Draw Away Disciples

Good Morning,

As active Christians, we all get concerned about younger believers. We watch and notice when a youth or newer believer is influenced by less than spiritual people, and we should notice. The book of Proverbs warns constantly about the wrong crowd misleading the simple one and promises to bless the one who walks with the wise. (Proverbs 13:20)

At times, we fail to see how mature believers can, likewise, be misled.

Acts 20:29 “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

vs. 30 “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Notice that last phrase: “to draw away disciples after them.” The drawing away was not of young believers, but disciples — disciplined ones.

2 Timothy 4:10 “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”

Demas was a faithful companion of Paul; the love of this world drew him.

Colossians 4:14 “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.”

It was not necessarily that Demas desired riches and wealth over Christ, he could simply have “loved this present world” and was not inclined to follow Paul to prison and death. How many believers have evaded service on a foreign field where their life would be in danger? I, for one, considered with hesitancy that my son be permitted to travel with a college friend to areas of Trinidad and Guyana where there was a possibility of harm. We had not denied the faith, but we do love having our children around and would wish long life for them. He did make the trip, and we trusted him to the hands of the loving Father.

The reasons are undisclosed of why Crescens and Titus also departed from Paul. (Titus, of course, is the faithful man who penned the book of Titus.) Their reasons for leaving may not have been negative; they may have made the decision for ministry in another place, but the context is not favoring that idea, as it followed the comment about Demas and gained no positive explanation.

Whatever their reasons were for leaving Paul, the faithful believer needed to be careful about who influenced him. The books we read, the internet sites we visit, the sermons we might hear on the radio or online all need to be carefully monitored in order to protect our spiritual future.

Fear caused Peter to deny his Lord. Love of money or the praise of men caused Ananias and Sapphira to lie about their finances and die premature deaths. (Acts 5) Perhaps it was fear of death that caused John Mark to return from following Paul and Barnabas to the mission field. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that at one point he left. (Acts 13:13)

In the exhortation of Paul to the Ephesian elders, Paul was fearful about doctrinal error drawing away disciples and thereby causing the ministry of the Gospel to suffer. It was in the early church that men denied the idea that Gentiles could be saved. (Acts 11) Shortly after, saved Jews came telling young believers that they needed to keep the Law of Moses to be saved:

Acts 15:1 “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”

vs. 2 “When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them,”

Many stories exist of Satan’s attempts to draw the fledgling church into error, and Paul had to straighten them out; even the faithful Apostle Peter was openly rebuked for wrong:

Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?”

Do not lightly allow others to influence your faith or doctrine. Walk guardedly, and inspect the teacher as well as the teaching before it is casually adopted into your faith. One popular pastor, with a large internet audience, preaches against the nation of Israel, Jews of today, and against the idea that we will be raptured before the tribulation. One error leads to another, and once a pastor takes an off-ramp from the Bible in one area, he is forced to preach all manner of foolishness. Followers of that man, like sheep, innocently travel the road to increasing error.

For the faithful believer, take heed, guard your influences, and if anything unusual comes across your path, compare it to the Bible and time-tested, godly leaders.

Acts 20:29 “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

vs. 30 “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Pastor

Different

Good Morning,

The fact that God’s people are different is well known, but the extent of their difference is rarely seen so clearly as in the life of Mordecai.

Esther 3:8 “..and their laws are diverse from all people;”

The people of God have always been different; or at least, we are supposed to be different —different from all other people.

Esther 4:6 “So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate.”

vs. 7 “And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.”

How very personal the king’s law was to Mordecai because it was his fault that all the Jews were threatened. He alone bore the responsibility, but it was according to the commands of God, and Mordecai was willing to leave the end result to God. Although the other Jews did not hold the same standard, Mordecai’s unbending stand, uncompromising application of Scriptures, and unmovable conviction were the cause that threatened the lives of all the Jews. Still, Mordecai did not seek peace or compromise.

Mordecai was not fearful of the destruction of the Jewish people. Later, he assured Esther that deliverance would arrive from somewhere; it was her choice to be a part of it or not.

Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai was sure, not only in his stand against the actions of religious people but also in that he would win in the end.

Abraham was asked to offer his son on the altar. This request was unusual and absurd in the eyes of men, yet it was the willingness to do the unusual deed that brought about the statement in Genesis 22:12: “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”

I am not saying that God would ask of us the unusual deeds that He asked of Abraham or Jephthah, but I am saying that unusual actions suit an unusual people. We are strangers and pilgrims on this earth.

1 Peter 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”

Deciding not to drink liquor or go to casinos is not a freak decision, but simply one of separation. Loving your spouse, having an orderly home in which people love one another, following rules of behavior, allowing dad to be head of the home, or teaching children to obey are not weird or freakish decisions.

Esther 3:8 “…and their laws are diverse from all people;”

No matter the price, Daniel would not stop praying at his window, and his friends would not bow to the giant idol. The apostles would not quit preaching on the street, nor would believers be deterred when death was the price. Baptists were drowned by the millions for simply not baptizing their babies. They were not freaks; they were people of conviction. When people truly believe something is so right that suffering is better than compromise, they set themselves apart.

We are different. Our roots are different. Our God is worthy of our absolute trust, even if it makes us outcasts.

Hebrews 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

In Hebrews 11, we read of the kinds of people that God revered as faithful heroes:

Hebrews 11:32 “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:”

vs. 33 “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,”

vs. 34 ‘Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”


Some people were held up for great victories they had won; others were esteemed for standing true when the world said they were failures.

vs. 35 “Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:”

vs. 36 “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:”

vs. 37 “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;”

vs. 38 “(Of whom the world was not worthy…”

We are not bad, but we are different. We are people of conviction and strong belief — people who believe their God is worthy of our trust and obedience.

Yes, we are very different from the world around us.

Pastor

Appropriate

Good morning,


As a child, my brother and I stayed at the home of a babysitter who had National Geographic magazines. Some of the primitive pictures of natives were certainly of interest to little boys: lack of clothing, feeding a baby in public, and lack of discretion — these are typical of primitive or Third-World nations.

1 Timothy 2:9 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”

Ephesians 5:12 “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.”

The forward woman in Proverbs 7, talked about her bedroom. She described how it looked, how it smelled, and how safe it was from discovery.  Her actions were certainly the wrong way to behave. When reading the books of Proverbs or Song of Solomon, God alludes to different matters of intimacy with vocabulary and sentences structured in a manner that if read by a child would still be appropriate. Notice the careful wording God uses in this passage of Proverbs:

Proverbs 5:15 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”

vs. 16 “Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.”

vs. 17 “Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.”

vs. 18 “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.”


Those words make a point without being too direct. In our culture, we would use the word would be discreet, appropriate, or delicate. 


The following verses contain the bluntest words you will find; notice how carefully God used them:

vs. 19 “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.”

vs. 20 “And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”

When I was a child, people did not use the word pregnant; but instead, the words expecting or with child would be used. Rarely would anyone even speak of a lady carrying a baby in mixed company. Clothing was loose fitting and the subject was whispered. Intimate subjects were simply not a matter of public conversation. Private concerns of health or our bodies were not discussed in public — and that was in the public school or among my unsaved, non-Christian family. The word used in the Scriptures is shamefacedness: which means to be bashful or very respectful of those around you. Many subjects are not wrong but do not need not be discussed publicly. Conversation should contain some bashfulness and discretion, and should also be guarded so as to protect the mind of others.

Let me be blunt. For a teenage boy to see a lady throw a shawl over herself and then slip a baby in to breastfeed does much for the imagination. It brings the boy’s mind to places he should not go.  I went through my entire youth never seeing any lady feed her child until my wife, and that was in private. Feeding a child privately is described as appropriate, discreet, and civilized.  

Photography has become more than immodest, and we have brought our children into a society in which subjects are discussed that certainly do not fit the words shamefacedness and sobriety. (1 Timothy 2:9) Having a little shame or bashfulness is far from the expectation of today’s culture. When our last child was born, we were surprised at the lowered standard of what is appropriate since the birth of our prior child a decade earlier. Walking through the hospital for an introduction of facilities, they showed us where the wife would have a last-minute sonogram. Asking if someone would like to demonstrate, a lady near delivery hopped up on the table pulled up her shirt and allowed a dozen or so men to view not only too much of her flesh but also the sonogram of her baby. I quickly stepped to the back in the crowd to protect my appropriate and discreet thinking. What is wrong with our society? The guide of our tour went on to describe the best place to set up a camera if you wanted to video childbirth. I do not care what our society says — that is as close to pornography as it could be! Yes, childbirth is amazing. Yes, the miracle of a new child is incredible. But how does discretion fit into the picture?  Only a few years ago, a husband was not even allowed in the delivery room. Our culture has become unfathomably primitive, and we have lost the discretion that was brought into our society through the Bible and Christianity.

The lack of propriety or discretion can also slip into a Christian’s life.  The Bible tells us to confess our sins to God. James says to confess our faults one to another. Faults and sins are different; the words were carefully chosen by God. We need not describe graphic and detailed situations to other believers: we are not priests. The garbage in one person’s mind is probably best left there; to put that information in the mind of another believer is not necessary. Confess the sin to God. To say I am sorry for being rude to you is a long way from my telling you about private sinful deeds.  One is a fault, the other is a sin.  

Ephesians 5:12 “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.”

Deeds that are done in secret simply do not need to be discussed. We close doors and wear clothing; we do not discuss subjects that our clothing covers or about what is done behind closed doors (unless it is with a parent or a doctor). These practices are the product of a civilization that has been influenced by Christianity and the Bible. I do not need to hear ladies talk about someone's clothing size or a breast pump. For ladies to talk about these subjects in private would be more appropriate. Subjects which are discussed in the presence of a man should be entirely different. Perhaps that way of thinking is extreme, but no one ever got in trouble not knowing something.

Our culture has glorified the “no boundaries” kind of mentality. People with no boundaries say anything, take pictures of anything, and casually converse about anything — just like people in primitive society do. I left that mentality when I put down the National Geographic magazine and chose to think as God directed.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Pastor 

Environmental Agendas

Good Morning,

Deuteronomy 20:19 “When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege.”

2 Kings 6:25 “And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.”

In the Scripture, many times we read of enemy armies laying siege against a city.  People would flee into a city for defense against enemies, but then they would be stuck there with no source of supplies while the enemy surrounded them and waited for everyone to starve.  Hezekiah had a tunnel dug from a faraway water source to bring water into the city, (2 Kings 20:20) but there was also the need for food for people and animals. 

Here is a brief thought that is intended to bring us to prayer.  When the enemy wants to hurt someone, cutting off the supply chain is a common attack. They make certain items more difficult to obtain, they raise taxes or permit prices, and add regulations so the cost of production goes up; then the common man is faced with the difficulty of affording things like natural gas to heat their home or fuel to get to work.  Do not mistake it, the promotion of electric cars has a far deeper significance than clean air and co2 omissions.  If that were the case, they would be concerned about how batteries are made and disposed of (which in case you are not aware, produces far more co2 than fossil fuel powered cars).  

Our governor demands that only free-range chicken eggs be sold, so that shoots up the price of an easy source of protein. Who cares if the chicken is happy; we want their eggs. What chicken ever said she was unhappy?  Or who made the decision that chickens were capable of being happy or sad?   Every time a regulation is put into place to “protect us” or to be “more humane” we should remember the word siege.  If the supply chain is being attacked, so are the people: oil pipelines, fracking, and the attack against beef ranchers due to “emissions” are just a few.

Control has always been the goal of evil people and the evil one.  By keeping folks cold, struggling for food and heat, and limited on how to get clothing and ammunition, they strive to make the common man easier to control. 

This is not a lesson to bring fear, but to highlight facts that will remind us to pray. We are in a spiritual war for the Gospel, the church, the Bible, and the eternal souls of men. 

Pastor

A Different Perspective

Good Morning,

On the cross, Jesus prayed, “…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” and Stephen prayed, “Lord, Lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60)   Later, we read of Paul speaking of those who abandoned him in his troubles, and he said,  “I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.” (2 Timothy 4:16)

When we consider love, it is not love of friends and family that is so amazing, but love of those who hurt us. 

Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

We have all read or heard about Christ’s instruction to “turn the other cheek,” and most of us wonder about that one.  

While reading in Psalms, I see David often praying for his enemies to be caught, trapped, confused, and even killed, but as we look more into the life of David, we do not see those emotions come out in his actions.   David sparred the life of his enemy Saul twice. 

Speaking of his enemies, David wrote;

Psalm 35:13 “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”

vs. 14 “I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.”

The world hates because they do not have the love of God.  The politicians live by deceit and graft because they never met the One Who is just and pure.  The media twists and corrupts information to sell a story and to make a buck; they do so because they never learned righteousness and honor from the altogether Lovely One.  Believers who walk with the Lord and live in His Book view life differently.  To forgive, to have mercy, and to wish well to those who wish them evil are all natural reactions that a child of God can experience.  

When one is born into the family of the One Who “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,”  we look at the miserable world around us with eyes of compassion.  For this reason, for centuries, believers have walked away from comfort and friends to tell the dying and evil world of the loving Saviour.  By looking back a few hundred years, we will find that most missionaries had very short ministries (an average of only five to seven years); travel, disease, or evil men often took their lives.  Most missionaries never returned home and died on the field; missionaries still went with the knowledge that this was a real possiblity.  There is a love and compassion in the heart of that anyone who walks with God, and that causes him to view life differently. The more vile the world, the more we realize how very lost and broken this world is.  Like starving children or dying prisoners of war, we see this evil world as prison of lies that hurts people who are starving for truth and honor.  

We do think differently, and the closer we are to the Almighty, the more we will exhibit tenderness, even to those who harm us.  Everything looks differently through a Spirit-filled heart. 

Pastor

Sovereignty of God

Good Morning,

On occasion, I find myself in a conversation with someone who has accepted the “Calvinistic” view of the Christian life.  It is more often found among those with college and even seminary training than among “normal” believers, but that is not always the case. At least one church in our area is strong in the folly of Calvinistic philosophy. 

Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

The main idea of Calvin that people love to embrace is the election of some to salvation and the “irresistable grace” of God that saves a soul. The idea is that God picks who will get saved, and that one cannot not resist the will of God, even if they wanted to. The contrary part of that doctrine is that God also picks who will go to Hell, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.  Church members sit around studying their Bibles and trying to gain a happier life, but they never lift a finger to get the Gospel to the world around them; for the men and women around them are going to go to Heaven or hell and there is nothing any of us can do to change that. 

The common believer knows this is foolish; for the idea of  “irresistable grace,” and “total depravity” says that man is so bad, he could not muster up the faith to call on God for help or salvation, without God giving him the grace to call.  Now that might make some measure of sense in a classroom, but in the real world, it will not work.  Just as a professor challenges the number of genders, no farmer ever thought up something so ridiculous.  If one lives in the real world, he will gain much truth. 

For instance, a drug-addicted person was not forced down that road of ruin by God, it was the decision of the individual. The drunk driver was not forced by God to walk into that bar, to drink liquor, and then to drive.  Any reasonable person knows these are the choices of man.  

Isaiah writes of God knowing all things and doing what He wants in the world, but it is far from causing man to sin or to do right. 

Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

Some people have taken this philosophy so far as to say that God placed the forbidden fruit in the garden because He planned and forced man to eat of it, so that Christ might come and save humanity (well, at least those who are ordained to be saved). 

I know that most of you who are reading this article think it is a waste of time, and are thinking, “I have other things to do beside read foolish ideas of ignorant men.”  Yet, the doctrines of Calvin are in most Bible colleges, are creeping into countless commentaries on the Bible, and are being brought subtly into the pulpits of Baptist churches across America. 

When God commands us to “be not drunk with wine,” He obviously states that the decision is up to the man.  When God says for a man to love his wife, it is logical that the man may NOT love her; God is urging him to do so, but the decision is left to the man. When God tells children to honour their mother and father, any child can see that the choice is in the heart and mind of the child, not one that is forced upon them by God.

When God says, “come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28), it is clearly an open invitation that leaves the choice up to the hurting one to come or not to come.  From the Ten Commandments to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” God expresses His will, and though He knows all things, He does not cause all things.  

The lazy, satanic excuse of not going soul winning because God has ordained some to Heaven and some to Hell is tragic.  Do we leave our children to brush their teeth or not because it was ordained of God?  Do we not seek to order the friends of our children?  Do we not teach our children to behave with respect, diligence, or punctuality?  If God is totally sovereign and ordains all things, why “train up a child in the way he should go?”  For he will go the way God eternally ordained him to go, and there is nothing we can do to change it.  No common Bible-reading Christian would consider such foolish ideas.   Remember that college is often the source of corrupt thinking, both in the secular world and the sacred. 

Why would we fast and pray for some important situation if it were ordained by the eternal edict of Heaven?  This kind of thinking will cater to the flesh and caudal the spirit.  This takes away the broken heart over the wayward child, and removes personal responsibility for the lost man next door. This eases the grief over the direction of society, and basically allows everyone to do what they want, to relax, and not to worry about anyone or anything else.   

The average Christian in a Calvinistic church will not believe all this, for it is obviously foolish, but if we want to accept the doctrine of total sovereignty, then we must follow that road and see where it leads and it most certainly leads to a land of stupidity.

Let us be clear that there are some verses we do not understand. When we read some passages, we wonder about them, but we should not allow idiotic doctrines into our churches because of our limited understanding.  

Pastor

Believe Every Word?

Good Morning,

Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”

Romans 16:18 “For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple."

Consider the number of recorded Bible stories in which someone got into trouble because they believed what they heard rather than verifying the facts.  We might start with Eve; she caused a few problems when she believed the tempter’s words. In addition, there were those who believed the idea that building a tower could reach Heaven.  I wonder what they thought they would do then?  Once the giant tower was built, who really wants to climb it?  Who wants to live up that high? What good will it do?  Without considering these questions, someone conceived the idea, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon (as many people do when they see something on social media.)  Abraham listened to Sara and took Hagar as his wife; this decision brought about endless hurt through the Arab race.  Isaac listened to his mother and deceived his father and that advice did not develop into anything worth while (and those illustrations were found in the first few dozen chapters of Genesis).  

The point is, a prudent man listens, thinks, acquires facts, and determines if the situation is any of his business. If not, he ignores the words because they are simply unfounded or the actions of a busybody.

Let me give you an example.  An older man had been missing from church for a few weeks.  Another man came to me and said that the missing gentleman was angry with me about something.  In foolishness, I believed what I was told and ignored the missing man.  After a week or two, I felt I had to see him.  Stopping by his house, he came to the door and began to tear up that I cared enough to come visit him. The man's elderly father had moved into his home and fallen. He had been forced to find help and on and on. You can imagine just how overwhelmed he was. He was so thankful his pastor cared enough to come by. Oftentimes, people say things that are LIES, mistaken impressions, or misinformed opinions. 

Proverbs 14:15 "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”

Do not believe everything you read or hear, even if the information you hear is from family or friends.  I was verbally accosted by a man about how a situation was handled at church, the issue was not momentous, but it did need a response.  I was chastised, scolded, and rebuked.  Then I explained that when the event occurred, I was out of town for a few days, and the situation was handled by others. I had no involvement or information about the incident.  The man simply ignored the facts and continued to scold me – before I even had a chance to research the facts of the situation.  

Some people will believe what they hear, even if facts prove otherwise.  Do not panic; if we think hard enough, we may also remember having done something like that before.  Have some mercy and guard your response.  It may be that emotions will calm and reason will return (or maybe not). Do not react to what you hear, and do not accept what is written in the news or social media as fact. (Have we not learned that lesson already in vibrant ways over the past few years?) 

Romans 16:18 “For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

There are people who set themselves to deceive others.  They plan their words, order their conversation, and have an agenda.  Others want an excuse to be angry, to quit their job, to drop out of church, or to move across the country; when a fixed desire is in place, information becomes warped, stories are twisted, and details are bent to fit their narrative–and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. In their predetermined agenda, they will deceive others and cause much harm.  

Have we all not read about propaganda from communist leaders such as Hitler and Stalin to our current socialist politicians? 

Do not believe what you hear and read; at least have the prudence to look into the information.  In reality, most of the deceitful things we hear do not even need to be researched: someone is angry at you, someone said mean things to you, someone does not like your child, or some disease is going to kill everyone so you must stay inside (you know the kind of statements that are made).  

Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” 

Do not believe every word, it may hurt more people than you think.

Pastor

Go On Anyway

Good Morning,

When someone close to us falls, there is a certain grief that hits us.  If it be a child, a spouse, or someone who works for us, it is a heavy weight to bear when those near us make a mess of their lives. 

I know people who have quit going to church when their marriage failed (often simply out of shame and partly wishing not to be reminded by the questions folks innocently ask).  The same is true if a business fails, if a child gets into great trouble, or any number of personal sins. Some people also feel personal responsibility that they failed as a spouse, parent, or boss; they blame themselves and withdraw from life in guilt or self-abasement.  

Allow me to mention a few Bible truths and some thoughts to ponder when those near to you fail.

Our knowledge of history begins long before Genesis one; we find the earliest historical events in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 when Satan was cast out of Heaven.  I am so thankful that God did not quit when one of His created servants rebelled and took a major part of the heavenly creatures with him to their ultimate destruction.  God is perfect, yet one of the beings He created used his free will to seek the highest position in Heaven.  God went on being God.

Sometime later, God made man, and you know how that went. One child was fooled by Satan, and the other chose willfully to disobey the simple commandment not to eat from that tree. Skipping ahead to the New Testament, we see how our Lord personally picked his followers, and one of the twelve was filled with Satan and sold out the Master.  That choice to pick Judas was not a BAD decision; it was perfect like everything our Lord did. I am glad Jesus stayed on track doing the will of God. When a follower does wrong, it has nothing to do with the leader, much like Satan's decision to rebel against God had nothing to do with God.

We can look at stories of earthly leaders and see one of the Apostles’ key couples lie to the Lord. God had to kill them (Acts 5).  When your child or spouse chooses wrong, you are not to blame; it was their choice, not yours.  

2 Timothy 4:10 tells of three of Paul’s hand-picked workers who went back to the world:

"For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia."  

While I'm sure Paul missed them and was grieved over their bad decisions, Paul kept going on for God.

Parents, when your child fails, you still have a life to live for God. No, you were not perfect, and neither were any other people. When a traitor walks away from his post to join the Taliban, the fault does not lie with the commanding officer.  When your spouse walks away from their marriage vows, it is not your fault any more than it was the fault of Hosea that his wife went into prostitution.  No, you were not a perfect spouse, but neither is anyone else.

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Do not join the wicked one in trying to discourage good people from doing their duties in life. We live in a broken world, and will feel some hurt when a child or someone near you goes astray. Once you have hurt and grieved, get up and get going to make up for the work that was left undone by the one who walked into the world. Ask the manager at any major store if he ever had employees break company policy, steal, or defraud the store.  Then ask if the boss took the blame. If you are the one who messed up things and you failed, read about Edison who found a thousand ways NOT to make a lightbulb.  If leaders around you make a mess of things, remember our founding fathers who had to walk away from England – they built the greatest nation on earth.

If it was your decision to go astray, remember the cross, and that forgiveness is available (1 John 1:9), because "God so loved the world."

Some of the finest pastors and church members I know lost a child, a spouse, a business, and they went on with a broken heart to do countless wonderful things. (Yes, even while being criticized.) Keep on!  

Pastor

Misuse of Words

Good Morning,

I would like to take a few minutes to address the tongue and the evil done with it.  

Allow me to first address the way the Lord feels toward those who say things that separate friends. We read about a "forward mouth" or one who uses their words to promote an agenda, one who has a plan of attack and uses words as ammunition.  For starters, God hates it!  

Proverbs 6:12 “A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.”

vs. 14 “Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.”

vs. 16 “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:"

vs. 19 “A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

We can look many places in the Scripture to passages that deal with words and evil speech, but for the moment, let us focus on the person who uses their "tales" to divide, to separate, and to sow discord.

GOD HATES THAT PERSON.  That is what we just read...

vs. 16 “These six things doth the LORD hate…

Vs. 19 … he that soweth discord among brethren.”

God is speaking of a person who has used their words to separate friends.  It makes God angry.

Proverbs 16:28 “A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.”

God hates the use of words to divide or to cause hurt between believers.  Consider Paul as he writes to the church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Paul says the divided, fussing Christians are "babies" and need to grow up.  

1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”  

vs. 3 “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”

Strife, contention, and wounds from words are a big issue to the Lord, believers are told to STOP USING WORDS TO HURT PEOPLE!

Proverbs 26:20 “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth."

vs. 21 “As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.”

vs. 22 “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”

God wants us to work at keeping close not at using foolish and corrupt communication to divide the brethren.  Those who do so are in great peril.  

Paul deals with these activities in a general manner in Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 12:20 .”..debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:”

Believers need to get a grip on their words.  Stop using words to hurt people; find a biblical manner in which to speak.  The use of words to cause division will be dealt with by God in a harsh way. 

Pastor

Baptist or Protestant Revivals

Good Morning,

2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Most have read about the great revivals of George Whitefield.  His revivals were spectacular in the number of people coming to hear the preaching and in the number of people getting saved. Basic information about these eras of revival with Charles Finney to Billy Sunday can be easily accessed among Protestant groups.  Any caring believer would love to hear and rejoice in the results of those meetings.  Unusual things were associated with these early revivals, things the world might call crazy: people shaking, passing out, running outside into trees, and many other odd behaviors.  Although I do not doubt that God can use anything He wants in any way He wants, those results were never recorded in the Bible conversions.  (Historical note: few Baptists attended these meetings; the Protestants were the very people who persecuted the Baptists and dissenting churches.) 

One more element accompanied these revivals was that the converts were sent back into their own churches, much like the more recent Billy Graham and Harvest revivals.  

One reason for the great number of converts was that these Protestant churches preached a vague Gospel; they did not make it clear, and they did not make it attainable as Whitefield did.  George Whitefield preached “ye must be born again” hundreds of times, while the various Protestant churches were telling people to “pray through” (an unbiblical term), to “hold out” at the altar, or to “get right with God.”  Bible conversions were always immediate!  

The thief in the cross with Jesus was not told to pray through or hold out “until he got it.”  The jailor in Philippi was told, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31)   The people heard, they believed, and they were saved– period!  Likewise, when Whitefield preached to be born again, thousands of church members did that very thing; he made it clear!  The Gospel was not often made clear in the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches; they believed it, but made salvation a process, and a difficult one at that.  

Contrast that with the colonial era Baptists who went soul winning and started churches; the Baptist soul winner did not send people back to their old church that allowed members to go to Hell, they started new churches. The Baptist revivals were grounded upon soul winning, baptizing converts, and starting churches (thus the Bible Belt).   The Baptist revival meetings were winning, not church members, but the unchurched people of their area.  There were no recorded “spectacular” side effects, like barking, rolling on the ground etc.; people got saved, baptized, and joined churches.  Why were church members not getting saved as in the Protestant revivals?  Because the Baptists made salvation clear every week and door-to-door. 

I love to hear about a revival where folks got saved.  Without criticism, most soul-winning Baptist churches see folks saved out in the streets every week.  I would guess that in a church like ours, there are as many people saved every month of the year as there are in some city-wide revivals that take place once every few years (whose roots are in the same Protestant religious philosophy as early America). I would like to repeat that I am happy for every person who places their faith in Christ.

The testimonies of revival meeting where folks are getting right with God are wonderful, but it is a rare week in Baptist churches where folks are not on their knees, at the altar getting right, or better yet, staying right with God.  The message is more clear and the work is day-in and day-out. 

Baptists tend to make the Gospel clear and simple.  The mega churches of our area have allowed the Gospel to be clouded, vague, and difficult to find. I cannot begin to count the number of people we have met while knocking on doors, who were faithful church attenders, but also had no idea if they were saved – but they were “trying.” 

The Gospel is to be SIMPLE! We must keep it that way! We rejoice in every soul that gets saved in any church or in any type of meeting, as long as they are trusting Christ alone. 

2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.”

Remember the conversion of the Jewish man from Ethiopia?

Acts 8:36 “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”

vs. 37 “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

vs. 38 “And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” 

Hear, believe, be saved, and be baptized;  quick, simple, and no need for anything spectacular.  (The baptism was UNDER WATER, not sprinkling.) 

Pastor

I Am Sorry

Good Morning,

Ezekiel 23:35 "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.”

This verse follows thirty-five other verses that reprimanded the people of Judah for their shameful and godless living.  God pronounced judgment on them because of their vile living, and for putting God behind their backs (out of their sight). 

I grieve over these verses as I consider America and her corruptions, and I hurt for how we have treated God. Much of chapters 22-23 deal with how good God has been and how perverse Israel and Judah were in response to the Lord’s mercies and blessings.

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have treated You.

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have treated Your Word.

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have ignored Your house.

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have passed laws against You, the Bible, and the church.

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have passed laws to elevate shameful deeds, protect sinful actions, and promote filth to the place of lawful. 

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how Christians love their entertainment and are so complacent toward church attendance (at best, maybe giving God an hour a week).

I am sorry for what we have allowed our schools to do to our children: exposing and instructing them in perverse lifestyles.  

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how we have defamed the home, attacked the place of a father, ridiculed the role of mother, and placed the television as the central teacher in our homes and families. 

I say to God, “I am sorry” for how holiness, discretion, purity, modesty, and virtue have been almost completely removed from our vocabulary. 

I say to God, “I am sorry” for the millions of babies murdered and endless innocent blood that we have allowed to be shed in our land.

Ezekiel 22:12 “In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.”

I say to God, “I am sorry,” for the pornography and the endless stream of polluted talk that  courses through our hearts and homes.

I say to God, “I am sorry,” for how the Bible lies unread while everyone in the home has their “screen” at hand – from parents to toddlers.

I say, “I am sorry that we have preschoolers who can run a tablet or cell phone yet have never read one verse of Scripture.”

For this and so much more, I am sorry.  May we become honest in confession and perhaps find some mercy.

Are you sorry enough to take a moment to confess the sin of our land? 

Pastor

Types of People

Good Morning,

Almost every day, we live among people. At work, school, church, or even in our neighborhood, people are a constant factor in our lives.  Perhaps it would be wise to learn from the Lord about types of people in order to better guide our relationships.  Here are simple words used by God to identify men and women. A casual reading of passages with these words will be a great assistance in hiring co-workers, making friends, and making social or business choices.

Women are called strange, whorish, evil, foolish, gracious, fair, virtuous, wise, contentious, angry, brawling, adulterous, and odious.  

Men are called wise, evil, wicked, just, righteous, good, prudent, slothful, diligent, foolish, wrathful, understanding, ungodly, froward, violent, faithful, angry, furious, unfaithful, mad, contentious, deceitful, and unjust. 

God pointed out these characteristics; therefore a wise person will look and consider character. 

Of course, it is possible I have missed some, but these things give us a look at character types, and as such, are good to read about with our children or with those whom we influence. What kind of character do we want to nurture or suppress in our own children?  Who is it we are hiring?  What kind of person do we want our children to befriend?  For whom do we want to work?

We should face the fact that the great coach might be a terrible husband, and the man who is wise with money might be an evil employer.  We might ask ourselves, "How involved should this person be in our lives?"  A productive co-worker might not be a wise choice for a spouse.  

This list is not given so we can sit back and critique everyone, but it might help us avoid trouble from day to day.  

Pastor

In His Presence

Good Morning,

I was noticing how people react when they are in the presence of God.  One’s reaction is an indication of how close one is to Him.  Let us look at the Scripture:

Isaiah 6:5 “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." 

Job 40:4 “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.”

vs. 5 “Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.”

Genesis 17:3 “And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,”

Ezekiel 1:28 “And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” 

Matthew 17:6 “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.” 

We could go on and on showing the abhorrence of self, the unwillingness to say anything, or the absolute emptiness of personal opinion.  When sinful men enter into the presence of a holy God, they are empty. 

Luke 5:8 “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 

When we draw near to God, we understand more clearly our own sinfulness, and no one looks at others to compare ourselves among ourselves.  

I understand that we are to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help, but I also understand the better the view of God, the more we shut up. 

Job had taken time to speak in defense of his deeds, but it was not his deeds that were the trouble, IT WAS HIM.  When Job got a good close up experience with God, he shut up.  His problem was personal not behavioral.  It was who he was, not what he had done. 

Job 40:4; Job 40:4 “Behold, I am vile…" 

Job 42:5 "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.”

vs. 6 “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

As long as personal righteousness and “what I deserve” is foremost in our minds, we can be sure that we are not anywhere near the Lord.  

When the Gospel is preached with the anointing of God, the lost who hear will most likewise respond in humility. 

1 Corinthians 14:25 “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.”

May we get to know Him better, remembering Micah 6:8, “… walk humbly with thy God.” 

Pastor

Imparting Our Soul

Good Morning,

Too many marriages are selfish, self-centered, or perhaps focused on an agenda. In business, a bus route, a church, or in training our own children, I think the weak link is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:7: “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:”

vs. 8 “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.”

Notice the key phrases, “as a nurse cherisheth her children,” “being affectionately desirous,” and imparting their own soul – because they were dear to them.  That depth of feeling is far beyond simply doing our duty or doing what is required of us. Those kinds of feelings and emotions are what make a difference in a bus route, in a Sunday school class, or even in our own children.

Many children grow up in a home wondering if they are dear to anyone. Many a spouse wonders if their marriage partner is affectionately desirous of them. The Apostle Paul talks about being gentle as a nurse cherishes children – not about doing one’s duty, but imparting his own soul.

When Jesus left Heaven, He did not just come to die, He walked where we walked and lived like a human being. Jesus was tired, hungry, ridiculed, and was, “in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.”  Jesus did not just hang on a cross to get you into Heaven. He poured out His very soul. He left Heaven and all it’s glory and majesty for a dirty, foul, putrid earth. He left the glory, riches, and praises of the eternal glory to live among the mortal. He loves you!  Christ did not just give us the Gospel, He imparted unto us His own soul.  

When I think about our church and the people here, there is nothing I would not give or forfeit for them. I could not imagine doing what I do for a paycheck. That would cheapen the depth of my love. If I were younger and healthier, it would be easy to work a job, pay all my bills, and still be the pastor; for it is not a job it is life. At my age, and my health, I do not think I have the endurance to do both, but I have the love to do both.  Being a pastor is not a job; it is not for money; it is being affectionately desirous. Over the last years, more and more, I have grown in affection, fondness, and tender love for those whom I pastor. I see their hurts and it grieves me. I see their broken hearts and long for God to help them.

If you were in leadership of a ministry, or have a marriage or children, I would like to encourage you to ask God to help you embrace the very spirit of the Apostle Paul.

When I consider our founders and read their writings, it is obvious that they loved this country; they loved freedom, and they loved the idea of liberty and opportunity. Those who founded our nation pledged, “…their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.” We have taken two hundred years of progress to come to the point that our politicians love their lies, seek great fortune, and have no honor. They have no deep love for the nation, the dream, or the people. We do not need to criticize our politicians; we need to look at our own house, our own church, our own school, and our own ministries.

Might we rekindle love.

Pastor

Expectations

Good Morning,

Psalm 62:5 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” 

We all have expectations, but in most cases, they deceive us.  Expectations are the romance of the mind, the meditation of the heart, and the dream of young love.  All too often, those pesky expectations turn out to be disappointments and frustrations.  

As I said already, we all have expectations, whether about a Christmas gift, a new job, or marriage.  Often a young man gets married thinking he found someone who loves him and desires to be with him, but within a short time, often a new addition to the home robs the heart of the beautiful bride and leaves the young husband with unfulfilled expectations.   In many homes, the lovely young lady marries the hero from her dreams only to find him working so many hours that she rarely sees her Prince Charming. Again, expectations are left unfulfilled.

The five-year-old enters kindergarten with expectations; often thinking it will be just like home, only with learning.  Soon the child discovers that he is sharing the attention of the teacher with a group of other children – and disappointment follows.  

A man accepts a new job; he expects an enjoyable work place, a good paycheck, a chance for advancement, and more; but those expectations are not always fulfilled and disappointment visits his heart. 

The main point brings us back to the passage in Psalms 82; it is wise to have all our expectations resting in the Lord. 

1. When trouble comes, assume God is alive and well, and that He knows what is best (believing Romans 8:28).  

2. Another help to avoid unfulfilled expectations is to control who you expect to do what.  Meaning, I cannot control my new boss, but I can control me.  So my goal, my expectation, is to do well, to do my best, and to fulfill the responsibilities I have upon me. 

With my wife, it is best to set my sights (expectations) on being a good husband and expecting nothing in return (a very difficult thing to do for sure).  When disappointment creeps into my heart, before it takes root, I need to examine my own behavior and be sure I have done my part, and then be content with that action; for the heart and behavior of my spouse is not in my control. 

Firstly, I need to place my expectations in Christ and His faithfulness in my world, and then secondly, seek to apply myself to the job to be the best I can be. If others miss the mark, that is not my trouble (although, on occasion, it becomes our problem).  

Lastly, it is wise to remind ourselves often that we do not plan well.  We do not know the future, and we do not know what will happen tomorrow; and as such, we need to be guarded about expecting anything from anyone.  You might say, we ought to keep the “bar low.”  

James 4:13 “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:”

vs. 14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

With that in mind, is God not wonderful when He sets up the two great commandments – love God and love your neighbor?  We can do those two, at least they are more attainable than the unknown people and circumstances of the heart, the school, or the business world.  

We will all face some unfulfilled expectations, but placing these guidelines might soften the blow when it does come.  

Pastor  

Facing the Judge

Good Morning,

I would like to think that all people consider the future (the long-term, forever future), but we know most do not.  James warns about having the right spirit toward one another; he uses the powerful phrase, "the judge standeth before the door."  At the door, ready to enter, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords awaits; anyone with any good sense is fearful of that day.

James 5:9 “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

Every one of us will stand before the ultimate Judge. Parents and bosses, as well as social media judges, jury, and executioners will all stand before the Lord to be judged in perfect righteousness. That fact alone ought to produce some measure of mercy from us; for we all fail, and we all miss the mark.  As such, the Lord urges us to be merciful.   

James states another warning:

James 2:12 “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."

We will be judged, but the Book sets forth perfect judgment. The Creator of the universe, not the opinions of society or the vote of the media, set the standard of right and wrong in motive and action, and He placed those standards in His Book, the Bible.  That Book will be our judge.  We have had it in our nation, in our bookstores, and, in many cases, our homes. God said that we have the Truth and are accountable for knowing it!  

Regarding “judgment," Jesus warned us to be merciful, for we will receive similar judgment in our time before the Judge of the universe.  

Matthew 7:2 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

May we be careful about being slanderous, attacking others verbally, passing judgment on others, and especially seeking to destroy another; for that will be the kind of mercy and judgment that we will receive one day.  

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Pastor

Follow The Plan

Good Morning,

Many people have the idea that every Christian can see, understand, and anticipate the same circumstances as others.  There is no area in life that is that way, so why should it be so with believers?  One Christian attends church faithfully, pays close attention to the preaching, reads their Bible privately, prays for wisdom and understanding, and in their daily life, seeks to honor God and gain His presence in their activities.  Another Christian attends church rarely, seldom reads their Bible, and lives day-to-day just as any other person.  Do people actually think the second person will have the same perception and insight into life and the work of God as the first?

Notice what Peter says:

2 Peter 1:9 "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

We can “lack” things that will cause us to be blind and not see “afar off,” even to the extent of forgetting we are saved. The child of God who diligently applies the truth to their life will see the opposite result.

2 Peter 1:8 “ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.“

God offers eight elements to diligently apply to our lives that will give us a fruitful Christian life, clear vision, and guidance for the future: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.  These are byproducts of gaining the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:2-3)

Through these things, we are able to escape the “corruption that is in the world through lust.”  (2 Peter 1:4)

Do not think the casual Christian will discover equal victory with the diligent believer. This is no more true than a casual guest at the gym obtaining the same result as one who follows a rigid workout plan.  God gives us the plan, but it is our choice to follow.

Pastor

Identity

Good Morning,

Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”

vs. 12 “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:21 “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:24 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”

Notice the phrase "after his kind."

All of us are well aware of the attacks our culture regularly throws at America. America, our beloved, great country, is being attacked and mocked. Statements such as, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty…” are being removed from our culture. Globalism and (using an older term) unilateral perspective toward the world tears away the very idea of unique nations and promotes us to be one, they try to break down those unique boundaries of national loyalties. This line of thinking is the cause of the destruction of wonderful cultures and people across the world. In History stories, we read about the French, Germans, Austrians, and other people of other nations, and we look with admiration on these unique people groups. All of these people and cultures are being assaulted as much or more than America.

We are being robbed of our national distinctives.

Follow my thinking here:

• One ripple of this globalistic thinking is surfacing in our churches. There were once Nazarene, Baptist, or Pentecostal churches, but now we have community churches, fellowships, vineyards or branches — identities are being eliminated.

No one knows what another church believes, what sets them apart, or what they truly are.

• Likewise, gender identities are being attacked and eliminated. We now live in a culture in which speaking about manliness or something regarding a character trait of your gender (whether a feminine woman or a masculine man) is attacked and treated as a narrow-minded, bigoted slander.

In reality, we have pine trees and palm trees; we love them both; each tree is unique and distinct. There is nothing wrong with being who we are. Eliminating the boundaries, lines, and divisions is a work of Satan’s slow destruction of the work of God. I do not have to hate others to enjoy being who I am. I am a left-handed Norwegian who lives in America, and I love it; but I would expect a Japanese person to love Japan.

Women ought to glory in their feminine creation. Men ought to love being manly. There is nothing wrong with lines.

When you think of "Cajun food,” you do not think of European cuisine. When you think of lumpia, no one imagines a group of Mexicans cooking. We are different. We are unique, and we ought to enjoy being that way.

In the beginning, God made all kinds of trees and animals; He then created a man and a woman. They were different from one another, and God said that it was good.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

Let God be God and Creator. He made us; He made the nations, and He made two genders which are easily identified from birth in all mammals. Let us keep our identity!

Pastor

Discretion

Good Morning,

One of the tragic changes in American culture is the lack of discretion.

Proverbs 2:11 “Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:”

Proverbs 11:22 “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.”

Discretion has to do with good judgment or good taste, both in appearance and action. Discretion will preserve; the lack of discretion will destroy. A woman without discretion is like a beautiful ring in a pig's nose. We need to speak about discretion to our young people — it matters to God!

In Proverbs 7, we read about a woman with the attire of a harlot. Obviously, forward women and forward men have always existed. I am not so foolish to say that the devil has only just begun to use inappropriate behavior to hurt the people of God, but I will say it has become very acceptable — that is the dramatic change. In the ’60s, girls wore extremely short mini skirts, and people looked at them with a measure of shame. In this age and culture, we find the pastors’ wives and the leading ladies in the church revealing far more flesh than is appropriate.

One cannot look at the news team or sports announcers without noticing the obviously well-chosen angles of crossed legs (far more noticeably than they ought) — that is indiscreet! We have become so familiar with impropriety on television that Christian men and women have lowered their standards of discretion.

Being discreet: when a lady stands too close to me, I move away. When a man or lady speaks about anything too personal or inappropriate, discretion tells listeners to shut them down or leave.

Young men as much as young ladies need to have a wall of appropriateness and discreet behavior at all times. A man should not be flattered by a forward woman, but he should rather treat her as if she was an assailant looking for the opportunity to destroy him.

Again, the trouble today is the acceptance of forward behavior: the little girls studying how to stand, how to hold their hand on their thrust-out hip, or how to wear the clothing that screams "sex" as the gal walks by a man. This acceptance of indiscretion has prompted parents to send their children to dance classes — classes that ALWAYS end up in a sensuous manner. We act as if "sexy" is a normal thought in dressing for work or for a date — but it is wrong! If we are to be pleasing to God, modesty, discretion, and keeping a blush on our girls is vital. A girl needs to realize that her level of discretion will, most often, be left up to her to keep her dating life clean; a guy simply will melt if she allows physical activity to begin. Sad, but true, the burden falls on the girls.

Timothy speaks of ladies dressing in a way that becomes godliness.

1 Timothy 2:10 “But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

Solomon wrote of the forward woman in this way...

Proverbs 7:10 “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:”

Yes, our words matter. Yes, our dress matters. Yes, our conversation should always be appropriate.

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace,”

Proverbs 4:24 “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

Proverbs 10:32 “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.”

Let us all decide to make discretion a part of everyday life.

Pastor

Defeating Satan

Good Morning,

Most of us have personal areas that we acknowledge are bad, and other areas we simply tolerate that may not be so good when observed closely. We all have that one area we excuse, yet we accuse another severely for his flaws.

Most people would consider adultery as “bad," and of course, God does too. Such was the story in 1 Corinthians 5; a man, who was living in adultery, attended church without shame and was "puffed up" about it. Paul urged the people not to fellowship with him or eat with him, and to do so with the purpose of making him ashamed. (Separation is not mean, it is biblical.)

The story is in 1 Corinthians:

I Corinthians 5:9 “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:”

vs. 10 “Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.”

vs. 11 “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”

We are forced to deal with the unsaved world and their mess, but we need not fellowship with the saved in their shame, "no not to eat" is the admonition in verse 11.

Paul concludes the instruction:

vs. 13 “...Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

The church accepted the instruction of Paul, and the heart of the man broke. The next question was, "What do we do now?"

In the following book, 2 Corinthians 2 tells the end of the story and is summarized by one word, "forgive."

Paul reminds them of his writing:

2 Corinthians 2:4 “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears;”

Paul assured them that the separation was for a purpose — to bring the man to repentance, not to avoid him and hate him for life.

vs. 6 “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.”

We will be called judgmental, critical, and mean-spirited. We will be accused of acting as if we felt we are "holier than thou" and much more; but the issue is not me or my feelings, the focus is placed on God's church. The church was purchased by His Son's blood, and He wants the folks in His church to be clean. Broken fellowship is God's plan for drawing people back into close and pure fellowship. Separation is the tool God uses because He loves those who have strayed from Him, and He wants them back. Keeping them in close fellowship when they are unrepentant is not loving, but shameful.

Back to Paul's writing in 2 Corinthians 2, we find that the man was broken and needed to receive forgiveness:

vs. 7 “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”

This is the point at which we fail:

Yes, we ought to separate from those who are boastful and unrepentant of their sin, but once they repent, they need to be brought back into fellowship.

vs. 8 “Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.”

vs. 9 “For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.”

Paul spoke of the people being obedient in "all things,” meaning the forgiveness as well as the separation. We may be good at removing fellowship from a wayward believer, but are we as good at bringing them back into fellowship? That is obedience too!

Paul said in verse 8, "...confirm your love toward him."

Make it very clear that he is loved and that he belongs.

Satan gets an advantage if we do not forgive the broken sinner:

vs. 11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

When one is proud, boastful, and unrepentant about his sin, this progression should take place:

1. Separate from them.

2. They lose friends and companions, and yes, this may seem unkind, but it is biblical.

3. They repent with a broken heart.

4. We forgive and offer comfort (vs. 7).

5. We confirm our love for them (vs. 8).

If we do not....Satan gets the advantage.

When we hold a believer away at arms length after he has gotten right, Satan wins. To forgive, comfort, and love is the way to beat the devil. The broken person should not be the object of gossip, or be accused of false repentance. Love and comfort should be freely offered to him.

May we be obedient in all things. (2 Corinthians 2:9)

Pastor