Category: Accountability

Words….


We write them and speak them every day that we live but it is the spoken word which can do so much in either direction. The Bible says that the tongue is fiery and it can bless and curse almost at the same time. Truly it can and we have all experienced it at some time in our lives. Maybe when we were children and a friend said something which hurt our feelings, even if it was not intentional. Children don’t think about what they say, they just say things which come out of their mouths and many times they are hurtful, mean, and sometimes cruel!

Yes, the tongue can hurt you with words and the attitude which is behind those words are used is another part of the blade which your mouth can wield. So that old saying about sticks and stones is just a lie, because words can and do hurt you. Sometimes the pain caused by words can last a long, long time! Far longer than the bruises from a stone or a stick.

So many times we say things without thinking, even as adults, and we find out later about the hurt feelings that we caused with those words. The problem with words and the pain caused by them is, just like smoke or water, when a word is spoken from your mouth or mine it cannot be recalled. God’s Word is the same. When you read it and re-read it, your soul gets washed in it and by it until your tongue becomes saturated with it too. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will help you get control of it to use it for His Kingdom.

Sometimes, we don’t want to use it that way but when God has a plan for your life which includes preaching, then eventually you will accept your position from Him. Words are what God used to bring the Sun and moon into being and most of creation as well. The only part of the first chapter of Genesis which didn’t use God’s Word was when He made man in His image. He used His hands to mold him into the shape of a man, after scooping up some clay mud from the stream and molding it into the right shape, then He breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life and man became a living soul!

Words and your tongue and mine can have a great impact on someone. Children repeat things that we say, sometimes it is embarrassing but it does happen and everyone who has a child or a grandchild knows it! The tone of your voice is what children and pets pick up on too, and they act or react accordingly. Anger, frustration, and hate can cause far more damage to a relationship between people even when those emotions may not be truly involved at all. If the words that you are saying sound like you are angry, frustrated or seem to have a hateful quality to them then the effect on those around you is the same as if you had struck them with your fists.

Do words and your tongue have this kind of power? Yes, they most certainly do. If you have lived and worked in public you have likely heard it or witnessed it sometime in your life. Seek out God’s strength and provision in your life so that your words don’t cause hurt feelings and damaged lives because many times those can’t be repaired…ever.

The day of His birth…


Most of us celebrate our birthdays, although many seem to worry about them as the numbers get bigger. Why worry about a number? It just means that God has given you another year, another day to live and enjoy your life here with friends and family! Yes, there are some who feel as if their life would be better if they didn’t have so many birthdays piled one on top of another, but let me ask this question: Without killing yourself, what can you do about the march of time and another birthday?

Blunt answer: nothing

God gives us the air that we breathe and the food that we eat throughout our lives, so what will you do with another day, another week or month or even another year? Will you glorify Him in your days, telling others about His grace and His mercy?

This is one of the jobs that we are all supposed to be engaged in, particularly if you are a follower of Christ. Why do we walk as though we don’t know Jesus? Are there some who do this? Yes, there are some who only come to church on holidays or weddings or funerals, what good does it do for you to come at these times? Do you truly listen to the message or did you come to be seen and be in the community?

If you are doing this for your personal gain, it is no good at all for your spiritual well-being. Like the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Temple:

Luke 18:9-14 King James Version 

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Jesus’ day of birth is celebrated in December not because that is when He was born but because it was easy to get pagans to celebrate a day that they already celebrated. Jesus was likely born sometime between the middle of September and October, in any case we do celebrate Him by giving gifts to each other, just as He was the ultimate gift to us. He came not to bring a kingdom down or to begin His reign as Lord and King, but to shed His blood as a perfect sacrifice for ALL of our sins! He died for the whole WORLD, not just for the Jewish nation but for all of the people on Earth and His sacrifice was necessary for us to be able to atone for our sins.

God loves us because that is what His Word says! He is not a liar nor a cheat, yet some people seem to feel cheated by Him because He doesn’t magically provide all of their needs or their desires. He provides for exactly what you need, WHEN you need it. Not more than you need or less, yet that is why many people don’t like Christianity. They seem to expect God to provide for them because He owes them something. God doesn’t owe you anything at all! If you are blessed by Him with riches and wisdom be thankful for it and help those who don’t have what you have been blessed with, as much as you can without offending them.

Why do I say this? Because many people don’t like charity. They don’t want you to give them something and to some it is insulting that you would even think of helping them. But, if they truly needed it I don’t believe the offer would be turned away. It is the same with salvation. It doesn’t cost us anything and we don’t have to do anything to get it. Sometimes it is because of this that people don’t see the value of coming to church and accepting Jesus as their Savior.

Life is moving too fast!


Has anyone else noticed that this year has flown by? I know, while the “candidates” were campaigning  it seemed like it would NEVER end! That is how it felt to me anyway. Yes, life does move quickly and the older we get, we notice it more. While you are working it seems that life flows by like a swift stream. Every day goes by, you come home, have something to eat, watch a little TV, take a shower and go to bed, get up and begin again. Hopefully, you don’t work the night shift because when I worked that shift I went to work at 9:30 pm, worked all night in the hospital lab, got off work at 7:30 am. Drove home, got as much sleep as possible and then ate something, took a shower, and went back again.

These schedules don’t allow for much family time, or me time, they just run on and on and on until you finally quit or something else happens in your life.

God did not intend for us to work like this, but our society demands it because there is no equality in our lives any more. What do I mean by this? I mean e-quality, emotional quality of life. If you are married and have children there are plenty of emotions in your home already. But, are they quality emotions like love,kindness, patience and truthfulness?

This is something which we are missing out on these days because of all the electronic distractions that are in the home. We have smartphones, tablets, Kindles, computers, laptops, game systems (small and PC sized), when do you find the time to sleep and pay attention to the people around you who are supposed to be your family? This needs to be fixed but how? Throwing out all of the electronic gadgets won’t work, that only creates animosity and bitter feelings between those involved. There should be some moderation in their use, but I don’t know how to get this message across.

Why am I complaining about this? Because it happens not just in my home but I am sure it happens in millions of other homes as well. Attention spans have dropped to the point of seconds not minutes like it was during my years growing up. If something isn’t solved in the first fifteen seconds or so, they move on to the next level or game and maybe they will try again later. If that doesn’t work, many of them just trash it and move on to the next game system they have.

Yes, life moves at the speed of attention spans. Today it may be said that five to ten minutes are the top-tier of attention that you may get. After that, minds wander in all kinds of directions but the subject matter that you may be teaching or preaching on. If you home school, the span of attention is a little better, but not by much. Particularly if they LOVE to play games, hand-held and console type.

But God loves each and every one of us, game players included, and He can use our talents and our gifts IF we will let Him. Please seek Him out as your Savior before the day comes when you don’t have a choice but to stand before Him. Your life here is your time given to learn of Him, get to know Him and seek Him earnestly for your own salvation. If you don’t use this time for this, then your eternal destination will be much different and far worse than you can imagine.

Well, we are here…


So, what do we do now? God places rulers, governors, Senators and Presidents in their positions in order for His will to be done. One way or another. Just as God used Pharaoh when the Israelites were slaves, He will use our leaders, our President to make His will for us known. We may not realize it, we may not even want to acknowledge God is the One, the only One Who is truly in control of our world.

God said in the Bible, where Paul wrote in Romans 9:17:
“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

This is what I believe that God is doing here in America today, and not just here but all over the world! The people who are showing up like the Neo-Nazi’s, the white supremacists, many of those who are “taking advantage” of the unrest and uncertainty in our country are just adding to the problems before a solution can be figured out for anything! Most of the voters who actually voted for Donald Trump are not like them nor do we belong to the organizations which are claiming that we do.

God is bringing all of this to a tipping point and one day this will tip over and we will be involved in some real problems, not just these small problems which everyone seems to be whining about. It will not be something that everyone will be joyful about and very few will enjoy it at all, but God is still in control. Some of you who read this may want to ask, “Why is this happening now?”; that is a good question but why didn’t it happen thirty years ago? Why didn’t some of this happen sixty years ago?

Because we, as a people and as the only race on this planet able to think about things like this, are in a position to read and know that where we are in prophecy means that we don’t have many more years before there is a worldwide realization that God truly is in control.Why do I say this? Because when so many people disappear, worldwide at the same time, some will know what it means but many people won’t get it and that is our mission now! To make sure that they don’t have to find someone to tell them what is going on!

Just because we have a President elect who has used the fears and rhetoric that he did in order to get elected, doesn’t mean that he is like those who are wearing the T-shirts with his name on them! You know, I didn’t vote for the President that we have had for the past eight years, but I have prayed for his salvation and for God to give him the wisdom to do his job. I didn’t go into the streets and burn cars and break windows and such because I didn’t want him. God says that we should serve under those who are put above us in government because He is the One Who placed them there!

When things go wrong…


I don’t have to ask about this one, because we all have had days or weeks where things have gone wrong in some way or another. The reason that I am writing this is to encourage those who have been impacted by the hurricane on the East coast. I can hear many people saying “They don’t need encouragement, they need money and help getting their lives back together”.
mygodisawesome
While that is true, they do need to look toward God Who is the Creator and the Provider of all that they need. Some may be asking where was God when the storm hit? The answer is, if you are a Christian, He was there with you all through the storm.

Some people may ask why didn’t God push the storm out to sea instead of causing so much damage? Because we need to grow and become strong, just like trees do. If the wind doesn’t blow while a tree is growing, the roots will not become strong enough to hold it upright and it will fall. Everything that we go through in life either makes us weak, reveals our weakness or makes us stronger. Disease can make us weak, the Holy Spirit reveals to us where our weakness really is and when we realize this and pray for God to give us the strength to get through it…He will.

Many times I have gotten to a point in my life where I felt that nothing that I did or said was making a difference in my life or anyone else’s life. It is at this point that Satan will target your faith, especially if your faith has cracks in it and is not complete and whole in Jesus. He will knock a piece of it loose and start chipping away at your faith, your foundation. This is when you begin to doubt your self and God too. I have even asked God to just take my life and end my existence here because I am no good to His Kingdom, BUT God knows better!!

God can see beyond your weakness and beyond your pity party and He knows what you can do and what you will do, that is why He has never answered my prayer for Him to take my life. Your life and mine are part of His design and we all have a purpose in His Kingdom. What we do with that purpose and with our life is dependent upon our faith and our willingness to obey Him and His calling.

Do you know what He is calling you to do or what He has called you to do? Have you answered that call or are you ignoring it, hoping that He will call you for something that you like better? Our calling is our life in Him regardless of the size of the calling or the ministry that we are being called into. Have you accepted your call from God and determined to follow the path laid before you for His glory?

I urge you to do so, because the church, the body of Christ, needs all of its members to work and to do His work until He comes. Regardless of the doctrine you follow or the denomination that you worship in, whether it is Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Catholic, if your heart belongs to Jesus then you are part of His body, the church.

So much discord…


Passing blame on every person, and on every religion which we don’t believe in is totally wrong! Having issues with different denominations and different religions is not the way to bring about peace. Can we do anything which will bring our world peace? In all honesty, no we can’t, at least not of our own volition and strength. There are too many variables, too much bigotry and hatred and too much pride for us to bring about peace in this world and in this time which we are living in. It is possible in individual communities, even cities, for us to bring people together and put aside our prejudice and pride, but even that would take many people who would sit down and agree. In today’s climate, this peace would only last for at most a week. Which is a sad commentary on us and our country.

All of the animosity and bickering that is going on inside the church and in our nation, as well as in our homes is causing us to be people who really don’t look much like our Savior at all! Where did all of the bitterness and hatred come from? Most of it came from the influence of Satan in our culture and in the church itself. Anytime that he can cause a crack in the Christian church, even when it is from only one member, he will do it. Because, just as in pottery, a small crack will eventually become wider and deeper and it will soon have an effect on the whole church.

It doesn’t matter if the crack in the church comes from one denomination or another, it can spread eventually to other churches. Why does this happen? How does it happen? In small ways, a little at a time, with a word or two here and there, it eventually spreads. Then, the people who make up the church begin moving to other churches or just not coming to church at all. Eventually, one church will die because of lack of people to keep it going. Then the next church will begin losing members, and the community itself is beginning to lose their faith in God.

Satan has this all figured out. Get one or two people in a church to disagree and cause some feelings to be hurt, it doesn’t matter whether it involves the preacher or not, but if it does that’s even better. Eventually, the “problem” will escalate to a point where the church will vote to find another pastor. It doesn’t matter how big the “problem” actually is, it will grow. I pray that this doesn’t happen in my church and I ask my readers to pray for me as well.

Faith, do I have enough?


We all have a measure of faith, whether it is a small measure or a large one, each person has some faith. Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed, which isn’t much bigger than a period at the end of a sentence, can move mountains IF we don’t doubt God! God’s Word is full of all sorts of events which happened because of the faith of the people. So, do you have enough?

Of course you do and I do too! Why do I say it that way? Because, our measure of faith is our portion which is given to each person. Some of us have a large measure of faith, which you can see working in a person’s life. Will God use pain and suffering to teach you to have faith in Him? No! He will not! Some preachers teach this, but God loves you and He is a good and just God, so why would He hurt you in some way to make you grow?

God will allow Satan to have access to you and he will test you in one way or another, just as He did with Job in the Old Testament. He lost everything including his health, but he would not blame God for it! He held onto his faith in God’s goodness and God’s provision even when things were not going very well for him.

Have you taken a step in faith? Even when you can’t see the way ahead of you, whether it is a spiritual journey or one in this life every day, God wants us to prove our faith by stepping out in faith so that He can fulfill that part of your life. I don’t mean that you should test God, that is not the same as stepping out in faith.

If you have prayed about something earnestly and in your spirit you feel that God wants you to do something like be a preacher or an evangelist, then step out there and His blessings will follow. Some people use this the wrong way and buy a new house or a car and they justify it by saying that God said so. Maybe and maybe not. If you can afford it and it doesn’t put a strain on your finances then it may turn out to be a good thing.

God doesn’t have to provide the money if you jump out there and buy something that is way outside your ability to pay for. He will allow you to do this because He wants you to realize that you did that yourself, He wasn’t part of the decision. You can convince yourself that you have heard God’s voice telling you to do this, but it is very likely that it is Satan. He will cause you to do something stupid and convince you that it was God telling you to do this and then laugh at you when you can’t pay for it!

Faith is something that God gives you through the Holy Spirit when you have given your heart to Him. Some of us have a lot of faith, some of us have a little, but a little bit of faith can do a lot when it is faith in God. Make sure that your faith is in Jesus and God and them alone because if your faith is in yourself or in your job or money, then your faith is in temporary things.

Think about it and make sure about your salvation, because tonight may be the last time you get a chance to make that decision.

Wisdom is….


Wisdom is the most useful gift which God gives graciously to those who ask to understand His ways and His Word. Wisdom is like love in its ways. It is not proud, nor does it seek its own exaltation. Wisdom is the most useful of graces which we are given by God, but don’t consider your wisdom as being yours alone. It comes from God and His Word alone. Schools cannot give you wisdom, only life and living can give you wise counsel to carry with you all of your days.

Wisdom is humble and not proud. It is meek and seeks not its own pleasure. If you consider your wisdom is great and that you have gained this of your own accord, then you have not wisdom but prideful feelings about your own abilities. This will bring you to a place where only wisdom can gain your exit, if you are able to use it in such a fashion.

Wisdom is from God, knowledge is from man and the two of them are separate. It is true that knowledge used in the right way could be seen as wisdom, but just as Solomon asked only for wisdom to be king over Israel, it is given to each of us in our portion. We can’t gain it from someone else, and it is only useful if we put it to use in our lives and our ministry, whatever that may be.

Proverbs 4: 5-9

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Wisdom in life usually comes with experience, if you apply what you have learned in your life’s work. Wisdom is not easily forgotten, but pride can shut down your own wise ways. So, what should a man do about gaining wisdom? First, he should seek it out from the very Book that contains words given by God to man, which is the Bible. Why do I say this? Because, the Spirit moved men to write God’s Word and His wisdom down as they were prompted to do so. Even if it was written by the hand of man, the words and the wisdom contained in it came from God

Man couldn’t have written the Bible out of their own imagination because there is prophecy in the Old Testament which has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled today, which man cannot know the future in order to make those predictions. God gives us a portion of His Wisdom in the Bible, all that we need to do is pray to Him for guidance while reading it so we can glean all of His wisdom from what we are reading. If you don’t do that, then you are just reading it as a book and nothing more.

By doing so you are missing the entire reason for which God’s Word was written in the first place. Reading the Bible as “just a book” is like reading one of the Greek writings as just a book, it shouldn’t be read that way nor can it be learned from in that way! I don’t mean to say that you can’t learn something from the Bible by just reading it but you are missing out on so much more that is in it if you read it that way.

God’s wisdom is eternal so His Word is eternal too. We can’t add anything of value to it and we had better make sure that we don’t take anything from it, especially if we are teaching from it. Wisdom is what is needed today in our society, but when you are found to have wisdom from the Bible, many people want to shut you up. Why? Because deed down, they know that your wisdom comes from God’s Holy Word and it can’t be dismissed because it is the Truth.

One in Essence,Three in Person


This is a question that has been on my mind for a few days, because I was asked about it by a very sweet lady who happens to be a Pentecostal by way of her association. Our Creator is One in essence, yet three in Person. It isn’t a hard thing to understand unless you want to deny God being God! He is God, He is the Holy Spirit of God and He is the Living Word, the Son of God!

I don’t mean that God exists as three gods, He is God in Three Persons, yet all of them…each one is as much God as the other! It is a difficult doctrine to understand unless you have some help from Him!

“And now the Sovereign LORD (the Father) has sent me (the Son), with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit).” Isaiah 48:16

Even at the time that Isaiah was a prophet in Israel, God revealed to Him that He was and is three persons in One. Not three gods, but One God with three persons Who in each are also God. Each person of the Trinity is God, but each has a different function. Just as I am a husband, a father and at one time I was a son before my parents passed into eternity. Three functions in One Person is the most apt description of God as a triune godhead.

Just as all things in the universe have a three-fold nature, so does God. Matter has substance (mass) plus energy and motion; time is made up of past, present and future; space is made up of length, width, and depth or height. Their nature doesn’t make them any less than what they are, but take away even one of their parts and you don’t have matter, space or time anymore.

If you take this to a logical conclusion which many skeptics seem to be willing to overlook, the Son of God is also God the Son! The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity and He is fully God, but His influence in our lives is more of a teacher and leader in spiritual things. It is He that resides in your heart and mine, if we have given our lives to Jesus and asked for Him to come into our lives and our hearts.

The Spirit of God was the Person of the Trinity hovering over the waters before creation. What were the waters? I don’t know, you will have to save that question for God Himself. In either case each part of the Trinity is just as much God as the Other. They perform different functions and do different things in this world and in the spiritual realm, but each of them is still God.

When God told Moses that “No man could see His face and live”, He meant that. Which is why when He hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and allowed him to see His back. Later, when Scripture mentions the Angel of the Lord with a capital “A”, this is the pre-incarnate Christ, not an angel. The Spirit or Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity which carries out miraculous healings and resurrections and other signs like being understood by someone who doesn’t speak your language. He also prays for us in our time of anguish and doubt when we are so burdened until we can’t say what is necessary.

In reality, it took the intervention of all three to save each person who is a Christian. Think of it this way: God sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins, Jesus died as a human with the nature of God in order to pay the price for humanity’s sins, and the Holy Spirit convicted you of your need for salvation and brought you to the cross to meet Jesus. If it is too hard to understand, ask a little child. The only time that we will know the answers will be when we are standing in His Presence, and even then we may still not understand it.

So much to do…


Being a pastor, even of a small church, is a big responsibility. The sermon preparation sometimes takes days, many times more than a few days. Then, sometimes God will lead me to change the subject and the passage that my sermon is based on, even as late as Saturday night or Sunday morning!

Getting the gospel to the people who come to church isn’t hard work, since God gives me the strength and the words to do it but sometimes it feels overwhelming. Those are the days that I have to lean into the Word and seek His guidance and direction. Sometimes, life gets in the way with things like paying bills, grocery shopping, going to a movie with my son, but then sometimes one of those will also prompt me or give me an idea for a sermon.

Jesus worked in His ministry for a little more than three years, but the impact that He had on the lives of a total of 14 men and the impact that they have had on the world is nothing short of miraculous. Fourteen men, the original 12, then Judas Iscariot hanged himself, then he was replaced with another, then Paul (Saul) became a convert/disciple, these are the fourteen that I am speaking of. Yes, there were others who were added later, but these were the closest to Him, even Saul.

Why do I bring this up? Mainly because of the impact that Jesus and all of these men had on their world and the people in it. This impact has spread much farther than any of them could’ve imagined and it is still spreading today! God is doing this, the church and its members are taking their witness to places which it might never have been before. The Internet, satellite television, books, Bibles, all of this is part of the mission and yet, there is still so much to do. So, how many are willing to do the work that needs doing?

I don’t know. There are many who come to church on Sunday morning and never open a Bible. Many don’t even bring one with them. If you are not interested in the Word and its message, to learn about Him and what He has said to us and to the believers which began the church during that first century, then why come at all?

I am not telling people to not attend but you at least be engaged in the learning part of church just as if you were in school, because that is exactly what church is! I am not claiming to know all about the Bible or everything about Jesus but the messages that is spoken in church or written here is just as important, but if you aren’t willing to do the work of reading God’s Word and learning more about Him, then why claim to be a Christian in the first place?