Monthly Archives: March 2015

We Need To Be 3

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As I began to ponder today’s offering I began to think about how some people are really turned off by Church and Christians in general.  It is sad that we have  come to the place that our testimony is such.  I told those gathered for my Aunt’s funeral that she was “obviously Christian and not obnoxiously Christian”.  This is so very true.

It is sad; but, sometimes our “brand of Christianity” turns people off.  What we need to do is take an inventory and see why this has come to be.  It is one thing for the gospel to offend people.  If it is the gospel that is offensive there really is not much you and I can do.  We can and must pray for that person.  We must pray that the Holy Ghost of the Living God will convict them of sin and of righteousness and of judgement to come.

It is a completely different thing if we are offensive.  Sometimes we can let pride and other sins get in the way.  When we do this we first become ineffective.  A Christian with sin in their lives will not be able to please God like they need to.  Sometimes our personality gets in the way.  I have seen this before in my life.  If this is the case then we need to make corrections to our own lives and move on for God.

If you have a question about how you need to live look at the counsel I found in the Word of God.  Look at John 13:15, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”  The word “example” means an exhibit for imitation or warning.  Jesus Christ is our Example.  We need to wholly follow Him.

So, how are you doing?

We Need To Be 2

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Someone has said, “Thank God I am not what I used to be.  Thank God I am not what I am going to be.”  So many people are just slaves to so many different things.  I think it was Martin Luther who said, “Free at last.  Free at last.  Thank God Almighty I am free at last.”

We come in contact with people every day that are bound by sin.  Do I or do you take the time and make the effort to do anything at all about it?  Only you and I can answer for ourselves.  God knows, so we might as well be honest with ourselves.

The Apostle Paul exhorts us in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  When we do not reach out to others and share the gospel with them it is show us that we are ashamed.  Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I still remember a time I had an opportunity to witness to someone and did not.  God forgive me!  You see, the thing is that God wants us to spread the news of salvation.  This leads me to next thing we need to be.

We need to be an evangelist.  In God’s word an evangelist is described as a preacher of the gospel.  Not every man, woman, boy or girl is called to be a Pastor.  It seems to me that we are all called to be an evangelist.  I do not mean that we all book evangelistic meetings in Churches.

What I am talking about is that we take every possible opportunity to share the gospel with others.  The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Fewer and fewer people will listen and hear the gospel.  They don’t what to be told they are sinners and that they (of all people) need a Saviour.  Sadly, it is true though.  We need to share the truth with others.

We must tell them they are sinners; but, there is a Saviour waiting to forgive their sin and make them His child if they will turn from their sin and receive Him as their Saviour.  It is so simple that people cannot “get it”.  Too many people want to “do” for their salvation; but, Jesus has “done” what needs to be in order for us all to be saved.  Are you?

So, how are you doing?

We Need To Be

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The other morning a thought came to me.  It was a thought about what a Christian should be.  So, I hope you endure my thoughts.

First of all we need to be an encourager.  To encourage means to fasten upon, to seize, to be strong or to strengthen.  Deuteronomy 1:38, “But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.”

We can look around and find so much that is a discouragement.  Our nation is imploding before our very eyes.  We see our enemies on every hand gaining a foothold and it will knock the wind out of your sails if we are not careful.  If we focus on the negative, worldly things then we can lose courage, we can lose heart and it will render us ineffective if we do not deal with it quickly.

I have a Pastor friend who is great at encouraging others.  He is one of those guys that you just want to be around because you are always better for being with him.  I wonder what other say about me?  I wonder if people would call me an encourager.  Are people encouraged because they have spent time with me?  Now, what about you?  Ask yourself the same questions.  Would people call you an encourager?  Are people encouraged because they have spent time with you?  It is a sobering thought, I know.

We need to be putting courage into people around us.  I don’t mean blowing smoke in their faces.  I don’t mean telling them a bunch of lies.  I mean being honest and giving them courage from the Word of God.  If you need courage that is where you need to start.

So, how are you doing?

A Bad Example

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One man said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way expecting different results.  Well, I agree.  In the book of Joshua I am reminded of the Israelites going to fight a battle against the city of Ai.

When they went to battle against them they could not defeat them.  As a matter of fact as I remember there were thirty-six men killed in action at that battle.  The Israelites even turned tail and ran back to their camp.

Nobody could figure out the problem.  Then God revealed to them what the problem was.  During their previous victory they were instructed not to take anything that was accursed.  The instructions from God were clear.  Yet one man had to disobey.  Because of his disobedience they lost this battle and men died in the process.

when it was discovered he was brought before Joshua.  Look at Joshua 7:25, “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.”

God is serious about sin.  There is punishment for it.  We must keep our heart sensitive to the Holy Spirit of the Living God so when we are convicted that we deal with it immediately.  Maybe, the effects of our sin might not be to the extent of Achan; but, sin has serious consequences.  We need to consider that before we do what we are not supposed to do.

So, how are you doing?

Step Out Step In

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Our world is becoming increasingly more opposed to and retaliating against Christianity.  If you try to live at all for Jesus you will find yourself pitted against the world and it’s system in some way.

There are times that life seems like a wide river that we are called to cross; but, we do not have any idea how we are going to get across it.  The children of Israel had the same experience.  They were faced with the Jordan river that overflows it’s banks and God told them to keep going.

They did not know what to do.  Even after all the victories and miracles God performed they were still stumped.  God gave them orders to keep pressing forward.  He even told them what would happen.  Look at Joshua 3:15-16, “And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.”  They did not quit.  They kept moving forward even with such great opposition.

God rewarded them for their obedience.  The waters stood up like a heap upon themselves.  Now, what would God do for your and I if we would only be obedient.  If we would do what He says when He says to do it?

So, how are you doing?

Now What?

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As  I have been thinking about my Aunt who went to Heaven earlier this week a thought came to me.  “Now what?”

In the case of my aunt there will be a lot for people to divide up amongst themselves.  You never really know how much a person does until they stop doing things.  I know that my aunt was a faithful Church member.  She was a prayer warrior.  She did many things in the Church that may or may not have been noticed.

This came to me as I was reading Joshua 1:1-2, “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.”

Well, I have reached the conclusion that all you can do is the next thing.  No matter what the next thing is we need to attack it to the best of our ability with God’s help and do it for the glory of God.

So, how are you doing?

Alma Kay Moran

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Today my family and I will say goodbye to my Aunt Alma Kay Moran.  Alma lived a long life of 76 years.  She was a loving sister to my mother and their sister.  She was a devoted wife to her husband Bill.  She was a faithful member of the Pittsboro Baptist Church.  She served the Lord by doing visitation faithfully for several years.

Alma had endured many surgeries over her life.  She had open heart surgeries with pacemakers and defibrillators were just to start the long list.

Alma was a wonderful cook and taught me well how to cook.  If you knew her very well you probably were given some zucchini bread or some banana nut bread.  She had a huge mess in the kitchen while cooking; but, when the time come it was cleaned up to perfection.

Alma worked hard in the home and outside the home for many years.  She took excellent care of her husband Bill and the many kids like me that made their way in and out of their home over the years.

To know Alma was to love her deeply.  She will be missed so much.  Look at John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”  Alma has now seen Jesus and reunited with family.  We will miss her; but, one thing for sure we will never be the same because of her influence.

See you at the house, Alma.  I am sure it will not be long now.

So, how are you doing?

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD 7

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Today will be our last look at The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD.  I hope that you have been encouraged by these blog posts.  I know I enjoyed writing them.  It was a help and encouragement to me for sure.

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD – Lift Up!

I heard a preacher the other evening telling of someone that wanted to take their own life.  They told him that they did not know why they were here on earth.  Well, I can tell you why you are here.

Look at Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Right there is your answer.  We were and are created to bring God pleasure.

Part of that is to worship Him.  I like to describe the word worship by pronouncing it “worth-ship”.  When we worship God we ascribe worth to Him.  We show Him that we love Him and that He means something to us.  We put a “worth” on Him.  There are many ways to worship God.  Not all of them involve going to Church either.  You need to be a faithful member of a Bible-believing Church; but, worship occurs other places too.

We need to honor God by obeying Him.  Living the Christian life is not easy; but, it is not impossible either.  When we are indwelled and empowered by the Holy Ghost of the Living God then this becomes easier to us.  It becomes more of who we are than what we do.

No matter what we are doing we need to lift up Jesus.  If we lift Him up others will be drawn to Him.

So, how are you doing/

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD 6

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As we look at The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD I want to continue and see what is next.

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD – Reach Up!

The other evening my wife and I were watching a great Christian television movie.  It was called “Grandpa’s Shoes”.  I highly recommend it.  It was a movie about running.  I was exhausted just watching the movie.  I did not even have to go out and run.

There was something I noticed about each of the races featured in the movie.  At the finish line each runner pushed out their chest and leaned forward.  This was an attempt to breach the finish line just a fraction of a second quicker.

Maybe it is the same in running the Christian life.  When we are discouraged it seems that we implode so to speak.  We turn inside out.  We focus inside.  It is usually, “Poor, pitiful me” or “Woe is me!”

Paul gives you and I some excellent advice that I think will help dispell discouragement.  Look at Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  when I think of the phrase “I press toward the mark” I think of those runners pushing out their chest and leaning forward to try to breach the finish line first.  This is how we need to run our race.

We must stop having the pity parties for ourselves and get encouraged as we reach up to God.  The great thing is that He is reaching down to us before we are reaching up to Him.

So, how are you doing?

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD 5

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I shared yesterday that the most ill attended party of all is the pity party.  Sometimes we seem to just fall into one.  How can we encourage ourselves in this situation.   Let’s look.

The 7-Ups of Encouraging Yourself In The LORD – Look Up!
 If we get our focus in the wrong place the we can get very discouraged.  If you are alive in this day and age and you look around you can get horribly discouraged.  There is hope!  If we change our focus then we can encourage our self.

Look at Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 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.”  If we are constantly looking around us we can get very discouraged.  When we change our focus and begin to look to Jesus we will be encouraged.

We look to Him because He has all the answers.  He may choose not to share with us the answers to our questions; but, that is where faith comes in to play.  We must take in faith what God says is true.  Then we need to live like it.

Far too many people walk around like they have no faith.  They seem to have no focus.  They just drift around from here to there.  We need to look to Jesus.  Then we need to stay focused on Jesus.  Then we will be less likely to be discouraged.

So, how are you doing?