No Holds Barred

We have the opportunity today to make a difference for the Lord.  If we wait for smooth sailing to share...or no problems before we pray...or no hindrances before read His Word...or no hangups before we are witness for Him, we will never be what we could be for the Lord.  However, the reality is, that many of us will have a golden opportunity today to share a Word for Him, or spend some extended time giving Him praise, or sharing His Truths will someone else.  If we wait for no hangups or hindrances, we will have missed those golden opportunities.  I love the vision that Paul shares in I Corinthians 16:8-  But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹ for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (www.lifejournal.cc) Let's let nothing come in the way of shining for Him today!

Alive in Christ

A neat event happened last night at our church that us fellows was not able to attend.  It was a ladies banquet in honor of our heroes at home- that is, the wives of our Sapper men serving in Afghanistan.  The speaker was our U.S. Senator's wife, Mrs. Wicker.  The entrance fee was to bring a snack to be packed up and sent to our Sapper men.  The surprise highlight was a welcome video from some of our soldiers serving.  Dawn was bubbly about it last night and Facebook (yes, I just took the plunge) is lit up about it as well.  Thank you ladies for working so hard to honor our ladies and our Lord on such a great night!

I am highly anticipating Sunday when we will celebrate the Lord's Supper together and talk about the darkness of the cross and the sealed tomb.  However, keep in mind...Sunday is coming.  Resurrection is very near.  When I read I Corinthians 15 this morning, it makes me want to rush to the empty tomb.  I Corinthians 15:54-57 -When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?     O death, where is your sting?”  ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Live the victory today!  Share the victory today!  Enjoy the victory today!  If you are in Christ, you are dead in your sin.  You are alive in Christ.  Let's live like it today....and have a blessed one!

  

I Will Not Talk

I have always been a talker.  I believe that came naturally.  I had a bad speech impediment as a child and I believe the humor came to try to compensate for it.  Who knows?  An armchair psychologist is a dangerous thing...so is a boy with a big mouth.  Big mouths make your hands hurt...at least when I was in school.  I have clear memories of having to write "I will not talk." for homework numerous times.  I learned the art of the two pencil, two line trick.  (I also found that wrestling two pencils actually takes longer.)  The "I, I, I, I, I, I, will, will, will, will, not, not, not, not, not, talk, talk, talk, talk..." procedure is the quickest.  However, every two years there was some smart teacher that liked long sentences like "Due to causing a hindrance in the teaching and training of the classroom, I realize my inappropriate and untimely talking will not benefit me or the class, therefore I will no longer talk when it is not beneficial to do so."  (Teachers, I just made that up, but you can borrow it.)  The only good news about such a sentence is that I only had to do it 25 times instead of the typical 500 for "I must not talk."
The tongue and its talk will get you in trouble.  Corinth had trouble with the tongue.  Actually, they had trouble with tongues, but it does not take a charismatic outburst for the tongue to cause trouble in the church.  It can be a tremendous problem when we speak words of our native language.   When speaking of the tongue and the inappropriate action from it, Paul said in I Corinthians 14:12- So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. (www.lifejournal.cc) What we say should build up the church.  If you really want the Spirit to move in the church, don't say things that will be a hindrance.  There is nothing I want more for the church than for the Spirit of God to have full rule and reign everytime we come together.  Let nothing I say nor we say ever get in the way of the Spirit's movement building up the church.   Watch what you say today!  For most of us the consequences will be much greater than having to write!  Remember, slow to speak and quick to listen.  Have a great day!

Grown Up Love

I got my first kiss from a girl in the back of a station wagon...on the way to church...I was 6 years old. I thought she was the one.  Shortly there after, my dad retired from the Air Force and we moved a thousand miles away.  I ain't considered her since.   The other day, Millie, she's 5,  was waiting on me in the hall at church.  One of the little boys that she is kinda cute on came by with his dad.  They got real close to each other and whispered and giggled for a minute together.  I came out of the office and we started to leave.  She looked up and said, "Me and him had a little 'date' there" and blushed.  She  made little quote marks with her hands when she said date.    Young love...real young love...that is when it is still cute.  Before long such a thing will scare me to death probably!
When you are a child you are expected to love like a child.  When you grow up, you ought to love like a grown up.  Paul put it this way, When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.- I Corinthians 13:11 (www.lifejournal.cc)
It is time to love like grownups.  I don't mean more physically.  Puberty and irresponsibility can take care of that.  I mean mature love.  Love that waits when you don't want to, smiles when you feel like you can't, hushes when you are dying to talk,  steps backwards when running ahead would be natural, sorrows instead of snickers, and rejoices instead of envying. Let's love- not just when it is easy or with who it is easy.   Let's love because Jesus taught us to.  Puppy love and pre-teen love are for puppies and pre-teens.  Let's grow up in Christ and love like Him.

The Crumbling Foundation

America was founded on the principles of Christianity and for the freedom of worship and a government for the people and by the people.  I am concerned about the future of America.  I am concerned about the tremendous lean toward socialism that our government often seems to betray.  I read a quote some time ago that was attributed to Karl Marx, although he may be like Yogi Berra.  Yogi Berra wrote a book entitled, "I really did not say everything I said!" Marx has been claimed as saying, "Democracy is a form of government that cannot long survive, for as soon as the people learn that they have a voice in the fiscal policies of the government, they will move to vote for themselves all the money in the treasury and bankrupt the nation."  That is the dude that wrote the Communist Manifesto and that is scary, because sometimes I see it coming to light.
Let me tell you, however, what I am more concerned about.  I am afraid we are headed toward days like those after the death of Joshua.  Judges 2:10- And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (www.lifejournal.cc)   If we do not teach our children Christian principles and the hope that is found in Christ, they will not get it from this world.  How do we teach it?  We tell them what we know.  We keep the words, the truths, and the stories of the Bible fresh on our lips.  We live out our lives as Spirit-filled believers and shine forth Christ in our actions, our words, and attitudes.  We find ourselves a Christian, God centered, Gospel driven body of believers to worship alongside and we give Sunday back to the Lord as His Day.  We only let the extraordinary keep us out of church, instead of anything and everything that may present itself as a Sunday opportunity.  To put simply:  We live for Christ.  If we don't live for Christ or if we attempt to do half-heartedly, don't be surprised when every generation that follows us grows more spiritually weak and biblically illiterate.  It happened in Joshua's day and it has happened many times over.  Live for Christ!  Let's set the pattern today that we want the future of this country to build on. 

Hey Ya'll, Wach'tis!

Where I'm from, usually when someone says, "Hey Ya'll, Watch This!" in a slightly less pronounced way, it means danger.  I think about the time when the tire swing rope broke and sent that boy sailing down the hill in my friend's backyard.  I think about the boy with the new 'school', 'tenny' shoes missing the jump over the creek by 6 inches...which happened to be enough to run his new 'school' jeans into the muddy bank.  I think about that ditch we jumped with our bikes by going off the side of a driveway and jumping 'into' the ditch on purpose.  Who thought that was going to end well?  I guess they may be why, "Hey Ya'll, Watch This" is often considered the last four words of a redneck.

This morning Paul tells us in his own way, "Hey Ya'll, Watch This!".  It is found in I Corinthians 11:1- Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.  (www.lifejournal.cc) At first take, it may be easy to misunderstand this statement.  It may seem like Paul is mighty proud of himself.  Not really, though. Paul knew that folks need a tangible witness for Christ that they can watch and learn from.   He had patterned his life in such a way that he felt good about others watching him to see how to live for Christ.  It speaks not of his pride, but of his discipline.  It speaks not of his 'raising', but of his Lord.  He was just trying to reflect Christ in such a way that others could see how they should respond, act, talk, and interact with others.  Be aware, if you are not, the world is watching Christians to see how they respond.  Let's reflect the ways of Christ today, instead of the redneck ways of wild antics or the lazy ways of slothful living.  Imitate Christ today!  When you do, someone close by may be saying to their neighbor, "Hey ya'll, watch her!"  or "Hey ya'll, watch him."

Chair Pulling

Oh, the middle school years!  How awful!  I was awful.  My friends were awful.  We made the teachers (most of them) awful.  When my daughter finished the 5th grade, I told her, "I am sorry, honey.  You are going to be miserable for the next 3 years!"  Nothing like some encouragement to get your child going, huh?  However, she is proving me wrong.  She is having a good time...at least most of the time. 
There was a rite of passage that we had to endure in middle school.  It was the Great Chair Pulling Movement.  Now I have always been one to try not to "agg" things on.  I figured what comes around will go around.   Don't be pranking! However, as innocent as I am, I still fell victim to the Great Chair Pulling Movement.  You know what it is... a perfectly timed yank of someone's chair out from under them right as they are about to sit down.  It  will make a 7th grade class explode into laughter, clapping, finger pointing, and high-five-ing!  19.8% of middle school blushing comes from chair pulling and, always remember,  98.3% of statistics are made up on the spot.  They make chairs hooked to desks (all in one units) now because of the hardship of chair pulling in previous generations.   If you ever thought, you were safe, you were sure to fall victim...especially if your mouth was as big as mine.
 
That is somewhat the message I got from the apostle Paul today.  If you think you are too big, too great, or too perfect for it to happen to you, be careful, you are not.  Paul was not speaking of chair pulling but of sin.  You are not above it.  If you think you are, it will be like a middle school chair is pulled out from under you, when you mess up.  Be careful.  Paul put it this way in I Corinthians 10:12-13-  Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (www.lifejournal.cc)  Always look behind you...around you...within you.  Please walk carefully with the Lord and know that you are not alone.  He is right there with you.  The devil would love to pull the chair out from under you spiritually.  You don't have to fall.  God has provided a way out. 
Let's stop "sitting down" where we haven't already looked and if one does get the chair pulled out from under him/her, let's not laugh, clap, high-five, whisper, gossip, or rumor about him.  Let's help her up! Hope to see you in church today!