A Rooster's Reminder

Adjacent to our mobile home park is a closed-down airport. A few small businesses now occupy the deserted hangers, one of which is a feed store which sells live poultry and other farming needs. On my early morning walks down the once used runway, invariably I'll hear the crow of an old rooster. Each time I hear it, I'm reminded of my childhood visits to my grandparents' home in Kentucky.

I believe Peter had a similar experience each time he heard the crow of a rooster, but without the sweet memories I cherish, his being bitter rather than delightful. That is, except for the fact of his heartfelt repentance and his Lord's merciful forgiveness, which gave him the victory. But still, his glorious restoration did not do away with that awful reminder that popped up from time to time.

Some of us are also reminded periodically of shameful things we have done against our dear Lord in the past. But although, like Peter, we cannot rid ourselves of the reality of those things which remind us, we can deny them the right of recognition. Or as my granny would say, "You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from roosting in your hair."       

A Call to Preach

Fifty-Six years ago tomorrow (Sunday), I was in attendance at the Grace Baptist Church, Middletown, Ohio. It was the church’s anniversary and there were some eight-hundred in attendance. Roy Kemp, from Texas, was the guest speaker. I was standing in the last row of pews singing the invitational song. About the third stanza into the song I whispered to a godly friend standing next to me,  "I think God’s calling me to preach, but I can’t speak before people.” Promptly, he put down his hymnal, and without saying a word, took his Bible and pointed to Exodus 4:10-12, "And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

I went forward that day, took my pastor’s hand,  looked him in the eye, and said, “God has called me to preach the Gospel.”

Thank you Lord! It's been, to say the least, quite a journey. But no matter the circumstances, Thou hast been with me every step of the way.  

Note to pastors, evangelists, and missionaries: Preach tomorrow as though it were your last sermon!

The Key to Our National Problems

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Contrary to many preachers, as well as laymen, the solution to our national problems is not Political, but Spiritual! The former never fixed anything permanently; it’s the same-old, same-old; promises, promises, all we get is promises. I speak from experience; I have lived through thirteen presidencies.

If you read the story of Balaam and his donkey, it is apparent that God locked him in so that he had only one way out of his predicament. This is true also with the Lord’s people today; He puts us in a position where there is no escape except the one of His choosing. We often say in dire times of testing, “All we can do now is pray.” The truth is, that’s all we could ever do. Maybe if we prayed before the crisis like we do after the crisis, we would not have as many crises.

The little plaque says, “Prayer changes things.” But the way many Christians handle national emergencies, they wasted their time putting it up on their wall. Their philosophy seems to be, when all else fails, try prayer. They go from a standing position to a kneeling one; Daniel went from a kneeling one, to that of standing. And believe me; this praying prophet knew what a national crisis was like.

Whether it is Israel or any other nation in history, God blesses them for the sake of His people. Whenever He causes it to rain on the just and their crops, the unjust get in on it. You see, the latter are simply beneficiaries. Therefore, the Spiritual state of the Church is the key of His blessings upon our nation. I would remind each reader of this article of the old, old, gospel song, “It’s not my brother, nor my sister, but me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

Everyday should be a National Day of Prayer.

The Tables Have Turned

"Elijah mocked them…” We can understand why this loner was referred to as the “troubler.” You’re not to make light of other religions, whether then or now. It matters not that it is false. The world has always expected the Christian to respect wrong, even when it’s evil. And, sad to say, this pitiful philosophy has been swallowed by many believers for fear lest they be branded bigots.

In our inspired narrative, four-hundred religious clowns had been dancing on, or around, the altar from morning till evening. Exhausted from their long prayers, and weak from loss of blood, these pitiful prophets now must endure the taunting of the “troubler.” Elijah utters sixty-three words, and the fire falls. The whole issue of Mt. Carmel was about the God who could answer prayer.

Today, the tables are turned; this lost, religious world is scoffing at God’s people for their lack of getting prayers answered. Modern day Christians have made a pygmy of God, and, as a result of having a miniature God, have become spiritual midgets.

“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” Elisha wanted Elijah’s God. Do we?

After You've Done All You Can

“…having done all to stand, Stand…” The warrior’s wardrobe consists of seven different items. Paul tells us, after we have put these on, there is no more attire to adorn ourselves with, lest we over dress.

Certainly, there is a great practical truth in this for us all. And that is, when we have done all we know to do, there is no more we should do, lest we overdo it. How many times have I said, in frustration, “I’ve done all I can; I don’t know what more I can do.”

Jesus is always a good example for us. What did He do before facing that difficult time that lay before Him? That time St. John of the Cross calls, “the dark night of the soul”? First, you find Him tying up, as it were, all the loose ends. Then came His prayer of submission to the will of God, and He capped this off by committing all into God’s hands. After these, there was no more said or done. From here on, it would be the providential workings of God.

Dear saint, you can be assured this very day that if you have done all you know to do, then God will do what you cannot. When Israel came to the Red Sea, having done all they knew to do, and unable to do more, Moses’ command was, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."

Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand

“The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” The following article is one that my wife came across in one of her college classes, some years ago. I believe we Christians can learn something from it. I know I did.

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open area between the rocks. The students laughed.

He again asked the students if the jar was full, and they again agreed that, yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things—your faith, your family, your health, your friends—anything that is so important to you that if it were lost you would be utterly destroyed.”

“The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale, like your job, your house, your car, etc. The sand is everything else—the small stuff. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the things that are truly more important.

The Morning Hour

The Bible has much to say about the morning hour. For example, David's testimony was: "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up"; it is also recorded in Psalms by God's darling, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning...I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning...[I will]shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning." David, like his Lord, and many of the saints in scriptures seems to have been a "morning person."

But in this article I want to call our attention to a text shown me by the Lord years ago. I have never read it that it did not rend my heart and bring tears to my eyes. It concerns the prophet Ezekiel. He tells us, "...at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." What a principle this dear man of God left each of us to follow! No matter the personal hurts, tragedies, or fears of the previous day, in the morning, "DO THE NEXT THING!" That is, take the next step.

The disciples spent a fruitless night, on the restless sea, but John records, "But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore." "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted," know of a surety, at first light, when thy eyelids open from a restless night of sleep, Jesus will be standing close by. A whole new day awaits you, and a miracle might just be thrown in to boot. 

1. 1. When morning gilds the skies,
      My heart awaking cries:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      Alike at work and prayer,
      To Jesus I repair;
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
   2. Does sadness fill my mind?
      A solace here I find,
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      Or fades my earthly bliss?
      My comfort still is this,
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
   3. When sleep her balm denies,
      My silent spirit sighs,
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      When evil thoughts molest,
      With this I shield my breast:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
   4. The night becomes as day
      When from the heart we say:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      The pow’rs of darkness fear
      When this sweet chant they hear:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
   5. In heav’n’s eternal bliss
      The loveliest strain is this,
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      Let earth, and sea, and sky
      From depth to height reply,
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
   6. Be this, while life is mine,
      My song of love divine:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
      Sing this eternal song
      Through all the ages long:
      May Jesus Christ be praised!
2. 
   

He Calls Me His Friend

"I have called you friends."

Three times in scripture Abraham is called God's friend. In 2 Chronicles 20:7, it is recorded, "Abraham 'thy' friend"; James 2:23 tells us, "He was called 'the' friend of God"; but my favorite is in Isaiah 41:7, where God speaks directly of the bond between them, "Abraham 'my' friend." I remember well as a young believer how I longed for and coveted that same intimate relationship, but felt the likes of a worm as myself could never attain unto such a high and privileged position.

But one day I was struck by the fact that in spite of all their shortcomings and failings, He called His disciples His friends. Then realizing too, Abraham, our father and example, came far short of deserving to be called "A friend of God." All of a sudden, at this same time, it dawned upon my dull mind, friendship is based on much deeper things than one's flaws and personal deficiencies. In fact, many of the times, if not most, it is these very faults that cements two souls together. The one seeing the need in the other's life for such a camaraderie .  

And so it was in each of our situations, the Lord knew how desperately we needed a true friend who understood our frailties. I know in my own case, when everyone else was going out, He came in! The song, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is more than just words to me, it's a living reality. He has proven His friendship to me time and again over these many years. "A friend loveth at all times," means so much to me, especially when I fall into the world's mud hole and have to come before Him all dirty and defiled. 

How I love the line in the children's song, "Jesus loves me when I'm bad, Though it makes Him very sad." There is nothing you or I can do that will ever turn this friend's love from us. 

HALLELUJAH!, He calls us His friends.  

United Prayer

“Ye also helping together by prayer for us.” Paul was no stranger to the throne of grace. Yet he solicited the aid of his brethren in prayer. Time and again in his Epistles the great Apostle pleads for others to assist him in this ministry. Yes, “My help cometh from the LORD...,” but, more often than not, it comes by the way of the sympathetic petitions of prayer partners.

Many today neglect the cooperation of their brethren in prayer to their own detriment. Usually, it’s because of one of three reasons. First, they have not learned the power of united prayer; secondly, pride keeps them from requesting help from other frail believers; and lastly, because a few are tale-bearers of their intimate needs, they choose to tell no one. How we need to learn once we hear of another’s need, it’s to only be from our mouths to God’s ear.

When we humbly solicit the prayerful help of others, we lose our independence in the Body of Christ. And that’s good.

Mercy is Not Merit

Everywhere one turns there seems to be a cry for justice, on the plaintiff’s part. That is, getting what they imagine they deserve. But, if we really got our just “ deserts,” as the old camp meeting preacher said, “We’d all be in hell with our backs’ broke!”

We all like to think we have earned something with God, but there are no merit badges in Heaven. We are saints, not scouts. We can’t impress God with the sweaty, meritorious acts we dig up. Ask Cain. No matter how many “souls” one has notched into his or her Bible, our acceptance is still only “…in the beloved.” After all, what can you give someone who has everything?

At Christmas, we speak of giving gifts, but, as my beloved pastor says, it’s actually trading gifts. And, to be sure, God doesn’t trade off His gift of mercy. People who try to merit God’s mercy are always miserable. Simply try asking for it, and don’t sweat it. No person in the Scriptures ever called upon God for His free gift of mercy, who didn’t receive it. If you want verification of this, just inquire of the publican.

The People's Choice

Note to our readers: Barack Obama took office as the nation's 44th president on Jan. 20, 2009. I wrote and posted the following article on Jan. 19, 2009. "Then Samuel said unto Saul...I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night."

Someone has said about prayer, “Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.” It is possible to get what you want, but lose what you have (Psl.106:15). Nowhere is this truth seen clearer than in Israel’s desire for a King. The story is found in 1 Samuel chapter eight, and on. Samuel was old and passing off the scene; a new generation was emerging with new leaders and ideas. God was no longer the nation’s life. He had become only a small part of it. The old prophet felt they had not only rejected God, but himself also. His heart was broken.

Saul was the people’s choice; he was, in a sense, the first of his kind. He was tall, dark, and handsome. When a nation’s religion is built on externals, their political decisions will soon follow suite. Their new leader was like cotton candy, mostly air with no real substance. He had a show of humility, but this proved to be arrogance in disguise. God’s man warned the people the kind of leader they were getting. He was going to tax them, take their property, and line his pockets, as well as those of his friends, with revenues that he would take from the masses. He’d also take their young men and women and draft them into his services (both military and personal). The key word that characterizes this pseudo-leader is “take.”

The people were in for a real surprise. Their supposed deliverer would soon blame them for his inherent weaknesses and lack of manliness! This emotional instability follows him throughout his disastrous reign. Since he was predominately a secularist, and not Spiritual, it is no surprise that his moral decisions were influenced by the former philosophy. It is an impossibility to be Spiritual without being a scripturally moral person. Spiritual people love what God loves, and condemn what God does. But the nations around them, who they wanted to emulate, were not concerned with what God liked or disliked, and so neither would they be.

It is a sad day when a nation chooses such a leader; there are dire consequences that go with such a choice. But, of course, God’s man had told them this. I guess they figured the old man didn’t know what he was talking about. He had warned, in essence, they’d have to “pay the piper.”

“And they sought to lay hold on him…for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them.” 

(Mk.12:12)

God's Treasure Chest

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." 

God's treasure chest, like the young bride's hope chest, contains both the new and the old. Jesus said we are to use both. To some, anything new is to be rejected because, they say, it's untried; not thinking through the fact their old ways were all new at one time. The others argue, from their standpoint, anything and everything old is out-dated and moldy, worn out and useless. It is difficult to bring these two extremes together.

Both the stubborn traditionalist and contemporary, because of their apparent insecurities and inbred pride, refuse to rub shoulders in glorifying God. The result of this is that the old loses its sweet mellowness, and the new, its secure foundation. The ancient and modern should compliment each other, not be at conflict. These two opposites will do well to consider that in Heaven we sing a “new song,” but, also, along with that, the “song of Moses.”

It is good to see old truths dressed in new clothes. God evidently enjoys it. That’s, undoubtedly, the purpose of the New Testament. It adorns and beautifies the Old.

You Pray For Me and I'll Pray For You

There is a gospel song, I believe, that has the words of this article's title in it. To me, this is just one of the many mysteries of prayer. God hearing everyone at once, as if each were the only individual praying, is beyond my finite comprehension. But when we come to these baffling things concerning prayer, it is good to remember, as Moses said, "The secret things belong to the Lord." One of the great hindrances to answered prayer today in this scientific age, I believe, is taking our prayers into the laboratory instead of the closet. Dissecting your prayers will only leave you with a mess and none the wiser. As the old camp meeting preacher said about salvation, "It's better felt than telt." And so it is with prayer, it is better experienced than explained.

Paul told the Colossians in the first chapter of his letter that he prayed always for them, and in the last chapter he requested they pray for him. And this to many who had not seen his face, or he theirs. Likewise, in his epistle to the newly converted Thessalonian believers, right off the bat, he states that he makes mention of them in his prayers. And again, before closing his correspondence he writes, "Brethren, pray for us." Some might think that this is the greater asking the lesser for their help in prayer. But Paul had no such superior attitude. As far as he was concerned, he was "just one of the boys." In fact, "less than the least of them." I learned a long time ago to ask prayer support from any and all of God's people. Somebody might just get through I chose to leave out! 

James tells those scattered saints of his day, "pray one for another." I like to call it, "The Golden Rule of Prayer." That is, you pray for me like you'd have me pray for you. You know the principle, like Ezekiel said, "I sat where they sat." 

They Just Can't Get It

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned."

The latter part of I Corinthians chapter two is all about the “Natural Man”. Paul teaches us that no matter how learned, scholarly, brilliant, practical, intelligent, religious, or well-meaning the unregenerate, they cannot understand the things of God. True, he or she may have knowledge by reading the “letter,” but they will never, ever, get the “spirit” of what God is saying.

You could study me in minute detail, interview family and friends, read all my correspondence through the years, yet never know the real me. The apostle tells us the only way one man can completely know another is by having that man’s spirit. And so it is with God. Without His Spirit indwelling you, neither can your eye see, your ear hear, nor can it enter into your heart, the things God has prepared for us, His Elect.

It’s embarrassing how totally ignorant of Spiritual things this pseudo-intellectual world is. Once I ordered a desk plaque with the words “HE CARETH” engraved on it. When I went to pick it up, the manger was furious. After a few choice curse words about the engraver, he apologized to me. “Mr. Careth, I’m so sorry, we’ll have this re-done for you. They forgot to put a period between your initials.” And they laugh at us!

Revelation Twenty Two Twenty

“Surely I come quickly…Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Here we have the last living apostle, writing in the last book of the Bible. In the last chapter and next to the last verse he records for us the last promise and last prayer in the Holy Writ. The promise comes from the lips of our Lord, and the prayer proceeds from the mouth of John the Beloved.

The Second Advent of our Lord is at the very heart of the Christian faith. Apart from His return, His redemptive work remains forever incomplete. His coming again is the only hope for the future of the world. Of all the coming events prophesied, His return will be the most remarkable. Is it any wonder all creation is groaning for this culminating event?

The expectation of the early Church was not death, nor even the hope of Heaven, but rather in His parting words, “I will come again” and, “I will see you again.” This is what filled their hearts and minds! They believed he would come again, literally, personally, physically, and visibly.

Two millenniums ago, on the Isle of Patmos, this is what Jesus promised and old John prayed for. When was the last time you or I prayed for His coming? It goes without saying, if one is not longing and looking for His coming, it’s certain he or she is not praying for it. And if one is not praying for it, be assured, either their theology is wrong, their heart, or both!

The Second Coming of Christ is the medicine our condition needs. 

(C.S. Lewis)

Parental Pain

"...a sword shall pierce through thy own soul..."How agonizing for a parent to stand by and watch as a grown child suffers for his or her sins. In Mary's case, her child was suffering because of others' sins (He had none of His own.) But, in the case of many of our children, it comes as a result of theirs. Nevertheless, this giant, razor-sharp sword pierces through our souls as well. It passes, as it were, through our very soul, slicing the heart until it bleeds so much we feel our very life is being drained from us.

The Bible gives us examples of parents who experienced such piercing pain. What mother or father cannot relate to the prodigal's parent as he patiently, but painfully, waits, watches, and wonders if his wayward child will ever return? And what of the deep agony of David's soul when he cried, "Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

I realize the picture is not the same as Mary's; but the principle is. Though the comparison of our children to Mary's Child is unthinkable, yet there is some comfort in the story. Just as Mary's faith was grounded in the Word of God, which sustained her, so it can be with us. She was promised that, although her child was set for a fall (for others), yet there would be a rising again. Is there not a promise lying somewhere dormant within the pages of God's Holy Writ just waiting for us to draw from it's strength? Perhaps, one such as: "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.....And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children."

Parental pain for prodigals is forgotten when they are sitting around the table again.

How To Eat Fish

I love fish, just about any kind. That is why, as a young Believer, when I was told by a preacher who was also an avid fisherman how to read my Bible, I understood his homespun metaphor. He said, when reading the scripture and coming to a text I don't understand, it's like eating fish. When you come to a bone, you don't stop, but simply lay the bone aside and keep eating. Through the years, I've found this to be advantageous, in both eating fish and reading my Bible. Their is much more meat, in both cases, than bones.

This can also be applied to secular and religious reading. We can forfeit a lot of knowledge by neglecting writers who do not cross all their "T's," and dot all their "I's," as we would like. Most certainly, it is important to read such books discretionally, but read them we must. That is, unless we choose to spend all our lives presenting a stubborn narrow-minded individual to others. Such people are not difficult to recognize; they wear a bright colored dunce's cap that all can see. They are ignorantly proud of their self-imposed intellectual limitations.         

Many of my readers were, or are, associated with some elitist group that discourages the reading of any literature other than what is produced or approved by them. I like a line in the dedicatory of the 1611 King James Bible which describes this type as  "...self-conceited Brethren, who run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves, and hammered on their anvil." 

I find great solace in the fact that possibly the greatest Spiritual mind that ever graced this earth, Paul the Apostle, read after the poets of his day, and was familiar with the teachings of science. I would think from this "the books" Paul asked Timothy to bring to him while in prison included both secular and spiritual.   

The Consistency of Inconsistency

The above is the title of a sermon I have. When I first preached it, I was asked how long it took me to prepare it; my answer was, “Twenty-five years.” Christians spend a lifetime trying to be consistent, not realizing God and His Word are consistently inconsistent. To list just a few of these inconsistencies: Don’t kill; Kill; Go not to the Gentiles; Go to the Gentiles; Marry not an harlot; Marry a harlot; No man hath seen God; Moses saw God; [Hezekiah] will die; Thou shalt not die; Build the Temple, don’t build it; “Answer not a fool”; “Answer a fool”; Don’t eat the shew-bread; Eat shew-bread; No human sacrifices; God sacrificed His Son.

An old preacher once said, “Consistency is the virtue of fools." To illustrate this, only a fool who deposits large sums of cash at the local bank travels the same route daily. The more a Believer becomes Christ-like, the more inconsistencies will be seen in his or her life. There are basically three reasons for these irregularities: First, to see if you’re willing to bear His reproach. It was for this (inconsistency), that the world criticized Him. Secondly, to confuse and confound the carnal and ungodly. The Bible is written to the Spiritually minded. And thirdly, to see if we will obey God without understanding or knowing why. Even when it goes against our, so-called, convictions.

Life is paradoxical, full of inconsistencies. Therefore, we need to “roll with the punches,” so to speak. Great peace comes to those who cease to consistently “put all their ducks in a row.” For one thing, being “all things to all men,” does away with a consistent life. Don’t let the world and fleshly brethren intimidate you into their consistency mold. If you do, you’ll miss God’s plan and will for your life. We are not to be the same all the time, situations change, thereby changing the way in which we meet them. At one time, Jesus “looked on them with compassion”; but at another occasion “He looked on them with anger.” He refused to be cast into the world’s mold of consistency! And so should we.

Big Little Prayers

The following story is told by Elisabeth Elliot in her book entitled, "Keep a Quite Heart."

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing.

Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. 

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.  When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it. Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You." 

At the risk of being accused of being fatalistic, I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy.  But, if you want me to carry it, I will." 

Laughing With God

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion."

We have all heard the little quip about getting the last laugh. Well this will literally come true in God's case, He will get the final laugh. But it will not be so funny for those He laughs at. All the godless potentates and peoples of this earth will hear this deafening "Ha! Ha! Ha!" coming from the eternal throne of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Because they were against Him and His Christ, He is against them. They wanted to break all His and His Son's restraints in this world, but will now find they will be everlastingly confined in the next. 

This younger generation of professing Christians, who have been bottle-fed on a syrupy pseudo love of God, will not take kindly to this article. There is no place for "sentimental saints"; when the Scriptures go contrary to emotions, the latter must be abandoned. Sentimental susceptibility is a weakness when it is at odds with the Word! It would be advantageous to any who believe in an anything-goes God to ponder what He said to the wise man in reference those who reject Him. "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." 

Far too many of God's people, I find, are swallowing what the slick religious shyster's, politicians, and news media feed them, instead of "What saith the Lord." As a result they're influenced by the world instead of the Word. Don't let this world's noise upset you; "But be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long." If you want a good laugh, just imagine a numerous amount of toy soldiers, one-inch high, gathering themselves together, with their play weapons, against their creator. What a hilarious sight Armageddon will be to Almighty God! 

I find nothing cheers my heart like having a good laugh with a friend. God is my friend!    

Secure Insecurities

Honesty about our inner feelings, idiosyncrasies, and short-comings, I find, is one of the best ways of dealing with our inbred insecurities. These are not sins, but faults. And James tells us to, “Confess your fault one to another.” Christian or non-Christian, you will find mature people are generally “generous to a fault.” That is, toward those who do not try to “whitewash” their failings. But I find most folks have a difficult time being tolerant and forgiving with hypocrisy.

Openness and sincerity about one’s flaws are characteristic of a person of great strength, a person strong enough to face their imperfections. Any individual on the receiving end of such confessions, who would abuse and misuse such trust, would be considered “wicked,” in the true Biblical sense of the word. Paul was not afraid for people to see his blemishes. He wanted them to always be conscious of his humanity, “lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.”

Once a person sees and admits to their own frail humanity, it is not difficult to be longsuffering with others in the same ship. It is the pseudo superman or woman who is intolerant with the poor and needy in spirit. This type denigrate the others’ humanness. But as C.S. Lewis says, “God knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive.” It is well to remember that when others do not accept or understand our fragile conditions, Christ does. That is one reason He came. He walked in our shoes; He grew tired, was thirsty, and felt pain.

Jeremiah said, “I sat where they sat.” That’s a good place to sit!

Street People

Jesus said, “In my father’s house are many mansions.” He went on to say, “…if it were not so, I would have told you.” Not “rooms,” nor “dwelling places,” but “mansions.” If not, He would have told us. The “Word” never had a problem with expressing Himself with words.

You’re not going to impress “Street People” by offering to put them up in a room somewhere, or by allotting them some small space to dwell in; that would be appalling. But to present to them a “mansion,” well, you must admit, that’s appealing.

I cannot believe the one who created this world, along with the sun, moon, and all the stars and galaxies, has only the proposition of a room to entice the down-and-outer with! A worldly philanthropist does better than that. If you’re thinking I’m “making much ado about nothing,” you don’t know very much about the poor of this world, or the Creator.

Personally, I like my translation (K.J.V. 1611). I believe it has more to offer than the others do. Of course, that’s just my own opinion. On the other hand, I think “Street People” might also agree with me.

The Oldest Trick in the Book

“Ye shall be as gods.” Here we see from the very beginning, Satan’s subtle way of getting man’s undivided attention. Dirt becoming Divine was very persuasive then, and still is today. The rallying cry of all those who fall for, and swallow, this ancient trick is, “Glory to man in the highest.”

But this godless humanism has now evolved from “Ye shall be as gods,” to “Ye are gods.” It is now taught by these sons of Satan that all are born with a spark of deity in them. The Biblical teaching that every man and woman is birthed totally depraved is loathsome and unacceptable to their degenerate way of thinking.

This New Age teaching is not new at all; it is as old as the Bible itself. You might say, “It’s the oldest trick in the Book.” And as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Barefoot at the Bush

"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here [am] I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy ground. Ex.3:1-5

Moses’ bush still burns, but it’s only to be found in the lonely, barren, wilderness. Scrub bushes do not generally grow in the environment many of us are accustomed to. Like most valued things in life, you can’t find the right thing in the wrong place. The mass of today’s professing Christians will never have a bush experience, for one of two reasons. First, they detest spending time in the desert; they don’t like the heat. And secondly, if by some strange circumstance they are dragged to a wasteland, they have little or no interest in a common scrub bush, even one with an eternal flame.

Moses had something that has been lost in this present generation: a holy curiosity. Anyone who will take the time to “turn aside to see,” will find God still speaks. The little three lettered word “awe” is found three times in the Bible. All in the book of Psalms. We are no longer awed by a sense God; we use the term flippantly about everything and everyone that is of little or no value. It is difficult to find intelligent inquirers who want to discuss “the bush that burneth with fire.” Second hand religion is in vogue among God’s people. We’re like those of Moses’ day, who said, “Speak thou with us …but let not God speak with us.

Moses never got over his bush experience. Years later, when speaking to Israel, he mentions “Him that dwelt in the bush.” Our God is a “consuming fire.” Get close enough to allow yourself to be turned to ashes. If you will, then He will “give unto [you] beauty for ashes.”

The Truth About Ourselves

Having pastored twenty, out of a fifty-five year ministry, I found many who came to me for advice actually were seeking agreement. It is difficult to tell someone what they need to know, when they want to know something else. It’s tragic but true, the people of Isaiah’s time still exist, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.”

In the movie “A Few Good Men,” Jack Nicholson, playing a Marine officer, says to the character played by Tom Cruise’s, “You can’t handle the truth.” I wonder if this could not be said of many of us. The acid test in knowing the truth about oneself is not when we say it of ourselves, but when others say it to us. That sick felling we get inside, and the justifying spirit that so quickly rises up to defend, proves we can’t handle the truth.

At times God chooses “Dumb Donkeys” to speak to us. Some of us, like Baalim, can’t handle it when He does.

Pygmy's and High-Jumping

In the high-jump contest, the horizontal bar the jumper is to clear is generally known as the "high bar." In my opinion, contemporary Christianity has set the high bar so low that a pygmy could step over it with no effort at all. When I started out on my pilgrim journey with Christ over fifty-five years ago, the reason sinners gave for not becoming a Christian was, "I can't live it." Meaning, they believed God had high standards for low-living people.

Today, we no longer hear old-time sermons on subjects such as, "The High Cost of Low Living." The reason to any thinking person is obvious. When something becomes the norm, society and professing Christendom are apt to accept it as the rule; even if the results are ruin. There is a grace that is a disgrace, a love that is lascivious, and those who preach and practice such heresies are 'professors' of the Christian faith, not 'possessors' of the "Pearl of Great Price."

I am appalled at seasoned saints who are taken-in by these 'cotton-candy' Christians. They are elated whenever one of the pseudo-believers, who is usually a loved one or close friend, mentions the name Jesus, Church, Bible, or God; but who continue in their wicked life-style. Without repentance or acknowledgement of their sinfulness, they are accepted back into full fellowship in families and churches by simply, "...sewing a piece of new cloth on an old garment." Which Jesus said makes it worse!

"My backslidden members thirty-years ago would be considered my best, by today's standards." 

(quote by my late pastor friend, Jim Barnes)

Old School Christianity

I had a dear evangelist friend, now with the Lord, who depicted today's Christians as people who think they should always have the "warm fuzzies." Christianity to many today is made up of fun and games, its always, party time with them. To strip these happy-go-lucky campers of their outward glittering lights and tinsel would be unbearable. To have a religion that must be lived a great part of the time in the raw, that is, with no trappings, is unthinkable.

But authentic Christianity is just that, according to the New Testament. I like the way George MacDonald describes a real-honest-to-goodness saint. "That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and desires, without a glow or aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, failures, neglects, and wandering forgetfulness, and say to Him, "Thou art my refuge." 

In my humble opinion we need to throw out this contemporary "giddy" Christianity for some old school, "gutsy" Christianity!   

Christ Without Clutter

I like to refer to the book of Hebrews as, “The Him Book.” Those early Jewish believers had turned their backs on the Temple, with all its relics and trappings, for Christ and Christ alone. In place of Temple worship, small groups met in homes. This went on for centuries. One of the main things they left behind when leaving the Temple was their religious ritualism.

This simple type of Christianity is always a threat to Micah’s Clan (Judges 18), as well as those who emulate his religion. Some years ago one of “Micah’s ministers” put out a pamphlet against us “Plain Protestants”. It reads;

A religion which has:
No priest, no Holy Mass, or Communion,
No Jesus in the Tabernacle, no Crucifix,
No blessed Virgin, no Mother, no Rosary,
No Saints and no statues of them,
No baptism for your babies,
No visible forgiveness for sinners,
No last Sacraments for the dying,
No prayers for the beloved dead,
No purgatory to ready for heaven,
No blessing in life or in death,
Not a candle, flower, or bell,
No head, no rule, no catechism—­­
But only preaching and singing—only a Bible and a song book.
Such a religion is not, cannot be, the religion of Christ.

What a blessed condemnation! My Primitive Baptist granny, who chewed twist tobacco and smoked a corn-cob pipe, used to go to church carrying only her song book, with her Bible on top of it. As the song goes, “It was good for my Granny, and it’s good enough for me.” That is, the Bible and song book. (smiling)

The Widow and the Rich Man

"A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked."

We are told by Jesus the poor widow woman who gave into the treasury, "...threw in two mites, which make a farthing," (the Greek mite was 1/2 cent; the Roman farthing 1 cent; she put in a penny). Hence our Lord tells us, "...she of her penury (poverty) hath cast in all the living that she had." According to the wise man in our text (and the Rich Fool in Luke), her little penny was better than the rich man's plenty. She put in, we would say today, "Her last cent." 

Jesus doesn't look at what we give, but rather what we have left. The Pharisees gave out of their abundance, but had much left; the Poor Widow gave out of her poverty and had nothing left. The greatest day in a child of God's life is when he or she can come to God and say, "Lord, I truly do not know of anything in my life I have not given you, and humbly say with Christ, 'All mine is Thine.'"

Paul tells the early believers, and us, it is alright to have as long as we're not possessive. He instructs them, " they that buy, [be] as though they possessed not." That is, they could have things as long as the things didn't have them. In our relationship to God, I have found it wise to keep, what I like to refer to as, an "open-handed" relationship. Or as the little saying goes, "LET GO AND LET GOD!"

"You can't lose what you've given to God!"

Looking Past the Cross

"Looking unto Jesus...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him..."

It is true Jesus never lost sight of the Cross, but just as true is the fact that from our text, He endured it, He didn't endear it. It is dear to us but was distasteful to Him. It was a cup, humanly speaking, He asked the Father to remove from Him. But, thank God, the great word, "nevertheless," was always a part of His prayer vocabulary. 

The Cross was something in God's Will for Him on earth as He journeyed Home. It was one of the unpleasantries of life we all, in a lesser form or fashion, must face as we travel life's pathway on the way to our everlasting abode. The Cross was not His final destination, nor is it ours, but the Father's House!

If we 'consider' Him when faced with our own miniature Gethsemane and Calvary, we'll look past the gruesomeness before us to the glory that awaits us. Remember always those most encouraging words of one who was very much acquainted with suffering, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal." 

Paul pitted twenty years of suffering against eternal bliss and came to the conclusion the former was, "but for a moment."  

In-Step or Out-of-Step?

A Christian should always be out-of-step with the world, and in-step with God. But sad to say, from my observation, most of God's people today keep in perfect step marching to the world's cadence. Rather than, like Enoch of old, walking with God, they walk, as Paul puts it, "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air "Amos, the prophet, tells us we will never be in-step with the Lord until we are in agreement with Him. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

We are told one of the twelve tribes of Israel, "Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty-thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart." The rank and file of Jehovah's warriors march to a different drumbeat than that of the Philistines. If you can stay in step with the enemies of Christ, you're in the wrong army! As the saying goes, "A man, or woman, is known by the company they keep."

I joined the Air Force at seventeen, at the outbreak of the Korean war. During marching times, I was consistently out of step with the rest. When their left foot came down, my right one did. The drill instructor said, "You need to learn the difference between your left and right foot." So he put a two pound rock in my left hand till I knew the difference. Many who are keeping in tempo with this godless world need to pickup a two-pound rock and carry it around until you know better.

Five Keys to Opening the Holy Scriptures

The Fourth Key...The Scriptures Must Be Obeyed

Thus saith the LORD God...Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant"

It is a serious thing indeed to take lightly the obeying of the scriptures. Saul lost a kingdom, the power of the Holy Spirit, and even his life, because he did not take them to heart. All his "spiritual" excuses for not adhering to God's Word did not hold up under Samuel's, "To obey is better." There is no better thing in this world than for a man or woman to obey their Creator and God! In the Bible, we find all of creation obeys God, from the sun and moon to a dumb ass; with one sad exception, mankind. 

The little book of James was written for the purpose of challenging the people of God to be, "Doers of the Word, and not hearers only." He explicitly tells us, it is only the "doers," who are blessed of God. God's promise to obedient doers of His Word is, "Obey my voice (Words), and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." Accordingly, it would seem, there is no legitimate reason to believe one belongs to the people of God, or that God is their God, who does not obey His revealed Word.

A little boy applying for an adult position in a country store was asked by the proprietor, "And just what can you do son? His answer, "I can do what I'm told, Sir."