Viewpoints of a Preacherman

Just wondering what Christians think

2011-04-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

A Short Life is Equal to a Dash

2010-03-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

I can remember a time when Sunday was a day for two things. First, it was a day of going to church and then coming home with family and really making it a family day. Unfortunately, there is not much of that going on in today's world. We are told that in the end times that ther would be a great falling away, and by George, the Bible is right again.
Just about all churches would be full on Sunday mornings and when preachers preached past noon there wasn't anything said. When we got home, my grandmother would have already cooked for Sunday on Saturday. We usually had chicken fired steak, potatoes and other vegetables and pickled peaches for starters. For desert it was banana or chocolate pudding or pies of different styles. What happened to those days?!?!?!
I was a young kid back then, and now all my grandparents, and both parents are gone. Even though some of those memories were a long time ago, they seem like it was just yesterday to me. James tells us, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14). He points our some great things in this on verse.
First, we all have this habit of telling people that we will do something tomorrow or we have plans for tomorrow. I have tried to always tell people, Lord willing I'll do it tomorrow, but I've not always been successful at it. We do not know what is going to happen in the next minute, much less tomorrow. Are you ready if tomorrow never comes?
Second, James asked a good question; "What is your life?" I realize he answered a a portion of that in this scripture, but let's look at it in full. I challenge you to look at your life and ask yourself, "what is my life all about?" When you die, people will look at your tombstone and see the date you were born and the date your life ended on earth. I think we would agree that those are two very important dates. However, the dash stands for what your life stood for. What will the dash say about you??? How will you be remembered? Will you be remembered as a person who loved Jesus and tried to serve Him, or will it be remembered for all the earthly things you did? So, what does your life stand for now?
Third, James reminds us that life is very short even when we die at an old age. I will soon be 50, if the Lord allows me to live that long. I realize there are those who are older than me will say, ' you're still a kid.' I laugh when I tell those that are younger than me the same thing. However, I can remember things that happened to me as a kid better than I can remember things I did yesterday. they still seem so real to me. I remember talking to a young lady who was only 16, wishing she was 18. she was in the youth group at Cedar Creek MBC, where I pastored and she was wishing her life away, lol. I was 43 then and I simply told her to enjoy her youth. I asked her, 'how long do you think it took me to get fro 18 to 43? I know it took only 25 years, but is seemed like it only took 5 or so. Life is fast and everything we do today is really important. A vapour is something that appears for just a second and then disappears into nothing.
Life on earth is short, but we must remember that we can choose to live forever. We must choose Christ. We must accept the truth of "how Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" 91 Cor. 15:3-4). Life is truly very short; so we must choose to do good and abstain from evil. We al nee to choose life over death. We need to remember that we are in control of our destiny and we need to wonder what people will remember about us when we leave this earth. My challenge to you is to seek Christ, live life for Him, and know that He is the only way to eternal life.

Thought of the Day - The Pot of Sin Stew

2009-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Why Are We Bothered With Troubles?
The Pot of Sin Stew
2 Timothy 3:1 – 7

At noon, on Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the crowd on the dock was tremendous. Family members and friends of 2201 people, which including the employees themselves, that were going on a trip of a lifetime were waving and cheering. It may have very well been a brisk day in South Hampton, England, as all the people looked upon the ship, which was deemed unsinkable by many. False security was built up to people about this ship. A group of reporters gathered at the New York office of White Star Line and questioned the company’s Vice President, Philip Franklin, when he showed up for work, and he reassured everyone with the following statement. “There is no danger that the Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers.” Even one of the White Star Employees, who was about to launch out on this trip said, “Not even God Himself can sink this ship.” The fact is there were not many people, including the captain and the ship’s engineers believed that God could sink it either. Four days later, the bright stars were shining down on a wide open sea. It was reportedly 33 degrees, on that cold Sunday night of April 14, 1912, as many of the passengers, who had enjoyed a meal and went on to the dancing, and wining and dining, that usually goes on with these trips. Of course, at 11:00 p.m., many of the people had no doubt gone to bed, to be refreshed the next morning. There had been many warnings about icebergs in this area. “Full steam ahead,” the captain said, “We are making great time.” It is said that they were ahead of schedule on this trip. However, at 11:40 p.m. the ship came to an abrupt stop when it encountered an iceberg that doomed this unsinkable ship. By 2:20 a.m. on Monday, April 15, the ship was sunk and 1,517 people including men, women, and children were all gone.
In the passage of 2 Timothy 3:2, Paul writes, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…” We have established that perilous times will come because of men loving themselves, and because of men’s love for money. However, Paul covers two things that go hand in hand after that. So, in this pot of death stew we are cooking we add boasting and pride. We see that “In the last days, men will be boasters and proud.” Pride has always been a downfall for man. The pride happened when Lucifer told God that he was going to ascend his throne above the Lord’s. He, in fact, had 1/3 of all the angels supporting him. He was cast to the earth, where he controls the lost and makes war with God’s children. Pride got the best of the captain of the Titanic. He thought the ship was unsinkable and invincible. Even though he may not have said it his actions showed it. He found out that his pride ended up costing 1,516 more lives. It wasn’t just his life lost.
America has the same kind of problem today. We are full of pride and boast about the accomplishments that we make. Pride will be the downfall of America. It already is. Many people who call Jesus their Savior have the same pride. We have become complacent in our nation and in our lives. We believe we are invincible too. Pride separates man from God. He cannot work in a person’s life the way HE wants too, when a man is proud. This nation has had many great tragedies happen to it in it’s 200 plus years. Many hurricanes, tornadoes, and natural phenomenons have happened and many lives have been lost. However, we stay with the way we are and the way we live. Pearl Harbor and the twin towers were wake up calls from God, but we return to our sinful ways. I can remember when the nation prayed after 9/11, but less than 2 months we went back to life as we love it. God was, again, put to the side.
Solomon tells us, in Proverbs 6:16 – 19, “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto HIM: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Does it surprise you that the seven things start off with pride? I know many people who believe in a Godly pride, but we need to understand that God will not have that which HE hates. There is no such thing. Pride has been the downfall of man since Adam. Adam had to test the Lord, so he could know as much as God. Guess what? He still doesn’t know as much as God and we don’t either.
Humility draws God to us. I am reminded of what the Lord told Solomon when he finished the house of the Lord. Solomon had prayed and dedicated the house of the Lord to the Lord. The Lord said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land,” (2Chronicles 7:14). This applies to all the Christians who have truly accepted Christ as Savior. The Lord specifically addresses this to HIS people. Christians are the ones who are really called by HIS Name. The instructions HE hands out here can only be done with humility. We are instructed to be humble before we pray.
Just like the Titanic, we feel our nation, our lives, and everything about us are pretty much invincible. We believe we are unsinkable. With that attitude, we will find our fate. Humility never hurts, and pride kills. The pot of stew is cooking good now. Can you smell what we are cooking in America? Loving ourselves and money more than God; boasting about it and being proud. This things by themselves lead to destruction.

Thought of the Day - A Pot of Deadly Stew

2009-08-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

Why Are We Bothered With Troubles? (3)
A Pot of Deadly Stew
2 Timothy 3:1 – 7

As I watched some of the news today it became even more apparent that we, as a nation, are falling fast into the pot. The pot I’m referring to is found in 2 Kings 4:40, where Elisha came into Gigal where there was a famine in the land. He told them to boil up a pot of herbs, wild vine, and wild gourds. As these sons of prophets were eating it they cried out, “O thou man of God, there is death in the pot.” Many might say, ‘well that pot brought forth death.’ So are the sins, which are mentioned in this passage of 2 Timothy. James said, “and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” James 1:15. Paul very carefully shows us that the perilous times are a stew of many things, which equal to a huge pot of SIN. The word ‘for’ can be translated as ‘because’ in verse two. There should have possibly been a semicolon or comma after the word ‘come’ in verse 1. The pot that these people were eating out of in 2 Kings was causing a serious perilous time. However, Elisha had the answer, just as Christ has the answer for this pot we are building up in America and the whole world.
We’ve covered the men who shall be lovers of their own selves. Verse 2 says, “For (because) men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” and then the list continues. There is an old song about keeping up with Jones’. In the lyrics it reads, “we have a four car garage, and we’re still adding on”. Now, I know most of who will read this knows the song. But, this particular sentence describes most Americans today. We want to keep up with the Jones’. I know one set of Jones’ who will probably read this and think, ‘well it won’t take much to keep up with us.’ The point is if the Smiths build a 250,000 dollar home, we want it. However, we want to out do them, and build a 260,000 dollar home, and add a pool. The definition of coveting is, wanting something so bad that you will make every effort to get it. The actual word in the Greek for the word ‘covetous’ is philarguros, means fond of money. Uh oh, you mean that this particular verse means that men will become fond of money too? Look at what has happened in America alone! Remember what happened to Wall Street? How executives come out with millions of dollars and retired people who had money saved lost most, if not all, their savings? Does the word, ‘recession’ mean anything?
So, let’s read this scripture how it means to this point; “Because men will be lovers of their own selves, and be in love with money.” I know that is not KJV, but that is what it means. This particular part reminds me of a young man coming to Jesus and asking Him a very important question. The accounting is shown in Matthew 19:16 – 24; Mark 10:17 – 23: Luke 18:18 – 25. He asked Jesus, “What good thing can I do, that I may have eternal life?” This man was rich! He had all he needed and could usually buy anything he wanted. Guess what?!?! He could not buy eternal life! Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” He told Jesus that he had kept the commandments from his youth. He said, “Now that I’ve done this, what do I lack?” Jesus said, (Layman terms) “Okay, well if you want to be perfect sell all you have, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.” Now, let’s look at the contrast here. Jesus told the disciples, “Follow Me,” and they dropped their lively hoods and followed Jesus. Today, there is not anyone, in America, who would truly give up everything to follow Jesus. This rich young ruler would not give up his money, because it was more than he thought he had to do. He actually thought he could buy his way to heaven. His riches were so important to him, that if he lost them he would have been like many people who lost the money in Wall Street in the great depression. He would have killed himself. He was used to a lavish lifestyle that he didn’t want to give up for anyone.
Jesus went on to tell the disciples, “It is easier for the camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,” (vs.24). Most people today are not this rich, but there are a whole bunch of us that are not willing to give up anything for Christ. The pot of sin, as I call it, has started with money. I guess that is why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” It doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil. It’s says the love of money is the root of all evil. Everything in this old world revolves around money! Nothing is free! Salvation was not free either. Jesus paid for it with HIS life.
This description of perilous times that Paul is talking about has been happening for a while. We are lovers of our own selves; we do love money. The reason we love money is because it empowers us to do what we want. It’s all about self. Some even do what they can to make more and more and more of it. A rich person is never satisfied, if they have not allowed God to lead them with their money. They are always looking for ways to make their money grow. It becomes a god or idol in their lives. That’s why Jesus said, in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve to masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon actually means money.
The perilous times show that man has lost focus upon the Lord. Our priorities are in the wrong place and, in our minds God is only there when we think we need Him. Truth is HE is always there. We just choose to ignore Him, and since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, there are usually only perilous times in our lives. To have peace in our lives and nation, we must first allow Jesus to be the Prince of Peace in our lives. Many saved people have lost that focus and need to return to Him. Lost people will never have peace in their lives without Him.

Thought of the Day - Life in the Fast Lane (2)

2009-08-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

Why Are We Bothered With Troubles (2)
Life in the Fast Lane
I Timothy 3:1 – 7

Paul has addressed the perilous (dangerous) times that we will endure in the last days. We know that as dangerous as our country has become in work, play, and just everyday living that we have become safety conscious. We know that many dangers can be avoided if we change our ways. As we read this particular passage, we could probably agree that many of the things Paul outlines from verse 2 through 7 are contributing issues to dangerous times in our lives. Verse 2 of this passage starts off, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” and of course the list goes on.
There are a lot of things to cover in this passage, but I want us to look at the first statement. “For men shall be lovers of their own selves.” I would like to say that there is no time in history that is more tied to this scripture than it is now. However, you can find it throughout God’s Word where many men have been about self. The phrase, “lovers of their own selves,” means that people will be about doing things that they want to do and not necessarily concerned about others or what others might think, much less God. Becky occasionally has told me, when in a conversation about something, “Not every thing is about you.” Sometimes we need to realize it is not about us. Most people are really selfish. We have to have the best of everything and can’t be satisfied with what we have. I know I have to fight myself when I see something that I really want. If I don’t, I usually get it anyway. Selfishness goes deeper than that though. We see people in need, and ignore them. If we give them something we think we should be honored by other men, or at least seen by others. We have this attitude of, “Did you see what I did?” If someone donates something to the church or to people, or to an organization, even our churches make plaques. And if they don’t, we want to know why.
I am reminded of the prayers of two men. Jesus told some people, which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others, a parable about these two men in Luke 18:9 – 13. He said, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Then Jesus laid it on the line when He said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” This is what Paul is talking about in this passage. There are two types of people. One chooses to look down his nose at people and uplift himself. The other has humility, and is willing to depend on God for salvation and later, other things. I would almost bet that the Publican, when forgiven, even helped others. We can see the humility in this man’s prayer. He acknowledged that he was worthless. This Pharisee fits the category in a lot of the ways Paul was telling Timothy about. You don’t see humility in his prayer; do you? Ask yourself this question; what category do you fit in?
Many people have been saved, but their thoughts and their ways are as the Pharisee. They think their religion has brought their relationship closer to God, but their attitude and self love has separated them from the relationship that they need from God. For the ones who have the attitude of the Publican, they see themselves as using a phrase that I hear Dave Ramsey say. He says, “I am blessed; more than I deserve.” We all are blessed. However, to see the true blessings of God, we must not love ourselves more than we love HIM. What does that mean? It means we must first be willing to do as the disciples did when Jesus told them to “Follow ME.” They gave up what they loved about themselves to really follow HIM. All people, this great nation, and the whole world need to see that it really isn’t about us; and it shouldn’t be. It’s all about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.
So, what part of the statement fits you? Do you love self more than God? A simple test will answer that for you. Are you really serving God, or are you doing just what you want too? You say, “I go to church.” That’s not the question; there are many people who go to church, but their relationship with the Lord is not strong, because they don’t allow HIM to be first in their lives. Another might say, ‘Well I don’t like to go to church, or I don’t like that preacher or some of those people, etc., and that is why I’m not going to church. Is that being all about self, or is it putting God first? Another question, Will that excuse be suitable to Jesus? If many would tell the truth, there are more of us who put self before the Lord many times. There are perilous times in the wicked old world, and there are perilous times in many peoples hearts. Loving our own self is a contributor to the perilous times that Paul talks about, and in our hearts. Because, when we put self before God, then there really is no real peace. In the movie, “Air Force One,” Harrison Ford is playing the part of the President. When addressing at crowd, at a dinner, he said, “It’s not the absence of war that brings peace. Real peace comes with the presence of Justice.” Jesus is the only one that can bring real peace to our lives and to this world. Let him calm the wars in your life; get out of HIS way by denying self.

Thought of the Day - Life in the Fast Lane

2009-08-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Why Are We Bothered With Troubles? (1)
Life in the Fast Lane
2 Timothy 3:1 – 7

I’m not one that listens to the radio in my truck a whole lot. Unless there is a good football game on, news I want to hear, etc. I love to hear preaching and Christian music too. However, my wife would vouch that most of the time I don’t even listen to the radio in the truck. However, today I was listening to our local radio, and as soon as the program was over there was a country song that came on that I listened to the lyrics on. I really don’t know what the name of it is, since I very seldom listen to that type of music, and I couldn’t tell you who the artist is that sings it. But, if I had to guess at the title of the song, it would be, “That’s life.”
In that song there is a story of a wife calling her husband’s best friend for help. She told him that he had gone off the deep end and she needed help. He finds his friend, who was at a bar, and he begins talking about how he was struggling, not getting enough hours at the job to pay the bills, how he had a wife with three kids that were depending on him and also may have another one on the way. He was feeling really sorry for himself and his friend told him, “That’s life.” The song was so true for a world that is going in the wrong direction today.
This once great nation is in despair! Everyone wants to point fingers at someone else. Our politicians don’t want to acknowledge that they were the main culprit in our nation being in a huge bind. They are too proud to say, “You know, we just flat messed up.” On top of this, there is nobody who is safe any longer in this county, must less the world. Paul told Timothy this would happen in the last days. 1st Timothy 3:1 – 7 outlines, to me, a whole lot of what is going on in our nation today. Of course the whole world is experiencing these problems. Paul said, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” We are in a very dangerous world! People kill people for almost anything today. Our nation is in trouble because we have our own agenda and, most of the time, it doesn’t fit the way God leads us or wants us to go. Solomon put it simple in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” David added a verse in Psalm 118:8, “It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man”. So if they were combined in the verse you could say, There is a way which seemeth right unto man, but it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. However, this world chooses, more often than not, to put more confidence in man and less trust in the Lord. This combination in itself is the beginning of perilous times and troubles. The Lord simply calls it SIN.
Paul gets into the many things that are key factors of these perilous times. I hope to look at these points a little closer as I study them out. We, as Christians, and as a nation need to get back to the basics of life. These basics start off in one simple direction. That is why the Lord told us what He did in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The Lord said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The whole world needs to focus on God’s will. He is the answer to solving troubles and problems. If we follow these simple directions, we will go a long way in solving troubles and problems.

Thought of the Day - Preaching the Gospel God's Way

2009-07-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

Preaching the Gospel God’s Way
Not Bowing to Man’s Way
Galatians 1: 9 – 11

I’ve gotten accustom to listening to a radio station that promotes God’s Word to be taught and preached. Some of these men have great messages and others are more like lecturers. They give long speeches and put you to sleep at the same time. The apostle Paul was not a man who lectured people. He told it plan and simple, and if you didn’t like it, then tough.
In Galatians 1, we find that Paul said it as plan as it gets in verse 11, when he wrote, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.” What a great statement! Today we are in a world in which men who are called to preach have to meet three criteria’s. First they must meet men’s approval. We know that this is not the way it should be, because God calls the man and when that man is man enough to answer that calling, God is the one that qualifies him. No person has the right to tell a man if he is qualified to preach or pastor; only God does. Second, the pastor or preacher must have at least a master’s degree, but a doctor’s degree qualifies him more. Resumes for pastoring are ridiculous. A man who is called by God to preach is not looking for a job, but for a church to lead as he follows Christ. Most churches can’t even pay a pastor a salary that allows him to concentrate on the church by itself. He usually has to get a secular job, and be available all the time. Third, and this is the most ridiculous and heart breaking thing of them all; he can’t follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance and preach. It must only be a 15 – 20 minute message and you better not go after 12:00 p.m. The pastor better preach a message to make me feel good, because that is what we need.
Okay, so I may have gone overboard a little, but that is what many of the churches seem to be doing now. Let’s give lectures on books that pastors, preacher or some so called Christian author wrote and not use the Bible. I often wondered what the apostles would do in this horrible world today. They would not fit into the mold of the churches in this world whatsoever. Can you even imagine what Paul would have said if the church at Corinth told him, “You preach too harsh, we want to feel good about ourselves! I am reminded of the time he was preaching and a man came to listen. He sat in the window and fell out of it and died. The amazing thing was Paul continued to preach. After he finished, he then attended to the man. What a heartless man, huh? Where was his heart? He was totally sold out to Jesus! Just like we need to be
The preaching of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, I Corinthians 1:18. It is foolish to those who choose not to listen to it. Unfortunately there are many who claim to be saved that do not want to listen to the Word preached. It’s a waste of their time. There is a preacher I know, who was pastoring a church, and the deacons wanted him to prepare two sermons for Sunday morning. They wanted to look at them and if one of them was too harsh, they wanted him to preach the other. They wanted to dictate what he preached instead of God leading him in what to preach. The reason they had given this pastor was that visitors were being offended and that they wanted the church to grow. We need to remember, before a church can grow in number, it must first grow spiritually. Some of the spiritually strongest churches are small in number. The man did the right thing and resigned the church when he was told to do that, and he should have! God calls men to preach not men. Paul said, “I’m not preaching what you necessarily want to hear, but what God leads me to.” He went on to say in verse 10, “If I try to please men, in preaching, then I shouldn’t call myself a servant of Jesus Christ.” Of course, that’s in layman’s terms. If a man tells people he is called to preach you can measure that by what he preaches and how he preaches it. Many of the pulpits have been filled with men, and now women, who God did not call to preach, and their motives are totally wrong. John tells us, in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
America is in turmoil because many people have made the wrong decisions when voting for our elected government officials. These people have their own agendas to fulfill. Our churches are in a bigger turmoil because we have our own agendas we want fulfilled in a church. Some leaders of churches are the cause of the problem. If we want America to get back on the right track, pastors need to preach the gospel God called them too. Churches need to adhere to God’s Word and quit changing it to fit their lives instead of changing their lives to fit God’s Word. God’s way is the only way! That’s why Jesus said, “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;’ Notice it didn’t say whatsoever man commanded you? We have to hold on to what we are taught from God’s Word. Pastors, preachers, deacons, evangelists and other Christians need to follow God’s direction and do what Paul encouraged Timothy to do in 2 Tim 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” There is a world out there that needs to know the truth of God’s Word and not some watered down version of it. It’s time for Christian people to get back to the basics of teaching and preaching the Word of God like God intended for it to be. Thank God for pastors and preachers who are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and preach it boldly. Thank YOU Lord, for YOUR WORD that we may study it and grow thereby.

Thought for the Day "Tea Bags in Hot Water

2009-07-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Tea Bags In Hot Water
What Comes Out When the Bag Burst?
Mark 7:20 - 23

Like most East Texas natives, I love sweet tea. I can drink a gallon a day if it were there. I was boiling a couple of tea bags as I stepped away for a few moments. I returned in just about five minutes to find that the tea bags had busted and tea grounds were all over the boiler. Now, I had a mess! Sure the tea could be drunk as soon as I put it into a gallon pitcher, through a strainer, and add a cup and a half of sugar, but what a mess! I just hate when that happens.
As I looked at that boiler of tea grounds it occurred to me that man is no different than those tea bags. Think about it for a minute; if our lives were represented by the tea bags and the world was the pot of water we could probably make the analogy. Tea bags do not bust in cold water. However, put it into a pot of boiling water and watch those bags bust wide open in about five minutes.
In Mark 7:20 -23, we find that Jesus said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Jesus was careful to show that this is what is inside of men. Until God convicts a man of his sin, they don’t’ see anything wrong with their lifestyle. Man justifies it before themselves and only before themselves, because we cannot justify it to God. God hates sin! (Proverbs 6:16-19). Isaiah said, in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;” We have to understand that these rags he was comparing sin too were what came off of lepers’ sores. They were full of corruptions and they smelled terrible. This boiler full of tea grounds looked awful, but not as awful as sin does to God. Man is not righteous before God without Jesus!
So, where did the awful sin come from in man? It is simple. We were conceived in sin. David said, in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Because of our sin our heart is unclean. All these sins that are mentioned in Mark 7:20 – 23 are in every man’s heart. When we think bad thoughts of someone we might need to think about what we are doing. In Proverbs 23:7 Solomon wrote, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”
Many people, even people who claim salvation, have a big issue. This sin, though well hidden from some people, is never hid from the Lord. When we get put in hot water, or wrong situations, the bag busts and all the grounds are shown. Funny thing though, just as the tea bags, the grounds can be seen all the time. That must be what Moses was talking about in Number 32:23 when he said, “and be sure your sin will find you out.” They are not as invisible to the world as many think they are.
Even though our life is as dirty, God wants to clean them up. He will if we allow Him too. Just by repenting of our sins and allowing Him to be the Lord of our life. If we do allow Him to be Lord of our life then we don’t have to live for anyone or anything, but Him. We must try to put our personal beliefs and ideas to the side, if they don’t line up with God’s Word. Reason for that is simply said by Solomon also. “There is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” That death is eternal separation from God. So remember that what comes out of the tea bag when it burst was there all the time; just like your life.

Thought of the Day - A True Friend

2009-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

A True Friend
The Definition of a Real Friend
Proverbs 18:28

Over the last couple of months I have been able to find friends of what I call, ‘yesteryear.’ Many of these friends are people I went to school with, played with, worked with and the list goes on. I was thinking about the impacts that each one of these friends made upon my life. Some made greater impacts upon my life than others, but granted every one of them made an impact.
Many times we have all had friends that were like family. We fought with them, played with them, argued with them, laughed and cried with them, and we shared special moments with them. Some moved off to far away destinations and we may not have had contact with them. Some live next door, and many moved to another town, but we keep up with them. Now, with the computer and internet we can keep up with a lot of people and even find people. Even with all this technology many friends just seem to disappear. That brings me to my thought for today.
Solomon wrote, “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” (Proverbs 18:24). There are two statements in here and both are true. For a man to have friends he has to be friendly. Every group of kids, that grows up together, end up in some different kinds of categories, or clicks, so to speak. You have the one group who seem to do everything right to be in the ‘popular’ sect. Then you may have the middle of the class group and then the group nobody seems to hang around. It didn’t matter what group you were in, you had your friends in that group. It didn’t make any difference at what group you were in, you had to show yourself friendly to that particular group. Then, you weren’t guaranteed to be liked either.
Our nation is in this same turmoil today. It doesn’t stop in school. You still fit in an upper, middle, or lower class and many of these look down at the others. Many still ignore people that they feel are beneath them; it doesn’t matter how friendly those others are. However, the friendships that are true never really end.
The second statement in the verse is talking about nobody else, but Jesus. He is the greatest friend any human can ever have. In Hebrews 13:5 we find that He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Many people who call themselves friends to others drop them like a hot potato when something bad arises. Jesus will be there for you. Your friends on this earth cannot love you like Jesus does. If they do say they can, ask them would they be willing to die for you. Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, (John 15:13). Jesus died that you may have life. He hung on the cross for everybody, which includes you. He clarified this verse in verse 15 when He said, “I have called you friends.” This friend has provided you a place to stay when you leave this earth. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, (John 14:2).
This friend provided you with life everlasting. It’s up to each individual to accept that by repenting of their sin and asking Him to be their Lord and Savior. He will always be there, because He said He would. In Matthew 28:20 he said, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Amen.
With all these worldly friends God has blessed us with there is none that is a better friend than Jesus. Thank God that He is a true friend indeed.

Honoring God with Obedience

2009-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Had a great day on Sunday. Preached from 1 Samuel 15:22. Thought I'd post the notes. Anyone can use them, or study them out more.

Honoring God with Obedience
1 Samuel 15:22; John 14:15; 15:14

INTRODUCTION

A. There are many Christian people who make the decision to not follow God’s instructions.
1. Even though they say they are seeking God’s direction they really aren’t.
· Some have their own agendas to fill
· Some have their own ideas or beliefs on something or how to do something
· Some even choose to go with traditional ways because that is what some preacher or teacher said way back when.
· There are even some that have their minds made up to do it their way, because they believe their way is the right way.
2. Many have even chosen to eliminate God in their daily lives.
· They don’t study the Word of God or pray daily.
· They don’t support churches that they belong too, with attendance, finances, or even prayer.
· They easily upset over petty issues that are of no real importance.
· The lack of God’s direction is evident in their lives.
B. Saul and Samuel are two great examples of what to do and what not to do in obedience.
C. Three things we can learn from this lesson to help us with our Christian walk and teach us on why we should listen to God
D. From the beginning of time man has had this idea that his way was better than God’s way.
E. The Lord said, (Isa 55:8 KJV) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

KNOW THAT MAKING EXCUSES FOR NOT FOLLOWING GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS IN UNACCEPTABLE VS. 21 & 24

A. Saul had an excuse for it all
· Wait, I obeyed God; I did exactly what He told me too. The sheep on oxen, well, we took the best of them, because we wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord.
· Excuse no. 2 – I know I sinned, but the people scared me and told me to do it.
· Even though he admitted he sinned, he then blamed it on others by using the word ‘because.’
B. Today we all have an excuse for everything.
· I planned on coming to church, but I was just tired.
· I would have gone to church, but I had to work all week and it was my only day off.
· I know the Bible says that, but….

KNOW THAT OBEYING WHAT GOD TELLS US TO DO IS BETTER THAN ANYTHING WE CAN DO. VS. 22

A. We are in a world that believes doing good things will get us to heaven.
B. This world thinks that just because they say they serve God, go to church, or have been baptized, that this will get them to heave.
· Ephesians 2:8-9“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.”
· Saul had this same attitude; “I know that the Lord told me to destroy it all, but after all, I was thinking about rewarding God.”
· That’s what he was saying, but truth is he was only thinking about the value of what he had.
· HE WAS THINKING ABOUT SELF.
C. Even though He sees us worshipping Him and trying serve Him, we need to remember that listening to Him and being obedient honors him.
D. We can say what we want, but God knows our every thought.
E. He knows what’s in our hearts!

KNOW THERE IS A PENALTY FOR SINNING AGAINST THE LORD. VS 26

A. Saul lost everything he had.
· His kingship.
· His authority.
· His relationship with his friend Samuel.
· His relationship with the Lord.
B. He was removed from being the king by God.
C. He didn’t have anymore authority…..God removed it!
D. It broke Samuel’s heart to the point he cried all night long about it. However, after it was over Saul did not see Samuel anymore.
E. His relationship with the Lord, as he knew it was gone.
F. Today we make decisions to go into different directions than the Lord tells us.
· We pray and ask God to lead us or show us to what he wants us to do; when He does, we choose to ignore it, because He can’t be in that.
· Churches ask God to show them directions to go, but because many have different ideas, they decide to follow their ideas.

SAMUEL’S OBEDIENCE HONORED GOD.

A. A quick look into Samuel’s life.
· Dedicated to God by his mother.
· Raised in the temple.
· Heard God call his name three times and as instructed by Eli he answered, “Speak Lord, thy servant heareth.”
· Became of Judge of Israel.
· Anointed Saul King of Israel.
· Obeyed God and with a broken heart told his friend Saul that he was no longer King.
· From a child he obeyed God even when it hurt him.
· He was blessed.
B. If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15.
C. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14.
D. If any man serve me, let him follow me. John 12:26.
E. Solomon said it best in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for the is the whole duty of man.
F. To bring honor to the Lord we must;
· Fear HIM. This means to respect Him.
· Obey HIM. This means to do what He asked or tells you to do.
· Follow HIM. To follow Him you must first be a servant, which shows respect to Him and honors Him with obedience.
· Are you obeying him and hearing what he is telling you to do with your life; your service to Him; and with path of life?

PLEA TO THE LOST

A. Your cannot be obedient to God if you do not know him
B. Romans 3:23; 6:23;

Following Jesus

2009-07-01T13:05:00.001-07:00

Following Jesus
A Choice for Man and Churches
John 12:26

In preparation for Vacation Bible School there are bulletins that are issued that has the VBS theme on them. When I got my copy the scripture underneath the picture read, “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” This scripture is found in John 12:26. The Lord immediately had my attention. Bro. Dale preached the message, but I couldn’t get this verse off my heart and mind.
I shared this with several people, and on more than one occasion I was asked, “Are you ready to follow Him? I believe it is the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir that sings a song entitled “Daystar,” which is one of my favorite songs. On the chorus the song sings, “Lead me Lord I’ll follow, anywhere you open up the door. Let me know your wisdom, show me things I’ve never seen before. Lord I want to be your witness; You can take what’s wrong and make it right. Daystar shine down on me; let your love shine down through me in the night.” Most hymn books has the song in it that we love to sing that sings, ‘follow…follow, I will follow Jesus, anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on.’ The amazing thing is that it is easier said by the mouth than it is done.
Jesus told the disciples on the night He was praying in the garden, “the heart indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41. This has been man’s calling card from the very beginning. We are like Peter. We are bold at times, and hiding at other times. We say we are willing to follow until God puts the challenge up to us. Then we find one of those excuses we have in the bag.
Jesus was willing to die for us on the cross, and we say we are willing to serve Him. To serve Him we must follow Him with boldness. That will go against all traditional beliefs we might have concerning the church, against all opinions we have, and against to doubts that Satan puts up against us. When we as churches follow Christ, we should do it boldly. That means that we make stands when others are not making stands that please God.
So, what’s the lesson we learn here? The lesson I’ve learned for myself is that maybe I’m not serving God the way I’m suppose too. How do I come to that conclusion? I’ll answer that question with the same question you may be answering it with. Am I really willing to follow HIM wherever he leads me, with a willing heart? This is a choice we have as people and churches. However, the true answer should be, yes Lord, here am I, send me. Then when He does send you; go! Thank you Lord for speaking to my heart.

Thought of the Day

2008-09-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

A Penny’s worth of Trust
Words from God
Matthew 11:28 – 30

Many people have days when their hearts are heavily burdened. Today, I was looking in Matthew 11:28 - 30, which reads, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy lade, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and burden is light.”
I was thinking to myself about how I feel so rejected and how nobody seems to care, and today I was sent an email. It was almost like any that I get from friends. This friend, Nita, from Greenwood, Arkansas, sent it to me as a forward. It was a simple email that had been forwarded no telling how long. But, of all days, it came to me. The email read like this;
You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. This gives you something to think about.
Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.
As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? 'Look at it.' He said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words ' United States of America.’ 'In God we Trust?' 'Yes!' 'And?' 'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful! When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient.
This penny spoke to the wealthy man’s heart, just as before. He may have very well been wealthy because he put his trust in God, but who knows? Many times we choose to go our own directions, because we get tired of fighting the world and its problems.
Today was a down day for me and God knew it. A church, in Texas, had asked me to preach to them and I had explained my divorce before I went. They still wanted me to come, and I did. I enjoyed the time there and looked at all the possibilities. Last week this church called me to come back again, and I told them that I would get back to them. My job is behind and I called to tell them that I would not be able to come on the date they wanted me too. The man told me that he was just going to call me to tell me that one man in their small congregation didn’t want me to be their pastor, so there was no need for me to waste my time coming there.
I told Becky that I was giving up on ever pastoring again, because rejection just brings me too much heartache. After I read this email I was reminded of what the Psalmist wrote in Psalms 118:8, which says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” What a statement!
Today, many of us base our decisions on what we think rather than what God leads us to do or what HE teaches us in HIS WORD. We are all guilty of this corruptible sin. We need to remember what the Lord said in Isaiah 55: 8 - 9. He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” As I have said before, opinions are like noses; everyone has one and they all smell. When we have to make decisions about anything, we need to ask God and trust in HIM to show us what we need to do. If HE leads us to do something, then do it while we throw our opinions out the window.
When I think of the widow’s mite, I think of how Jesus used it to show us that HE wants our all. It would not be my all, if I chose to give up doing what HE called me to do. Jesus was rejected on all fronts, but HE continued to do what our Father told HIM too. The email about “IN GOD WE TRUST,” is a reminder to me that God does have something for me to do and HE is very much in control.
Trusting in God is the only way for me to serve HIM in the capacity that HE wants me too. All of this in a simple email. Thank God for good Christian friends who allows God to use them the way HE wants too. Thanks for the reminder of how I should trust in God Nita. Thank you for your encouragement Lord.

What a great day!

2008-08-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to preach to a small church who has big goals. This particular church came from a sister church, but does not have a home of their own yet. For the first time ever, except in my own home, I had the great opportunity to preach in one of this church member's home. Counting my wife and I, we had 13 people. I preached from Hebrews 10:7, and 22 - 24. The title of the message was how to follow Christ. I believe the apostle Paul outlined this message very well. I have preached verses 22 through 24 a couple of times before and later found verse 7, which to me ties it all together.

Verse 7 says, "Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will O God." What a great statement made here. God is looking for willing hearts to do HIS will. Paul wrote the following outline in this particular passage that is of great encouragement.

I. Let us draw near. (vs 22)
a. Drawing close to God is the way to have the greatest relationship to Him that anyone could have.

b. The way to draw near to HIM is;

* With a true heart.

* In full assurance of faith.

* Having our hearts sprinkled from a evil conscience, which to me means having a clear conscience.

* Our bodies washed with pure water. This does not mean baptism, but I believe it means the

change that only Jesus Christ, the living water can make in a person's life.

II. Lest us hold fast. (vs. 23)

a. Holding fast to the profession of our faith

* Don't let go of the faith, which God gives us, because it is the only way to please God.
* Faith without works is dead.

b. Hold fast to our faith without wavering.

* We are in a world that is does waver from its faith.
* Christians should maintain their relationship with Christ through faith.
* It doesn't matter what comes our way, Christ is the only stable in a Christian life.
* Let's not waver from our faith and turn back toward the world, which hates people
who stand for Christ anyway.

III. Let us Consider. (vs. 24).

a. one another to provoke.

* We should encourage each other instead of down grading each other.
* We should encourage each other in love, and not to make ourselves to look better
than anyone else.

b. We encourage one another through love by being as faithful to Christ and HE is to us.

c. We should consider the lost with brotherly love, by showing them direction to Christ in
and through our lives and testimonies.

This is not the complete message as I preached it, but anybody who chooses to study it out can sure get a blessing from it. I know I did, and I hope you do too. Pray for Faith MBC in Hewitt, Texas as they really are seeking God's direction in this church. Pray that if this is where God wants my family at that he will reveal it clearly to them and us too. I hope ya'll have a blessed day.

Your Heart's Trust

2008-07-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Your Heart’s Trust
A Tool to Use
Psalm 28:7

I was recently asked to pray with a lady who was broken hearted. I did not ask any questions, but when I was asked to pray with her and another group of people, I could tell she was really in pain. God knows her pain, and His will be done. Now I can imagine that everyone, at one time or another has their heart broken. We can relate to the loneliness that it brings, and even though people pray with you, it is like you are totally alone in the situation. I can remember the last time I was totally heart broke. I did not have anyone to talk too. My mom was on her death bed, not knowing anyone. My brother had bigger issues than mine to deal with, and I had no family to talk too. It was almost like when you approached people they would try to avoid talking, because they didn’t know what to say. I tried to talk to a couple of good friends, but I found that they had no words for me that gave me comfort, and in turn it made them feel bad. It really is a sad situation to be in.
David wrote, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; may heart trusted in HIM, and I am helped: there fore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise HIM.” In this Psalm, David is praying against his enemies. I find it real interesting at how he starts his prayer. “Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord my rock:” What a powerful statement this is. We are real quick to say that the Lord is all powerful, which HE is, but David seems to have a real understanding of it. How many times have we wished we could hear God’s answer verbally? David says, ‘be not silent to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear my voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee” This is one of the greatest requests that I’ve read in God’s Word. He’s saying, “Lord, I need you to hear me and tell me what to do.”
If you read the whole 28th Psalm, you will find that David is addressing a need to the Lord for relief of a burden. Then in the end, David acknowledges that he can do nothing without the Lord. Wow! So what can I learn from this? We see that David continues “Blessed be the Lord, because HE hath heard the voice of my supplications,” verse 6. The burden David had is for the Lord’s protection against the enemies and for the protection of his people. As the King of Israel, he took his job very seriously and I believe he really loved these people.
The burdens we bear at times seem to almost totally unbearable. Heartaches seem to come more often than not. This world causes us to struggle with decisions we have to make. Sometimes decisions are totally out of our hands, but we have to bear the brunt of the force, so to speak. This is why Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:28 – 30). The burdens that David had were tuff, but I tell you now, he knew who could handle it. This leads him to say, “my heart trusted in HIM, and I am helped”
Trusting in the Lord is the key to a happy life. When people talk about trusting in God, it is general referred to as accepting Jesus as Personal Savior. However, and I do agree that we must trust in the Lord to be saved, this is not the trust that David speaks about. Sometimes, when I really desire something, I try trusting in everything, everyone, or even myself to obtain it; when I should requested the Lord to show my heart what I needed to do, or allow happen. To me, listening to your heart is only good when you know its God speaking from it. We know that the heart is exceedingly wicked, but as a child of the King, you know when HE speaks through it. David was saying in laymen’s terms, “You know what, I gave it to you and I know you’re going to handle it. I am helped.” He worked his faith to the point that he said, “God you have a problem; I’m going to bed.”
It doesn’t matter what kind of problems we have at times, we need to realize that as a child of the king your heart trusted in HIM and HE will always help. Cast all your cares, your worries, your heartaches, and your fears upon HIM, and He will be your help. Remember; He is our strength, and without HIM nothing can be done. The key to that is allowing HIM to handle it.

Thought of the Day

2008-07-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

Waiting on the Lord
A Way to Grow in Strength
Psalm 27:14

There is a young man in our church’s youth group that is an encouragement to me just about every time I see him. He’s really disciplined in the way he takes care of himself. He is going to be a senior in high school, where he plays football and lifts weights. As I look at him, I wonder some things about myself and some other people. If our spiritual lives for God were seen as muscle to God, what would you and I look like? This young man is disciplined in the way he eats, they way he exercises, and the way he lives.
The Psalmist wrote, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Many of us have read Isaiah 40:31, where the scripture tells us, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Many have sung this verse in a song. This takes a discipline that many Christians do not have. The biggest discipline you’ll ever learn is waiting. Waiting on the Lord takes disciplines like my friend has in his life. So let’s look at some of these and just see what we can learn from it.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is learned by what we eat. Think about it for a second. If we eat what old Satan feeds us or this world feeds us, we soon develop, what I call, the attitude of Nike. The huge shoe monstrosity developed this saying when Bo Jackson played for the Oakland Raiders and whatever baseball team if played for. The world has this attitude toward anything; “Don’t think about it; just do it.” Christians develop this attitude and call it faith. However, when it falls short of what we want, we state, “Well I just didn’t have enough faith.” That’s not necessarily true either. There are things we do need to step out on in faith, and pray that God will use us. However, in our day to day lives we sometimes may huge decisions without waiting on the Lord’s instruction. I have learned, the hard way, that when I wait upon the Lord, He never leads me wrong. If I learn to wait upon HIM all the time then I become fit spiritually and don’t become ‘fat and lazy,’ as a Christian, lol. Lesson to learn; do not believe the world’s instructions, because it will always lead you in the wrong direction.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is learned by how we exercise. Physical exercise seems to be in the past tense for me. Amazingly, when I was 16 – 25 years old, I stayed in good shape, because I participated in sports such as baseball, softball, football, and weight lifting; and no I was not what people call ‘cut’. When I was 26 – 36 I still got some exercise, but it went way down. At 48, and yes I know I’m still a youngster to some, some exercise I get is just being able to get up out of bed, because I’m so stiff, or my back hurts, or something hurts, etc. You that are my age or older know what I’m talking about. Spiritual exercise is apparently no different in our spiritual life. I am 28 years old in my salvation. I’ve gone to church most of my life and even though I know that I do not know everything about God’s Word or God, I feel okay spiritually. However, there have been many times that I was not even okay. Spiritual exercise comes through daily Bible studies, daily prayer, and a good regiment of church faithfulness. The more we use these spiritual exercises, the easier all the things such as witnessing, preaching, working for the Lord, etc, become to us. This young man can lift more weight than I can, because he works out daily. He was not able to accomplish these goals over night, but instead he was faithful in these exercises. Spiritually strong people can do more when we exercise spiritually daily.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is taught by the way we live. I am reminded of many examples that Jesus used in the Bible that were not able to live for Christ, because of the way they wanted to live for the world. Jesus told us that we cannot live for HIM and the world at the same time. Money is the root of all evil and we all want that root. In an earlier ‘thought of the day,’ I made the comment that we need to be content. However, many of us are never content. We have to have more money. A rich young man came to Jesus and asked him, “What can I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?” Jesus told him to keep the commandments, and the young man told Him, “I have done this since I was but a youth.” Jesus said, “Then give all your money to the poor, sell all you have and follow me.” The man went away sad because he thought that was too high of a price, for he was very wealthy. Living for Christ takes a huge regiment of eating the right spiritual food, exercising with our weights daily (studying, praying and worshipping), and living our life like each day is our last day for Christ on this earth.
Many things you can learn by watching discipline athletes, but I can honestly say that God has told each of us how to become stronger for HIM. As I examine myself, I have decided that I don’t look like a big body builder in my spiritual life, but I know how to start building that way. How about you?

Thought of the Day - July 28th

2008-07-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

Contentment in Christ
Seeking to find His will
Philippians 4:11

As I woke up this morning, it took me a little while to gather my wits about myself. Many would say that I do not have many wits about me, and at times I would agree with them. When I finally got myself going I realized it was my birthday. First I thanked God for allowing me to have another good night’s rest, and I thanked Him also for allowing me to wake up to spend another day to try to do HIS will in my life.
I have had time to ponder on the forty eight years of my life today. I have to wonder if I’m as content as I need to be. Paul wrote, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content,” (Phil 4:11 KJV). I know that I’ve not always allowed contentment to override my wants. I have desires, or wants, that do not seem to be available.
Today, I heard on the radio about a girl who started off on the wrong foot as a teenager and allowed God to bring her to where she is today. During the trying times of her life she was molded by God and she allowed Him to direct her path into a better life. She allowed the mistakes of her past to be used, by God, to make her content to be the person she is in the present. I can say that if we allow God to mold us the way He wants too, HE will put us in a place that will honor and glorify HIM.
As I look on my life, I can remember some of the horrible mistakes that I have made. There is not enough time or space to cover them all. I know that probably one of the biggest mistakes I made was not listening to my mother when she tried to lead me. At times, I wonder how my life would have changed had I really listened to her. Maybe some of my heartaches would not have occurred had I listened early in my adult life for sure. Even with all those mistakes, I have many great things that happened in my life too. I have a loving wife, whom I love very much, three great sons, mistakes to the side, and most importantly I know Jesus as my personal Savior. I met HIM on October 3, 1982 and I answered the call to preach in 1999. Even though I’ve never considered myself a good speaker, I love sharing HIS WORD with people. I thank God He called me to the ministry, and look forward to the next work HE has for me, should HE have one.
With all the positives and negatives in my life I realized that God has been molding me into what HE desires for me to be and I know HE is not finished. I can’t say that I’ve always gone in the direction He wants me too, but I can say that HE is always there to keep me on track. I can’t say I’ve always been a good husband, father, or person either. However, I can say that God has forgiven me for things I’ve done wrong, because I asked Him too.
I can recall when the only church I’ve ever pastored called me. I was so excited about the opportunity and I can honestly say that the people there showed their love toward me and my family. I can remember preaching at that church, and looking back, I can see a bunch of mistake that I made in my short time there. I cannot say I was a good pastor either. However, I can say I had a desire to be one. I had a desire to be friends with all them members and they treated me like family. I still feel that I failed miserably in areas that I could have been better in. However, it wasn’t about me being a pastor. It was about me making myself available to be used of God. God used me as a tool to convey HIS thoughts and we saw several saved during the time I was there. The first 2 ½ years, I did make myself available to HIM, but the last year of my pastorate brought me much discouragement. I’ve come to believe it was mainly because I allowed myself to loose focus on my calling. I became so discouraged that I didn’t know what to do. I prayed a lot, but I saw things happening in the church that I didn’t like, which caused me to be discontent. Therefore, I grew even more discouraged. People were leaving after we had a small growth spurt, many telling me that it wasn’t me, and some who were faithful just dropping out all together. They said that they just wanted to do something else, and unfortunately I still took it personal and allowed it to discourage me. I started feeling that I was not liked anymore and I became lonely. I allowed that to cause me to loose focus and I got in the way of God doing a great work. Some of them had grown discontent just as their pastor had. I believe it is because we all stopped praying as we needed too. As any pastor does, I wanted that church to be in better shape than what it was when I arrived, should I have to leave, and I can’t say it was.
When I accepted the church, I had no plans of ever leaving. I was very happy and satisfied, and I was there until Jesus came, but things change. I lost my wife and I needed a wife who would support me and minister with me, but that was no longer there either. I needed people to pray with and for me, and there didn't seem to be anyone available. I had lost control of something I should have never tried to control in the first place. After all, it is not about me. I grew even more discouraged. Discontentment leads to discouragement.
I left the church that August and felt like I had done the Lord such a poor job as a pastor that HE would never use me again. I will say that I loved the members of that church with a deep convicting love, and even after leaving those members are still on my heart and mind. Not long after I arrived back home, I saw my current pastor. He invited me to church, but I really didn’t have a desire to go anywhere. Some of the other pastors didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. However, he encouraged me and prayed with me and I finally gave into going on a Sunday morning. As I listened to this man preach it was like I was totally by myself. I had no family with me and I didn’t feel like I had a friend in the world. After all, I failed the only true friend I’ve ever known, Jesus. I had met the woman I would eventually marry, but I still didn’t feel like I was loved by anyone, and I sure didn’t feel of any use any longer. After services, the pastor came up to me and said, “Come back tonight and preach for us.” I told him, “I don’t know about that,” as I thought God doesn’t want me behind a pulpit anymore. I went to church that night dressed in jeans and a golf shirt, not planning on preaching, but just to try to get a hint of the vigor I had for Christ again. The pastor asked me, “Are you ready to preach?” I said, “I guess, but you don’t have to let me,” hoping that he would say okay, I’ll preach tonight, because I didn’t really feel like it. I felt like I didn’t want to make another fool of myself and that’s exactly what I felt like I was going to do behind a pulpit. I felt that if God really wanted me behind a pulpit I would have stayed at my church. What a horrible thought! God will use a willing heart. He was showing me something.
God put me in the church I’m in now for a reason, and I’m very thankful for my church family. When I first started going there, I was still very discouraged. I didn’t want to be in a church setting. I kept blaming myself for doing God an injustice behind the pulpit and the duty HE gave me. I have thought and prayed, ‘God give me one more chance to prove to you that I can do a better job, and I will give it my best,” but my prayers haven’t been answered in that direction yet, and I’m not guaranteed they will be. I was still discontent. I can only hope that the members of the church, which allowed me to be their pastor for 3 ½ years can find the love in their heart to forgive me for not being the great pastor for Christ that I needed to be. I am like any human, I could say that the reason I failed is not totally my fault, because I didn’t feel like I had the support that I needed and desired, but that would be passing the blame. That could be part of the problem, but as I look back, I see that the real problem was me. I was not content to allowing God to use me in a miserable situation as HE had in better situations; again, discontentment brings discouragement.
I have a great class that I wished was larger at times, and there are people who really love God in it. It’s a ministry for me, and I can only hope that God is using me in a way that will honor and glorify HIM. Periodically I’m asked to preach there and I love trying to do just that. I still have a deep desire to pastor another one of the Lord's churches, but for now I must learn to be content where God has me. Maybe this is the lesson I needed to learn.
I’ve said all this to state the conclusion I have come too. If we really desire to work for God the opportunities are out there. We make the decision to take those opportunities or let them pass by. When God opens doors, be ready to go through them. My prayer for this next year of my life, should God allow me that time, is that God will show me the opportunity and give me the faith to walk through those doors that HE does open. And on top of all that, I pray that HE will help me be content in whatsoever I do. Contentment in Christ is a desire that Christ has for us all.

Saturday!

2008-07-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday! I have a day off......lol. Well, this week seemed to go by quickly. Summer time always flies by, but it becomes miserable when it is hot and dry. I had the opportunity to go to camp again on Wednesday. I was able to talk to people whom I haven't seen in several years. Bro. Paul Clark and I visited for a while. He just recently lost his dad, but is excited to know that he is in Heaven. He preached on Wednesday night and I enjoyed it. The message was entitled, "Seven Bad Things About Heaven." The camp had about 250 registered campers and I believe they had 23 saved and 3 young men to surrender to the ministry of our Lord. That is exciting. On Thursday night Becky was able to go to camp with me and I introduced her to all my friends. Roger and Carla Bachelor were there, and I've known the them for a long time. They are members of Pinkham MBC in DeKalb, Texas. They may have a new pastor already and I pray that he is the one God wants there. Camp seems to just get started good when it is time to go home. I know that anytime I've spent the week there that Friday seemed a long way on on Monday when we arived. However, the week flies by and I always wanted to stay longer. It's such a great place to get away from the world. Becky told me to schedule a week off for camp next year. I hope that God opens the door to a church, which I can take to camp. That would be the greatest thing to me in the world.

I received two calls from churches this week looking for help. One is in Avenger, and Bro. Gould is wanting someone to help him with the church. The church is struggling in attendance, and the man that lands this job will hopefully be used of God to help it grow. I will know in a few weeks if I'm to go there. I also received a call from a church in Aubrey, Arkansas who is looking for a pastor too. I've got a while to prepare for this one as I am not scheduled to appear there until September 7.

I fill in for Bro. Dale tomorrow night and I'm still working on the message.....later on this one.

Camp Time!

2008-07-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday brought back many memories for me. I took a load of suitcases, ice chests, and many other objects, along with my niece and Albert, to Pine Springs Baptist Encampment, in Laneville, Texas. I had the opportunity to see many friends I have not seen in years. Our church took 34 to camp this year, and I believe it was the largest for this church in some time. This is camp no. 4, the camp I was raised up in for over 30 years. I was not able to attend it every year, but I do have many friends who still do.

It was good to see many pastors whom I attended school with at TBI. They all wanted to know if I was pastoring anywhere, lol. I haven't had that special opportunity in almost 4 years. There are many of our churches seeking pastors, but it seems like God has not opened that door yet; but, HE will, one day. I always enjoyed taking kids to camp when I was pastoring, and even when I was a youth director also. The picture of this tabernacle reminds me of lots of things that happened there from the time I was a youngster to a teen. God has saved many souls in this building and continues to do so. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is what does it! Camp is one solid week without the world dictating you something to do. It also gives you one solid week of fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, to worship Christ, and to preach the gospel to a lost bunch. I may try to go to camp next year, with CMBC, should I not be anywhere else.

I saw a man I've not seen in about 4 years. Bro. Paul Clark is one of the men whom I count as a great friend. He loves the Lord and preaches the gospel with a fire. God has used the Clark family for many years. He just recently lost his dad, Bro. Clyde Clark. Brother Clyde was a warrior for God too. Bro. Paul pastors in Hillsboro, Texas, and God has blessed him so much. His son, Brother Jason is a missionary to France, and I'm glad to see that God is keeping HIS ministry going on through this loving family. My prayers go out to this family during their time of sadness. However, we know that Bro. Clyde is at the feet of Jesus and suffers no longer.

For those friends of mine, who read my blogs, which I don't seem to have much time for anymore, I ask that you pray for me as many have contacted me about possibly being interested in pastoring their churches. I've really prayed hard about this, but some of the contacts I've had, have not called back as I was told they would. Just pray that God will show me without a doubt what HIS will is, and that I will have a heart to accept it and continue in what I'm doing until HE puts me where HE has plans for me. Also, pray for several churches without pastors. May God send to them the man HE wants them to have, and may these churches see who he is. Thanks.

What a weekend!!!

2008-07-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Monday morning! We woke up with rain, even though it wasn't more than a half inch, but it was rain. Thank the Lord for that. This past weekend was really busy. I worked on the lawn mover, and didn't get it running still, the swimming pool pump went out, had to get a new one, my Boston terrier had 5 puppies, and I was asked to preach on Sunday night. I was contacted by a church in Alexandria, LA, about preaching for them, but that didn't materialize and then I was able to go to work this morning; in the rain. LOL.

I preached from 1 Samuel 3:1 - 11 last night. The message was intitled, "Hearing God." We did have a couple respond, but I just love when God takes over and gets me out of the way. I really enjoyed preaching though. We have 2 churches in our area without pastors right now. I hope I get a chance to preach some more. I really love sharing God's Word with churches. We will see.

VACATION

2008-07-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Monday is here! Back to reality. Becky and I just finished up a vacation that started with a wedding were Aaron and Shae were married, and then we went to Unity MBC, in Denison, Texas. We were there in their pastor's absence. We always enjoy the visit with this church. God really seems to be blessing this church, and I thank God for that.
On Monday, June 30, Becky and I stayed at home and got some things done; namely, planting trees, bushes and other plants.
Tuesday, July 1, we made the trip to Houston. Highlight of the day; Going through Norstroms, in the Galeria, on the way to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I saw a suit coat for 1095.00 dollars and a ladies blouse that might go for 25 dollars in Wal Mart for 289.00 dollars. We enjoyed the meal and returned to the hotel. We stayed in the Indiglo Hotel.
Wednesday, July 2, started off at Chic-fa-le and then took us to the Johnson Space Center and Minute Maid park. There were some interesting things at Johnson Space Center, but overall, it was boring. It had been about 35 years since I had been there. Minute Maid park was fun, even though the Astros were beat by the Dodger 4-1. There was a nice fire work show after the game.
Thursday, July 3, took us to Galveston, after breakfast at McDonalds. We went fishing. Becky had never salt water fished before. She caught a lot of Whitings and on nice red fish, 20" long, weighing between 3 - 5 pounds. I enjoyed watching her. I helped a man with a flounder and caught one small whiting. Becky wanted to swim, but must not have been in the cards for this vacation. We stopped a Pappa's Sea Food to eat on the way home.
Friday, July 4, we slept till 8:00 a.m. We stated off at IHOP again, and then we went to the Houston Zoo and had planned on going to another park for a concert and fire work display. The zoo brought back a ton of memories for me, but the rain put a damper on some of the things. We spent most of the day there and then we went to the Katy Mills Mall, where Bass Pro Shop is. After eating at the Rain Forest Cafe, we looked around and decided to leave just before the mall closed. As we got to the parking lot, we notice thousands of people sitting on their cars and in chairs and found out that there was going to be a fire work show right there; so we stayed. It was really nice. Arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 5, we checked out of the hotel and went to IHOP for breakfast. We stopped at a Houston Plant and Flower store just north of Houston, but did not buy anything. Then we made the last minute decision to go fishing at Lake Livingston. After a quick stop at Wal Mart, we were off to the state park where we fished from yet another pier. I caught on striper and we both fed the fish until about 4:00 p.m., when we decided to come home. We arrived back at our house by 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 6, we went to church, shelled purple hull peas and basically rested. Now it is back to reality with our everyday life of work.

Obedience-A Word with Lost Meaning

2008-06-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 1:16 - 20

Words are not hard to come by today. Occasionally you will see new words that the Webster’s Dictionary has come up with. For example; how about the word, ‘aerobicized’ or ‘aerobicised,’ which is an adjective meaning; (of a person's body) toned by aerobic exercise: aerobicized Hollywood women. Here’s one for you; ‘twonk.’ This word means a stupid or foolish person. We all know a twonk or two; don’t we? I am amazed at how many new words people come up with. I remember when children in the south were told we shouldn’t say the word, ‘ain’t,’ and now it is in the dictionary. In fact my computer underlined the word in red, which it sees as a misspelled word. It is amazing at the new words, but what about the words people quit using. I’m sure there are many we don’t use, but there is one particular word that we see used less in our actions than any one word. The word is ‘obedience.’ This word means the act or instance of obeying; the quality or state of being obedient. Obedient means submissive to the restraint or command of authority. Of course the word ‘obey’ means to follow the commands or guidance of; to conform to or comply with. Most of us would say we know what these words mean; but do we use them?
In God’s Word, the Bible, we find the word ‘obey,’ appears 69 times in 66 verses. It appears 44 times in the Old Testament and 25 times in the New Testament. The word ‘obedience’ appears 16 times in 16 verses. They are split evenly in the Old and New Testaments. The word disobedient appears in God’s Word 13 times; 2 in the Old Testament and 11 in the New. I’m sure that there are other words or phrases that appear in the Bible, which imply obedience also.
I was reading in the first chapter of Isaiah, when the scripture in verse 19 caught my eye. As most preachers do, I love verse18, where the Lord says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” This verse reminds me of what God can do to a willing person, who wants to obey what God requires of them in repenting of our sin and asking Jesus to come into our heart. There is NOTHING so bad, that Jesus can’t forgive us of. It is a copout for someone to say, “I’ve been too bad to be forgiven.” There are ‘none righteous, no not one.’ There is no man, woman, boy or girl that is worthy of the salvation that the Lord gives freely. But HE gave it to us to make us a way to get back to HIM. Thank God for HIS marvelous grace.
In verse 19, we find a condition for this act of mercy. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:” Is a person willing, and can that person obey this way? What a question. There is less obedience in this world than ever before. In fact, Paul told Timothy it would be the signs of the end time. Obedience starts with parents. If parents cannot be obedient to God and HIS Word, then how do we expect our kids to be obedient to us? Obedience is a forgotten action. We make excuses for not wanting to follow God’s Word. We make excuses for not wanting to serve God. We make excuses for not wanting to follow the laws of the land. We always have an excuse, don’t we? One thing my wife is always on me about is the stop signs. If I pull up to one and don’t see anything coming, I have a bad habit of just rolling right through it, slowly. I yield, instead of coming to a complete stop. So what’s the matter with that, huh? I am breaking the law! Now I know I’m not the only one who does this. Many who read this have done the same thing. It’s not just about that though.
To be obedient to God, we must be obedient to HIS WORD. We need to be separate from this world. We need to stand out, so people can see a difference in our lives. The world needs to see Christ in us and through us. HIS WORD is the book of instructions that show us what we need to do, how to act, and how to exemplify Christ. Judah had a problem. They were fighting against what God said to do. He told them that they had to be willing to be obedient. We need to be willingly obedient too.
Obedient kids are rarely seen today. They all think mom and dad dropped on their heads and don’t have a clue what we are talking about. Just as all adults did to some extent when we were kids. My mother had an answer for disobedience. However, today’s parents think it is insane to pull the belt off or stand against rebellious children. According to most adults, we don’t need to use the rod of correction, but give them ‘time outs,’ or ground them. This isn’t even a temporary cure anymore. Why? Because it isn’t in line with God’s Word. Proverbs tells us over and over to discipline the child with the rod of correction, and it won’t kill them, but it will make them grow up in obedience. In 2 Timothy 3:1 – 5, Paul tells Timothy, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” If you really look at these verses, you find out that all of this come from not being obedient to God. We have to be shown, don’t we? All of these, and more, that Paul talked about in 2 Timothy, come from us thinking we know better than God. We know how to do it better! If you don’t believe that just ask someone. God’s way is the ONLY way, and obedience in the key. We like to refuse and rebel against doing it HIS way, don’t we?
He has an answer for that in Isaiah 1:20. “But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” We refuse to hear God’s warnings and choose to do it our way. Elvis Presley sang the son, “I did it my way,” and we see his end. He overdosed on medication and died. His way wasn’t God’s way. Many people loose their lives, because they do it there way, and not God’s way. Many people choose to reject God and live the high life of this world, by doing it their way. What will they say in the end? “God, I love you, but, life only comes around once!” That is a true statement by the way. Life does only come around once. There is life everlasting; where you can live forever. It’s called salvation. Jesus died that all may live. That word ‘all’ is a mighty small word; because not all will take advantage of the free gift of salvation. It means you would have to give up the ways of the world for HIM. Pride comes in the way; disobedience comes in the way; and then your rebellion comes in the way. The Lord told Judah what would happen if they refused and rebelled that they would be devoured by the sword. The sword is the Bible, which will be used in the judgment of all people. We need to realize that as Judah found out, we will eventually learn that disobedience will separate you from the Lord. Yes, if you are saved you will still be saved, but there is great rewards for obedience – the biggest being that you have made your relationship closer with Him, and won’t be a stumbling block to others. The sacrifices that Judah were making was pretend sacrifices, trying to justify the fact that they were living like they wanted to, and still trying to follow law. However, as said before, Judah found out that they could straddle the fence, because God still counts it as sin. Sacrificing the worldly life for Christ brings many blessings, but we find that when we live for the world and like the world, it only brings heartache in the end.
Mike Richardson said, “Sacrifice does not always require obedience however obedience always requires sacrifice. We sacrifice the flesh every time we obey God. My challenge is to continue to try to grow closer to God by obeying Him. Listening to what He says never leads us wrong.

What A WEEDEND

2008-06-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Becky and I started our weekend really early. She was off on Friday and I took off before 11:00 a. m. Things have slowed down, somewhat, at work, and my vacation along with Becky's has officially started.

Friday, Becky took Aaron's fiancee' to Longview for a ladies day out. Shae got her nails done, I think, for the very first time. They also picked up the wedding cake to bring home. I mowed the yard, and weedeated.

Saturday, Becky took Shae to get her hair done and do some final preparations for the wedding, which happened at 2 p.m. The wedding went off as normal and now Aaron and Shae are married. Woohoo... The whole thing too 12 minutes. All this money spent on a wedding, and it only takes 12 minutes?!?!? The wedding, reception and all was done by 4:00 p.m. We all rush to the house, grab our things and take off to Denison, Texas to be closer to Unity MBC, where I was scheduled to preach. We arrived at the hotel at 9:30 p.m. after leaving Carthage at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday! I had the great opportunity to preach to a loving church. I preached from Isaiah 1:16 - 20, entitled, "Obedience - The Key to a Healthy Relationship to God." The church had Sunday school, then the Choir had an Independance Day Contata. It was really great! The message was delivered, the seed was planted, and God was honored. What a great day... Then it was eatin' meetin' time. The church had great food and there was great fellowship. Afterwards, Becky and I were back on the road by 1:30 and we got home about 7:00 p.m. We stopped at the outlet mall in Terrel and then at the mall in Tyler. Of course what's a trip without stopping at Braums to eat some ice cream; Becky's treat. Now, Becky and I will be on vacation this week. We are headed to Houston on Tuesday to have so time together by ourselves. Good to go...I hope. LOL.

Another day

2008-05-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

Well, this past weekend was surely busy. Not only did I have to work, but afterwards I accomplised a great deal at home. Becky and Aaron worked on putting 12 x 12 pads down while I worked on my chicken pen. We have about 26 chickens, and I'm thinking that I'm going to get rid of some. We will see. The exciting news was the fact that Carthage is still classified as a dry city. The whole county is dry, and in this man's opinion it needs to stay this way. We are thankful that there are still people who vote for right against wrong.
Rain is on the way. We need it, but without the hail and a tornadoes. After the weekend, Monday brought some bad things down at work, but hopefully they will get better or God will put me in a new church or mission to work in. We will see.

Another rainy day.

2008-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged. Normally I put a 'Thought of the Day," on here, but I've not been to motivated lately, since I've been working seven days a week. Lots of things going on at my house. We had all of our pine trees cut down, along with three sweet gum trees. It has really opened up our yard too. We also had to have a new septic system put in our yard, because our old one's field line was destroyed by our neighbor's tractor; long story. With all of this done, I still have ton's of work to do.
Since I blogged last time, I had the opportunity to preach at Old Union MBC about a month ago. They are currently seeking a pastor, and again, I'm not the man. I've grown really discouraged in the fact that there are so many judgmental people in our work. Shame on us. However, if God is true to HIS WORD the way I believe HIM to be, HE will use me somewhere, one day.
I wonder, sometimes, if God is ignoring my prayers. I have such a desire to pastor again, but, yet, I am not giving the great opportunity to.
Aaron has moved back into our home. He is engaged to a girl, and they are supposed to marry in June. What bothers me about this is that neither one of them show the fruits of salvation in their lives, and both are unemployed, and not really looking hard for a job either. I find it hard to welcome him back into my home, because the boy needs to work, and he has not self motivation. Becky, nor I, could stand by and see this boy and his girlfriend live on the streets any more. For those who may read this, pray for both of these kids, because they need it badly.
Rain moved in to the county today, and there was even a tornado that touched down between my house and Beckville today. Mostly trees are damaged. Nobody was hurt that I know of, thank the Lord.

What a weekend.

2008-03-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was as busy as it gets. I was called by Hopewell Baptist Church, in Clarksville, Texas, to come and preach to them. Working seven days a week is tough, but my boss let me off. This churches' pastor died after pastoring there for 45 years. Becky and I went up that way on Saturday night and stayed in Mt. Pleasant. I called a double header in Hughes Springs late Saturday evening. The first game was Hughes Springs 1 and Avery 0. The second game was Pittsburg 4 and New Boston 2.

Becky has been sick. She has coughed for about three weeks. When I got to the motel on Saturday night, she was running fever. However, it broke and she was able to go to Hopewell with me. These folks are really nice and seemed interested in me. However, we shall see. I preached the morning service and then we ate at the fellowship. I enjoyed some raisin pie. We left there around 1:30 and came back home. Becky wasn't able to go to church at our home church that night, but I made it.

We woke up on Monday with more rain. I hate to work on Mondays after I've preached on Sunday, but I made it. Looking forward to going to other churches one day. I pray that God will open that door for me.

Thought of the Day

2008-02-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

Free Life Insurance!
Guaranteed Satisfaction
John 3:15 – 18

I think we will all agree that we are in a day and age when insurance is a necessity. We have to have house insurance, liability insurance, car insurance, medical insurance and the list just keeps going. I recently heard a commercial about life insurance. They asked, “What will you leave your family when you die?” They continued by saying that a death in the family usually puts the survivors in a bind and that is what life insurance is all about. Life insurance is for the surviving family. I often think of the life insurance policy on my wife and me both. Is it enough? Should I get more? All too often we think about how good of shape we leave our family when we leave. It’s a last gift from us to them, I suppose. One time I heard a life insurance man make a comment about a policy that made me think. He said, “The policy isn’t for the dead, but for the living.” When you pay so much for insurance, you think well how can I afford it or how do I benefit from it?
When we buy a car, we usually want the best protection that money can buy on it. We get the insurance for it, a warranty insurance policy for it, and if we could get one, a gas insurance policy on it, so if our gas gets stolen we can get the gas replaced. I say that laughingly, but there is something I would like for us to think about. What insurance policy is there that benefits the person who dies? So here is an idea; life insurance that dead people can benefit from. Guess what? It’s already there! It’s called everlasting or eternal life! And on top of all this, IT’S FREE! It doesn’t cost you anything and it has satisfaction guaranteed, too. Our Father in heaven made a way for us all. It came through the death, burial and resurrection of HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON JESUS CHRIST. Jesus said, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3: 15 – 18 KJV).
This is a no risk policy that cost you absolutely nothing, nadda, zip; nothing at all, well except the fact that you must become a new creation in Christ. The policy includes, but is not limited to, contentment, peace, happiness, and above all, it insures the person who accepts this policy the absolute freedom from ever having to go to hell when they die. It also insures that these emotions, though not limited, are for eternity. Now you may ask, ‘Why do I need this?’ It’s simple; because ALL, including you and me, have sinned and come short of the glory of God, (Roman 3:23). Because of this sin we have eternal damnation ahead for all, including you and me. Paul wrote, “For the wages of sin is death ;”(Romans 6:23), and this death is not just a physical death either. The writer of Hebrews said, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” (Heb 9:27 KJV). It’s guaranteed that you and I will eventually die from this old body. Our bodies are dying simply because of the sin in our lives. If a person could actually see how they looked in a mirror because of sin, well, none of us would look at ourselves. Even the pretty girls and handsome guys are not exempt from this death. Of course, most people live like they will never die, but that’s another subject. The death that Paul is talking about is the spiritual death; eternal separation from God, FOREVER. There will be no partying there; you will not see friends, have nice visits, or anything like that. There will only be weeping and gnashing of teeth, (Matthew 24:51), where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, (Mark 9:44 – 48). Paul continues in Romans 6:23 by saying, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD. It’s a gift for the taking, and did I say, IT’S FREE!?!?
We need to understand that hell was not created for men, women, boys or girls, but for Satan and his angels. However, when we reject the free gift of eternal life or the insurance policy, of God, and die in our sin, that sin cannot enter into the kingdom of God. If you still don’t understand this need, let’s review. We’ve established that we, you and I and everyone else included, are condemned to hell for sin in our lives. If we die without accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we will be separated from HIM forever. Jesus paid that debt for us though. That’s right, you and I put Jesus on the cross to die in our place. However, He rose again on the third day, and now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, waiting to come get those who have this insurance policy that HE paid for. You cannot earn this policy, like it was a coupon at a grocery store, for the good works that you might do on this earth. There are no brownie points! “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). It’s a free gift for the asking, but it is not just handed to you because you think you are not a bad person. Did I mention that it is FREE?
Daniel was shown something that backs everything up. He was shown things that would happen in the last days of this earth, and he was told. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt,” (Dan 12:2 KJV). This eternal life insurance has been around since the beginning of time, and something that eventually will not be offered again. The Lord deals with people for a while and eventually does not talk to those who continually reject what HE is offering them, for FREE. It will be for a limited time, up to HIS discretion. There may come a time that you want to seek God and not find Him as Esau did. “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears,” (Heb 12:17 KJV). It is time for man to seek God. Isaiah addressed that when he said, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon, (Isaiah 55: 6 – 1 KJV).
So, it is decision time. What are we going to do with this FREE offer? It is a no–brainer for those who really want eternal life. Jesus is the only way to the Father. HE said, “I am the way, the Truth and the Life: No man can come unto the Father, but by ME, (John 14:6 KJV).” Here’s you chance: what will it be; Eternal life or eternal death? His will is simple: (John 6:40 KJV) “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” This is a life insurance policy that nobody should turn down.

Thought of the Day

2008-02-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

Forgetting Humility
Thinking Highly of Ourselves
Romans 12:3

My wife and I just love watching animated movies. On Saturday we watched the movie, ‘Cars,’ again. In fact I probably like this movie to a point that would give kids a run for their money. I can remember my boys getting hung on movies when they were little. They would watch them over and over again until their mom or I would say enough. Amazingly enough you will find things in movies that will catch your attention and make you think. This movie is about a race car that thinks he is the very best, and no rookie could do what he was doing. He has fired several crew chiefs and lost his racing team, because he considers himself a one man show. He doesn’t think that the cars and sponsors in the background had helped make him who he is. He is sponsored by old rusty cars that he is not thrilled about, and is working for a new sponsor whose driver is retiring. In fact, the retiring car told him that he was a good race car, but that he was ‘stupid.’ He began telling him what he needed to do, but he got wrapped up in his dream of this retiring race car’s sponsor and didn’t listen to the experienced car’s advice. As the movie goes on, he gets lost and finds himself in a lone lost town named Radiator Springs, in Carburetor County, on Route 66. Except for a classy looking sports car, he finds himself surrounded by a rusty old wrecker and some older model cars while he serves a sentence handed down to him, by a judge, who turns out to be an older racing car legend, who was basically put to the side in racing after having a wreck. Lightening McQueen was having to fix a road that he tore up, so they hooked him up to an old asphalt machine named, “Bessie” and he endured some rough times trying to fix the road while focusing on the big race and himself. He wasn’t getting the picture, but that would change in time.
Paul told the people of Rome, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think: but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith,” (Romans 12:3). Lightening McQueen, the car, was full of pride; or as my Grandmother would say about people like that, “He’s full of himself.”
There are people in this world that believe they are the best at what they do. I find that people that think they are okay, but do know what’s going on, are usually the best at what they do; and they don’t usually toot their own horn. Pride is the downfall of all men. Solomon wrote that the Lord hates pride, (Proverbs 6:16 – 17). Most men have to be brought down hard from pride, with humility. James wrote in James 4:6 KJV, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
As I watched this movie, I laughed at Mater, the rusty old wrecker, but I found that there was humility in him. He enjoyed the simple parts of life, and loved other cars for who they were. There is a lesson there too. We are told that we are to love one another. We remember how Jesus answered the lawyer in Matthew 22:35 – 40. 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.” I know that this seems hard to do, but very often the reasons we find it hard to love our neighbors is because of our own prideful self-centered egos. We ask ourselves, ‘what would other people think?” This is the same kind of attitude that Lightening McQueen, the car had. Doc, the old racing car asked him, “When was the last time you thought of anybody beside yourself?” He couldn’t answer that question, because he was being humiliated.
God has a way of making his children humble. Humiliation hurts us most of the time. The reason it hurts is because we are use to seeing things done our way and not God’s way. Sure, we say we love the Lord and we follow HIS leadership, but truth is, most of the time we have to make ourselves a convenient time for HIM. In this movie there was a car, named Sally, who takes Lightening McQueen for a drive. They stop at this old run down spot that used to be a hotel and she explained how she wished she could have seen it in its day. Stickers, as she called him, was having a hard time understanding, so she started explaining what had happened to her. She was a big time lawyer in LA, who got tired of the big life and took a drive. She broke down and Doc fixed her up in this little town. She said she was taking a drive and fell in love. McQueen asked, “Were you rich?” She answered with, “That was a different life.” He then asked, “Did you fall in love with a Corvette?” She then took him over to this cliff and showed him the scenery and told him, “I fell in love with this, and decided to stay.”
Sally had given up her high priced life, which was no doubt full of pride, and traded it in for the humility of a little town that she was trying to help rebuild. A humble life is for the taking of those who seek Christ in their lives. It starts off with salvation, which means a person has to put his/her pride to the side and admit that God is right and they are wrong; that he/she is definitely lost without Christ. Then they must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and repent. They must then believe He died on the cross for their sin and was buried and arose again on the third day, according to the scriptures. They must confess HIM before man. Paul said, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” (Rom 10:9 – 10 KJV). Salvation is only the start of seeking Christ, and it is available to all people; backgrounds don’t matter. Christians must seek humility in their lives on a continuous basis. We must not live our lives in the past any longer. Remember that all the old things are passed away and our lives have changed through Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17. Humility allows us to quit living our lives like we did before we met Christ, and causes us to start seeking the positive things that Christ has provided for us. This, then, gives us the opportunity to praise HIM for what HE has done for us, and helps us lead people in the direction of Christ.
As the story goes in this movie, Sticker learns a great deal. He finishes his sentence of rebuilding the road and then he starts helping the other cars in this community, by buying things from them, and acknowledging them. He is later rushed off to the race without saying good bye to Mater, the tow truck. As he is about to get out of his haul truck, he starts trying to focus upon himself again, but humility has hit him so hard that he could not get his mind where it needed to be. When he does start the race, he goes fast, but starts losing focus. Suddenly, all of his friends show up to the race. Doc Hudson becomes his crew chief and the rest of the cars, except for the three or four back in Radiator Springs, become his crew. He has the chance to win the race, but sees the car, which is going to retire, knocked out of the race by another car which was just like he used to be. Stickers stopped, didn’t win the race, and in humility goes back to the other car and pushes him to the finish line. In the end, he really is the winner.
His humility made him real friends. He also had the opportunity to go to the big racing sponsor, but after his lesson of humility, he decided to stick with the old rusty cars that gave him his break. He had seen the light of what it was supposed to be all about. In our prideful ways, we think we acquire friends only to find out in the long run that they aren’t friends at all. Humility usually gives us tons of friends. Through humility we can gain a friend that is closer than a brother and HE never turns HIS back on us. HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST. We gain HIM through salvation.
This man, for one, has learned that life is full on peaks and valleys. A friend of mine, who resigned the church he was pastoring recently, told me, “I believe that the mountains are overrated. When we are on the top of the mountain we only have self to look at. That’s where pride is. It’s in the valleys that we remember where we’ve been and who we depend on, because it’s then that we have to look up.” This is a very truthful saying. So the moral of this lesson is simple. Let us take the advice that James once said, and Peter reiterated in 1 Peter 5:5, “be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

Thought of the Day

2008-02-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

God’s Images
Have Men Forgotten Who They Are?
1 Timothy 3:7

I went into Life Way Christian book store yesterday with the idea of finding another CD of a choir that I just love to hear sing. They didn’t have any CD’s that I was interested in, so I decided to start looking at other things, such as Bibles, books and other stuff. As a minister, I could spend hours in a store like that, because I just like it. I’m a person who likes watching other people too. I have sat in malls before waiting on the lady of the house to finish shopping for whatever she is buying, and I have really been amazed at the things I see other people do. Sometimes I wonder if we aren’t like robots. Every family is unique in their own way, but we are basically all the same. It makes me look at what God has done with even greater amazement.
In 1Timothy 3:7, Paul wrote that in the last days men would be, “Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” When thinking about people in general I have a tendency to wonder what it was like in the beginning. When was the beginning? Scientist and Bible scholars alike have their opinions, and I’m not arguing when the beginning started, because right now, it really doesn’t matter. Today, there are people trying to second and third guess a God that exist and today they try to put a disclaimer on the fact HE even exists, and HE didn’t create them. It seems like the smarter man becomes, the dumber he is. We loose sight of truth. Despite what some people are trying to prove or disprove, my Bible tells me, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by HIM; and without HIM was not any thing made that was made,’ (John 1:1 – 3). In the book of Genesis we find that man was created from the dust of the earth, chapter 1:26. Not only was man made, he was made in the image of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is proved when the Lord said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” That is why people look the same. Sure HE made different races, and some of us weigh more than others, but we are made just like God, by HIM. Isn’t that exciting?
There is something much more exciting though. Despite all of our wicked ways, HE has made a way for us all to go to heaven. HE died on the cross in our place. That’s right; our place. People in general do not deserve the blessings God has given us much less the salvation from our sins HE offers us. Many people in America say that they believe HE exists, but few there are that accept HIS FREE GIFT. People in general think they can live the way they want to, and never pay attention to God or accept HIS free gift, and when they die from this life that some man will preach them into heaven. After all, how many funerals have you ever heard preached that a person died and went to hell? Most of the time a person is lifted up on this earth as a good person, and people are shown the qualities that person may have had during their lives. Still, many forget that you cannot get to the Father, but only through Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.” He is the only way to heaven. And still, we do not deserve this gift.
We need to remember that our bodies will return to the dust from which it came. As a great teacher I had in seminary said, “We are a cup of dirt, with a little water to hold us together.” So, the next time you think you look good, remember; YOU’RE DIRT. Funny, huh? Where is this leading too? Let’s remember that even when we think we are getting by with something; somebody knows. HE knows our every thought, every saying, every action, and our every movement. In John 2:24 – 25, the scriptures says, “But Jesus did not commit HIMSELF to them, because HE knew all men and need not that any should testify of man: for HE knew what was in man.”
A person can tell a whole church, their friends, and their family that they know Jesus, but does Jesus know that person? Yes, HE knows every person, but if you read this chapter, you find that many believed in HIS actions, but they did not accept HIM for who HE is. John wrote, “HE was in the world, and the world was made by HIM, and the world knew HIM not,” (John 1:10). There will be a time that men will find out whether or not Jesus really knows them. HE will say, (Mat 7:23 KJV) “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The people who accept HIM now, can hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” (Matthew 25:23).
Unfortunately, people ignore God, even folks who accept HIM as their Savior. The things of the world drag us down to the point of not paying attention to the things of God. Of course, some of it is selfishness on our part too. We work our hours, play our hours and then we think Sundays are our sleeping day, and again, God doesn’t fit into our time; what a shame. It’s time for us to quit being like the disciples were when Jesus asked them to pray while HE did in the garden. Both times HE found them asleep, and I’m afraid HE would find many Christians asleep if HE came back today. So, if this fits you, ‘wake up!’ We have a God that loved us enough to die on the cross for us, and now we should seek HIM. If you look around you will see HIS image everywhere. Some of the images know HIM and some don’t, but they should all remind us of HIM and what we should do for HIM. Man can continue to try to disprove the points made in God’s Word, but I choose to believe it. You may ask, “WHY?” It’s simple: IT’S THE TRUTH, AND I BELIEVE IT.

Thought of the Day

2008-02-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

Liberal Christianity
No Labor with Full Benefits
Psalm 116:12

Last night our men had a brotherhood meeting at the church. Our pastor brought a lesson on “The True Christian Attitude.” He gave us some good points and talked about how we should be working harder to please the Lord. So, as I was working this morning it was pouring down rain, I had a thought. The cold front that was predicted came through with a vengeance. Oh, well, it’s not quiet that cold, yet, but after 3 days in the 70’s with beautiful sunny skies, it makes it seem like a vengeance anyway. As I was in the middle of finishing my well test the thought came to me about the benefit of having a job. It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I do not want to work on Sundays, and in March we start 7 days a week. I enjoy teaching my class and the occasional opportunity to preach, and I’d much rather be with family in church. The question that came to me is this; if the Lord paid us to work for HIM, would we still have a job, now? In our thought for today I am reminded of what the Psalmist asked, in (Psalms 116:12 KJV). “What shall I render unto the Lord for all HIS benefits toward me?”
If you were offered a job, and the company told you that they were going to start you off at a wage that will afford you anything and everything you would every need and give you insurance at no cost, how long would it take you to say yes? The first thing that most people would want to know is what type of job it was, and how many hours a week it would require. However, the money and benefits would cause most people to jump on the job, but for the fun of it, this job also allows you freedom to do what you want, but you needed to do this job every opportunity you had. I bet you can see where this is going, can’t you?
Fact is, the money and luxuries that would be available to all of us would show us just how greedy we are; and this should make all of us ashamed. Granted we all want the perfect job, but guess what? That’s life. I don’t have the desire to work a secular job on Sundays at all, but for now that is what I have. I’m praying God will open a door to pastor the church HE has for me, but that opportunity hasn’t opened yet. However, we do have a job to do, and if we examined our lives we would see that we have benefits, freedoms, and all of our needs taken care of, pretty much. Do we earn this by doing our job?
We live our lives for the one letter word, ‘I’. God usually isn’t right where HE needs to be in our lives. When things seem to be going good for us we are happy go lucky, but when the first stone in the road comes and the road seems to get bumpier as we go down it, we then ask the LORD, ‘What’s going on? HELP ME!’ If He doesn’t answer fast enough, in our opinion, and then we start paying attention to those things of the LORD that we were totally ignoring during the good times, huh?
In today’s world if you don’t do what you were hired to do, you usually become unemployed pretty quick. The Lord hasn’t hired us to do anything either. Yet, HE has required us to be busy. We need to remember that Jesus has paid our sin dept by dying on the cross and HE offers us salvation by grace. So our dept of sin was paid for. However, we are often guilty of taking HIS grace for granted. We live for self and not for Christ. There is nobody who can really and truly prove that statement wrong either. We are not faithful to Christ whatsoever. I can hear people now saying, ‘Wait a minute! I go to church…’ Shame on us for saying we are faithful just because we go to church. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go to church, because we need too! That is not all we have to do to be faithful to HIM though.
Paul wrote, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful,” (1 Corinthians 4:2). What are we suppose to be faithful at? The word stewards means manager. His children are supposed to manage HIS kingdom business down on this earth. How is this done? We do this by being obedient to HIM and what HE has told us to do. We are to be faithful in a number of things; going to church, studying our Bible, praying, witnessing, making disciples who make disciples, etc., and there are scriptures throughout HIS Word that backs these up. However, it doesn’t stop there. We are to be faithful to HIM! Personal question; Are you faithful to HIM?
Many people who profess HIM as their Savior trade HIM in for their lusts and desires to fit into this world. We ignore the scriptures that tell us to be separate from the world, to abstain from all appearance of evil, and not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but to reprove them, and we do things like Elvis Presley used to sing, “Our Way.” The scriptures for all of these are 2 Corinthians 6:17, I Corinthians 5:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:22, and Ephesians 5:11. I left out the fact that you can’t love the world and God too; that’s found in 1 John 2:15. What about the change that Christ brings into your life, (2 Corinthians 5:15 – 21)? You can say you’ve been saved and pretend all you want too, but if there was no change in your life, then you by all accounts were not saved. That’s what the Bible teaches and I believe it.
People don’t like to hear messages on servitude, but being faithful to HIM and serving HIM is what life is all about. Truth is, if we started serving God as hard as we have served this rotten world and the sin in it, then our lives would be more dedicated to God. We need to be FAITHFUL TO HIM! HE is ALL that matters! It’s not me, you or anyone else that matters, but it is HIM. Until a child of God decides to be faithful to HIM, that child will never be satisfied in their lives, because this world offers no permanent satisfaction; it is all temporary. God’s satisfaction lasts for an eternity.
We want to quote Matthew 28:18 – 20, which tells us to ‘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: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” but does our lives show these verses in our actions, and do we do it? There is a misconception that it is only the pastors, deacons, and teachers who are responsible for spreading the gospel. We need to understand that it is every child of God’s responsibility to lead people to Christ. This is our job. Jesus told the disciples and others who watched HIM ascend into heaven, “ye shall be witnesses unto me, (Acts 1:8). Talking the talk is easy to do, but walking your talk is very hard, if you aren’t faithful to HIM. So, with this thought in mind, let me ask the question again, in a different way. If everything you have in life now depended upon how you served God and were faithful to HIM, meaning you could loose it all; would you still have it now?
Unfortunately we do get involved in things that bring us away from Christ and HE suddenly gets dimmer and dimmer in our lives. He still offers grace and peace to those who return to HIM, but at one point in our lives we must really see how important it is to be faithful to HIM. It’s not a game. We have a job, and we have been paid more than enough to do it. HIS love is enough. So, would you be fired today by God because of your performance for HIM? Unfortunately most of us would be unemployed. Thank God for HIS bountiful and wonderful grace.
Finally, Paul said it best about our work for God when he said, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire,” (1 Corinthians 3:9 – 15).
This should cause us to render the question, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all HIS benefits toward me?”

Thought of the Day

2008-02-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
Honoring Your Parents
Exodus 20:12

The fifth Commandment turns to rules for living in the world, so to speak. The first four Commandments deal with what God requires in serving Him, and of course, we know that we could speak for days and not cover everything that it really takes to totally serve Him. The fifth Commandment goes directly to the point of what a child should do in his life concerning his/her parents. “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
If there is anything in this world that really gets neglected is that many parents or most of us do not enforce the fact, with their children, that they are required, of God, to honor them with obedience. Is this totally the children’s fault? We can all say that each person, even children, have the right to make decisions. Many will make choices that are not good in their lives, but usually wrong choices are made because parents drop the ball. We can find scripture throughout God’s Word that tells us how to raise a child. What happened to the generation of kids that new that obeying and honoring your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and adults in general was an understood thing? That generation still exists today. That generation of kids is parents or grandparents today. We knew when Mom or Dad told us to do something that there was no arguing about it. We just did it! As a teenager, my mother had strict rules for me. I was not allowed to go to the skating rink, which was only a half a mile away from me until I turned 16. There wasn’t anything wrong with skating, in my mind, but when Mom said no, she meant it. My mother required so much respect from my brother and I that if we thought a smart thought, we were slapped before we knew how to say the thought. What’s wrong with this picture?
Many so-called scholars would tell us that discipline and spanking kids is emotional and physical abuse to children. However, the scripture tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). The key to this whole statement is the world ‘train’. The scripture also tells us, “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell, (Proverbs 23:13 – 14 KJV). How does a parent train his/her child to honor them with obedience? Solomon goes into great detail with showing parents how to train their children. The key to raising obedient children is discipline, and God is very big on it. He told us, through Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, that a very good tool to train a child with is using the rod when it is necessary. In fact He tells us if we do not discipline or children by spanking that that we do not love our children. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Proverbs 13:24 KJV).” Parents should also own up to the fact that we teach our kids to disrespect us and not obey us, by our actions toward God. OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. If we, as adults, cannot obey God, then why do we think our children will be obedient to us? Raising a child is not an easy thing to do. In fact, I can remember when my mom would tell me, just before I took a good swat with the belt. ‘This is hurting me more that it is you.’ I did not understand that fact until I gave my own child a good spanking. Children, now, are just as we were when we were kids. They have the same ideas we had by seeing just how much they can to get by with. Just as all of us parents were, they also were conceived in sin.
Kids do not take responsibility for their actions today, because they are trained to be that way by their parents. We are quicker to take up for them and defend them than we are to hold them accountable. When a child is an infant, the mom and dad are so proud. I dare say that it may take a couple of weeks to finally soak in that the child is a responsibility, but it takes years to find out that they are big responsibilities. My laughing joke is that the only bad thing about babies, besides the dirty diapers, is eventually they grow into a hormonal maniac called a teenager. Remember when you mom would say, “One day you will pay for your raising with children of your own?” I’m not trying to say that children are not a blessing from God, because they are, without any reservations. God puts these children in our lives so we can “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4 KJV). They are God’s children given to us to raise the way HE wants them to be. Unfortunately, many of us fail this great test.
So, how do we raise them to be obedient and respectful to parents and adults in general? We do this by being obedient ourselves; to God. Parents cannot tell children, “Do what I say and not what I do.” This simply does not work. If we do not have discipline in our lives, how can we expect our children to obey? The writer of Hebrews, which I believe is Paul, talks about the Lord disciplining HIS children. Paul writes, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live,” (Hebrews 12:6 – 9KJV)?
Any teen or young child that reads this might think they have excuses for the way they live, but they don’t. I know that I have drastically failed my kids in parts of their lives, just as many parents feel they have done also. However, the fact still remains that they have to make choices just as we did when we were their age, but we can teach them the difference between right and wrong by showing them how to be obedient and how to be held accountable. The Lord holds HIS children accountable, just as we need to hold our children accountable.
Children need to be taught that for every action, there is a reaction in anything that is done. This applies to everyone; adults and kids. Rejecting Christ guarantees a person who dies with that action, an eternity in hell. Kids can be lead toward Christ with discipline in their lives. Solomon said, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him,” (Proverbs 22:15), and then he gives another answer by saying, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame,” (Proverbs 29:15 KJV). These answers are a full proof plan on how to get a child headed in the right direction in their lives.
Honoring our parents is a never ending thing. We should always honor them; even when they make mistakes. Marriage or leaving home to live your own life does mean we have the right to disrespect our parents. Obeying our parents is the right thing to do, in the sight of God. How do we honor them? We honor them by obeying them as we obey God. Being obedient to God is a way to be closer to God. That’s what the Ten Commandments are written by God for. They teach us how to become closer to God with obedience in our lives. Remember; The Ten Commandments are laws with purpose.

Thought of the Day - 02/04/08

2008-02-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Cleaning Up Our Lives
A life’s Chore
2 Corinthians 7:1

This past weekend, Becky and I spent all day Saturday cleaning up the house. We both work so much that we just allow things to keep going until we finally say enough. I had already started on my mess, which took all day to relocate, while she started in probably the cleanest room in the house. However, as she worked toward my location, she slowed down too. Even though she accomplished more than I did, I was reminded of how filthiness slows us down in our lives too. Thinking about that, I was reminded of what Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 7:1. He said, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Life, in general, has a tendency to drag a person down. Christians are no different. A statement that David made about ‘the wicked prospering,’ shows us how much we desire to be like the world. We can’t seem to separate ourselves from it, can we? Amazing enough, we should know that we are obligated to live for Christ. He gives us direction in our lives, through HIS Word, but at times we choose our own roads in life too. I can’t count on my hand the number of times I went my own way, thinking, ‘I know this is wrong, but…’ Sin is sin, no matter how much man tries to totem pole them. In God’s eyes, no one sin is greater than another, except for the sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost. That is an unpardonable sin.
If we study up on the church at Corinth, we find that this particular church had many issues. I think that many of the issues that they had where based upon the fact that maybe they weren’t growing spiritually like all Christians should. Paul laid out a grand example of how Christians should live in Roman 12: 1 – 2. Paul begged the Christians at Rome to surrender their lives to the Christian duties. He said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
This particular passage is often preached in many churches simply because it directs us with an authority that stands out more to some people. However, we need to examine the directions that Paul is stating in this passage too. Paul said to present your bodies a living sacrifice. This means that we should strive to live for the Lord with all we have. We need to discipline our lives to where HE can been seen. It’s all supposed to be about HIM anyway, right? It will be about HIM, whether we try to make it about HIM or not. The part of Romans 12 that catches one’s eye after the charge in verses 1 and 2 is verse 3. “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he out to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’
For a person to be able to clean up the filth in his life, he must first humble himself and allow God to show him how dirty he is. Obviously the people in Rome, just like the people in Corinth, had what is called an ‘I’ problem or ‘me’ problem. ‘Look at me, I’m so important!’ Most people have a big problem admitting that they are wrong. Why? The answer to this is easier than we think; nobody wants to admit that they are sinners. The reason for this is simple; we have an inferiority complex, to some extent. If we don’t fit into a certain group of people, we don’t feel needed or wanted. Nobody wants to admit that they are bad. We can’t believe that God would actually allow somebody to go to hell when they die, simply because they don’t accept HIM as their Savior, by repenting of their sins and asking HIM to be LORD of their lives. After all, where’s the justice in that, huh?
We all need to realize that hell was created for the devil and his angels; not for man. If a person chooses to live his life for himself and rejects God, then they put themselves into hell at death. It’s not God’s fault! He paid every person’s way into heaven by allowing HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON to die on the cross for us. It’s not HIS fault if a person doesn’t choose to pick up their paid ticket. There are people who have accepted the free ticket, but choose to live life as they please. These folks, like many others, need to clean their life up. Paul instructs us to ‘be separate,’ (2 Cor. 6:17). He also stated to ‘abstain from all appearance of evil,’ too, in 1 Thessalonians 5:22.
Cleaning our lives up for Christ’s sake is the only way we can truly have a relationship with HIM. Sin separates us from God, and the call of repentance is loud. We should be challenged today to listen to HIM and ask HIM to show us what needs to be cleaned up. We need to give HIM our all. If you were served food on a dirty plate who you be willing to eat the food? That’s how some of our lives are; we expect God to bless us and accept us with our plates full of dirt. The main reason that the church of Corinth was so dirty was the same reason we are today. There is no real fear of God in our lives. Oh, it’s pretty easy to say we fear God, but does our life show it? We love to talk our talk, but we don’t necessarily want to walk our talk, do we? Walking our talk is a great way to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” It’s just a thought.

Thought of the Day

2008-01-31T13:00:00.001-08:00

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.

Thought of the Day 01/29/08

2008-01-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Thought for the day

2008-01-28T13:27:00.001-08:00

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.

Sunday

2008-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Just a thought

2008-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

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.

A Cold Rainy Day

2008-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

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.

A cold tough day

2008-01-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

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.

Thought for the day 01/17/08

2008-01-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

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

Thought For the Day: 01/10/08

2008-01-10T14:23:00.001-08:00

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.

Thought For the Day: 01/09/08

2008-01-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Thought of the Day - 01/07/08

2008-01-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

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?

Thought of the Day - 01/04/07

2008-01-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Thought fo the day - 01/03/07

2008-01-07T15:20:00.001-08:00

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

Thought for the day: Prayer; The Real Need for It

2008-01-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

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.

Wondering is a way to be disappointed...or is it?

2007-12-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Winter really showed it's face today. It was 27 degrees this morning. I'm finally getting closer to the house with my job. This is great, mainly, because I will be close enough to go to Sunday school and church now. It had been 3 weeks since I had heard my own pastor preach. It was nice to be in church this past week. I had the great personal opportunity to preach at Woodlawn MBC in Denison, Texas on November 24th. Let's pray for their pastor and their church as a whole. They really need us too.

This past Sunday morning, I was told, during the service, that a church had inquired about me to possibly come on view of a call to their church. He talked to the pastor about it, and he said it sounded like a good opportunity to me. However, I have not been contacted by anyone as of yet. That's where the wondering part of this blog comes in.

Knowing that someone has inquired, give me the ability to get really excited about it, in the hopes that maybe this is the church that God wants for me. However, my experience has taught me a number of things. I say, 'my experience,' like I've been pastoring for a long time; lol. But, in my short time, as a preacher, I have come to a conclussion. I talked with a couple of other preachers about this and they agree. MOST churches do not really pray about their next pastor. The man that they listen to has to meet certain educational standards and be completely like Jesus for them to even consider listening to him. I've preached at 3 churches on the possibility of being their pastor and felt like God was telling me that this was the church HE wanted me at. On of them was so strong, even Becky felt like we were moving there. However, all of these churches went in different directions. Wondering and wanting left me with a huge disappointment in my life. Heart ache set in, then not feeling like God needs you any longer, and eventually you get to where you ask, "Why even concern yourself with it any longer or waste you time?"

We all know that God is in control, but sometimes it would be great if HE would just knock us up beside the head and tell us what HE wants us to do. Of course then we wouldn't be able to use our faith; would we?

Our yard is beautiful right now. It is almost completely covered in leaves. I really love this time of year. Hope things are going good for everyone. Lord Bless our nation.

Moving........Again

2007-07-02T09:02:00.001-07:00

Well, it is Monday, again. Becky and I are really tired. We closed on our new 'to us' home on Thursday and the people who lived there apparently didn't do much before then in the way of packing, moving, etc. So, they were out by Sunday around noon. We moved most of Aaron's stuff to his room, plus a lot of boxes. The plants, which are officially mine, were moved earlier and put out of the way. After church yesterday morning, we took a 16 foot flatbed full of packed boxes and another 6 foot trailer with some furnishings on it. We are excited that God has blessed us with our own home. However, I really hate moving...LOL. The Mobile home is a Town and Country 28 x 66 doublewide with two decks on it. The living area isn't real big, but it's cozy. We do have a fire place though. On the back deck, there is an eight person hot tub that does work. I was thinking about how nice it would have been to be able just to soak in it after yesterday's hard work. I planted 5 crape mirtles, two rose bushes, and moved several other plants around to prepare for planting. The good thing is........no more rent. Thank you Lord for allowing Becky and me to experience country living...It's 7 miles outside of Carthage on FM 1970. I actually moved closer to Chase. Now he can't say it's to far to come see me. LOL. Not that he really does anyway.

The second picture is the picture of the gang. Mean looking raschals, aren't we? From L to R in the back are; Becky, me, Chase and his wife, my daughter-in-law, Jill. On the front are Mark, David, Aaron, and Ryan. David is in College Station this week, and Aaron is in Aberdene, Maryland serving in the Army, while training. Chase and Jill live just down the road from us, while Mark, a Tiger footballball player, and Ryan, a YMCA you Maverick basketball player, both live in Corsicana. Please pray with me that all of these kids will know the Lord soon. Three of them claim it, but we still pray they will know it for sure.

Maryland or bust.

2007-06-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, Aaron graduated. This is the most exciting thing that has happened in the past few months. I think it even suprised him. Today, he is headed to Aberdeen Maryland for his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) part of his army training. From there, only God knows. He got his drivers license today too. So many things are happening so quickly. Time waits for no man. Arlin James, my nephew, also left for Basic Train in the Army in Oklahoma. He graduated with high honors from Longview High School, and plans on going to college as soon as his basic and AIT is completed. Please pray with Becky and I for God's will to be done in these you men's lives. May he protect them, along with the many other kids, who are in our military.

Forgiving People

2007-06-05T15:48:00.001-07:00

Forgiving People
Matthew 18:21 – 35

Do people really understand the word “Forgive”? My pastor recently preached a message out of the book of Matthew, and as I read further down I ran into this passage. As many others have done, I may have read this passage a hundred times and never got the true meaning until that night. It always amazes me at how God shows me things.

In a very short preview of this particular passage, we see that Peter is in the midst of a conversation with Jesus and does something that many of us would love to do now, and get verbal answers too. He asked a question on a subject matter that he may not have quiet understood. The good thing is that he got his answer right then. He didn’t have to wait or study his Bible to come to an understanding. Jesus told him of a certain king who was owed money by a certain man. The KJV Bible said this man owed the king 10,000 talents. One talent of gold is equal to $26,280.00 in U.S. Currency; if not more today. I don’t know that it was worth that exact amount then, but apparently it was worth a good amount. We know that men today have been killed for a lot less, but 10,000 talents of gold, at today’s value, would be $262,800,000.00. What most of us could do with just 10 talents at today’s market value!

Let’s look at this amount at our current value. This man owed the kings almost 263 million dollars, and the King forgave his debt. The king was going to put this man and family into slavery to pay his debt, but when the man fell before him and asked him for more time, the king had compassion and forgave him of the debt (vs. 27). However, we see that this same man, who was forgiven of 262 million dollars, chose not to forgive a man who owed him ‘an hundred pence’ (vs.28). What a contrast! If this man owed 262 million dollars, wouldn’t it make sense that 15 dollars was just a drop in the bucket? My grandmother told me, long ago, that rich men are never happy with what they have. They just want more. Maybe that is why Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” However, the focus is not on the wealth that this man did or didn’t have. It’s on the subject of forgiveness. There are three things I think we can learn from this passage that will help us understand true forgiveness.

WE MUST HAVE COMPASSION.

In verses 27 and 33, we find that the king had compassion. The man who owed 262 million dollars was shown compassion and was forgiven. Compassion means to show grace. Compassion is something that is very hard to find in a lot of Christians today. Granted, I don’t know anyone who owes 262 million dollars to anyone else. However, we need to see that this is just an example. Many men and women have problems with forgiving others. In fact they go in all sorts of directions to find fault in others. Today, we find people who will wrongly accuse others just to make themselves look better. What a shame! We want to claim Jesus in our lives, yet we choose to let ourselves be seen instead. We talk about people behind their backs just to see what kind of response we get back. We tear people down just to get ourselves ahead. Don’t let a person do something that offends us or makes us mad. If someone does, we will go out of our way to get revenge. This, my friends is not what compassion is all about. The question that Peter asked was, “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” We need to realize that before we can forgive someone, we must have compassion and not look for faults.

WE MUST UNDERSTAND HOW TO FORGIVE OTHERS.

The man who was forgiven of his debt of 262 million dollars didn’t understand the concept that the king showed him. He apparently didn’t learn a very valuable lesson the easy way. He knew that he had been totally forgiven of everything he owned this king. He didn’t show the same forgiveness to another that had been shown to him. Jesus explained this to Peter in verse 35. “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Jesus used an analogy that most anyone can understand. Today’s thought is forgive your brother 7 times 70. However, Jesus used that as an example of an unending forgiveness. This is not an easy thing for any man to do. I remember a person, who had been offended at how a church had treated its pastor and his family. Now, in my opinion, along with others, the church was wrong for what they did. However, two years later that person had ill feelings toward that church. The statement that the person made was, “I can forgive them, but I just can’t forget.” This is a statement that goes against itself. If you truly, from you heart, forgive someone, then you have forgave them to the point that you do not hold it against them any longer. Man has a tendency to not be able to forget. However, we have the ability, through Christ, to not hold a grudge. Unfortunately, this happen in many churches today. Jesus had a simple rule. In Matthew 6:14 and 15, we see that He said, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” How can you expect to be forgiven by God if you can’t show the same forgiveness to those who may or may not really offended you?

WE MUST FORGIVE OTHERS

It is just fact that men will always offend other men. People are going to do things that other people don’t like. Preachers are going to preach things that churches may not necessarily want to hear. However, if they aren’t in the wrong, we shouldn’t dislike them or hold it over their heads. If preachers really preach the Word of God the way it is meant to be preached, and not watered down, then we know that we are probably going to be offended. Why? Because, we don’t like that fact that we are being shown that we are wrong. We want to always be patted on the back and we don’t like feeling bad. We would rather feel good. As I said earlier; people will always offend other people. However, if we really want to live for Christ, then we must be willing to forgive them instantly. They shouldn’t have to ask us to forgive them either. However, if we should be offended, do as the Bible instructs us to do. Go directly to that person and tell them in a loving way that you were offended by them through their words or deeds. Chances are, they weren’t trying to offend you in the first place. However, even if they don’t apologize for their wrong, forgive them anyway. To do this, we must show compassion and love. May God always been seen through each of our lives, and may we all be compassionate with a Godly compassion toward each person.

2007-05-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Proving God
An Alternative to Trusting Self.
Malachi 3:10

In this passage we find that the Lord is dealing with Israel about a lot of different issues. Israel had turned their back upon the Lord, were not trusting Him to provide for them any longer, and sin was running wild through this people. This particular verse seems to be dealing with tithing, or first fruits. Many preachers love to use this scripture to show how God really wants us to give HIM the first fruits of our blessings from Him, or ten percent of what we earn each paid day, before taxes. However, I want to look at this scripture in a total different way. In this scripture I want to look at 3 words that stand out in this scripture. These words are, “Prove ME Now.”
When we think of the word prove, what do we really think it means? Most of us have used the word, ‘prove,’ in a two word statement, ‘prove it,’ when we are trying to get someone to push a thought or an idea. The word ‘prove’ has three different uses in the Bible. There are two Hebrew words, ‘bachan,’ pronounced , ‘baw-khan’, which means to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively it mean to investigate: examine, prove tempt, try (trial). The other Hebrew word for ‘prove,’ is; Nacah, naw-saw’; which means to test; by implication, to attempt, adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try. Of course, the Greek word, found in the New Testament is dokinmazo, dok-im-ad’-zo’. This means to test, to approve, allow, discern, examine, approve, try. In general they basically mean the same thing. However, in this passage, we find that it come from the Hebrew word ‘bachan; baw-khan’. Prove Me now. The Lord wanted Israel to test or investigate Him and His strength. He wanted them to find out that His promise was a strong a metal. It was a strong promise. There are some things I would like us to see in these three words the Lord told Israel in this passage.

UNDERSTAND THAT GOD’S WORD IS HIS BOND.

We find in this chapter that Israel was not tithing at all. They may have been giving God what they thought God needed and not what He had instructed them to do. It’s amazing to me, that we, as Christians, are no different from Israel. We do not give God what He requires of us. Tithing is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in this passage. We make promises to the Lord that we are going to serve Him, when we have tough times, if He will just see us through. However, we forget what we say. Israel prayed for over 300 years that He would pull them from bondage, and if He would, they would serve Him more and obey Him. However, we see that they put Him in the back of their minds and fell back on their promises. We know that where man breaks promises on a regular basis to Him, that the Lord has made promises that He does not break. The first word that comes to me is covenant. The word “covenant,” mean to promise. The Lord has promised Abraham that his children would be as the sands of the sea. He promised that there would be an ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind. In verse 6, we see that the Lord said, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” If he stood by Israel through all the times that He did before, what made Israel loose faith now? We find in His Word that He cannot lie. When God speaks something, He stands by what He says. His promises are as strong as steel, because He does not lie.

UNDERSTAND THAT MAN NEEDS TO PROVE (INVESTIGATE) GOD’S PROMISES

As a child of God we understand that the salvation of God is eternal and that no man can pluck us from His hand. Why? Because Jesus said so! Look in John 10:28 – “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man (thing) pluck them out of my hand.” There is nothing any man can do to fall from the grace of salvation once they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, many of us, who are saved, do not prove God in our lives. I reminded of the scripture where Jesus told Thomas, “Ye have believed because you have seen; blessed are they who believe and have not yet seen.” Pharisees always wanted to see signs. When Jesus showed them signs, they would say He was of the devil. They were blinded to their own selves. They depended on what they could do and only on what they can do. Today, men find themselves in very similar territory. Men have become lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, depisers of those who are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Today, we have become conceded and think our ways are better than any of God’s ways. We are unthankful, unholy and liars. The world sees more advertisements and hear more advertisements of sex and many pleasures that God has given to men, and taken them all and turned things around so we can use them in ungodly ways. Paul said this would happen. Are you listening? The Lord told Israel, in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” He meant it then and He has not changed. He keeps His Word and backs it up with power that is stronger than iron. We have issues that we seem to think we have no answers too. Prove God! He is there for us. My question to you is, if He didn’t want us to prove Him, why does He tell us come unto HIM?
A lost man just needs to seek God and ask Him for the promise of salvation that offers every man that seeks Him. This means you must first get self out of the way. Christians, sometimes we stand in the way of what God wants to do for us. Let Him do what He will in your life.

UNDERSTAND THAT IF ISRAEL WOULD HAVE JUST PROVED THE LORD, THERE WERE REWARDS.

The Lord predicted John the Baptist in verse 1 of chapter 3. He made a promise to Israel that He would give them a chance. Did He follow through? Yes! We need to understand that proving the Lord can, at times, be very painful. In verses 2 – 3, we see that the Lord uses the examples of a refiner. This man’s duty was to heat gold and silver up to the point that all of the impurities would come out. This would make the silver or gold very pure. The more pure gold becomes, the softer it gets. We need to allow the Lord to work in us so we can become more pure. Allow Him to remove the impurities in our lives so that we can become more aware of what He wants for us to do. Our hearts need to be softened to the point that we can reach out to the lost, the one who are hurting, and others who need Christ’s direction in their lives. Israel would have found rewards if they would have just proved God. He said, “Prove me now herewith, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Would you like that type of blessing? If we prove God, we will find that the rewards we receive will be great. However, when we don’t prove God in our lives there can be penalties. Discipline is what God performs on those who do not follow Him. His children need to seek out His ways and not there own ways. If you live like you are of the world and are not separated from it, and God doesn’t deal with you, you might want to examine your soul.

UNDERSTAND THAT WE ROB GOD OF MORE THAN TITHES AND OFFERINGS.

Israel had real issues just as we do today. The Lord’s desire was for Israel to return to the days of their fathers and start obeying His commandments and ordinances that they had turned their backs on. Robbing God is a daily thing in Christianity today. We rob Him of opportunities to be used of Him. We seek our own ways and not His ways. The statement, “Prove ME now,” was not just a request, but it was a commandment. If Israel chose to prove the Lord, then they would find favor in His eyes again. We, as Christians, as a whole, need to find favor with God again. Be used of God! Prove Him in your life! The next time you hear or read the word, ‘prove,’ remember that it means to investigate Him. If you do choose to investigate Him, I think you will find that He is very strong in His promises, and that His promises are stronger than anything. It is definitely stronger than anything this world can offer, and they have a lot greater rewards.

Friday

2007-05-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

Today, Becky left me. She's gone to a Christian's Women's Retreat in Hot Springs. So, I'm here to be bored all weekend. I think I'm learning some of my new job. It's no the easiest thing to learn. This makes me wish even more that I could pastor again. Even though I didn't feel like I did the best job I could, at times, I was in my confort zone. I've had the crud for about 3 days now. Cough, cough, sniffle, sniffe all day long. I'm ready for it to go. I've started working on devotionals again, slowly, and I'm hoping I can get in the grove with it. I'm going to see Spiderman 3 tonight. I want to see if it is as good as previews say it is. It's movie month here. Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, and Pirates of the Carribean 3. We plan on seeing em' all. Hope ya'll have a great weekend.

Wisdom Verses Patience

2007-05-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

How Faith Intervenes
James 1: 5 – 7

Wisdom and Patience are two different things. However, you can’t have one without the other. Think about it. Wisdom comes from having patience and Patience gives us wisdom. However they come with a common denominator in the form of faith. In James chapter 1, we see that he gets into how faith works patience and has a perfect work, which is complete, (3-4). Verses 5 and 6 tell us, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him as in faith, not wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed,” Verse 7 says, “For let not that man think, or assume, that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

Wisdom is something I really wished I had a whole lot more of. I can remember when they said that a gray headed man had lots of wisdom, but I’ve got plenty of gray hair and I don’t really consider myself wish. Many other people consider themselves wise, but truthfully, they are lacking in that area. When wisdom is talked about, Christians usually think of Solomon right of the bat. Solomon was given wisdom, because he asked for it. However, Solomon did not always use his wisdom wisely. In a wise move, I can remember the story of two women saying that a baby was theirs. One woman had taken the other woman’s baby to declare as hers when she lost her own child. To settle the argument, Solomon finally said to cut the baby in half and each of them could have half of it. One lady was all for it, but the real mother said no. The one that said ‘no,’ was given her baby back. In a not so wise move, on more than one occasion, Solomon chose to marry women who were idol worshippers. He did not seek God’s will like he should. He made wrong decisions. Most honest men today would readily admit that they have made wrong decisions in their life. Two decisions I made wrong in mine, among many wrong decisions, are that I ran from the ministry for 14 years, because of men’s beliefs, which had been taught to me. The other decision I made that was wrong, in my opinion, was that I probably didn’t take my only pastorate as important as I needed too. I didn’t apply myself as much as I should, and therefore may have been a key instrument as Satan’s tool to push some away from church. The important small things may have been overlooked. Solomon said, in Ecclesiates 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of men.” He could have possibly said, “for this is the whole duty of wise men.” That’s not what it says though.

James, in this writer’s opinion, was a wise man too. He wrote things in this book that will help Christians in our daily and spiritual lives if we will just study it. Let’s see what he has to tell us in these verses considering wisdom and faith. There are some key things in these scripture that show us how we should seek wisdom.

WE SHOULD ASK GOD FOR WISDOM vs. 5a

In verse 7, James tells us that we shouldn’t think or assume that the Lord is just going to give us anything. Now, we all know that the Lord takes care of us with material things and He keeps His protective hands around us. However, I also believe we just assume that HE will continue to do that too. We should be thankful for what HE does give us and not just pretend that it was us all the time. Some men have this idea that they earn things themselves. However, man doesn’t earn anything: he is given things, or the Lord allows man to have things. Wisdom is there for the asking. A rule of thumb is to never ask God for patience. However, we can ask God for wisdom. We know they go together. We know that God will provide it to us if we just ask. Wisdom can teach of patience with a lot less heartache.

WISDOM IS GIVEN GENEROUSLY OR OPEN HANDED. VS 5B

When men ask for wisdom, God is open handed and more than generous in giving it to them. He gives it to him freely. I love to eat at a certain café, on a daily basis. However, as much as I like the chicken fried steak, I am only allowed to eat what I pay for. It’s not free. Buffets are a little more generous, but you still have to pay for the food you eat. In the quest for wisdom, all a man has to do is ask for it. When we ask for wisdom, not only does the Lord give it to us, HE doesn’t criticize us, or look down on us, for asking. The KJV of the Bible says, “upbraideth not.” The Lord doesn’t criticize us for asking for wisdom, and He gives it to us freely. What a blessing! However, there are conditions for us when we ask for wisdom.

WISDOM IS GIVEN TO A MAN WHEN HE ASKS FOR IT BY FAITH, AND DOESN’T WAVER. VS. 6

The Merriam – Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the word ‘wavering’ as to hesitate as if to about to give away. We could look at this a couple of ways, I think. People waver in their faith all the time. Christians love to say, “I have faith in the Lord,” but do we really? A good example of not working faith can be found as close as this writer. I tell people I have faith in God, but I don’t always prove that faith. My wife and I have found a brand new manufactured home, or commonly known a mobile home, that we really want. However, the land we wanted to buy, and shook hands with the man on, fell through. This wasn’t necessarily the man’s fault, and I’m not blaming him, but Becky and I have not been able to find the land that best suits us. It seems like every door is shut. Even though both of us have prayed for land, it’s either too high or too much land. This can cause me, or any man, to waver on his faith. We might say, “Well God just isn’t going to give this to us.” I’m just going to give up on it, because it’s not going to happen. That’s wavering on faith. Another way to look at it would be to waver on whether we really want the wisdom or not. Like a lot of things, wisdom brings responsibility. The biggest responsibility would be that of being wise with the wisdom God gives to us. Those are things just to think about. James goes on to say that a man who wavers is like a wave of the sea, which is driven with the wind and tossed. When we waver on our faith in God we can open doors for Satan to enter. He is always looking for way to defeat a Christian, and one way to make them feel defeated is by causing them to loose their faith in the Lord. We are driven by forces unseen. Paul said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12)

WE SHOULD ASK FOR WISDOM AND NOT ASSUME WE JUST GET IT. (VS 7)

Men just automatically believe that God is bound to us, because we are saved, and has to just give us things. This is a lie. God doesn’t owe us anything. He doesn’t have to give us anything. We should assume that God is just going to give us wisdom. We also need to understand that patience comes through wisdom, which in turn comes through trials and tribulation. Men, for the most part, can learn patience and grow in wisdom from tough times. A lot of men can teach others from the heartaches, pains, and suffering that they have suffered. However, we have to have an ear to hear by. We can learn a lot for older adults if we just pay attention. However, we need to understand that a lot of the things we learn in this world come from trial and error in our own lives. That is were patience comes in, and faith is the common denominator to wisdom. By faith Abraham took Isaac to make Isaac a sacrifice, and by faith Abraham told the servant to hold the donkeys until him and Isaac returned. Abraham learned his wisdom from trial and error, but he also learned that God would not fail. Abraham got his wisdom from having faith in the Lord.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER

Always remember the next time you think to yourself, “I wished I had more patience,” to ask God for wisdom. Through wisdom, you can learn patience with a lot less of the trials and tribulations. However, you must always remember that the key to both, wisdom and patience is faith. We need to remember what we are told in Hebrews 11:6. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” James said, “Faith without works is dead.” James 2:20. What is faith? “Now faith is the substance of thing hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.” (Heb. 11:1). The stronger our faith becomes in God, the wiser we will become; and patience will follow. Faith is the common denominator when it comes to ‘wisdom verses patience.’ May the Lord grant us all the wisdom we ask for, and May we all grow in our faith.

Joy through Misery

2007-05-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

Joy through Misery
A Perfect Work
James 1: 2 - 4

The month of April was pretty rough. A lot of things seemed to go south pretty fast, while other things went great. That’s life though, isn’t it? The book of James is one of the hardest books in the Bible. It brings the reality of life out. It lines Christians out. In chapter 1:2 James wrote, “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; know this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” Job reminds us, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble,” Job14:1.

We don’t always count it all joy when things go tough for us. I can honestly say that I’m quick to get down on myself and, sometimes, life too. Does the Lord expect us to be down? Job could have gotten down worse, and even to the point of denying the LORD if he so chose to. In fact, his wife asked, “Why don’t you curse God and die?” I believe that this woman had already cursed God in her heart. However, Job knew that God was in control. He even stated, “I know thou canst do ever thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” Unfortunately, in some way or another, we all experience trials and tribulation. We are tested above and beyond all that we think we can stand. Granted some are tested well above others, it seems, and at times there seems to be no end. However, some of the trials or tribulations we have can be a direct reaction to what we have done too. To every decision comes a reaction or consequence. Either way, when the trial comes through, we do not count it joy. We don’t have the excitement about it. We just wonder when it is going to stop; don’t we?

Why should we count it all joy? James tells us why would should count it all joy and this should be encouraging to us all.

WE SHOULD COUNT IT ALL JOY, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE TRYING OF OUR FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE. VS. 3

It is not smart to ask the Lord for Patience. I know that my patience has been worked hard, but then again maybe it hasn’t been worked as hard as it can be. If you pray for patience, you usually are given trials to help build it up. It leads us to depend on God more. I made the comment, not long ago, about how I would like for the Lord to speak to me like HE did in the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament. How simple would it be if God would answer us directly and verbally? Then again, it may not be what I really would want to hear. Would communications between me and the Lord be constant? How about, what would he say if I made wrong decisions and ask me, why are you here, or there, or why did you do this or that? How come you didn’t go to church this morning or how come you didn’t study your Bible today? Get the drift? Yes, it would be great to have the answers quickly, but there are times we don’t want to hear these answers either. Patience is not my best virtue by a long shot. When I want something, I usually want it now. However, I find that actually waiting upon the Lord does renew my strength, and God’s plan is usually revealed to me. There is one area in my life though, that I wished I could be doing what my heart desires, and my patience is not so strong. We need to thank God daily for even the bad things that seem to happen from day to day. We need to realize that things could always be much worse. Thank God for life and the opportunity to have our faith worked. We all need it.

WE SHOULD COUNT IT ALL JOY, BECAUSE WHEN PATIENCE HAS FINISHED HER WORK WE WILL BE PERFECT AND ENTIRE, WANTING NOTHING. VS. 4

Now understand this; God supplies our needs, but doesn’t always give us our wants when we want them. When I was a young man, I bought a brand new 1981 - 14 x 80 Melody Mobile Home. It was my first ever major purchase, well, besides a car or two. My wife and I lived in a trailer park, which was provided by the man I bought the Mobil Home from. Eventually I wanted a place of my own to put it on. I believe I was paying $70.00 a month on this place and I decided I could pay that much on my own place. A man that I used to go to church with told me he would sell me 21/2 acres of land when he moved his mobile home, which he was trying to sell separate. I went to my banker, who later went with me to examine this land, and he started showing me the down sides of the land. It has a gas well on it; what if the gas line explodes, the land is low, it may flood; and he finally ended the conversation with, “I don’t think it’s worth what they are asking for it. The value of it is lower than their price.” It was a devastating blow to me. He then said, “But, if you just have to have it, I guess I’ll finance it.” I went home and was still very down about it. I had lost all patience, which wasn’t much, and started asking, ‘why me?’ Not many days longer, another man that I had gone to church with called me and told me of an acre and a half that was vacant. I found out that my bank had gotten the land back from a default of the owner and needed to get rid of it. I went to my banker who didn’t know a thing about it, but found out which banker did own it. He loaned me the money for it, and even though I don’t live there any longer, it is still one of the prettiest lots I ever had. Even though I didn’t have the patience I needed, God provided it for my family. I lived there for 5 years before I moved. Now, I’m looking for another place to live, and again, I thought I had the perfect spot to live. A man had promised me some land at a great price, but he was unable to fulfill his commitment, because of other problems with the land. I have not counted it joy that I was unable to get the land, because I wanted it so bad. It seems like everything I’ve been interested in has been a dead end. Before I left my job, I thought I had another job, and it fell through. I was very disappointed, but God had a better idea. Things don’t always go as we plan, but they always, and I mean always, go the way God plans. If we learn to be patient, God will show us a better way, and it will be perfect and entire, and you will be wanting for nothing. However, this comes in HIS time, and not always in our time.

WE SHOULD WAIT UPON GOD’S WILL FOR US.

I know that this isn’t the easiest thing to do. Many trials and tribulations may come our way while waiting upon HIM. If fact, it may be the waiting that causes us to think we are in a trial. Who knows? However, we do know that the Lord only wants the best for each of us. That is why HE sent HIS only begotten SON to die for us, in our place, that we can be saved. Do we count that all joy? If we don’t, we should. Thank HIM for dying in our place. When making a decision, seek the Lord. If you make that a priority, then you are allowing HIM to show you what HE wants you to do. When it happens, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The Importance of Sound Doctrine

2007-04-30T15:22:00.001-07:00

The Importance of Sound Doctrine
Why We Need It As Christians

If they took the Bible away from us, or locked it to where we couldn’t get into it, no matter how much we tried, what would we remember? This is a thought that made me think of how this generation of people has lost the perspective of serving God. This made me think of how we are leaning more to worshipping the LORD than serving HIM. I am not against worshipping God, because HE needs to be worshiped in our lives, daily. However, serving God is a way to worship in obedience too. It reminded me of what Paul to Timothy concerning the last days.
In 2 Timothy 3:1 – 5, Paul talks about the last days being dangerous and how people will be lovers of their own selves, and he goes into great detail of how men will be, and I should say, look at us and how we are today. In America, sin is more acceptable today, than it was even in the 70’s. Of course, being a child of the 60’s, I barely remember some things, but the 60’s and 70’s were worse than the 40’s and 50’s. Granted, each generation gets totally worse. This is Bible prophecy being fulfilled.
I went to 2 Timothy 4:1 – 4, which ties into chapter 3, and Paul was encouraging Timothy, but he was warning of how the last days should be too. Paul wrote, “I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at HIS appearing and HIS kingdom; preach the WORD; be instant in season, out of season; reprove rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine; for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.” If you go back to chapter 3:7, you see that Paul said men would be, “Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
To Paul, it was urgent that Timothy understands how man would become. We are in a generation of head believers and not heart believers. We have seen it necessary to have several different interpretations of the Bible, when, at one time, the KJV was fine and just not understood, because it wasn’t studied like it should be. Some versions take the power of salvation from God and put it upon man; some leave out scriptures totally; and some even curse. I believe this is a sin in the sight of God. These are my personal beliefs and therefore I am sharing them with you. We have seen it necessary to preach lies, by telling people that God is not able to keep us secure in our own salvation and therefore we must earn it through works; we have seen it necessary to not preach Bible doctrine (truth) so people can feel good about themselves. Paul covered a great deal in 2 Timothy 3 and 4 that apply to this world and so called Christians today.
First of all, I need to clarify what I believe a Christian is; it is a child of God; a man that has been saved by the grace of God, who is living Christ-like. Not every born again child of God can call themselves a Christian all the time! Why? Because, we, as born again children of God, do not always live like Christ did, act like Christ did, and serve our Father, which is heaven like Christ did. We are in a generation of people that use the title, “Christian,” very loosely. I’m saved by the grace of God and therefore I am secure in HIM. But, I do not always portray Christ in my life the way I should. Therefore, I do not always consider myself a Christian. I am, however, still saved, by HIS marvelous grace.
In 2 Timothy 3:7, Paul talked about how men would be, “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We are in a generation that believes that a worldly education is more important that a Bible education. It’s evident this is true, because many people do not go to church, come to Sunday School, if they do go to church, and do not study their Bibles. I have come to a conclusion, that the reason we have so many different types of Bibles is because people want the Bible to fit their lives and beliefs rather than their lives fitting God’s Word. I’ve done some devotionals on Proverbs, and Solomon said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” Proverbs 1:7. So, what is Paul telling Timothy? Could it be that he is telling him, “There are going to be a bunch of fools, because they are rejecting the truth?” Jesus told us about the wise man and the foolish man in Matthew 7. If our knowledge of God weakens, then we become as fools. Wouldn’t you agree? So, what does sound doctrine bring?

SOUND DOCTRINE WILL NOT LEAD A MAN IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. Why would Paul say, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine?” First we need to see that Paul encouraged Timothy to, “Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” The Word of God is like a two edged sword. God uses HIS WORD to mold us into what HE wants us to be, and some of the time, it’s painful. People reject guidance that is painful. We’ve got an attitude, “I’m saved now; isn’t that all that matters?” No, it’s not. God intends for us to represent HIM in the fullest part of our lives. To do this we must be willing to obey HIS WORD. Bible stands for the Believer’s Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Why do we thing that the Psalmist said, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet; and a light unto my path?” He also said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Sound doctrine is God’s Word.

SOUND DOCTRINE WILL LEAD A LOST MAN TOWARD CHRIST. Doctrine means truth. I reminded of the scripture, where Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man can come to the Father, but by me” John 14:6. This knocks Mary completely out of the picture, by the way. We cannot approach the Father, but by and through Jesus Christ. He is the advocate between us and the Father in Heaven. Paul talks about how God chose the foolishness of preaching the gospel to save those who would believe. The gospel of Jesus Christ is sound doctrine. This means that you must believe that ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scripture; and that HE was buried and arose again on the third day according to the scripture”1 Corinthians 15:3 – 4.

SOUND DOCTRINE BRINGS STABILITY IN A CHILD OF GOD’S LIFE. If our lives are based on Bible truths then we will not be steered wrong. Instead of accepting what a preacher, teacher or leader of a church says, write the scriptures down and study them and ask God for help in understanding them. If you study God’s Word and these teachers are teaching false doctrine, lies, then you can make your decisions of attending that church or not, based on God’s Word.

SOUND DOCTRINE LEADS A CHILD OF GOD FROM SIN. Now, a child of God will not always heed to himself what they are taught. This usually happens when God is put on the back burner of their life. Paul talked about the inward and outward man; and as I said in one of my previous studies, the one that wins is the one I say sic’em to the most. Sound doctrine will teach a child of God how to rely on God, communicate with HIM, and how to serve HIM. After all, we are saved to serve, right?

For people who might be reading this, I would like to ask you a question? Do you know, that you know, that you are saved? If you are not saved, you must put your pride to the side, and must admit that you are a sinner with no direction. You must believe that Jesus Christ died for you. You then must confess that you are a sinner and that you know HE died on the cross in your place. You must then ask HIM to forgive you of your sin and ask HIM to come into your life as you LORD and SAVIOR and then thank HIM for it. Romans 10:10 tells us, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” You must then go to a New Testament church, tell them what Christ has done for you, because you are saved. It is an ordinance that you be baptized, by the authority of that church, which Jesus Christ gave to that church. It will be very important that you get in that church, study your Bible, and seek God’s doctrine that you will not be led in the wrong direction. Child of God, I encourage you to get in HIS WORD and study it, so you can be a good worker for Christ. May God richly bless you all, and may we all seek HIS will in our lives. Amen.

2007-04-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I wrote a blog. This year hasn't started off a whole lot different, but I'm finding it interesting. I quit my job! Enough is enough! I just could not tolerate working for the boss I had any longer. However, God seen what I needed and answered my prayers. I've got a new job in the oil and gas business. Amazing huh? THAT'S MY KING! Kevin, I loved the video you wanted us to look at. It explains it all in a nutshell. Today I plan on starting to do what I wanted to anyway. I hope to start back with devotionals again, so you that no me, please pray that God will us them. Have a great day.

Cold and Wet

2007-01-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to a cold, wet and rainy day. It's rained all weekend basically. My rain gage showed about 4 inches on Sunday morning, and we've gotten about 2 1/2 more since then. I was just out at Lake Murval, and it is over several piers and the creeks are way out of the banks. Thank God for the rain though. Lake Cherokee was really bad, but it is catching up fast. They are calling for freezing rain this afternoon and tonight, but I don't expect it to get as bad as it is north of here.
I had the opportunity to preach last night, and it was a blessing to be able to try again. The last time I preached was in October, and when you get out of practice of doing it, it becomes a struggle...at least for me. Have a great week folks.

Where did 2006 go?

2007-01-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

An amazing thing just happened! 2006 went away....It seems that my mom was right. The older you get, the faster time flies. I can still remember what I was doing in the 8th grade, at a school that no longer exists. At the ripe old age of 13, when I thought mom didn't have a clue what life was all about. Wow! Was I wrong! How I wished that I still had her around to correct me, even when I knew for sure I was right. I guess that is why God allows us to have children, huh? So they can pretend to know everything and think we, as parents, don't have a clue to life's challenges.
I have come to the conclusion that making a New Year's resolution has to work eventually, doesn't it? Most people make New Year's resolutions to only break them within a week or two. We don't like commitment, do we? Becky and I are going on another diet. We did well with it the first 3 months of 2006. It was the last 9 months we dove off the deep end. Of course, Becky had her heart attack in July, and I began wondering about life being so short. Why not enjoy some of the flavors of life? Now, we go on a diet again. There were a lot of bad things that happened in 2006, but God still blessed us. I still have Becky, which is a great blessing to me. Thank you LORD for not taking her away. We were able to accomplish a few goals we set, but not all of them. Mark was saved, and I'm thankful for that.
My hopes for 2007? That my kids will do well in school and in life. Now that I have a daughter - in - law, things are looking up. Yes, Chase got married in November. Her name is Jill and they really seem happy. Other hopes are; that I get a job that I really enjoy, that we get our own house, and quit renting, and that I may be able to pastor a church again or that I may even get to be an associate Pastor somewhere. I would love the opportunity to make things right with God, by showing Him that I would try harder to be a better Pastor. I hope to get to finish school. That would be great, but it's not a priority. I'm really debating on whether I want to officiate sports anymore. I think that I need to try to slow my life down and really enjoy my family. I'm praying that Mark does well in school and in football at Corsicana. I want him to exceed all of my expectations with flying colors. I also pray that Ryan continues to do well with all of his schooling, and that he becomes a great basketball player. I pray that Aaron will get his life in order by graduating school and returning to AIT in the army. I think it will do him well. Of course I pray that Chase and Jill are able to fill their dreams. Becky and I both hope and pray that everything becomes positive in 2007 and that it won't be as bad as 2006 was.
Our prayers for you? That America will get back to the basics of life and forget about the negative things we choose to do. We pray that our kids get back home from Iraq and Afganastan, and that peace will come to America again. We hope that you have the best year of your life thus far, and that everything is a positive for you. We hope that we all remember that we can only have a good year by knowing that we must follow the best leader, Jesus Christ. May God richly bless you in the year 2007!

2006-12-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today is the second year that mom has been gone. I've really missed her. She always told me that one day I would know what it would mean to not have a mom still here, and she's right. Even though, as my cousin said, "But she's not here so you can tell her she's right." Missing her has brought many thoughts to my mind. However, the one piece of advice that I will give to anyone reading this is simple. If your mom is still alive, tell her you love her often. If there are differences, settle them. Be there for your mother as much as you can, when you can. One day, she may not be there for you to help or to help you.

No Place to Call Home

2006-11-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

No Place to Call Home
Opportunities past by
John 14:2 – 4

It was a beautiful October day, and I was working feverously to finish my route. As a pest control technician you have many stops a day to do in about 22 working days and it is not always easily done. However, this day would make me think about something harder than I ever thought before. On this day, I was going to an estate to do a pest control service. I have serviced this residence for more than 8 years myself, but the company has served it for many years. The elderly couple who owned this property had now passed away. The main house has 4 bedrooms and 4 baths in it. It is surrounded by 280 acres of fields and trees. The house itself is a magnificent work of art in my mind. It may not be fancy as some houses today, but in its day, it was nice. The estate also has a barn, an in-ground swimming pool and pool house, which has a kitchen, bath and bedroom in it. The estate also has a 2 bedroom house that a hired couple lived in, rent free, and part of their salary.
This day, as I pulled up in the drive way of the big house, the iron gate was closed. I had been to this house many times and never seen the gate closed. As I wondered what to do, I looked to my left and saw Norma trimming vines off a fence row. She is a lady, in her late 30’s to early 40’s, who was the person in charge of overseeing the Browns in their life time. She had worked for the Browns for twenty years or more. Her main job was to take care of them, see that they went to the doctors when scheduled, made sure they were fed, and took all their medications. She hired people to help in this job. She was in charge of paying bills, dealing with people who came in, and just really overseeing the whole deal. Her husband was the ranch foreman. He was in charge of taking care of the animals and the whole property. He repaired all the things he could on this estate, but also contracted others when necessary. They had devoted most of their lives to the Browns and did things for them that the Brown’s kids would not. As Norma trimmed the vines, she turned to me and politely told me the gates were not locked. I commented about how it seemed lonely here now, and she started talking from her heart.
It turned out that the kids immediately put the place up for sale to get the money to live their lives by. The Browns were a wealthy family and the land they lived on was family land from way back. During the time of Mr. Brown’s illness, Norma’s husband, who is not a healthy man either, decided he wanted a divorce and left her. She continued to treat Mr. Brown as her own Father. Mrs. Brown had died in 2003, which was a huge surprise in itself. The Brown kids would also include the house that Norma had lived in for over twenty years in the sale. They had reduced her pay from something she could live on to a measly 1000 dollars and told her that she would have to move out when the place sold. The Brown’s had apparently told her and Dana that the house was theirs when they died, but it wasn’t put in the will. As I talked to Norma, with tears running down her face, I realized the impact of what was happening to her. She had no computer experience or no public work experience and she would be on the streets. She has no clue at to what she is going to do.
As I finished up all the services on this account and wished Norma a good day, I told her that I would pray for her, and I have. During the past few weeks however, I could not get off of my mind about having no place to go.
There are thousands of people who live on the streets day in and day out in just the United States alone. We pretend to want to take care of them, but how did most of them get to this situation? Most of them got to living on streets by making wrong decisions in their lives, whether it was drugs, alcohol, or bad financial moves. Most of them chose not to live like they had the opportunity too. I have often thought about how people won’t be able to get in heaven because of one bad decision. That bad decision is made by not accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
So, in essence, they have no place to call home. Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know John 14:2 - 4.” Unfortunately these mansions are not for everyone. You may ask why not? Truth is, many people have turned the house down for life in this world. Many of these people are, what many people would call, ‘good people.’ They have good lives, never get in trouble with the law, and seem to model citizens. They may also be a member of a church, and work hard to help it, by teaching, being deacons or deacons’ wives, or just by being faithful to go to church, but they are missing Christ in their lives. How can this be? Jesus answered this in Matthew 7:13 – 14 when he said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” We need to understand that living a good life does not guarantee us a new home. We are told in Ephesians 2:8 – 9, “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.” A man cannot do anything himself to get to heaven, other than accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
Like Norma, who may not have a place to go when the estate is sold, many are not prepared for the future. She never saw what was coming in her life, because this family had always treated her right. Now, the family that seemed to so much love her have, to some extent, turned their back on her. The world may seem to love you now, but it really doesn’t love you at all. When people find this out, they have no where to go. With Jesus, you always have HIM. HE will not turn you away, and HE will not turn HIS back on you. Be prepared for the future. Know where your destination is. Know that you have a Savior that loves you. How can you know this? Simply pray and ADMIT that you are a sinner and that God is right and you are wrong. BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and CONFESS it. Paul said, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on HIM shall not be ashamed” Romans 10:9 – 11.
This seems to be a simply solution doesn’t it? The answer to getting to heaven is simple, but it is not always easy to accept it the way God meant for us too. It takes putting your pride to the side in believing that you are not a bad person. The scripture is plan. There are none good, no not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The word ‘all’ leaves no man out. This means every person has this decision to make, and now you have the same decision to make now. What will it be?
I love the song that sings this course, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through, If heaven is not my home, then Lord what would I do?” The facts are simple. If heaven is not your home, then hell will be. Being tormented day and night forever, and not being happy is the destination for any person who does not seek the Lord.
Lord, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be saved, and for making a way for all. Thank you for loving us even when we are not loveable. May the person who reads this devotional know their destination, and may it be with you. Convict them of their sins and draw them to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Chase's Wedding Day

2006-11-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

I guess I never thought about my oldest son getting married. It may have been in the back of my mind and I just never thought of it much. Chase is marrying a girl namd Jill Ann Davis this evening at 7:00 p.m. I have the great honor of performing the ceremony, but I can't help but be concerned. For all the people who pray out there, please pray for these two kids. It's a tough world on single people, but it seems to be even tougher on married couples. They both seem excited aboutt he marriage and I guess I'm excited for them too. Pray for me as I perform the ceremony, that it may go well.

Thought for the day

2006-11-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

Affections For Christ
Setting Our Lives on Things of God
Colossians 3:1 - 3

One thing that seems to always happen, in life, is that Satan puts obstacles in our way to keep us from doing what God has asked us, or has laid on our hearts, to do. I’m no different than any one person. I give you a great example of that in this thought for the day. I started doing this on a regular basis and all of sudden things changed in my life. Satan used a person, who, by the way, claims Christ, to hinder me from doing daily devotions on the way I was. I lost focus of what I needed to be doing and allowed things to take the place of this ministry. For this, I apologize to the people who have emailed me and told me how much they appreciate them and how much it helped them. I hope to get back to doing what I enjoyed so much. How do I do this? I found myself thinking about this scripture all week long, so I thought I would share them with you.
In Colossians 3:1 – 3, Paul wrote, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” What a great thought for the day and everyday for that matter. As the Lord spoke to my heart, in this scripture, I began to search myself and I began to see all the things that I have allowed Satan to place in my path that have become a stumbling block in my life. Paul tells us what we should do to help us keep Christ first in our lives.

SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE.

Today’s world has people seeking everything but Christ. Think about it. I guess you can call this a pet peeve of mine, but I really admire schools that still defy the law that says that people can’t pray at school. As a football official I often see schools still praying at the game. Some schools openly pray. The announcer will pray over the speakers or you will hear students saying the model pray found in the book of Matthew. Others, however, choose to deny Christ and just have a moment of silence. I once pastored a man, who was a teacher, and claims Christ as his savior, which told me, “Bro. Ronnie, I’m glad they choose not to pray in school. This means that other can’t pray to their false gods either.” I disagreed then, just as I do now. A good example of this is found when Daniel continued to pray daily even after the law said he had to pray to an idol. He chose not to listen to them and prayed to the true and living God. Because of his choice, he was delivered from certain death. God rewarded his obedience. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness,” (Matt. 6:33.) How can we get anywhere without seeking Christ first? We can’t! I have often said, as I still do, that we have gotten too busy for God, family, and ourselves. We have allowed things of this world to become idols in our lives. Think about it. We find things that we love and we stick more faithful to them than we do to God. We allow them to become our god in our lives. I like to officiate football and baseball, I like to fish and hunt, and I liked being a firefighter, first responder, and arson investigator. Have I ever allowed these things to become more important than God in my life? The answer to this would be a resounding yes. I’m guilty. How did I allow that to happen? I studied them more than I did about God. Now, I’m not knocking these things, because there can be a ministry in all of these areas. I still officiate, hunt, and fish at times. The fire department stuff has been taken out of my life for now. However, I try not to allow these things to get in the way of serving God. I have to keep my guard up though. I just choose not to do them when I know church is going on, or I try not to allow these things get in my way. However, I’m not successful at this all the time. I know I need to improve. How does a person improve in serving God?

SET YOU AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE

What does the word affection mean to you and me? When I think about it, I know my wife loves the attention I give to her when I’m affectionate. Affection means tender attachment. The Greek word for affection is ‘Phroneo, fron’ – eh’ – o.’ this definition is, to interest oneself in, with concern and obedience. In laymen’s terms, put your interest in things above. Paul continued in verse 2 with, “not on things on the earth.” When we allow things of this earth to get in the way of serving God, then we are sinning by allowing other gods to get in our way. I’ve always said you can find out what people’s interests are when you go into their house. Many times you will find out what they really spend time doing. Deer hunters, many times, will have horns mounted, heads mounted, lots of pictures, etc. Fishermen will have mounted fish, pictures, and pertinent stuff. Even dedicated firefighters will have things that pertain to that in their homes. Many times I have seen Bibles on lamp tables, scriptures in frames, and pertinent things to Christianity in houses too. You know what people do. However, a Bible on a lamp table doesn’t mean, a lot of times, as much as people might think. Is the Bible talked about as much as the deer mounts or fish mounts on the walls? Now I’m not just picking on hunting and fishing. If we allow anything to divert our attention or affection from Christ and being obedient to HIM, then we have allowed another god into our lives. Another definition for affection would be love. How much do we love God? It is shown in our lives by the way we live. If we seek Christ first then HE will be first in our lives, if not, then he won’t be first. Defining HIM in our lives and the things about HIM in our lives as Christians is the most important thing we can do.

The world may not show how important God is, and apparently, America has defined her definition of ‘one nation under god.’ It may not mean a whole lot to some, but to Christians it should be of most importance. Our affections should be set on HIM and HIS promises. It’s time for Christians to stand on the promises, which is the Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ. May we seek Christ in all that we do and show the world how important HE is to us.

Preachers and Firefighters

2006-09-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

As I read the new poll, which Kevin Higgins put out, I thought of something that is unique to me. October is pastor's appreciation month and it is also Firefighter appreciation month too. Now this may not mean a whole lot to some people, but it does to me. Let's look at things that pastor's or preacher and firefighters have in common.

1. Preachers and Firefighters try to keep people from burning up.
a. Pastors preach the gospel so many can be saved from a burning hell.
b. Firefighters try to save people's lives from firey deaths.
2. Pastors and Firefighters study to improve.
a. Pastors study God's Word to improve their teaching and preaching skills.
b. A firefighter must stay on top of his game by training and learning
new things to fight fires, and do first responder things.
3. Pastor's and Firefighters teach things that can save us.
a. Pastor's teach us how to be saved from our sins; how to live our lives in
the best way and things that apply to life in general.
b. Firefighters teach things that can save our lives; how to live safely in this
world and things that apply to fire safety.
4. I heard a preacher tell a man who was a fire extinguisher man, you know that fire extinguisher and Christ have two things in common. The extinguisher canister is red, and Jesus' blood is red. They both keep you from burning; The product in the red canister is for putting out fires. The blood of Jesus Christ keeps a man, who with a repentant heart asked Jesus Christ to save him, from burning in hell for eternity.

I thank God for both Jesus and Firefighters. I thank HIM for Jesus because when HE shed HIS blood for me, HE provided a way to eternal security with HIM. I thank God for firefighters because they provide a way for safety in this world by preventing fires.

If you find or think of other things that firefighters and preachers have in common, share them with me.

God and the Beautician

2006-09-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen. It's an explanation other people will understand: A lady went to a beauty shop to have her hair cut and her nails painted and trimmed. As the lady began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the beautician said : "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked Sheryl who has MS. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things." Then Sheryl thought for a moment, but didn't respond because she didn't want to start an argument. The beautician just finished her job and the customer left the shop. Just after she left the beauty shop, she saw a woman in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and not groomed at all. She looked dirty and unkempt. Then Sheryl turned back and entered the beauty shop again and she said to the beautician: "You know what? Beauticians do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised beautician. "I am here, and I am a beautician. And I just worked on you!" "No!" Sheryl exclaimed. "Beauticians don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and be very unkempt, like that woman outside." Ah, but beauticians DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me." "Exactly!"- affirmed Sheryl. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Life and Death

2006-09-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Life and Death
A Man’s Uncertainty Verse A Certainty.
James 4:14

I know that there are many people, including me, that were upset, to some extent, at the untimely death of Steve (the Crocodile Hunter) Irwin. As I heard about this death, I could not think of anything, but his wife and kids, and his soul. You watch someone who had the glow about himself towards wildlife and family and you automatically assume that that person is right with God. However, this assumption is not always true. I’m not going to take the step to say that this man was or wasn’t saved, because truly, I do not know. Only he and God knew for sure. I pray that he was, but I recently heard that he was a Buddhist. If this is so, then his destination was horrible. There have been many people who have died, what we consider early deaths, but my question is, were they really early?

I have often said, “Time waits for no man,” and it’s true. Have you ever wanted to continue doing something you enjoy and then find that time flies faster than before? Of course you have! Jesus taught us that we are not guaranteed another breath of life. Truth is we may not make it through the day, before our destination after life is finalized with our last breath.

James said, in chapter 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” I admire people who take opportunities serious. I’ll talk about my pastor, for one, he has had some health issues, which the doctors are trying to get under control. Even though he has been in the hospital twice, then told to rest, he sees the importance of serving God with everything he has. He also said, “That until God calls me home, I desire to serve HIM.” I admire him for his dedication. Even though he hasn’t felt the best in the world, he has not allowed Satan to stop him from serving God. This should be every child of God’s purpose upon this earth, and we should all be dedicated to Christ too. We are saved to serve and not just sit and wait.

DEATH IS ALWAYS UNTIMELY TO MAN. God knows every breath you take and exactly when you are going to die. The writer of Hebrews, whom I think is Paul, said, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” (Heb. 9:26). We all have our appointed day, and it will never be when we want it. Paul said, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die, (1 Cor. 15:32). Death from this earthly body is certain. However, there is a chance for eternal life.

JESUS MADE A WAY TO LIVE FOREVER, John 3:16. He said, “For God so loved the world that HE have HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever beleiveth in HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life.” How much clearer can it get for anyone? We can gain eternal life by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We, however, must do our part. We are in a world that thinks that if we live a good life, and do good things that we will somehow end up in heaven. This is not true! God’s Word tells us, “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.”

MAN’S PART STARTS WITH CONFESSION. Paul said, in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man beleiveth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” You must confess that God is right and you are wrong. We need to quit thinking that we are good. A man’s definition of good is; “I’m not a murderer, or adulterer, or a drunkard, etc. We try, like Adam did, to make ourselves look better than we are. Adam, in Genesis, tried to blame God and Eve for his downfall. We need to confess that we are in that group, which every person is in. We are in the group that is called, “NO GOOD.” Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no not one:” Verse 12 says, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” The Psalmist says, “We are all as filthy rags,” in Psalms 14:3 and 53:3. So, if the Bible tells us that we are not good, then the conclusion must be we aren’t good. This group is called sinners also. “For we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” So we now know that we need to confess. However, it doesn’t stop there.

MAN’S PART INCLUDES REPENTANCE. In Luke 13:3 and 5, Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Repentance means simply, ‘to change one’s mind.’ God will not enter an unrepentant heart. We cannot expect God to save someone who thinks that there is nothing wrong in their life. Grant it, repentance usually happens before confession at times, but it has to happen. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we become a new creature in Christ. Actually creature means creation in Christ. Remember where Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Jesus and Nicodemus were talking about two different births. One was the fleshly birth and the other the spiritual birth. Jesus explained unto him that he needed the spiritual birth. Everyone alive needs the spiritual birth, but you must change your mind about yourself before you can receive the free gift of salvation.

SALVATION IS THERE FOR THE ASKING, AND IT’S FREE. With a repentant heart and the confession with your mouth that you are wrong and God is right, you have the opportunity to ask for the free gift of salvation. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Romans 10:13. Don’t be one of the people who everyone thought was the greatest person and find yourself in hell with the rich man, who was very popular too. Accept the free gift of salvation, because there is no other way to get to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” John 14:6. Jesus made the way for each and every man, but it takes action upon our part to receive this free gift.

No matter how good you or someone else may seem, without Christ you are nobody. He completes a person, when they put their faith and trust in HIM. Have you done this yet? Please don’t think you have the rest of your life to do it, because the rest of you life may be at its end now. Lord, I pray that you will convict the lost and that they will seek your free gift of salvation. May we all serve you with an open heart to find your guidance, and please help us to follow you. Amen.

What a weekend

2006-09-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend started of rough, but ended up relaxed. Well, to some extent, that is..lol. Friday night I officiated a high school football game in which Alba Golden, who had lost 47 games in a row, last win being in October of 2001, beat Cumby by the score of 7 - 6. It was exciting to watch a game in which both teams were so closely matched. Becky, who pretty much always goes to the game with me, and I went to Lindale afterwards and stayed at a Days Inn. We woke up Saturday to go spend the day in Canton, at First Monday. She bought another dog.........lol.
We didn't go there for that though, we went to just spend time together. Sunday was church day, and that's where we went. I'm praying hard that the Lord will reveal to me what or where he wants me to go or do.
Today, Monday 9/4/06 was a busy day. After putting chicken wire around the bottom of the storage room, I went with Becky to her office to put her plants back in place. Praise the Lord she gets to do what she wants to do now...go to work, tomorrow. After we got back, I grilled some ribs, burgers and sausages, and turned on the tube to find out that the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Erwing was killed by a sting ray. He leaves his wife and two small children behind. Sad, Sad, sad. Anyway, pray for his family. Tomorrow is another day with Terminix, so I pray all will go well this week. The weekend, even though it was a three day weekend, was too short.

Change, Change, Change

2006-08-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started off with a bang. I got up, all prepared to finish this week out as a technician. I had planned on trying sales, should this new job not pan out. I got to the office and the first thing that happens, things have changed since Friday. Terminix has put a freeze on any moves, including hiring. I had to ask, 'What's up with this?' My manager told me that I would continue my route, and not go into sales at this time. SHE ALREADY HAD MY REPLACEMENT IN LINE! LOL. I told Becky that if it's God's will for me to have this new job, I would tell my boss lady to get 'her man,' as she called him.
I'm thankful that God is opening doors. I pray that HIS will is done in my life, and that it is willfully on my part. Interesting to see what might go on today, huh? God is truly good. I just wished I knew what HE was doing in my life before hand. As Becky would say, "Please Lord, put in on a bulletin board." Ultimately, I would much rather be pastoring a church, but obviously it's not in God's plans right now. I am excited for Jason Sheffstall and his family, as well as his church family and how God is blessing them in West Virginia. Thank God for Godly men who seek HIS will. Have a nice day folks.

Where's the time gone to?

2006-08-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been 11 days since I posted a blog. I have been extremely busy, but it may slow down soon. I found out that September 1, I am to be moved to the sales department. This could be a good move, but I'm really concerned about it. I also had an interview, this past week, that seems to be promising. If they offer me the job, I will take it. It will be working in a warehouse for a company and may be a good chance for promotion. Please pray with me that God's will shall be done.
Becky is getting stronger, and the doctor told us she could go back to work on the 5th of September. She has been stir crazy around the house and it is driving her crazy. I am just thankful to God that HE decided to keep her here instead of taking her home.

It's a hottie

2006-08-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a real hot day. It was around 104 and the a/c doesn't quiet work as good. I've thought most the day on church attendance. What does it really mean to people who call theirselves Christians? Becky has her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning. I pray that she'll be able to go back to work soon. The staying at home is driving her nuts.
I got a phone call about another possible job today. I hope it comes through. Have a great evening.

Life in a vapor

2006-08-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

Life in a Vapor
Using today as there is not tomorrow.

I guess everyone is guilty of examining their life at one time or another, aren’t we? I have looked back, at times, and seen a lot of wasted time. There have been times in my life that would have been better spent doing other things. We all have these times though. We may not want to admit it, but we do have a lot of wasted time in our lives. These past few weeks have gone by extremely fast. I can remember times when my mother would tell me that the older I get the faster time will go. Actually time is a constant, but I have come to a conclusion that we loose time, because we waste time.

Men have a saying today that should really be geared toward God. The saying goes something like this; “Life is short, so live it like there is not tomorrow.” I am reminded of what James said in James 4:14 KJV. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. We are all guilty of wishing our life away at some point. I’ll give you an example of how it happened to me. I couldn’t wait to turn 16, so I could get my driver’s license. Then I couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could be classified as a man, not to mention I would be out of school. It took me a long time to come to the understanding that you are not an adult at the age of 18, even though the law looks at you as an adult. At the age 21, which I couldn’t wait to be, so I could be legal in all other areas of my life, even though I didn’t drink, I still wasn’t a man. Then there was the grand old age of 25; which I wanted to be so my car insurance would go down. IT DIDN”T! Get the point?

What if I had spent all that time serving God? I’m not just talking about going to church and doing the right things only. I mean, what if I had really served HIM? I feel like part of that is immaturity. I was not only immature in my age, but also in my Christian life. I have made the comment before, “The older I get, the more important the things of God become to me.” This is called maturity, but why has it taken me so long to see that? It has really amazed me at how we start growing up in our physical life and we ignore the spiritual life. The reason it has taken me as long as it has is simple; Christ, even though I’ve been saved for 24 years this October, has not always been important in my life. I was too concerned about what I wanted to do rather than what God wanted me to do. James said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because you don’t even know if you’ll be here. It’s like a vapor, here for a minute, and then it’s gone.” If there is one thing I would say we can learn from this thought, it would be, live your life fully for God and let the world do what it pleases. Allow your life to mean something for God and not just for you. If we learn to live for God then HE will make us a lot better. Let’s be concerned at what we do for God today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. Lord, please help us focus on things about you and help us to be concerned about that. Help us to always seek you first, so you can show us the true way. Amen.

Home again

2006-08-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

This week was an amazingly short week. However, it was very busy. Monday and Tuesday were long days for me at work. I've become increasingly unsatisfied with my job, but I know that I will eventually get what God wants for me. Wednesday morning, 8/9, we flew from Shreveport to Houston and then to Columbia, South Carolina. What little bit we saw of Columbia was pretty. Everything was green. It rained everyday we were there in the evening time. Becky, her mom, and I went to Ft. Jackson to watch Aaron graduate from basic training of the US ARMY. We arrived to our hotel on Wednesday and just drove around to find the place we were to go to the following morning. Thursday a.m, we entered Ft. Jackson and saw a lot of people there for the graduation on Friday. We found out that Aaron would be one of about 10 people that would not graduate, because he did not pass athe 6 nor 9 mile hikes. This is with about 70 lbs. of equipment on them. He has three small stress fractures in his right foot. However, we did find out that he could still graduate if he chose to do the hikes with his platoon leader, or attend basic training again after high school. He has chosen to get his platoon leader to let him take it I think. He is in good physical shape. He's lost about 20 lbs and is up earlier than I am for now.
We arived at home about 1:30 a.m this morning, and we are in need of rest. We thank the Lord for the safe trip there and back. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Army has taught this young man. There were a number of positive things that has happened with him. He said he went to church every sunday morning, and is looking forward to tomorrow. If he finishes is drill with his platoon, he will then go to AIT in June to complete his training. He then will be eligible for active duty and may be deployed to the mideast. We pray that God's will should happen in this area.
All I know is; I'm glad to be back home.

2006-08-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

It always amazes me at how Mondays go for me after I've had an opportunity to preach. Bro. Dale is out sick, again, and really needs prayers. I was notified Saturday morning that I was needed to preach on Sunday morning. The day really went well. However, when I've had a good Sunday, the old devil sticks his head up on Monday. I am reminded that I've got control though. The Lord gave me that control when I accepted HIM. After lunch I told Satan to get behind me and that my Lord was in control of my life. The afternoon went better, but I would appreciate prayers from everyone who may read this. I know that the old devil will be right back to work on me today.

Thank you

2006-08-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

What an amazing God! Becky is recouping her strength daily. After the week of July 24th, I'm thankful she is still with me. I thank God for the Godly people who prayed for her. Truly, "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
I must say that today has been short lived. I got up early and after doing some things around the house, going to the hospital to visit my pastor, and finding out that I'm preaching in the morning, my day was spent fast. I often wonder what it would be like to pastor again. I look at the blogs of serveral men that I have utmost respect for, who are pastoring, yet I never talk to them anymore. I miss the fellowship of other preachers, and wonder at times what has happened in my life. I believe that God gives us a desire to fellowship with other Christians and when that fellowship seems lost at times, I feel alone. For those of you who prayed for my wife, I want to say thank you. Please remember us both as we go through tough times.

The Pure Gifts of God

2006-08-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Pure Gifts of God
How wisdom plays the part
James 3:17 – 18

The week of July 24th was a tough week that I won’t soon forget. The more I think about it, the more awed I am about my amazing God. HE is the most amazing God that a man can serve, and better yet, know. I also am thankful for a church family and the friends who show sincere concern and love that has been shown to us. There were some things that happened during my wait in the waiting room that showed me how God really speaks to us, if we will only listen.

On Thursday, while I was in the waiting room of ICU, as days before, I was reading God’s Word and meditating. As I prayed and thought of how God was so good to me and Becky, I came across a scripture in the book of James, which I focused upon, because it really stood out to me. James, who was Jesus’ brother, wrote a book that is very harsh at times and has a tendency to bring a reality check to Christians. James 3:17 caught my eye and I just couldn’t quit reading it.

James 3:17 – 18 says, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” Now, true enough, these scriptures say a whole lot, if you meditate upon them. Except for a couple of visitors, before this time I had been spending most of my time in the waiting room totally by myself. Of course there were some other people in the area, but they had their families with them and they were focused upon their situations.

I was sitting in a chair and really talking to God and meditating upon these scriptures when a man, whom I had never seen, comes directly to me and asked, “How are you today?” I answered that I was fine, knowing that down deep inside I wasn’t that great. I was concerned about my wife’s well being, and at that particular time, it still wasn’t that great. The man proceeded on by looking at my Bible and said, “So you’re reading God’s Word huh? I said, “Yes, I’m doing a little reading and a little praying.” This man then said, “I couldn’t think of a better thing to do right now. You know what I was just thinking? I was thing about the gifts of the Spirit.” I just looked at him and smiled. He then said, “You have a nice day,” and he left. I haven’t seen the man since. He came, he went, and he wasn’t there a total of 60 seconds.

I started looking in 2 Peter 1, and reading another passage. In verses 4 – 9 the passage says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

As I continued to dwell on the Word of God, which had been revealed unto me, I thought about how interesting, or you might think, ‘weird,’ it was for this man to come speak to me. I thought of the scripture in Hebrews, where it talks about, “entertaining angels unawares.” Of course, it may have very well been that this was an ordinary man, but God sure got my attention. It took me a few minutes, but I think I got the picture of what the Lord was saying to me through HIS WORD. I was studying James, yet I was now in 2 Peter. How interesting is that?

Every one of these things mentioned in 2 Peter 1:4 – 7 are gifts. Paul said that there were three gifts; faith hope and love. However, we need to understand that all the other gifts hinge upon these three, and they all point toward our God. What does wisdom have to do with it though? The fact of the matter is that we obtain wisdom from God and James said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him, (James 1:5.) There is a condition though, according to James. He tells us in verse 6, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” The key to the whole thing is faith. Faith come by hearing and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. We need to understand that everything God sends to us is pure. It really fits what James said; first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy. I would challenge us all to look at these pure fruits of the spirit and allow God to speak to us. As Solomon would say, "A wise man will hear." Let’s just listen. A wise man fears God, and if he really does fear God, then he listens, right? Wisdom is a great free gift. Lord help us to always hear YOUR still small voice as you show us YOUR pure LOVE. May we always know that YOU are our only HOPE, and may we always seek YOU by Faith. Amen.

Disappointment or Acceptance

2006-07-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

Disappointment or Acceptance
When God Tells Us No.

There have been times in my life that I’ve wondered why God has allowed so much disappointment in my life. From the time I was a child it seems as if negative things have occurred more than positive things. However, I must say that the positive things are bigger than the negative things. I find myself looking back at my life and wondering what it stands for anymore. How did I get to where I am in such a short period of time? I remember a lot of first in my life. Some were great; some were not so great. I did things I am still ashamed of, even though I know God has forgiven me, but I have also accomplished things that make me feel good. Does this sound a lot like your life? It should.
Most of us have a lot of good and bad things in our lives; don’t we? I can remember being told that these are the things that build character in us. Some of us have a very good character and some of us have a not so good character. If you really look in at a person’s life, you may be able to find out why people do things.
In 1 Chronicles17, we find that Nathan tells David, “Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee,” after David told him of his plans of building a house for God. Nathan thought it was a grand idea and encouraged David to do it, because it would honor God. It is great to be encouraged. We live in a world of discouragement; one that tells us negative things at all times. Even things that seem positive, by world’s standards, usually turn out negative. This is simply because the world is deceptive. The earth is the stomping ground of Satan, and he is always negative. We need to be able to discern the spirits as a child of God. However, we aren’t always capable of doing that, because we are so focused upon situations more often than not.
David was celebrating and giving thanks unto the Lord in 1 Chronicles 16. Nathan had encouraged David, but the Lord had plans that must have really disappointed David at some point. The Lord told Nathan to tell David, “Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:” He could have taken this situation and really said, “I’m going to do it anyway,” or he could have asked why not. After all, it was a great idea; provided that it would honor God. There is no reason to believe that David’s idea was to honor God with the temple. However, God said no.
There have been times in my life that I have wanted to do things that I believed would honor and glorify God. However, God told me no. Was I disappointed? Sure, I was disappointed and just couldn’t understand why God would say no. After all, it was suppose to honor and glorify him anyway. When we get our hearts set on something, sometimes we want to say, “Lord, please allow me to do this,” and when he gives us a ‘no’ answer then we get very disappointed and even get to the point of feeling like God has turned HIS back on us. Case and point;

WHEN WE LOOSE FOCUS ON GOD’S WILL WE OPEN THE DOOR TO SATAN

We need to realize that God is always in total control of everything. I have had problems with this, just like many who may read this. The first thing that happens is that Satan reminds us, ‘you gave your life to a God who doesn’t really care.’ This of course is an outrageous lie. He does care, but it’s just not HIS will, at this point. Solomon reminds us of that. In Ecclesiates 3:1, Solomon wrote, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven;” It’s hard to imagine this at times, but there is a reason for every thing and to every purpose. We can’t possibly understand it all, but God knows what needs to be done. So keep the focus on things of God. I have to remind myself of this daily, and God uses people in my life to help me keep focused of HIS will. David could have taken what the Lord had told him negatively, but we see that he didn’t. He praised God anyway. Case and pint;

GIVE GOD ALL THE PRAISE AND HONOR FOR EVERYTHING

Reactions to what God’s tells us are often mixed reviews. When he tells us no we will often times be very disappointed, but we should praise him anyway. David did just that. The Lord told David, “You not going to build my house, but your son will.” He also told him, “I will establish his kingdom forever.” HE was telling David, ‘the kingdom will be in your bloodline forever.’ David began to pray and honor and glorify the Lord for this decision. David asked the Lord, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? We need to realize that we are nothing without HIM. HE is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. HE is the First and the Last. Without HIM, man is nothing. David saw what the Lord wanted and he thanked the Lord for it. David saw that the Lord had a greater purpose for this decision. Case and point;

NEGATIVE THINGS IS OUR EYES ARE ONLY NEGATIVE TO US

David did not take it negatively. God promised him that his throne would be established forever (vs. 12). If you look in the blood line of David, it ends with Christ. That’s right; HIS throne was and is established forever. HE was the total focus of this decision. David saw the positive side of this and thanked God for it. He allowed what could have been negative to be positive.
I have to constantly remind myself that things, which seem negative at the time, may have a positive ending. Grant it; it almost always does. However, Satan is an adversary that will not allow things to settle down. It is, therefore, a total conclusion to do what Paul has instructed Christians to do. He said, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning you”. So, the next time God says no to you, don’t let Satan beat you up, just thank God for it. There is a better end in sight.
Lord, thank you for loving us and for being the ideal leader of our lives. Thank you for loving us and giving us directions. Help us, Lord, to understand the full meaning of everything you may say no too. Help us to see your purpose in our lives and the purpose you may have for each one of us. Thank you Lord for answering this prayer. Amen.

Psalm 51 – Restoring Joy

2006-07-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Allowing God to have the wheel in our lives

I’m not a huge fan of country music anymore, but I heard a song that has been out for some time now that made me think. The title of the song is “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Of course I have heard it on Christian music radio too. The title of that song is appropriate for each and every child of God. I have listened to it thoroughly and the story is of a woman who was given a wake up call. She almost had a wreck and let go of the wheel and asked Jesus to take control. She makes it safely to the side of the road and promptly starts admitting to God that she hasn’t been living right and ask HIM to take the wheel in her life and help her in that area.
Amazingly enough, this song should call out to all of us. Just as many of you may have to do at times, I find myself searching, at times, to find Christ in my life; where HE is suppose to be. Oh, there are some out in this world that would probably claim that they have Jesus right where HE is supposed to be at all times. However, I’m reminded of a man named David. In 2 Samuel chapter 11, David commits two sins. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and then commits murder by putting her husband, Uriah, on the front lines of battle where he is killed. He proceeds to go on with his life as if nothing has happened, but God knew what happened and wasn’t about to allow David to forget. Case and point;

WE MAY DO THINGS IN SECRET BUT GOD KNOWS OUR SECRETS

Nathan was sent to David by the Lord in 2 Samuel 12:1 – 12, and he told David a story, which angered David greatly. David had declared that this man would repay the debt he now owed. Nathan used four words that struck David like a knife. He said, “THOU ART THE MAN.” The Lord told David that HE knew what was going on. He told David of the things he would have to endure at a later date. However in verse 13, we see the David confesses. “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” Case and point;

IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS HE WILL FORGIVE US.

Confession is the key to the whole thing. Admitting you are wrong is one of the hardest things that a person can do. The Lord had showed David that HE knew what had happened and he used Nathan to convey the message. Because of David’s confession, he was told that he would not die. However, there was still a penalty to pay. He lost his first child by Bathsheba. God took him, and this was just a beginning of David’s woes. You may be asking where my point is on my statement about the song, “Jesus Take the Wheel.” In Psalms 51, there is a prayer that David could have been praying while he was on the ground just before his son’s life was lost. In this prayer you see that the focus is totally upon him and his relationship with the LORD. Case and point;

WHEN WE PRAY WE NEED TO FOCUS UPON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.

David’s prayer is one of total repentance. Total repentance is admitting you are wrong and asking the LORD to help you turn from your wicked ways. If you know what you are doing is wrong and you confess it, then you must ask the LORD to take the wheel in you life, and be willing to do what HE leads you to do. In Psalm 51:6, David said, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” God desires for us to be honest, not only with HIM, but with ourselves. We can convince ourselves we are right in whatever we may do, but if we are wrong, we must accept responsibility. In verse 7 – 12 we find that David is asking the LORD to forgive him. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which THOU hast broken may rejoice. Hide THY face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from THY presence; and take not THY Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of THY salvation; and uphold me with THY free spirit.” What a tremendous prayer! Notice that David is totally dependant upon God. Case and point;

WE NEED TO DEPEND UPON GOD TO STEER OUR LIVES

We must focus upon our relationship with HIM. HE is supposed to be our guide. However, until we see exactly where we stand with HIM, we can’t serve HIM the way we should. The hyssop that David talked about was a plant that had a strong pleasant smell to it. Webster said it smelled like mint. However, it was used to cover the stench of the bad scent of the sin that David had committed to the Lord. David was totally dependant on God. He asked the LORD to create in him a clean heart. We should pray this prayer daily. To honor the request of David’s final request, the Lord had to create a clean heart in HIM. David wanted the LORD to restore the joy of HIS salvation unto to him. David knew that the salvation he had was of the LORD and not of himself. However, David wanted his joy back. He had lost focus upon the things that were important. Case and point;

WE NEED OUR JOY RESTORED

I can only speak for myself, but many Christians have so much junk in their lives that they have lost focus of Christ. His salvation should be of the most important thing in our lives. However, many saved people have lost the joy of HIS salvation. We get so focused upon self, that we allow the things of this world to blind us and we leave our first love. There is a point in each child of God’s life that we need to regain control of our lives, both morally and spiritually. This starts with confession, then asking the Lord to forgive us, and the requesting that HE take the wheel in our lives and take us in the direction HE desires for us to go. If we are able to do that, HE will not steer us wrong.
Lord, please take the wheel in my life and help me to go in YOUR desired direction. Restore unto each child of God the joy of YOUR salvation and show us YOUR purpose for our lives. Amen