Years ago, some prospectors were panning for gold when one of them found an unusual stone. Breaking it open, he saw that it contained gold. Working eagerly, the men soon discovered an abundance of the precious metal. With an unrestrained delight they shouted, "We've found it! We've found gold! We're rich!"
Before going into town for supplies, they agreed not to tell a soul about their find. While in town, not one of them breathed a word about their discovery.
When they were about to return to camp, though, a group of men had gathered and were ready to follow them. "You've found gold," the group said.
"Who told you?" asked the prospectors.
"No one," they replied. "Your faces showed it!"
It's much like that when a person discovers Christ. The joy of sins forgiven and a new relationship with Him show on that person's face and in His transformed life.
Those miners, of course, wanted to keep quiet about their find, but we as Christians should be eager to let people know about ours. Finding Christ is life's greatest discovery, and our joy increases when we share it with others. As believers, our highest delight is both in finding and telling.
When Samuel became too old to be an effective judge, the leaders of Israel asked for a new kind of ruler; "Appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have" (1 Samuel 8:5). This request was actually an indication of the sad decline of God's people. By requesting a king, "as all the other nations," they were rejecting God's plan and choosing to follow the ways of the world.
God was disappointed with the heart of His children; but He granted their request and told Samuel to anoint Saul as Israel's first king. Saul was "an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others" (1 Samuel 9:2). Saul's external appearance was a perfect match for the superficial values of the nation.
When Samuel spoke with Saul, he was quite surprised to hear he had been chosen by God: "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" (1 Samuel 9:21). Saul's insecurities were so great that when it came time to officially anoint him as king, he was nowhere to be found.
1 Samuel 10:22 "So they inquired further of the Lord, 'Has the man come here yet?' And the Lord said, 'Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.'"
Although Saul made many mistakes as king, we must not forget he was specifically chosen by God and empowered to do His will. But Saul lived with a great sense of inadequacy and was never able to effectively lead. He continually stepped out of God's will because his focus remained on his own limitations rather than on the limitless ability of the One who called him to serve.
Each of us who enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are also chosen to do His will - empowered by His Spirit to accomplish everything He desires for our life; "His divine power has given us everything we need" (2 Peter 1:3). Unfortunately, most of us enter this relationship carrying bags from our past which weigh us down and hinder our ability to serve.
What baggage are we still carrying or using to hide from God's call? There may be sins and failures in our distant (or even very recent) past which make us feel unworthy to serve. We may still carry the pain and mistrust of a broken relationship. We may have even made a sincere attempt to serve but taken a few wrong steps and fallen flat. But NOTHING must keep us from doing His will. Nothing must keep us from following where we know He is leading. Let's trust Him with all our heart and answer the call today. Let's keep our eyes on Christ and stop hiding among the baggage.
"Meanwhile, Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there." Ruth 4:4
The town gate was the place in town where many legal transactions took place. Boaz wanted approval from the elders to marry Ruth, but he first had to clear any prior claims to her estate.
Instead of running around, making things happen, Boaz went to the gate, sat and waited until the people he needed to speak with came by the gate. Boaz was secure in his purpose and knew he was in God's will so he trusted plans to unfold. Are you rushing around trying to make things happen or are you waiting on God to lead the way? Relax, regroup, and let God lead the way.
Lord, let me learn to wait.
Show me your plan for my life and give me the patience and the trust to let it unfold in Your way. Stop me from running around, trying to make things happen and let me rest in your peace.
The 2019 World Series started on October 22nd, pitting the Houston Astros against the Washington Nationals. While there are many storylines worth following with the series, the play of Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon is among the most interesting.
Rendon is coming off the best season of his career and is one of the leading candidates for MVP. Despite his play, though, his team had one of the toughest paths to get to this point.
They began the playoffs with a one-game, winner-take-all match against the Brewers in which they were three runs behind heading into the final two innings. Rendon scored what became the deciding run. From there, they went on to beat the heavily favored Dodgers before sweeping the Cardinals to earn their ticket to play for a championship.
Through it all, Rendon has been one of the Nationals’ best players. But, in hearing him discuss his career, you get the clear sense that what’s most important to him is that he plays in a way that glorifies the Lord.
As he told the Washington Post, “You want to plan for the future. But I’ve come to learn your plans don’t always come to fruition. Obviously, with my faith, too, I don’t want to seem like it’s all about me, me, me. It takes away from what I do for Him, for the Lord.”
Because of those priorities, Rendon stresses that “I want to be known as a Christian baseball player and I’m still trying to grow into that. But in the end, I want to be more Christian than baseball player.”
Imagine what the church would look like if we all embraced that perspective. What if we all understood our identity to revolve less around what we do than Who has called us to do it?
What difference could it make in our schools if Christian teachers saw each of their students as a divinely appointed mission field? What would it look like in your place of business if your coworkers understood that you showed up each day, not because attendance was mandatory or to earn a paycheck, but because you genuinely believed it was God’s will for you to do so?
What if each of us learned to see our home as the most important place to live this out? Think of the difference it would make if we saw ourselves as Christian parents and Christian spouses, Christian brothers and Christian sisters, never separating the identity established by the first from the responsibilities borne by the second.
And, lest we think that sounds too idealized or utopian, Scripture clearly teaches that those who made the biggest impact for the kingdom of God were those who, more often than not, embraced this perspective.
Joshua, for example, was God’s general.
David was God’s king.
Elijah was God’s prophet.
Paul was God’s Apostle.
And while none of them did the job perfectly, at their best each had an outsized influence on the development of God’s kingdom because they kept their focus on Who called them more than what they were called to do. The same can and should be true of us as well.
Nothing is common when it’s done for Christ. While it would be easy to sit back and think of all the great things we might accomplish for the kingdom if we had a platform as large as that of Anthony Rendon, never underestimate what God can do through you in whatever capacity he has called you to serve.
As A. W. Tozer once wrote, “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”
Life is crushing in all around you. You are crying out with the Psalmist David; “How long, Oh Lord. How long must I wait for an answer, for rescue, for release?” And then, while reading in 2 Corinthians, the words, “light and momentary troubles” (4:17) leap off the page.
You want to scream; “Yeah, Right! How dare someone consider what I am going through as light and momentary? How dare someone treat what I am going through so lightly” The trouble doesn’t feel light and in the present context isn’t momentary.
This isn’t what any of us wants to hear in the midst of trouble and hardship, but what we want to hear and what we need to hear is not always the same thing. The individual writing these words to the church at Corinth is someone who identifies with suffering and difficulties. He does not write these words glibly or easily. These words are given with empathy and understanding. These words flow out of experience. They are written with a heart that knows brokenness.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit these words are written with purpose. They are tucked in the middle of words of encouragement calling God’s people to hold on and have an eternal perspective. This perspective does not do away with the difficulty or the pain. Rather it gives hope and renewal in the midst of it.
When things are seen in the eternal perspective we recognize that everything is being used by God to accomplish His purpose in and through our lives; “For we know that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us a glory that outweighs them all.” We must resist the temptation to get caught up and stalled in the questioning period; the “why Lord” and “is God allowing or causing?” and move into the wondrous reality that for those us in Christ, God is indeed using all things to accomplish His good (Romans 8:28).
Nothing in the believer’s life is senseless or meaningless. Our confidence lies in the reality that when God does not seem to be at work; when He seems silent and removed, He is indeed at work and present with us.
Yes, we don’t want to hear it, but we need to hear it. When placed in the context of eternity and the eternal purposes of God our troubles are - no matter how great or painful or overwhelming they are - light and momentary. And we rejoice in the midst of them for we have the confidence that God is using it all to achieve His glorious good.
Take heart beloved. Your light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
Imagine that I dump 10,000 plastic eggs in your back yard. I assure you that inside one of those hollow eggs is a check for $1 Million dollars with your name on it. Would you get discouraged if you opened the first 100 eggs without finding the check? How about the first 1000 eggs? Of course not! You'd just keep opening those eggs, just waiting for the moment when you'd find the check.
Paul knew the meaning of the word "suffering." He had been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, starved, and rejected. And yet Paul said that his sufferings were nothing compared to the glory that would come. In other words, Paul had opened a lot of empty eggs, but he never gave up or got discouraged. He believed that something great was in his future - God's glory revealed in him.
Perhaps it feels to you as if your life has been nothing but empty eggs. You've already opened 99000 of them and you're not sure you've got the will to go on. Let me encourage you today. Don't give up. I don't want to trivialize the challenges you are facing, but I do want to help you put them into perspective. They are only temporary, and God has something much greater in store for you. Compared to the glory that will be revealed in us one day, our suffering doesn't merit discouragement.
Hang on. Don't give up. Keep going. One day God will replace your discouragement with incomparable glory!
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us." Romans 8:18
In Ephesians 6:11, the apostle Paul instructs the Saints of God to do the following: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (NKJV). Interestingly enough, the New International Version says, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
As New Testament believers, we know that satan (our enemy) desires to destroy our lives and keep us from the great purposes our Savior has for us (I Peter 5:8). In doing so, the enemy is extremely cunning and strategic in how he attempts to wreck our lives!
Today, I would like to share with you some of the "spiritual assassins" I seen the enemy use over the course of my Christian life. things he uses in order to plot against God's Saints.
7 Major Spiritual Assassins
1. Pride - 1 Peter 5:5 says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." For God to resist the proud, He is not only displeased with them, but is also actively working against them. Pride is the root to all sin, and we must humbly submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus and ask Him to eradicate any residue of pride in our lives.
2. Offense - This is a root of spiritual cancer that will keep us from the blessings God has for us. Paul admonished the church of Philippi to ".approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:10). We must choose everyday to walk in forgiveness of those who have wronged us and continue to bless those who curse us.
3. Greed/Lust - This is a by-product of pride. When greed influences a man or woman of God, it causes them to have wrong motives about why they desire the blessing of God in their lives. The Bible instructs us to walk free of greed and lust so that we keep our thoughts and actions pure before the Lord.
4. Lack of Discipline - Many in the body lose focus on why they do what they do. The enemy would desire to push you away from God's purposes for your life! Don't get caught up in just doing for God; enjoy being with God. Remember that your identity is rooted in God's love for you, not your accomplishments! Develop a passion for being a lover of God. Keep your eyes on the prize (being Jesus), who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and rescued mankind from death (Hebrews 12:2). Stay focused on what's important!
5. Division - Once he has driven you away from those God placed you with, the devil always seeks to separate you from the strength of your unity into a place of weakness. Stay planted with those whom God has called you to serve with!
6. Fear - The spirit of fear will cause the gift of God to lay dormant in our lives. That's why Paul commands Timothy to stir up the gift of God within him. Immediately after Paul gives this instruction, he reminds Timothy, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:6-7). Timothy was a young pastor, and he was allowing himself to be intimidated by those who were older than he. The gift of God was lying dormant in his life! As believers, we must serve the Lord and fear Him only! You will serve whom you fear.
7. False Doctrine - The apostle Paul prophesies in 1 Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." Truth is very important to the Lord. In Ephesians, we see the armor of God, and the "belt of truth" is listed as part of this armor. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, hangs on the belt of truth. The great apostle was illustrating that truth holds things together, just like a belt holds your clothes in place! Continue to hold the truth of God's word above all that you do!
I Peter 5:8, commands "Be sober and vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." The apostle Peter goes on to say, "Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (I Peter 5:9-11).
Today is a good day, because God has given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!
My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to "dad".
That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.
Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do.
Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids' cars and was feeling pretty proud of his "Blue Lightning", the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own.
Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.
A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom".
As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.
Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow, he set to talk with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on is face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready."
As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy's car.
Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank You" as the crowd roared in approval. The Pinewood Derby Leader came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?"
To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn't cry when I lost."
Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a father's help!". No, he went to his Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get through the struggle. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13
Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad", but His Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.
"Do not store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:19, 21)
Before the sun was up too high and it would be hotter than blue blazes, my granddaughter and I ventured down to the beach.
Right away we noticed a beautiful sandcastle! It had survived the night somehow. Even though it was intricate and had obviously taken some time to do, the rising morning tide would surely wash it away.
We can build our lives on many things. Possessions, money, business, identity. They will all one day be gone,washed away. We didn't bring anything into this world, and we can't take anything out of it (1 Timothy 6:7) - except our relationship with the Lord. That is forever.
I thought about an action Sabbath school song the kids used to sing based on Luke 6:47-49
The wise man built his house upon the rock....
and the rain came tumbling down.
The rain came down and the floods came up....
and the wise man's house stood firm.
But, the foolish man built his house upon the sand...,
and the rain came tumbling down.
The rain came down and the floods came up,...
and the foolish man's house went SPLAT!!
So, build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ....
and the blessings will come down.
The blessings come down and the prayers go up....
so, build your life on the Lord!
As beautiful as the sandcastles of our lives may be, they are still just that: sandcastles. How awesome we can build our lives on the love and faithfulness of the Lord and the principles of His Word.
Grace doesn’t gloat when others lose, nor grow dejected when another takes the flag. It isn’t glum when others swell with self-importance, nor filled with glee when rivals lose their footing.
Salvation never was a zero-sum game, for there can be millions—no, make that billions—who finish the course and win the prize. The waiting crown comes in as many sizes as those who run the race.
But finding grace will always be a winner-take-all contest. All whom Christ saves win all of Him—eternal love; enduring hope, and joy that triumphs over sorrow.
We look down into open graves and twisting pain, and say to all the worst that evil brings—“Because He lives, I too shall live.” We taunt death’s weakness—"Oh, where’s your sting?”—and fix our eyes upon that day when we will rise to light and joy and everlasting life. “The prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return” (2 Tim 4:8).
Frequently God doesn't make sense. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for what is going on. Circumstances just don't seem to be squaring up with what we know about God. We become frustrated, taste bitterness, begin to doubt, experience confusion and feelings of helplessness and defeat. That should come as no surprise. God has already given us advance notice. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8)
-gale fields
You do not see a rainbow on a cloudless, rainless day. You see the rainbow when there are clouds and rain. So the most beautiful and most valuable experiences of your life will not be in the day of the unclouded sky and the serene sunlight, but in the days of adversity and of sorrow and trial. Then God's greatest and most gracious truths proclaim themselves across the firmament of our life.
The following is a true story (though the details tend to vary slightly according to which source you use.)
Back in 1893, there was a group of four sisters in Iowa. They called themselves the Cherry Sisters and made their stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. It was terrible. But, for three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard! Their unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in self-defense.
Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to perform on Broadway -- not because they were so good, but because they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm.
Oddly enough, these successful Broadway "stars" remained convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad they truly were! They naively believed that the tossed vegetables were either unrestrained tributes to their talent or acts of jealousy by less talented people.
How could they be so blind? I find it all too easy to understand. The truth is, like everyone else, I am blind to many of my shortcomings. I fail to recognize that I have a problem with impatience or lack of compassion or pride. Don't get me wrong -- I have no trouble seeing those faults (and many more as well!) in the lives of people around me. I can readily see how sinful everyone else is. But even when people "toss vegetables" at me, I still insist there's no problem with me.
Jesus had something to say about this to the Pharisees (and of course it's easy for me to sin how sinful THEY were!):
"Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-4)
God, please open my eyes to those things in my life which displease You and keep me from being close to You and others around me. In my times of blindness, help me to see.
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us. (Psalm 67:1)
What a perfect day for a fall hike. We were excited to get outdoors in crisp air and bright sunshine. The path was just wide enough to have been well-traveled when it was a stagecoach trail. I squeezed my fists, trying to capture a little of the wonderful cool dry air.
Barely over the rickety wooden bridge, the path began to change from a little bit rocky and dusty to slightly muddy. Shade and shadows from the skinny-trunked aspen trees cast dark coolness onto the path. By the time we were a bit farther, the path became with squishy mud.
On the return, I glimpsed at the brook to the left, humming happily along. From there on back, the path reverted from muddy to dusty but solid and easy to walk on. The muddy part of the path was not in sunlight: the other was. I thought, "Just a little sunshine makes such a difference."
Sometimes my life begins to resemble a muddy path. It's good for me to remember that a little "Son-light" on it could make all the difference.
Jesus was preparing his disciples for tough times. He was about to ascend to the Father and they would be on their own -- left to find their way through this world alone. And yet, they would not be alone. For He Himself would be with them as the Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit.
In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan battled for an entire year to find a passage around South America. There at the very tip of the continent, in its icy waters, he encountered some of the worst weather anywhere on earth.
Raging seas, towering ice floes, and a mutinous crew plagued his efforts. When he finally made his way through those straits (which today bear his name -- the Straits of Magellan), he entered into a great body of water that lay beyond, and as he and his men lifted their faces to heaven and gave thanks to God, he named the new ocean "The Peaceful One - the Pacific Ocean."
In His words to His disciples, Jesus desired to lead them (and us) in the same way to a place of peace. It is His desire to direct our feet and steer our lives from the paths that would lead into storms to His place of peace. "Let not your hearts be troubled," He says, "neither let them be afraid."
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
Brother of murder victim forgives woman who shot him: Refuting the secularization thesis through courageous compassion
Brandt Jean, Botham Jean's younger brother, hugs former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger after she was sentenced to ten years in jail on Oct. 2, 2019, in Dallas.
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced Wednesday to ten years in prison for killing twenty-six-year-old Botham Jean in his apartment. At the sentencing phase, Jean’s younger brother told her: “I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want for you.” He added: “I love you as a person, and I don’t wish anything bad on you.”
Brandt Jean was right about his older brother’s character and faith. Botham Shem Jean was born in Saint Lucia, an island in the eastern Caribbean. He became a Christian at an early age and began preaching as a teenager. He sang in his church choir in Saint Lucia, in college, and at Dallas West Church of Christ, where he led the congregation in worship the Sunday before he was killed.
CNN reports that after Brandt Jean’s remarkable act of grace, District Judge Tammy Kemp gave Guyger a Bible and also hugged her. “You can have mine. I have three or four more at home,” the judge said. “This is the one I use every day. This is your job for the next month. It says right here. John 3:16. And this is where you start. ‘For God so loved the world . . .'”
Clearly, neither Brandt Jean nor Judge Kemp intended to minimize the horrific pain caused by Guyger’s actions. Rather, we should see their gracious acts as personifications of the gospel’s transformative power.
When we know we have been forgiven, we are more empowered to forgive others. We want to give what we have received, to pay forward the grace that has changed us.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that sees such evangelistic compassion as religious superiority and brands biblical truth as egotistical intolerance.
One reason is the secularization thesis, the claim that Western culture is inevitably becoming less religious. Thinkers such as Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Auguste Comte believed that the forces of modernization would eventually dominate our culture, leading society to view religion as superstitious, outdated, and irrelevant.
Just as Christianity replaced Greek and Roman mythology, so science would replace Christianity. Richard Dawkins speaks for many: “We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
As our culture becomes more and more secular, those who believe and share biblical truth are increasingly viewed as intolerant outliers.
Thompson reports that for much of the twentieth century, more than nine in ten Americans said they believed in God and belonged to organized religion, the great majority calling themselves Christians. Their number held steady until the early 1990s.
However, Thompson notes that the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans (the so-called “nones”) began growing significantly in the 1990s, escalating from 8 percent in 1990 to 23 percent today. He cites Notre Dame sociology and religion professor Christian Smith, who attributes the rise of the nones to the association of the Republican Party with the Christian right, the end of the Cold War, and 9/11.
In Smith’s view, liberal and moderate Democrats were offended by evangelicalism’s alliance with Republicans, the Moral Majority, and similar organizations. The end of the Cold War made it easier to admit one’s atheism without appearing to support the Soviet Union. And 9/11 led some skeptics to claim that all religions are inherently destructive.
Glenn Stanton’s The Myth of the Dying Church takes a very different view.
Stanton cites compelling sociological data from objective research firms to show that church attendance in America is at an all-time high. In contrast to the claim that young people are leaving the faith, he notes that the percentage of young adults regularly attending evangelical and nondenominational churches has roughly doubled between 1972 and today. He explains the rise of the “nones” as people who are not new unbelievers but who were never committed to the faith and now feel free to tell pollsters so.
And Stanton notes that declining churches are almost all in the mainline, more liberal denominations. For instance, mainline Protestant churches declined by five million members between 2007 and 2014, while evangelical churches grew by about two million during the same time. Brandt Jean and Judge Tammy Kemp represented the essence of the gospel by the grace they extended to Amber Guyger this week. They are part of a vast movement of culture-changing Christians in America and around the world, believers who refute the secularization thesis every day by being salt and light through their courageous, compassionate witness.
Now it’s our turn. You and I will meet people today who need to see grace made real through us. God’s word applies to each of us and to each person we meet today: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone” (Galatians 6:10). The King we represent “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45) and calls us to do the same (cf. John 13:35).
If the needs of our broken world seem overwhelming, remember Mother Teresa’s wise encouragement: “If you cannot feed a hundred people, feed one.”
Jonathan Edwards, one of America's greatest theologians and one of the catalysts of the of the First Great Awakening, lived by two resolutions above all others:
Resolution One: I will live for God.
Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.
In The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer issued this invitation:
“Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.
The motive is everything.
Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”
Will you “sanctify the Lord God” in your heart today?
"Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion." (Psalm 134:1-3)
Years ago when I was attending seminary, I worked the night shift on occasion. It paid a little more money than the day shift, but I was a bit lonely. If you've ever had to work the night shift, you will appreciate Psalm 134.
God never slumbers or sleeps. Therefore, we can serve and praise Him any time of day. The psalmist says there were priests who prayed and praised God in His temple at night. There was a constant repetition of praise and prayer from the temple.
We can bless the Lord in the night seasons. It's not easy when we are going through the nighttime experiences of life to lift our hands and bless the Lord. But He does give us songs in the night. Paul and Silas were able to lift their hearts in praise to God while in the Philippian jail (Acts 16).
They were on the night shift. They knew that God was awake, so they blessed Him, and He sent deliverance. We can get some strange blessings in the night seasons, for God speaks to us in different ways. Others may not see your praise at night, but God sees and hears.
Whether you are in the sunshine or in the darkness, whether you are serving on the day shift or the night shift, remember that you are serving the Lord. Because He never slumbers or sleeps, He hears your prayer and praise at all times, and He will bless you.
Moses and the people were in the desert - but what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 2 or 3 million people requires a lot of food.
According to the Quartermaster General of the Army, it is reported that Moses would have to have had 1500 tons of food each day. Do you know that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains, each a mile long, would be required? Besides, you must remember, they were out in the desert, so they would have to have firewood to use in cooking the food. This would take 4000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day.
Just think, they were forty years in transit. And, oh yes! They would have to have water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars, 1800 miles long, just to bring water!
And then another thing! They had to get across the Red Sea at night. (They did?) Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get through. So, there had to be a space in the Red Sea, 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5000 abreast to get over in one night. But then, there was another problem. Each time they camped at the end of the day, a campground one-third the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 400 square miles long!!! Think of it! This space just for nightly camping.
Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt? I think not! You see, Moses believed in God and God took care of all these things for him.
Now do you think God has any problem taking care of all your needs?
I ASKED THE LORD TO BLESS YOU I asked the Lord to bless you As I prayed for you today, To guide you and protect you As you go along your way.... His love is always with you, His promises are true, And when we give Him all our cares, You know He'll see us through. So when the road you're traveling on Seems difficult at best, Just remember I'm here praying And God will do the rest. -author unknown
In the fall of 2011, our Medical Mission Team was heading to the airport, fully loaded with twenty extra suitcases full of medicine, ready for a week of Medical Missions in Ecuador.
However, in transit, we received a distressing call from our missionary. Ecuadorian customs had changed their regulations. All the forms and authorization papers we had from the Ecuadorian Consulate were not enough. We needed more forms and there just wasn't enough time to process all of them.
Deeply disappointed, we unloaded all the medicines from all of those suitcases and left them behind. We didn't know why this happened, but we knew we could trust God. We knew He had a plan. We used money from our contingency fund to buy medicines locally in Ecuador and we used medicines left in Ecuador by other mission teams.
Our original plan when we returned was to use all those medicines we left behind for our Honduras Medical Mission Trip in February. However, about four weeks later, I learned that Global Outreach was organizing a Medical Team for Haiti after the earthquake, so I called and offered our medicines.
Global told me that they had a medical/surgical team leaving on Monday morning from Kentucky and a medical supply aircraft was leaving from Tupelo on Saturday and they would love to have these medications to take with them. So, on Friday night, we repacked all those medicines along with some additional medical supplies and on Saturday, those medicines and medical supplies were flown into Haiti.
If we had taken our medications into Ecuador last September, we would not have had any medications to offer to Haiti. Now, we know the reason that we didn't get to take the drugs into Ecuador. Now, we know God's ultimate plan for those medications. There was also one other clear evidence of God's Timing. The original plan was for the plane to leave Tupelo on Friday for Haiti. If it had left on Friday as planned, it would have been too late for us to send the medications!
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Always trust God's timing. When God says "no", it's because He already has a better plan.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12
Billy Graham tells a story of a boxer who was engaged in a boxing match and was being badly beaten. Battered and bruised, he leaned over the ropes and said to his trainer, "Please throw in the towel! This guy is killing me!"
The trainer said, "Oh no, he's not. He's not even hitting you. He hasn't laid a glove on you!" And the boxer looked at him through swollen eyes and said, "Well then, I wish you'd watch that referee - somebody is sure hitting me!"
The danger in Spiritual Warfare is not when you are being beat up, because you know you're in a battle when you're battered. You may not know exactly who or where the blows are coming from; but you know you're in a fight.
No, the danger in Spiritual Warfare is when the devil is leaving you alone; when you are not having struggles, when temptations are few. It's then, when life seems to be going good, that devil has you where he wants you. Either you are spiritually dull and living for the devil's cause or you are being set up for a big fall.
Just ask David about it. After years of running from Saul and struggling to form a new nation, it was when things seemed to be good that David saw another man's wife bathing on the roof. In a matter of days, the devil had David just were he wanted him - knee deep in sin and sliding down quickly.
Never take the armor off. Never let down your guard.
We're in a war that will last a lifetime, if Jesus doesn't come soon enough.
You may be in a night season right now, but your God owns the night!
In fact, that's usually when you can see Him best. Like the moon. As long as it's light, you can only see a pale moon, at best. But when it's dark, that's when you can see the brightness of the moon. When it's spiritually dark, that's when you can clearly see your Master. Just like the military who get a lot done in the night because they have night vision, your Lord gets a lot done in the nighttimes of our life; often some of His greatest missions.
No matter how dark it is around you right now, your God is able to lead your steps, protect you from all harm, show you where to walk, and enable you to complete your mission, unhindered, undiminished, uncompromised, and undefeated no matter what's out there in the dark. Because, as 1 John 4:4 tells us, "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
So, don't make the mistake of just trusting what you can see, or trusting what you can feel. You need to know that your Heavenly Father is walking on ahead of you every step of that night you are in. So, keep on walking and keep on trusting. Your Father owns the night!
You may be in a night season right now, but your God owns the night! In fact, that's usually when you can see Him best. Like the moon. As long as it's light, you can only see a pale moon, at best. But when it's dark, that's when you can see the brightness of the moon. When it's spiritually dark, that's when you can clearly see your Master. Just like the military who get a lot done in the night because they have night vision, your Lord gets a lot done in the nighttimes of our life; often some of His greatest missions.
No matter how dark it is around you right now, your God is able to lead your steps, protect you from all harm, show you where to walk, and enable you to complete your mission, unhindered, undiminished, uncompromised, and undefeated no matter what's out there in the dark. Because, as 1 John 4:4 tells us, "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
So, don't make the mistake of just trusting what you can see, or trusting what you can feel. You need to know that your Heavenly Father is walking on ahead of you every step of that night you are in. So, keep on walking and keep on trusting.
It’s easy to get lost in the endless rain forests of the Amazon basin. Author Ben Patterson reports an experience that is common for visiting Westerners. They will approach local villagers and ask for directions to a place they want to go. “I have a GPS, a compass and a map, if you can just point the way.”
The villagers know exactly how to reach that spot. But they will typically decline to give directions. “Let me take you there myself,” one of the locals will insist.
“That’s nice,” says the visitor. “But I don’t really need a guide. Just tell me what landmarks to look for.”
“That’s no good,” says the villager. “I must take you there myself.”
“But I have a map,” replies the outsider, perhaps becoming exasperated. “And these coordinates. And a GPS.”
“It does not work that way. I can get you there, but I must take you myself. You must follow me.”
Modern world people love directions. We love our smart phone maps. Our GPS's. And bullet points, leadership principles, and strategic initiatives. As Patterson observes, these items all have one thing in common: They leave us in control.
If I’m holding the GPS indicator in my hand, I’m still in charge of the trip. I can still turn left or right if I want to turn left or right. But if I’m following a guide, then my job has radically changed. Now my job is merely… to follow.
So what’s the best way through the jungle you’re facing this week? Through that tangle of family relationships, or the project at work that seems to have become a depressing swamp? You can do what you always do: take charge and try not to get lost. Or you can do something far wiser: Stop right now and ask for God to guide you.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
