The Power of Words, Stupid Ones

The Power of Words

You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth. (Proverbs 6:2)

The world is driven by words. The Kingdom of God is speech driven. Words set things in motion. God spoke and there was light. Words are spoken and we know that we are loved. The actions will accompany the words, but speaking drives the universe.

We have available now all forms of social media. Words are being written and published for the world to see. Feelings, rants, tirades, accusations, love mush, and all kinds of comments are being made. The writers seem to think it is only for a few, but experience tells us that anyone can get to those comments and make them universally known, posting them on numerous sites.

The rape of a girl in Steubenville, Ohio should give an exclamation point to what I am about to say. These boys posted video of themselves in the process of abusing the girl. They bragged about it on social media, and even said they had violated her. What were they thinking? This is wrong on so many levels that it is staggering to consider. First of all, how could you be so cruel to act like that, secondly, what weird, twisted mind thinks you will get away with it? Thirdly, what kind of school culture idolizes sports figures to the place that they think they are above the law? Fourthly, where in the world were the parents who were allowing an underage drinking party that had denigrated to an orgy? Fifthly, what was wrong with the other teens who were watching this and did not stop it? Sixthly, why did coaches and school officials not do anything once they found out about the incident? I probably could go on, but the complicity is rampant on many levels.

Social media can become Orwellian as the government is able to track and follow and convict based on what you say. Teens are oblivious to the consequences of stupid posts. Posting pictures, sexting, making bizarre statements, complaining and accusing others will come back to bite you! Look at the political campaigns. They dig up stuff from the candidates past and publish it and use it as ammunition against them. Doing stupid stuff today will be published because someone has a camera phone handy. 

While I believe social media has a place and is good most of the time, it can become a horrible media that will eventually harm you if you are not careful. For instance, two girls were arrested for threatening the victim in Steubenville. There have been cases of people loosing their jobs after posting comments against the employer. A waitress just lost her job for complaining about a tip given.

Here are some thoughts for safety: Do not post pictures that are provocative or suggestive, do not make really personal comments about yourself, your wife, husband, or children, do not tell too much about yourself, your feelings etc. Be careful. Do not attack other people. Be wise. You are snared by the words of your mouth! More so than ever now!

Bless, not curse.

At The Cross

At The Cross

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. (Galatians 2:20) 

When was the last time you heard or sang the “Old Rugged Cross?” When was the last time you heard a message on the cross of Christ? It has been a while more than likely, maybe last Easter, if then.

We have been working on transformation without the cross. We seem to want to feel good about ourselves and work harder to be holy and acceptable (at least to ourselves). Today’s definition of holy and acceptable is more along the lines of what makes me happy. The transformation that most people want is a better me, an improved me, a made over me. God’s definition of transformation is dying and letting Christ live through us. “No longer I live, but Christ in me.” 

So, if I am to die in order for Christ to live in me, then there must be something that takes my life. There has to be an instrument and a circumstance that takes my life, kills me, or in more polite terms, expire.

That instrument is the cross. It is meant to be the tool of my demise. But we come to the “nevertheless I live part.” The death desired is internal. Something in me really offends God. It has to die. There is no way to live for God without this significant internal death. We speak a lot about the new birth, but we fail often to speak of why we need a new birth. We invite people to the new birth, but we infrequently speak of the death required which brings about the need for a new birth. It seems from the New Testament that the cross of Christ was preached prefacing the new birth.

But, oh how do we die? There must come a day of total exhaustion. That all the self induced, mind over matter, human determination, comes to an end. Exhausted. Tired. When life becomes a burden and you do not want to go on, then we are willing to die. It is at that point that the cross becomes inviting. It is said that in lifesaving school, they teach to let the person drowning exhaust themselves first or they may drown the rescuer as well. Once they are tired, the lifeguard can bring them to safety. So it is with mankind, sometimes we must exhaust ourselves before we will finally embrace the cross.

Looking to the cross, we find one who suffered and died for us. We begin to realize that all our fruitless self efforts were nailed to that cross. We realize that our addictions were nailed to that cross and the freedom we so desperately need was purchased there by the blood of Jesus.

The internal death begins to take place as we run out of our own breath. We come just as we are, hopeless and tired. We are ready to die and die we do. But in that death, as we expire to self, instead of oblivion and annihilation, at the moment of ceasing to struggle and we abandon ourselves to God, life comes roaring in and the breath of God touches us and life is worth living again. Life, not for ourselves, but life for the one who rescued us, who died for us. The cross then becomes a thing of beauty and an object of deep respect for the one who hung there.

Excellence

Excellence

...you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you...

Excellence. It is an attitude. It is an approach to life. It requires a vigilance, a concern, an awareness. There is a difference between opulence and excellence. Opulence is accomplished through lots of money and the display of having it. It can be opulent, but gaudy and tasteless. It can be over the top; yet offensive to the senses. Excellence, on the other hand, can be accomplished with any income, any place in life. It has the attitude of doing the best with what you have and presenting it in that fashion.

I have been in homes that are poor. You are served with honor and presented their best. In one place, it was a white, plastic table cover and a fish. In another, it was a young lady waiting the tables, hovering around everyone making sure we enjoyed the greens that came from a peanut plant and the chicken and the warm coke. It was expressed in a well swept dirt floor and cots made neatly and children clean in the midst of dust and grime.

Excellence was expressed with tears and hair wiping the dirt from the feet of the master; it was the cry of a doubting man declaring “my Lord and My God.” It is the giving of the best you have, sharing your life in quality.

The attitude has to be developed from gratitude. How often do we see children with much disregard for the sacrifice that parents make to provide. They are given things that cost a lot and in a matter of hours, they are bored with it and never play or use it again. Children walking around with $800 iPhones and iPads, and computers worth thousands and clothes from designers, costly. Yet, go to their room and the designer clothes are thrown on the floor, games strewn, devices scratched and broken. Adults who wanted the best cars, neglect them, never wash them, allow them to deteriorate at a rapid rate, or they buy houses that they will not keep up. Ingratitude and a sense of entitlement leads to a lack of excellence.

Ingratitude and a lack of excellence show themselves in many ways. You walk past stuff that needs done expecting someone else to do it. The public does it all the time, throwing paper down, littering, expecting someone else to clean up. It happens in homes with adults and kids, leave the dishes, mom will do them. Throw the clothes on the floor, mom will pick them up. Don’t fix the little problem, dad will do it. It is always someone else’s job.

The excellent attitude takes ownership and cares. They care when there is an issue. They want things to be presentable and pleasant. They are not cheap, giving leftovers. They may look for a bargain, but they are not settling for poor quality. Excellence says something about you, your business, your church, your life. I always want to hire someone who takes pride in their work, excellence.

Our church is becoming a house of excellence. The Lord deserves our best.

Really?

Really?

For what will a man give in exchange for his life? (Jesus) This question should haunt your existence. What are you allowing to take your life?

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

I have been pondering this for some time. What has taken our life? Who has murdered me? While the gifts and callings are without repentance, there are things that do fade.

I know people who have a calling and have not responded. I know people who have a calling and who have quit. I know people who have a calling and have been offended and forsaken their destiny. I know people who are called and will not engage anymore in the process because of the politics and hypocrisy of many.

These have been murdered, yet live. They attend church sometime, they hate church all the time, they love God, but they hate his plan.

I have met those who later in life anguish with a life wasted, a calling unused, an anointing ignored, all because the enemy took their life and left them the walking dead. The calling still is heard and echoes in their soul. When they are around the things of God, conviction sets in and the voice of the call haunts their being. Instead of a blessing, it becomes the curse of dreams unfulfilled. They avoid places where there might be an opportunity for God to touch them. Many seek to drown themselves in entertainment, hobbies, alcohol, or drugs. These are the ones who sit in bars and under the influence begin to talk to others of the Bible.

Lost souls, desperate souls, unrested souls, they walk with the unrelenting understanding of who they should be. But, when they attempt to make a come back, the enemy always makes sure there is some self-righteous, judgmental individual or circumstance to run them back to their dysfunction and their death row cell.

While the call remains, the anointing is gone. King Saul had the spirit depart from him. King David begged God to not take his Holy Spirit from him. Having a calling and having the Spirit depart or lose the anointing is torture. The enemy wants to make sure we live in defeat.

It is easy to be offended. Having a calling does put a target on you. There are many offenses in ministry. People hurt people. But the goal is God, not people. I just read Jeremiah and he was treated horribly by kings, priests, and the people; yet he continued because of God, not the reception of his ministry. Jesus was rejected and despised; yet did not shrink from his calling. And betrayal comes to those in ministry often from those close and trusted which makes it more painful and easy to walk away from. 

However, the issues are far larger than the follies of man. These are eternal issues and one of them is you, me. Can I endure to the end? Will I allow a person or persons to take my calling, my inheritance? Or will I persevere in spite of hurts, offenses, and betrayal? There is no one or anything worth my eternal life! I will not exchange my calling and anointing for what the world has to offer. The treasure is Jesus.

The Loss is Real

Half of ministers get divorced. Same rate as the world. Something is wrong.

35-40% of ministers leave the ministry after 5 years.

57% said they would leave ministry if they had a better job waiting.

77% said they did not have a good marriage.

1500 pastors a month leave the ministry for various reasons.

Around 10% are able to make it a life long ministry

Against the Tide

Against the Tide

Living in a Post Christian nation makes us live differently. If you still think we are a Christian nation, you are out of touch. However, we are called to be a kingdom of believers.

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 105:19.

The tide in our generation is a rush of secular humanism and blatant anti-Christian world views. The purposeful, unrelenting tide is to strip the populace of morals, truth, and order. In its place there is this surge of legalized immorality, lies parading as truth, and chaos defined as law.

No culture can continue to exist without a foundation that provides protection and service to the constituents. These functions have to be based in some sort of absolute that becomes the source upon which judgments are made. If the courts, the congresses, and police make situational, personal decisions based on feeling rather than law or the absolutes, the people then can no longer have trust or confidence in the government. If our educators, our schools and universities are teaching there is no truth or absolutes, we have returned to the place of Divine judgment, as in when everyone was doing “what was right in their own eyes.” The flood then had to come to cleanse the earth of the folly and ungodliness. The problem with relativism is that it brings society to a place of reprobation. Too long, we have been drinking the cool aid of the world. It is poisoning us to death, slow, but sure. The pace of the poisoning has picked up dramatically because the once guardians of truth, the church and the schools, have been overrun by wolves in sheep’s clothing. In Russia the pastors of the state church are KGB agents. In the US and western world, many pulpits are filled with unbelievers who have a social agenda contrary to the word. With no absolutes they mirror the world and exacerbate the problem of declining Bible knowledge and worldview. This is the only way you can justify the gay marriage acceptance in some churches; they have forsaken the word and twisted it to mean nothing. 

The warnings continue to go out and are continued to be ignored. To stem the tide of the decline, there has to be raised up another generation of young people who love the word, who love God, and are not polluted by the current philosophies of man. Someone has to see through the lies and grab the truth. Someone has to wake up and realize this is taking the world into judgment.

When we begin to speak of the truth being a person (Jesus) and his word being the basis of existence, we are shouted down. The reason for the shout down is the truth convicts and no one wants to change their lifestyles to comply with the word of God. 

Our job is to ignore the shout down and continue to preach the truth regardless of the consequences and the rejection. The church has become anemic because we want to appease the world and make it comfortable. We must accept the stigma of the truth. We may be branded as “those people,” but we must wear it in confidence of the absolute truth revealed in the word of God. We must study to show ourselves approved.

The Loss is Exponential

82% of Americans including Christians believe that “God helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse. (not)

50% of high school seniors think that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.

A large number believe the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham.

Only one third of Christians believe in absolute truth.

Only 68% of Christians have heard of Spiritual gifts and only one third could name one.

2013 Moving Ahead

Every year when we turn the corner, we have hope. It is strange that the tick of a clock means one year has ended and another begun. The joke that we say every year on the 31st is, “see you next year.” But that little change in time does something for us inside, in our mind, in our heart. It is like we can close the door to a piece of history and start fresh. It truly is psychological, but oh so necessary. I know I need it. It somehow feels like a breath of fresh air, a new resolve, a time to make resolutions of improvement or change.

Here are some things to look forward to in 2013:

The youth will be bringing the drama back to the River with the production of the play “Bema.” This will be presented on April 7th at 5:00 PM.

Also, there will be fundraisers for Youth Camp in June and the first will be February 3rd after church.

The Worship and Dance teams have scheduled four nights of worship throughout the year and we will have guest teams participating. Those will start at 6:30 on the Sundays they are scheduled.

LifeStyle Women’s ministry has the year planned with a number of great meetings including a retreat with Shirley Sustar.

We will continue our 5th Wednesday special “Gifts of the Spirit” meetings. The first one will be January 30 at 7:00 PM and our guest ministers will be Jim and Shirley Sustar and they will focus on miracles.

The Hospitality Team has planned our annual events such as the picnic and Thanksgiving. But they have planned a special evening with a St. Patrick’s Day Banquet on March 15th at 7:00 PM. This will be an adults only event providing a great night out for everyone.

Our Family Life Hour is off to a great start and we will be continuing to enjoy that and improve it as we go.

In early March we are coordinating with Heartland Christian Center and bringing James Goll and his team in for a conference. That will be March 8, 9, and 10. The tenth is a Sunday and our guest minister that morning will be Mickey Robinson.

Likewise, throughout the year we will continue to provide seminars and guest speakers that will bless the church and allow you to invite others to attend.

Our Dinner and Discipleship has expanded to three classes: How to Hear God, Kingdom Man, and Faith and Healing. The youth will have their regular meeting while we have classes and we will all meet for supper at 6:30 PM on those second Sundays of the month.

As we have said, we are focusing on our Families and our children. Next generations leadership and equipped young people is a formidable mandate.

For me, it is thrilling to watch so many of our church actively working and serving in some capacity. Everyone counts.

I am so pleased, if you will allow me, with the direction, willingness, and participation of all of you!

Are You In? Really In?

I am constantly thinking of the church and our goals. The kingdom of God is under attack from spiritual forces that express themselves in modern terms. They walk the halls of government, they parade in the streets, they teach in our schools, they print our media, they write the blogs. The war for the souls of men and women is raging. We think missions, and rightly so, but there is a mission field in front of us every day. I am overwhelmed at times with the lostness of most people. God help us. God help us fight this tsunami of disaster that plague the souls of men.

Children

Oh the pain, the deep grief. I have hardly been able to watch the reports coming out of Newtown, CT. Seeing the faces of panicked parents, scared little kids, and the extreme agony of loss causes me to grieve with them. The grief is deepened by the inexplicable reason for the massacre. The senselessness of the murders and the cold hearted execution of children renders the mind reeling, trying to find some connection that would cause such an atrocity. But sadly, none is found, leaving closure an impossibility.

Children are a gift from God to parents, to the world. They are a source of joy, love, hope, and aggravation. Children are somewhat of a blank page. They have certain innate, God given talents, but they need instruction, correction, and encouragement. Children do not raise themselves. Too much of current parenting is a hands off approach. It does not direct, teach, or correct. It allows unbridled emotions, actions, and verbal expressions. The result is unruly, undisciplined, rude, wild, obnoxious little brats. They are dangerous. I see them hitting their parents, running wild banging into adults and other children. Sadly, I see parents take the abuse and refuse to discipline the child. It is like they do not know what to do. They have no parenting skills.

So, we have a generation of parents who have little or no clue how to rear children and we have children who are unrestrained and receive little or no guidance from their parents. They are being trained by videos, violent games, peers, and teachers who are afraid of lawsuits. Even teachers are being injured in schools as administrators tolerate near criminal behavior in fear of the ALCU and special interest groups with high powered lawyers. Meanwhile we are growing a nation of emotionally ruled babies that grow into unbalanced adults. This is not an indictment on all since there are some doing a great job of parenting; however, the trend leans toward the undisciplined.

With this as a backdrop, we, the church must change our culture since the church has been deeply affected by the secular educational philosophies. We have segregated the family over the past number of decades, have bought into the “generation gap” and have concluded that families need to be separated so they can learn. Against that philosophy, we have around 2000 years of families being together.

We currently have a serious illiteracy in the area of Bible knowledge in children especially and in adults too. We cannot seriously address the culture when there is no character strength based in the word. We are swimming in a sea of ethical, religious, and moral pluralism. We are drowning in tolerance which is defined, not as respecting another position, but defined as anything goes and nothing is really right or wrong. So, our children are being taught in such a manner that true, absolutes do not exist. You cannot change the world with anything goes.

Thus, we must make a determined effort and program of training the children in the basics of God’s word. The establishment that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that the Word of God is true, that the Word of God is reliable and authentic becomes a gargantuan task against the tsunami of relativism permeating the secular culture.

We cannot stand against the forces with bland, weak teaching. We cannot stand against the problem with entertaining or babysitting the children. There has to be a concerted plan that involves parents and mentors. We have to be on the same page and work diligently, not for a semester, but for years. This is not the job of mentors or teachers in church; it is the job of Christian parents to engage their children. Really the basis for this is God’s delegation of procreation and the responsibility of the parent as a steward of God’s creation. 

With that in mind, we are going to do everything possible to support parents in the training of their children. Home is the greatest greenhouse of character and education. Church can help, but it cannot succeed without the home working on character.

My granddaughter in law is a teacher as is my granddaughter. She commented that the kids come to school and do not even know the basics of civility. They do not know kindness, sympathy, basic manners, or the necessary relational skills that allow education to take place. She said that this should not be her job, but the job of the parents.

So, our Herculean task is to turn things around in our midst. It is to focus on children as a treasure and not an inconvenience. It is to see the future in the eyes of our children and invest in them. It is to recognize that godly character is taught in the home and reinforced at church. It is to provide the tools to help parents be good role models, good, loving disciplinarians, and to be good teachers of God’s word.

To stop the slide, there must be dramatic changes and a commitment from the church to do this. It will take everyone on board. It will take mentors in the classes, but it will also take folks supporting and aiding the parents in church. It will take, we, the leadership, upholding the vision and supporting it in the way speak, act, and invest.