It's Sunday!

One December, Joe and Bill built an ice skating rink in the middle of a field for all their neighbors to enjoy throughout the winter months. A shepherd leading his flock decided to take a shortcut across the big rink instead of going around. The sheep, however, were afraid of the ice and wouldn’t go across it. The shepherd began tugging at them in an attempt to perhaps drag them across the ice one by one. “Well, would you look at that,” said Joe to Bill. “That guy’s trying to pull the wool over our ice!”

Many phrases inspire quick responsive behavior on the part of others. “Fire! * Run! * Help! * Dinner! * Free Television! * Incoming! * Snake!” Right alongside these declarations “After Thanksgiving Sale” must reside. Each year, prior to Thanksgiving the advertisements come pouring out. Shopping men and women dutifully take note, writing down all the particulars or saving the printed ads. Many literally write down a schedule of where they need to be minute by minute and what they specifically need to obtain in each location of every store. They know the prices, shapes, sizes, and colors of their objectives. Their priorities are established. It is not unusual to see long lines of people waiting early in the morning hours before stores open whether it is cold, dark, or rainy. Not only do these folks come early, they stay late! Busy throughout the day, they are driven like no other time in their life. Take deep breathes and always be kind to everyone.

[Psalm 122:1] “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” How energized do you feel when you hear the phrase “It’s Sunday!”? Let us consider another moment – Sunday morning. Sunday morning is a time when the Church gathers as was the example in the early Church (Acts 20:7). At that time, they sang hymns to God (Colossians 3:16) and partook of communion as Jesus had commanded them to remember Him (I Corinthians 11:23-26). The Christians encouraged one another at these assemblies (Hebrews 10:25) and they also gave cheerfully a collection to further the Word of God and aid needy saints (I Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7). In the midst of this gathering, Christians also received the Word of God which was able to save their souls (2 Timothy 4:2). Sunday morning truly offers great treasure! Praising God, glorifying God in obedience, remembering the Savior of mankind, aiding others and enjoying their fellowship, and partaking of spiritual nourishment to make one complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “It’s Sunday!” or “After Thanksgiving Sale!” - Which of these phrases brings more organization, excitement, and involvement to the Christian? Do they plan ahead their interaction on Sunday? Do they have their Bibles in hand? Is their frame of mind prepared to glorify God, or be a spectator? Do they engage in the singing with voices bright and reverence, with cheer on their faces? When the congregation is viewed, does it appear everyone is at nap time, a funeral, bored out of their mind, disinterested? Does the Christian come early to be with his spiritual brothers and sisters? Does he stay late or find opportunity throughout the day to engage in the work of God rain or shine? Where is your heart? Are you excited day by day as the coming of Jesus grows nearer (I Peter 1:13)? Is this what drives your behavior above all other aspects of your life? There are many phrases which may ignite your behavior such as “After Thanksgiving Sale, and 75% off”, but may “It’s Sunday, let us pray, and study with me” be among the phrases that ignite your heart, soul, strength, and mind above all things. Jesus is our greatest gift.

Repeating History

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of all the saber-rattling between the sexes and the various closet skeletons being thrown about. I’m totally confused as to the purpose of such actions because the implications are so numerous. Is it for fame, fortune, defamation of character, revenge or just plain retribution? Lord knows we all have a skeleton or two in our closet, and personally, I gave the key to my Lord many years ago never wanting anyone to get in and never more wanting to hide anything again. It’s things we all have to live with personally and pray they remain safeguarded in our closet. When someone breaks in and drags a skeleton out I have to think a righteous life is not being lived and the Lord is giving chance to confession and repentance. Not all accusations are true, just outrageous malicious character attacks, and through prayer the Lord will eventually bring the perpetrator to face the truth and humble them. It is so sad that we have to witness these sandbox squabbles when there is so much more at stake in this country. God is being uprooted and America is dying at the hands of the disseminator

 George Santayana (December 16. 1863 in Madrid, Spain – September 26, 1952 in Rome, Italy) was a philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist. In his book “The Life of Reason” (1905-1906) Vol. I, “Reason in Common Sense” he writes: “Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment.” * “That life is worth living is the most necessary of assumptions and, were it not assumed, the most impossible of conclusions.” * “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.” * “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Vol. II, “Reason in Society” he writes: “The highest form of vanity is love of fame.” * “When men and women agree, it is only in their conclusions; their reasons are always different.” (Wikiquote.com) Sad to say, we are repeating history.

[2 Kings 21:12-15] Just insert a few modern day “Promised Land” locales and we could be looking at the wrath of God in this country. “Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of America, says: ‘I am going to bring such disaster on Washington, D.C. and the United States that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Washington, D.C. the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Washington, D.C. as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of England until this day.’” It’s really not that far fetched when we look at the historical facts of the fall of Rome and other like kind empires we are emulating, thinking our way of life is better, and this time we’re going to get it right in spite of God’s truth. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisee’s, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence ...First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26). Have you privately confessed your sins before God cleaning the inside of your closet?

Still In The Spirit

Last Sunday morning, November 5, 2017 I attended worship as I have done for many, many years. Our congregation is by no means a large one, as some measure large, but we are dedicated to the Word of God and daily strive to live the righteous life taught within the pages of the Bible. The morning had been uneventful and after I finished teaching my Sunday school class I rehearsed the songs I was to lead the congregation in during the worship hour. The morning lesson was “Kinds of Sin” – our disobedience toward God, selfish desires, lawlessness and such. But we have a Savior, God’s Son, who gave his life to redeem us from our sins, which have separated us from God. The wages of sin is death, a debt we ourselves are not willing to pay, but Jesus took our place, paid our debt for our sins through His death, as the sin offering to God for our transgressions. Through Christ we can be reconciled into God’s favor to receive grace and mercy and forgiveness for our sins – to be a child of God. The song following the lesson was, “Out of My Bondage” (W.T. Sleeper 1887) a song portraying the willingness of one to leave the world of sin and to seek Jesus for a better life, now and forever. Our closing song was titled “Redeemed” by Fanny J. Crosby (1882). I picked this song to celebrate, that in spite of myself falling short of God’s expectations on a daily basis and the evils of the world that draw me away from His love and mercy and forgiveness, I know through confession, repentance and belief in what Jesus has done for me, I am saved and on my way to be with God forever. “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am. Refrain: Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever I am. 2) Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus, No language my rapture can tell; I know that the light of His presence, With me doth continually dwell. 3) I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long: I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song. 4) I  know I shall see in His beauty, The King in whose law I delight; Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, And giveth me songs in the night. 5) I know there’s a crown that is waiting, In  yonder bright mansion for me; And soon, with the spirits made perfect, At home with the Lord I shall be.” Little did we know, as we were singing that song, twelve miles away evil of the highest level was ending the earthly lives of 26 God-fearing people, hurtling them into eternity without any warning. From the unborn to the age of 77; boys, girls, men, women, teens, and babies all departed this world in a matter of minutes. It is still hard to fathom the depth of pain family and friends are experiencing. Even I have been touched by the loss of friends in this tragedy and this coming week will be solemn with funerals and going home celebrations. Pray for them.

[James 1:2-5; 1 Peter 1:3-9} “No Jesus – No Joy; Know Jesus – Know Joy” The “Fruit of the Spirit” is: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control (Galatians 5: 23-26). The communities of Sutherland Springs and surrounding area, despite this senseless act, have all remained in the Spirit. The evil one hasn’t even been able to steal their joy. Christians will continue to love and trust God no matter what happens in this life because they know God loves them. Whether we depart this world of natural causes or in conflict with evil, God will be there waiting for us. “...You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:13-17).

God's Word Changes Life

In one of the offices at work we have a ductless air conditioning system just for that room. It was sort of a novelty for me when we installed it two years ago as I had never used such a system before. Unlike a window or through-the-wall A/C unit, ductless requires only one two inch hole through the wall for refrigerant tubing and electrical wires. Everything else is wall mounted inside and out, a really neat system, and it works great too. Well, like most things today, this unit operates with a remote control only and it quit working the other day. The display on the remote just kept dimly flashing random numbers and commands and nothing was happening with the A/C unit. I deduced the remote has gone bad or, most likely, the batteries were weak. I tested the batteries and sure enough they needed replacing. I installed two new batteries right out of the package aaaannd – it was doing the same thing! OH NO! Now it looks like a bad remote control! Hoping maybe some coffee or soda had found its way into the pushbuttons and circuit board, I took it apart to clean it but found no evidence of an accidental drowning. Before placing too much blame on the remote I again deduced that even with new batteries the remote was doing the same thing. So, I tested the batteries again and found one of the new batts was DOA right out of the package! One more new battery and all was good.

[2 Corinthians 4:16-18] The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?” The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!” “So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.” That is the work of God in our lives; to change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His Son (2 Corinthians 3:18). Take time to read a portion of God’s Word each day. “All scripture is God-breathed...” (2 Timothy 3:16) and life changing.