Category: Pastor’s Blog

Posted on

Redeeming the Time

Redeeming the Time

Ephesians 5:15, 16 – See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. 16 redeeming the time, because the days are  evil.

One of the great things about the bible is that it is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. The original authors could not have known what 2015 would be like, but the Holy Spirit could. It is without doubt a supernatural book. It has been admired just for its beauty and symmetry, but its value goes way beyond that. We’ve all read other books that we would consider to be well written, but this is the only book that is truly life changing.

Here in Ephesians Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is coaching these early Christians about their daily lives. If it was important to “walk circumspectly” in their day, how much more today? The events occurring around us require it. What does it mean to walk circumspectly, you ask? Well, it has everything to do with how we conduct ourselves every day. Paul’s advice is “circumspectly,” meaning accurately and diligently.

Allow me to illustrate. In the movie The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones faced some dangerous challenges. One required that he play “hopscotch,” through an ancient hallway that had Latin letters etched into individual stones. Indy’s task was to jump from stone to stone, spelling out JEHOVAH in Latin. Every time he was inaccurate, the floor began to fall out under him. After a few narrow escapes, our hero made it through, but the challenge certainly required him to act circumspectly – accurately and diligently.

How does that translate to our everyday life in 2015? Know this: we must be accurate and diligent as to “where we place our feet.” The floor may not fall out beneath our feet, but inaccuracy and sluggishness can be costly. It won’t be God’s judgment. Going through life haphazardly has always been costly. Sin, after all, is “missing the mark.” If we’re honest with ourselves, each of us would have to admit that living loosely has cost us in our pasts. We are too far along now to coast.

Paul’s next admonition is “redeeming the time.” This three word phrase is packed with meaning. “Time” is that important Greek word KAIROS, meaning opportunity or season. The thought of ‘season’ sticks out to me. Remember our Summer Challenge? One of the reasons for this seasonal focus was to ward off a summer slump. No floating with the current of this world; time to paddle upstream!

Put that thought together with “redeeming” and we have an admonition to last till Jesus returns. I especially like the way Vine’s Greek/English Dictionary expresses it: “buying up the opportunity”  i.e., making the most of every opportunity, turning each to the best advantage since none can be recalled if missed.

There is no value in commiserating over missed opportunities in our pasts. It’s what we do today that counts. If August 2015 is to be a remarkable season in your life, it will have to begin TODAY.

In my life I’m so glad I took opportunities that were presented to me. Our church offered a born again experience and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I took ’em up on it. My pastor challenged me to try Bible School after high school. I gave it a shot. God spoke to Dianne and me about Rhema, and off we went to Oklahoma. Rhema provided an opportunity to go start a church in upstate New York, and we bought in. Yes, like you I’ve missed a few along the way. But to quote another of the apostle’s axioms, let’s forget the past and press on to the prize.

 

Posted on

Life Lessons Learned

Life lessons come along at different intervals throughout our sojourn on earth. Every day can be a new class, a new opportunity to learn, if we stay in school. In reality we’re never too old or too young to learn.

As a teenager my family and I attended a Bible-believing church in southern NY. The pastor was a wonderful man of God, but it was his wife who had the bigger effect on me. I’ll call her “Mrs. H.” Mrs. H. may have been my first crush. I was only thirteen when we started attending her church. My body was growing taller at such a rapid rate I could hardly keep up. I was freckle-faced, gangly and about as coordinated as a new-born calf. I had begun to notice the opposite sex, but girls in general made me as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Mrs. H. was older than I was, of course, but she looked a lot like the then president’s wife, Jackie Kennedy. I doubt that she knew about my infatuation. I was content to admire her from a distance.

Mrs. H. was our teen class leader. Things she shared have stuck with me to this day, going on fifty years later. One thing she said a lot was, “Never say ‘I can’t’ say ‘I’ll try’.” I never wrote those words down or tried to memorize them, but they got etched in my psyche as if burned in oak. Her words proved true often over the years. Facing a seemingly undoable task I’d want to quit, but instead I’d give it a try, and soon it would get accomplished.

For example, while my wife and I were in Oklahoma for a year our worn out Datsun (now Nissans) developed an electrical problem. It wasn’t recharging the battery. My automotive mechanical ability is not one of my specialties, but we were very tight on finances, so I decided to take apart the alternator and replace the inner brushes. For me taking on this task was similar to a toddler taking on brain surgery. Well, I got the alternator out of the car and began to disassemble it. I could see right away that it was meant to be divided into two halves, but a thin copper wire held the two halves together with no discernable way to disconnect it. I actually considered snipping it off. If I had, my wife and I would have been without a vehicle till we saved enough money to buy a new alternator.

Before I snipped my way into bigger problems the thought crossed my mind, why not just set this project aside for awhile, re-group and then take another shot at it. I wanted to either snip or quit, but I set the alternator on some old newspaper and walked away.

After about an hour or so I picked up the alternator again, held it in my hands and studied it carefully. As I did I noticed that there was a collar around the midsection of it where the two halves merged. All I had to do was slide the collar over about half an inch and the alternator separated as clean as sliced watermelon. I replaced the brushes, reassembled the alternator, installed it back in the system and everything worked fine!

A little patience and perseverance goes a long way! I once saw a plaque that read, “Patience is a virtue, catch it if you can; found seldom in a woman, and never in a man.” (Sorry guys!)

Another life lesson concerns a time about eight years earlier. My wife and I were living in a small apartment when our first child was born, a beautiful daughter. I was just out of Bible College and trying to find a direction for my life. My dad had a great influence on me as a tractor trailer driver and a heavy equipment operator. I felt like truck driving and heavy equipment operating were ensconced in my DNA. So I got a job in a stone quarry in our area of southern Pennsylvania.

I took the job because there was a promise of operating big trucks and heavy equipment, without having built up any experience. I hired on and sure enough soon I was driving an ancient Mack Thermodyne dump truck. It had two shifters! [I’m smiling now just thinking about it!] I learned to steer with my elbow while I split-shifted those two shifters, one forward, one back, all at the same time and all while double-clutching. [It doesn’t get much better than that!]

I also got to operate a 1949 Euclid. A Euclid was one of those huge dump trucks made only for off road construction work. It had five feet high tires and weighed 25 tons. It could haul another 25 tons. It had hardly any brakes, but there was a pull-chain dangling from the roof of the cab that operated a bellowing air horn. When the other vehicles heard that horn they got out of the way! To get in and drive I had to actually climb up in. I loved driving that old thing. The job didn’t pay well, but I was gaining experience.

When winter came the quarry shut down for the most part, so the owners had to find other things for us to do. They bought an old quarry not far away, mostly just for the purpose of cutting up all of the medal to sell for scrap. An acetylene cutting torch was used to cut the medal down to workable pieces. But before the medal could be cut it had to be scraped free of any nonmetallic debris. That miserable task fell to me and few other peons.

Let me set the scene for you. It was the middle of winter just north of Philadelphia – in other words, it was cold! The work that particular day was about two stories up in an old stone bin. Our little crew had to climb a rusty ladder up over the edge and down into this bin. The bin was about fifteen feet square at the very top. It dropped straight down for about five feet, and then began to angle in on every side until it focused down to an opening of about 18 inches square. That was the chute that trucks used to pull under and fill with stone. Now it was just a hole you could just slip through and fall about 15 feet to the frozen ground.

The inside of this bin was the problem. From years of use and abuse it had small pieces of stone and even stone dust cemented into the rusty sides. Because it was now open to the weather it had accumulated ice in spots covering the cemented stone and dust. Well we climbed up there and began to chip away at this mess with shovels and spades. Keep in mind that we’re trying to balance in this angled geometric configuration so as to not fall and slide out the chute, along with handling these tools and chipping away. As you can imagine, we weren’t making much progress. So we tried hammers and chisels instead. They worked a little better, but we had to fight just to chip off minute pieces.

I don’t know why the duty fell to me. I didn’t have the most seniority. I was not a natural leader. But I found myself climbing out of the bin and down the ladder to talk with Slim.

Slim was our foreman. He reminded me of the old Jimmy Dean song, “Big John”. Remember those lyrics? “He stood six foot six, weighed 245; kind of broad at the shoulders and narrow at the hips; everyone knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John.” That was a good description of Slim. Plus his identity was bound up in the 50’s, so his jet black hair was slicked back in a duck tail haircut and oiled up so it always looked wet. He usually had a chaw of tobacco jutting out the side of his jaw. He had an ongoing challenge: anyone who could defeat him in arm wrestling could take his job. [No one ever did] He never smiled. He was just Big John, er, I mean Slim.

I walked up to Slim trying to muster an air of confidence. He turned to face me. His stare was cold and intense. I thought I could hear music in the background from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. I swallowed with effort. The silence was deafening. I did my best to look him in the eye and started to speak. “Slim, we can’t get all that stone and stone dust off the bin,” I stammered. He paused for a moment, chewing his chaw, with no visible change in his expression. Then he leaned in even closer to my face and, without raising his voice, carved these words into my inner sanctum: “Do you mean you can’t do it, or it’ll be hard?”

I never answered that query. I just spun on my heels and strode very deliberately back to the icy bin.

How was that again, Mrs. H.? “Never say ‘I can’t’ say ‘I’ll try’!”

Posted on

April Fools

Every April begins with April 1st [Duh!] or April Fools Day. Thinking on that spurred my lightning fast mind to ask, “I wonder how that got started?” Well that question sent me off to the internet and a quick search yielded an article entitled “April Fools Day: Origin and History” by David Johnson and Shmuel Ross. [According to Google “Shmuel” is spelled correctly] Here are some excerpts from the article:

April Fools’ Day, sometimes called All Fools’ Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year’s Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year’s Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year’s day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on “fool’s errands” or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

There are at least two difficulties with this explanation. The first is that it doesn’t fully account for the spread of April Fools’ Day to other European countries. The second is that we have no direct historical evidence for this explanation, only conjecture, and that conjecture appears to have been made more recently.

Another explanation of the origins of April Fools’ Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.

This explanation was brought to the public’s attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they’d been victims of an April Fools’ joke themselves.

April Fools’ Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a “fool’s errand,” looking for things that don’t exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things.

My grandfather was a big tease and enjoyed April Fools’ Day. My mom helped us set him up one year. I was about 10 or 11 years old at the time. Our home was actually part of Pa’s farm. [All we grandchildren called him “Pa”] My brother and sister and I walked right by the farmhouse on our way to the school bus stop. With mom’s prompting on this particular April 1st we strode up to the farm house like a small gaggle of geese and I knocked on the door. Soon Pa appeared and I recited my line: “Mom said to come quick! Our calf fell and hurt himself.” As Pa went back in to get his coat, we backed away from the door and waited. He hurriedly stepped out of the door, donning his coat at the same time. In perfect unison we three grandkids yelled out “April Fools!” We were quite proud of ourselves. Pa responded in his own special way. “Holy Jocks,” he said. I never knew what he meant by “Holy Jocks,” but we heard him say it dozens of times.

The Bible has a lot to say about fools, especially in the book of Proverbs. The word “fool” is a translation of the Hebrew word EVIYL. According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary:

“The word is used in Scripture with respect to moral more than to intellectual deficiencies. The ‘fool’ is not so much one lacking in mental powers, as one who misuses them; not one who does not reason, but reasons wrongly. In Scripture the ‘fool’ primarily is the person who casts off the fear of God and thinks and acts as if he could safely disregard the eternal principles of God’s righteousness.”

If we go by that definition then we can only conclude that today’s society is teeming with fools. Of course, we’re limited in what we can do about those around us and their foolishness. But we can work on ourselves, and that, dear friends, is a full-time job!

So, on April Fools’ Day, if you’re planning to pull a prank on someone, keep their safety in mind and don’t demean them in any way. And when it comes to fools, don’t be one!

Posted on

The Value of Words

If you know me you know that I’m a “words guy.” I use the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and lexicons to help me understand the words of scripture. I also make use of English dictionaries, because I’ve discovered that what words mean and what we think they mean are often very different.

Choosing the words we say in conversation is extremely important. We’ve all discovered by now, I’m sure, that words can heal and words can hurt. Words even create an atmosphere. If you’ve ever entered a room where cruel words were recently spoken you have discovered that they leave a heaviness in the room, even if you weren’t there to hear them. Words can encourage, edify, comfort and soothe. They can also wound, discourage, alarm and destroy.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that both death and life are in the power of the tongue. In fact, if you think words aren’t important, the book of Proverbs will prove you wrong! Jesus’ brother James wrote that with our words (tongues) we both bless and curse. [James 3:9, 10] He also instructs in the same chapter that we can steer our bodies by the words we say.

So, on one level I think most have discovered that speaking positive words makes for a better life than harping on the negative. But there’s another level I’d like us to consider. Let me start with a few of the classic New Testament scriptures on the value of words.

Mark 11:23 – For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Romans 10:9, 10 – that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

II Corinthians 4:13 – And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,

I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve taught on “confession.” The basic principle of biblical confession is twofold: believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. Confessing what God says works! But we’re not getting the results we should. The promises of God aren’t “You win some, you lose some and some get rained out!” God’s promises are yes & amen. Jesus came to give us abundant life. We’ve been made more than conquerors.

The question remains then, why aren’t we getting the results we should? I think the answer is contained in these (and other) scriptures. For our words to carry the power they should we must first BELIEVE. Believe in your heart. Don’t doubt in your heart. We believe, therefore we speak.

If we’re honest with ourselves we’ll acknowledge that a lot of our confessions were attempts to appease God into doing something for us. “If I confess it often enough, loud enough, passionate enough …” If that’s been our focus it is fleshly and legalistic. Everything done for us by our Lord Jesus was done before we were doing anything right. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. [Romans 5:8] Making positive statement won’t change Him. He’s already for us, with us and in us.

The release of power comes as we believe in what’s already done on a heart level, and form our words around that belief. Believe in your heart; confess with your mouth. We believe unto righteousness; confession is made unto salvation, which includes forgiveness, healing, deliverance, peace and all that Jesus won for us.

That leaves us with one more question needing an answer: what if I don’t believe in my heart? Here’s where we must be brutally honest with ourselves. Most of us have confessed things we just don’t believe. No wonder it hasn’t come to fruition. So, what now?

The root meaning of faith is to be persuaded. Many times becoming persuaded is a process. The good news is that confessing what God has said will help you become persuaded. Therefore, as long as your confession does not fall into attempting to please God so He’ll come through for you, your confession can continue working for you to persuade your heart of truth.

The writer of Hebrews said it this way: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” [10:23] Hope is a confident expectation with joy. Keep speaking the Word to persuade your heart. God is faithful!

Posted on

“I couldn’t help but think …”

“I couldn’t help but think …”

I’ll be the first to admit it – I’ve said this! Something stimulated one of my senses and it felt like my mind ran off on its own without my permission. But is that really true? Do our minds “have a mind of their own”? Is there really nothing we can do but let them race away, unchecked?

As in every area of our lives, the Bible has some important things to say about this subject. Allow me to peruse through a few.

Proverbs 23:6-8 – Don’t eat at the table of a stingy person or be greedy for the fine food he serves. 7 “Come on and have some more,” he says, but he doesn’t mean it. What he thinks is what he really is. 8 You will vomit up what you have eaten, and all your flattery will be wasted. [Good News Bible]

Wise Solomon here speaks of a man who says one thing while he’s thinking something else entirely. The key is at the end of verse 7: “What he thinks is what he really is.” I’m starting with these verses to establish how important our thinking is. We’re all adept at putting on a false facade; but the thoughts, the attitudes, that come out of our hearts, they represent the real us! As uncomfortable as that can be, it is the absolute truth.

II Corinthians 10:4, 5 – For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
[New King James Version]

As believers in our Lord Jesus we have been given “weapons” or instruments to help us deal successfully with the realm of thoughts, attitudes, imaginings, etc. Notice specifically verse 5: “casting down arguments.” For “arguments” other translations have “reasonings” or “imaginations”. When we add to this the thought “Bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” we’re clearly being told to stop thinking, reasoning or imagining anything that does not comply to who we are now in Christ!

Returning to my premise, it cannot be true that “I couldn’t help but think …” if the Bible tells me not to think certain things. God would be unfair to require us to control our minds if we are incapable of doing so!

One more verse, Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  [New King James Version]

In II Corinthians 10:5 we were told what NOT to think. Here we’re told the opposite – these are things we should think or meditate on. It’s interesting to me that the word “arguments” in II Corinthians 10:5 is the noun form of the same word translated “meditate” (a verb) in Philippians 4:8. And again, since the Bible tells us not only thoughts to cast away but thoughts to embrace, it must be in our power to do just that.

No doubt our minds need to be retrained. They can be like unruly children, involved in all kinds of mischief. But we can reel them in and train them to obey. An important principle in the New Testament is “the renewing of the mind.” You, your Bible and the Holy Spirit can get that unruly child retrained.

So, don’t give in to “I couldn’t help but think …” Take control by the instruments you’ve been given. You’ll be glad you did!

Posted on

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever

 Cabin fever, according to Wikipedia, “… is an idiomatic term, first recorded in 1838, for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do for an extended period. Cabin fever describes the extreme irritability and restlessness a person may feel in these situations. …When experiencing cabin fever, a person may tend to sleep, have distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow, dark or hail.”

Living in upstate New York, cabin fever is a phenomenon to which most can relate. There are barely more than eight hours of daylight in every twenty-four. The cold and snow keeps us indoors most of the time. Our houses are shut up tight, trying to preserve the heat and save on energy costs.

I marvel at people who thrive in Alaska and even up in the Artic Circle. They barely even see the sun for months at a time, while the temperature drops to forty and fifty degrees below zero! Yet most of these hardy people have made adjustments and actually thrive even in those frigid winter months.

So how does “Cabin Fever” relate to our daily Christian lives? Consider this scripture passage: And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:11, 12 [NKJV]

Cabin fever sounds to me like becoming “sluggish.” Strong’s defines this Greek word as “slow, sluggish, indolent, languid.” That didn’t provide much insight for me, so I went to my dictionary. “Sluggish” is defined as “indisposed to action or exertion; not functioning with full vigor; slow to act or respond.” “Indolent” means “inactive or relatively benign.” “Languid” is described as “lacking in spirit or interest; listless.”

Okay, let’s bring these defining words to our daily Christian life. The Christian walk can be vibrant and exciting. When we consider who we are in Christ now and our future with Him in heaven, hey, life is good. But because we’re a feelings oriented lot and we all have heart issues needing attention, life doesn’t always exude stimulation. Romans 12:11 reminds us to “serve the Lord enthusiastically.” [NLT] During times when life may feel dark and gloomy, our reaction can be to become sluggish.

Notice also the wording of verse 12: “do not become sluggish.” In the Greek this is the subjunctive mood, meaning it may or may not happen. No one has to become sluggish. It involves a choice. As someone has said, we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control what happens in us. The promises of the Bible do not guarantee a life without challenges. There will be temptations, persecutions and tribulation (pressure). But we must not allow those to bring us down. Jesus’ admonition is that we’ll have tribulation, but to cheer up, because He has already overcome for us. [John 16:33]

Vine’s gives more information on the Greek word, saying that “No immoral thought or blame is necessarily involved in it.” So, spiritual cabin fever (sluggishness) may not involve sin per se. But it definitely does involve low spiritual energy, inactivity, lack of interest or enthusiasm. As a leader I’ve come to realize that I can’t afford to go down this road. It’s not good for me and I can end up “ministering” that spirit into the congregation.

Wikipedia adds this thought: “One therapy for cabin fever may be as simple as getting out and interacting with nature. Research has demonstrated that even brief interactions with nature can promote improved cognitive functioning and overall well-being.”

 Christian therapy for cabin fever begins similarly by getting out and interacting. For us I suppose that using nature can help, but more specifically we need to get out among our brothers and sisters in Christ and fellowship. Probably the worst thing we can do is to play the hermit and avoid people all together. People have told me over the years that they need to take a sabbatical because their life has been difficult. It may be true at times that a little rest does wonders. But I strongly suggest that they keep it short, because it can soon become easier to stay away than it was to be involved.

Let’s be honest, people can be irritating; responsibility isn’t perpetually exciting; and we’re all tired at times. But in the long run you’ll cause yourselves more pain by hiding on the bench than by getting into the game. God didn’t call us to be bench warmers. Verse 12 finishes with the admonition to be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Be inspired by those who enthusiastically serve God no matter what. Take inspiration from David in the Old Testament, who encouraged himself in the Lord. You can do it!

Posted on

Christmas Musings

Christmas Musings

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12“And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:8-14

I can’t even imagine what this must have been like, can you? Just think of the “cast of characters” involved in the first Christmas. First is the villainous King Herod. [Every story needs a ‘bad guy’] Then there is Joseph…To think of the faith and love in this man, choosing not to destroy his fiancé’s reputation! How many men would believe a story like this: “Well honey, you see, the Holy Spirit came on the scene and, well, er…, the pregnancy test is positive.” Of course, that brings us to the female lead herself, Mary. Many scholars believe she was still in her teens, yet she faced the situation bravely and, at the angel Gabriel’s instruction simply replied, “Be it unto me accord to your word!”

Every role in this story is important. The shepherds needed to be on the job that night. [Not a good night to call in sick!] The angel of the Lord, along with the multitude of heavenly hosts, had a great message to bring forth. [What an awesome assignment!] Even an innkeeper had a part to play. [I wonder if he had any inkling of what was going on that night.]

The wise men won’t show up till later. But they will fill in an important piece of the puzzle, as their gifts helped sustain the young family in those early years.

I think also of the involvement of animals, like sheep and cattle, and the important role of a lowly donkey, carrying such precious cargo.

Without doubt, the lead role was there “wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” The Son of God had taken on flesh! The long awaited Messiah was born! The plan formed before the foundations of the world was played out before their very eyes.

I wonder how much these cast of characters understood that day. It brings to mind that stirring song, “Mary Did You Know?” The Bible tells of her pondering these things in her heart. It seems that if anyone “got it,” she did.

And what of “the star of the show”? Personally, I don’t believe the baby Jesus was lying there, fully cognizant, thinking, “Let’s get things started!” I read where He grew to be strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. [Luke 2:40]

Yes, it’s a wondrous story. Better yet, it’s not just a story; it actually happened! But one addendum we must put on as we continue our Christmas celebrations: Jesus is not still the babe in the manger. He is the last Adam. He is the Innocent One crucified for the guilty! He is the Savior of mankind, the only door to God’s Kingdom, the way, the truth and the life. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Receive Him. Worship Him. Serve Him.

Posted on

Halloween

 The trends and fads of the day seem to catch my attention more as I age. Have you noticed the interest in zombies, vampires, Dracula and the like lately? Pretty scary! [Pun intended] And, of course, people are more enthralled at this time of the year than any other.

I was watching the TV Guide channel, just to see what was on, and got a large dose of the macabre in the process. It seems they’re playing horror movies at the top of the screen while the channel fodder is scrolling along at the bottom. I don’t know about you but I have no interest in viewing “Children of the Corn” or any other horror flick.

I also noted that new shows about to be aired are following along this same theme. Oh well, I needed to cut back on my TV viewing anyway.

Well, today is Halloween. That’s good news in a way, because by tomorrow we won’t be inundated with TV shows and movies attempting to scare the living daylights out of people. But we still must deal with today. As my wife and I picked up our morning hot beverages at the drive-thru window this morning, the costumed attendant greeted us with, “Happy Halloween!” How does a follower of Christ respond to that? We just rudely drove away, saying nothing.

I took a stroll online and saw a quote that 6.9 billion dollars is projected to be spent on Halloween 2013! (that’s billion – with a “b”) I believe I read somewhere also that Halloween is now second only to Christmas in money spent. If all this isn’t a sign of the times, I don’t know what is. As the apostle Paul told Timothy, the last days will be perilous times!

People without Christ are going to do what they’re going to do. I think it would be a mistake to attempt to indoctrinate a non-Christian in the problems that grow out of being preoccupied with devilish enticements. It just wouldn’t make sense to them. But followers of Christ should be a different story.

I found this quote on line pertaining to Halloween:

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

Is Halloween merely an innocent time of fun, candy, costumes and parties? I wonder! On one side, it’s unwise to spend too much time and energy spouting on about what we, as Christians, are against. On the other side, the old saying goes, “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything!”

I’m just kind of thinking out loud here, but things come to mind like our instruction to come out from among them and be separate; friendship with the world is enmity with God; light and darkness can’t coexist together; etc, etc. Jesus taught His bunch that they were to be in the world but not of it.

Another thing that comes to mind is the effect that celebrating Halloween might have on our children. So much of this holiday is aimed at kids and based in fright and fear. The Bible repeats the phrase “fear not” more than 300 times! The only fear we’re supposed to display is a reverential fear of God. I believe it is a truism that the devil uses fear for two purposes: to torment us and to prevent us from doing God’s will.

Anyway, I guess my point here is merely to get Christians thinking. I’ve learned that one of the most powerfully influential catalysts for growth in Christ is taking scripture and contemplating what it means to me. So, don’t take my word for it. Get your Bible out and see for yourselves. The Word of God, rightly divided, will never steer you wrong!

Posted on

What Is Your Outlook On Life?

What is your outlook on life?

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. II Corinthians 4:16-18 [The Message]

I used to think that some people could focus on a multitude of things all at one time. I had seen teenagers who were chatting on the phone, listening to music and doing their homework, with the TV on in the background. I thought they had somehow discovered a way to glean useable information from all these sources simultaneously. As I sit here today I’m not so convinced. Merely an awareness of different stimuli doesn’t mean information has been received. I could be wrong, but I’m of the opinion that we only truly focus on one thing at a time. We can be aware of other things, but if we were tested on our comprehension level, I think we would fail miserably.

Focus is a very important commodity. I’ve noticed as a pastor that our congregant’s ability to receive spiritual assistance in our services depends as much on their focus as anything. Jesus said that true worshippers must worship in spirit and truth. [John 4:23, 24] Simply put, worshipping in spirit and truth is truly worshipping. It takes focus to truly worship God. One must put away the interference that tries to invade our mind sets. Your mind wants to ponder on things like: what you’ll do when the service ends, why sister so-in-so isn’t here today, did the guitar player just play the wrong chord, I hope the pastor isn’t long-winded today, is it warm in here or is it just me, or even – wow, my socks don’t match! This kind of interference allowed in insures that true worship isn’t going to happen.

Maybe even more important than the various things we may focus on is the basic outlook we bring to our every day life. We will all face challenges. No one gets a free ride as far as that is concerned. Just like back in our school days, it’s a given principle – there will be tests! Passing or failing is more about outlook than anything else. God has built into all of us an ability to succeed, but that ability rarely manifests in those with a “poor ole me” attitude.

When my wife and I came to upstate New York over thirty years ago we came with a message on our hearts and a deep trust in the God of that message. God poured a pure faith inside us and we ran with it. We wouldn’t even entertain the thought that we would fail. As far as we were concerned, for us to fail God would have to fail. A mighty church was built out of that outlook. Not only did the congregation grow here, but excited people went out from here and continued the work in places across the country and nations throughout the world. It was never that we were so smart or slick or even charismatic. It was that God was in it and we trusted Him completely.

I have to remind myself of these things often today. Physically I’m not able to do what I could do in the 80’s and 90’s. The nation – the world – is different now. The apostle Paul prophesied that these “last days” would be perilous. Our adversary knows his time is short. But, as we sang last week, “Our God reigns!” He is still on the throne. Faith in God still overcomes the world. The “Greater One” still resides in every child of God. As we used to say, “I read the back of the Book, and we win!”

I found this quote online: “Never let the thoughts of self-unworthiness re-arrange your prepared passion for failure. You can do it even if others say you can’t. But you cannot do it if you tell yourself you can’t.” ― Israelmore Ayivor

Embrace the outlook that you can.

 “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].” Philippians 4:13 [Amplified]

Posted on

Are You Growing Spiritually?

Ephesians 4:14-16 [New Living Translation] – Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Someone once said that anything living continues to grow. Dead things have ceased from growth. This is true both naturally and spiritually. But there also is a glaring difference: natural growth happens spontaneously while spiritual growth requires attention.

Recently I read some statistics acquired from a national survey of churches. With over 250,000 respondents, this survey carries a lot of weight. It seems that, in measuring spiritual growth, some of the indicators were quite surprising. In the churches surveyed, one out of every four regular attendees was not growing spiritually or even interested in growth. Apparently they just enjoyed fellowship with Christians. Also it was discovered that, for those who are relatively young in the Lord, involvement in lots of church activities helped the growth process. Conversely, for those older in the Lord, these activities didn’t carry the same punch. [I guess it’s not just about how busy we are!]

There was one true indicator of spiritual growth according the book I’ve been reading. Let me give you their words:

If all churches could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice is clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible – specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives. The numbers say most churches are missing the mark – because only one out of five congregants reflects on scripture every day. [Move by Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson]

When considering all the different aspects of spiritual growth it’s interesting that reflecting on scripture proves to be the most potent. I can’t say that I’m really surprised though. In rebuking Satan Jesus declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” [Matthew 4:4] Clearly this means that it is the Word that sustains life. In Mark chapter four we find the parable of the sower, a parable that Jesus says is a key to understanding all parables. In explaining this parable, Jesus clearly states the value of the scriptures: “The sower sows the Word.” [4:14] The word of God, the Bible, the holy scriptures – by whatever title we refer to it, is the seed. It is the catalyst for growth.

The apostle Peter spoke of the Bible in this manner: “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” [I Peter 2:1-3] It is the Word that provides inner strength and growth.

The apostle Paul declares: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” [Romans 10:17] Faith is a vital necessity to us as Christians. Add to that the quote from the writer of Hebrews: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” [11:6] In fact, I would say that any growth we might attain without the Word of God may turn out to be growth that is detrimental to our spiritual health.

No, readers, spiritual growth is not automatic. If you’re not interested in this growth it’s not going to overtake you anyway. As a pastor I can’t pray spiritual growth on my church people in spite of themselves. Intercessory prayer makes God available, but we are each individually responsible for our own lives.

We should be asking ourselves, “Am I growing in Christ as I should? Is my relationship with Him deeper and richer now than last year? …last month? …last week? …yesterday? No one is spiritually more mature just because they’ve been saved for a long time. Spiritual growth doesn’t just happen. As has been said in the past, Christians have to make some effort just to stay even. We’re going uphill – against the stream. We have to keep peddling the bike or paddling the canoe if we don’t want to fall back. [See Hebrews 10:35-39]

How important is growth to you? You’re the only one who can answer that question.