Month: October 2017

I love these words from that beautiful song How Great Thou Art: “I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed.” Is it possible for us to know that God exists simply by observing His creation? I believe when we find God in nature, we begin to understand the nature of God.

Theodore Roosevelt became interested in the wonder and complexity of nature as a young man. Our Natural Park System is his greatest legacy . It is said as President he would often lead guests to the south lawn of the White House at the end of the evening then gaze up at the sky and invite them to do the same. After long minutes of taking in the countless stars and the vastness of the universe he would say, “Gentlemen, I think we are small enough now. Let’s go to bed.”

The psalmist must have experienced that same feeling when he wrote, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place – what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalms 8:3-4)

How is it possible for people to separate God from His creation? “The Atheist Delusion Movie” is an interesting one hour movie from last year on You Tube that shows a variety of people being separately interviewed who state that they are atheists. When asked why, they each reply that it is lack of proof of God’s existence; not just proof, but “convincing scientific proof”. I suggest you take the time to watch the entire movie, but here is a brief summary.

They were each given an instruction book with full color photos and charts along with detailed step by step instructions bound with a nice cover. After they examined it they were asked, “Is it possible that this book suddenly came into existence without anyone to create and design it?” Of course they said no, but it was obvious some of them had heard the intelligent design argument before and were getting ready to resist it. Then they were told, “Now let’s take a look at DNA, the detailed instruction book found in every living cell.” The DNA in our cells determines everything about us including our sex, height, eye color, hair shade, etc. It is a blue print of our skeletal structure and the location and function of each of our organs. Every living organism has its very own DNA instruction book in each and every cell. When they were asked if DNA could possibly have come into existence without someone to create and design it, you could see them begin to grasp the convincing scientific evidence of God’s existence.

Knowing God exists is only the first step of course. Even Satan knows God exists. It is only through the gospel of Jesus Christ (His life, death and resurrection) that we can actually have a personal relationship with God. As we get to know God through His Son, His word and His Spirit within us, DNA is only one of the countless miracles we discover with His fingerprints all over them.

 

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God? With left hand on the Bible and right hand raised to God, you used to have to answer that question before your testimony could be heard in a court of law. As Christians, we are testifying constantly even when we are unaware of it, so it is vital that we are always able to answer that question with a confident, “I do!”

Trust is the basis of every good relationship and honesty and truthfulness are at the foundation of trust. However, being truthful isn’t always easy. Sometimes you know your truthful answer is not what that person wants to hear. One of my favorite commercials shows Mrs. Lincoln asking Honest Abe, “Does this dress make me look fat?” leaving Abraham Lincoln at a complete loss for words. It is funny because most of us have found ourselves in that type of situation at some time in our lives.

Being truthful requires proper attitude and motivation. Truth should never be used to impress or lord it over someone and truth should always be tempered with kindness. Some people like to use the “brutal truth” as a club to beat up someone instead of to inform and help them. Before speaking the truth we should ask ourselves two questions. Is it useful?  Is it kind?  If the answer to either of those questions is no, then it is better to remain silent than to bore someone with truth that is not relevant or deliberately hurt them for no good reason.

It is also extremely important for us to make absolutely sure we know the truth before we speak. The psalmist prayed, “Keep me from lying to myself.” (Psalms 119:29) A person who sincerely believes lies and repeats them as truth is much more dangerous than a purposeful liar.

As believers, we have a definite advantage when it comes to being truthful.  Jesus said, “When the spirit of truth comes he will guide you in all truth.” (John 16:13) When we put our faith in Jesus for our salvation, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. John wrote, “because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.” (2 John 1:2)   With that strong support, truthfulness should be natural for us but we need to study God’s word, have daily prayer time and be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us.  His spirit will not only give us the truth to speak, but will show us how to speak it with love and compassion. The best part of all of this is that as we become familiar with the truths of God we will also be able to recognize the lies of the enemy.

Last Wednesday evening I attended a meeting of our men’s group at church. We call ourselves Iron Men, not because we are strong or hard, but because Proverbs 27:17 tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” We are a racially and ethnically diverse group but we have each been adopted into God’s family through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ so we are, in a very true sense of the word, brothers.

After sharing a light meal together, we watched a short video on the “rite of passage” from boyhood to manhood and then broke off into groups of five with three questions designed to encourage each of us to share our life experiences with each other in the intimacy of that small group. Differences of age, race, ethnicity and financial or social status all melted away as we shared our lives and our hearts with each other. At the end we formed a small circle, joined hands and prayed together as one.

That experience brought to my mind an image of the earliest churches described in Acts and in Paul’s letters to them. They were also small groups. They met in homes, breaking bread together and then sharing their joys, burdens and testimonies with each other. Jew and Gentile, young and old, slave or free, rich or poor they shared their strong faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ encouraging and sharpening each other as a result. There were people even back then who tried to exploit differences in order to cause friction and division, but those differences quickly melted away in an atmosphere of love, faith and God’s presence with them and in them.  Brothers and sisters in Christ joined hands and prayed together and those prayers were answered in miraculous ways.

Our nation and the world is more and more divided into groups that distrust, fear or even hate other groups. Much of this division is fueled by lies and misconceptions. What is the answer? First we must begin or renew our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Then we need to meet with believers from those other groups to form personal relationships with them through open and honest conversations sharing our thoughts and feelings. God will show us that we have a lot more in common than we can imagine.

As a Christian teenager in 1957, I watched Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stand side by side on the platform in front of a packed Madison Square Garden and proclaim, “There is only one race – the human race and everyone in that race needs Jesus Christ as their personal savior.” That night people with every shade of skin came forward together to receive Christ and become brothers and sisters in God’s family. Jesus bridges the gap between us and God and He will bridge the gaps between us if we let Him.

 

We have been warned by Jesus:  “And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.” Matthew 24:11  “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” Matthew 7:15

God’s true church of believers is being attacked by the enemy both from outside and from within.  Like Rodney King during the LA riots, we hear people plead, “Can’t we all just get along?” My knee-jerk reaction is, “Yes, of course I want to get along.” But then I am told that in order to “get along” I must accept that everyone else’s lifestyle and beliefs are just as valid as my own.  If my lifestyle and beliefs are no better than anyone else’s, why bother with them at all? That is exactly the enemy’s goal. He wants to replace the gospel of Jesus Christ with a social gospel that ignores Jesus’ deity and sacrifice while concentrating on social justice and the concerns of men.  He wants to replace Abba Father with a generic god who can be accessed by anyone through any religion, but for what purpose? Such a god cannot provide love, grace, forgiveness, salvation, healing, comfort and peace and neither could Ishtar, Baal and every other false god of the past.     

 New Age Christianity is neither new nor Christian. I listened to a song on one of my oldest CD’s recently that describes and then counters its doctrines, “They say there is no right or wrong, it’s all in how you see and the only debt we owe is to each other. You won’t need to be forgiven if you do the best you can. You’ll be justified if you just love your brother. But you can’t love your brother if you don’t know the Father and you can’t know the Father if you don’t know His Son. The Bible says there is no other, if you search you will discover you can’t really love your brother if you don’t know the Father’s Son. True love comes from up above, by grace the price is free. God so loves us that He sent His Son to die for you and me.”

One of the more recent incarnations of the new age movement is called the Emerging Church. One of the leaders is Brian McLaren who is the pastor of a large church in Maryland that challenges almost everything about evangelical Christianity. He has authored many bestselling books including A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. One of those questions is, “Who is Jesus and why is he important?” (If you have to ask that question, can you really call yourself a Christian?) Another of his books is Why Did Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha Cross the Road? (Even the title implies they are equal and going in the same direction.) Another of his bestsellers is “We Make the Road by Walking”. (We are in control – not God?)  I’m sure you get the idea by now. What bothers me most about all of this is the term bestseller.  That indicates many people have bought and read those books and have been persuaded and misled by them. What a great reason for us to read and study God’s bestseller instead and then put it into practice in our lives.

What got me started on this topic was when one of my Face Book friends shared this post:  “True religion has a universal quality. It does not find fault with other religions.  Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of true religion.” My comment on that post: “That is exactly why I don’t belong to a religion, I belong to Jesus Christ. He is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through Him. Muhammad, Buddha and other religious leaders are dead, but Jesus is alive. If pointing that out is finding fault with other religions, so be it.  If a building was on fire and I discovered the only way out, I wouldn’t condemn others for not knowing, I would do my best to lead everyone to safety. That is why I share my faith, not to condemn others but to save them.”

 

 

I was taught at a very young age to say “thank you” whenever anyone did something for me or gave me something. I don’t know if it was a cultural, generational or a regional thing, but as a result, expressing my gratitude became a natural part of my life. When I encountered Jesus Christ, my gratitude took on a whole new dimension as I realized that He suffered and died for my sins. He has been a huge part of my life for over 63 years now and every day I find more and more things for which to thank Him.

Gratitude doesn’t come easy to everyone. Anne Frank wrote, “Dead people receive more flowers than the living because regret is stronger than gratitude”. Sadly, that is too often the case. Whether it is regret, a sense of entitlement or just plain self-centeredness, the enemy will use anything to crowd out or weaken our gratitude. Why? Because when our gratitude is strong we are strong. Our gratefulness chases away our doubts and fears and puts all of life’s challenges into perfect perspective.

The Psalms are filled with thankfulness and praise to God. The Psalmist even tells us to “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God…” (Psalms 50:14) The entire Bible is full of gratitude and praise for all God has done. In Colossians 3:15 Paul writes, “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” When you have experienced His love and His power, thanking God comes quite naturally.

Our thankfulness for the words and deeds of others not only gives us proper perspective, but it encourages them to continue those kind words and actions. I stubbornly push myself to remain self-sufficient and independent for as long as possible, but whenever anyone holds a door for me or offers to help me I sincerely express my appreciation of their kindness. Kind acts should never be taken lightly or overlooked especially when they come from those closest to us. We must never take for granted the love and kindness of those we love. My wife was also taught to express gratitude at an early age and we expressed our gratitude for each other every day of our long marriage. We refused to let familiarity or disagreements rob us of our appreciation and gratitude for each other.

I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for visiting my blog and reading this post. I pray that the power of gratitude will become or continue to be a strong force in your life.

One of the greatest things about trusting completely in Jesus is receiving the Holy Spirit within us, not just when we worship or pray, but in the drudgery and routine of our daily lives. That spirit within us is the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) and provides the power to make all things possible.

When I was working as a pest control technician and starting a new career at 42, I had an unforgettable experience.  I was living my Christian faith but I didn’t wear it on my sleeve or talk about it unless I was asked because I didn’t want to come off sounding preachy or holier than thou. I was convinced I could show them Christ through my attitude and actions. One day I got a call from a prospective customer with a pest problem. She was an older lady. I inspected her home and sat down with her at the kitchen table to go over my proposal to eliminate the problem. As I told her about all of the things I planned to do I added that I would need her assistance. I said, “In order to do a thorough treatment I will have to treat your closets and I need for you to remove all of the clothes.” There was dead silence for what seemed like an eternity as she stared down at the table. Then she looked up at me and said, “You are a believer, aren’t you?” I was shocked. I felt like a spy whose cover had just been blown. I said, “Yes, I am. Why do you ask?” Then she told me that her husband died about six months ago and she could not bring herself to remove his clothes from the closet. She said, “When you told me I had to take the clothes out of the closet, it was as if God was speaking to me through you and telling me it is time.” Every time I think about that encounter with that sweet lady, my eyes fill with tears. When we follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives we will find ourselves in places where God can use us in spite of ourselves. I was thinking treatment procedures, but He put the words in my mouth that she needed to hear.

By the way, my quiet Christian life of service did get the attention of my coworkers and my supervisors. I sort of know how Joseph felt as he lived for God while a slave in Egypt. Living for God and serving others he first gained the complete trust of Potiphar, then he gained the complete trust of the prison warden and finally he gained the complete trust of Pharaoh. Instead of feeling sorry for myself having to slave away at the bottom of a new career path in my middle age, I put my trust in the Lord and then worked and studied hard in humble service to others. In just five years I went from service technician for a regional pest control company to service manager then to corporate trainer. I held that challenging and rewarding career position for nearly 17 years. God is good.

 

One morning earlier this week, I was peacefully sitting in my car enjoying my senior coffee and breakfast sandwiches while listening to the news on the radio, mostly about the evil occurrence in Las Vegas. A commercial for a financial institution came on and suddenly without any warning six words smacked me right between the eyes and stimulated that sometimes vacant space between my ears. Those words were, “Because too late comes too soon.” Those words literally sent a chill down my spine. Those who are much younger may slough off those words and think, “I will get around to it someday.” But I know that someday will come and go before they realize it, just as it has for me.

Have you heard it said that when you are dying your whole life flashes before your eyes? Well when I heard those words everything in my life that is now too late for me to achieve seemed to flash before my eyes and it was shocking. It is too late for my professional baseball career. (Actually it was too late for that when I discovered I lacked talent.) It is too late to spend my money wisely and plan for a comfortable retirement. It is too late to protect my knees from wear and tear. It is too late to lose weight by exercising. It has even become too late for me to walk more than one city block without sitting to rest my legs. But not all of my regrets are about physical pursuits. It became too late years ago for me to tell my mother, father and my step mother what a positive influence they had on my life. What is most painful to me is the fact that it is too late for me to once again squeeze my wife’s hand, gently kiss her and tell her how much I love her. Too late has come far too soon.

One of the saddest stories Jesus told was the story of the greedy landowner who had a bumper crop and instead of sharing his good fortune he decided to build bigger storage barns so he could relax and live the good life off of his stored wealth. But his life came to an unexpected end and it became too late for him. (Luke 12:16-21) Jesus concluded by reminding us to store spiritual not physical wealth.

When I was very young, a song by Louis Prima and Keely Smith told us, “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think. Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink. The years go by as quickly as a wink. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” Those words have much more meaning to me now than they did back then.

I have watched the heartbreaking slide show with information and photos of the 58 fatal victims of the Las Vegas shooting and I am stunned and saddened by how young and full of life they all were. It is now suddenly too late for them and for their loved ones. But it is not too late for us as long as God gives us breath and a heartbeat.

For the rest of my life (however long that may be), I intend to concentrate on what I can do. Whether it is writing God’s wisdom and words of encouragement on this blog; being there spiritually for my brothers and sisters in Christ; or simply brightening someone’s day. At the drive-up window when I picked up those breakfast sandwiches and coffee that morning, I told the cashier that her smile brightens my day and then I watched as her smile became even bigger and brighter. That is what I can do.

We all have been affected by a contagious illness at one time or another.  Families with children in school have experienced a sick child spreading their illness to everyone in the household.  The flu is very contagious and can be fatal to the very young, very old or those with health problems.  While in the hospital my wife picked up a virulent MIRSA infection that kept her from receiving chemo therapy for the cancer that eventually took her life. The threat is so serious that we have created the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to track and control the spread of serious epidemics.  But not all contagious things are dangerous.

There is a video going around Face Book that shows a man on a commuter train looking at his IPad and laughing.  As he continues to laugh hysterically others in the rail car begin to smile and laugh with him even though they have no idea why he is laughing.  Laughter is obviously something that is contagious.  Have you ever noticed when someone yawns it causes others to yawn too?  Yawning is not really good or bad, but even that can be contagious

Our attitude also can be contagious.  Have you ever known someone who is so negative that they seem to suck the oxygen out of a room the minute they enter?  When I headed up a team, I protected them against that kind of negativity and encouraged enthusiasm and optimism instead, both of which are contagious in a positive way.

Nothing spreads through the population as quickly as news at CLC.  You may have heard me tell about my experience with our multicultural six-pac experiment.  My small group met for the first time on a Friday evening at Panera Bread.  Sewit and Rashard McMillian, Tiffany Hines, Alicia Penny, Tabitha Cochran and I introduced ourselves to each other initiating wonderful, lasting friendships.  That following Sunday morning, a brother came up to me at church and said, “I didn’t know you knew Rashard.”  Smiling, I responded, “I didn’t until two days ago.” The Good News of the Gospel should travel so fast.  As a matter of fact, it does!

The Apostle Paul was a carrier and he infected Gentiles and Jews alike with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.  The Good News then spread from person to person throughout Asia and Europe.  Today the Gospel continues to spread around the world through personal contact.  As in Paul’s time, many have been inoculated by the enemy to resist it, but the Holy Spirit continues to overcome.

It seems like almost everything in life, good or bad, is contagious doesn’t it?  That being true, it is up to us to keep it all positive by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through personal contact along with our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These epidemics will change individual lives, communities, nations and the world for the better.

What am I worth? What is my real value? I have asked myself those questions at times in my life and I think we have all questioned ourselves like that in some way. There are many ways to measure our value. By the latest estimate the chemicals making up our physical body are worth a total of $160. (Inflation has pushed that figure up considerably since I was a boy.) The total dollar value of all of the organs in our body would come to as much as $45,000,000. Of course those figures have no meaning unless we are dead and it appears at this rate that by then most of my organs will be pretty much worn out and useless.

In a court of law, when there is a wrongful death suit the value of the person’s life is determined by their earning power and the number of people who were dependent on them. But again that is a value after the person is dead.

What am I worth as a living, breathing human being? It depends who you ask. Those who know and love me might say I am priceless, while someone I just cut off in traffic accidentally might say that I’m a waste of good oxygen. Those kinds of evaluations vary greatly and are dependent on our relationships. In the final analysis there is only one opinion and relationship that establishes our worth and that is God’s. He made it possible for us to have a permanent relationship with Him through the life, death and resurrection of His Son. (John 3:16) So what does God think I’m worth.

Two of my favorite worship songs have answered that question for me. The first says, “You thought I was worth saving, so you came and changed my life. You thought I was worth keeping, so you cleaned me up inside. You thought I was to die for, so you sacrificed your life. So I could be free; so I could be whole; so I could tell everyone I know.” The other one says, “I am who He says I am and He says I am His own.”

When I think that the Creator of the universe has put such a high value on me and my life, I am overwhelmed. It has done wonders for my self-esteem, but I cannot boast for as Paul correctly pointed out to the Corinthians, “As the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord’”