Playing Hurt

If you’ve played sports or watched sports, you know that there are times when a player must keep playing, even though they are hurting. Maybe it’s a UFC fight or a football game. They are able to do that because their heart is in it. They don’t want to be a quitter. Unfortunately, Christians often are missing this dedication. As we door knock, we come across Christians that “used to be in church”, “used to witness”, “used to read their Bible.” But they got hurt somewhere. Sometimes it was a significant injury. Other times it was more like the soccer players injury where they get tripped and act like their leg was amputated. Regardless, they let it take them out for 1 year, 2 years, 20 years…or more.

The Bible tells us, “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:4 Hardness is part of life. And it’s part of the Christian life. You don’t stop going to the grocery store because someone offended you. Don’t tell me you’ve never been offended at a gas station. We put up with people being dumb to us in every area of our life, except church. If you’re out because you got hurt, my heart goes out to you. I know that’s no fun. But don’t stay down. The body of Christ needs every part functioning. Get back in the fight and do something that will frustrate the enemy!

God’s people—the Jewish Nation

There is a false teaching going around Baptist churches that the Jews which are in the land of Israel today are not the real Jews. This is a heresy and a biblically untenable position. The Jews are God’s chosen people, though estranged from him through their rejection of the Messiah, the Jewish Lord Jesus Christ. They are special to Him (Deut 7:6, Deut 4:32, 28; Num 23:9, Deut 26:19, Amos 3:2). When we say “Jews”, we mean the literal, physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were the 12 tribes of Israel and now reside in the Jewish state of Israel. We are not referring to Catholics, Muslims, Baptists, Mormons, Worldwide Church of God, Black Hebrews, any Caucasians, or other “lost Jews”. According to the Bible, the terms Jew, Hebrew and Israel are interchangeable and undistinguishable (Galatians 1:13,14 cf I Cor 11:22; Jeremiah 34:9; John 3:1 cf 3:10, John 2:6, 13; Luke 23:5, John 7:2 and Acts 12:3). Being evil does not make a “fake Jew” (Acts 13:6, Romans 11:28, 29; Acts 14:2, 17:5). Jews are not just from Judah (Esther 2:5; 3:6, 10, 13; 9:16, 27; Acts 10:28, Gal. 2:14). Jews can come from a mixed line (Matt 27:11 cf Matt 1:5; Isa. 11:11, 12, Acts 2:5). The 10 tribes did not get lost (Luke 2:36; Rev 7:1-8; 14:1-5). The Bible states emphatically that God is not done with Israel (Rom 11:1, 25; Psalms 121:8, Numbers 23:10, I Chronicles 17:22, Jeremiah 33:19-26, Zech 10:6, Isaiah 44:21, Isaiah 54:10, Jeremiah 31:3, Micah 4:7, Isaiah 60:15) and that if you think someone has replaced them, you are ignorant and conceited (Romans 11:25). The bible talks about the price of anti-semitism in Ezekiel 25:6,7 and Isaiah 41:11. In that passage in Ezekiel, God told the Ammonites he will destroy their nation since they rejoiced over the trouble Israel had. I wonder what He would do to America…The Jewish people are God’s chosen people nationally, but individually they will die and go to hell without Jesus Christ. They are enemies of the gospel but beloved of the Father (Romans 11:29). It is important to believe and also to grasp this mystery of the Wandering Jew from Romans 11:25-29. The physical Jewish nation will be rescued physically and restored spiritually (Romans 11:26, 27; Jeremiah 50:20, Isaiah 4:3-5, Jeremiah 33:8, Romans 11:23, Psalms 85:2). As, Dr. Ruckman said, don’t break your spiritual neck attacking that Jew. They are special to God. You’re just a Gentile dog that got in God’s mercy because the Jew rejected God’s mercy. But God will restore the Jewish people who rejected him.

Two Judgments—June 2023

All Catholics, Muslims, Methodists, Jews, etc. believe in a final judgment. They believe that one day the whole world will appear before God and be judged. At that judgment, God will determine (often on the basis of their works) whether or not that person will go to heaven. This is a very quaint and popular idea, but it’s not Bible. There are 3 three things that are wrong with this.

First, God does not determine whether you go to heaven or hell based on your works. The Bible says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us…” Titus 3:5. Again in Galatians 2:16, the Bible states, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” A man does not get judged by his good works, or even his bad works. He gets judged on whether or not he has received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior (see also John 14:6 and John 16:9)

The Second thing wrong is that people are not waiting to be judged. Yes there is a final judgment, where individuals will appear before God, but the Bible says that if you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are judged already. Pretty much every one knows John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” If you jump ahead just two verses you find this in John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the only begotten Son of God.” You’re already condemned. The final judgment is just an administrative process. God’s wrath abides on you now. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36

The third thing wrong is that there are two judgments that people will go to. There is the Judgment Seat of Christ (I Cor 3:11-15) where all the people who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will appear. This happens up in heaven following the rapture and during the time of the Tribulation on earth. This judgment is not to determine whether or not you go to heaven. That was determined the second you received Jesus Christ (John 1:12, Ephesians 4:30, Philippians 1:6). The Judgment Seat of Christ is to judge how you SERVED Jesus Christ. Good service will be rewarded. Service for self will burn up but you will still be saved (I Cor 3:11-15). The Second Judgment is the White Throne Judgment. If you show up at this judgment, you show up without Jesus Christ as your Savior. Instead, He is your judge. You will be judged by your works which are worthless without Christ. “..and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:8); “There is none good, no not one.” (Romans 3:10); “…Every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psalms 39:5). Since you are not sinless, and you don’t have a sinless man to stand in your place, you will be judged in your sins as guilty before God and sent to burn forever in the lake of fire. Don’t miss the first judgment! “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power…” Revelation 20:6

Mission Trip to Malawi, Africa!—March-April 2023

Just finished with a Campaigns for Christ trip to Lilongwe, Malawi. It was amazing! We passed out 247,000 copies of John and Romans, most being a bi-lingual work of English (KJV) and Chechewa. We had three meetings and about 450 people come forward for salvation! Following salvation, most, if not all, signed up for discipleship. Additionally, about 20 were saved at a village we stopped at. One hundred people came out from the village to see us and hear what we had to say. Through an interpreter, one of the men preached and 19 women came forward for salvation. After 15 minutes of dealing with them by a native pastor, they received the Lord Jesus Christ! This was a life-changing event to see God work through his word on this level without the gimmicks and compromise of modern Laodicean pastors. I would highly encourage anyone reading this to go on one of these trips through Campaigns for Christ and see what God will do!

Missing the Crucial Piece—November

In Psalms 118:22 The Bible says “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” What God said was the most crucial piece of the building, God’s people ended up rejecting and refusing. The Jews missed the most important part of their foundation because what God thought was most important, they thought was immaterial or unimportant. Often, we as Christians can miss the most important thing for the same reasons as the Jews. The Pharisees thought that Christ was unimportant and they refused him because they had their own idea of what the Messiah should look like. They expected him to solve what they thought was their most pressing problem, their country under the rule of another. In fact, their most important problem was that they needed the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). God has a work he wants to do in your life. You can miss it by not recognizing what God says is most important in your life. The Chief corner stone is the Lord Jesus Christ ( I Peter 2: 6,7). If you don’t have your relationship with Christ as the priority in your life, God will pass over you for the things he’s doing (Matthew 21:43) and the Rock that you rejected will end up tripping you up and breaking you (Matthew 21:44). He’ll begin to lose his preciousness to you (I Peter 2:7). If your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ has begun to suffer, you need to follow the outline in I Peter 2:7 and believe God, Obey him and allow him to work in your life as HE sees fit.

The Pleasurable Season of Sin—October

In Hebrews 11:25-26, the Bible tells us that Moses chose to go with the Lord and His people, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. According to the Bible, sin is pleasurable. But the Bible gives the whole picture on sin that the world will never tell you.

1) Sin’s pleasurable season may not come. There are many people who are baited by sin and chase after it, yet never reach the bait—they only get stuck with the hook. Many kids have tried to follow in the steps of Elvis, or Michael Jackson, or Willie Nelson, or Prince to only end up at 30 or 35 in their mom’s basement. Or they may die young chasing sin’s bait. Many people who hope to become Hugh Heffner, die at 16 or 17 chasing the bait. Sin’s pleasurable season may not come.

2) Sin’s pleasurable season is very short. It was for Absalom. He planned his rebellion against his father for years, anywhere from 3-10 years. He carefully stole the hearts of the people. He worked deceitfully in private and in public to take something that did not belong to him. When he finally got the kingdom, he only ruled over it for a few days to a month. Then he died, reaping his wild oats. Sin’s pleasurable season may be enjoyable but it’s mighty short.

3) Sin’s pleasurable season comes at a high cost. I mean the bait looks good, but you never see the price tag till it’s too late. Sometimes it will come in the form of financial cost like it did to Rehoboam and the shields of gold. Or it may come in form of a broken relationship, home or friendship. It may cost you an addiction that you can’t break free of. You can always sow the seed of sin and it’s pretty easy to control sin as a little seed or sapling. But one day it grows up into a giant oak tree and you can’t do what you want with it anymore. It does what it wants to do with you and you serve it. It may cost you a life, like it did for King David. I bet if he could see the baby gasping for breath while he looked out over the rooftop at Bathsheba, that he would have changed his mind. Sin never shows you its price tag up front but it comes at a high cost.

4) Sin’s pleasurable season will not satisfy. Proverbs 27:20 says, “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. Sin can be pleasurable but it can never satisfy. That’s why people come back again and again to the bars and nightclubs and gossip and dirty pictures and filthy conversation and lying and coveting and selfishness. If sin would satisfy them the first time, they’d never have to come back. But you do, because only the Lord Jesus Christ can give satisfaction to His creation. Ammon thought that if he just had Tamar, he’d be satisfied. I mean he wanted her so badly it was affecting his health. So he worked out a way to get what he wanted and his pleasure lasted less than one night. Before that night was over, he hated the thing that he had thought he desired so badly. Sin can never satisfy. Every sinner is a testimony to this fact.

5) Sin’s pleasurable season will be judged. The Bible says that It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. One day you will be judged. You can’t skip out on it or have someone else stand in your place. You can enjoy sin now but it always comes with a dark cloud of God’s judgment hanging over it where you can never really enjoy it. God will bring every thought and word and work into judgment.

The better way to live, the more abundant life (John 10:10) is one where you don’t have to worry about your actions catching up to you. The life that the Lord Jesus Christ offers is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-31. Unlike the hard way of the transgressor, the Christian who follows Christ finds out that Christ helps him with his burden. You have peace, comfort, fulfillment, and the judgment can be something you look forward to instead of dread. Sin has a pleasurable season. Weigh the cost. Consider it, in the light of Scripture. Is it worth it?

Get a Vision!—January

The Bible says “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Prov. 29:18). It is important to have a vision. The Christian should have a few things that he’s looking for and watching over.

1) The Rapture— “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. Christians should be looking for the return of Jesus Christ. There will be a time, very soon, when we will not be in this world anymore! Instead of this evil, filthy world and our vile body, we will experience the greatest contrast, the world has ever seen! We will be in a place that has our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll be in His glorified body and we will never part with Him again!

2) The Eternal Lost Souls of Men— “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” We must always, always keep before us the goal of working to reach lost men and women with the gospel of Jesus Christ. While it is not the most important thing in our lives (our relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing), the fact that we can help rescue lost souls from a burning and eternal hell can never be overlooked. “How shall they hear without a preacher.” That preacher is you! Regardless of whether or not you have been called to pastor, each Christian is called to preach the gospel.

3) Our Salvation— “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Gal 3:1). The Galatians had forgotten to understand their salvation, that it was free! If you forget how you got saved and why you got saved, you will become jaded and hardened and impersonal in your Christian life—both to God and to others.

4) The Judgment Seat of Christ— “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”(II John 1:8). Here we are reminded that we are going to face God in judgment and that we should pay attention to ourselves so that we do not lose rewards. Directly following the rapture, the Christian will appear before God to be judged for His service. Not to determine his salvation but to determine his rewards based on his conduct and motives. If you keep in mind that each action and thought you do will will give account of it before Jesus Christ and the Church, it will help keep you straight.

5) Heaven— “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.” (Heb 12:2). Jesus Christ kept before His mind, the joy that was waiting on the other side of the cross. As you bear your cross and follow Him, you, Christian, need to keep looking forward to your heavenly citizenship. One day, regardless of how things look down here, you will find yourself (if you’ve trusted Christ) in a place where no sorrow appears. It is absolutely empty of sin, tears, pain, suffering, trials, broken hearts, and broken fellowship with the Father. Just a little longer Christian.

6) Fellowship with Christ— “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:4,5). Your fellowship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in your life. Period. Everything you do should be done in the light of that fellowship and whether what you are considering to do will hinder or help that fellowship. When you read your Bible, do you do it in anticipation that perhaps THIS will be the day that God will speak to you from it? That perhaps today you could catch a glimpse of your precious Bridegroom? When you pray, is it cold, formal, and ritualistic? Or is it in expectation that He actually hears you and you actually are talking with that in mind? Do you find comfort in His promises or do you not think of them throughout the day. When trials come, do you run to Christ, or is He a last resort? This vision is the most important for the Christian.

Keep these visions Christian and make this New Year your best one yet!

The Place of Victory—November

Victory is so vital to the Christian life! When it is missing, the Christian life becomes dull, repetitious and discouraging. When it is present, it changes the entire demeanor of the Christian and infuses new life and vigor into his walk with God. But victory always comes at a price. God requires you to sacrifice in order to have victory. After all, anything worth something, came at a cost and every victory came with a sacrifice somewhere. It is this point of contention that often discourages Christians from finding victory. They are willing to sacrifice for work with overtime, late hours, early hours, extra stress, etc but when it comes to spiritual matters, often Christians become spineless and never achieve victory. Christians sacrifice for friends, for family, for country, even for self. But then they wonder why they can never defeat their flesh, overcome their sinful tendencies, or resist the devil. The reason is that the place of victory is an altar where the Christian places his all on it (Romans 12:1-2). Jesus Christ gave his all (Hebrews 12:1-3) and if you are to follow Him, you must do the same. This is the reason some Christians experience close fellowship with Jesus Christ and others find the Christian life dull and uneventful. It’s because some of them are active duty and some never show for duty. Now no one can make you be a Victorious Christian. It is a choice that you make individually (Revelation 3:20). It doesn’t come without sacrifice, but the rewards are everything it’s been hyped up to be. No one who ever got close to Jesus Christ, regretted it. That tells you something about the rich reward for the victorious Christian life. Will you climb to the place of victory or stay in the valley of defeat?

Getting back up—September

The Christian life is not always one of victory. Often the mountain-top experiences are nestled between two valleys. Being saved doesn’t mean that only good things will happen to you. But it does mean that you never have to face any problem in life alone. As Christians, we (and I mean you and I) often fail. Sin creeps into our lives, or we jump into it. While God wants us to be without sin, he knows our frame and when we sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I John 2:2). The key to right fellowship with Jesus Christ is keeping short accounts with Him. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It’s an amazing thought that there is nothing between you and God right now that cannot be immediately cleared up. Take care of our sin is as easy as 1) recognizing it, 2) Confessing it to the Father, and 3) forsaking it. Then we get up and ask God for grace to not do that again. The real Christian fight is one of falling down and getting back up. It’s those who stay down that really fail in their Christian walk. If you’ve fallen, get up—and reach out to a fellow Christian or myself for encouragement. That’s why we’re here.

Will the Real Christians please Stand Up?—August

In Ephesians 6, the Bible gives the Christian information on the armour of God and direction on how to put it on. But armour is no good if the person wearing it is retreating. So prior to the passage on the armour, The Bible tells the Christian that he needs to do all that can be done to stand. And after he has done all that can be done, he needs to do one more thing. He needs to stand. That must mean that there is never a time when a Christian should not be standing. In this wicked, apostate, spineless, sniveling Laodicean church age that we find ourselves, Christians are retreating. Apostacy means to fall away from a standing position. Christians have fallen away from standing for standards of any means and have let nearly anything go as long as they can get people in and keep them comfortable. Christians have fallen away from standing for hard preaching and have instead opted for teachers who tickle their ears. Christians have fallen away from standing for sacrifice in the Christian life and instead have advocated for Christians to do what is comfortable for them. You know, work where the money is, don’t have a masculine order in the home, do what you need to in order to make the kids happy, pick the church that feels good to you, etc. Christians have fallen away from standing for the old paths. They have forsaken the old doctrines. They have discarded the old King James Bible and taken modern perversions that have no power and produce no biblical fruit. Christians are not standing. They happily give up doctrine, for comfort. The Bible warns, that in the last days perilous times will come. What are these dangerous times? “For men shall be lovers of their own selves…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” That’s what is dangerous. A failure to stand has caused the Christian cause to be flanked and overrun by the enemy. Christians are cowering at work, at home, and even at church. They are frightened to open their mouth and say the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, while the world has gotten more brazen and happily takes the name of the Lord in vain. Where are the Christian soldiers, equipped with the armour of God? Where are the Christian soldiers who are expert in using their sword? Where are the Christian soldiers who can keep rank and are not of a double heart? When the Son of man cometh, will He find faith on the earth?

How important is the Bible?—June

When the Apostle John was transported up to heaven and saw the events of the future, God showed an important story about His book. In Revelation 5, we are given a scene in Heaven, where the Book is brought before the Father, but no man is worthy to open the book. They looked everywhere for someone. They looked in the pulpits, behind the president’s desk, on the TV, on the football field, inside the laboratories of the great scientists of the age, in the colleges, over the lives of the famous philosophers—none were worthy to even open the book, much less to look on the things written in there. And then a very interesting thing happened—John wept much. It’s the only time you find John weeping in the book of Revelation. Imagine all the things that John sees and it is only this event that makes him weep desperately. What is the big problem? The problem is that no one can open the book—that same book that you walk past each day without a second thought, the book that you haven’t read today, the book that you refuse to let it influence your life. While this book is not appreciated down here on earth by so many, it is relished in heaven. Imagine if you could never again open the book and look on its precious words! That’s why John cried. That sole terrible thought drove him to desperation. But thank God that there is a Lamb of God, a Lion of the tribe of Judah that is worthy to open the book and He loosed the seals that bound it, making it available to you and me. We can easily see how important the Book is in Heaven. How important is the Bible to you?

How to not get offended—April

The Bible says in Psalms 119: 165 “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” People get offended over all sorts of things—a slight from a co-worker, a misunderstanding from a spouse, a brotherly rebuke from a preacher. But the worst thing to get offended at is for a Christian to be offended by God. Usually it’s because God did something to a Christian that a Christian disagreed with. Who hasn’t that happened to? But as Christian’s we are to 1) walk by faith and 2) take God’s side in everything, even when it’s against our wishes. We know intellectually that God cannot do anything wrong, but when something very difficult happens in the Christian’s life, it’s easy to get to that point where you blame God for it and then begin holding a grudge against Him. This is especially dangerous because it will KILL your fellowship with Christ and your power to live a victorious Christian life. How many Christians have been sidelined for 5, 10, 20, 40 years because they got offended at God. He didn’t give them what they wanted; He took a loved one; He took a child; They didn’t get promoted in the workplace or the church; God didn’t use them how they hoped; etc, etc. The greatest prophet who ever lived got offended at Christ too—John the Baptist. John is in prison for doing right when he’s expecting instead to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ and bring in the physical kingdom of heaven. So he sends to the Lord Jesus Christ asking “what’s going on?" and says “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” John wants to know if he got it wrong and if he’s even in the will of God. The Lord Jesus Christ ignores the disciples John sent for about an hour and begins to heal people. Then he tells the disciples to go back and tell John what they’ve seen. When he does that, He leaves off one of the things He said He’d do “to preach deliverance to the captives…to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18) and replaces it with “blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Luke 7:23) Here, we learn a couple things that will help us not to be offended. 1) Get your eyes off yourself and your issues. John’s ministry was going down the drain, but Christ’s, who John kickstarted, was blossoming. 2) Get your eyes on helping others. Luke 7:22 shows us that you need to think about what God is getting done rather than what you are getting done. 3) Get rid of your expectations that are not in-line with God’s words. John was offended because he thought things would turn out differently. While I can’t blame him personally, Jesus is telling him not to be offended, even though every thing is going against his expectations because Jesus Christ has things just where they’re supposed to be. The King James Bible will help you not be offended (John 16:1) if you believe it over your experiences and impressions. God is always right, whether you agree or not, whether you can see it or not, and whether He shows you or not. Your job is find a way to get over what has happened to you and TRUST God. That book will help.

How to Get God’s Attention—February

God is not like us. Much of our life is taken up with the mundane—what to cook for supper, taking the dog for a walk, taking a bath. These things are necessary but they produce no impact on eternity. God lives in eternity (Isaiah 57:15). He is surrounded by angels and cherubims praising His name and strength. He turns the heart of the king and created everything your eye can see. How does someone so mundane as us get the attention of One so high and lifted up as God Almighty? Well Judah did. Genesis 37 is all about Joseph. Joseph is one of the greatest types of Christ in the whole Bible and from Genesis 37 on to Genesis 50 the whole narrative is about Joseph. Except for chapter 38. This chapter is all about Judah. It doesn’t make sense in the storytelling because it doesn’t add to the story of Joseph. Yet God chose to have it interrupt His storytelling. It doesn’t make sense chronologically because Genesis 38:1 does not take place after the last verse in Genesis 37. So why spend a whole chapter on Judah. Because God got distracted. The thing that grabs God’s attention is humility. “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2). God made everything in the world and the universe but He is interested, He is distracted when someone shows proper humility and contriteness. Judah humbled himself and showed a complete absence of pride by stating that a harlot was more righteous than I. Even though Judah was a wicked brother (Genesis 37:4, 25, 26), but he was able to get God’s attention when he quit his sin and humbled himself openly. Isaiah 57:15 says that’s the kind of guy God wants to be around “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

The Great Liar—January

No, this is not about a politician…although it could be. When I’m talking about a great liar, I’m talking about Sin. Sin will lie to you. It does not appear as sin (Romans 7:13). Sin appears small, innocent, beautiful, playful, completely satisfying and always harmless. It never shows up as its true image—dangerous, ugly, vile, horrendous, insatiable and deadly. The Bible likens it to a king in Romans 6 that “reigns” (v. 12) and wants you to “serve” it (v. 6) and “yield” to it (v. 13) and “obey” it (v. 12) so that it will have “dominion” over you (v. 13). But sin doesn’t show up as a king. It will tell you that you can quit any time you want. It’ll tell you that you can think about it, fantasize about it, imagine it, plan it out, and yet not do it. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t do that with a diet. How long do you think you can last that way with sin? Sin will say it’s harmless. It will say that it won’t hurt you, it won’t hurt those you love and you won’t have to give account for it. Those 3 lies stand for countless broken homes, untold tears, and ruined lives. Sin does not appear as sin. It disguises itself with Tolerance. "Let’s just tolerate a little drinking, a little music, a little look.” Pretty soon the whole camel is in the tent. Sin disguises itself with Religion (I Sam 15: 20, 21). That will be Catholics blessing their torture devices in the inquisition. That’ll be Christians saying “if we love people like God wants us to, we won’t offend them.” Sin disguises itself with Education. What people can’t get away with normally, they can get away if they pass it off as art or culture. If you take a Bible Atlas or handbook they’ll have some of the most filthy images in their which they pass off for art. Things that modern television won’t even show you, will show up in a “Christian” publication in the name of Education. Sin disguises itself as Family. They told Moses if he brought them out in the wilderness to kill their wives and kids (Numbers 14:3). They were saying, “Moses, we would go in the Promised Land, but we care about taking care of our wives and children and we’d rather go back to Egypt. They didn’t care about their wives and kids. Egypt was killing their kids! They just took Sin and put a cloak over it of Family.

After you commit sin and it is exposed for what it is, it lies again. Now instead of saying it’s small and harmless it says, “You’ve sinned too great of a sin for God to talk to you, for God to forgive you. You can never recover from it.” If that doesn’t work, Sin says “No one else is going through what you’re going through. No one else has sinned that bad.” Both are lies out of the pit of hell. (I John 1:9, Acts 13:39, Romans 7:14-20, I Peter 5:9). So how do you beat Sin. First you recognize it—call Sin sin in your own life. Second you fight it—don’t give up, don’t yield (Romans 6: 7-14). Lastly, you feed your spirit—input=output. Don’t let sin lie to you. It tells the same sins to everyone and the Bible warns you about it.

Sin always hides the end of it (Proverbs 5:4). It will show you the beginning, where there is pleasure in it for a season, but it always hides the end of its temptations. It won’t show you the end of alcohol, other drugs, infidelity, sleeping around, anger, lying, and not forgiving others. If sin is so small why did it cost God so much to pay for it? Sin is a great liar.

The Coming of the Lord—December

Usually December is the month where the world thinks of Christ’s 1st coming to earth. The one where He came as a cute little baby and (in their mind) said all these nice, quaint sayings, and He gave Sin a big kiss and the devil went away in shame…But the Bible tells another account. Christ came as an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10). He was beaten hideously and a cat-o-nine tails dug up his back and tore out his stomach (Psalms 129:3) Then the world showed Him what they thought about when they spit on him (Isaiah 50:6) and took His clothes (Matthew 27:35) off and hung Him up outside the city (Hebrews 13:12). Then, after He had given His life for their sin, they threw Him into a place that was near by so they could get on with other things that were more important to them (John 19:41, 42). Then 3 days later, He rose with a new body that would never be beaten again, and a head that would wear the crown He deserved as King of Kings. Now what do you suspect He is going to do when He comes back and finds a crowd down here that is just as wicked and vile and ruthless and bloodthirsty and religious as the crowd back then? You don’t have to guess because He told you: “…He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” (Matthew 21:41). When the Lord Jesus Christ comes back the second time, He will come back with a sword (Revelation 19:11-16) and the blood of his enemies will rise up to the horse’s bridle (Revelation 14:20). Then He will sit on the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32). David had a physical throne in physical Jerusalem over a physical kingdom. That’s the throne the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back for, except it won’t be over a small triangle like David had (II Samuel 8:3, Genesis 15:18) but will be over the entire earth (Psalms 2, Revelation 19, Isaiah 54:5, Daniel 2:35). Merry Christmas! Don’t you want to be sure you’ll be on the right side of Him when He comes back? His arms are open to you now and if you take Him as your Saviour who died for your sin to save you from hell, then He’ll take you as His child. And He’s a good Father. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

Patience—November

The Bible says that one of the first things a ministry should have is patience: “But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.” II Corinthians 6:4 Someone once described courage as fighting 5 mins longer than anyone else. Faithfulness is fully linked to patience and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Too often, God’s purposes are undone, His children scattered, and His power lessened because of a lack of patience in those who serve Him. As Bro Robinson, our missionary to Chile, pointed out, patience is linked in scripture to affliction and suffering (patient in tribulation, tribulation worketh patience, etc). What a shame it will be when we get to heaven and see what could have been, if we would have suffered a little longer, endured a little more, prayed a little longer, denied our self a little more, witnessed a little more often. The finish line is near, brethren. Don’t trip when we are so close. It was Moses’ patience that wore out and caused him to miss the promised land. It was Job’s patience that kept him from sinning with his mouth for 7 days, while under one of the worst attacks by the devil in the whole history of mankind. It was Elijah’s patience that wore out and caused him to run when he should have stood. And what will be said about your patience? “Thou, therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:3

Be Vigilant—October

In Genesis 3:1, the bible identifies the devil as being “subtle.” What a revelation! There is no one trickier or more subtle than the enemy of man’s soul. You may be expecting him to show up as a great red dragon as in Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and attack you with his fiery darts. But the devil knows better than that and works to get to you in a way that you do not expect. If you doing well in the fight, he’ll back off and give you some downtime, perhaps for COVID, and allow you just ample amounts of free time. In that free time, he’ll start with things that are not wrong, but that he knows you waste too much time on and he’ll provide an overabundance of those things. If you are good at resisting the world and the influences of this evil world, he’ll try to work on you through your wife like Job. If that’s not working on you, he loves to use other Christians to work on you through. One of his favorite tactics is to have them doing something wrong to you, something that hurts you personally. Oftentimes, they may not know it had such an effect. Over time, the devil will work that little thorn and aggravate it to encourage you to be bitter and harbor anger. The devil subtlety was so effective that he successfully infiltrated all the major Bible colleges. The effective attacks on the bible do not come from the atheist and agnostics. The bungling “research” of Richard Dawkins is not usually effective in attacking Christians. No, most of the attacks on the words of God come straight out of prestigious Bible colleges and from Bible professors. They say, “the King James is not infallible, only reliable"; “I John 5:7 is not in the oldest and best manuscripts”; “Acts 4:12 should read “passover” not “Easter”; “the word “God” in I Timothy 3:16 should read “He” or “Who”. After going through 4 years of that, the former bible-believing Christian emerges from the Christian university with no present Bible he can point to as infallible and absolutely perfect. Thus he has nothing to preach to his congregation and they turn to Fox news, or the Daily Show for answers. Yet all this is done under the umbrella of professors who profess to believe in the verbally inspired, authoritative, inerrant words of God…only in the original manuscripts of course that no one living today has seen or could identify. They don’t do much good if you can’t hold ‘em, read ‘em, weep over them, preach them or study them. A subtle work. Of course if that isn’t your poison, the devil always has something else for you. If he can’t get you corrupted by television or movies or music, he’ll puff you up on standards and help you to focus on the outside and pretty soon you’ll believe that people aren’t really saved if they don’t act and talk and dress like you do. Or he may get you to get out of a “B” church and instead say that all churches are apostate and you are going to meet in your home like the original church and have bible studies and an online ministry. And witnessing is not biblical and baptism was not a necessary part of Paul’s ministry, and you’ll sit on the shelf collecting dust until the rapture happens and the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and brings you up to the Judgment Seat of Christ to stand trial. “Now the serpent was more subtil than beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1) How do you fight this? Of course the Bible has the answer. That’s why the devil wants to take it away from you. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (I Peter 5:8)

Opposition—September

The Bible says that the greatest Christian who ever lived, the apostle Paul said: “For a great door, and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” I Corinthians 16:9 Because of this great door and because of the opposition, Paul decided to stay put and not move. The opposition encouraged him. The last month has been one of intense opposition. The opposition has been at times small nusiances and at other times direct opposition. Opposition does not occur in the back lines, at the cook station or the supply department. It occurs at the battle line. The devil doesn’t worry about fighting people that are not engaged in the battle. If they are lulled to sleep with the programs and cookouts and family and careers and self and politics and building programs and all the peripheral issues that detract from the Lord Jesus Christ, than the devil doesn’t need to bother with them. But when the apostle Paul was engaged in the fight, opposition immediately came. The Bible says, “…I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” Philippians 1:27b-29. As Harley Keck says, “Suffering is a legitimate part of the Christian life.” And opposition (“striving together for the faith of the gospel”) for the soldier happens in battle. Don’t be discouraged by opposition. Be thankful you have a piece of the action. Opposition comes in many ways. It can come as doctrinal disputes, internal problems, fiery darts of the wicked at your imagination, family problems and many other ways. With the current COVID situation, opposition can come by an inability to get out and do something for God. But the way I’ve experienced it most this month is rejection. Any forward advancement in battle against enemy forces will meet with attempted rejection. Rejection from witnessing, rejection of Christian fellowship, rejection of outreach attempts, rejection of church establishment, rejection of effort in the right direction, rejection of edification. Opposition. Don’t think because the Catholics aren’t killing your family that you are not experiencing the opposition of the devil. And don’t get a martyr’s complex because “man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Trouble comes to everyone. But when you see an uptick in opposition when you are going in the right direction with the peace of God, recognize that the devil has picked up your scent and has taken notice.These spiritual battles cannot be won in the flesh. Time in prayer, standing steadfast, and the shield of faith is the only way to gain a victory. “Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”Hebrews 12:3a

Success—August

The world’s idea of success is very different from God’s. That’s to be expected. However, living in Laodicea, since the church has so much of the world in it, Christians often have a very different idea of success than what God has. Christians see success as big buildings, beautiful campuses, large congregations, and plenty of money to be comfortable. That disqualifies every preacher in the Bible except for Solomon who became a type of the AntiChrist. Bible believers get much closer to the mark and list success as souls saved and men they trained into the ministry. This would disqualify Adoniram Judson and J. Hudson Taylor for the first 7 years of their ministry (Do you think they were unsuccessful for 7 years?) While this is a much better value of what success is, it still is not biblical. If we are to be bible believers, we must view what God thinks of success. The word itself only occurs one time in the Bible. Joshua 1:8 says “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” How about if I get a good money raising program going and get a beautiful church building built that, as Harley Keck puts it, has a sound system that puts the local theater to shame? Well if I don’t have the book, I haven’t been successful. What if I made my church more interesting to the world and brought droves of people out to church? Well if it caused the book of the law to suffer because of it, I haven’t been successful. What if I compromised on the word to reach thousands “for Christ” and was able to win all those souls to Jesus Christ? Then I haven’t been successful. What does the Book say? “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (II Timothy 2:5) It doesn’t count if you do it wrong. Out goes Billy Graham. Out goes Rick Warren. Out goes Tony Evans. Out goes the thousands of pastors that compromised on the Book to get their idea of success. God is very strict on doing things His way. He gives us many examples in the Bible to drive home this point. Good intentions are not enough. Just look at Uzzah who got killed for helping God out, Rebekah who helped God out to get Jacob the blessing and lost the next 20 years with her favorite son, and the prime example of Moses who lost the goal of his entire ministry because he didn’t follow God to the letter on one important occasion. You don’t win if you don’t run lawfully. God’s not impressed with your results. He’s impressed with how you treat that book. Now if you can get good attendance and a nice building and scores of souls saved while not compromising on the Book, GO FOR IT. But that’s not success. Success (God’s idea of it, not the world’s, or the Baptists, or mine) is tied in to your treatment of God’s words. Does God want us to win souls. Absolutely (II Peter 3:9). Does He measure success with that metric. Never. Now, lest you think, well I can just believe the book and sit on my blessed assurance and not really try my best and God will still think I’m successful, let it be known that the command in Joshua 1:8 says to “observe to do according to all that is written therein.” The book said “All.” That means Ephesians 2:10, John 15:16 (check that one out!), I Corinthians 9:19-27, II Timothy 4:2, 2:21, 4:7,2:4, Eph 4:1, Col 1:10, and Philippians 3:8-14 along with the rest of the book. We are to “strive” and to work and to pray and to give and to love and to fight and to GO. And if you do that WITH following that Book and preaching that Book and elevating that Book and meditating in that Book and observing all that is written in that Book and not compromising that Book, then God will view you as a success. What does it matter what anyone else thinks?

Pick One—June/July

“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,” Luke 16:15 What God loves, the world hates. What the world loves, God hates. If the world lifts up a man or a movement the Lord can’t stand it and says its an abomination. If you find something or someone that the world can’t say anything bad about and only brags about it and lifts it up and elevates it, then you know it’s wicked and vile and an abomination in God sight. In the same fashion, the thing that God loves most is His Son. God thinks everyone should listen to His Son (Matthew 17:5), and everything His Son does pleases Him (John 8:29). However when His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, showed up, they beat Him, spit on Him, mocked Him, whipped Him, ignored Him, slandered Him, reviled Him, and crucified Him. Then they took His only possessions, His clothes and split them up between themselves and set a guard over His tomb to make sure He didn’t ever come back. That’s what they thought of Him. What do you think of Him? What do you think they’ll think of you if you start acting like Him and talking like Him and loving what He loves and hate what He hates? If you can get along with the world, you got a problem with God. And if you can get along with God, you got a problem with the world. God said “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4. If I told you that if you’re a friend of Bob’s, you’re my enemy, do you think me and Bob get along well? So how in the world are you going to get along in the world and have any sort of fellowship with God? If you follow the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll be hated by the world and if you’re not, you need to check up on how close you’re following.

Counting the Cost—May

Often, the reason that a person doesn’t get saved is because they’re afraid of what it will cost them. They think they’ll have to give up their way of life, their sin, their fun and that it will cost them too much. And so, blinded by the devil (II Cor 4:4) they stay in their lost, hell-bound condition and die damned. They never learn that salvation is a free gift, no strings attached. Often, the reason that a saved person doesn’t live for God and sell out for Him is because they’re afraid of what it’ll cost them. They think they’ll miss their way of life, their sin, their fun and in the end regret what they’ve done. And so, they stay in their comfortable environment, never risking anything for God and die miserable and blind and poor and naked (Revelation 3:14-20) as they enter the Judgement Seat of Christ before they enter heaven. The problem is that they can’t add. They can figure out retirement, investments, family matters, relationship issues, wise career choices; but when it comes to spiritual matters they can’t get past kindergarten.They count wrong. They figure that the cost for present enjoyment now is worth more than future reward later. Never getting the faith (Romans 10:17) to see the eternal (II Cor 4:17,18), they sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate (Bob Jones, Sr.). But if they would really count the cost, I mean really add it up right, and sit down and think about it, they would see that the pleasure in sin for a season is a short season compared to an eternal reward. They would see the pain they cause others by their sin and their example cannot be undone. They would see that the look in their Lord Jesus Christ’s eyes at the Judgement Seat of Christ—-whether it be of approval or disaproval—is worth more than temporary self-service. Christian have you counted the cost?

COVID Response—April

A Christian should always be focused on the Lord Jesus Christ and how best to please him (Revelation 4:11). Circumstances don’t change that. Politics don’t change that. Governments don’t change that. False brethren don’t change that. Family issues don’t change that. And a global paranoia doesn’t change that either. While the COVID-19 has incapacitated the country, something war and terrorism could never do, our God-fearing country has taken this opportunity to attack church goers. If you are an alcoholic don’t worry, your liquor stores are not affected by the max 10 person rule. If you enjoy pot, don’t be concerned, those dispensaries are still open and business is booming. But if you’re a pastor, you are limited to 10 people in your church service. But what would you expect from a country that has kicked God out of school and prayer out of school (1962 & 1963), that has stricken the 10 commandments (written with God’s own finger) from its places of justice and judgment), has endorsed and protected the mass killing of unborn human babies while spending billions to protect and nurture animal babies, has had government sponsored push for evolution in the public schools since the late 1950’s and has worked hard to bridle any sound preaching in this country. In this country, you are free to take Jesus’ name as a curse word anywhere and everywhere, but you cannot take Allah or Mohammed’s name in vain or paint a cartoon mocking them. One of these actions is protected, one is not. So it’s not surprising that the next target is the operation of churches up an down this country. But the Christian’s attitude, response, actions, and responsibilities has not changed Our command is the same: “Preach the word: be instant, in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come [it’s here] when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” I Timothy 4:1-2 “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 As one preacher said, “You should do what you can, while you can, whenever you can, as often as you can.”

Surprisingly, people are more open to taking a gospel tract now; at least my experience has been that way. So if you are in a grocery store, automotive shop, hardware store…basically anywhere except a liquor store, pass out as many tracts as you can (Ecc. 11:1). The devil is very interested in knocking out ministries during this time. If he can’t get you with the covid precautions, he will try to get you with being so frustrated with what’s going on that you can’t think straight. Anger (as wrath and hatred) is a work of the flesh (Gal 5) and the more you feed it, the stronger the flesh gets and the weaker the spirit gets. Don’t forget your Saviour; don’t forget your calling; and don’t forget your real enemy.

Satan’s tactics—March

Our old adversary the devil is still busy. He hasn’t gone the way of the public opinion concerning him. His focus is on those who are active in service to the Lord. Some people say that he won’t bother you because you’re too small. I’ve heard bible-believing pastors say this. While it is true that we are small and insignificant, the Bible still warns us, those who aren’t Paul or Christ, to be sober, be vigilant because YOUR adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I am supposed to resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that he’s fighting my brethren around the world. The Bible says in Ephesians 6 that I am supposed to stand against the wiles of the devil. The Bible also warns that satan will tempt me in I Corinthians 7 while I’m at a weak point in my marriage and in II Corinthians 2:11 I am told that satan will try to get me to hold a grudge. As a bible believer, I find that the devil is interested in my walk with Christ and I don’t have to be as spiritual as Job to get his attention, although that helps. All I have to do is be a child of the Lord and be in the fight. Our infallible Bible describes our enemy’s tactics in detail. The devil will try to make you doubt (Genesis 3:1); he will approach you positively, not negatively (Genesis 3:1); he will progress to denying absolutes (Genesis 3:4); he will increase his tactics to outright denying what God said instead of just questioning it (Genesis 3:4); he will further progress to slandering God and attributing petty behavior to the Lord of glory (Genesis 3:5). The devil will try to get you to do the right thing at the wrong time. That’s what he tempted Eve with (Genesis 3:6), Moses (Numbers 20:11), Christ (Matthew 4:3, 6). The devil is persistent. Job lost all his kids and his wealth and he didn’t break. The second attack came with losing his health and comfort and his wife being against him. Job still didn’t break. But when his friends showed up, eventually Job got to to the place of saying some things to God that pleased the devil. Our tactic to respond to him is to resist him. Which is a significant statement. To enable us to accomplish this task, we have a shield of faith primarily (“above all”) which is the devil’s favorite target to attack. We also are given 4 other pieces of armor and a sword that our Captain and example used on the devil in liberal fashion. It’s not surprising that the only Man who ever beat the devil did so by quoting scripture and resisting him, and the devil’s tactics since Genesis 3:1 all the way through Westcott and Hort and Liberty University is to attack the weapon that he fears. One day we will band together with new bodies that look just like the Lord Jesus Christ and throw him out of heaven down to earth (Revelation 12). But until that day, we are to fight him in this feeble body with the supernatural tools and power that only comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you a Bible Believer?—February

To have a perfect Bible is an amazing thing. We who are Bible believers, know that the Lord Jesus Christ has put the responsibility to preserve His words onto Himself (Psalms 12:6,7). Obviously to say you are a Bible believer and then not be able to point to a physical copy of it is a pretty useless belief. Any Bible believer worth his salt knows that the King James Bible is God’s perfect words. But we, as Bible believers, throw around that term pretty loosely. What does it mean to believe the Bible? It means a sight more than just knowing the King James is right and came from the right texts. It means more than to know that the NIV, CEV, HCSB, NKJV, LV, et al are just a rehash of Satan’s attempts to keep the Christian soldier’s best weapon ineffective. To be a Bible believer means that you practice what the Book says. What use does it do to believe the Bible is preserved but not have a copy of it? What use does it do to believe that Galatians 5:16 is God’s perfect words if you fail to walk in the Spirit? Can you really classify yourself as a Bible believer if you fail to follow God’s words? The Bible says in Psalms 105:17-19 that the word of the Lord tried Joseph while he was in prison. Here he was expecting (from what God had told him in a vision) that his brothers would bow down to him. Instead, they sold him into slavery. He was expecting to have a place of prominence and he finds himself lied about while doing right and sent down into prison without a fair trial. While he’s down there in fetters and can’t get out and without any reasonable hope, the word of the Lord tries him. It says to him, “Do you still believe that the sun, moon, and eleven stars will make obeisance to you?” He must have for the Bible keeps showing us that God had favor on him and that the LORD was with him. When trouble hits, do you believe that God doesn’t suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able? When things go wrong and the circumstance around you seem conclusively to show that the promises of scripture are wrong (as they did with Joseph) and the word of the Lord tries you, will it find you a Bible believer?

The Walk of Faith—January

It’s amazing how easy it is to say you walk by faith and how difficult it becomes when circumstances arise. But to walk by faith is not a light thing. It is not just a slogan to throw up on a church sign or set to your facebook status. To walk by faith means, according to John Wesley, that every thing in your life is judged by one question: How will this affect my eternity? The Christian who walks by faith must always have his conversation (Phil 3:20), his affections (Colossians 3:1-3), and his eyes (Titus 2:13) on heavenly things. To do this, the Christian must get his eyes off himself (Romans 7:18, 24), off the world (II Corinthians 4:18, I John 2:15-17) and off others (II Corinthians 10;12). Of course the best example of this, the only One Who ever did this right is the found in Hebrews 12:1-3. And if you are to walk by faith it will require a close fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to accomplish this, you cannot be full of movies, facebook, hollywood, politics, family, friends, sports, career, money, kids or self. The world cannot walk by faith because it is full of all those things. You must have your goal set singly on the Lord Jesus Christ and finishing your course with joy and a good report. If you fail in this, you cannot please God for the scripture states, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Faith is not convinced by circumstances; it is not distracted by tribulation; it is ever vigilant for its source is holy scripture and sound preaching (Romans 10:17). It won’t be much longer now, Christian soldier. Stay by the stuff, grip your sword, draw blood, fortify the strongholds, dig into the trenches and resist the devil. “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8b

Denying self—December

The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection…” Paul says that his body doesn’t tell him what to do; he tells it what to do. He brings it into subjection to what God wants. Your body has strong desires and ambitions. If you let it, it will gladly get out of hand and make you think that you can’t control it. “That’s just how I am.” “That’s just me".” The Bible says that’s wrong and that you not only can control your body, you are commanded to. However, control is kind of a misleading word. The Bible’s words are “crucify” and “deny”. “For I am crucified with Christ”, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself…”, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” The successful Christian repeatedly tells his flesh, “NO!” Without that, there is no victory against the flesh. You cannot be pleased, satisfied, or consoled enough to never want anything else. The only thing you can do with your flesh is crucify it with the affections and lusts and follow after the Lord Jesus Christ, putting on the new man, which after Christ is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Confessing your sins—November

Nothing will stop a Christian’s walk with God faster than not confessing sins. Confessing is something that is necessary for the day-to-day walk of the Christian in order to stay in fellowship with a sinless Creator. It is not necessary to confess your sins to become a Christian. You don’t even know all your sins before you are saved. You could not possibly confess them. The Bible says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 The context of this passage is “fellowship” (v.3, 6, 7) and that is what will suffer if you fail to keep a short account on your sins. The best practice is as soon as you sin, confess it. When you confess, it is best to confess the sin specifically, (Leviticus 5:5) not just say “forgive me for all my sins.” For those religious stuff-shirts that think you should not confess your sins, the Bible believer will notice Romans 6:15,16. here it says that when you sin, you become a servant to it. We are supposed to be servants to Christ. Romans 6:16 was written to a Christian (see v. 15) who could still be a servant to sin. I Corinthians 3:11-15 show the Bible believer that your work done for you will burn up. Your sin will fall into that category. This means that your sin will affect your rewards and your service so that you need to confess it so you can get fellowship back between you and the Father and get the strength to live the Christian life (Galatians 2:20). As Dr. Peter Ruckman points out, “The Hyperdispensationalist have not yet found a way to tell you how to “judge” your sins to avoid chastening without telling the Lord about them (I Cor. 11:32-32) (Ruckman Reference Bible p. 1633, under I John 1:9).

Fighting the world—October

The Bible warns us in James to keep unspotted from the world (James 1:27). We are to resist the devil (I Peter 5:8,9; James 4:7), run from the Flesh’s temptations (I Timothy 2:22, I Corinthians 6:18), and to NOT love the World (John 2:15-17, II Timothy 4:9). Christians tend to not openly discuss sins of the flesh and to ignore the working of the devil. But the world is something that there is not a stigma on for the Christian. Sins of giving into the world are able to be discussed. But the Bible warns us that the world is just as deadly as the other two. In Hebrews 11, the Bible discusses how the faithful Old Testament saints stayed faithful and didn’t go back into the world: “And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.” (Hebrews 11:15) When you keep mementos of the old life, reminisce of the good ole days, and open up the gates for the world to influence you, you are being mindful of that country and giving yourself an opportunity to return. Movies, video games, Facebook, Youtube and other entertainment venues are excellent ways for the world to entice you to return and get your mind off the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are instructed not to love the world. If you constantly fill your time with things of the world and spend your money on stuff of the world, the world will get into your heart and affections and push Jesus Christ out. Christian, spend your time in spiritual matters. Follow Colossians 3:1-3 and you’ll find your heart going away from the world and after the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remaining Faithful in Service—September

The only way to please the Lord is with faith (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, you cannot please God. As modern-day Americans, living by faith is not necessary. We can use our credit card to answer the debt callers, we can use facebook to get an answer that we like instead of praying about it and if things get too hard where we are, we can move freely to someplace else where things are easier, jobs are better, and family is closer. But if you are to be a soldier for Jesus Christ, it is required that you be faithful. You are to endure hardness (II Timothy 2:2), be instant in season and out of season (II Timothy 4:2), and deny your flesh the comforts that you COULD give it (Luke 9:23). When you try to serve the Lord, it’s easy to see the hirelings that compromise and they take off fast. But just as the plant in Matthew 13 that buds fast but has no root, it won’t take long to see the fly-by-nights move on when the heat begans to rise. If you are to please the One Who called you into service, you must stick by the Book and stay faithful in plowing, sowing, and looking for a harvest. To the Battle!

Keeping the Main Thing, the Main Thing—August

The main thing in your life is your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Peter Ruckman used to say that often and it is very true. This has to be the thing that you guard the closest because everything else is immaterial without this. Bible study, bible knowledge, prayer, witnessing, right doctrine, street preaching, and anything else you can imagine can all be right and without this it’s worthless. The Pharisees were ignored by the Lord Jesus Christ because they didn’t have this and they didn’t WANT it. But they had everything else. The Pharisees had right doctrine (Matthew 23:3), prayer (Luke 18:11), personal righteousness (Luke 18:11), constant fasting (Luke 18:12), and bible knowledge (John 6:18), but their own Messiah was right in front of their face and they crucified Him. You have to be in close fellowship with Jesus Christ if anything else is going to matter in your Christian life. Jesus Christ has to be able to go in any door in your heart, touch any activity or habit you have, and get His servant to cheerfully obey any command or inclination He has. That is keeping the main thing, the main thing. How about you? Have you prayed “Lord, is there anything you want from me?” lately?