Ecclesiastes 12:10

Once over the holidays, the family and I traveled up to Denver, Colorado to visit Linda’s sister.  The morning after we arrived, a blizzard was forecast. When I awoke early that morning, I could see no trace of snow on the ground but a few flakes were starting to fall.  By nine that morning snow covered the ground and we decided we better run the store to pick up some food. By the time we returned an hour later the roads were almost impassable. By that night a foot and a half of snow surrounded the house and all major roads and the airport had been shut down. The next morning the entire city was shut down. No one could get anywhere. It reminded me of what was written in Job 37:6-7 which says, “For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work.” In spite of all our technology and skill, God was able with simple snowfall to shut down a city in less than a day. The me...

It is a very happy time for me right now because my son Calvin is starting to learn to read.  And if I know anything, it is that reading is the best learning tool we have. As a student of history, I know that any successful person you look at in American history was a reader. The knowledge and stimulation that comes from the written word is unmatched. I encourage not only my child but any young person I talk to read as much as they can.   The best thing you can read is the word of God. The greatest periods of restoration in history have come from reading the word of God. (Example Nehemiah 8-9) Thomas Jefferson said that, ” The studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.”   Abraham Lincoln said reading the word of God was, “ the best cure for the blues ’ and the Bible itself was, “.. the greatest gift God has given to man.”  Lord Tennyson said “Bible reading is an education in itself.” Paul told Timothy in 1 ...

Several years ago,I traveled with a group of young people from the Lawton churches to help in the relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Before we left, we were told we needed a pair of steel toe boots. So I went to Wal-mart to find a cheap pair of work boots, since I thought I would only need them a short time. That week those boots were covered in putrid swamp water, used to kick out rotted walls, scratched, scuffed, and generally abused. When the director of the work told us that we need to leave our shoes outside as to not track in the muck, I just took out my pocket knife and carved my initials on the back so I could identify them later and tossed them against the fence. Regardless of the abuse or neglect I put on them, they did their job well. After I came home the boots spent most of the time in the garage, until I would need them for some chore. They never got polished, rarely got cleaned, and were mostly forgotten. When snow and ice appear, they come in quite h...

Michael Stone charged into the parliament building in Belfast, Northern Ireland, armed with bombs, a knife and a handgun. After he was wrestled to the floor, he was charged with trying to kill several of the leaders that were inside. His defense after his arrest was that everything he did that day was merely "performance art replicating a terrorist attack." In other words it was just a joke! Many people may not have the chutzpah as Stone but use the same technique. They will criticize the church and its leader’s using humor or as if they are just “having some fun.” What it really is a thin layered attack. Those that do this may think it is harmless but the Bible says otherwise. In Proverbs 26:18-19, we read, “Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, So is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, "Was I not joking?"   Next time we hear people veil their attacks a just a joke, lets remember what the Bible says and watch out for what they are reall...

There are collections of bible translations know as Bible errta that are a much sought after find for book collectors. They are Bibles that were made famous because of a printing error or mistranslation that caused a humorous or unique mistake. Such examples included the Wicked Bible of 1631 that left out the “not” in the 7 th commandment and the “Sin on" Bible of 1716 where John 5:14 reads "Go and sin on more" rather than "Go and sin no more ".  When these errors were discovered the printers were force to destroy most copies making them a rarity.    These mistakes show us how important a simple word can be. Most people don’t find themselves in a wrong state with God because of a misprint or misread, but rather from not obeying what is there. We would never accept a Bible with added ideas or left out commands but we don’t find it so hard to leave them out in practice or apply extra standards when we see fit. If we are going to be followers of God’s word we h...

One of our deacons told me a humorous story of when he worked at the grain elevator. It seems that they hired a young girl to do some secretarial work. The girl didn’t really do a good job and after a bit of time she left, but her poor work followed her. In the next few months, any wrong invoice or misfiled paperwork was blamed on her. The only problem was even after she had been gone a year mistakes from 6 months ago were still blamed on her. Even when it couldn’t have been her mistake, she was still too easy to blame. I think a lot of church problems get “solved” the same way. Instead of looking for how we can work to improve, we have some time tested excuse that is just too easy to use. Excuses and blame never solve anything. Next time we are faced with challenges, let’s not seek to lay blame, but find solutions instead.

You may have heard on the news about a documentary that is claiming to have found the remains of Jesus. It is a shabby and flimsy attack on Christianity that the media, in its typical foolishness, has sensationalized and overblown. But in the reporting, I found a very disturbing quote from a so called religious expert, James Tabor, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He said that while literal interpreters of the Bible say Jesus' physical body rose from the dead, "one might affirm resurrection in a more spiritual way in which the husk of the body is left behind." In other words, you wouldn’t need to have an actual resurrection for it to be a spiritual truth.    The only problem for this “expert” is that idea is a direct contradiction from the word of God. In 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 we are told, “ and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witn...

In 1st Kings 18, we read of the dramatic contest between Elijah, the true prophet of God, and the 450 prophets of Baal. Each group was to offer sacrifices to their deity and let their god offer the fire. The prophets of Baal did so with much enthusiasm.  For the entire day, they jumped around, cried out with loud voices and even went so far to cut themselves in order to bring forth their god. But in the end the Bible says, “ they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.”  For all their excitement and drama, nothing happened and consequently no one cared. In today’s modern religious world, people think that the more dramatic and exciting the worship service, the more people will want to attend. But this passage shows that while a ruckus may garner some quick attention, if it makes no real difference, people will eventually lose attention. That is why it is so important that our worship is...

  If anyone had reason to complain about his work in the church it was Paul. In 2 Corinthians 11:25-28, we read about some of what happen to him while doing the Lord’s work. It says, “ Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”       We might complain about the bed on the mission trip, but Paul didn’t have one. We might gripe because there was not enough food to go ...

What do the women Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth and Rahab have in common? Let’s look at their common traits. Rahab and Tamar both at one time worked as prostitutes.  Ruth and Rahab were gentile outsiders, citizens of enemy nations of Israel. Bathsheba and Ruth were both married more than once. Bathsheba and Tamar had children with men that were not their husbands. So what connects them all? In the first chapter of Matthew they are all listed in the genealogy of Jesus. This is unusual because ordinarily women were not mentioned in Jewish genealogies. But these were not ordinary women. They each had a unique, and at times an  unsavory history. It goes to show us how God can use anyone to do his will. Even when we have not been perfect and might be rejected by others, God still find ways to use us.

Often times we will describe a person that is a victim of a tragedy as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the president used that phrase in describing the innocent students that were gunned down by a crazed gunman. When you think about it, that is not a good description. Those kids were exactly where they should have been, in class learning when it was in session. It was the gunman that was in the wrong. Being in the right place and doing the right thing doesn’t always mean good things will happen. The right place might be uncomfortable and tiresome. The right time may bring you ridicule and scorn. The rightness of your action may not be in the results but in action.  A knocked door that is slammed in your face, a Bible study offered but not accepted, a lesson prepared but the class sleeps in, are examples of times when we are doing what is right but the results may be less than what we hoped for. That doesn’t mean we should quit doing thos...

I recently ran across this article that told about a recent traditional Christmas Nativity play at St. Stephen's church in Tonbridge, England. It centered on music from the Beach Boys, with Mary turning into a "surfer girl" to sing "God Only Knows" and the Three Wise Men portrayed as Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson performing such favorites as "Fun Fun Fun" and "Good Vibrations". The reason given by the pastor was that, "Nativity plays ... can just be a bit dull. This made it more realistic." When I read this article, I was dumbfounded in the audacity of the whole production. But it was the line about the play being “more realistic” confused me the most.  Anyone with any Bible knowledge would realize this is absurd. The only thing I can figure is the “pastor” meant it was more real in feeling not it fact. This is a common false assumption in many religions today that if something has the right feeling than it makes any mistake or err...

One of the most famous photos in history is Boulevard du Temple taken by Louis Daguerre in late 1838 or early 1839 in Paris . The photo shows an empty street with one lone person standing in the bottom left corner with his leg raised. This man is the reason for the photo’s fame. You see while it may appear the street was empty, it was actually bustling. The camera’s exposure time was so slow that it could not pick up any of the people moving about, accept for the man who was standing still to have his boots polished. This man that took a few still moments became the first person in history to have his picture taken.    It is amazing what can happen if you just slow down for a few minutes. We live in a world that is always moving. Everyone is busy with places to go and things to do. But everyone needs at times to slow down and take some quite time. God himself rested after creation. Jesus would escape to the mountains to pray, and told his disciple to do so in Mark 6:31. We...

   A New Jersey appeals court ruled against the town of Voorhees, which had waged a nearly three-year battle with a businessman because it disputed the shade of paint he had used on his restaurant. Town officials said it wasn't "sandy" (the required color for buildings in that particular shopping center), but rather "creamy yellow." The town spent $20,000 in legal fees to argue their case. (A bargain to the $70,000 the owner spent.) I'm not sure about the citizens of Voorhees but I'm sure the town has more important problems that the taxpayer funds could have been spent on!   It shows us how any argument can grow into something we never expected it to be. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:25, “" Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ”  I have seen arguments over the most trivial matters divide...

In December 1883, a man by the name of Stephen Girard died willing his estate to the City of Philadelphia. A controversial clauses of Girard's will established a college for impoverished white male orphans between the ages of six and ten years. The will specified the subject matter to be taught, limiting instruction to purely moral concepts of goodness, truth, and honor, and barring clergymen of any denomination from holding any post within the college and from visiting the premises. Some religious groups sued and the case went to the Supreme Court. The court was put to the task of deciding if keeping out denominational groups was the same as keep out Christianity and the Bible. The court ruled that the will was valid but while the denominational groups could be kept out, the Bible and Christianity could not. They said, “ Are not these truths all taught by Christianity, although it teaches much more? Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly ...

  Samuel L. Braddock, director of the new Troy University Polygraph Center in Atlanta, Georgia was viewed as a professional at telling you who was a liar. That is until recently. He was an expert in the use of a polygraph machine, or lie detector, and claimed to use his skill at reading the machine to be able to tell you if someone was holding back the truth. I said until recently, because it turns out he, too, is a liar! The PhD he claimed to have on his resume turned out to be a fraud. It makes me wonder who will polygraph the polygraphers?    It is too easy for us, like this fellow, to be able to spot the faults in others without looking too closely at ourselves. In Romans 2:1-3 we read, ‘ Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, ...

My Excuses Someone sat in my favorite spot in services. I don’t have any extra time to do anything at church. I don’t want people to make fun of me for my faith. The leadership at church doesn’t do things like I want them to. The conditions at services are uncomfortable. Jesus’ Excuses “ But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head .” Matthew 8:20  " I shall be with you a little while ”        John 7:33  “ The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed ,” Luke 9:22   “But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him ,” Luke 19:47  “Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him ;” Mark 15:19 When you compare them, Jesus had much better excuses for him not live the life he was called to than we do. Aren’t you glad he never used any of them? Maybe we shouldn’t either!

John Barrier walked into the Old National bank in downtown Spokane, Washington to cash a $100 check. When he went to leave, the parking attendant charged him 60 cents for parking but told John that if he was a customer he could get the teller to stamp the ticket and it would be no charge. So John went back inside and asked if the bank would validate the parking fee. The teller told him that the bank would only valid parking on transactions and his cashing a check didn’t count. John suspected that her reluctance had more to do with his appearance than the banks policy. He had just come from his job refurbishing old building and was in dirty work clothes. He asked to see a manager and after he took one look at John, he also turned him down. John reply was simple, “If you don’t need me, I don’t need you” and then proceed to withdraw all his money, over 1 million dollars of it.    Even though he didn’t look like it at moment John Barrier was a very wealthy man. The banks rush to j...

  In my working with High school and Jr. High kids, I can’t count the number of times I have heard them complain about math classes. Their complaint is always, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” My answer has never been to try telling them they will (From my own experience, since High school I never come across a situation where I need to solve a quadratic equation), but rather to tell them that learning math, and the logical reasoning behind it is an essential part of learning. Simply, math helps you learn to think. Many mathematical principles are good ideas in any situation. The only exception I have in this argument is in multiplying negatives. Math tells us that a negative multiplied by a negative will give a positive result. In math that works but in life it doesn’t.    Some people try to overcome negative things in their life by doing negative things back. For example; someone said hurtful things about me, so I will say something even more hurtful about them...

Monte will often times take me out to lunch. Last week not only did he buy me lunch but also taught me a valuable lesson. As we entered the restaurant, the manager made it a point to come by and say hello to Monte.  I asked Monte if he knew him but he replied not really, but he had talked to him on one of his last visits. He told me that when he came in to eat last time he had asked to talk to the manager. He told him how good the service had been and he was impressed with the way the restaurant had been run. He said that the man nearly fell over. Most of the time when someone asks to talk to the manger it is not a pleasant experience. He was overjoyed and even gave Monte a coupon as a thank you to use the next time he came back. It got me to thinking, as a person who often is irked about the service I receive, I never really compliment or express gratitude when I get what I expect to get. Just think what might change if I did. I think I've been amiss about this because I’ve just c...

Elvis Presley is still making a lot of money for a guy that died thirty years ago. He recently reclaimed the No. 1 spot on Forbes list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities earning $49 million this year. He is not alone however. Comic artist Charles M. Schulz made $35 Million and the physicist Albert Einstein made $18 million, more than he made in his lifetime. They make this money from royalties and license deals for their image. This concept shouldn’t shock us. The Bible tells us that. In Revelation 14:13 we read, “ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'  "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them ."  Even when we are no longer alive what we have done will live on. It makes us wonder about the things we are struggling for in this life. Do the things we focus on have eternal significance?  All the money these dead celebrities made is worthless to them now. We need to head the words of Jesus in Ma...

  Just minutes after the court's lethal-injection case was accepted, lawyers for Michael Richard, who was scheduled to die that evening, rushed to file a stay with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal and promised delivery by 5:20 p.m. The court clerk responded, "We close at 5"; the petition didn't make it, and Richard was executed at 8:23.  If only he had twenty more minutes. But in reality he had that time.  The time before he had committed his crime. The time before he made the decisions that led him to death row. We always cry about, pardon the pun,  the deadline as it comes due, but never think about all the moments we were given before it.     It reminds me of what Paul writes in Romans 2:4, “ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ” God is patience with us wanting all to repent (2 Peter3:9) but don’t mistake patience with acceptance. When the time c...

I was amused by my son when his mother told him that the item he was chewing on “doesn’t go in your mouth.” His reply was “does it go in my ear?” I don’t know if he is old enough to have developed a smart mouth or if he was just curious, but it got me to thinking about how often we are told what not to do but not what to do. I see this often times in lessons designed for young people. They tend to focus on the big “Don’t”s of adolescent. As important as these are, this focus can leave kids with the impression that Christianity is a faith based on what you don’t do rather than a faith of action. The truth is a person can never do any of the “Don’t”s but still be lost. True Christian living is as much about the thing good works and action we do as it is about what we avoid. A faith that has no action is dead.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us, “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  I know that I do not have to look too hard at any assembly to see Christians that can inspire me. It may be the grandmother that takes the extra effort to make sure her grandchildren are at services or the elderly women that braves frigid weather and her own poor health to worship with saints. It is the man that comes in his work clothes because he has just left his job, or the working parent that comes to teach Bible class even though they still have a days worth of work left for them at home. It is these folks that show me there are still people dedicated to the Lord and know the value of worshiping him and being with those of like faith. They inspire me to keep the faith and to resist my own feeble excuses. They inspire me to do more...

Last week I was forced by friends to watch American Idol.  I’m not a fan of any reality show but his one is especially annoying to me. I think it comes down to the fact that I am tone deaf and I can’t ever figure out why the judges and audience pick the people that they do. What makes this one so good and other so bad?  The talent just doesn’t come through to me. If I had to pick best singer, it would be my daughter when I lean over in services and hear her singing. It may not be perfect pitched but it affects me like no other. It is because she is my daughter and I love her and love when she is doing what I asked her to do. This must be why God chose for us to worship him in song. God doesn’t hear the talent or the skill. He hears the heart of  His beloved children obeying His will. Many today will go to extreme (and sometimes unscriptural) ways to “improve” worship in human terms.  Those terms don’t matter to God. Worship to God has always been those who love God s...

Scott Anthony Gomez Jr. filed a lawsuit against jail officials in Pueblo County, Colorado alleging among other things that they failed to take security precautions to prevent him from escaping. He said that, after his first escape, he had told then-sheriff how lax security was, but that no "improvements" had been made. In the second attempt, He seriously injured himself when he fell 40 feet while scaling a wall. I do not know about you but a forty foot fall sounds like a serious preventative measure. But this man, like so many, falls under the mistake of blaming other for their wrongdoing. This is exactly what James warns about in  chapter one verses thirteen thru fifteen of his book, “ Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is ...

Ever drive down a road and wondered what kind person would design something like this? Well, if you live in New York chances are it was Robert Moses. He was an urban planner that helped to design many of the highways and bridge systems in New York City. His ideas were often controversial and range from the displacement of thousand of people from their homes to his plans that lead to the Dodgers leaving town. But the oddest thing about the man, the same man that helped create America's Car Culture, the man critics claimed “loved cars more than people” is he never learned to drive. It is an example of how people can be experts in others business.  It is easy to tell others what to do, but it is much harder to make ourselves do the same things. In those times we need to remember Galatians 6:3-5, “ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, ...

  All physicists in 1905 knew what light was. Whether from the Sun or an incandescent light bulb, light was a wave. All scientists knew, without doubt, that light originated at a source, spread out evenly and continuously through all the space accessible to it, and propagated from place to place as electromagnetic crests and troughs. In 1905, the wave nature of light was an established, incontrovertible fact. That is until Albert Einstein, in the face of this universally held knowledge, proposed that light was not a continuous wave, but consisted of localized particles. His worked was challenged by the physics establishment as it went against years of experiments and theory. It took two decades until people realized it, but Einstein was right.  After more study scientist began to realize that they had not seen the whole truth about the nature of light.    This doesn’t just happen in physics but in religion as well. Many people will have flawed ideas of God’s truth. ...

  A preacher friend of mine will take me out to lunch every so often. Last week as we were eating, I saw him make a strange smile when he read a label on his drink. It read “This cup weights about 60% less than a typical similar sized paper cup.” Both of us were dumbfounded to why this information needed to be on the cup (unless some folks were complaining about the strain of lifting a paper cup).  As we asked people about it, most believed it had to do with recycling. But in actuality, the weight of a cup has little to do in how it will be recycled or have much effect in environmental issues. But to most folks, it sounds like it does. So the label makes the company appear more eco-friendly when in fact they have done nothing.    False religion does the same thing with spiritual things. They may seem to the average person that their man made rules help to bring you closer to God, but in reality they do nothing. (See Colossians 2:23) We must be wise because things, in...

  A friend of mine has a pet peeve that made me think. She hates when someone uses the phrase, “I could care less” when describing something they have absolutely no interest in. She explains that this phrase really means that you do care but not completely, you could care less, so you at least have some care since you could have less of it.   Lots of people misuse the phrase but it made me think that it might fit our attitudes in certain situations. For example, the way some treat Bible class. We acknowledge the importance of Bible study but never make it a priority. Or perhaps, how we treat some church program. We want it to work, but not enough to put out any extra effort on our part. We are stuck in the middle, not against it but not enough for it to make it succeed. This lukewarm attitude is more dangerous than we may think (see Revelation 3:15-16) Rather than caring less, let’s see ways to put more care into what we are doing.

  After service one Sunday morning, we told my daughter Maggie that she had been good during the lesson. Her brother Calvin not wanting to be left out said “I was good too.” His mother informed him however that he hadn’t been good, he had been noisy. That evening he wanted to rectify that problem. So during the lesson, he leaned over in a loud voice and said to her, “I’m not going to be noisy anymore.” It was, at least, a good attempt.    I think we all are like Calvin sometimes, trying to do right but still falling into old ways. It is like Paul said in Romans 7:19, ‘ For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ” Struggling to do good and not evil is not something we will never move beyond. In fact if we ever claim we are without sin we are fooling ourselves into sin. (See 1 John 1:5-10) We should never think that struggle means failure. Only when we give up and give ourselves over to sin do we fail.

  The Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome introduced the "Day&Night" watch, which unfortunately does not provide a reading of the hour or the minute. Though it retails for about $300,000, it tells only whether it is "day" or "night". CEO Yvan Arpa said studies show that two-thirds of rich people "don't use their watch to tell what time it is" anyway. Anyone can buy a watch that tells time, he added, but only a "truly discerning customer" can buy one that doesn't.    Sound a little suspect doesn’t it. It does seem the more we have the more we lose connection with what is really important. Jesus told the parable of one such man in Luke 12:16-21. He thought that if he had enough his life was secure but, in reality he was about to face judgment. Our world seems to have the same problem. The “truly discerning” have enough that they don’t think they need things like Jesus or his church. They somehow believe they are above such common i...

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  I have never been blessed with good vision. For as long as I can remember, I have had to wear glasses or have some kind of corrective measures. This was worse for me when I was younger and played football. It was difficult to wear glasses and a helmet, so I usually went without. (The glasses that is, thought if it had been the helmet that might have explained a lot about me). After the game when my friends would talk about some plays of the day, I never could join in. If it had not happened within 5 feet of me, it was just a blur. Because of my limited vision, I hadn’t seen the same game they had!    Compared to God, we also have very limited vision of life. We only see in our own small focus. It can cause us to not see how much some of our actions, good or bad, have changed the world around us. We may view failure or success completely differently than the way God does. It forces us to trust not what we “see” but a God that sees all.

  TV newsman Tom Brokaw told the story of when he first landed the job as the co-host of the Today show. This moment was the pinnacle of his career that had started first in the morning news in Omaha, then to jobs in Los Angles and Washington. He was feeling pretty famous when he noticed a man that just kept looking at him. Finally, the man approached him and asked if he was indeed Tom Brokaw. He told him he was and the gentleman responded, “The one that used to do the morning news in Omaha, right” “That’s right,” Brokaw said, expecting the man to gush on about how far he had come. “I knew it the moment I spotted you,” the man replied then paused, “So whatever happened to you?” Just when we think what we have done will be recognized by others, the truth will bring us crashing back to the ground.   Galatians 6:2-4 tells us, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.  For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But ...

  In Ronald Reagan’s early autobiography Where Is the Rest of Me, he told the story about when he was acting in the film Storm Front . The plot of the film revolved around a murder committed by the Ku Klux Klan and was expect to cause controversy because of its negative view of the Klan. To make matters worse, it was to be filmed in an area that was rumored to be a hot bed of Klan activity. The crew was understandably nervous about some kind of incident. All was quite until, during a three AM shoot,  a local slid up to Reagan and whispered, "I hear this movie is about the Klan. I’m with the local outfit." Reagan was ready to yell for help when the next line stopped him cold. The man followed up with, “If you guys need to rent any robes let me know.” It is amazing how the chance to make a buck can change someone’s thinking.    The Bible warns us against that kind of person in 1st  Timothy 6:5, “ men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that god...

  Two shoe salesmen were sent to a village in Africa to open new sales territories. Three days later one of the salesmen sent a message back a message. “I am on the next flight back. I can’t sell shoes here. Everyone goes barefoot all the time.” There was no report from the other salesman for about two weeks. Finally he sent back this message. “Fifty orders enclosed. Prospects unlimited! Nobody here has shoes.” Perspective can mean everything.    In dealing with evangelism, the church can face a task like these two salesmen. Some look to a sinful world and give up thinking there is no way people will respond. Some will look and see people in need of the gospel. That was Jesus’ view of the lost world in Matthew 9:37-38 when he said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Instead of making excuses why it won’t work, let’s look to the lost and the need they have of Jesus Christ.

When I find myself in a mental block, I have made it a habit to go to the library and troll for ideas. I will wander the stacks looking for a book that might give me a spark of creativity. It always amazes me how many different books are out there.  Any topic, any person, any event, it seems has a book about. (I saw a book called “ The Drinking Water Book”) It reminded me of what the preacher said in Ecclesiastes 12:11-12, “ The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body .” There is great wisdom that can come from the library (and other places of learning), but also folly. Earthly wisdom will never exceed the wisdom of God. In our desire to gain more knowledge, we must be careful not to pull ourselves from the truth of God.  

  A woman in Cleveland Heights, Ohio had locked herself out of her car. Even after the police were summoned, they still couldn’t get it open. Then along came Willie Vickers. He told the officer and the lady he had some experience in getting into locked cars and in a few moments time had the car unlocked. This tweaked the officer’s interest, so he ran Willie’s name thru the computer. Turns out his experience came as a wanted fugitive and he was arrested. It seems some knowledge may not be the best to have.    In a world such as ours, it is hard to avoid immorality. No matter how hard we may try, we will be around some unclean things. We need to remember the words of Paul in Romans 16:19, “… I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil .” Just because wicked things are around us we don’t need to fall into the mistake of being more than remotely tied to them. Many of the ways of the world will only lead us to trouble and we need to know only enough abo...

We live in uncertain times. Threats of war, economic collapse, high energy prices, and worries about the future leadership of our country all cause us tension. It seems every news report contains stories of some threat, from cell phones causing cancer, to toxins in our water supply or terrorist in our midst. So what should the Christian do? Well Philippians 4:4-7 tells us this, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ." No matter what calamities man may create, God is still here and in control. We may not see the solution but He does. That peace from knowing God is in control is the best solution to our fears.

Have you ever been somewhere when a speaker is interrupted by an audience member? Sometimes it is done to heckle the speaker, sometimes it is a show of support, but almost always it just seems to disrupt the speaker. As a speaker, I have had this happen on occasion and it always throws a wrench in my gears as I struggle to recover. Jesus was once interrupted, but used to moment to teach a valuable lesson. In Luke 11:27-28 we read, "While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it"." I imagine this outburst was a supportive gesture. The woman's claim was that His mother was rewarded by her son's greatness. Jesus turned this thinking on its head by saying that people will be rewarded not by who they know but what they do. Obedience to God will...

In 2006 the Florida department of corrections was in state of crisis.  40 officials had been charged with crimes (charges from corruption and embezzling to abusing prisoners), 90 had been fired, and 280 had been demoted. When prison reformer James McDonough was charge with cleaning up the mess left behind, he first looked into the reasons that had lead to the mess and found an odd factor: inter departmental softball. McDonough said, "I cannot explain how big an obsession softball had become. People were promoted on the spot after a softball game to high positions in the department because they were able to hit a softball out of the park. The connection between softball and the parties and the corruption and the beatings of prisoners was greatly intertwined”. I am telling you this story not because I have anything against softball but to illustrate how ordinary, neutral things can become sinful when allowed to control our lives. 2 Peter 2:19 tells us, “ for by what a man is overcom...

  I often read odd news stories looking for illustrations. Sometimes I come across one that I just can’t figure out. Like the recent report of an Indiana “pastor” of a community church that broke his wrist as he fell off the stage during a sermon. It happened when he attempted to illustrate a lesson on unity by driving a dirt bike on the stage and lost control. I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out what a dirt bike and unity have in common but so far I’ve come up short. I guess some folks just have a different view of unity.    But unity isn’t some kind of gimmick; it only comes through united beliefs. Ephesians 4:3- 6 tells us, “ be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Religious unity comes not from accepting all differences but uniting in th...

Darren Mirren recently filed (and lost) an age discrimination suit against the Spotless Commercial Cleaning Company in Glasgow, Scotland. His complaint was that the company, which had not hired him when he didn’t show up to a scheduled interview, had not given him direction for the 20 minute trip from his home. He reasoned that a person of his age could not be expected to find an address unless they gave him directions. He was, after all, only sixteen years old. Unfortunately, he might be right that our world does not seem to think much of young people. It might be the world has good reason for that. But the Bible sets a different standard for the young Christian in 1st Timothy 4:12. “ Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe ”. Our young people need to not use their age as a reason for bad behavior but for good. As much as our young people need to have good examples, they also need t...

It turns out there is no God. In a recent study, scientists have concluded that God just doesn’t exist. Head researcher Stu Pidd says, “We went out and looked around and didn’t see him, so he must not be there.” This comes as welcome news to the millions of people struggling with morality and conscience. “All my life I tried to do good, be kind and help others” said Mo Rawn, a local business owner, “Now with this news, I can lie, cheat, and steal whatever I want!” Big changes are in store for our society since many fundamental areas, like our government and laws, were based on there being a God. Some will not notice the change since they have been living like there is no God for some time, but even for them it has been welcome news. “My whole life I was getting put in jail for stealing stuff, but now it’s perfectly OK”, says Dun Stolit. Without God, there is expected to be a rise in weapon sales, divorces, and corruption, with a decrease in charitable giving, greeting cards, and fairne...