud and clear; don’t they?
These actions are not the only thing that people do either. There are people who live Christian lives, serve the Lord, and seem to really love the Lord, who still make decisions against God’s will. Why do we do this folks? Why doesn’t God, who is everywhere, all powerful, and knows everything we do, just take us by our hand and say, ‘here Ronnie, or whomever, I want you to do this and really persuade or force us to do it? Wouldn’t that be the simple way to do it? Or, as Becky would say, “God just give me a billboard sign, so I will know what you really want me to do.” I know God has the ability to do this, but there is a reason He doesn’t do this all the time. I feel He does persuade us to do things sometimes, but then there are times He doesn’t. If He made us do what He wanted us to do, we wouldn’t have a choice. Choices are a big part of life.
The Lord wants us to choose HIM! He doesn’t want us to be forced to choose HIM. If He made us choose Him, then grace would not be needed, would it? What does this have to do with Jeremiah’s writing? He does know what He wants for us. He knows His plan for us. It is not always easy to wait upon the Lord for Him to show us His will for us. However, we have to work our faith in Him. I personally have had a hard time waiting on Him in areas of my life. I know I’m not the only one that has. However, waiting is a key ingredient to bringing Him honor and glory. After all, it’s all about Him. I have a desire to do something, and many times I have gotten really discouraged. A couple of times I got so discouraged that I almost threw my hands up and said, ‘why do I even go to church any more?” I almost dropped out, because I felt like God just didn’t want to use me any longer. I lost focus! I’m so focused on me that I can’t see Him. I find that there are victories that come from waiting. Discouragement comes from not being as close to God as we need to be. Why do I say this? We need to understand that Satan attacks those who are weak faster than those who are strong. You get stronger by being closer to the Lord. You get closer to the Lord by doing his will. We know Satan attacks strong people also. When we rely on the Lord, He blocks Satan for us. Discouragement comes from not relying on the Lord enough.
How do we get closer to Him then? We get closer to Him by talking to Him. Studying His Word and obeying His Word, which in turn makes us stronger. People are always going to make decisions. Some of their decisions will hurt others. Do they intentionally hurt others? Sometimes, they do, but most of the time they don’t. People have choices. Not all choices or decisions we make are God lead decisions though. To accomplish making God lead decisions, we must listen to Him, which get us out of the way. We have a choice to accept Christ as Savior or reject Him. We have a choice to follow Him or do our own thing. We have a choice to do whatever we want. Many times when we do what we want, it’s not necessarily what God wants us to do. Are there penalties and rewards for doing it our way? Absolutely! We reap what we sow, period. The Lord desires us to be obedient, to be His child, and to serve Him. As many of us have found, doing it God’s way is always better. Eventually it turns out that we are going to do it His way any way. Remember; it has got to be all about HIM anyway. When we get “I” and “me” out of the way, we usually find out what His will is for us a lot faster. I believe that this is a lesson we could all learn from
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Thought for the day: Prayer; The Real Need for It
Prayer
The Real Need for It
1 Thessalonians 5:17
I recently read a message that a very dear friend of mine posted. It was entitled “Pray For Me.” He actually preached this message on the 30th of December, and I really enjoyed his comments. Reading a message and hearing a message doesn’t have the same impact, at times, to me. I guess I’ve been more focused on prayer since I was asked by a pastor if I would join a prayer group to pray with him, for him and for his church. I’ve made an all effort to pray more than I normally did. Oh, yeah, I’ve prayed, but not hard enough, I believe. I’ve even prayed harder for my own pastor, and in turn was rewarded with one of the best messages I’ve heard him preach. God used it to show me things. Now I wonder if I had been praying harder for him, how much more I would have received from previous messages, and even more, how much our relationship might have grown. As I have studied God’s Word, I find that Paul talked about praying more than any apostle that I’ve read. He preached it, requested it, and even did it. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to “Pray without ceasing.” I realize that we sleep and at that point we quit praying. However, we could go to bed with a very prayerful heart, couldn’t we?
I’m reminded of a mother, by the name of Hannah, who prayed faithfully about having a man child, son. 1 Samuel 1:10 tells us, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give me a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” We read further to find out that Eli thought she was drunk because she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard (vs. 13)
As you read own further in 1 Samuel, you find out that God blessed her with a son, and she named him Samuel. Hannah was true to her word also. In verses 24 – 28, we find that she gave her son to Eli, the high priest, to be raised to serve the Lord. We find out, in chapter 2, that Hannah prayed again giving thanks to the Lord telling Him that she was rejoicing, because HE answered her prayer. Because of faithfulness in prayer and obedience to her promise she was later blessed by God with three more sons and two daughters. Prayer; what a powerful tool!
Prayer is something that is not used near enough. We tell people we are going to pray for them, but do we really pray for them? Sure, we may casually say a prayer, at the time, or when it comes to our mine, but do we really pray fervently or hard? James tells us, in James 5:16, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” If people aren’t praying like we should, then we could come to the final conclusion of the matter: Ready for this? Churches do not really pray. I know that there are people in churches that pray. It’s usually about 5% of the people that seriously and earnestly pray, maybe a smaller percentage. Let’s just say 2% of Christians really pray now, and God is showing mighty works through these churches because of these 2 percent. How much more would God bless churches if 98% of the Christians prayed hard?
It has taken me several years to take note of the fact that we do not pray like we should. Churches with pastors don’t pray enough for them. They have the highest job in all the world and we wonder why so many give it up. We put them on pedestals and usually find ourselves disappointed when the man side of them comes out. So, when they may do something we don’t like, we leave the church that God may very well want us at, or we get rid of them, because we have a problem. The fact is people really start having problems; it seems, with their pastor when they stop praying for him. Truth is, churches who pray together, get stronger. They seek God’s direction in every decision, and don’t rely on things such as traditional beliefs, or their thoughts on subjects. It is all about HIM to those churches. God reveals things to people who pray! We should seek God’s direction in our lives every day. Pray hard. When we do, and God shows us what He wants for us, it really is very clear. It is so clear it seems we don’t have as easy of a time finding faults with people, places or things. A lesson this old saved man has learned way too hard. My challenges, through this thought for the day, to anyone who reads this, pray hard, but pray seriously. Look for God’s instructions, directions, and guidance. Doing this will make disappointments a lot less painful, and give life a bigger meaning.
The Real Need for It
1 Thessalonians 5:17
I recently read a message that a very dear friend of mine posted. It was entitled “Pray For Me.” He actually preached this message on the 30th of December, and I really enjoyed his comments. Reading a message and hearing a message doesn’t have the same impact, at times, to me. I guess I’ve been more focused on prayer since I was asked by a pastor if I would join a prayer group to pray with him, for him and for his church. I’ve made an all effort to pray more than I normally did. Oh, yeah, I’ve prayed, but not hard enough, I believe. I’ve even prayed harder for my own pastor, and in turn was rewarded with one of the best messages I’ve heard him preach. God used it to show me things. Now I wonder if I had been praying harder for him, how much more I would have received from previous messages, and even more, how much our relationship might have grown. As I have studied God’s Word, I find that Paul talked about praying more than any apostle that I’ve read. He preached it, requested it, and even did it. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to “Pray without ceasing.” I realize that we sleep and at that point we quit praying. However, we could go to bed with a very prayerful heart, couldn’t we?
I’m reminded of a mother, by the name of Hannah, who prayed faithfully about having a man child, son. 1 Samuel 1:10 tells us, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give me a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” We read further to find out that Eli thought she was drunk because she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard (vs. 13)
As you read own further in 1 Samuel, you find out that God blessed her with a son, and she named him Samuel. Hannah was true to her word also. In verses 24 – 28, we find that she gave her son to Eli, the high priest, to be raised to serve the Lord. We find out, in chapter 2, that Hannah prayed again giving thanks to the Lord telling Him that she was rejoicing, because HE answered her prayer. Because of faithfulness in prayer and obedience to her promise she was later blessed by God with three more sons and two daughters. Prayer; what a powerful tool!
Prayer is something that is not used near enough. We tell people we are going to pray for them, but do we really pray for them? Sure, we may casually say a prayer, at the time, or when it comes to our mine, but do we really pray fervently or hard? James tells us, in James 5:16, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” If people aren’t praying like we should, then we could come to the final conclusion of the matter: Ready for this? Churches do not really pray. I know that there are people in churches that pray. It’s usually about 5% of the people that seriously and earnestly pray, maybe a smaller percentage. Let’s just say 2% of Christians really pray now, and God is showing mighty works through these churches because of these 2 percent. How much more would God bless churches if 98% of the Christians prayed hard?
It has taken me several years to take note of the fact that we do not pray like we should. Churches with pastors don’t pray enough for them. They have the highest job in all the world and we wonder why so many give it up. We put them on pedestals and usually find ourselves disappointed when the man side of them comes out. So, when they may do something we don’t like, we leave the church that God may very well want us at, or we get rid of them, because we have a problem. The fact is people really start having problems; it seems, with their pastor when they stop praying for him. Truth is, churches who pray together, get stronger. They seek God’s direction in every decision, and don’t rely on things such as traditional beliefs, or their thoughts on subjects. It is all about HIM to those churches. God reveals things to people who pray! We should seek God’s direction in our lives every day. Pray hard. When we do, and God shows us what He wants for us, it really is very clear. It is so clear it seems we don’t have as easy of a time finding faults with people, places or things. A lesson this old saved man has learned way too hard. My challenges, through this thought for the day, to anyone who reads this, pray hard, but pray seriously. Look for God’s instructions, directions, and guidance. Doing this will make disappointments a lot less painful, and give life a bigger meaning.
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