Ecclesiastes 12:10

   Sometimes you hear people say “God will not give you more than you can bear.”  Yet that isn’t biblical.  Yes, God ‘ will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able’ (1st Cor. 10:13) yet that doesn’t say that there won’t be times you face adversity more than you can handle.  Consider 2 nd Corinthians 1:8-9. Here Paul says  “ For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength , so that we despaired even of life”. The burden on him was more than he had the strength to overcome. To the point, he was ready to be done with life.  Why would God allow that to happen? Let's read on; “ indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves , but in God who raises the dead ” This excess was so that they would not trust in themselves to overcome but learn to full trust in God.  We might be falling in...

     Many folks don’t think little towns have much going for them.   They are small, not many folks, not much going on. The future can’t be bright for a little town they say.   Some folks think the same thing about little churches.   But while they have some disadvantages, they also have advantages.   People are closer knit. They are quicker to be compassionate. They rally together. They fight through adversity. They typical kinder, simpler and less quick to fall into bad ways. " For who has despised the day of small things ? Zechariah 4:10   I think the mistake we make is by looking at what we don’t have rather than what we do have.   Size isn’t the issue. Some of the most dynamic things in the brotherhood come from small churches. A little town can do a lot when it gets everyone on board. A small start doesn’t mean a little finish (Mark 4:31-32).   God doesn’t expect us to do give what we don’t have but he does ex...

    Several times in the Gospels we see Jesus go out to the mountains to pray. (Matt 14: 23, Luke 6:12, 9:28). In fact Luke 5:16 says “ Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray” . Why?     Jesus taught us that one of the best places to go and pray is somewhere by yourself (Matthew 6:6-10). It is not that Jesus doesn’t think we should pray in public but rather before we do, we should pray in private. Our world today often laments the restriction on public prayer without taking advantage of private prayer     In Mark 1:35  we read, “ In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there .” I believe Jesus here is setting for us a great example. That before we go about our day we need to go before our Lord. Away from manmade distractions into God-given glory. If you think you have nothing to tell God place yourself in his glorious beauty and you...

    It was midnight and he was asleep after a long day. It had been messy, a near riot but he now had the two offenders in custody secure in stocks. Singing but secure in the stocks Then the earthquake hit.  And everything fell apart.  Literally.  Doors swung open. Locks fell off. He just knew all the prisoners were gone. Disaster. No way he could catch them, and it would be him in those stocks.    He feels the sword at his side, heavy. An idea hits him, a bad idea. Better to go out easy on your sword, than at the hands of the prisoners… or the one that put them there.  Then a voice speaks out of the chaos, “Don’t do it, we are all here.”   “Lights”, he cries out. He must see it for himself. Could it be true? Sure enough there they sit.  What do you ask them? How? Why? What happened?  But for this Philippian jailer, there is only one question, “ Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?”  For many folks, we never ...

  If you asked many to describe a typical Christian you might hear words like, grumpy, angry, condensing, pompous, judgmental, and complaining. This may be because of the negative view the world has put on Christians.    But there might be a bit of truth in it as well.   After working in ministry for twenty-five plus years, I can tell you some church attenders seem to love to be miserable and make others miserable as well. This is a shame since the word that we see used over and over to describe the faithful in the Scriptures is Joy.  Consider Romans 15:13, “ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit .” Or John 15:11 “ These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full . Galatians 5:22 tells us joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Romasn14:17 says it is a characteristic of the kingdom of God. Still not convinced, read the bo...

    Satisfied with a job well done.  It is a nice feeling to be happy with what you have done. For many that is the sign that you have done what you are supposed to have done. You are happy with it.  Yet consider Proverbs 14:14: “ The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his. ”   Now here it tells us that the good man is satisfied with his ways, but so does the wicked man. The term here is ‘one that has a disloyal heart’, one that has gone back into sin, one that moves the goalpost on his morals. That guy is just as satisfied. He feels as if he has done exactly what he has supposed to.   What is it trying to tell us? That being satisfied with yourself is not the best metric for if you have done the right thing. I know folks who have messed things up royally, that will swear they have done nothing wrong. Unless we think sensible and cautiously, we may just be fooling ourselves (Proverbs14:15-...