New And Old

The older I get, the better I was. Some people have a hard time growing up and growing older. They look in the mirror and still see themselves as young and virile. They look at life as though the best years were in the past, when everything was fresh and new. But one lesson that life will teach you is that you cannot go forward while looking back over your shoulder.

For some people, retirement is a curse. It is a traumatic event when all meaning is taken out of life. For some people growing older is something to be feared or dreaded. They do not see the elderly as a rich repository of wisdom, but as a burden on society. 

God says that He saves the best until now. He is the eternal I am, not I was or I will be. God is always fresh and current. This is why the Christian life must be lived daily. One day at a time. I do not think that Heaven will be a time to remember what used to be. There will be too much to do to waste time reminiscing about the past.

Another lesson is that life must be lived to the end. Life as it is today, not as it was yesterday. One preacher said that the problem with life is that it is so daily. I do not see that as a problem. I see that as a chance to start every day fresh.

One more thing. If you think that salvation is the greatest miracle of all, then once you have been saved a few years that one big miracle was a long time ago. And if you heal the sick and raise the dead, does it ever get boring? Jesus only did it for three years.

Pray that our pastors can help those who are just starting out and also those who have been faithful for many years.

"Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Mat.13:52

It Works!

 "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."  Luke 6:38

Recently I was preparing for a church service when I felt the Lord tell me to give a certain amount. I knew it was the Lord and so I gave what He told me to give. I always thought that this verse meant that someone would walk up to me and hand me an envelope stuffed with cash. But how it worked for me is that I am receiving dental work costing over $1000 at no charge to me. God is faithful and He keeps His promises. One way or another.

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you..." 2Cor.9:8

To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Lessons For Today

 "Then He said, take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." Gen.22:2

This story, of Abraham preparing to murder his son to offer him up as a burnt offering, is a troubling story. It has meaning beyond the obvious. But beyond Abraham's obedience, let's think about Isaac's perspective for a minute. Isaac was a young man, but not a child. Abraham told Isaac what was about to happen, but left out one glaring detail. I wonder if it crossed Isaac's mind at all what Abraham and God were planning for him. Isaac is the obedient son, up to the time that Abraham bound his hands and laid him on the alter. It was not until God saw that Abraham was really going to kill his son that God intervened to provide the ram in the bushes. I wonder how this whole scenario affected Isaac's view of his father.

 First, Isaac had to overcome his father's radical obedience. The first generation of revival had to make radical decisions and take radical stands just to survive. Everything to them was black and white, Heaven or Hell. There was no middle ground. It was, of necessity, a life out of balance for God. 

Isaac had to deal with his father's humanity. Every generation has to deal with the humanity of their parents. They see the radical faith and they see the failure of human nature, and they call them hypocrites and phonies. But Abraham was just human. Your parents and your pastor are just human too. Isaac had to come to grips with the fact that we are all just sinners saved by grace.

We all have to grow up and find balance in our faith if we are going to survive to the end. The soup is never eaten as hot as it is cooked. You cannot stay radical and on fire forever. We all have to find what works in life. Most successful people have learned how to compromise and they have learned that you have to get along with people different from us.

Isaac had to find his own relationship with God. You do not find that by turning your back. You find it by digging your own wells. You can learn from your parents mistakes. And you can benefit from your parents faith.

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord is giving you." Exod. 20:12

From the beginning of human history, each generation has had to find God and serve the Lord for themselves. God has no grandchildren, only children. 

Isaac never followed his father's example by offering his son Jacob. But he did follow his father's faith to the end. Isaac will be in Heaven. Will you?

Contentment

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." 1Tim.6:6

I do not get a lot of money each month in retirement. But I learned through life to have a budget and to stick to that budget. So when a bill comes due I just pay it. When repairs become necessary I know that I can hire someone to do the job. People have divorced and backslid over things that I have been through. But I did neither. I am still here and my wife is in Heaven with Christ.  

The only way to lose is to quit. I intend to endure to the end. Christ is the rock of my salvation. I shall not be moved.

"But none of these things move me." Acts 20:24

God is good, all of the time.

Faith Faith Faith

Have you ever heard of the Fermi Paradox? This is the problem that science has when they look up into the night sky, see all of the stars and constellations up there, and wonder if we are really all alone in the universe. Surely there must be other living beings out there somewhere. Surely there must be another life supporting planet out there somewhere. And if they are there, why haven't they noticed us here?

Could it be that in their wisdom and knowledge they have put too much emphasis on something that God created as a clock and a calendar for us to keep track of times and seasons? Could it be that they chafe at the idea that in all of the universe, we are not only alone, but that we as humans are unique?

This is why it all comes down to faith. God does not set the bar at knowledge or wisdom. He makes the mind boggling things easy to understand by faith. I have no problem believing that God created the natural world and the laws of nature in 6 days. Science cannot or will not believe that. There must be something more they think. Kind of like alien life, there must be others out there. I see a pattern here.

God did not create the big bang. He created the universe as it is right now today. And one day this universe that puzzles brilliant minds will be recreated  and again it will be for us.

Could this be one reason why we are called to preach the gospel to the poor, who are rich in faith? 

We walk by faith, not by sight. Faith believes what science rejects. Faith is easy, science is hard. Fermi was wrong.

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Rom.1:22

"Who exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Rom.1:25

Some Things Are Different

 Here are a couple of differences between pastor Mitchell and my pastor now. 

Pastor Mitchell was a topical preacher. He took a subject, searched the scripture, and crafted a message on that topic. My pastor is an expositional preacher. He lets the Bible speak for itself. He tries to expound on a text and only adds outside information to make his point. They accomplish the same thing. But they are two different approaches.

Pastor Mitchell used to use weddings as a reason to preach on marriage. Some pastors see all of the visitors and they view the wedding as an evangelistic opportunity. The Holy Spirit can use a wedding sermon to convict sinners. Focusing on evangelism makes you miss an opportunity to support marriage.

Pastor Mitchell got tired of people leaving right after the marriage ceremony was over so he moved the wedding until after the sermon. Here people tend to stay and we still do the wedding festivities before the sermon.

There are things that are carved in stone in our faith. How to preach a sermon and how to run a service are not things to fret over. God leaves a lot up to us.

You Must Be Born Again

"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

Truth is a mystery received by revelation. It does not come through education or learning. It does not come by traditions or practices. The new birth is the gateway to knowing and understanding all that the kingdom of God contains. Revelation is God, by the Holy Spirit, opening our eyes to understand truth that previously we did not even consider.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Mat.16:17

Jesus used the metaphor of being born again. Nicodemus understood what being born entailed. He said it is impossible by natural laws of birthing to re-enter your mother's womb. Jesus told him that it was a spiritual birth, not governed by the laws of nature. Being born again has a time, a place, a circumstance. It is not a course that you take or a book that you read. It is an event that changes your life forever.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2Cor.5:17

Being born again is not natural, it is supernatural. It is a miracle. What is impossible to man is possible to God.

I was born again on December the eighth, 1973. At that moment the trajectory of my life changed. I understand it all better now, but it did not depend on me understanding it, I just had to believe it.

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:19-21

Science tries to rob God of His glory by cheapening His work with human intellect. God is not mocked. It is time for men to repent and believe the Gospel. My prayer is the the Light will shine in the darkness. Jesus said that until you are born again you cannot even see where you are going.