Ecclesiastes 12:10

    It seems that whatever it is we want, the when we want it is now. In the ancient world, when something was done quickly, it was described as “ that very hour” (Matthew 8:13, John 5:42). Today we think in terms of the second (or even the millisecond)!   The reality is that some things take time. With that in mind, let's consider Revelation 2:21, “ I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ” In this passage, Christ is speaking to an issue with immorality in the church. By no means does he condone this, yet still he says he gave time for repentance to happen. Now that time was coming to an end because of the lack of repentance.   Yet, we must acknowledge that some time was given. Often when we confront a person about an issue, and there isn’t an immediate reaction, we think it did no good.  But that may not be the case. Some things take time. Time for behavior to be changed. Time for hearts to melt. Time for conv...

  Once there was a contest to show one’s skill at archery. Three men were challenged to shoot an apple off a young boy's head.   The first one draws his arrow back, shoots, and hits the apple off the boy's head. He then holds up his hand and proclaims, "I am William Tell!"   The second one draws his arrow back, shoots, hits the apple, and also splits the other archer's arrow. He then holds up his hand and proclaims, "I am Robin Hood!"   The third one draws his arrow back, shoots, and hits the poor boy right between the eyes. The other archers look at him, stupefied at what he has done. The man then holds up his hand and proclaims, "I am sorry.   When we mess up, we should be sorry. But when we continue to mess up without an effort to change,  we are just being sorry.   This is at the heart of repentance. Not just being sorry for what he did, but changing so he doesn’t continue to be sorry For the sorrow that is according to the will o...

    I do not know if anyone likes to be wrong. Now some are better at it than others but for many of us admitting we are wrong is like swallowing a handful of gravel. It going to take some time and effort and we probably won’t get it all. We might have to do it but we don’t have to like it.   But maybe we should.   In Acts 3, Peter is preaching yet another gospel sermon. After a miracle of healing, he is telling the crowd about the plan of God fulfilled in Jesus and the evil that had been done to him. Peter tells them that even though they “ had acted in ignorance ” (17), they still needed to “ repent and turn to God” (19). He warned them failure to heed the message would end in destruction (23). Yet consider what he proclaims in the last verse of the chapter: " For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways ."   How were they blessed here? By God sending Jesus. How had that blessed...

   As Francois de La Rochefoucauld once remarked, “ When our vices quit us we flatter ourselves with the belief that it is we who quit them .” Many times, our repentance is really nothing more than us trying to escape the consequences of our sin. We are sorry only because we are caught or maybe it caught up with us.   That however isn’t the kind of repentance God wants from us. Consider what is said about the woman Jezebell( probably not her real name but an apt description) in the message to the church at Thyatira found in Revelation 2. Here is a woman who is involved in wickedness and leading others to it. It is said of her “ I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.”  God is willing to forgive. He wants us to turn back to him. He will give us chances to do just that. But there comes a point when our sin isn’t ignorance, immaturity or weakness, it is just simple rebelliousness. That kind of sin will be punished by God and we...

  In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head.    As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"  When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25  It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...

  This may sound like a rant, but here goes anyway.    Just because you are now sorry for what happened didn’t mean you repented.  Just because the consequences have caught up with you and you are now suffering, doesn’t mean you have repented.  Just because you have now fessed up to what everyone else has already knows, doesn’t mean you have repented.  Just because you know that unless you show some contrition, things might get worse for you, doesn’t mean you repented.  Just because you issued a formal apology, shed a few tears, tore your robes, said “I’m sorry”, doesn’t mean you repented.     Repentance is more than just being sorry.  Repentance is making a turn around.  It isn’t just a “whoops, sorry about that”, it a realization that what I was doing was wrong and I can’t keep doing it. It isn’t just sorry I got caught, it sorrow that for what I was and commitment to be different.  Paul describes it this ...

   It is one of the most depressing books in the Bible. It's very name, Lamentations, means the passionate expression of grief or sorrow.  It is a book about when the worst happens, when the unthinkable happens. It tells of a time when everything lies in ruins, families are split apart; all the things that matter most are totally destroyed. When the carnage and grief are so great there seems nothing left to do but weep. It is a time when it seems all hope is lost.   So it is ironic that in its pages we have one of the most positive, uplifting expressions of hope in the Bible. In Lamentations 3:21-23 we read,  “ This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness .”       Even in the worst of time, when it feels and looks like God has left his people, and it seems He has had enough of them and...

I must have been sick on the day they taught phonics in school. If I don’t recognize a word by sight, I can find some amazing ways to mispronounce it. The worst part is that even when I know I am speaking it incorrectly, my brain and my mouth won’t cooperate to do it right. I cringe when I know I have to use certain words in a lesson because no matter how much I practice, I’m not sure how it will come out.             However, I know that those difficult words are not the hardest word for people to say. The hardest words to say are sometimes the most simple to pronounce . Phrases like, “ I’m sorry ” and “ I was wrong ” and “ I have sinned ”. The longest, hardest walk many ever will take is the steps down the aisle when they come forward.             It would behoove us to remember this when people need to say those words. We need to do everything to support them and encourage...