Drink Grace!

Culture Shift by Albert Mohler

2011-10-31T16:22:00.003-05:00

If you have not ever read anything from Dr. Mohler this would be a great introduction. In fact it would be a supreme introduction.

Dr. Mohler has a knack for saying difficult things in a simple way with a flair for the needy reader. A few days ago my military bound son of 21 took up the book "just to read something." After reading a number of chapters he set it down, all of it unbeknown to me. A few days later he simply stated, "That book really has a lot to say and makes it enjoyable to hear it." That is a high complement from a long-time reader.

I found it clear, concise, and precisely on target. It takes a mature and thoughtful mind to look at the surroundings and define them in a way that tells us why we are what we are. Most of us simply just look. The author gives bite-sized chapters which makes it easy to digest for a time-crazed life.

I would highly suggest that you obtain a copy and prepare to be retained with pleasure.

*** I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for writing a review. ***

Sad State

2011-08-03T09:31:00.002-05:00

Hard to read.

Eighty-five percent of American adults believe that they will stand before God to be judged. They believe in hell, but only 11% think they might go there. R.C. Sproul observed that to the degree that people think they are good enough to pass divine inspection, and are oblivious to the holiness of God, to that extent they will not see Christ as necessary.

That is why over one-fourth of the "born again" evangelicals surveyed agreed with a statement that one would think might raise red flags even for those who might agree with the same thing more subtly put: "If a person is good, or does enough good things for others during life, they will earn a place in Heaven." Furthermore, when asked whether they agreed with the following statement: "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God," two-thirds of the evangelicals didn't find that objectionable.

Barna observes "how little difference there is between the responses of those who regularly attend church services and those who are unchurched." One respondent, an Independent Fundamentalist, said, "What is important in their case is that they have conformed to the law of God as they know it in their hearts." Michael Horton

Another author:
"The church today is suffering from the secularization of the sacred. By accepting the world's values, thinking its thoughts and adopting its ways we have dimmed the glory that shines overhead." This is from Tozer's "Man - The Dwelling Place of God" and is could have been written today

When we change things in the church to comply with the desires of the world, we miss that holiness goes out the door with the uniqueness of the Bride of Christ.

When we ask the world what they would like in the church, when we look at people as "church or unchurced" we forget that the scripture uses "believers and unbelievers, saved and unsaved." The emphasis is on redemption and relationship, not location and place.

Our goal is not to get people to go to church but to get the church to go to the unbeliever with the love of Christ. God promises that God will bring the sheaves as we weep for their souls, not as we give them a professional program of slickness, a program that does not bring conviction.

You see, the Gospel brings conviction before comfort not the other way around. Of course, we must not beat people over the head with the Gospel but we also do not smooze it to their lives not wanting them to be offended. The Gospel offends. We ought not to be offensive in our approach or presentation but realize that sin must be confronted by the Gospel for the good news to comfort. God has made us special for Him and we are to be different than the world. I am afraid that this present philosophy of church is a way of bringing the tares into the wheat.

Always let us remember that when Paul talks about the unbeliever coming to church he will have the "secrets of his heart revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you." Now that is humbling.

An Observation on Americans and Predestination/Election

2011-07-08T11:00:00.001-05:00

Here is an observation whether or not you believe in reformed doctrine:

One of the reasons why Americans find it difficult to accept the reformed doctrine of predestination and election is that it goes against everything that Americans inherently hold dear in our nation. We do not live by an allowing or accepting someone else’s choices for us without our consent. We reject to rule over us a despot, dictator, or monarch based on their particular choices. We make our own representatives, senators, and Presidents to deal for us in our nation. And if they do not do what we want, we throw them out of office. Even our rights we chose and wrote into our foundational documents be they good or bad.
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By way of illustration, in the 1700s, America was “the great experiment” in the history of mankind’s government. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat in the early 1800s, wrote a book called “Democracy in America.” He came from France and investigated what America was and could it be a continuing form of government. Out of the hugely magnificent work, (I suggest you read it but only if you chose to) one quotation lays claim to support this suggestion that Americans have a most difficult time with inequality and so therefore, the accepting of the doctrine of predestination/election. The reason? It is because of our inherent love of equality between men. Tocqueville writes about our forefathers, “Liberty is not the chief and constant object of their [Americans] desires; equality is their idol: they make rapid and sudden efforts to obtain liberty and, if they miss their aim, resign themselves to their disappointment; but nothing can satisfy them without equality, and they would rather perish than lose it.”

A little later he concludes with this statement, “They [Americans] have been allowed by their circumstances, their origin, their intelligence, and especially by their morals to establish and maintain the sovereignty of the people.” And so in our present world, we will have no one oversee us without our consent. We must allow it as individuals for it to be accepted. And in kind, everyone has freedom to speak his mind and be the captain of his own personal ship because we demand equality.

The problem is that God is not a God of equality. He gives to some blessed weather to grow crops and to others he gives harsh atmosphere that brings desserts. To some he gives health and to others disease. To some He gives long lives and to others only a few years. To some He gives wealth and to others poverty. So if I define equality as fairness, God is not fair. He treats people differently. He gives to some what He denies to others. But without doubt, He is just. His good pleasure is both just and merciful but mostly it is absolutely sovereign, and so as Americans we struggle.

A Tribute to John MacArthur

2011-07-06T13:18:00.003-05:00

I read this post on another pastor's (Dan) blog and thought it worthy for your read.

"On June 5th 2011, pastor John MacArthur finished preaching verse by verse through the New Testament. This is an extremely rare accomplishment given that no preacher over the past century has achieved such a feat. Those of you who are familiar with MacArthur’s preaching will know that he doesn’t rush in his preaching (it took him 10 years to preach through the gospel of Luke). This makes his accomplishment even more impressive.

While preaching has always been the focal point of his ministry, it has never been the only facet of his ministry. MacArthur is a prolific writer, with dozens of titles to his credit along with his New Testament commentary series, which is also nearing completion. He is also the president of the Masters College and Seminary, which continue to produce Christian leaders year after year. MacArthur also keeps a busy speaking schedule, which takes him all over the world. And perhaps he is best known for his excellent radio ministry, Grace to You.

Safe to say, God has graced and gifted this man in incredible ways. He could not have accomplished all this were it not for the grace of God. God raised up John MacArthur for such a time as this, and Christians the world over have been the beneficiaries."

Not a Winner

2011-07-01T15:14:00.001-05:00

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me by Ian Morgan Cron

I appreciate what Mr. Cron is seeking to do but I did not find it. Learning his pursuit of peace and joy is admirable but the stories did not touch me as they did him and that is because he lived them, not I. His strength of character is displayed throughout the book and I learned much from his determination to preserve and become a man of steel and roses. Past memories are difficult to deal with but it may be wiser to discuss or remember them in private. If you want to see a man interact with his past in dignity, you may like it.

I received this book for free from BookSneeze in exchange for a review.

Refresh Yourself

2011-07-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here listening to the majestic song “Worthy is the Lamb” again. It is the last song of The Messiah and my favorite one. I usually play it at decibels that confront the ears in exuberating power. My office neighbors across the hall have heard it many of times. Usually when I turn up the volume they are not in, good for them. If you have not listened to it in a while, take a minute, actually 6 minutes and 54 seconds, and listen to it. Your day will be better for it.

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor, glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. Amen.”

But that is a side note, pun intended. The main point is if we let a day or a week go by in which we do not just sit and contemplate the worthiness of Christ, we miss a major reason we are on earth. God has presented Himself to us in many forms and one of them is in song. Of course, walking in a “creation spot” (a place unattached to man’s construction) and listening to the voice of God in declaration of His glory refreshes the soul. Song or sight, spend time just considering God’s glory and goodness. You will find yourself uplifted and encouraged. It can be no other way because as we are confronted with God, our hearts bow and beg for more. Enjoy it and let me know how it is.

Oh Yes, Good times

2011-06-15T10:52:00.001-05:00

This is good for those in our age.

Those of You Born 1930 - 1979

At the end of this Email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.. If you don't read anything else, Please

Read what he Said. Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers Who smoked and/or drank while they were Pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, We would ride in cars with no car seats, No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day Was always a special treat.

We drank water From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?

Because we were Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, As long as we were back when the Streetlights came on.

No one was able To reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps And then ride them down the hill, only to find out

We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, And the worms did not live in us Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,

Although we were told it would happen, We did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal With disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law Was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of swine flu and terrorist attacks.

Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

A Small Note with a Big Point!

God determines who walks into your life....

it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay,and who you refuse to let go.

Radical Together: Excruciating Power

2011-05-31T13:01:00.005-05:00

When I picked up "Radical Together" by David Platt, the first thing I noticed was the paper. Before I read the content, I saw that the book was printed on pages of inexpensive quality. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with the book's product excellence but usually publishers spend a lot of money to make the book high quality paper for that "draw factor." If that were the case, all the content inside would be hypocritically dismantled. Why?

The book hits the heart with a "in your face" impact. If you want a book to challenge you, buy it. If you want to stay the same type of person or Christian, don't read it. I have read literally hundreds, probably thousands of book in my years of study as a minister. This is in the top 25 in power, profundity, and persuasion.

Honestly? I am not sure I can apply it. Yes, I know I am a pastor and ought to be selfless and dedicated to the cause of Christ but this confrontation really makes me consider if I can decide to be radical with my church in the same way as the early church. If I do, it will cause me to change not only my life but also The Fountain of Grace.

Like the paper, it is simple and noteworthy. Don't miss this soul stretcher and pray that your heart will be willing to be new paper for Christ. Give up the expensive lifestyle, the usual, and the profuse. In the end, all of us will rejoice for the sacrifice in being radical together.

I received this book for free from Booksneeze in exchange for writing a review.

Desires are Good

2011-05-25T08:29:00.000-05:00

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. These are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean. (Jonathan Edwards)

Washington, A Legacy of Leadership by Paul Vickery

2011-05-18T21:23:00.006-05:00

Here is a good read.

The amount of biographies, articles, journals, and anything else a writer could put words on of George Washington is unmatched when it comes to the initial years of America as a birthing nation. This addition provides a description of Washington that is clean, direct, and insightful. Paul Vickers is obviously familiar with his subject and the surroundings of a life “Providentially controlled.” The simplicity of the work is refreshing. The writing is easy to enjoy and beneficial for education. Those who enjoy the contrived or élite discussions of possible inner motivations of the man will not find much to work with.

Washington is presented as a man of character with on the job training in the most consequential time for the future nation. He is humble and ambitious, both necessary for the desired accomplishments of a provider and defender of liberty. The faith of Washington is obviously presented as a part of the man who leans on it with sincere abandonment to “Providence”, Washington’s favorite word for God.

This particular portrait of the General parallels Henry Lee’s word given at his funeral, “First in war – first in peace – and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting.”

Suggestion? Read it. It’s a keeper.

*** I received this book for free from Booksneeze in exchange for writing a review. ***

Small Groups - Now that's what I'm talkin' about

2011-05-18T09:15:00.004-05:00

From one of the guys in the church named Ed

If I had a blog, I'd be blogging right now. Just left small group and was witness to the beginnings of transformation. Will asked one question (I'll let him fill you in on that) and I saw people opening up and interacting like never before. The discussion over one question took up the entire time and we even went late. Perhaps a small step, but people are connecting and learning. A subtle but important distinction was highlighted with the group at the end: "THIS is the church. We are not a church with small groups, small groups ARE the church." I think that resonated. Just my thoughts for the night. I think Grace Fellowship would say: "Now THAT's what I'm talkin about!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Just a note... we calculated and over 90% of our church is in small groups. May it change our entire focus and ministry!

Gospel-starved

2010-02-21T19:21:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine who is a missionary in Ukraine wrote this and it is so true.
"Read it and weep"

The following blog entry by John MacArthur was brought to my attention because it mentions Russia and Ukraine in regards to the negative impact of bad theology being imported from the Western church:

http://bit.ly/bGEM6s

I posted the following response to it:

I serve as a missionary in the Russian-speaking world. I agree with Dr. MacArthur's analysis as far as it goes. There are indeed unhealthy influences here from the West. But the problems are not only from without--but from within. Man-centered theology permeates the church here too with its strong Anabaptist roots. And the top-down style of leadership inherited from the Soviet era does not always lead to an appeal to Scripture as the final authority when matters of faith and life are in question.

But my biggest concern is how these two weaknesses converge to weaken the message of the Gospel of Grace. While justification by faith is taught as necessary for salvation, it is not expounded in terms of its relationship to everyday life and as the basis and motivation for the pursuit of holiness. Without that, the church can never grow as it ought. The best antidote to confusing or even dangerous theology is leaders and congregations who are Gospel-driven and Cross-centered.

The next generation will not be easily distracted by hype or lured away by the empty promises of a pragmatized Christianity when they are being amazed and transformed by the Gospel as a way of life. Please keep the church in this part of the world in your prayers. Pray that leaders (and missionaries) would guard the Gospel in our lives as well as our lips.

The Beauty of "The Messiah"

2010-01-27T16:32:00.001-05:00

I am listening to Handel’s Messiah and enjoying the magnitude of it. How God blessed when He gave this supreme gift to mankind to enjoy. Here is a short history. If you want to read a more extensive and wonder-giving account go to this site. http://www.messiahcd.com/Information/about_The_Messiah/about_the_messiah.html

The Beauty of The Messiah
He had known what it was to be popular! For 30 years he had entertained Lords and Ladies with his operas. But those days seemed long past. Creditors were at his door. He was depressed. He could not sleep and he was plagued by rheumatism. If he did not come up with a musical success soon the 56 year old composer feared he would finish out his days in a London debtors prison.

But, two letters arrived that fateful summer of 1741 that would change all that for George Frideric Handel. The first letter was an invitation from the Duke of Devonshire inviting him to the Irish Capital, Dublin, to produce a series of benefit concerts "For the relief of the prisoners in the several gaols (jails), and for the support of Mercer's Hospital in Stephen Street, and of the Charitable Infirmary on the Inn's Quay." Handel thought the change might do him good and besides, he was eager to be out from under the persistent dun of his creditors. He accepted the invitation.

Shortly thereafter a second letter arrived from a wealthy but somewhat eccentric English Land owner named Charles Jennens. He quickly opened the let-ter. Jennens had written some lyrics for him in the past. To his amazement the letter was a compilation of Old Testament and New Testament scripture passages.

George read the words again and again. He was greatly moved and felt impressed to put them to music in oratorio form. An oratorio is a sort of spiritual opera. Handel locked himself in his study and within 7 days he had completed Part I -- the Christmas section or the oratorio. He presses on to Part II that focused on the Redemption and 9 days later that was finished. Then, in less than a week he completed Part III - The Resurrection and Future Reign of Christ portion.

He took his new oratorio to Dublin with him. The new oration first came to the public's attention on April 8th, 1742 at the public rehearsal. The first official presentation was on April 13th. It was a tremendous success. Handel lived for another 17 years and lead many performances of this great work. In fact, he conducted the last one only eight days before his death. Charles Burney, 18th century music historian, remarked that Handel's Messiah "fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and fostered the orphan."

Sir Newman Flower, one of Handel’s many biographers, summed up the consensus of history: Considering the immensity of the world, and the short time involved, it will remain, perhaps forever, the greatest feat in the whole history of music composition.” Handel’s title for the commissioned work was simply Messiah.

Handel never left his house for those three weeks. A friend who visited him as he composed found him sobbing with intense emotions. Later, as Handel groped for words to describe what he had experienced, he quoted St. Paul, saying “whether I was in the body or out of my body when I wrote it I know not”

One final note. Contrary to what a present-day music lover might think, "The Messiah" was originally associated with Easter rather than Christmas.

Applications:
• How often Handel must have felt like giving up! What fits of depression his many failures would have caused an average composer. To a man who knew he had but one great talent, seeing that talent go unrewarded so often must have been profoundly perplexing. And to see other London composers, whom he knew to have less genius, enjoying the success that eluded him for so many years—must have driven Handel to extreme exasperation. Yet through all the frustrating years before his final successes, Handel simply refused to quit.

•And, as if blows inflicted by his competitors were not painful enough, Handel suffered from an onslaught of attacks within his own camp. For a devoted Christian to have come under censure by the principal church of his time must have been bitterly distressing. Even after Messiah was be-coming well known, as great a religious figure as John Newton (composer of the hymn “Amazing Grace”), preached every Sunday for over a year against the “secular” performances of this biblical oratorio. Yet Handel did not respond by counterattacking his Anglican brothers. Though he remained a Lutheran, he “would often speak of it as one of the great felicities of his life that he was settled in a country where no man suffers any molestation or inconvenience on account of his religious principles.”

What God Hates

2010-01-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

“These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven is an abomination to Him,” (Proverbs 6:16) Wow. Now that is a heavy statement. We don’t want to do something that God hates much less what is an abomination to Him. The wise man goes through the list of six and then lands on the final one, the 7th one. This last one is not only hated by God but is an abomination. “And one who sows discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:19b)

What does it mean to “sow discord” among the church? The idea of sowing for the people back in Solomon’s times was much different than in our time of large combines, meticulous sowers, and fast reapers. The sower would have a bag of seed slung over his neck and would indiscriminately throw a handful of seed out into the field. His rows were not in a straight line. He just threw it out there and hoped for a harvest, and usually it came. The idea of the proverb is the throwing out the seed everywhere and anywhere. In the same manner the person who sows discord… just throws it out there with a hope that it will take root and bring in a crop of disgust, disagreement, and disunity. God hates this. In fact, the wise man says it is more than that, it is an abomination. It is on the same level as Deuteronomy 24:1-4 when a woman who leaves her husband, marries another, and then comes back to her first husband. Wow! Gossip is worse than adultery.

Discord is simple to understand. It is like a singer who is “off key” or not on the same musical note for the song. When I was learning how to sing, the most excruciating sound from my voice was one that was just a little bit off pitch. It was so close to be deafening. Discord is like that in that it is close to the truth but not truth. The louder I sang off key, the worse it was. So in sowing discord, it can and ought to make one close his ears and get away.

A person who sows discord separates friends. Pro 16:28 “A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends.” Pro 22:10 “Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease.” I have watched this up close. It begins with a little thought or whisper, a doubting thought. “I don’t want to say anything but…” A “maybe” type of statement. It broods and sends out roots until fruit comes. When that simple thought separates friends, brothers in Christ, and even family members fall away. I have watched a couple of churches destroyed because of this abomination.

Tough stuff. So what about the opposite of sowing discord? “To discover what the LORD desires, one need only list the opposites: humility, truthful speech, preservation of life, pure thoughts, eagerness to do good, honest witnesses, and peaceful harmony.” Let’s work on those seven blessings.

Here is how to respond to one who is “sowing discord” among the brothers.
1. Request clarification of the statement. “What are you saying?”
2. Insure the validity of the statement. “Do you know this to be true, firsthand?”
3. Ask for the motivation. “If so, why are you telling me?”
4. Bring up the solution. “Let’s go and talk to the one you are talking about.”
5. Rebuke and don’t listen. “He is my friend and I will not listen to your discord.”

Life is Unpredictable

2010-01-27T16:24:00.001-05:00

God meant it to be this way. There are times when we feel alone and in a cave like David. And there are times when we feel surrounded by people and power, again like David. The man after God’s heart lived life in many different locations, circumstances, and urgencies.

In Psalm 142, he writes a cry of the heart in the cave of Adullam as he was hiding from King Saul. (1Sa.22:1) He is alone. He begins his cry by complaint (v.2), then a description of his pain and circumstance. He is weak, alone, and afraid. But he reminds himself that “You are my refuge…, my portion in the land of the living” Two powerful truths. When trouble arises, renew the mind with truth. Regardless of the pain or fear, God is our refuge and His is our portion, or safety and satisfaction. When we repeat the truth of God, when we rely on Him, when we say that we will “praise Your name”, we are ready for support and love.

David wrote this alone but in a short order, 400 men came to his side. And from that time on, he was never alone again. But he did not know that in the cave. What he did know was that God was his safety and satisfaction. And that’s all we need to know in the cave or under the crown.

A Blast from the Past

2010-01-27T16:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had someone call on the phone or send an email or Facebook you and start to communicate with you, and you have no idea who you are talking to? You are trying to be gracious to listen and all along you are simply trying to remember the person. Bold people will say, “Tell me your name again because I do not remember you.” Shy people will say to them-selves, “Just act like you remember them so they don’t know you don’t.” A gregarious, extrovert type person will say, “Hey guy (notice the unnamed greeting-) how are you and what are you doing now?” While the honest people will say, “Pardon my forgetfulness but I can’t bring you to mind. How have I known you?”
All of us have been through this situation and regret it. What is worse though is being introduced to a person and not remembering their name 5 seconds after you were introduced. Now that is just bad, but we all do it.
Isn’t it great that God does not have a past. It is all present to Him Who made time. Hebrews 13:5, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU." God remembers your name. Past blasts remind us of time. We forget but we also move on. We are called to a different place, people, purpose… the past prepares us for the future and the future is a baby past. But God is not like this. He will never leave you or forsake you. What a great promise. God does not forget you.
Practically though, remember names! Repeat them within 5 seconds of learning them and the retention rate raises 45%. This is important especially for a new church. Try it this Sunday. Oh by the way, I am Pastor Will.

"God With Us" - Spurgeon

2009-12-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

“God with us.” It is hell’s terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it; the black-winged dragon of the pit quails before it. Let him come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, “God with us,” back he falls, confounded and confused. “God with us” is the laborer’s strength; how could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor, if that one word were taken away?

“God with us” is the sufferer’s comfort, the balm of his woe, the alleviation of his misery, the sleep which God gives to his beloved, their rest after exertion and toil. “God with us” is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.

ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

2009-12-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE: "After this Einstein wrote not only of the necessity for a beginning, but of his desire “to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thought, the rest are details.” (cited by Nick Herbert, Quantum Reality—Beyond the New Physics, Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985, p. 177)."

Run When You've Sin

2008-09-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

“I feel, when I have sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would do no good to go, as if it were making Christ a minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thousand other excuses; but I am persuaded they are all lies, direct from hell.

John argues the opposite way: ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.’ I am sure there is neither peace nor safety from deeper sin, but in going directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God’s way of peace and holiness. It is folly to the world and the beclouded heart, but it is the way.”

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Leadership

2008-08-28T08:41:00.001-05:00

GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
-Josiah Gilbert Holland

Fireproof Move

2008-08-26T10:17:00.002-05:00

Don't miss this movie!

Hurting Roofers

2008-04-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

Hurting Roofers
Mark 2:4, “they uncovered the roof”

I just finished talking with a roofer who stopped by to find out if there are any jobs to be done. After the initial discussion we got on the topic of church as I saw his business card had the fish symbol on it. In a moment he unleashed tears with pain. He told of being a part of a large church that did not train him to use his gifts, as he thought. Now whether or not this happened is not the point of my devotional. The focus is the hurt that rushed out of his heart. For a man to cry before a stranger is unusual unless the heart is broken to the degree where normal etiquette and natural decorum are tossed aside and abandoned. Yes, his contention was either unsupportable or confirmed, but I did not know the facts. But one thing I did know was that he had a roof-sized hole in his heart and he needed Jesus. In his hurt his eyes were on others, not on Jesus.

People hurt, and often times because of their own weaknesses, decisions, or sins. But when I cannot change the situation, I simply must love and apply grace. As he spoke I thought of the 4 roofers in the Bible. They hurt so much for their friend that they took up the tile of the roof where Jesus was so that their concern and care could be addressed by the Healer. They lowered their hearts more than they did their friend. Jesus was touched by the body and soul of the five needy men. What I love is how Mark speaks of the roofers. He simply says, “And they came… (2:3) they removed the roof above Him… they made an opening… they let him down…” (2:4). “They” were never known. The roofers came, removed, made, let down, and had faith. And as Jesus saw their faith He forgave the paralytic’s sin. He specifically said, “their faith”. One sinful lame man was hurt but four sinful roofers brought him to Jesus.

“They” did not talk about sin, decisions, incriminations, or anything. “They” simply brought him, the sinful hurt man, to Jesus. “They” made an opening and lowered the man for whom “they” cared to the Man in whom “they” believed. Only that. Nothing more and of course, nothing less. But think of it. For the rest of their lives, till “they” breathed their last breath, “they” dreamed and remembered the day “they” made an opening for their lifelong friend. “They” laughed, drank, and cried with him night after day. As “they” watched him walk, run, stand, and sit, “they” smiled. God had used “they” [sic]. “They” were roofers.

I will make you a promise. God will bring to you those for whom you will be a roofer. Don’t let obstacles stop you. Make an opening to Jesus. And when you sit at night thinking over that day, laugh and live abundantly. Someone walks because you carried, lifted, opened, and lowered them. You were “they”. I hope by the time life is timeless you will be an expert roofer having opened many ways for friends to be lowered to the One loved most.

You may need to be destructive to be a roofer.
But better to make a mess than miss front roof seats to Jesus

Coffee Anyone

2008-01-25T13:18:00.001-05:00

I love coffee in the morning when the weather is cold outside. At the office I have two coffee makers. My favorite one is a Bunn Automatic and the other; I don’t know its name. It does not make a good cup of coffee. There is one problem, the warming plate on the Bunn is broken and so does not keep the coffee hot after it is made, thus the need for the second coffee maker. So I make the coffee in one and then transfer it to the other, not a big deal. There are times when I am so inclined to get a new Bunn and forget the other “just warmer” coffee maker but the cost is prohibitive. So I live with the diversity.

Yesterday while making the coffee I thought about the difference between the two makers and associated it with the church. We do not have all “Bunn church members”. For example, some are gifted by God to make things begin but do not have the gifting to continue it. Others do not have the gifting to begin things but once they learn the vision they can keep it going. Nether is more important than the other is. They are both needed to enjoy the “church coffee”.

All too often we try to make everyone the same and we lose the beauty of diversity and the power of unity. The church has been designed to be different in gifts and function but congruent in purpose and goal. Trying to squeeze everyone into the one cup only frustrates and confuses the wonder of the Spirit in individualizing and unifying the church at the same time. The Body is unique in this. If we are one in Christ, we will communicate. And if we are individual in Christ we will animate.

If this is not understood the one who begins ministry with vision is criticized in not continuing what is begun. They are unfaithful, quickly bored, or light. The one who supports the ministry begun is looked down on because they may not have creativity, vision, or ingenuity. Both critical spirits are wrong and blind. God makes and continues ministry with different abilities and gifts. Why is it such a struggle to like and admire the God-given differences? Fear? Impatience?

So let me ask you. How is your coffee? Are you allowing your “coffee gift” get cold or old? Are you using what God has given to you? So if you are one who begins, begin. If you are a supporter, support. We will only be blessed, happy, and productive when we use our gifts and enjoy others do the same.

Enjoy diversity! Delight unity!

Have a Cigar

2008-01-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

I’ve been laughing for a day about this. I so love God’s laughter and can’t wait to hear it. Don’t think to heavily on this one, just enjoy! Will

Last Wednesday as I worked in the office, a lady walked in with bright orange flyers offering them with a smile and firm handshake. She began her pitch with directed eyes of a strong and sincere saleslady. As she quickly handed me the action-compelling advertisement I looked honestly, hopefully, at the promised offering. It read:

“Medina Cigar Opening” –
Purchase 3 cigars and receive a free Roxor Cigar.
Purchase a box and receive a free Perdoma travel humidor.

Besides the fact that I did not have a clue of what a Roxor Cigar or Perdoma travel humidor, I tried to look educated having an inside smirk. “You can visit our website at www… and make sure you come by and enjoy the store.

To which I responded, “Well we are kind of in the opposite direction of purpose as we are a church and counseling ministry for those desiring to shed habits they feel are controlling them”. She quickly recovered with, “That is ok, you can come to the store and just enjoy the talk, fun, and maybe have… we are getting our liquor license and… (her tanned face is getting sun-burnt) Well, I think you could enjoy it”. I smiled knowing she felt like, “How in the world did I miss the 4 ft. sign on the window? How do I get out of here?” Not wanting her to be in cardiac arrest, I started asking about her business and life, sincerely.

Long story… her husband and her, both policemen in Cleveland for over 10 years were beginning this endeavor. She was an undercover cop for drug deals, prostitution, gambling…, which I think may have been easier at this time than talking to a pastor about buying smoke and spirits. I am not discussing whether smoking and drinking is ungodly or an acceptable action. That’s beyond this.

She changed the topic to religion, a safer place for her, she thought. She was, ahem…, is a Catholic. “What do you believe, she queried” I tried not to enjoy her moving to another topic only to realize another uncomfortable discussion (for her) is forecasted. I began to present the gospel through the difference in doctrine and practice of the two beliefs. “Do you go to Mass and do you give the communion every week, she stumbled. I love this whole communication. Literal and symbolic, works and faith, confess sin to a man or God, prayer and the Bible, priest and pastor, all were being patiently placed in the proverbial pot.

I sensed the continual prodding of the Spirit to graciously present God as the only Truth, Christ as the only Mediator, and the Spirit as the only Assurance. It really started to be comfortable, at last. God has a providential way of providing prodding that will produce promising possibilities, alliteration intended.

As I spoke I realized that we lived in very different worlds, apart, as God predicted in Christ. We are to be in the world and not of the world. God brings bridges to bear His gospel to an otherwise unusual encounter. I am prone to speculate that God laughs. I have felt this for years. This was fodder for laughter the whole day. But in back-thought, I needed to see my part in His plan. God had planned from the beginning of time, week, and day that she would come to the office and hear about pure salvation. What an encouragement for witness.

Every time this occurs I know God has designed it. They walk in, or God directs them to me. Fun living. But it is true for you also. Today God brought someone or something to you which He wanted in His plan of presentation pleasures. The act may be interesting, like mine, or mundane but it is invested in you.

Well, I will probably travel by and visit the new endeavor of smokes and spirits. She had mentioned that she and her husband may visit The Fountain… I guess a soul washing needed, hopefully.

So have a cigar, proverbially speaking. Look for the unusual smokes or spirits that will grant you entrance to the hearts most needy.
And don’t be surprised of the store or salesperson. God loves laughter.

No Hope

2007-12-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

I hope your Christmas is full of hope.

Having No Hope

I was studying but my sermon is not getting much attention right now. John, a 34 year old poor man from Cleveland, knocked on the door 45 minutes ago and I just finished talking with him. Living with a prostitute who has 4 kids from different fathers, not working, having 6 felonies, he walked in weary needing money to get something to eat. He has no Social Security card, no driver’s license, no ID card, only a torn, old birth certificate. He has made poor decisions in his life and now he is without hope in the world.

This happens a lot here in the office. As I talked with him I heard a story of “no hope”. When he was 18, he had no money and could not get a job (a regular in the 4th poorest city in the US). He started “jacking” cars (stealing and selling to pawn shops to strip them and sell the parts). “It was easier to do that. I would get $1000 in an hour”. But now, after 6 convictions, he can’t get a job. It reminded me of the verse in Ephesians, “that at that time you were without Christ… having no hope and without God in the world”.

I have never known this type of life. All my life I have had hope, at least of some kind. It may have been running away, hiding, or in the shadows but it was hope.

I shared the Gospel with “John”. That is more important than any money I could give him. “I was saved”, at least he said so - part of the difficulty of people who give a bandage for cancer of the soul. “I was, you know, put in the water and then they did a sign over me”. He had been led to a false hope.

“I talk to God but He don’t listen because I’m too bad. Ya know what I mean, man”? I’m going down the drain and I can’t help it. I know He is up there but He don’t listen to me, man”. John isn’t unkind. He is without hope. He does not know what to do.

Excuse me; he just walked in again after I sent him to get his birth certificate so he can get a SS number to which he just left on a bike to that office.

Hold on, I just got another phone call from a person that needs to talk right now about their marriage which is in trouble and needs hope. They will come now. My sermon for Sunday is not looking at me anymore.

So while I am waiting for them to come, I ask myself these questions, “What is it like to have a Christmas without hope? What is it like to go to strangers asking for food? What is it like to not be liked?”

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. (the next verse) This stares me in the face, “In Christ”. That is the hope for “John, Larry, Sue, and another one Eric”, who just called (all changed names) need hope. Christ is the only hope… “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. As you finish reading this slice of my life, pray for them.

“John, God does listen. Larry and Sue, God will heal your marriage. Eric, look to the Truth to produce wisdom for decisions”. All of you readers of hope and those illiterate in hope, see the Hope of heaven and earth.

Will

PS. John just came in with his SS# card and is now going to get his ID card. Would you take a moment right now and pray for him to hope again?

Laser Tag

2007-11-14T16:15:00.001-05:00

Laser Tag – God’s It
Psalm 97:4, His lightnings light the world”

I have been fighting with our LaserJet 2550 printer in the office. It has become a “Laser Tag” fight. So let the games begin. The light tells me that a color cartridge needs to be replaced. It has run out of the yellow color so I put in a new cartridge I did what is needed. Round #1, me.

Well the light is still on as if I had not put in a new cartridge. First I lift the lid of the printer, jiggled the cartridge, and then shut it. It wrestled back with a promising cycle motion only to have the light keep blinking. Round #2, printer.

Next I pull out the cartridge and shake it from side to side, as it says in the direction manual. I put it back in and again it went through the cycle. Round #3, printer. Now I am taking a deep breath and pulling out the drum unit to look for I don’t know what (funny how men do that as if lifting the hood of a car will fix the problem – but what else are we going to do?). Back to my fight with the printer – I place the unit back into the printer, yes you guessed it, the cycle happens with Round #4 going to the printer. No more Laser Tag Rounds for now.

I leave. Frustrated that it takes so much time and effort to make sure the color on the page looks right. As I shove my body into the desk chair I look outside the window and see the colors of God’s Laser Tag. Right now they are shaking in the slight breeze; some are floating through the wind after being detached from bunches of brawny branches. The colors are magnificent and without any frustration on my part. Gold, red, shades of brown, and even a touch of slight maroon overload my senses. All of them brushed by the Painter of the Sky. God has tagged me and I’m it.

I muse and compare the two types of color games. I am swept away from the room of sounds, cycles, and full waste cans. I am tossed into a world of simple creation, every leaf a designed picture of God’s definition of diversity. I shake my head in quiet delight as I forget the game I was just in. The printer still does not work but now I do. I was made for smiling and smelling God’s sensitive succulent soul-suppers - each and every day. When I take too many Rounds without the Wonders, I somehow become barren and breathless.

The heavens declare… and the earth yells the glory of God. I cannot be deaf. I will not be blind. It will take a few seconds of making printers work but then again, well… I will just sit here for another moment refreshing my soul and remembering God made it for me to enjoy Him. He plays a mean game of tag.

Playing laser tag with God refreshes the soul and renews the mind. Take some time. Play the game. Yep, He’s it. And I am glad He is but He always tags last.

Holy Eve

2007-10-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

I am taking the risk in this but I believe it is worth it. Today is Halloween but the words actually mean “Holy Eve” for tomorrow is “All Saint’s Day”. I realize that Christians see this differently, “but each according to his conscience”. I worked on getting some information for you. Please be careful not to be ignorant of the devices of the devil and at the same time do not allow for the voice of him be unchallenged. Here are some facts:

Halloween Word Origins

Dictionary.com » Feature Articles » Halloween Word Origins

Halloween can be traced back to Samhain, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Because it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead and it was also a time when those who had died before that returned to visit their homes. November 1 was also considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. People lit bonfires to scare away evil spirits and "sacrificed" fruits and vegetables, hoping to appease the spirits of the deceased. Sometimes people disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the visiting spirits would not recognize them. Charms, spells, and predictions of the future were all part of the eve of Samhain. In the old Celtic calendar, that last evening of October was "old-year's night," the night of all the witches.

When Christianity burgeoned, starting in the fourth century, pagan festivals like Samhain were very much frowned upon. However, the Celts would not give up their ancient rituals and symbols — so the Christian church gave them new names and meanings. November 1 became All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day in England), by proclamation of Pope Boniface IV in the 7th century, a celebration of all the Christian saints. The evening before All Saints' Day, October 31, became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus All Hallows' Eve (later Hallow-e'en, Hallowe'en, Halloween). Despite the name change, this holiday's association with the supernatural persisted.

Halloween came to be accepted in America with the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s. Their folk customs and beliefs merged with existing agricultural traditions. The early American Halloween, therefore, was not only a time to foretell the future and dabble in the occult, but was connected with seasonal tasks of the fall harvest. Over the years, the holiday's agricultural and harvest significance faded and it became primarily a children's holiday — one where they dressed up as the spirits (ghosts and goblins) that their ancestors at one time feared.

Bonfire comes from the words bone and fire ("fire of bones") and originally indicated a large open-air fire on which bones were burnt, either as a ceremony (like a funeral) or for burning heretics or banned books. The Halloween bonfires were lit to scare away evil spirits. Nowadays, bonfires are also celebratory — after a day at the beach or for a homecoming football game.

The word costume came to English via French from Italian for "fashion" or "custom, habit," from Latin consuetudo/consuetudinem meaning "custom." Mask also made a trip through French (masque) from Italian maschera/mascara, perhaps from Latin masca, "evil spirit, witch."

Ghost comes from an Old English word gast/gost, "spirit, soul" and has related forms in other West Germanic languages. These related words appear to be connected with Sanskrit hea, "anger, fury." Goblin is from French and it may be related to the German Kobold, a mythological spirit who haunted homes and lived underground in caves and mines. Etymologists believe it may be related to Greek kobalos and to Latin Gobelinus, mischievous spirits. The goblin carries the connotation of being grotesque and ugly, evil and malicious. The ghost is just downright scary, being the supposed soul of a dead person.

A jack-o'-lantern (also jack-a-lantern) is a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable rather than a pumpkin. The original meaning of the word jack-o'-lantern was "night watchman" or "man with a lantern," but it took on the Halloween sense by 1837, first in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales.

Pumpkin — the large fruit of the plant Cucurbita Pepo — is a word evolved from the original English spelling of pompeon or pumpion or pompion to pumkin and finally to pumpkin. The word pompion came from Latin pepo/peponem from Greek pepon, "large melon, edible gourd," from another word pepon, "cooked by the sun; ripe." Another spelling variant is punkin.

In Old English, witch was actually wicca and originally (c 890) was a man who practiced magic or sorcery, which we now call wizard. By the year 1000, witch came to be defined as "a female magician or sorceress."

The colors associated with Halloween are black and orange. Orange, the color of the jack-o'-lantern, is a symbol of strength and endurance as well as of autumn and the harvest. Black is primarily a symbol of death and darkness. The black of a witch's cloak and the black cat are reminders that Halloween was once a festival of the dead.

On a higher note: Today is a most important day for Protestants as it was today that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis document on the door of his church on October 31, 1517. These words started the Protestant Revolution that gave us (those who protest against the Roman Catholic church’s doctrine of works salvation) and has continued to preach salvation by grace alone by the Word alone for God’s glory alone. Click on this to learn about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/95_Theses

We celebrate this day when God reopened the doors of truth through a man of conviction, willing to take on the entire known religious world of the Roman Catholics. It could have cost him his life and apart from God’s grace, it would have. A hundred years prior to this, a man by the name of John Hus said the same things as Luther and he was burnt at the stake by RC church. (“Hus” his name means “goose” and that is where we get the phrase, “cook your goose”.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hus - A Dying Prophecy: Amongst Hus' last words are allegedly that, "in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed." Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses of Contention to a church door in Wittenberg 102 years later.[1]

So on this day, say with Luther, “Don’t fear for God is near. His truth abides still.” These are words that Luther wrote in a poem that was put to music. I encourage you to read these words and even sing the song. You may not know it, but it has great truth and confidence. Just remember that the words were written by a German who stood before a RC cardinal and spoke the truth.

Hit this link and sing along. http://www.songsandhymns.org/hymns/lyrics/a-mighty-fortress-is-our-god

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, (“Sabaoth” means Hosts or Power)
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

So celebrate today! Praise the Lord! Today is the great day when the very devils, and even the devil himself, are fools to celebrate it because they forget how God blew apart their day with the day of freedom for us from the slavery to horrific heresy, incestuous ignorance, and devilish doctrine.

Blessed be the Lord God of Glory,

will

Playing Cut Throat is not always good

2007-10-23T10:13:00.000-05:00

Playing “Cut Throat” Is Not Always Good

Proverbs 23:1-3

When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

Are you given to appetites? I am. That can be good or bad. Appetites are; they just are. They come with humanness. Like you, at least some of you, I struggle with keeping the weight off. Why so? I have appetites. Usually, I make the best disciplined decisions to eat less after a big meal. My father, a physician, told me once that a mark of declining health is the loss of weight. Well, I am insuring a healthy incline right now so I have further to go when I am declining as I age, or so my inner debate goes. By the way, I am writing this because I am proud of myself as I missed my “Breakfast of Champions”, this morning. Honestly my morning intake is usually more like a, “Breakfast of Ya-Right”.

Usually the verse above is used only with food but I think it launches into more. The question I asked myself deals with what are my appetites.

Sometimes I turn proverbs in opposite directions to observe another way. So my turn-around is:

When you sit down to eat with the Lord, observe carefully what is before you, and put a fork in your hand if you are given to appetites. Desire His delicacies, for they are good for the soul.

This morning I realized that my spiritual appetites had gone on a diet and my soul was too thin. As is often the case in the spiritual realm, it is opposite than the physical realm. To neglect eating soul-food is dangerous and going on a diet is unwise but eating abundantly is good. Enjoy these.

· Psa 63:5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

· Pro 11:25 The generous soul will be made fat

· Pro 13:4; But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

· Pro 28:25 He that trusts in the LORD shall be made fat.

A way to know if you are not eating properly (no junk food, processed food, easy to get stuff, already chewed) is the giving out of spiritual energy. When you try to minister to others, you will need strength that comes from eating strong. And after the ministering, you will need another course of charming cuisine. No crusty quickies!

Spiritual Poundage is Spiritual Prosperity. So Eat and Drink Up Everybody!

Selling, Buying, or Telling

2007-10-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, selling a car and then buying another has to be one of the most frustrating and endless necessities of modern life. Everyone is trying to get the best deal: low mileage, good engine, no rust, low price… and the list goes on as we hear in our heads, “You get what you pay for”. To better state that, “You get what you can pay for”. Price is not the issue, cost is. What is it going to cost me to handle this transaction? Can I work with it? Is it a lemon? How long will it run?

What do friends say about that car? What do you do when the mechanic says, “I wouldn’t” and that is the only price range you can deliver? And right about now we get the feeling that everyone in the world has already found the “best deal” and we are looking at the left behinds. I have to sell both of my cars and buy two other cars. That makes it a double difficult process. Such is my world now.

Thankfully our spiritual lives do not surround this emptiness. I heard a wonderful pastor say one time, “We are all selling Jesus. We are salesman”. When I heard that my heart struggled. We can’t sell Jesus because He is not for sale. No one can buy Him as they do not have the money to pay for Him. We are not salesmen. We are Executors of a will or trust. Someone has died and left an unlimited resource that pays all our debts and makes unimaginably wealthy. We are ambassadors “reconciling” man to God. We are farmers casting seeds and watching God’s automatism growing it, anything but salesmen. We are scores of other things to spread the Word, but we are not in the spiritual car business.

In another view, our car to heaven has already been paid for; we enjoy the ride. No one sells me on it, nor do I work to pay for it. We don’t’ have to worry about getting a better deal, or that we might miss the better deal. Each heaven-directed transaction is perfectly suited for the individual. The map is set, the fuel is just enough. At times our window wipers do not work hard enough to see through the storm. The bumps or potholes in the road jolt and dislodge us but we can’t get out of the car. Amen to that. We don’t want to.

But the large blessing is the not paying or selling, just enjoying God’s choice for us. Some have a 4X4 truck because they will carry burdens. Some will own a fast coupe to get to the destination quickly. Others will have bright colors to bring attention to the Maker. Some will enjoy luxury so as to give comfort and aid to needy travelers. We may have accidents and be in the shop so as to watch the Divine Mechanic do His work. Those repairs too have also been paid for, although the marks may be seen for the life of the car.

All the “extras” are determined and we may enjoy them, or we enjoy the knowledge that others have those extras even though we do not. “Each according to his gift”, it says. There are CD players for praise, radios for preaching, neither for prayer, A/C or sweat, heater or frost, snow or dry, manual or automatic. The fit is perfect so the appreciation and use causes growth in the body.

As we keep driving the mileage continues to mount up. We are to keep good maintenance as there will be a day when the engine will run out of gas but it will exactly be at the destination.

So what is ours? We enjoy and yell out the window about the free car lot right around the corner. Ours is to bring people to get the car of their dreams where merit means nothing and everything is free because the Maker’s Son bought it for them.

Don’t cheapen the cars by selling them or denying them by not bringing the “car-less”. Bring, offer, and hope, as there is enough for all who want one.

And PS, if you know of a good car or cars at a low price, let me know.

God Playing Favorites

2007-09-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Favoritism
Ephesians 2:8

“It is a gift from God”
I stood there watching 10 8th grade volleyball girls, shifting in their shoes, holding their hands, and trying not to look at me. They had sheepishly asked to talk with me after one of the practices. I was on my way home, weary and swore but happy that the team is pulling together. We are 50% which is better than the 10% last year (they won one game). I quietly leaned on the brick corner a bit humored within my heart. One girl croaked out the first words, slowly talking around the barn. The frustrated others said, “Just tell him”. I did not know if it was good or bad, but whatever it was, I was intrigued.

“Coach, we think that you are favoring Sue (another name to protect the innocent – she wasn’t there) because she is the best player. You spend more time with her than all of us. And we want more time.” I nodded my head and mused, slowly measuring my words. “Well, if you think that I am favoring her, I am sorry. I don’t want to do that and if I am, it will stop.” I did not mention that Sue concentrates more than others concentrate and therefore receives more time than the group in front of me who are a bit futile in the mind and body. It wouldn’t benefit, and they would not comprehend it. They had guts to talk, as they were afraid that I would get mad, ream them out, or disagree. My response had unnerved them. I needed to humble myself in front of them. That was important. I assured them.

But as I walked to my car, I started considering what they had said and how it affected them. I really hate favoritism as most of us do, having felt it and resented it. Favor, an interesting concept and action. I find it in many of the families of the OT and NT. One son or daughter, or wife, or husband is liked more than the others are and the result is always division and anger. But consider it in the light of God. He favored us. It is salvation’s hallmark of divine right. God chose us without any reason, save His glory. It glorifies Him more to give to us what we do not deserve, grace, and keeps from us what we do deserve, condemnation. I am happy that God played favorites with me.

I had chosen the best and brightest to favor (at least according to them). That was unacceptable to them and me.

Consider this. He chose the worst, the lowest, and the most undeserving. That’s we! So when we play favorites, we sinfully play God. Only He has the right to give grace particularly without being indicted. How glad I am that He did and does. Remember, none of us deserves His grace more than any other does and that is what is so beautiful and humbling. His free grace humbles us to the lowest place. Favoritism is God’s, not ours. Ours is to relish in it.

The free gift of eternity is the humbling gift of life. And the more we see it in comparison to us, the more we see the plight of man and the power of God.

“God, thanks for playing favorites with me”.

Study to Stutter

2007-08-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

Study to Stutter

Proverbs 21:31

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.”

I “sttuttterrr” at times. I have for years now. Enjoyably, even as I write this, the automatic Microsoft word check has a note that the word I just wrote is not a word, easy for it to say. The affliction does not always occur, only at a few moments. I did not speak haltingly years ago but recently I do. I do not know why. I do not want it.

There are times when I cannot think of the specific word, it won’t come or I can’t say it. I know how to describe the word but the word, the simple word, eludes me. Yes, it is embarrassing. But more, it is embarrassing in front of a crowd when I am speaking. My church is so gracious about it. They listen and keep listening till I get the word or I describe it so they understand what I want to say. Sometimes they speak out the word so I can get on with the thought or point. These brothers and sisters are wonderful about it.

But why am I telling you this? Several reasons. There is a belief that if you do your part than God must do His. (Spiritual Capitalism)! Not necessarily so. For a pastor, his ministry is to study in order to equip the flock. This equipping demands teaching, usually. Inherent to this joy of mine is the incumbent issue of, “I give, then God promises to give to me. I have found so many times that statement to be false.

Some of the most fluid sermons have come after a busy week and I haven’t studied, as I want. But the opposite also is true, studying and then on to stammering. So why does God do that at times? Why does He call us to do things then hampers us in that commission He gave? Because Preparation and Providence are separate matters.

When Solomon wrote this proverb, I am sure that he did not stutter but he saw a principle in a different situation. His realm was war. He realized that even though he did the diligent groundwork, God still worked the end. It is not a bargaining sell with God but a relinquishing of the ownership even if it is paid for. That is God’s right to give or not. That is God’s grace. We cannot obligate grace, or it is no longer grace.

I also tell you this in order for you to be the gracious responder. Your heart in this matter is key to the giving of grace. God might withhold grace to one and give it another for the blessing of the former and latter. Another reason, God may desire to humble one so He give more grace afterward.

This last Sunday was a “stuttering” sermon day. It was hard to get through it. We had visitors. For a small church, oftentimes we have one chance to bless them. I know some have not come back because of my affliction. But after the sermon I was telling a new attendee friend, “Man, I could not get my words today”. It was an obvious and usual statement. But her response was neither, “I know you were, and I started praying for you”. She’ll never know how much the meant. A weakness prompted prayer for grace to me. I saw my disgust of stuttering turn to gratitude for such a word of equipping.

So remember, today and other days, God gives weakness for His kingdom. Yes, you have to remind yourself countless times of this truth, I know, I do. But deliverance is not always ours. Ours is to prepare and wait. He is good. Always. Trust Him. See all the colors of His rainbow in your sky, after the rain stops or continues.

Horses are to be ridden but the reins are His to turn. So saddle up and enjoy the ride. You may find another barn more suitable to your riding, and others, yours.

Will

Fat Feasts, Enjoy Them

2007-08-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

Fat Feasts, Enjoy Them

Proverbs 17:1

It was another memory savored. Usually we like the feast rather than the famine. But in Proverbs 17 it says,

“Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.”

Yesterday after a full and exhausting day I came home in need of repair. I was hungry, tired, and “big-breath” sighing. You know one of those, “Ahh, I am home” type of door-opening. After taking my work baggage to my room I ventured out to the kitchen where everything happens. Maria was there, we talked a bit, and then a marvelous thing happened. Without any prediction, promise, or persuasion, one by one all the kids ventured by the island, stopped, and either leaned or sat at the counter.

There were snacks everyone was chomping on, you know those ones that have fat grams out the wahzoo. We did not care about poundage at all. Jokes, laughter, smiles, kidding, and memories started flowing. It increased until I could not hear what was being said by all the “interrupters” around. I pulled back and just noted the special unique moment. It was a “house full of feasting” as described in Proverbs, but in the opposite mode. It was a “Feast with peace-ing”.

Solomon contrasts the dry morsel with peace to the full feast with strife. I understand his truth and agree with it. BUT, the best proverb is the loud and raucous full feast in peace and laughter which does good like a medicine.

After several minutes the party dwindled slowing and everyone went back to their usual business but I was different. My heart and soul were rejuvenated and I was glad to be alive again.

I knew that I would not forget those few moments in time. I knew that in delightful future times of weddings, birth days, holidays, and reunions, I would think back on these moments in time. My home is a place of “feasting peace-ing”. When I was young my mother often said in despair to 5 ravenous, grazing kids, “Stop peacing”. I never could understand what that meant save we were to stop eating. I think she thought we were taking food, bit by bit, and then running for cover. How right she was.

Well I guess I am debauched as I love to watch the family “peace-ing” together and laughing unlimited. God gives these times to be enjoyed even if we are overweight because of them. Bring it on! I will exercise more, (ya right) but I will not give up the moments of fatness. In fact, I will seek them. I want to die fat, full on “feasts of peace-ings”. Try it and you will see what I mean. Oh yes, the recipe is also given in Proverbs. Read and you will find.

Look for the counter of laughter. It is there. You just have to be willing to make time for it.

Will

Useless People

2007-08-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

“The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door. We must, therefore, be very careful at this point.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Augustine's Prayer to the Supreme and Sovereign God

2007-08-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. You are the most hidden from us and yet the most present amongst us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things. You are never new, never old, and yet all things have new life from you. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Wet Eyes and Slow Walks

2007-08-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

Revelation 21:4
“And God will wipe away all their tears”

Maria and I have been asked to coach 7th and 8th grade volleyball. My daughter who plays for the high school heard the varsity coach mention that they did not have coaches. She explodes with, “Oh, my dad and mom played and coached”. With a big smile she told us this head-throbbing, heart-stopping announcement that the coaches were excited and going to ask us to be “coach”. I could end this devotional by saying that I was the one who had at that time the “wet eyes and slow walk”. Not true. But you could probably now make the case that I should have been after 3 days of practicing with a 30 year plus mind and body from when I “played” volleyball. Now I “pray” in volleyball. Funny how things change, spiritual discipline can come from fear, you know.

But today I had the painful responsibility of “cutting” players from the team. It has been long since I did this. In my world of church all volunteers are welcome regardless of the ability sometimes in spite of it. As I asked for the 5 girls to remain after the dismissal of practice, I could tell that fear was near. I told them for right now they would not play and then reiterated all the things about not quitting, practice, try again next year and all the other “ya right” jargon. But the pain came when they began to tear up. As they turned I watched slow walks back to their belongings knowing that they did not “belong” again. “Cut today”.

I had to put out of my mind the possible predicament that what took place in the last ten seconds might be held and remembered the rest of their lives. For me this burden of necessary occurrence is worse than loosing the season because the group looses together. Getting cut is alone. Now it was my turn to have the wet eyes and slow walk.

How many of those “wet eyes and slow walks” have you had? Too many we respond without hesitation. They are usually all related with separation of some kind. We as creations were not made for separation but for unions at all times. So this day, time, and place for the girls move against their entire person. This adds to the already painful memory which will be played thousands of times on their heart’s DVD before the ejection button is hit. That is one tough truth.

I am so thankful that in the real eternal world, we will never be “cut” and made alone. This is true not for our lack or lots of abilities but from Another’s position given away. Christ took the slow walk with immeasurable tears as His eternal soul was “cut” for us. We must always remember that wet eyes and slow walks are not on heaven’s agenda. Ours is the abundance of acceptance, unlimited, by the Unlimited. Thank God! Yes, thank God.

Eyes in heaven have no ducts and all feet run to, not away. In fact, there is no “away”.

I hope you have the joy of finding someone’s hurting DVD and put God’s DVD in it. It plays better.

Will

A Prayer and a Miss

2007-07-27T10:57:00.001-05:00

A Prayer And A Miss
Psalm 126:5,6

Have you ever prayed for something only to miss the answer? This morning after reading Psalm 126:56, “He who continually goes… bearing seed… shall come again with rejoicing…”. In response to that I asked the Lord to allow me to talk to someone about Jesus today. I did not know what would happen –all bets are off here at the office. Well, a bit later in the day, a half-gangly (tall but not thin) man came tromping in just as I chomping on some diet-watching lettuce made for testing self-control in food services. I did not feel so bad as his lettuce had not been a cuisine for a good while. He began deliberating his particular plight which required both cash and convincing on my part. I did not have either. As he left I pulled out my wallet to insure I was right about my statement of “on empty” and a blank fold of black frowned at me.

I wished I could have helped him. Really. Just then I remembered that I had some change in the car. I ran and pulled out loose, car-washing coins, and gave them away to hard, calloused hands which I hoped did not reveal the same description of his heart. I retreated and sunk into my chair with the sudden realization that I had missed my prayer. God had brought the chance but I had not borne my seed and so I did not rejoice. The prayer was heard in heaven but it did not resound on earth, at least not with my ears. I learned…

“Vision of Provision is too often in Retrovision.”

Why are we so dull to providential provisions? What I needed was a plaque on his chest saying, “Sow seed stupid, signed The Sovereign”. Or better why not have him say, “I am the Ground. God sent me to answer your prayer. So I am waiting, start casting!” The Seed was in the bag, but the hand was not. I have begun to believe that the lack of “sheaves-rejoicing” is not ground-less but is sight-less. We just don’t see the need. The motivation for “sheaves-sowing” is “sheaves-foreseeing”.

Now my car will not be washed but I hope that his heart will be by a quick grace throw. God can take the miss and make the mint. The wealth of eternity is invested by even futile, amateur casting. My heart is bothered, as it ought to be, but my hand is learning and for that I am thankful.

A patient, providential God knows He works with feeble, forgetful, yet prayerful children. “Lord of Harvest, keep bringing the ground. Our hands are learning.”

Running Around In Circles

2007-07-12T15:55:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone, for you

Matthew 28:20, “Go” and make… circles?

Last night as I came home from the office, I saw my sons standing out in the driveway in a circle talking with several boys from their high school. These boys have been coming over every Wednesday night for a couple of years for pizza (one night, 192 pieces eaten by 15 teens), fun, and talk. It started in an unusual way but that will be another day’s ponder.

I noticed that as they talked between the cars, old and new depending on their family financial fixture, they stood in a circle. Every one of them faced each other, listening intently, laughing constantly, and living momentarily in that circle. As I parked our family financially fixed car, the thought of that soon dispersed circle pervaded my mind and then my heart. Graduation, college, vocation, marriage, family, and location will quickly and surely separate the tightly enjoyable wheel of friendship. They don’t know it, neither did I.

In twenty-five years though they will come back to a high school reunion and learn what has happened to their circle. It will be a shock for them to see how far and wide that time-limited wheel is divided. Differing philosophies, beliefs, life-styles, financials, families, and scars will silently amaze them taking them home pensively. How did that happen? How could he…? Why did she…? It will be head-shaking. Each will go back to their lives only to divide more until another reunion again shows that their “un-unionized” circle has increased. But for right now, they ignorantly but wisely enjoy it.

We all go through several circles in our lives, some stay and some leave. The hope is that those most dear and delightful will not end, although that is not always the case, sadly. It is part of our human “beings” to be together and then not. This harsh realization can make us cynical or skeptical of pouring effort and love into a temporal relationship knowing it will not usually last. Unwise at best.

Christ told His three-year disciples to “Go”. Incumbent in that command is a divided circle. The apostles did not stay together, could not. The Kingdom did not allow it. Jesus told them to leave each other, break their circle and go to the ends of the earth and age, and make new ones. Most likely they never saw each other till heaven. But it was in those circles that God shined. We have a responsibility to run around in both saved and unsaved circles for the Kingdom’s sake. Yes, both will hurt and help, and God determines the circle. Be bold. “Go” enjoy and establish circles for God’s kingdom! So,

Who’s in your circle?

Will

A Note Remembered

2007-07-10T16:23:00.001-05:00

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much”, were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that him. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded, "yes." Then he said, "Mark talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his
pocket "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."

Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."

"I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary"

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists"

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

Pleasing and HO!

2007-07-05T12:40:00.000-05:00

“Ho! And Please…”

Isaiah 55:1, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters…”

Yesterday was dry, to rain. The Sovereign Lord chose to stay the “storm warnings with a possibility of hail at 4pm” and give waters at 6pm of a different kind for Medina. That was grand but there was more refreshment for my soul than the weather. It was a picture of “Ho!” and “Please”.

As we walked through the hot and humid parade line, bottles of water from The Fountain were yelled for, clapped for, “Thank you”ed for, even some demanded for. It was a great time to say to a community, “We want to refresh you in name of Jesus Christ” (which is on the label of our bottles). 3000 times the community was reminded of Christ and His “Come to the waters”. That was immeasurable in itself, but the imagery and parable was profound.

But at one small moment as I walked (really ran to keep up with the water trailer driven by a beautiful speedster with blue mischievous eyes) toward the crowd that was sitting, seeing, and sweating, I locked eyes with a small 3 year old girl with her tiny palm stretched out softly saying, “Please, please can I have some waad’r”. I bent and knelt down to her level, which was only a few inches for me, and put a cold bottle of water into her hands. She smiled sweetly, as only small children can, and said a parent prodded, “Thank you”. Her eyes twinkled as she offered unprompted shyness for her quick unguarded request for refreshment.

Immediately I was stirred to enjoy of the joy of giving water to a hot, thirsty little person who had a simple but bold need. She had impulsively asked without even thinking for the abundant offer of simple refreshment. Simple needs, simple solutions. But I quickly thought, “Providentially God had provided the weather, time, and day to produce the want for waters.”

People come to Christ when they have a need. I cannot produce the need but I can provide the offer. God does the rest. We are the “water-offerers”, that’s all. We are the “Ho!”. God orchestrates the thirst and the waters. So the obvious question is, are we “Ho”ing? Are we placing ourselves in the position and preparation to “Ho!”?

Interestingly, some said “No” to the offer, as they were not hot or needy. Others said “No” because they already had one but had not opened it yet.

Little and big hearts wait with a “Please…”, maybe even unknown to them. So go ”HO!”

Dry and Happy

Will

Raining and Smelling

2007-07-03T13:53:00.000-05:00

Ever heard the statements, “Don’t rain on my Parade” and “Smell the roses”?

Well one of them is exactly what is forecasted for Medina tomorrow. We are to “enjoy” rain the entire day and maybe even some thunderstorms. Of course God could change the weather for us, if that is His desire, which I hope it is. Medina County will have the annual July 4th parade in which The Fountain, our church, chooses to give 3,000 bottles of water to hot and humid people screaming for relief from the burning heat. This is the 3rd time we have placed our hope on a hot summer day for the parade by a through preparation, including 40 minutes of putting our church labels on all of those bottles.

As I look outside I see a sunny, bright, and good-looking day. “Lord, can we have a 24 hour reprieve? Just 24 hours! Look at our diligence and effort in putting in all the needed preparation. Please!” Have you ever felt like the rain is coming and there is nothing to do about it? Try smelling the roses.

God looks at things from a different perspective in most things. For the first two outings of water giving, His will was to give beautiful days – streets lined with over 5000 people (we gave 3000 bottles and didn’t even come close to all that wanted them). The intense preparation made sense in the refreshing success. It is this idea, “Do your part and the end will be assured”. But there is faulty theology in that, even if it is a normal, constant assumption.

We tend to view the end as the goal. But the path or formulation is also in God’s goal. For another example, I have thought that preaching a marvelous sermon is the result of strong and insightful study. Not necessarily so. Some of the most impacting sermons have been after a week of relentless demands which denied study. And in the opposite way, I have spent most of the week in study and then preached a “dead dog”. Some of you know exactly what I mean. You have spent hours only to watch it get wet in the proverbial rain.

So how does smelling the roses connect with this? Well in God’s world, smelling and raining are needed. The “rain on the parade” may be exactly what God needs to grow the roses and the fragrance for you to enjoy. Both smelling the roses and raining on the parade have their part. We need them. They reveal God to us. Remember Job taught this when he said, “He gives and He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Are you smelling during the raining? Hope so. It makes the parades in life fragrant, wet or dry.

Wet or Dry, hopefully the latter,

Will

Our Scrambled World - Os Guinness

2007-07-03T12:32:00.000-05:00

"The modern world has scrambled things so badly that today we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship."

God and Idols

2007-06-30T07:36:00.000-05:00

“Whatever is esteemed or loved; whatever is feared or served; whatever is delighted in or spoken of, or depended upon more than God, whatever it is, that becomes your god.”
Matthew Henry

Gray in Righteous

2007-06-26T12:48:00.001-05:00

Gray Hair

Proverb 20:29

I have a picture of Maria and me on the desk I work. It is one of those daily reminders of how blessed I am. In fact, I would sign on the dotted line that she has not changed since we married – beautiful as ever. But the grayer my hair, the more I realize life’s color changes as the years move on. The youth brilliant flashes of blond soften to older warm glows of amber or gray and then to no color… (that is coming, amen).

Besides the physical element, I think that the weight of memories is a partial reason. The continuing addition of life’s “memory color” tends to deepen the beauty of the heart hue. I am deeper in pigment because a friend passing away and it must be this way. It seems like the deeper hue of my heart, the lighter the hue of my head. I am not saying that I live a life of “light-headedness” although some would disagree.

I have always looked forward to the graying of my hair because with it comes some form of wisdom, hopefully. John states that the elder have “known Him from the beginning” which is a huge blessing itself. Of course Moses writes that the young are to “rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man”. One reason is probably that he can’t rise himself. Nonetheless, there are blessings that come with the gray hair and ones that are not, usually, appreciated by our youth honoring culture.

The wise man states in Proverbs 16, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness”. A “crown of glory”, now that is a joy to enjoy. But the center touch is “if it is found”. Ahh, now that is the view. A life of living in righteousness is a true glory before God and man. So gray head - bring it on. But bring it righteous.

Maybe we can think of it this way in the opposite direction. When Christ died and arose, all heaven’s glory exploded across the world in bright and brilliant fire as it changed forever the heart and eternity of luster. All of life is deeper now in color and will always be for the “Painter of the Sky” has brushed His eternal canvas. One of the wonders of heaven is that the God-created colors will not fade, diminish, or discolor. The beauty of Christ will not allow gray but will remain brilliant forever, to our eternal delight. So two things for us, enjoy the wisdom and glory of gray but know that it is for a season. For the seasoned soul is colorful forever.

A righteous gray is an earthly and eternal display of color.

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Vanishing Vapors and Sweet Aromas

2007-06-25T19:37:00.000-05:00

Vanishing Vapors and Sweet Aromas

James 4:14, Ephesians 5:2

I just received news that a dear high school buddy of mine died a few days ago. Whenever this happens it is cause for me to push back from the demanding desk and just let the mind sift through all the memories of another life, both personal and time. They marshal, demanding a washing away of the previous thoughts and concerns and make the waters a bit more murky and cold. Part of this habitual reaction knows my vanishing vapor will never be the same.

Providentially a couple of friends of mine had gathered a few weeks ago with the express purpose of keeping the “years ago” friendships alive. We wanted to invite our friend and we had called on several people that knew our friend but we could not get a bead on him - where he was, what he was doing, and how. We must have asked at least 20 people and no one knew the answers to our groping questions. Well we shelved the invitation away. But in another city, our friend was breathing his last even while we were seeking him, wondering about him. Now we know and smile at his heavenly good fortune.

He was a strong man whom I admired. We loved to laugh and play sports together. Our small group of buddies did much together and he was always part. He had such strong determination. If he decided to accomplish something, anything, no one or thing would stop him. At times it could hurt him but isn’t it true we all have faults and plead for grace from others to cover our weaknesses or sins. As we aged we drew apart going different ways and finally had no contact together although I thought of him at times. It was again the persistent reminder of the difference in past and present.

He died of lung cancer. Very few people, even in his family, knew and fewer still were there when he met Jesus. I hurt for him as I just wanted to tell him that I loved him still. I wanted to gently sit and remind his and my heart of God’s precious plan to acquaint us and give us the privilege to know and love each other. Even though the years would separate us, those foggy memories would glisten together in quiet moments of reflections. I miss him.

Life is a gift of vapor. God is the Giver. We hold it for an undisclosed time. Live wise so your vanishing vapor will perfume the closets and rooms of other’s memories. They will bless you and God for it.

Earthly vapors are made to disappear but not forgotten. When someone pushes back their chair for us sometime, what will they smell… hopefully a vapor – a “sweet smelling Aroma”?

Will

Tissues of Future Promises

2007-06-21T08:12:00.001-05:00

A Kleenex box sits on my desk unnoticed. It is full with little soft tissues. I bought it a while ago for a specific purpose that I have learned is coming. I see it as assured future heart pain. It states by its presence that sometime in the future a tear down the cheek will demand its help.

I don’t know right now for what it will be pulled and placed on the face in a moment of painful memory, pressured present, or even the future decision or result that will need to be dealt with. People do not notice them until they look for them. The eyes are red and wet over some heart tearing and instinctively they look for help.

In some sense the box is presumptuous and forbearing as its use possesses an assumed pull. There may be several tissues used or just one but the fact that they will be used at all provides a thought for preparation. Who will use it? What will be their need? When will be the crash of emotions? Will I be ready or even willing?

Often times the tissue users are embarrassed and wish that they were not crying but they cannot help it. Here they are in a chair in front of, sometimes, a complete stranger and they are showing their private heart rending and soul wrenching pain. They seem to think that no one else has ever pulled an eye-wiper from the box or that the buyer has not grabbed one and placed it under his wet eye or cheek.

There are several things in our lives that are prepared by God for future needs. He knows what will be necessary for the specific anguished trial or even a shameful repented sin. But God brings those hurts up to the surface with a box of care and compassion waiting. When God unleashes a difficult situation to our lives He has already placed, out of love, a soft comfort of promise tissues. We may not see them before the need arises but God has made sure that they are there when the time comes.

They remind us of our God Who is with us both now and in the loving future that He has planned for us. We will never be alone in the pain. He shows us this by the soft but firm promises given to us before our heart breaks. So be thankful for those boxes of proven and promised love awaiting your need. It shows a God of love and sovereign care.

A box-full of promises used in cleansing pain is better than a box-full of empty hardness in a dirty soul.

Finding God

2007-06-21T07:16:00.001-05:00

The discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all.
Richard Foster

Quest for life

2007-06-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

“Everyone is on one sort of journey or another; failure to recognize this is to fail to be human and to suffer great deprivation. Walker Percy, the late novelist and metaphysician, once said in conversation, ‘I have learned that the most important difference between people is between those for whom life is a quest and those for whom it is not.’

The vision of a quest confers meaning on our lives. It enables us to see all that happens as moving us closer to or further from our goal, and to make distinctions between what helps and hinders us in our journey.”

Diogenes Allen,

The Word Grows a Church

2007-06-08T09:21:00.001-05:00

“In every task of the church, the ministry of the Word of God is central.
It is the Word that calls us to worship, addresses us in worship, teaches us how to worship and enables us to praise God and to encourage one another.
By the Word we are given life and nurtured to maturity in Christ: the Word is the sword of the Spirit to correct us and the bread of the Spirit to feed us. In the mission of the church, it is the Word of God that calls the nations to the Lord: in the teaching of the Word we make disciples of the nations. The growth of the church is the growth of the Word.”

Edmund Clowney

Duty Bound

2007-05-31T15:12:00.000-05:00

Robert E. Lee has been an example to me for several particular reasons. This is one of them. I just recently finished an A&E documentary on his profound life and it reminded me of an old biography I read years ago that also retold his life of duty. In both stories I learned the same view, Lee’s overriding virtue was his unalterable sense of steel-like duty. His life began in a well-positioned and well-known family in the 1800s. His father was a brash and impulsive officer for George Washington named “Light Horse Harry”. Harry had somewhat shameful financial problems and lost all his entire fortune ending in debtor’s prison. He was often away from home and so young Lee grew up being taught by his able mother, Ann Carter Lee, who was virtuous and wise, both of which Robert E. secured.

As Lee matured his entire and full life was a clear display of a humble man who embodied a deep and abiding commitment to his known responsibility and the fierce accomplishing of it. For example, he is the only student who as a student at West Point did not receive one demerit his entire collegiate career, which I am told, is almost impossible to achieve. He was a man totally devoted to the right moral way regardless of the bleak outcome or imminent hardship that was to assuredly follow. He was a man of honor, a man of duty.

In Christ’s life a strong man of the Roman military, a filthy pagan according to the Jewish view, came to ask for the health of his servant. Now this journey of duty is amazing in its truth. Military men are not accustomed to worry or be concerned about the life or health of any menial slave or worthless servant. His lifelong job was to kill and end life. And yet in Matthew 8:9 we find him asking for his servant’s life. And in so doing he makes an unusual statement. He tells Jesus that he was not worthy to have Christ come to his house so if he would just say the word then his servant would be healed. He publicly gives as his clear reason, “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." Now this display is beyond regular virtue as Christ says that He has not found this type or amount of faith in all of Israel. Quite a statement. But pick apart the truth the Centurion showed as he makes his request of Jesus? It reveals a man of duty. Even though most Centurions did not care for servants, it was this ones belief that he was responsible to care for those under his authority. Just as he was a man under authority and can do as he wishes, he was bound by his duty. Because of this the soldier was willing to ask a lowly Jew for help. His brilliant honor was in the duty-bound responsibility.

He had a duty and he would accept no option but to accomplish it. It probably seemed foolish to his soldiers but he relinquished all supposed honor of position and earnestly pleaded with Christ for one who was his servant. Duty is like that. Position does not matter to duty, nor does acclaim. Duty is the determination to accomplish a God-given task. It realizes that God is sovereign and has placed an act of responsibility in its path. Humility then mothers a dutiful response. Therefore, duty knows it can be done, knows why it must be done, and knows when it is to be done. Duty is the virtue of great moral achievers. She accompanies both the great and small, the present and past. She is remembered well and reminds often.

Christ’s duty to God and man was to accomplish salvation. Thank God He fulfilled it.

Duty is the continuous drumbeat from humility’s march into battle. Are we in step?

Fences Against Wisdom

2007-05-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

1. Cultural values like success, individualism, self-sufficiency.
2. Desire for prosperity
3. Self-interest
4. Desire for security
5. Self-doubt.

Darryl Tippens

Dan Whisnant Coming Home

2007-05-29T07:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a good friend of mine. He is the one leading the men into the gym. He was in charage. Praise the Lord for their safe return. Click on it.

http://video.woodtv.com/?video_id=6790

Suffering in unbelief

2007-05-24T07:23:00.001-05:00

“I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe”
Flannery O'Connor

True Happiness from the wise, insightful blind

2007-05-17T10:32:00.000-05:00

"True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." Helen Keller

Serious Happiness

2007-05-15T15:38:00.001-05:00

“There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.”
CS Lewis

It is all how you look at it.

2007-05-10T13:04:00.001-05:00

Carlyle wrote “Heaped embers which in the daylight looked black may still look red in the utter darkness.”

Erwin wrote "Pain can reveal value just as prosperity can hide it."

Faith is to the invisible world what sight is to the visible

2007-05-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

Faith "is to the invisible world what sight is to the visible; it is the means of realizing it, so that its powers and motives enter into the life of men, and enable them after patient endurance and fulfillment of God’s will to inherit the promises.

What, then, is the unseen world which is realized by Christian faith? It is a world in which Christ holds the central place, and in which, in the virtue of that death in which He made purgation of sins, He appears perpetually in the presence of God on our behalf. It is a world in which everything is dominated by the figure of the great High Priest, at the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens, clothed in our nature, compassionate to our infirmities, able to save to the uttermost, sending timely succor to those who are in peril, pleading our cause.

It is this which faith sees, this to which it clings as the divine reality behind and beyond all that passes, all that tries, daunts, or discourages the soul..."

James Denny

Bridges on Grace Serving

2007-05-08T09:44:00.001-05:00

“Only when we are thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve God out of a grateful and loving heart.”

FANTASTIC!

2007-05-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
CS Lewis

All of Christ

2007-05-03T09:57:00.001-05:00

“Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you – it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you – it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument – it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ, as to Christ….We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.”
Charles Spurgeon

Prayer Quotations

2007-04-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

Charles Spurgeon, “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom. ‘Ask and you shall receive.’”

Eugene Peterson, “Prayer reenters history with incalculable effects. Our earth is shaken daily by it.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”

Forgiveness by CS Lewis

2007-04-18T11:45:00.001-05:00

Real forgiveness means looking steadily at the sin, the sin that is left over without any excuse, after all allowances have been made, and seeing it in all its horror, dirt, meanness, and malice, and nonetheless being wholly reconciled to the man who has done it.

Complaining - Too True

2007-03-28T14:35:00.001-05:00

"It is my belief we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain."

Lilly Tomlin

Something to Remember

2007-03-27T18:57:00.000-05:00

A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him.

He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof--and the horn--screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered

her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

The Sin to Grace

2007-03-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

In 1Co.10:12, Paul says, “Let anyone who thinks he stands be careful that he not fall.” This is a foreboding warning. It is one over which all of us have shriveled in fear. This is right and good and one that has kept many from the pride of life and or a pride of grace. The individual who falls is the one who is proud of grace and his enjoyment of it.

But I would want to speak to the other side. I would write it, “Let anyone who has fallen take heed or be careful that he look to grace.” All too often when we fall we look to the cause or consequence rather than the God of grace. God grants humility to the humble and it is given to the one who does not hide from his weakness or obvious pride. There is a wallowing in the shame or condition that even this can be from pride. “How could this happen to me?” “I am so ashamed that people would see it.” Now there is a good humility of repentance but it is not from the fleshly disbelief of the fall, as much as it is in the acknowledgement of God’s grace even in the pit of pride’s sorrow. Pride is not just the thinking of how great we are or even how low we are. It is simply the thinking of ourselves. Humility is just not thinking of ourselves.

When we fall we must not be shocked at our fall. That is human sin. We must be shocked that God would know the fall we will take, give permission to the evil one to give the temptation that will lead to the fall and then when we fall touch us with grace. It is in the fall that we know more of grace. It is the dirt on the knees and hands that reminds us that we are dirt, awaiting the transformation into delight. When we fall, look to Jesus and enjoy the grace. Don’t look at the sin and the dirt as much as looking at the Washer of the soul with the water of the washing of the Word.

Intense and Quiet Prayer

2007-03-13T17:37:00.000-05:00

Every true prayer has its background and its foreground. The foreground of prayer is the intense, immediate desire for a certain blessing which seems to be absolutely necessary for the soul to have; the background of prayer is the quiet, earnest desire that the will of God, whatever it may be, should be done.
Phillips Brooks

Victory in Christ Demands Vigilance

2007-03-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

The victory of Christ does not remove the necessity for vigilance and soberness. While on the one hand Satan and his whole power have been subjected to the power of Christ, and the church is comforted with the knowledge that God will shortly crush Satan under its feet (Rom. 16:20), on the other hand his power and influence continue in the temptation of men, also believers (1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 2:11; 11:14; 1 Thess. 3:5).
Herman Ridderbos

A Test of Maturity

2007-03-04T18:57:00.000-05:00

"You can tell a person's level of maturity by the way they handle criticism and reproof."
Chuck Swindoll

Tongue Tamed by...

2007-03-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

Richard Baxter had good words for a controlled tongue.

The most necessary direction for a fruitful tongue is to get a well-furnished mind, and a holy heart, and to walk with God in holiness yourselves: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak. That which you are fullest of, is readiest to come forth.

Evaluation of the ESV

2007-03-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this evaluation of the ESV:

While no translation of the Bible is flawless, the ESV is the preferred choice at LHEF. Why? I don't see how I could improve on Dr. Poythress' explanation...

The English Standard Version: Explanation by Dr. Vern S. Poythress

The English Standard Version is an essentially literal translation. It
strives to preserve the actual wording of the original whenever this
accurately conveys the meaning, but also strives to preserve the literary
excellence and readability associated with the historic English Bible
tradition represented by the KJV and RSV.

1. Accuracy

Every verse has been checked for accuracy to the original languages by
evangelical scholars with special expertise in each book.

Inerrantist evangelicals make up the translation team.

The ESV is a conservative revision of the RSV that fixes the theological
problems associated with the latter.

Theological vocabulary and complexity of thought follow the original, rather
than being artificially limited in order to make it easy for beginning
readers.

Where more than one reasonable interpretive option exists, the ESV has tried
to preserve the options by an English rendering that allows for them all;
or, where this is not possible, has put the more probable option in the text
and included the other option(s) in a footnote.

ESV endeavors to represent the autographic text as accurately as can be
determined by textual criticism. It usually follows the MT in the OT and the
standard Greek text of UBS in the NT, but there are a few exceptions in
difficult cases.

Footnotes are added in cases where textual variations create significant
uncertainty and affect meaning.

Key thematic words that reoccur throughout a book or a number of books have,
where feasible, been translated consistently, so that concordant relations
and thematic relations between passages are more evident in English. NT
quotations from the OT have been checked to make sure that the
correspondence is as clear in English as in the original.

2. Literary excellence
The ESV preserves cadences and poetic diction of poetic portions, such as
characterized the KJV and the RSV.

It preserves where feasible the familiarity of the historic English Bible
tradition from Tyndale, Geneva, KJV, RV, ASV, and RSV.

3. Contemporary English
Obsolete English has been replaced (for example, no "thee" or "thou" is
left).

English words that have changed meaning over time have been inspected to see
whether they need replacement.

Male meanings in the original have been preserved in translation, but the
expression "any man" has been replaced by "anyone" when the latter is the
meaning of the original. The ESV is not "gender-neutral," but conforms to
the Colorado Springs Guidelines on the issue of gender in English.
********

A. For further reading on the ESV...

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2004/1534_Good_English_With_Minimal_Translation_Why_Bethlehem_Uses_the_ESV/

B. Reading ESV Bible online...

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/

C. English word search of ESV Bible online (open studylight page; switch to
ESV Bible in the drop-down menu; type English term in the search bar;
search)...

http://www.studylight.org/

Slander and Gossip

2007-03-02T07:49:00.000-05:00

Interesting to me that often we look at sin in a level. We see some sin as being worse than others. Gossip and slander are often overlooked.

Whispers (psithuristes; a secret calumniator). The word means “secret slander” or “to speak in one's ear.” In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, “The serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better (10:11)”. God Almighty has stamped gossip with the nature of a snakebite. Chrysostom said, “slander is worse than cannibalism."
Jeremy Taylor, in one of his sermons said, "Slander rends in pieces the very heart and vital parts of charity: it makes an evil man part and witness, and judge, and executioner of the innocent.”

A Clear Worldview

2007-02-24T15:59:00.000-05:00

I have learned that without absolute law life is futile and rediculous. Only absolute law can make things in life relevant and reverant. When man throws away God, there is nothing that will support their lives with any constancy. God is the only One that will support absolute law. When God is not in the picture absolute law breaks and relative law takes over. When this happens, no one can tell anyone else what is right or wrong. That is what we have today in our nation. Sad. Francis Schaeffer has some wise words on this:

And if we hold this world view [a world view based upon the idea that the final reality is impersonal matter or energy shaped into its present form by impersonal chance] we live in a universe that is ultimately silent, with no meaning and purpose, with no basis for law and morality, with no concept of what it means to be human and of the value of human life. All is relative and arbitrary. And so modern man is left with nothing to fill the void but hedonism or materialism or whatever other "ism" may be blowing in the wind."

The Great Change

2007-02-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

William Wilberforce spoke of his salvation as “the Great Change.” “The specific results of Wilberforce’s Great Change began with the source to which he now looked for his principles: the Scriptures. He contended that ‘we should really make this book the criterion of our opinions and actions’”
(Kevin Belmonte, William Wilberforce).

Shortly after his “Great Change” Wilberforce held meetings with John Newton and William Pitt. Following that Wilberforce writes a letter to his sister
Sarah: “What my heart most impels me now to say to you is “Search the Scriptures,” and with all that earnestness and constancy which that book claims, in which “are the words of eternal life.” Never read it without praying to God that he will open your eyes to understand it; for the power of comprehending it comes from him, and him only…”

William Wilberforce

2007-02-20T19:30:00.000-05:00

Christians should "boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many who bear the name of Christian are ashamed of Him. Let them be active, useful, and generous toward others. Let them show moderation and self-denial themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness. When blessed with wealth, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity and be modest, retiring from ostentation, and not be the slaves of fashion."

Souls Talents

2007-02-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

Here is a friends view of Mt.25:14-30 rewritten with "soul winning" as the view.

Soul Winning (Vessels to the lost souls on behalf of Jesus Christ)

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his kingdom to them. To one he gave five lost souls to witness on behalf of His name, to another two lost souls, and to another one lost soul. Then he went on his journey. The man who had been given the chance to witness to the five lost souls went out at once and became a vessel for God as he shared the Gospel to them. They became saved and those five souls went out and witness to five more souls bringing them to the Kingdom of God. So also, the one with the two souls witnessed to two more. But the man who had received the one lost soul to witness kept the Word to himself and the message was tucked and hidden in his heart so others would not receive it.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five lost souls brought back ten souls who were lost but now were saved. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five lost souls. See, I have gained five more.' “His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few lost souls; I will put you in charge of many more lost souls to witness and bring to the Kingdom. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"The man with the two lost souls also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two lost souls; see, I have gained two more.' “His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few lost souls; I will put you in charge of many more lost souls to witness and bring them to the Kingdom. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"Then the man who had received the one lost soul came. “'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went home and hid your Word in my heart and did not share it with the one lost soul you entrusted me with. “His master replied, 'You self-centered, selfish servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have witnessed and shared my Word to the one lost soul I gave you, at least then there would have been one more soul in the Kingdom of Heaven.

'Take the lost soul from him and give it to the one who has obeyed and witness to those I have brought their way. For everyone who becomes vessels for my Kingdom will be given more souls to witness. Whoever does not witness my name and tucks my Word ONLY in their heart, not sharing the wisdom God give them, will be known as a worthless servant, and thrown into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Grace and Discipline and Carnality

2007-02-14T16:46:00.000-05:00

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."
D.A. Carson, from For the Love of God.

Stay in the Word

2007-02-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

Martin Luther
"See to it that you fasten your attention on God's Word and stay in it, like an infant in a cradle. If you let go for one moment, you have fallen away from the truth. The one intention of the devil is to get people away from the Word and to induce them to measure God's will and works with their reason."

2007-02-09T22:51:00.000-05:00

CS Lewis on Uncomfortable Christianity or Happy Port

2007-02-09T18:55:00.000-05:00

"While it lasts, the religion of worshipping oneself is the best. I have an elderly acquaintance of about eighty, who has lived a life of unbroken selfishness and self-admiration from the earliest years, and is, I regret to say, one of the happiest men I know. From the moral point of view it is very difficult! I am not approaching the question from that angle.

As you perhaps know, I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew that a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."

John Chrysostom on Fasting

2007-02-08T09:10:00.001-05:00

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous.
Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible…Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible…Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

Good Mrnonig - Raed Tihs

2007-02-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid tooCna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

The Splendor of Christ

2007-02-02T15:17:00.000-05:00

Thomas Watson:
He is infinitely and superlatively lovely! All that we could ever say about Jesus falls infinitely short of his worth. He is pure, unspotted beauty. There is an infinite resplendency, a sparkling luster to His beauty!

The Sovereign God Delights in Himself - and so we.

2007-02-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

The greatest joy of mankind is the knowledge and experience to enjoy God. God is the greatest delight and so God delights in Himself. This is right and good; it must be so. But more wonder than that is the truth and excellence is that He allows and desires us to feast on Him. There is no greater joy than this and it will be the sustenance of heaven.

The sovereign God wants to be loved for Himself and honored for Himself, but that is only part of what He wants. The other part is that He wants us to know that when we have Him we have everything--we have all the rest.
A. W. Tozer

Jonathan Edwards on the Excellency of Christ

2007-01-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

The inquiry of the soul is after that which is most excellent.

The excellency of Christ is such, that the discovery of it is exceedingly contenting and satisfying to the soul.

The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the natural cravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill the capacity. It is an infinite excellency, such a one as the mind desires, in which it can find no bounds; and the more the mind is used to it, the more excellent it appears.

Every new discovery of Jesus makes His beauty appear more ravishing, and the mind sees no end- here is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper, and never come to the bottom.

The soul is exceedingly ravished when it first looks on His beauty, and it is never weary of it!

John Hus on Truth

2007-01-27T03:54:00.000-05:00

"Seek the Truth;
Listen to the Truth;
Teach the Truth;
Love the Truth;
Abide in the Truth;
and Defend the Truth unto death." (he did)

for more info on Hus:
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-hus.html

The Deceitfulness of Sin

2007-01-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

- Robert Rayburn

We wouldn't have the problem with sin that we do if it were not for its power to beguile and dazzle us with its promise of pleasure and reward and satisfaction. But its promises are always deceitful. It never tells us what the true results must be of giving in to it; of the bitter fruit of its pleasures either in this world or the world to come.
If temptation came to you and asked: would you like a few moment’s pleasure or satisfaction in exchange for months or years of misery, we would not be impressed. But it shows us all the charm and hides the stinger away and we never see it until it is too late.

Saddest Regret

2007-01-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

Malcolm Muggeridge
The saddest thing to me, in looking back on my life, has been to recall, not so much the wickedness I have been involved in, the cruel and selfish and egotistic things I have done, the hurt I have inflicted on those I loved - although all that's painful enough.

What hurts most is the preference I have so often shown for what is inferior, tenth-rate, when the first-rate was there for the having. Like a man who goes shopping, and comes back with cardboard shoes when he might have had leather, with dried fruit when he might have had fresh, with processed cheese when he might have had cheddar, with paper flowers when the primroses were out. …

Alas, so much of my life has been spent pursuing this fictional good, and forgetful of the other, the real good, that is ever inspiring, ever renewed…

Freedom to Love and Service

2007-01-22T10:12:00.000-05:00

Robert Sibbs
A Christian is the greatest freeman in the world; he is free from the wrath of God, free from hell and damnation, from the curse of the law; but then, though he be free in these respects, yet, in regard of love, he is the greatest servant. Love abases him to do all the good he can...

Our Treasures Determine Our Thoughts

2007-01-20T14:38:00.000-05:00

John Owens... It sounds a lot like Jonathan Edwards
Our principal interest and concern, as we profess, lies in things spiritual, heavenly, and eternal. Is it not, then, a foolish thing to suppose that our thoughts about these things should not hold some proportion with those [thoughts] about other things, nay, that they should not exceed there?
No man is so vain, in earthly things, as to pretend that his principal concern lieth in that whereof he thinks very seldom in comparison of other things.
It is not so with men in reference unto their families, their trades, their occasions of life. It is a truth not only consecrated by the testimony of him who is Truth, but evident also in the light of reason, that "where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also;" and the affections of our hearts do act themselves by the thoughts of our minds, Wherefore, if our principal treasure be, as we profess, in things spiritual and heavenly, (and woe unto us if it be not so!) on them will our affections, and consequently our desires and thoughts, be principally fixed.

Godly Idleness

2007-01-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

George MacDonald
Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness—the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.

Men Are Just Happier

2007-01-18T11:44:00.000-05:00

What Do You Expect (Authored by a wonderful woman)

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President.
You can never be pregnant.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000.
Tux rental $100.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You can play with toys all your life.
One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
No wonder men are happier.

Amen, I think.

Humor In The Bulletin

2007-01-18T10:26:00.000-05:00

Enjoy
1. Ushers will eat latecomers.
2. Today the pastor will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing, “Break Forth into Joy!”
3. Miss Charlene Mason sang, “I Will Not Pass This Way Again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
4. Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It is a good chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
5. Next Sunday is the family hay ride and bonfire at the Fowlers. Bring your own hot dogs and guns. Friends are welcome. Everyone come for a fun time.
6. Easter Sunday, we will have a 9:30 worship service. The 11:00 will be hell as usual.
7. Tonight’s sermon – “What is hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.
8. Thursday night – Potluck supper – prayer & medication to follow.
9. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
10. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Baxter on the Beauty of Christ

2007-01-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

In thy want of love to God, lift up thy eye of faith to heaven, behold his beauty, contemplate his excellencies, and see whether his amiableness and perfect goodness will not ravish thy heart. As exercise gives appetite, strength, and vigor to the body, so these heavenly exercises will quickly cause the increase of grace and spiritual life ...thine eyes will affect thy heart, and the continual viewing of that perfect beauty will keep thee in continual transports of love. Christians, doth it not now stir up your love, to remember all the experiences of his love? Doth not kindness melt you, and the sunshine of Divine goodness warm your frozen hearts?

Elizabeth Elliot on Identity

2007-01-13T22:14:00.000-05:00

The search for recognition hinders faith. We cannot believe so long as we are concerned with the "image" we present to others. When we think in terms of "roles" for ourselves and others, instead of simply doing the task given us to do, we are thinking as the world thinks, not as God thinks. The thought of Jesus was always and only for the Father. He did what He saw the Father do. He spoke what He heard the Father say. His will was submitted to the Father's will.

John Owen on the Glorious Christ

2007-01-09T17:51:00.000-05:00

He, and he alone, declares, represents, and makes known, unto angels and men, the essential glory of the invisible God, his attributes and his will; without which, a perpetual comparative darkness would have been the whole creation, especially that part of it here below.
This is the foundation of our religion, the Rock whereon the church is built, the ground of all our hopes of salvation, of life and immortality:

all is resolved into this, — namely, the representation that is made of the nature and will of God in the person and office of Christ. If this fail us, we are lost for ever; if this Rock stand firm, the church is safe here, and shall be triumphant hereafter.

Herein, then, is the Lord Christ exceedingly glorious.

Compassion Comes In All Forms

2007-01-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

Winners Make Things Happen!Please share this with your email buddies....

Here is a tough, but heartwarming story and a picture of John Gebhardtin Iraq. John's wife, Mindy, related that this little girl's entire family wasexecuted. The insurgents intended to execute her also and shot her inthe head but they failed to kill her. She was cared for by John's hospitaland is healing up, but has been crying and moaning. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last fournights holding her while they both sleep in that chair. The girl is comingalong with her healing.*

He is a real Star of the war and is representative of what America istrying to do.This, my friends, is worth sharing with the WORLD! This is something that you'll never see in the news. Please keep thisgoing. Nothing will happen if you don't. The American public needs to seepictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over thereis making a difference. Even if it is one little girl at a time.James Gates U.S. Navy

Thanks and Providence

2007-01-06T13:28:00.000-05:00

The "most thankful" see the "most providence".

Holiness by Abraham Kuyper

2007-01-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

Abraham Kuyper:
To become more holy is undoubtedly the duty which rests upon every man. God has condemned all unholiness as an accursed thing. Inferior holiness can not exist before Him. Every man more or less holy is bound to forsake all unholiness, to resign all lesser holiness, and let perfect holiness dwell and be manifest in him instantly. The commandment, "Be ye holy as I am holy," may not be weakened. The laxity of the current morale requires that God's absolute right to demand absolute holiness of every man be incessantly presented to the conscience, bound as a memorial upon the heart, and proclaimed to all with no uncertain sound.

Pleading and Grace - Solid Calvinism

2007-01-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

“We win hearts for Jesus by love, by sympathy with their sorrows, by anxiety lest they should perish, by pleading with God for them with all our hearts that they would not be left to die unsaved, by pleading with them for God, that, for their own sake, they would seek mercy and find grace.” Spurgeon

We need to always remember that “Grace” is the key, and pleading is the turning of it.

President Ford on his Christian Faith

2007-01-03T08:21:00.000-05:00

[exerpts from Gerald R. Ford's May 28, 1977, commencement address to his son and 180 other Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary graduates]

...Today I speak not as an office-holder but as a father and private citizen. From this perspective it's easy enough to see how fleeting things of the world are which we consider important. A man can hold high office, command great powers, and be hailed as the leader of the world, but when his time in office is over he must be prepared mentally, emotionally, spiritually, to relinquish the power, the prestige, and the public acclaim that came with the office. He must retain the quiet confidence that he has been the same man all along and that whatever he contributed as president he can still contribute in other ways.

This is not an easy transition to make, but with the help of one's family and one's friends and with the conviction that God works his own purposes in each of our own lives, it is easier to see that leaving the White House is not the end of the world but simply the beginning of a new chapter in one's life. With the help of Mike [president Ford's son who is in the graduating class being addressed] among others, I have been fortunate enough to make that transition—to see things just that way...

For almost thirty years I committed my life to public service, to advancing peace among nations, and to social and economic progress among our own people. President Kennedy once reported a survey which revealed that every mother wanted her son to grow up to become president but none of them wanted him to get into politics to do it. It's a hard life. So many are the political compromises one is obliged to make that moral compromise becomes a constant danger, but I found during my time in the White House that in many important ways my Christian faith was strengthened rather than weakened...

In the few hours before the presidency was suddenly thrust upon me, one of my aides asked what verse I wanted the Bible opened to when I took the oath of office. I turned to the Bible which Mike had given me when I became vice-president, and opened it to the Book of Proverbs. Ever since I was a little boy I have used a very special verse from Proverbs as a kind of personal prayer. On that August morning nearly three years ago that verse took on a new significance in my life. It says: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." That was the verse I placed my hand on when I took the oath of office as president. It was the same verse I would turn to more than two years later on a Wednesday morning in November, the day after the election.

If the experience of the presidency itself led me to a greater reliance upon God, a greater appreciation of my religion, so did some of the critical events of those two and a half years in the White House. I remember particularly well when in September of 1974, just a few weeks after I had taken office, Betty had her bout with cancer. It was during that time that we came to a much deeper understanding of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At a time when human weakness and human frailty was such a real part of our lives, we were able to see clearly for the first time what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote that Christ's strength is made perfect in our weakness. Having been through that experience, we found that we were better able to give comfort and hope to others in their time of pain...

The White House—those years—also taught us a dramatic lesson in the mortality of man. Twice I escaped an assassin's bullet, and twice I came to understand in vivid terms another message of Paul, that we should trust not in ourselves but in God, who delivered us from death and preserves us still.

Finally, the presidency taught me how limited is the wisdom of man. The great issues of our time are so complex they sometimes seem to defy solution. I made my share of mistakes in trying to deal with these controversial and complex problems, but the achievements of the administration—from limiting the weapons of nuclear war to restoring harmony and confidence in our own country—all had their roots in a policy so simply and yet so wisely proclaimed two thousand years ago: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."...

Those of you who graduate today have made a commitment to keep that kind of spiritual strength alive and growing as America enters its third century.

There are millions of troubled people in this world who need your help; people who are hungry in body and in spirit, who live in pain and fear without hope; people whose lives can be immeasurably enriched by your ministry. This work is not easy, but the reward is so great! "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." As you go from this place to seek your inheritance, may God go with you and bless you all. Thank you.

God's Gift of God

2006-12-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Henry Scougal:
"God hath long contended with a stubborn world, and thrown down many a blessing upon them; and when all his other gifts could not prevail, he at last made a gift of Himself."