The Divorce Dilemma

 Whenever I think about divorce I think about Bible characters and how their marriages played out. Take Adam and Eve. No one in history suffered the devastation that they did. And yet we never read of them going their separate ways. Abraham and Sarah, through the nonsense that he put her through, she never left him. King David and his many wives. Women had it rough in ancient times.

My point is that only adultery is considered grounds for divorce in the Bible. And that is not an automatic thing either. Marriage is a powerful thing and we fail to understand the power of two becoming one. It is not just a legal agreement. It is a joining of souls. 

People who walk away from marriage because it is hard or because they are selfish or because of failure condemn themselves to a life of trouble. Life can be lived after divorce. But something is lost and will never be restored. Only salvation can wash and cleanse and make things new. But when a Believer divorces there is nothing to do even if you repent. You will suffer the rest of your life in relationships.

Jesus can heal your marriage. Pastor can give you counsel. What God has joined together let not you put asunder.

Thoughts on Cremation

 I recently heard on the radio an Evangelical pastor condemning cremation for disposing of human remains. He played the image of God card. He felt like the only acceptable way of disposing of human remains was to inter them in a sealed casket and burying them in the ground.

This sounds more Catholic than Christian to me. Catholics are the ones railing against abortion. They make heroic efforts to sustain life. They seem to have no concept of the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. The dead in Christ rising first at the Rapture that the Bible teaches plainly.

Cemeteries take up space and they are places where very few people ever go to visit. Why spend a fortune just to have a place where, once it is over, you may never visit again. 

What about those who died in war or in an explosion and there is no body to recover? What about those lost at sea where the fish ate what what left of them? Are they doomed because they were not buried? What about those who were buried in a pine box? There was a time where only kings were buried in tombs.

Cremation is an economical way to humanely dispose of human remains. There is nothing in the Bible to prohibit cremation. 

We need to get truth from the Bible, not from the Catholics or the Mormons or from any other false religion.

My Micro Relationship Has Ended

 I thought that I had met someone. She was nice and she showed interest in me. However, there was something about her that caused me to seek counsel from my pastor. I was right to have misgivings. 

I took this sister out to lunch today. We had a nice time. She thanked me for lunch and then told me she did not want anything more to do with me. That ended that.

I am not a lonely man. I am single, and saved, and satisfied. There are people who are bothered that I am single. They pester me or advise me on the reasons why I need a woman in my life. They were excited when I told them about her. Now they are silent when I told them what happened.

I have a feeling about divorced women. My feeling about this divorced woman was right on. I should have trusted my gut. But I went as far as I could go and nothing came of it. My pastor was correct in advising me to see what happened. He was sorry to hear how it turned out.

I have a check list. It is not very long. But there are things that must be in place and there are things that I would like to be in place. And after this experience my thoughts on divorced women must stand as non-negotiable. I was married till death did us part. I need someone to be on the same page in that regard before I let myself hope. 

A divorcee who gets saved has a clean slate. A divorcee who is saved already should have stayed married.

Pastors Who Care

 Throughout our lives we find ourselves needing help from time to time. Advice, or guidance, or a word to settle our troubled minds. We get that from sermons, or from friends. and from time to time we need the guidance of our pastors. I am grateful that we have men who help us and who serve the Lord by serving us. I recently needed some advice on things that I am facing and I am grateful that one of our pastors was willing to talk to me and he gave me some good advice. Thank God for that.

It doesn't matter how old our pastors are. God equips them to help us. Family is too close and too emotionally involved to give unbiased advice. Pastors want us to make it and they want to see us through the twists and turns of life.

My Take on Future Tense.

 For our Saturday night drive-in outreach we showed the movie Future Tense. I have seen this movie before. Tonight, as I watched it, all I could think of is, what an arrogant know it all college kid that kid in the movie is. I wonder if that is how I came across to my family in my younger days. It's a wonder that they even speak to me now if I did.

We did have people saved tonight which is the point of the outreach. Thank God for that!

Caring for Others

 My friend here tested positive for covid this past week. I made it a point to stay in touch with her and I offered to help her during this time. It reminded me of when I had covid in January of 2020 in Prescott Valley.

I knew that I was sick but I thought it was the flu. We had just finished our January conference two weeks earlier and it is not uncommon to feel drained and tired after conference. But this was different. I went home after church on a Sunday night and I barely got out of bed for then next 48 hours. I was sicker than I had ever been and I was all alone in my house. I went to the store still very sick on Wednesday afternoon because I had run out of cough syrup. I went home and went back to bed for 24 more hours.

The reason why I was so concerned for others going through things is because when I went through things in Prescott Valley no one looked after me. I missed church for almost 3 weeks and no one from church called or came by. It was only after I went back to church that someone told me, you should have called me. I almost died and I should have called him?

If I miss something here someone will check to see if I am alright. What a difference.

We sing a song that says, I want to care for others like Jesús cared for me. Jesus has a funny way of showing his love and care for me in recent years.

One Church, Diverse Members

In recent years our church has had an influx of transplants. People from other Fellowship churches who, for whatever reason, now are living here and who now attend our church. This raises some questions that our pastors need wisdom to answer.

What is to be done to help new people not saved here feel like they belong here? What is to be done so that the new transplants can merge with the old timers who got saved here? How can those who were here reach out to those who have moved here? And how can our church adapt and adjust to accommodate this unusual mix of saints?

We need the Holy Spirit to apply his grace to knit all of our hearts together. We need the love of God to draw us together in unity. And we need grace for the transplants to find their place and to fit in.

"So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." Acts 20:32

"But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." 1Cor.12:18

The Bitter Made Sweet By A Tree

 The text is Exodus 15:22-26

Tonight pastor Miguel preached on making the bitter waters sweet. I will not give you his sermon. If you want to hear him preach you need to come to church. But his message inspired me on this subject.

First, the life of faith has great victories. In the previous verses the people were rejoicing over the victory God gave them at the Red Sea. They had escaped Egypt, and the Egyptian army had been destroyed. But the very next thing in their faith walk had to do with water and a log. The people needed water and up ahead they saw water. But when they arrived the water was undrinkable. It was bitter.

So, how do we process life when our expectations become bitter? I thought it was insightful that when our hopes and dreams go unfulfilled we can become bitter. That disappointment can leave us unsatisfied. They were dealing with the bitterness of disappointment. Remember Naomi, how her life had not turned out as she had hoped and she felt bitter about that. We have plans or dreams that we think will make us happy and fulfilled. Instead those plans and dreams don't work out and disappointment sets in. At this point we have a choice.

First, the people complained. Second, Moses prayed. Third, God gave clear instruction to make the bitter water sweet. Pastor went into this in great detail. Let me just say that only God can make the bitterness of disappointment into something sweet.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

It always come back to the tree to make things right. That tree is the Cross of Christ.

Only Jesus can make the bitterness of life into something sweet and satisfying and desirable.

Hold On!

 Long distance hikers have a saying. Never quit your hike on a bad day. Keep going. It will get better. I also once heard a preacher say, the only way to lose is to quit. 

We walk by faith and not by sight. We often only see what is right in front of us. We do not see the bigger picture. We definitely do not see how God sees. 

No matter how you feel or how it looks don't give up. Keep on trusting and believing. God always saves the best until last.

"Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward." Hebrews 10:35

"But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul." Hebrews 10:39

Amen!

Changing, The Easy Way Out?

 The trouble with making big changes is that it seems that change becomes the answer to every problem we face. Don't like you marriage? Change it. Don't like your job? Change it. Don't like your church? Change it. The problem with change is that it does not change who you are. It only changes the surface or the externals. Real change has to happen on the inside. Getting saved did not just change my appearance. It changed my nature.

I have made some major changes in the past few years. I am tired of changes. I have done enough changing for a while. I decided that it is easier to make it work where you are than to change locations and start over. At some point you have to plant your feet, stand your ground, and say, enough changing.

Sometimes our song service drives me crazy. But it does not last forever. At some point the service will move on to more important things. Sometimes restaurant food is not what I expected. There are other restaurants to try. When people annoy me I take comfort in the fact that soon I will be home and alone and they will not be sitting in my living room continuing to annoy me.

I am grateful to be here. I am grateful for this church. I am grateful for friends, new and old. I am grateful that it is well with my soul.

Understanding The Bible

 From time to time I have to remind myself of what the Bible is not as well as what it is. The Bible is not a scientific explanation of anything. Creation is mentioned that it happened. The origin of humanity and the fall into sin is described like a child's Sunday School lesson. Because God did not think it fit into the main reason for the Bible; to explain in detail everything that happened.

The reason for the Bible to to tell the story of Christ. From before creation until after final judgement it is a book about Christ. It is not a science book. It is not even a history book. It is not a social studies book or a humanities book. Christ is the reason why and the focus of and the final word in the whole Bible. Every lesson we can learn from the pages of scripture tell us something about the nature and the character and the mission of Christ.

We can speculate about how old the Earth is. We can wonder how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden before they sinned. We can ponder the law and the prophets in the old and the epistles in the new. But remember that it is Christ in all and for all and Christ is the reason for it all.

Once we move into eternity the Bible will be finished. But the truth in the Bible is eternal. What we know of the Bible today will be important throughout eternity.

Memorial Service for Bridget

 There will be a memorial service for Bridget on Friday the 2nd of September at 7:30pm at the Door church in San Antonio. 

Never Quit on a Bad Day

 Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light. Or in the world of long distance hikers they say, never quit your hike on a bad day.

When I was a new convert backsliding simply meant going back to the sins that the Lord Jesus had delivered you from in salvation. For us it meant drugs and dope and sex outside of marriage. Pretty simple to see and to understand. But as we get older and wiser backsliding tends to get more complicated.

Backsliding today could simply mean forsaking your faith to believe something new or something different. Leaving our church to become a Buddhist for example. Backsliding could mean just not coming to church anymore. 

History has many examples of people who began in the faith but in a crisis of life they turned away from Christ. Some become enemies of the cross. Some flaunt their freedom from faith by debauchery and carousing. But their common denominator is that in a time of doubt or while having a bad day they quit.

Like we have heard so often, it is not what happens to you that hurts you, it's how you process what happens that can hurt you. My wife Kathy until the day that she died never gave up on Jesus. Bridget until the day that she died never stopped trusting and believing. Others who felt like their prayers were not answered or that God was unfair quit and they go into eternity twice dead.

There is only one way to lose in the Christian life and that is to quit.

"A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench..." Isaiah 42:3

You can stick it out for one more day.

Bridget Harris RIP

 I received word that Bridget Harris died today. She has been sick for a long time and was diagnosed with leukemia. Treatment failed and the doctors sent her home to die.

Bridget was the first woman to show any interest in me after my wife died. We spent some time together last year. I have fond memories of my time with Bridget. I also learned that she was not the one for me.

Somewhere out there a woman is praying for a husband. I am asking the Lord for a wife. We just haven't met yet. When we do it will be perfect.

Too Young

 When Kathy died I did not think then that she was young. But as I watch Bridget fading away at 55 years old it hit me how young my wife was when she died. 

We were teenagers when we got married. We grew up together. We stayed married, raised children, and pursued God's will for our lives. In 2014 Kathy died and that left me with a lot of years to live without her in my life.

I believe that God saves the best for now. I believe that God has something better for me than I am currently experiencing.

I am too young to feel this old!

Once Young, Now Old

 Old age is not the end of youth. It is the beginning of a new chapter in your life. But we live in such a youth oriented society and we go to church in such a youth oriented Fellowship that we think of growing older only in relation to our youth. We have pastors who believe that the only worthwhile ministries are those our youth perform. Music, drama, impact teams, and pioneering new churches are all youth focused and youth driven.

It is a good thing to know where you come from. History is worthwhile to study and to understand. It can provide the context to how we got where we are today. But past performance is no guarantee of future results is not only true of investments. If your doctrine is one of doing what we did over and over and over to keep it going then you have some unbiblical and erroneous doctrines.

Mid-life is the time of transition from children to grownups and from youthful ability to the new world of changing abilities. Success in life demands that we shift our focus to where we are and away from where we used to be. 

In my church there are 50 something guys who think that they will be sent out. I wouldn't send them out. But they are still focused on time gone by and are ignoring the reality of life as it is going forward. There are older men who talk about the ministries they used to do and the outreaches they used to do like it is current events. We fool ourselves when we think that talking about something is the same as doing it.

Youth may be the focus and the future of church planting and discipleship. But in an aging church and an aging Fellowship will we ask people like me to leave so that God can move, or will we value the aged like some cultures do.

"I once was young and now am old..." Psalm 37:25

Thoughts on Revival

 What does revival look like? Here are some interesting thoughts on the beginnings in Prescott.

First, when the Mitchel's arrived in Prescott they did not arrive with a plan for world evangelism. Pastor had served as pastor in several churches up to that time. He had had some success. He had honed his skills as a pastor and teacher and preacher. Prescott was in need and they asked him to go and with nothing better to do he took his family to a small town with a damaged church.

Pastor has told us that his first service in Prescott on a Sunday morning was 27 people. Unknown to him or anyone in Prescott was the revival that was breaking out in southern California among young people and hippies. That wave eventually made it's way to Prescott and suddenly young people were coming to church and getting saved. To pastor's credit and to the honor of those early church members they accepted these unkempt young vagabonds and welcomed them into the church.

The little building on Lincoln street was soon bulging at the seams with scores of young new converts. A few important things took place but let it be enough to say that that church of 30 people in 1970 had become a thriving church of 300 people in 1973 when I was saved there on Ruth street. In the next 20-25 years the church grew to 600 and it has been powering on for many years at around 650 people.

There are churches that do a good job of ministering to the needs of the people and they are a blessing. And there are churches who exploded from nothing to hundreds in a short time. They have to minister to the people God brings in just like any good church would.

The other thing to point out is that in our Fellowship no church has had explosive growth for decades. They had an initial big bang of revival that in time settled into the ebb and flow of ministry. Men sent out still need to learn how to minister to real people. Even the book of Acts has an initial 3 or 4 year growth spurt and then it settled into caring for the new converts who would go on to become older disciples.

Happy, or Bitter? Your Choice.

 One of our pastors today talked about bitterness. Especially as it relates to relationships. Here is some thoughts that I have that were inspired by his message.

Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping that the other person dies.

It takes 2 to make a marriage. They share the credit. It takes 2 to break a marriage. They share the blame.

In a failed marriage men rebound into new relationships in about two years while women take on average nine years to trust men again.

Some people are more trouble than they are worth to have as friends. 

Forgiving puts people in God's hands.

I know a couple who were married and had children. Today that marriage is failed. Then man has moved on, the woman has not. The man lost the woman that he loved and the children that he loved and is blamed for the break-up. The woman kept the children and is alone. 

Marriage will not change you as much as it will reveal the kind of person you really are.

You can be happy or you can be bitter. You cannot be both.

A Distant Thunder a Dud of a Movie

 Tonight, for our drive in movie outreach, we showed the old movie A Distant Thunder. I remember when this first came out how exciting it was to have a sequel to A Thief in the Night. But watching it tonight I was struck by how bad this movie really is. The plot is lame and unbiblical. The Gospel preaching seems forced and unnatural. The movie is horribly dated with black and white tv and dial phones and phone booths and communicating by letters. It was also at the time when feminism was just starting to show it's strength among American women.

I vote that we retire this movie permanently. It is good for nostalgia but not much else.

Volume or Results?

 If zeal and volume get God's attention then tonight at our outreach we should see hundreds of people saved. And Bridget should be there feeling healthy and strong. But if only one or two or a handful of people pray is it a failure? And if Bridget dies anyway who is to blame?

I think that we mistake enthusiasm for results. We talk like God is moving powerfully but there is no evidence that He is doing anything. Our prayer list of very ill brethren who need our help would disappear since we are contending for God to heal them now.

My fear is if we pray with fervor and nothing happens we do not accept it as our fault. If Bridget dies, like she is dying now, is it her lack of faith that kept here from living a few more years?

King Hezekiah was on his death bed when the prophet told him to get his house in order. But the king's tears and prayer bought him 15 more years. He was healed immediately. So there is a God who heals for sure. And there is a God who takes people to Heaven where we all want to go.

There was a time when I no longer prayed for pastor or sister Mitchell for healing. I prayed for them for strength and peace and comfort. Same with Kathy. Same with Bridget. Death is not a failure. Baseless enthusiasm is deceptive. Results speak louder than loud prayers.

Bible Promise Box

 I have a daily Bible reading app. It takes me through the Bible in various ways. I get it a week at a time. This week it is one verse Bible answers to life's questions. There are very few issues in life where I need God's guidance where one verse will suffice. But it's only for this week. Come Monday it will change. This week I call it my Bible Promise Box.

Ministry to the Elderly

 Here are a few simple thoughts on how to minister to the seniors in our churches. This ministry need not cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. But it does take time and money and a loving heart and a willing hand. This is not all that can be done, but it may be something to think about.

1. Prayer. Ask someone how you can pray for them. Pray for them all anyway.

2. Tech assistance. Things you take for granted are a mystery to them. Be patient and teach them.

3. Teach how to buy groceries online. How to get home delivery. Help them set up an account.

4. Encourage children to make gifts or to simply talk to them.

5. Create a daily devotion either in print or by email. Simple, truthful.

6. Send them a card. Give them a note. Let them know you are thinking about them.

7. Provide services that they need. Cleaning, laundry, transportation, etc.

8. Ask what is the biggest disruption to their routine and find a way to fix that.

9. Call them. Not just hi/bye. Spend time. Let them talk.

Be their friend. Ask them what they need. Do what you can to help. Do not wait for them to reach out.

The Testimony of Good Works

 I read an interesting story. A lady was at the grocery store to pick up a few things. As she walked towards the main entrance she noticed an elderly couple sitting in their car. She took note that they were just sitting there and she went inside. But when she came back out the elderly couple was still sitting there. So the lady went over to the car and tapped on the window. The woman inside rolled down the window and that's when the lady noticed that they seemed to be afraid. She asked if there was anything wrong and she asked if she could help them in any way. The elderly lady looked down and said quietly, We need to go shopping but we are afraid to go inside. That there was nothing to be fearful of made no difference. So the lady offered to do their shopping for them. They gave her their list and she got their groceries. When she returned the elderly couple seemed so relieved. When they tried to pay her she told them that she was happy to cover the cost of their groceries this time. 

The testimony of good works sometimes speaks louder and any street corner preaching with a bull horn.

God's Evident Help

 Before I finalized my decision to move here I spent time checking home values and prices on-line. I was surprised to find lots of affordable housing in this market, since in AZ home prices had sky rocketed out of sight back then. I made the move, found a house, and I am living in the house that I found.

Today I was looking at housing in this area again and I was shocked by how much home prices had jumped just since I moved here. These home prices would have been a deal breaker for me before. 

I can look back and see how God helped me not just move here but to find an affordable house here and to find the means to improve and furnish this house like it is today. For that I am grateful.

Pastor Mitchell said that money brings reality to life. We only get into trouble when we ignore our means to buy what we cannot afford.

I plan to be here for a long time. And as God will continue to help me I will stay here and be grateful to be here.

Growing Up is Not a Sin

 Pastor Mitchell used to say that life must be lived to the end. We hear that and agree with that. And we think that we will be like we are now for the rest of our lives. We would be wrong to think that.

None of the great heroes of faith in the Bible are still alive. Heaven doesn't count. And fewer and fewer of our current heroes of faith have gone to their Heavenly reward. Bridget will be there very soon. Kathy is already there.

We must rightly divide the word of truth to make sure that we are living according to the Bible and not the world. And we must correctly assess our lives from time to time to see what we can and can't do. No amount of preaching will turn back the hand of time. Zeal is not a tree of life no matter what anyone says.

Mid life crisis is that uncomfortable time when young people come to grips with the reality that they are not young anymore. If you haven't done it by now chances are you might never do it. Or if you try you might do things but you will be isolated and alone since young people are not interested in you or what you represent. This is hard to accept. You can spot someone in this stage of life when that try too hard to be young and zealous and excited and enthusiastic. Just like the man or women who tries to dress too young. We can try too hard to be new converts and we are fooling no one but ourselves.

Churches go through this. When there is more talk about what God did than evidence of what God is doing we are getting old in our faith. Maybe it's time to grow up?