What Are You Going to Do ABout It?

If the foundations be destroyed,what can the righteousdo?

Psalms 11:3, KJV

 

It has been said in recent years that we live in a "Post-Christian" world. This is sad enough, but many who have made this observation are actually pleased with the idea, as if Christianity had some how retarded the progress that they desired. Maybe it has, for the wicked have always chaffed under the burden of any rule that they did not come up with themselves.

 

I believe that we do in fact live in an era that is in danger of being defined as post-Christian, and I believe that this fact should sadden the righteous. Perhaps in America we could just as easily say that we live in a post-constitutional era, just as in much of the church we could honestly say that we live in a post-Biblical era. It is as if the rails have come off in front of a speeding train, and we are all waiting for that train to hit the torn up tracks for a wreck of epic proportions.

 

I believe that I am not the only one who feels this way. It is likely that if you are still reading this article that you may have had some of the same concerns. We are patriots and we love this country, but we do not love the direction it has taken in recent years. Those of us who profess Jesus as Lord cannot help but be concerned with the direction of the church in modern times. It has become a watered down version of the body of Christ to the point that Christ is no longer the head among many who claim Him as their Sovereign.

 

So, what can we do?

 

Many are convinced that if we could just elect the right leaders for our nation that things would get back to the way they once were. Many in the church are equally convinced that getting the right preacher would solve all of the church's modern day woes. While it is true that doing these simple (though not so easy) things would make a difference, it is not enough. For, we must understand, the problems of the world and of the church have one common ingredient: Men and women have set their hopes on a shaky foundation.

 

One of the reasons I have felt so compelled to leave the every day demands of being a Gospel preacher for a local congregation and start focusing on writing daily articles to a broader audience, is that I am convinced that the church and the nation have been damaged in recent years because we as individuals have lost our foundation. What is that foundation? It is not a "what" but a "Who".

 

The only foundation that will work is Jesus Christ our Lord - the Son of God! And the only way that we can find out how to ensure that He is our foundation is through the holy Word of God. In short, you are going to have to not only read that Word, but you are then going to have to do what it says. But if you are unwilling to do so, then you are going to have to just sit to the side and watch this speeding train derail, because a train cannot run on torn up tracks, and a nation cannot function in a post-Christian era.

 

Again, the question arises: What can we do? We can return to God! This has to be done individually before it can be done collectively. If you want the nation to change, the church must change, and if you want a positive change in the church, the individuals that make up the church are going to have to change first.

 

A final thought: This will be hard, but it is required all the same. Further, once you begin to place your life squarely upon Jesus Christ your Savior and upon our Holy Father, your life will immediately begin to change for the better. Then you can influence your family and friends. Then this collection of the righteous will both demand and make the changes required for a strong church that has the Father and the Son at its head. Then something can be done about the sorry state of our nation and this wicked world we live in. Understand that failure cannot be an option for you because such a defeat will not only result in the loss of your eternal soul, but in countless other souls whom you have the God-given charge to assist on their way to Heaven.

 

The choice is yours. You can begin to restore the foundation of your life or you can let it crumble. Do something!

 

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 3:10-11, NIV

 

By the way, if this article has helped you, please do me the favor of liking and sharing it so that it might reach those who you think might be interested. As always, I cherish your comments and am most interested in your thoughts on this vital concern. Thanks for taking your time to read this today!

A New Beginning

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalms 1:1-2, ESV

 

A little over five years ago, I turned in my "5 year notice" to the church of Christ in Happy, Texas. This 5 year notice has been the subject of more than a little laughter whenever I told people what I was planning because, quite frankly, most preachers do not stay in one place for more than 3 or 4 years. In my particular situation, I had already been preaching in Happy for nearly 22 years. Why did I stay so long?

 

There were two big reasons: First, I love Happy and I love the church of Christ in this community. For me it has been a dream job and I have loved being here every since Carolyn and I arrived with our three children in October of 1995. The second reason is even more important, at least in my mind: The people at this small congregation in Happy (We average about 75 in attendance on Sunday mornings) were just too polite to ask me to leave. If you have ever had a house guest that just wouldn't go home because you were too hospitable to suggest their doing so, you will understand.

 

So, if I loved the job so much, why would I leave? The answer is quite simple: It was time! The church needed a fresh message from their preacher and I believe we have found a man capable of doing just that. He and his wife love the Lord and I believe they will be a great source of encouragement to the body of Christ here in our community for many years to come. I know that the church and the community will be a great source of encouragement to their family and I am excited for the good things that I am confident will result from this change.

 

And nearly as important to me, I wanted to have the time to write daily articles that would hopefully encourage people in a positive way to get more serious about their service to God and to Christ. I knew that if people could be motivated to read the Bible on a daily basis, that it would change their lives. And, if the individual's life became what God desired, this more serious devotion would have the potential to change the direction of their family. And, if enough families became more committed to Christ, this would change the direction of the church, something which I believe is desperately needed during our modern times. Finally, I was firmly convinced that if the church became more of a body of loving Christians that God has always intended for them to be that it would have the potential to change the direction of this nation.

 

And, this nation needs a change of direction before it becomes completely overwhelmed by the influence of Satan which it is engulfed in today.

 

So, I hope that you will join me in this endeavor. I love the encouraging message of the Bible and I am firmly convinced that it will change people's lives if they will only embrace it. I am committed to this task for as long as the Lord permits me to do so, and I hope that you will join me in this effort. You can help by liking and sharing any articles that help you and that you feel might be beneficial to others within your circle of influence. You can also help by commenting on these daily articles to give others the benefit of your experience.

 

One last thought: God wants us in Heaven, not in Hell. He has done His part through His grace and the giving of His holy Word. Jesus has done His part by shedding His blood on the cross that our sins might be forgiven. The only thing left that stands between us and the eternity that the Father and the Son desire to share with us is our part. Are you willing to do that part? If so, it will change the direction of your life, the lives of your family, the church and the world. Not a bad return for such a pleasant investment of our time and effort, wouldn't you agree?

 

Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.

Jeremiah 6:16, ESV

The World You Make

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Luke 6:31, ESV

 

What if the world was exactly like you? What if the only things available on television and the computer were the types of things you viewed yourself? What if the only type of music was the type you actually listened to? I don't mean the exact shows and the exact categories of music, rather, the morals that were associated with the kinds of things that you view and hear?

 

What if people only spoke the way you do? Again, I don't mean that they parroted your exact words, or had your accent and dialect, but that they spoke with the same measure of kindness or unkindness, the same mildness or coarseness of language, the same consideration or lack thereof. Would their be profanity, or hatefulness?

 

What if people's standard of conduct were the same as yours? Would there be a need for prisons and lawyers? Would there be addictions to drugs or alcohol? Would there be lying and deceit? Would there be sexual immorality? Would there be violence and murder?

I have wondered just what kind of world this would be if people copied my lifestyle - would it be a type of heaven on earth, or would it be pretty much the realm of Satan that we  live in now? I realize that we cannot change the world, but have you ever considered whether it would even be a better place if you could simply change it to be more like the way you live... or would it pretty much be the same?

 

You can't change the world. People tell us this all the time.

 

But we can change ourselves! It begins with turning our lives over to Christ and living the way He commands. In fact, it begins with something as simple as doing unto others as we would have them do unto us.

 

And this, dear friends, could change the world. 

A Tribute to Our Mothers

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

Proverbs 23:22 & 25, ESV

 

I'm about to celebrate my 62nd Mother's Day. The first 59 I had the privilege of enjoying with my sweet mother. This year, like the two prior, I will have to celebrate that special day with the memories alone. Now don't get me wrong, Mom was ready to go home. Her tired, frail body had simply had enough by the time she reached her 82nd birthday. If she was as faithful as she appeared to be (and I'm sure she was) she has got to enjoy these past few mother's days pain free, with the reward that she so richly deserved.

 

My Mom, like your Mom, was the best there ever was. My earliest memories are of her loving me the way that only a mother can. When I was hurt, which seemed to be more often than most of the other kids I knew, she took care of me. It didn't matter that the head wound was suffered in a rock fight I shouldn't have been in, or the cut that I received was from my boy scout knife I was using to drill a hole in my desk when I knew better. She just took care of me. 

 

I remember a flying trip we made to the doctor's office at four years of age. I had broken my arm falling off of a tri-cycle that was originally intended for riding sitting down instead of standing on the seat. I was terrified of getting a shot - for some reason the pain of the shot seemed far worse that my arm being broken in two places - and I remember being sheltered in her lap on that ride with the assurances that I would not. I don't know who felt worse when the first thing the doctor did was give me a shot for pain, Mom or me, but I know that she experienced far more pain than I from that shot.

 

I don't remember being particularly "chatty" as a boy, but Mom hinted that I might have been. She often would tell me of the time that her best friend, Ruby Von Wald, had baby sat me for the day. When Mom came to pick up her treasured possession (Me) Ruby asked her how she could stand being followed around being talked to, all day, without respite. I feel quite sure that Mrs. Von Wald was exaggerating, but Mom persisted in telling the story anyway.

 

Mom didn't wear the latest of fashions. She was far more concerned with her three children and one husband being properly attired. She made sure that I used the restroom before being bundled up to play in the snow, and then would reluctantly let me back in her clean house a few minutes later when I had discovered that I did need to after all. I remember Dad force feeding me the things I would refuse to eat (Dr. Markle, the repairer of arms and deliverer of shots) confided with her that this was probably not the best thing to do.

 

I have often wondered in my adult years how it must have made my Mom feel to spend hours preparing a tasty and wholesome meal on a tight budget, only to have one of her children having to have his stubborn mouth pried open and force fed her hard-toiled meal past screaming lips.

 

I remember the time my Mom had sacrificed to pay the fee and buy the little league baseball uniform with money they probably couldn't spare, only to have me whine about having to wear a homemade, cut from felt and hand-sewn initial on my cap, instead of the more expensive professional cap the other boys had. Every time I look at the team picture of the guys with their spiffy, store bought, professionally initialed caps, and me in my homemade one, the shame I had felt now is nothing but love and deep admiration for a woman who sacrificed so much for her family. 

 

I could go on and on (Okay, I probably have) but I don't want to forget the most important thing: Mom loved our souls! She read us a Bible story every night, and listened to our prayers every night, and made sure that we were properly attired and in Bible class and at the worship every time the doors were opened. Mom prayed and prayed for her children. She talked to us when she was concerned we might not be living just right. She did those things even though they were not convenient, but because she loved us. In subsequent years I would try and tell her how much she meant to me, but it wasn't enough.

 

My Mom, like yours, was the best in the world. If you have the privilege of having yours still with you, why not tell her that? She would love to hear it.

 

And now, with a tip of the cap to Ruby Von Wald, I will close this article with this: Happy Mother's Day to all of our Godly mothers! We do not deserve you, but we love and adore you!

A Chance for a Nation at the Brink of Destruction

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalms 139:13-14, ESV

The LORD sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by his servants the prophets.

Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.

II Kings 24:2-4, NIV

 

This week in America we got the good news: The Supreme Court is leaning towards striking down the law that forced the states to perform abortions, whether they wanted to or not. Now, I know it's not the same as completely removing the cloak of legality to this heinous sin, but it is a step in the right direction. The closest that I can compare it to is the outset of our nation when our original states did not have to go along with the sin of slavery if they did not want to. Eventually slavery was outlawed in every state, and I can only pray that the same will be done for abortion.

 

Many, however, are not rejoicing at this news. Many like the idea of being able to legally terminate a life. One popular personality indicated that this was a decision that was between she and her children. Our President indicated that only individuals had the right to decide whether to take an unborn child's life or not, and that the courts should stay out of it. He said we were given that right as children of God.

 

So why am I pleased that this wicked law may be going away? It's partly because of the first verse that is listed above: We are fearfully and wonderfully made! It is God who forms us and it is God who knits us together in our mother's womb. To say that God then gives us the right to kill that forming baby is insanity. To say that the decision to terminate a child's life is between the mother and the child is perverse. It would be like any other murderer saying that they shouldn't be judged since their crime was between them and their victim.

 

Please don't misunderstand the extent of this decision, should the supreme court have the courage to go through with it. It will not eliminate legalized abortion in our country. But it will allow people in individual states to determine whether their state will continue the mass murder of the most innocent in our society. It will allow a person to decide whether or not they can live in a state that does sanction infanticide.

 

By giving us this chance and by placing this decision back under our control, I believe it gives us the opportunity to help pull a nation back from the brink of this mindless destruction that we have been involved with for so long. For, as we read in the second passage above, there does indeed come a time when God will no longer forgive a nation when they are involved in the continual and wanton practice of the shedding of innocent blood.

 

Our nation, whether we like to acknowledge it or not, has become filled with every sort of wickedness imaginable. Isn't it nice, for a change, to see an opportunity to repent of our national disgrace and begin once again to protect the lives of the most innocent among us. I pray that we will repent of this evil that we have so long been involved with. Maybe this decision will allow those who wish to return to God, to have an opportunity to do so.

 

One last thought, that occurs to me now. Isn't it good, at Mother's Day, to have a hope that our unborn children be kept a little safer from those who wish to destroy them!