This Is That? Really?

 The local weatherman keeps warning us of heavy rain and flooding. It's going to be bad they said. But so far no rain where I live. The experts haven't given up hope of lots of rain yet. But they keep pushing back the time when it is supposed to be here. At this point it might not rain in my neighborhood.

Preachers can fall into the same trap if they are not careful. It's bad and getting worse they warn us. Jesus is coming, look that the condition of the world. Surely the end is near. But life goes on like normal. My life it peaceful and quiet. I don't listen to conservative talk radio so I don't ingest a diet of gloom and doom.

The Bible covers a long time and a lot of circumstances. When the prophets spoke they were addressing the situation as it was back then. That doesn't mean it never applies again and that it isn't useful to us for instruction in how God works. But you had better be right when you stand up behind the pulpit and declare, this is that!

Don't become the boy who cried wolf.

God Still Speaks

 "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart." Prov. 18:2

I had someone call me recently to see how I was doing. That lasted about 30 seconds. Then he dove right in to tell me how he was doing and what he was doing. And when I read this Proverb it reminded me of him. Some people only concern themselves with what's good for me or with what benefits me. It's good that they think about others. But they have a short attention span.

"He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him." Prov. 18:13

It is obvious to some when you are listening or not. Not everyone is a good listener. They like to hear themselves talk. My friend is this kind of person. That's why I get tired of being around him. Shame on him for not listening to me.

You think that the Bible isn't relevant to today? Read it and you will be amazed how the Bible speaks to us. God has not lost His voice. He still speaks.

No Call Tuesday

 Life is like the turning of a page.

I have several good friends in Prescott who I keep in touch with. But today I noticed that I am usually the one who calls them. It is rare that one of my old friends calls me. My old friends from time to time travel, even flying to Texas. But they never make the effort to stop in SA to see me. If I were to visit Prescott they would all act like they were glad to see me. But only because I am there.

So today I decided to put my calls to Arizona on pause for a while. Tomorrow especially will be a no call day for me. I want to see how many of my "friends" think about me and call me to see how I am doing.

I think that I am a friendly guy and I enjoy talking to friends new and old. But from time to time I get tired of being the one to initiate the calls and this is one of those times. So tomorrow will be a no call day. It will be hard, especially if no one calls me. But I am determined not to cave in and call anyone tomorrow.

The loneliness of being a widow is the worst kind of loneliness. But, relationships are a two way street.

The Lord is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Thank God for that.

Thoughts For A Sunday Night

 When they introduce classical music they always tell who the composer was first, and then they tell who performed the piece. When they announce a pop song of any genre they first tell who performed or sang the song, and rarely if ever do they tell who wrote the song.

Some sermons go to great lengths to tell us about the Bible story. Who wrote it, when it was written. What they were thinking. Only then do they tell how to apply the Bible to everyday life. Some sermons get to the point of how to apply it and they might not ever dissect the verse to explain the details of the historic writer.

In music there is no right or wrong way to describe a song. In preaching there is no right or wrong way to preach a sermon. As long as the song is performed. As long as the sermon is preached.

I think about things like this.

My Thought

 I had a thought today. I wondered how hard it must be for a pastor, who has served his church for a long time, to say something new or fresh that he hasn't already said hundreds of times already. The preachable parts of the Bible have probably all been preached on. Nothing new has been added to the biblical cannon for a long time. And yet there we are, three times a week, listening for the voice of God from an ancient book and though a veteran pastor.

The only thing that makes the Bible relevant and fresh is the Holy Spirit who is the spirit of truth. A relationship with Christ who is the word made flesh and being filled with the Spirit of God causes old words to come alive again.

I go to church every time listening for God's voice and seeing if God will speak to me again. Often He does. Other times I eat the fish and spit out the bones.

Pray for your pastor that the word will be made flesh through his life and his ministry and that he will be encouraged to bring us sermons that are apples of gold in pitchers of silver. Amen.

PS: Not everything in the Bible is preachable. It is all God's word. It is all true. But some things and some passages just don't work as a three point sermon. Just saying.

Missing Pastor Mitchell

 Back in ancient days pastor Mitchell used to take the pastors and evangelists out to breakfast after prayer every morning. That is until someone suggested that he and the guys could make breakfast for everyone at the church. Pastor agreed and to this day guys cook breakfast at the church for all of the pastors, evangelists, missionaries and visiting preacher who are there.

Like any group of guys, the talk around the table inevitable drifted to sports, politics, or the weather. Until pastor Mitchell got out his Bible and suggested that they talk about the Bible and spiritual things. It used to amaze me how right on pastor was and how wacky some of the guests were. I used to go home and study just to see if I was right or wrong!

I miss those spiritual talks with a wellspring of wisdom like pastor Mitchell.

Winning Souls, Or Making Disciples?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Mat. 28:19

I wonder if, in our zeal to win souls, we are more focused on saying the sinners prayer with them, and less on winning them over to faith in Christ? We can get people to pray, and we can fill out the convert card. But have they been born again, or just prayed a prayer?

I wonder if getting people filled with the Holy Spirt with the evidence of speaking in tongues is as much to connect them to God as it is to get them to be Pentecostal? Speaking in tongues is the evidence of the infilling with the Holy Spirit. An unmistakable sign. Tongues does not save you, but it identifies you as a true believer in Christ. Without speaking in tongues, something vital is missing.

Water baptism is important. Jesus said it is part of our job to baptize those who have been saved in water. Baptizing people is not a religious ritual, it is a powerful event when the filth of a sinful life is washed away. It identifies us to the church and to our friends and family that I am a real Christian.

If you answered an alter call and got saved, good for you. Some do the same thing and nothing happens. No miracle of God takes place. Discipleship is the process of living out the Christian life in a local church.

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth," Gal. 3:1