The Natural State of Things

Yesterday I read a news article from Brookhaven, MS about an 85 year old lady who went to Fred's Dollar Store. She was in her car, in a handicapped space, when two males around 20 years old approached her and demanded her purse. The lady gave them the purse and then the two men shot her 4 times at close range. I am sure she posed a very big threat to these two young men that they had to do this terrible act to her. Amazingly, thanks to God she has survived thus far and is reported to be recovering from this crime.
Sadly, this story line is far to common this day and age. All you have to do is turn on the news and you will hear how someone shot another person because their drink spilled on them or another person called shotgun before the other. ( These are true. You can search The Clarion Ledger for the story) As I was doing a Bible study on the State of Man I realized that this probably should not be shocking at all. Genesis 6:5 says that the Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. There are many other scriptures that say basically say the same thing. From the moment that we were born, our hearts are naturally inclined towards sin. David, in Psalms 51:5 says "surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." David sums up the state of man pretty well.
So, when I hear of these stories in the news my tendency is to be shocked at what is going on around us but I wonder if this is just man, in the absence of God in our day, reverting to his natural tendencies of sin and evil. I guess I shouldn't wonder because this is what the Bible says is going on. Today, Jesus and Christianity are being turned into a bad thing by our politicians and other organizations. People have no love for Christ nor see any need for Him. We are under attack and the gospel is becoming harder to proclaim. In the absence of truth their is only evil left to fill the vacuum. The book of 2d Timothy gives a good description of the state of man in the last days. Read this passage and decide for yourself if this sounds like our times, "people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, with out self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." That about sums it up to me.
This makes it more clear the widespread need for the gospel. If only we could reach the world for Christ, He can change the hearts of man. When a person is put under conviction of the Holy Spirit and gives their life to God, He will begin a change in their life and they will no longer want to sin. They begin a process of sanctification and whip the evil desire of their heart into submission. 1 John 3:9 states, "no one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he can not go on sinning." We will still sin but for this is the natural state of man, but we will have the power of the Holy Spirit to fight against our flesh daily. If you stumble today, resolve yourself to not make the same mistake tomorrow and God will help you beat the temptation.
In summary, we can look at our world today and see how terrible men are. It is a world filled with hate for God and each other. But we can always remember that "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." We are on the winning team and we must do all we can to let others know before time is up. We serve a powerful and living God! Have a great day!

Got Off The Wagon and Push!

Have you ever had a flat tire? I'm sure we all have had a flat at some time or another and the one thing all of our flats have in common is that they happened at a bad time. I wonder if there is ever a good time to have a flat? Probably not. As a matter of fact, I had a flat two weeks ago. I had just finished my mail route and had returned to the post office and there it was, a flat tire. My first thought when I saw this was "that's great." So I got to work and changed the tire and was on my way again.
This week I found a story of a man who had a flat, so to speak. This man's name was Naaman. He was the commander of the king of Aram's army. According to 2 Kings 5, Naaman had everything going for him. He had won many great victories for the king, was highly thought of, and was a valiant soldier. However, Naaman had a flat if you will. He had leprosy. In case you don't know leprosy is a bacterial infection of the skin marked by slow-growing swellings if not treated. Most lepors that we read about were banished but surprisingly Naaman was not. He was a great man. I think this speaks volumes about his standing in Aram.
Naaman's wife had a servant girl who was captured from Israel. She told her that "if only Naaman would go see the prophet in Samaria he could be cured of his affliction. Naaman heard this and immediately went to his king and asked to go to Israel. He was granted his request but for reasons unknown to me, Naaman went to see the king of Israel for his cure. If you have a flat, would you go to the transmission shop to get it fixed? This is, in effect, is what Naaman did. He went to the wrong source. The king tore his clothes and said " Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to Life?"
Eventually Elisha heard of this news and told the king of Israel to send Naaman to him and Naaman came. Elisha told Naaman to go to the Jordan river and wash 7 times and his leprosy would be healed. Most people would be happy with these instructions, but not so with Naaman. You wouldn't believe it but Naaman was angry. His direct quotes was, " I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy." Naaman was angry because he was going to have to put out a little effort to receive a blessing from God. Eventually Naaman's servants talked some sense into him and he did as instructed and was healed.
As I mentioned before, if you have a flat tire it is not convenient to have to change it. You could stare at it all day and wish for an easy solution that will not present itself. You will have to put in some sweat equity to get the problem solved. I think sometimes in our personal lives and in churches we have the mindset of Naaman. We all want to see change but don't want to make the effort to bring about the change. We all want the benefits of being a child of God but don't want the work that comes with it. If we want God to move I believe we have to move. You can't fill up the pews without reaching out to your community. You can't know the word of God without first reading and studying it. You can't hear God's voice unless he hears yours. Jesus told us to turn and follow Him. So when we want more of God or want our churches to grow then we need to put in some sweat equity. Let us not be like Naaman and expect everything be given to us but lets be ready to work for the Lord! Are you ready to get off the wagon and push? Have a great day!

(I encourage you to read the full account of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:1-14)

Who Do You Say That He Is?

Lately, I have been very interested in the subject of apologetics. The first time I saw this word I was browsing the Bible section at Lifeway. I saw the Apologetics Study Bible and thought, "What do we have to be sorry for?" This is probably a common reaction among folks like me. However, I have since learned that the meaning is quite the opposite.

The word apologetics comes from the word apologia which means "an argument in support or justification." In terms of Christianity, it is the logical, systematic explanation or defense of Christianity. You may be thinking to yourself, "Why do I need to know anything about apologetics? That is something my pastor had to study, and he is the only one that needs to know about it." I would tend to think this, but God’s word does not agree. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” David Horton, editor of The Portable Seminary wrote, “At some point, we all have to be apologists, unless we intend to keep our faith a secret.”

There are several different types of apologetics, but I want to focus on just one of these for this posting. It is Relational Apologetics. Relational Apologetics proclaims that the changed life of believers and God’s love shown to others validates the truth of Christianity. David Horton states that there is one weakness with this type of apologetics and that is “one would expect a qualitative difference between the ethics of Christians and non-Christians, which is not always as evident as it should be.” That statement is the perfect lead in to today’s post. I was on my way to a sales call yesterday while listening to a praise song. The first lyric said, “who do you say that He is with your life?”

When you begin to “advertise” Jesus as your Lord, it is very important to do your best to ensure that your actions match your beliefs. Have you ever heard someone say, “Churches ain’t full of nothing but hypocrites and that’s why I ain’t going!” I’m sure we’ve all heard similar statements at one time or another. However, this illustrates the sometimes scary truth that people are watching us, waiting for our next move...waiting for us to slip so that Satan can implant the thought in the unbeliever’s mind that we serve a powerless God. It’s not an easy thing to live a Christ-like life. In fact, I’m sure that it is impossible, but we are all called as Christians to try our hardest. I have always heard the statement that actions speak louder than words. I can remember Christians that I have met in my life that I knew, without them telling me, that they were a Christian. James 2: 18 says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” Our actions will line up with our faith. I don’t want to be misunderstood. It is not our deeds that save us, but when we are saved, our deeds will match our faith.

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus wasn’t strictly a carpenter since He sure did talk about farming and growing things a lot. One of His favorite topics was fruit. He always talked about knowing a tree by what type of fruit that it bore. He talked of vines growing and being trimmed or in some cases, burned. If you haven’t read it, you can look at Matthew chapter 7 for further reading on fruit. I would say today that we should all evaluate our fruit. Make sure it matches our tree. If you’re an apple tree, then make sure you got apples growing. The Bible says that we are to examine ourselves. I hate to say this, but unless we die tomorrow, we have a life filled with battling sin daily. We are targets. 1 Peter 5:8 says that the devil is seeking for whom He may devour.
So, protect yourself from the onslaught of temptation. Do this by staying in touch with God. There is power in prayer but you have to use it first. The more frequently, the better. Second, remain in the word of God daily. Just reading the Bible everyday and really meditating on it can bring about noticeable changes in your life and your ability to fight sin. I heard a preacher say once that “the Bible can keep you away from sin or sin will keep you away from the Bible.” I find this to be true. Lastly, remember that it is worth the fight. James said that there is a crown of life awaiting the man that endures temptation. Jesus promised that we will spend eternity with Him. Guard yourself everyday because you never know who is watching. We should practice relational apologetics daily. I hope you have a great day!

Answer to My Question?

The Answer to My Question

Warning: This is a rambler

Since January 2009 I have struggled with a very difficult question. Whenever I had the chance to talk with a pastor or other Christian I would always ask them this question that has really bothered me. This crisis can be summed up in the following statement about professed Christians: “we acknowledge Christ with our mouths and deny Him with our actions. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

I find it unbelievable. We worship a God who has the power to move mountains yet we see people who make a profession of faith and remain unchanged. There is no difference in their life. We see them that Sunday, shake their hands after the service and never see them again. Later we find this person living their old life and no change remains. I tend to believe that if it looks like the world, smells like the world, and acts like the world, it probably is of the world. I will acknowledge that there are numerous reasons for this which could be no follow-up, lack of discipleship or no instruction. But, dealing with my question…how can people be saved but not exhibit an effort to be holy or change their ways? One pastor said to think of this logically with the following example: If I came in late for work and told my boss that I was late because my tire was flat and as I was changing it, I was hit by an 18 wheeler. I would be called a liar because I could not possibly have an encounter with an 18 wheeler and not be hurt, killed or otherwise changed. So, how can a person have an encounter with something as big as God and not be totally changed?

As I said I have asked many people and tried to study this topic. Well, today I believe I got my answer. My Bible study has been in the book of Romans. I have read this book several times and it always left me feeling confused. I find it to be a very tough book to break through so I decided to use a Bible study and go through it again. I found the answer in Romans 6:16, it says “ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to life, which leads to righteousness?” Then in verse 22 Paul says, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

I can’t judge a man’s heart, I can only go by what I see. And, if what I see is someone striving to live holy, who shows a love for God, and his thoughts are Gods thoughts I can not help but to believe that that person is a child of God. When we become a slave to God we are focused on His work. Paul says that we will reap the benefit of holiness. This may not happen over night. We, after all are human and will always make mistakes and fall short. Thank God for grace because we would be hopelessly lost without it. We could never do enough things right to get to heaven. This is a good time to throw in a disclaimer. I am not advocating legalism! The Israelites couldn’t even follow God’s laws so I don’t know how we could be expected to follow rules made by man and make it to heaven. I am simply concerned with the habitual actions of people. A true salvation experience brings about repentance and a process of sanctification which will be evident in the lives of a believer.

I apologize for this post. It may seem disjointed and all over the place but so are my thoughts on this subject. I believe this is a good thing to be burdened about, the souls of men. It’s just when you read that on judgment day people who claim to know the Lord and do His will, will be turned away. That is scary and should make us want to disciple our new Christians to make sure they know it’s real. Maybe this will help…My Bible study summed it up this way:

“Jesus Christ is not looking for people who want to add Him to their life as insurance against hell. He is not looking for people who want to apply His high moral principles to their unregenerate lives. He is not looking for those who want only to be outwardly reformed by having their old nature improved. Jesus Christ calls to Himself those who are willing to be inwardly transformed by Him, who desires an entirely new nature that is created in His own likeness. He calls to Himself those who are willing to die with Him in order to be raised with Him, who are willing to relinquish slavery to their sin for slavery to His righteousness. And when people come to Him on on His terms, He changes their destiny from eternal death to life.” ( McArthur Bible Study Series: Romans, 2006)

Jesus does not want to be the “cherry on top”, He wants to be the whole “bowl of ice cream.”

Give us Barrabas!

Easter Sunday was yesterday and it was such a joyous day! A wonderful time for rejoicing and celebrating what Jesus did for those who believe and will believe in Him. Christians around the world gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Easter is also a day filled with much tradition and religious activity. Much like the days when Jesus walked the Earth, there were those who were so blinded by their religious pride that they could not believe nor bring themselves to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. Matthew 27: 16-23 is an example of the depths of this unbelief. Men who thought they were doing their religious duty actually gave up the Messiah to be crucified. This is what religious activity will do to a person. Pilate had asked the Jews if they wanted Jesus, who had done nothing wrong in Pilate's eyes, to be released or if they wanted the notorious murderer Barrabas released to them. They cried out with such passion that they wanted the murderer released to them. Then with great zeal they shouted for Jesus to be crucified.

It has always boggled my mind to think of the Jews and their religious leaders who cried for a murder. These devout Jews crucified the Messiah. The sad fact of the matter is that we continue to crucify the Savior to this very day. Everyday we have choices to make and often times people will ask for Barrabas. How incredible! We prefer a murderer in our midst. I believe that when people today would willfully choose to have Barrabas over Christ, they are worse than the Pharisee's of Jesus' day. We have thousands of years of Christian history, we have the apostle's acts, we have Pauls' letters. All of these things are there for us to know that Jesus is the Messiah.

As I stated, Easter is a joyous day yet I found myself troubled as I sat in church. I looked around at people that we rarely see and it gave me such an un-easy feeling. People show up to church twice a year and feel like everything is okay. They feel that they and God are just fine and dandy because they came to church on Easter Sunday. How far from the truth. We today have a form of religion. We are becoming just like the Pharisee's. We can't follow Jesus because He asks of more that two Sunday's a year. He asks for our life! I ask you to ponder this today. Do you want Jesus or would you have Barrabas?

A Living Sacrifice

I read the following story during my morning devotional and felt very moved and convicted by it. I thought you all might enjoy it as well.

There was a young girl named Mary and she suffered from a rare disease. She was at the point of death and the only hope of saving her life was through a blood transfusion. She had a rare type of blood and the only match that could be found was her little brother Johnny. The doctor sat down with Johnny and explained that his sister was seek and that if Johnny would give her his blood that she could live. Johnny sat there pondering what was being asked of him and the doctor saw his lip quiver and tears begin to well up in his eyes. The boy looked up to the doctor and said that he would do it. The doctors were relieved and immediately began the transfusion. With the two children hooked together the process began. The doctors could see Mary's condition improving as the blood entered her body. At this moment Johnny looked at the doctor and asked, “when am I going to die." The young man in those few moments as he pondered his decision made up his mind once and for all that he was going to give his life to save his sister.

The question was posed at the end of the devotion have we committed ourselves to serve Jesus with this same devotion? Would we serve him to the point of death like the apostles in Acts? Could we be beaten yet still rejoice and praise God? This is what He asks of us. This is the cost of serving. Jesus did this very act for us and I believe he asks for nothing less in return. Paul said that we should "Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice...this is your reasonable service." (Paraphrased) Romans 12:1 I hope y'all enjoy this! Happy Easter!