Tag Archives: servant

The Unknown Father 2

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I find it interesting that God chose not to name the father in our passage in Mark 9:14-29.  In His infinite wisdom He chose to leave out this man’s name.  Even though, we can learn a lot from him.

First of all look at Mark 9:17, “And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;”  The first thing I notice is his leadership.  He said, “Master, I have brought unto thee my son,”.

If ever we need men to step up and be men it is today.  Men have been beaten up by so many people that we are losing our desire to even be men.  Sitcoms are full of stabs at men.  The world and the devil want us to be neutered and just sit back and watch life go by.  Guess what?  That is not God’s plan for men.

It is high time that men rise up and be men!  We must be godly men and lead as Christ leads.  How is that you ask?  Simple.  Jesus led by sacrifice.  If you love someone you will serve them.  Remember Jesus put a towel about Him and washed disciples nasty, stinking feet?  Yes, that is servant leadership.

We are not to be a dictator!  That kind of leadership will not work.  You will be like the one man who was out in front leading.  One day he turned around to look and found he was alone.  He was not leading.  He was simply out for a walk.

Men, it is high time that we take back our God given responsibility and be a man again.  Will you make the sacrifice to be a servant leader?  You will not regret it for sure.

So, how are you doing?

A Gift From God 8

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The southern gospel group The Isaacs sing a song titled “Heroes”.   You can watch the video here.  It is a powerful song about being a parent.  It starts out by calling parents of special needs children “Heroes”.  As I shared the other day the life of raising a child with special needs is not easy.  I don’t see us as heroes.  I see us as a family that made a vow to God and we are doing everything we possibly can to keep that vow.  That is serious business with God for sure.

There was a story on the news just a few days ago about a couple that had a child with Downs Syndrome.  The mother left.  So, this father has decided that he will take the child and raise it himself.  My hat is off to this man.  He is a hero.  Maybe, he is not a Bible kind of hero; but, he is to be applauded for his courage and his commitment to care for his child no matter.

What would motivate people to do what we do each day?  There are many reasons; but, I would like to think that you could find the answer in the first phrase of II Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”.  That is what we have been talking about this month.  Love.  Not just some “feeling”.  Take some medicine and that will pass.  What I am talking about is a love that binds us, commits us to someone or something.  That is real Christlike love.  The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance tells us that “constraineth” means “to hold together, i.e. to compress (the ears, with a crowd or siege) or arrest (a prisoner); figuratively, to compel, perplex, afflict, preoccupy”.  You see that is a very powerful commitment.

Do you love the LORD so much that you have been arrested and made a prisoner of His?  What has He compelled you to do?  You see, as we look at “A Gift From God” it just might be that you are God’s gift to someone.  Even more important is the fact that they might be counting on you not even knowing that you are God’s answer to their prayer.  You might be “A Gift From God”.  That is humbling.

So, how are you doing?

Servant

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In all of this computer stuff going on it just seems to keep getting more and more complicated.  I am an old dog and I don’t like new tricks.  It seems that these time saving devices are sucking more and more time away.  I am thankful for my friend who fixed this transistorized tormentor.  I am thankful for the heightened security now to keep the bad guys out too.

There comes a point where the machine is no longer serving me; but, I am now the servant of the machine.  You have to determine that for yourself.  This can be for anything; not just computers.  I think Jesus Himself had something to say about this in the New Testament.  Look at Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  You cannot serve God and material possessions.  There is a whole host of people that need to get this.  They live to work and play.  They go back to work to make money so they can go play.  There is a vicious cycle here that keeps us in bondage.  We don’t like to hear that; but, it is the truth.  What does not serve us is our master.

So, how are you doing?

Leadership

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I have had the opportunity to be in leadership positions over the course of my life.  In the early years I was not a very good leader at all I know.  As I look back I cringe at some of the things I did as a young leader.  My worst memory was being promoted to the position of supervisor.  The person who promoted me did so just before he resigned.  I should have seen this and ran from it.  Youth is sometimes blind.

As I made changes to our division I thought it was for the good.  Little did I know that I was slowly; but, surely, unraveling my career there.  I did the bidding  and became the “bad guy” and then when they were done with me I was out the door with an escort.  Such is life.

What I now realize is that “I” was making changes.  Did you get that?  It was me making changes that seemed to make sense to me.  This  was not a good thing from the start and I was too blind to see it.

Leadership is an important role.  This role should be take seriously and solemnly.  It is not to be entered into lightly.  Look at Joshua 3:7, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”  If our Heavenly Father is not in it then we are just spinning our wheels.  Notice that God moved on the hearts of the people to”magnify” him in the sight of Israel.  If God is not moving you then you should not be moving.

So, how are you doing?

Mailmen For God

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Two days ago I attended a revival service at the El-Bethel Baptist Church.  The Evangelist for the week is Dale Tilley.  I count him a dear friend and brother.  The messages have been right on target.  Brother Tilley said something Tuesday evening that caused me to think.  This does happen, I assure you.

He said that Preachers are just mail men.  We want to get upset with Preachers because of this or that; but, we have to remember that they are messengers.  Now, if we get in the flesh that is another story.  Brother Tilley’s description is right on target.

The problem comes when we get over confident and begin to operate in the flesh.  Watch so-called Christian television.  You will see all kind of “people” on there proclaiming that they are speaking on God’s behalf.  Truthfully, they should find another line of work.  People support them so they go on deceiving people and fleecing the flock of God.  There are no doubt some good ones out there.  I enjoy a select few myself.

We have to remember that these men should not be operating on their own agenda.  They are to be God’s messenger.  If their message is contrary to the Word of God then we need to drop them like a hot potato.  I think God’s Word gives us a look into what a Preacher is supposed to do.  Look at II Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

So, how are you doing?