Things That I Would Do Differently

 If you could live your life over again what would you do different? This is a question that most people answer by saying that they would not change anything. I cannot say that. There are things that I would do different. I know that it would change how life worked out for me. But nonetheless, I would do a few things differently.

First, I would not get married so young. I was a teenager when we got married. I would not do it like that again if I could. I would wait a few years and wait until  I had grown up and become settled in church and become more mature.  

Second, I would not try so hard to get into the ministry. I spent years of my life trying to be a pastor with zero success. I would learn to be content to serve the Lord in Prescott without being a pastor.

Third, I would honor my mother and father and not try so hard to preach to them. I would not let my wife dictate to me the terms by which I honor my parents. I failed at this before, I would not do that again.

Fourth, I would make a living doing something more in line with my abilities, not letting the town dictate my career choice. If I couldn't make a decent living in Prescott, I would go where I could make more than subsistence wages.

Fifth, I might go back to school and get a degree. It would have helped back then.

Sixth, Along with marriage, I would have more than two children. At least three or four.

Finally, You cannot go back and change the way you lived your life. But if I could, these are things that I definitely would do differently.

Boot Camp Time

 Our annual boot camp starts tomorrow. It used to be a time to give kids a break from their phones and to teach them leadership and teamwork. Now it is a time where we hope that the kids will get saved. This tells me that we are missing the point of camp.

Call it boot camp if you want. Bring in drill instructors to yell at the kids. But don't treat it like a week long outreach. Let kids be kids. Teach them life skills and leadership skills and teamwork skills. Preach to them every night and tell them what God expects from them. They have churches and they have families and they have ample opportunities to get saved every week. Camp ought to be a special time, a memorable time. A moment in time that kids will fondly remember.

Parent will be praying this week. Not for salvation, but that their teens will be safe and happy. Parents are nervous about trusting us with their teens. We ought to be trustworthy to put their fears to rest.

Choose This Day

Most of the popular music that I grew up listening to I am finding out was drug inspired. What I mean is the artist who wrote the songs came up with the inspiration for the music while using illegal drugs. That is one reason why there are so many one hit wonders in pop music. Only truly gifted song writers wrote songs for a living.

Most of the movie stars from my youth were immoral. They were adulterers and fornicators. They did not honor God or their marriages. 

What am I saying? Entertainment is the world of anti-Christ and lawlessness. This is why trying to Christianize the world is a waste of time. This is why being a friend of the world makes you the enemy of God.

"Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." James 4:4

Entertainment is popular because it is popular. It is designed to draw you in and keep you coming back for more. The world is not planet Earth, but the organized systems by which society functions.

When you realize this, you begin to appreciate having three services a week to hear the Bible taught and truth preached. It is a small price to pay to keep on the straight and narrow path.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Mat.7:13-14

A Living Hope

Another ongoing big lie that people believe has to do with creativity. Creativity is impossible to define but that doesn't stop experts from defining it. They never use the word inspired, since inspiration comes from beyond us. Inspiration comes from God. Creativity comes from us.

It is incredible the lengths the world goes to to keep God out of the equation. It's almost like they have grown up in a Godless society and dysfunctional families so that God is absent from their minds and hearts.

The church you are a part of is the last, best hope for humanity. AI is a false hope. Science is an empty hope. Christ is a living hope.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1Pet. 1:3

The reason why they cannot define creativity is that any honest definition must come to grips with Divine inspiration and to an evil and unbelieving world, that is unacceptable.

You shall be like God is a lie as old as humanity itself.

The Big Lie

"For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen.3:5

The big lie of the serpent in the Garden was not that you will be God, but that you will be more than human. He told them that as you are is not enough. His lie is that there is special knowledge that God has and that you do not have. And that knowledge will open your eyes to wonderful and exotic things.

What is the lie told to people today? That you only use 10% of your brain and that AI can do things that you cannot do. That you are not beautiful enough or thin enough or tall enough or strong enough. Men wanted to live like women, and women want to live like men. Men chose to become feminine and women chose to become  masculine. And in all of this there is a glaring absence of God.

So the biggest lie of the serpent was that you are not enough as you were made. That God is holding back what you need to be more than human. Satan is always promising things that he cannot deliver on.

Society shows me over and over again why the first word in the Gospel is repent.

Missing Church

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was occupied at home staying busy when my phone rang. The guy who was calling never calls me. He asked if I was on my way to church. I looked at the clock and I realized that for the first time in my Christian life I was going to miss church. I wasn't sick or working late. I was distracted. I forgot what day it was. 

Today is a new day. I hope to never miss church like that again. 

Love And Marriage

 Here are my thoughts on love, marriage, and sex.

When I met Kathy, we did not fall in love as much as we grew in love. I liked her, I married her. And I loved her far more at the end than I did at the beginning. 

Sex in marriage is a good thing. But it is not the only thing. A marriage built on sex will not last.

The seven year itch describes what happens to a marriage built on sex. You get bored. You start thinking about someone new. This happens at the seven year mark in many marriages.

I encourage people to marry young and grow up together. You will develop a lot in common.

Marriage is a commitment. Marriage is an adjustment. You have to want to be married. You have to work at marriage.

Romance is overrated. You cannot keep up those appearances very long.

She thinks she can change him. He thinks that she will never change.

Marriage is two selfish people learning how to live under one roof.

Get married, enjoy sex, and you will learn how to love someone besides yourself.