How Many Times..................

How many times have we had as Christians to give our testimony? To share our story on what God has done for us? To share The Gospel with other people? Only to shrink back and remain silent. Not say a word. Why is that? Are we afraid of what people will think? Will they laugh at us? Call us crazy. Jesus wants us to be bold for Him. To stand up and speak His name and the truth that He gives. I can personally think of a few times when I stood idling my time away, when I heard conversations going on about Jesus, The Bible, Easter and Good Friday. I could have spoken up and probably should have, but, I remained silent. Only to beat myself up over it later. "If only I had said something, done something." I would lament to myself. "You know the Bible and you're a pastor for goodness sakes." My inability to say anything in these situations reminded me of what Jesus said in The Bible.

Matthew 10:33 Living Bible (TLB)
³³ But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly deny him before my Father in heaven.

To me, by not chiming in, I felt like I was denying Christ. Everything He has done for me. His love, mercy and grace. All on the tip of my tongue, yet nothing came out. Only silence.

How many times has this happened to me. How many times have I had the opportunity to speak out? Well my friends, I hate to say this but, time is running out. We are not going to live forever. We could live to a ripe old age(preferred), or we could die tomorrow (let's hope not). So let's take every opportunity to speak about Jesus. Go and do the Great Commission. Spread His name everywhere.

Matthew 28:18-19 Amplified Bible (AMP)¹⁸ Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

I don't know how many more times I am going to be able to speak publicly about Jesus. Only He knows the hour. Like I said in my last blog post, Life Is Merely A Vapor.

John 9:4 Living Bible (TLB)
⁴ All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.
When we come to our end, we will not be able to proclaim the name of Jesus, out loud any longer. So let's do it as much as possible. While there is still breath in our lungs.

Amen!

Life.............Merely a Vapor.

We had a snow storm one day last week. It was the wet, heavy kind of snow. You know the kind of snow that packs and stays together. Perfect for snowball fights or building a snowman. When I came home from work that day, that is exactly what the next door neighbor kids had done. They built a snowman. Of course by the time that I arrived at home, it was almost all melted and gone. It had warmed up enough to not keep it around much longer. That got me to thinking about our lives here on earth. I started thinking, that like this snowman, we are here one day and then gone the next.

James 4:14 Amplified Bible (AMP)
¹⁴ Yet you do not know the least thing about what may happen in your life tomorrow. What is secure in your life? You are merely a vapor like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot that is visible for a little while and then vanishes into thin air.

Just like that snowman that was so packed together and stood tall for a few hours and then melted away, that's how our lives are. We are here, enjoying the things that life has to offer, and then in a moment, it's all gone. Our live are over. Like a mist.

Unlike that snowman, who is an inanimate object. It could not prepare for what came later that day. We can and are able to prepare ourselves for Christ's return.

God calls us to be ready at all times.  

Matthew 24:44 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁴⁴ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

So I urge you. Get right with God today. Tomorrow may be to late. Never to early to start. God wants us all to be with Him. To live with Him forever.

Meant for Evil, But God Makes it Good.

Good Friday. The day that Satan thinks that he is winning. Jesus was arrested and sentenced to crucifixion. He was beaten, whipped & scourged. Made to wear a crown of thorns on His head and then have to carry His cross through the city to Golgotha, where He was nailed to that cross and raised up between two criminals.

I can just see Satan laughing at this whole thing. "Look at the mighty Son of God." "He can't even get himself down off that cross." "How mighty is He now!" "King the Jews." He was thinking that he conquered Jesus and His followers.

He would be wrong.

Little did he know, that God had other plans for Jesus. He would raise Him up three days later and bring Him back to life. The resurrection of Jesus! Hallelujah!!

With His resurrection, Jesus conquered sin, death and the grave. He is alive.

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)
²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

As we get ready to celebrate Easter, lets remember it's about Jesus being alive and with us. He died for us, so that we may have eternal life with Him.

HE IS RISEN! HE IS ALIVE!

Amen!

SCARED!

Scared! That's what communities across this great nation are becoming more of. As this pandemic grows and spreads, people are becoming scared. Scared of catching this virus and possibly passing away. Scared that a family member might get it and pass away. Scared that they might pass it on to someone else. Believe me, it is scary. All those possibilities. The experts recommend wear face masks, gloves. Stay six feet apart. We are learning new words and phrases during this time. Stay in Place. Social Distancing. The list goes on and on. I'll admit that when this first started I was kind of casual towards it. Now that it keeps inching and inching closer to home, I'm taking it a lot more serious. Still not scared, but more cautious.

Psalm 56:3-4 (NLT)

³ But when I am afraid,
    I will put my trust in you.
⁴ I praise God for what he has promised.
    I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
    What can mere mortals do to me?

 

We, as a nation are scared now more than ever. We need to put our trust back in God. He is in control. We need to let Him move and do His thing. Healing, redeeming, comforting, saving. We keep looking at this from our human mindset. We need to try and see it from God's perspective.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

 

We don't understand what is going on with this pandemic. It seems out of control. God knows exactly what is happening, and He is going to use this for His glory!

 

So, as death, fear and chaos seem to be all around us with this pandemic, remember this. Fear not. God is with us. God is for us. Whom shall we be afraid!

 

Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,^[a]
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 

So, don't worry or be scared. God is with us as we go through this, together!

 

Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

Amen!

Pandemic, Panic.........The Coronavirus (My Two Cents)

First of all, let me start off by saying that I am neither a doctor or any kind of medical professional. But I am a pastor, so I would like to look at this pandemic from a biblical stand point.

So the whole world is in complete chaos and panic mode! Everything is closing down, or being suspended. People are hoarding supplies like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, soap, food, etc, etc. I have never in my 53 years of life ever seen anything like this.

Even some Christians are in panic mode. I think that they forgot what the Bible says about this kind of thing.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

God tells us not live in fear. We are to practice self- discipline. What exactly does that mean for us you may ask?

We can practice self-discipline by doing what the professionals tell us to do. Wash our hands, regularly. Avoid shaking hands and hugging each other. Avoid large gatherings. If you are elderly with a compromised immune system, to stay home and not go out. All of these things we can control. Self-discipline!

Not being silly about this, or making a joke out of it. This is serious, and it's real. But there are steps we can take to not fall into the hysteria of what the world is telling us. We can pray for wisdom, knowledge and discernment in how to handle what the world is feeding us.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God wants us to set our minds and thoughts on Him! He calls us to be strong during this time.

Joshua 1:9 (AMP)⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

So, with God's help, we will get through this pandemic virus. I believe that He is using this to make the churches stronger and for Christians to shine the Hope of Jesus brighter than ever.

1 Peter 5:10 (AMP)¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

So stay safe. Practice good personal hygiene, make wise choices about interaction with people and most of all, PRAY! 

God Bless!

Bowling Gate.

I went bowling last week with 50 of my fellow co-workers to take part in a fundraiser for an agency here in town that mentors kids. They have big brother/sister type of programs and some others as well. As we were bowling, laughing and carrying on, I felt The Lord speaking to me. He was telling me to take a look down the lanes after each bowler had finished their frame.

I heard Him ask me, "what do you see?" I told Him that I saw the bowling gate coming down and sweeping the lane clear from the frame before. "You're right He said."

He told me "see son, that is how I operate. No matter what you have done the frame before, I'm like that bowling gate sweeping everything away. I make everything clean and new for the next one."

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
²³ Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

 

Every morning is a fresh start with God. Unlike the bowling alley, God doesn't keep score. He blots out our sins. He doesn't keep track of them.

 

Isaiah 43:25 (MSG)

²⁵ “But I, yes I, am the one
    who takes care of your sins—that’s what I do.
    I don’t keep a list of your sins.

 

This doesn't mean that we can keep on sinning. God asks us to repent and seek His Kingdom!

 

Revelation 2:5 (NLT)

⁵ Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

Don't know about you, but I repent and want my lampstand to stay lit and stay right where it is supposed to be.

Short Cut!

Last week, the company that I work for had an all company meeting at an offsite location. To put this into perspective, the company has two different locations and two different shifts. So we are talking almost 300 people trying to get to this location at one time. Did I mention that there aren't a lot of parking spots available? So everybody is rushing to try to get there before everyone else so that they can get a parking spot. People are taking short cuts to get there. Side roads, alleys, whatever they can do to beat the next person to a spot. As I arrive and I see all these cars coming from all different directions, I couldn't help but to think about what people think that they have to do to get to Heaven. I mean there are no shortcuts to get to Heaven. Only one way. Jesus tells us that in the book of John,

John 14:6 (NLT)
⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Jesus tells us that there is only one way. You have to go through Him, to get to The Father in Heaven. There aren't many ways, there is only one. You can't work your way, or buy your way into Heaven. You may think that you're a good person in your own mind, but God tells us otherwise.

Romans 3:12 (NLT)

¹² All have turned away;
    all have become useless.
No one does good,
    not a single one.

Romans 3:23 (AMP)²³ since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God.

God gives us hope though!

Romans 5:8 (AMP)⁸ But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

So we can work hard. Be the most generous and kind person that we can be. That will not get us into Heaven.

Acts 2:21 (NIV)

²¹ And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

Amen to that! Thank You LORD!