Does The Lord Pick Leaders or Not?

 This is a subject that is of little concern to me, but must be of big concern to others. Why can't the Lord make up His mind about presidents? One year it is Trump, an answer to our prayers. The next election it is Biden, God must hate America. Now it's Trump again, preserved from death to serve again. If the Lord wanted Trump, why didn't he just let him win and get it over with before?

Maybe we think that the Lord cares about politics like we do. Maybe we assume that He picks national leaders, as long as they are Republicans. And maybe, just maybe, we are wrong.

If we believe that God picks political leaders then we should be grateful for every leader elected to office, not just the ones who we agree with or who bear our party's stamp. 

Let God be true, and every man a liar.

PS: God chose heathen kings in Old Testament times. Think maybe God knows things about us that we do not know?

Church is a No Politics Zone

I am grateful that our pastors are not overtly political. I could guess how they vote or who they support. But that would be speculation on my part. I am grateful that no matter who gets elected or who wins an election, it does not change who we are or what we do.

The Bible is not a guidebook on how to influence society. The Bible is a book about Christ from beginning to end.

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27

So, instead of rejoicing or lamenting, let us look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Instead of gloating or threatening, let us hold fast to our faith in Christ. 

"But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord." 2Cor. 10:17

Partisan politics, like football in Texas, is divisive and exclusive, and not worthy to be mentioned in God's house or among brethren. We have a living hope, not by who wins an election or who wins the Super Bowl, but by the resurrection of Christ from the dead! 

Turn off your TV and you may find it easier to think clearer.

Apostles Today?

 "And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers," Ephesians 4:11

In the early church we read references of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers. All were active, all were important, and all were involved in the work of ministering to God's people.

In our Fellowship we have pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. We tend to label all ministry as first, pastors, and second, evangelists. Even missionaries are sent to be pastors in foreign lands.

Just because we do not use titles, I wonder if we have ministry operating that fulfills the qualifications set forth in Ephesians.

The word apostle simply means sent. Men who were trained and then sent. It by logical expansion implies sending. I wonder if a pastor who disciples men and then sends couples to start churches is actually an apostle? I always felt that pastor Mitchell was an apostle. I think that a pastors of pastors is an apostle too.

We get nervous about titles. But there is no limit to apostolic ministry in the New Testament. There were the 12 apostles, and there are others called apostles who were not of the twelve.

So we do not call someone an apostle or a prophet, but there are men in the ministry today who fulfill these and other legitimate ministries in our churches.

A Friendly Reminder

 Every time that I pay my tithes, I remind the Lord of His promises concerning tithing.

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10

God tells us to put Him to the test in tithing. So as I write my tithe check every month, I remind God of what He promised to do for us. God cannot lie. His promises are all yes and amen in Christ!

The Next Generation.

 Baby boomers are a dying breed. They are retiring in droves now. They will be dead soon. And then we will find out what kind of kids we raised when our children are in control. Will they value our values? Will their main thing resemble our main thing?

Every generation gets their chance to run things. Every generation thinks that they know better than us. This is why the third generation sells the farm. Another king will arise who did not know Joseph and does not keep the vows made to him. One Pharoah promoted Joseph, his descendant enslaved Joseph's family.

We may not be here to see how the next generation handles what we give them. They will have to answer to God and to history for their actions once they are in charge.

Life must be lived to the end, but it will not be the same at the end as it was at the beginning.

Reminding Parents Of Their Past

 It is interesting to watch how, people who used to be young and courting their future spouse, are now the parents of young people courting their future spouse. We apply to our children standards that no one applied to us at their age. We set in place guidelines for our children that no one established for us at their age. Growing up and growing older makes us aware of dangers that we were oblivious to when we were young. Everyone is in favor of marriage until it is their children who want to get married. 

When revival first was happening in Prescott there were a lot of young people getting saved. There were some young families already in church. The parents were excited to see what God was doing. Until the parents began to wonder if their daughters would marry these new convert guys. Some of them actually did marry guys who were newly saved. And they were successful pastors for many years.

When parents grow up they become nervous about the future for their children. How will they turn out, will they stay saved, who will they marry. Life is a gamble with no guaranteed outcomes. At some point you have to let your children find their own way and trust that God is able to help them as they navigate their way through life. You cannot keep them home forever. You have to let them go or you might lose them forever.

Trusting God is easy when it is academic. The challenge for us is when we have to trust God for ourselves or our children. We can trust God no matter who or what. Amen!

The Muscle Memory of Faith

 I took about one year off from bike riding. I used to ride a lot. But between physical issues, meds out of whack, and plain old boredom, I stopped riding. Lately I have missed my time on my bike. So this week I started riding again. On Monday I rode 10 miles, on Wednesday I rode 15 miles, and today(Friday) I rode 21.86 miles. I used to ride between 25-30 miles a day. I give credit to muscle memory. By next week I will be back where I used to be. Muscle memory means that once you have learned to do something, your body never forgets how to do it.

Speaking of memories, some people, as they get older, torture themselves over what they used to do. They can no longer do it. They have aged out of activities. And it bothers them that they cannot do what they used to do. I say, find what you can do now, and do that. Find something that you can do and work at that. Memories are fine, but we have to live in the present, focused on our own future.

I haven't been swimming since I was a teenager. But I bet that if I ended up in deep water today, I could swim back to safety. Our faith has muscle memory too. Once you have proven something in God, you never lose it.