I received a phone call one day last week from a fellow identifying himself as the prize van driver for Publishers Clearing House and that I had won second place in a drawing. My prize consisted of $350 million and a new Mercedes Benz convertible. The first thing that ran through my mind was, “Wow! I wonder what first place won.” A millisecond later my logical side pulled in on the reins of my foolish excitement to explain the ridiculousness of what I had just heard. The scammer told me to get a piece of paper to write down a name and number of his boss to confirm who I was before the prize could be delivered. I knew better but found myself actually looking for something to write on. This guy must have caught me at a weak moment because I had already hung up on him three times and I generally never spend more than four seconds on the phone with sales cons. Well, he called back two more times wanting to know why I hadn’t called to confirm my identity. I humored him with some excuses. He told me he was waiting right down the street and that the sun was beating down on the van and it was getting very hot so I should hurry for his sake. The sun was not shining neither was it hot out, so I laughed and hung up on him again. “If I had a hammer, I’d…”
“If” is a big word and the world would be a totally different place if “if” would be actively and appropriately applied. *If you plant honesty, you will reap trust. *If you plant goodness, you will reap friends. *If you plant humility, you will reap greatness. *If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment. *If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective. *If you plant hard work, you will reap success. *If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. So, be careful what you plant early in life for it will determine what you reap later. Always be careful of what you plant. Remember, what goes around comes around. Do what is right and you’ll never be wrong.
[Genesis 4:6-7] “If” can be rewarding and at the same time very restrictive. “If” can look good on the surface and wrong in practice. “If only we had better equipment” was the request, and in the early 70’s the firefighters of Fairfax County, Virginia received new helmets. They were sharp looking, colorful, size adjustable, made of high-impact plastic and scuff resistant. There was only one problem with the helmets; when they were worn near the heat of a fire, they melted. This, of course, made the helmets useless to the firefighters. They needed helmets that could take the heat. In the same way, we need a faith that can take the heat; a faith that endures the fires of temptation and protects us in the midst of the blazes of sin. If Christ were to stand before you right now and said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16), what would you do? If the Lord will save us without baptism, why did Peter command it? (Acts 10: 23-48) If sprinkling and pouring are scriptural baptism, why did Paul say there is only one baptism? (Romans 6:1-6; Colossians 2:11-12) If we can receive forgiveness of sins without baptism, why did Peter say baptism is for the forgiveness of sins? (Acts 2:38) If we get into Christ without baptism, why did Paul say we are baptized into Christ? (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3) If we get into the body of Christ without baptism, why did Paul say we are baptized into the body? (1 Corinthians 12:13) The body and the church are the same. (Colossians 1:18) “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15) Do you truly love and obey Jesus?
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Slowly Eaten Away
A published article reported that a young man who once found a $5 bill on the street resolved that from then on he would keep his eyes on the ground while walking. The article went on to say that over the years this man had accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents, a bent back and a miserly disposition. But he had lost some things also, including the glory of the sunlight warming his face, the radiance of the stars twinkling in his eyes, the smiles of want-to-be friends and the fresh air of clear blue skies. It amazes me the priorities people assign their focus, as to what is note-worthy national and world news, needing to be shared each day of the week. It seems what goes on across the back-yard fence of the typical neighborhood is of nobodies business, that is unless they are a public servant of some kind, or a high profile sports figure, or the CEO of a large company. Then everybody wants to get on the bandwagon to crucify whomever they think is in the wrong. Society of today is becoming like that of a major league baseball pitcher who plugs his ears with cotton to cut out all the distractions that might be coming from unruly fans in the bleachers. Don’t get me wrong here. It thrills me that people take a stand against thoughtless law-breakers who profit from their lawlessness, or who think they are better than the law and untouchable. But these problems of behavior started in the home many years before their ultimate decent from fame. What I’m saying is, our focus on life has to extend beyond our personal interests looking up and taking the cotton out of our ears, at least once in a while, to give attention to fathering and mothering our self-centered children with some basic moral and ethical ideals of honesty and fair gain. Folks, there are things going on in the world that deserve a lot more of our attention. There are things happening in the world today that should make you very afraid about the future of our very existence as a nation free of terror and pestilence. It all starts at home.
[2 Timothy 3:1-9; 3:10-17] A lady from the city was visiting members of her family who owned a farm. As she talked with the farmer, she noticed a pig in the back yard with a wooden leg. “What happened to that pig?” the woman asked. “Oh, that’s Betsy” the farmer said. “She’s a fine pig! One night while we were all asleep the house caught fire. Betsy started snorting and grunting waking us all up. We were able to call the fire department and save the house!” “Wow! That’s amazing!” exclaimed the woman. “Not only that” continued the farmer, “but one day my daughter fell into the pond and Betsy came gruntin’ and snortin’ and led me to the pond where I was able to pull her out. Betsy saved my daughter’s life!” The lady was impressed, also curious, “But that still doesn’t explain the wooden leg.” “Well” the farmer replied, “When you have a pig like that, you don’t eat it all at once.” The moral and ethical decay of our society today is eating away at the very fabric of this country’s Christian garb. The first public school book of knowledge was the Bible. Today it’s illegal to shelve the Bible in our school libraries yet every other worldly religious organization has a reserved space in the card catalog. The do-gooders of this country have successfully performed a God-fearing lobotomy on our most recent generations and we are now being led around by a crippled government. God is still in the hearts of most Americans, but if we keep allowing the mutilation of His Word, before long there will be nothing left. Doom!
[2 Timothy 3:1-9; 3:10-17] A lady from the city was visiting members of her family who owned a farm. As she talked with the farmer, she noticed a pig in the back yard with a wooden leg. “What happened to that pig?” the woman asked. “Oh, that’s Betsy” the farmer said. “She’s a fine pig! One night while we were all asleep the house caught fire. Betsy started snorting and grunting waking us all up. We were able to call the fire department and save the house!” “Wow! That’s amazing!” exclaimed the woman. “Not only that” continued the farmer, “but one day my daughter fell into the pond and Betsy came gruntin’ and snortin’ and led me to the pond where I was able to pull her out. Betsy saved my daughter’s life!” The lady was impressed, also curious, “But that still doesn’t explain the wooden leg.” “Well” the farmer replied, “When you have a pig like that, you don’t eat it all at once.” The moral and ethical decay of our society today is eating away at the very fabric of this country’s Christian garb. The first public school book of knowledge was the Bible. Today it’s illegal to shelve the Bible in our school libraries yet every other worldly religious organization has a reserved space in the card catalog. The do-gooders of this country have successfully performed a God-fearing lobotomy on our most recent generations and we are now being led around by a crippled government. God is still in the hearts of most Americans, but if we keep allowing the mutilation of His Word, before long there will be nothing left. Doom!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
You Can Change Your Way Of Life
I have had one of those weeks. I really devoted my time to working around the house this past week and the heat flat wore me out. Of course we’ve experienced a nice cool change in the weather since so I guess I won’t have any excuses to not continue my domestic exploits this coming week. I have to tell you as I sit to write this week I’m so tired I can’t even think straight. Just when I thought I was about to take a good rest near weeks end, I had a brother-in-law pass away from a long time illness and the family asked me to preach the funeral for them. That added two late nights and a full Saturday to my already weary body. Don’t get me wrong as I was honored to do it, let alone asked to do it. Here’s an article I hope you will gain insight from.
[Matthew 19:25-26; Mark 10:24-27; Luke18:18-30] “Way of Life” by Jeremiah Tatum: “There is an expression sometimes used by people to explain behavior. It goes something like this – “That is just the way I am” or “That’s just the way he/she is.” People do have “ways.” Singer/song writer Billy Joel wrote the lyrics, “She’s got a way about her, don’t know what it is, but I know I can’t live without her.” Everybody is unique, and every person has a certain way they go about living their life. But one thing each individual should keep in mind is that we are not locked into a specific lifestyle. The liar doesn’t have to lie just because he has always been a liar. The same could be said for any other sin. The fact is, we choose our way of living. We make a decision about who we are and what we believe every day. Since such is the case, then we can also change the way we practice our Christianity. We don’t have to be Sunday morning only Christians, even if that is all we have ever been. We don’t have to keep from being more involved in the work of the church, just because we have never been involved in the past. We don’t have to lack zeal for evangelism, just because in our former days we have lacked the nerve necessary to save a soul. What we need to do is really very simple. We need to pray earnestly that God will change our hearts and make us aware of our spiritual short-comings. Then we need to follow up by changing our behavior and making a habit of doing things we have always wanted to do for Christ. We can change our way of life! We can do things differently than we have done them in the past! Peter wrote about the importance of no longer living the rest of our time in the flesh for the sake of sin, but instead, living for the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-6). The point is that God has the power to not only save us from death; He has the power to change our life for today. This is a very exciting proposition! We don’t have to wait for Jesus to come again to be blessed. We can be blessed immediately by simply making the choice to live for God today. We need to stop making excuses for our lack of involvement in the kingdom. We must stop saying to ourselves that who we are and what we practice is good enough. We must stop telling ourselves that the way we live our Christian life is as good as we can do, because that is just the way we are. Faithfulness is a way of life. Commitment is a way of life. Evangelism is a way of life. Humility and Kindness are a way of life. We can do anything we want to do. We can be anything we want to be. Nothing is impossible with God.” When I decided to change my way of living twenty-something years ago I gave my life to the Lord and I haven’t regretted it a minute. I’m not who I used to be; still not the person I need to be.
[Matthew 19:25-26; Mark 10:24-27; Luke18:18-30] “Way of Life” by Jeremiah Tatum: “There is an expression sometimes used by people to explain behavior. It goes something like this – “That is just the way I am” or “That’s just the way he/she is.” People do have “ways.” Singer/song writer Billy Joel wrote the lyrics, “She’s got a way about her, don’t know what it is, but I know I can’t live without her.” Everybody is unique, and every person has a certain way they go about living their life. But one thing each individual should keep in mind is that we are not locked into a specific lifestyle. The liar doesn’t have to lie just because he has always been a liar. The same could be said for any other sin. The fact is, we choose our way of living. We make a decision about who we are and what we believe every day. Since such is the case, then we can also change the way we practice our Christianity. We don’t have to be Sunday morning only Christians, even if that is all we have ever been. We don’t have to keep from being more involved in the work of the church, just because we have never been involved in the past. We don’t have to lack zeal for evangelism, just because in our former days we have lacked the nerve necessary to save a soul. What we need to do is really very simple. We need to pray earnestly that God will change our hearts and make us aware of our spiritual short-comings. Then we need to follow up by changing our behavior and making a habit of doing things we have always wanted to do for Christ. We can change our way of life! We can do things differently than we have done them in the past! Peter wrote about the importance of no longer living the rest of our time in the flesh for the sake of sin, but instead, living for the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-6). The point is that God has the power to not only save us from death; He has the power to change our life for today. This is a very exciting proposition! We don’t have to wait for Jesus to come again to be blessed. We can be blessed immediately by simply making the choice to live for God today. We need to stop making excuses for our lack of involvement in the kingdom. We must stop saying to ourselves that who we are and what we practice is good enough. We must stop telling ourselves that the way we live our Christian life is as good as we can do, because that is just the way we are. Faithfulness is a way of life. Commitment is a way of life. Evangelism is a way of life. Humility and Kindness are a way of life. We can do anything we want to do. We can be anything we want to be. Nothing is impossible with God.” When I decided to change my way of living twenty-something years ago I gave my life to the Lord and I haven’t regretted it a minute. I’m not who I used to be; still not the person I need to be.
Sunday, September 07, 2014
Without Mistake or Error
I promised myself I’d get to work on some of the things that desperately need tending to around the house before winter breaks and I have another excuse. My latest surgery went smooth and I’m still cancer free so I figure I ought to put my good health to work. I’ve started by building some extra space in my storage shed making room for more junk and re-organizing what’s already there. Where does it all come from? It took me several days to plan and get back in the groove of measuring, cutting and fastening, it’s been a while since my last project. Remembering that patience and accuracy are what finished products are made of, this project, so far, has turned out level and square, functional as planned and it looks good too. I just love it when a plan comes together.
It’s amazing how our Creator was so meticulous with all the things around us. Here are some of the things that God’s accuracy and wisdom produced. *The eggs of a potato bug hatch in 7 days; *those of the canary in 14 days; *those of a barnyard hen in 21 days; *the eggs of ducks and geese in 28 days; *those of a mallard in 35 days; *and, parrot and ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days. (Notice they are all divisible by seven.) The largest of land mammals (at least in our time) is the elephant. God gave these great beasts four legs that all bend forward. No other quadruped is so made, but with four fulcrums it can rise easy from the ground in spite of its great weight. The horse rises from the ground with its two front legs first. And the cow rises using its two hind legs first. Further evidence of God’s wisdom and accuracy can be seen in a number of other things found in nature. *Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind; *each orange has an even number of segments; *each ear of corn has an even number of rows; *each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains; *each bunch of bananas has an even number on its largest row. Each row decreases by one making one row an even count, the next row odd, and so on; *The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute, no matter the weather conditions; *All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks. The Lord has specified thirty fold, sixty fold and one hundred fold (all even numbers). God has caused flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the blooms that were open and those that were closed.
[Romans 6:16-23; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4] As a human being, the zenith of God’s creation, the longer I live and the more I learn, the more mistakes I realize I make, and have made. With God’s Word in hand, however, there are no errors. God’s Word does not make mistakes. The Bible is God’s Word and it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Because the Bible is without error, it fulfills all of mans needs. The Bible teaches us that if we wish to be saved, we must obey its truth. The Bible is inspired and authoritative, and should be accepted by all men. The entire Bible provides instruction, doctrine, reproof and correction. Everything that we need to know concerning life and godliness are contained within its pages. We are all going to be judged by the Word of God. “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. …I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me…” (John 12:48-49).
It’s amazing how our Creator was so meticulous with all the things around us. Here are some of the things that God’s accuracy and wisdom produced. *The eggs of a potato bug hatch in 7 days; *those of the canary in 14 days; *those of a barnyard hen in 21 days; *the eggs of ducks and geese in 28 days; *those of a mallard in 35 days; *and, parrot and ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days. (Notice they are all divisible by seven.) The largest of land mammals (at least in our time) is the elephant. God gave these great beasts four legs that all bend forward. No other quadruped is so made, but with four fulcrums it can rise easy from the ground in spite of its great weight. The horse rises from the ground with its two front legs first. And the cow rises using its two hind legs first. Further evidence of God’s wisdom and accuracy can be seen in a number of other things found in nature. *Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind; *each orange has an even number of segments; *each ear of corn has an even number of rows; *each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains; *each bunch of bananas has an even number on its largest row. Each row decreases by one making one row an even count, the next row odd, and so on; *The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute, no matter the weather conditions; *All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks. The Lord has specified thirty fold, sixty fold and one hundred fold (all even numbers). God has caused flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the blooms that were open and those that were closed.
[Romans 6:16-23; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4] As a human being, the zenith of God’s creation, the longer I live and the more I learn, the more mistakes I realize I make, and have made. With God’s Word in hand, however, there are no errors. God’s Word does not make mistakes. The Bible is God’s Word and it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Because the Bible is without error, it fulfills all of mans needs. The Bible teaches us that if we wish to be saved, we must obey its truth. The Bible is inspired and authoritative, and should be accepted by all men. The entire Bible provides instruction, doctrine, reproof and correction. Everything that we need to know concerning life and godliness are contained within its pages. We are all going to be judged by the Word of God. “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. …I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me…” (John 12:48-49).
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