Month: January 2020

There were two friends, one a Christian and the other an atheist. They would have friendly, lively discussions about God and a Christian relationship with Him. The atheist was beginning to realize that his position requires more faith than his friend’s. One night he had a dream. In his dream there were two big fields. The one on the left was filled with Satan and his demons, while the one on the right was filled with Jesus and his angels. There was a tall fence between them and he found himself sitting on top of that fence. Satan came over and said, “You know you have to make a decision. Are you going to follow me or not?” He replied that he was perfectly comfortable sitting on the fence. Then Satan replied with a smile, “Don’t you realize? I own the fence!”

There is no neutral zone between God and Satan. There is no “undecided” vote. You must choose one and you must choose wisely because it is with the one you choose that you will spend eternity. If you choose to become a child of the Living God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, you will enter and continue in God’s presence here and forever in heaven – if you reject God’s gift of salvation, you will stay in Satan’s presence here and forever in the hell prepared for him and his followers. Putting off the decision keeps you in Satan territory.

What can we, as Christians, do to help someone get off of Satan’s fence? There is nothing I can say that is more powerful than my personal testimony of what my decision to follow Jesus has meant in my life. There is no action I can take that is more powerful than letting the light of God’s love shine through me. But in the end, it will be their response to the tug of the Holy Spirit that will determine their decision; just as it was for you and for me. I often refer to Jesus as my “personal Savior”. That is because my decision and my relationship with Him are very personal, as it is with every Christian. Just as a friend introduced me to my future wife, we introduce the unsaved to Jesus, but what happens next is personal just between them.      

I have always been intrigued by personal testimonies of how people came to faith in Jesus Christ and the transformation that occurred in their life. There is power in each and every story, but the more dramatic the change in their life, the more powerful it is. The greatest example of dramatic transformation is found in the account of Saul of Tarsus’ encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:1-19) He went from a persecutor of Christians to a planter of Christian churches – from Saul of Tarsus to the Apostle Paul. God may not have blinded me like him, but He did drive me to my knees and forever change me. As the worship song states, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back! No turning back!”   

God has provided each of us with unique DNA, spirit and mind. As a result, we each react differently to our environment displaying our “personality” in the process. I have heard parents describe the very different personality of each of their children. God loves variety. He values it and uses it in His Kingdom here on Earth. When we accept the gift of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our spirit is set free from the bondage of sin and bonds with God’s Holy Spirit within us. But that doesn’t affect our uniqueness. We are not converted into mindless zombies plodding through life chanting scripture verses, as one of my unsaved friends seems to believe.

When Paul writes about renewing our mind, it isn’t about brain washing or mind control. It is about readjusting our focus on others instead of ourselves; on good instead of evil and on serving God with love as His Spirit prompts us. We still have a mind of our own even though there are times we do think about the same things. Growing up I heard my parents say quite often, “Great minds think alike.” I have found that most of the times when two Christians think alike, it is “One Spirit” that is guiding them to the same topic or conclusion. But that doesn’t stop us from looking at the world around us in a little different way than others. During World War II, General Patton was heard to say at a staff meeting, “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone is not thinking.”

All of this is leading me to my five years of experience as a member of a non-denominational, multi-cultural and multi-generational church. As a young Christian, I grew up in a Baptist church, where we raised our voices singing hymns, but otherwise worshipped in reverent silence. It has been interesting to observe the various ways others worship. Some dance in place to worship music, raising a hand to God. Some lift both hands in a position of surrender as they worship. One of my friends, who moved out of state, would sit in an aisle seat and drop to his knees in the aisle when he felt the presence of God during worship. I have even heard people softly speaking in their prayer language as the Spirit moved them. Have I found all of this distracting? No! As a matter of fact I find it refreshing to see what happens when Christians of different backgrounds are free to worship as fits their unique personalities. I am reminded that King David, a man after God’s own heart, was a song and dance man in God’s presence.

Is there a right or wrong way to worship? Jesus set the standard when he told the woman at the well in Samaria, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) So, none of those ways to worship are wrong (including mine), as long as they are the true reaction and expression of God’s presence in our life. Worship God in truth as your spirit leads you, but by all means worship Him often.  

I want us to continue looking at why our first love of God when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, sometimes begins to cool like it did in the church in Ephesus. (Revelation 2:4) It isn’t always the temptations of the world or the lies of the enemy that affect our relationship with God. As I pointed out in my last post, it can be “religion” that distracts us, but it goes deeper than that.

It has been said, “If Satan can’t make you sin, he will make you busy.” Even busy doing “good works”. Several years ago, when I was still driving and active, I received a request from my pastor asking if I would be interested in leading a weekly Bible study for senior residents in a condo building near our Tinley Park, Illinois, campus (which is also near my home). The person who had been leading the Bible study was moving out of state and wanted to find someone else to keep the weekly meetings going. It was a very tempting offer. I would have actually been one of the youngest members of the group. It would have been very enlightening to discuss scripture with people with even more life experience than me. I prayed about it. In addition to my part time job from home, I was attending church on Sunday; I was active in our Iron Men group on Wednesday evenings at the church; I was part of a smaller group of Christian men who meet at a restaurant early Saturday morning for prayer and fellowship; and I was planning to start this twice weekly blog. During my prayers, God showed me that adding another weekly meeting with hours of preparation would cut into my personal time of prayer and devotions with Him. I reluctantly turned down the offer.

I still cannot believe how easy it would have been to allow good works to negatively affect my relationship with God. Maybe members of the Ephesus church were so busy with doing good that they had less time to maintain their loving relationship with God, much less cultivate an even closer relationship with Him.

Think about churches you have attended or other groups to which you belong. Have you found, as I have, that ten percent of members do one hundred percent of the work? No wonder those who are called to serve find it hard to say no to a new duty even though it crowds out their personal time with the Lord. Sadly, there are wonderful Christian men and women who burn themselves out serving a God they no longer have time for. If you continue to pour out God’s love on others without being refilled daily, you are bound to run dry.

Learn to say no to anything that takes your attention away from your loving, personal relationship with God, even when it looks like it is serving Him. The Creator of the Universe will find someone else for that job and He will appreciate you putting your relationship with Him first, as it was when you became His son or daughter.     

My church has a January sermon series leading up to our annual three-day First Love Conference. It is derived from the second chapter of Revelation and the letter Jesus dictated to be delivered to the church at Ephesus. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (Revelation 2:2-4) Sam Hamstra, the young pastor of our Hammond, Indiana, campus nailed it last Sunday.

Sam reminded everyone of how simple things were when we first accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We felt God’s love and loved Him in return and wanted to draw closer and closer to Him. We felt that closeness when we would pray, worship, study the Bible or fellowship with other believers. We started to feel ourselves drift away from God when we returned to some of our previous pleasures and the Holy Spirit would show us other pursuits that brought us back closer to Him. Then, we joined a church and began to learn what is right or wrong for Christians to do. It is then that “religion” begins to crowd out our relationship with God, as duty takes the place of obedience. It becomes about what we do and no longer about the Gospel of what He did and will do in our lives.

Sam told about being in a group when someone asked what he does for a living. He told them he is the pastor of a church and someone immediately responded, “I’m not a religious person.” He smiled when he described the puzzled look on their face when he said, “Neither am I.” Jesus was not a religious person either. He broke the rules forbidding association with sinners so that He could introduce them to His Father. He not only broke the religious rules by healing on the Sabbath, but also encouraged the lame man to break them by taking up his bed and walking.

I think the story of David and Goliath is a perfect illustration of how “religion” can hinder faith. David was a young shepherd boy with a strong relationship with God. He had no experience in battle, but he knew with God’s help he could defeat that giant. King Saul ridiculed him at first, but then told him if he was set on going up against Goliath, he would have to put on the king’s armor and sword. David couldn’t even move, much less fight, under all of that weight. He took it all off, picked up a few smooth stones for his sling shot and went with God to take on Goliath. You know how that story ends. I think sometimes new Christians are weighed down by well-meaning church leaders with a list of things to do and an even longer list of thing not to do as a Christian, when all they really need to defeat the enemy is their faith in God and their obedience to His Holy Spirit within them.

I’m not religious – I’m a Christian! How about you?

My blog is designed to show seekers and new believers a true and honest view of the Christian life and to remind those of us who have been walking that path for a while of the important values we need to cherish. On occasion I feel compelled to revisit a particular quote or passage of scripture. This is one of those occasions.

During my life I have looked for opportunities to perform acts of kindness for loved ones and strangers alike. Now I find myself on the receiving end of such acts and I can tell you that both doing and receiving has blessed me greatly. When God took my wife home to be with Him, he put five women and five men in my life who look after me with acts of Christian kindness each in their own way. Those sisters and brothers in Christ know how much they mean to me.   

One of my favorite Mother Teresa quotes is, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face; kindness in your eyes; kindness in your smile.” There are a lot of things in this life that are easier said than done. For Christians, being kind is not one of them. Kindness is simply love in action. So our kindness toward others is just sharing with them the love that God has placed in our hearts. It should be as natural for us as breathing. People may forget what you said to them or even what you did for them, but they will never forget the way you made them feel when they were with you.

Sometimes our acts of kindness may not be well received. A relative once told me, “When you give someone in trouble a helping hand, that person will always remember you when they get into trouble again.” I thought at the time that was a very cynical observation, but we have all encountered people who think kindness is a weakness they can manipulate and use to their advantage. That leads me to my all-time favorite Mother Teresa quote that was found written on the wall of her living quarters in Calcutta.    

People are often unreasonable and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway!

If you are kind people may accuse you of ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway!

If you are honest people may cheat you;

Be honest anyway!

If you find happiness people may be jealous;

Be happy anyway!

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow;

Do good anyway!

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough;

Give your best anyway!

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

I’m sure she put that on her wall as a constant reminder of whom she was acting on behalf of. It truly is between us and God, isn’t it?

I praise God whenever someone accepts Christ, even on their death bed after a long life without Him. The most famous death bed conversion is recorded in Luke’s Gospel. “But the other criminal protested. ‘Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:40-43)

Is it fair that criminal squeezed into heaven by the skin of his teeth in the very last minutes of his life, while I have labored in the field as a follower of Jesus for more than 65 years and He isn’t done with me yet? No! It isn’t fair! That man had no time to experience the thrill of baptism or the joy of sharing his faith with others. He didn’t have the opportunity to live life with God’s Holy Spirit within him or bear the fruit of that Spirit in his life. He didn’t get to walk with God every step of the way to pick him up when he would fall and keep him from falling as his steps become painful and slow with age. He didn’t have God to thank for saving him from a house fire and from a potentially fatal disease or healing him from chronic sciatic nerve pain. He didn’t have the priceless experience of spending over 50 years of his life with a wife who shares his faith in Jesus and a strong love for each other. No, he didn’t know or experience any of those things or the other countless blessings I have known and experienced in this life and continue to experience every day God gives me here. I am so thankful that I could encounter and accept Jesus Christ as my savior at a young age and then enjoy a long life with Him before entering heaven.

Comparison is a counterfeit coin minted by Satan with envy on one side and pride on the other. Heads he wins – tails you lose. We need to be too smart to fall for that con game. We must concentrate on our own relationship with God and our countless blessings. We must pray for those who are less fortunate and reach out a helping hand whenever possible. We must praise God with those who have experienced victories and success. We must love them all as God loves us.       

You may know about David Ring or even have heard him speak. I just discovered him a couple of weeks ago and I want to introduce him to those who haven’t had that privilege and perhaps fill in some additional details for those who have. I’ve never met him, but he has touched my heart and given me renewed inspiration and encouragement.

On October 28^th, 1953, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, a woman gave birth to a still born son who was laid aside for 18 minutes while the doctor attended to his mother. As a result, David Ring began life with Cerebral Palsy. By the time he was 14, his loving mom and dad had died leaving him in foster care in Liberty, Missouri, without a real home to call his own and very little hope of things ever getting any better. Then, when all odds and life itself seemed to be stacked against him, he began a relationship with Jesus Christ and a friendship with a high school classmate.

Since 1973, David has been a nationally known evangelist and motivational speaker, sharing his story with more than 100,000 people each year at churches, conventions, schools and corporate events. He and the love of his life, Karen, have four children and three grandchildren. David is a little hard to understand at first, but his positive attitude and quick wit have you laughing and crying tears of joy as he states his main theme, “I have Cerebral Palsy – what’s your problem?”

I encountered David on a Gaither music video where he gave a brief testimony and led them in singing “What a day, glorious day that will be” and the chorus of “How beautiful heaven must be.” Wanting to learn more about him, I went to his website, davidring.org, where I found the information above; how you can schedule a speaking engagement; how to buy his latest book, “The boy born dead” or his “I am blessed” t-shirt.

I have had the hope that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for over 65 years, but David gave me encouragement to not only overcome my current limitations with God’s help, but use them in His service. David’s gratitude to God for his ability to button his own shirt and tie his own shoes – little things most of us don’t even think about, has encouraged me to look for and give thanks for the positive things in my life instead of dwelling on my pain and limitations. Not all problems or limitations, physical or otherwise, are visible to others as David’s are, but whatever our problems might be, our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ will not only keep us from being victims of our limitations or disabilities, but give us the ultimate victory over them.

I have arthritic knees – what’s your problem?

I stopped making New Year’s resolutions even before Carol went on home ahead of me. The ones I used to make were all good intentions, but you know where they say that road leads. The road I’m on now is the one that will take me to God and a great reunion with all of my loved ones who have preceded me. It is a road I travel one weary, painful step at a time, but I never travel it alone. As bad as things seem in the world around me, I maintain hope that 2020 will be the beginning of a new decade of revival and Christian unity. A birth of spiritual freedom across our nation and as the song says, “Let it start in me!”  

There’s a dawn arising on a brand new day
There’s a strong wind stirring ‘cross the ancient graves
There’s a voice that’s calling ‘will you be set free?’
There’s a change a coming
Let it start in me

There’s a fire that’s burning sweeping ‘cross this land
There is heat consuming every evil plan
There is gold emerging from refining flame
There’s a diamond sparkling
Where there once was shame

Let it start in me
Let it start in me
There’s a change a coming
Let it start in me

I pray that each of you reading this is blessed with health, joy and provision this year and every year of this new decade.