Monthly Archives: April 2015

Approaching storms – are you ready?

Posted on April 20, 2015 by | Comments Off on Approaching storms – are you ready?

PHOTO_13700605_148597_31058328_apI have always loved watching approaching storms. There’s something about the change in the smell of the air, the cloud formations, and even the slight breeze that I just love. I love the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder and simply sit in awe of the might of the storm. With all of humankind’s technology, we still have yet to master the storm much less understand all the mechanics surrounding one. I’m reminded of the story found in the gospel of Luke where Jesus disciples are panicking as the storm unleashes its fury on them: And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm (Luke 8:24).

There are so many lessons we can learn in this one verse about the Lord and the disciples lack of understanding in who Jesus actually was. They saw Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils, yet when it came to this storm, they pleaded for Jesus to save them. The previous verse, But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy (Luke 8:23), tells us that Jesus was asleep in the boat, the same boat where the disciples were panicking. Just as the disciples knew who Jesus was, we have the benefit of knowing who Jesus is through the scriptures. Just as the disciples did, we also cry out in the  middle of our storms not fully realizing that Jesus is right there with us and realizing He will not allow us to succumb to the tempest we face. We can have peace in the middle of our storms if we take the time to prepare for the storms before they even begin to form.

A Christian emergency kit

As I began to think about what items we would need to bring together for our spiritual emergency kit, the first thing that crossed my mind was the Bible. It is God’s instruction book for life. Within its pages it has God’s guidance, not only for daily living, but God’s advice on how to handle any situation. As I have begun to mature and grow in my faith I become more dependent upon the wisdom contained in the Bible. God offers financial advice, advice on how to raise children, on what to look for in a mate, and everything else in between. The Bible is an everyday book; this makes it perfect for any spiritual emergency kit we put together. 

A strong prayer life is another thing we need to include in our kit. Prayer should not just be something we do our of vain repetition or right before we eat. We know that the prophet Daniel prayed multiple times a day: Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (Daniel 6:10). I will be willing to speculate that these three times of prayer were in addition to his mealtime prayers. Not only is prayer an important part of our daily life, it must be a part of how we handle the storms when they come. In my life there have been times I have watched the spiritual storm approach and instead of trusting in and praying to the Lord, I have tried to handle it on my own using my own understanding of the situation.

What I have learned is that when I do this, I am actually acting out my doubts in God’s ability to manage the situation. The prophet Isaiah was led by the Spirit of the Lord to write, But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). When this verse is coupled with the teachings found in Proverbs, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), it becomes clear to me that two important tools Christians need to have in their emergency kit are patience and trust. Especially when you are a person who likes to have their hands on a project or like to be an active participant, it is hard to simply hold back and wait for the Lord to guide you. When I think back at my life, some of the worst spiritual storms I was in was because when the storm first started I didn’t wait on the Lord. I thought I could handle things on my own. It wasn’t until the waves were too high, the currents too strong that I cried out to the Lord. The Lord tells us simply to wait and trust. He promises to renew our strength and to see us safely through the storm. He tells us not to simply act on our own understanding because He knows we never have the full view of the storm as He does. 

When we are facing spiritual storms many of us have the tendency to isolate ourselves and not approaching others and asking for prayer and fellowship. It is difficult to remember the admonishment by the apostle Peter, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (1 Peter 5:8-9). Within this passage, we learn a couple of things about the spiritual storms we face. We learn that the Devil uses them to separate us from God’s love and joy. We also learn that other Christians, our brothers and sisters in the faith, also experience the same spiritual storms we go through. Even the apostle Paul wrote, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-13). When we are in the middle of our spiritual storm, we need to reach out to our brothers and sisters in the faith. When we see our brothers and sisters in the faith going through their own spiritual storm we need to embrace them, lift them up, and encourage them to continue in the Lord. 

Continued on the next page.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Difficulties and Trials, Discipleship, Our relationship with God

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Separating real salvation from the fake

Posted on April 15, 2015 by | Comments Off on Separating real salvation from the fake

bible-sepiaToday I want to ask you if your salvation is real. Before you answer or get offended, I want to share a part of my life with you. I once prided myself in being saved in August of 1988; I do not remember much about the day besides having a conversation with Dr. Whittman, a man who sincerely believed in the Lord and who was genuinely concerned with the well-being of my soul. Sure, I walked down the church aisle the next Sunday and made my profession of faith known to all who were there. That evening I was baptized. Surely, having undergone all this I must be saved. If only that were truly the case. Although I had the head knowledge of Jesus there had been no great transformation, no real change in my heart.

The apostle Peter wrote, And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:5-10). Although Peter is writing to Christians and are encouraging and reminding them of the importance of salvation, he reminds us about the changes that happen within the heart of the believer. Any Christian, or rather any real believer in Christ, should have the characteristics that Peter discusses. The problem is when we claim to be a Christian and do not have these traits we actually have a false salvation.

From 1988 until 2006, I really believed I was saved, after all, I had been baptized and was even regularly attending church. According to the world’s standard I was behaving exactly the way a Christian was supposed to behave. There was no struggle with the flesh because I would try to appease my sin nature and really felt no guilt. This is the danger of having a false salvation – it becomes easy to justify committing sins under the guise of “God understands” and “I can always ask for forgiveness.” While the Bible does teach that God will forgive sins it also teaches we are to avoid the situations that would easily allow us to yield to the temptation to sin. Since my spiritual life was fake and real salvation was not what I had, I felt no guilt about the lifestyle I was living. The only time I felt shame or conviction was when I was afraid that someone in the church where I was attending might find out what I was doing. In fact, I thought that every Christian felt like that and I was simply fighting the same battles as everyone else. What I didn’t understand was that not only was I lost, but the conviction and shame I was feeling was the Holy Spirit moving within my heart and mind.

When I finally gave my life to the Lord and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior on August 21, 2006, I knew there was something different – I told the Lord I was giving my life to him, rededicating myself to following His teachings. For a while I simply thought I had rededicated my life to Christ and began to fight the guilt and tremendous shame I felt for the way I lived between 1988 to 2006. This was nothing more than Satan trying to distract me from what had actually happened – I had become a new creäture through Christ, freed from the burdens of sin, reborn in His image! Satan began using those years where I believed I had been saved to keep me from the blessings and joy of the Lord. As I began to grow in my faith and learning the joys of real salvation, I began watching the control that Satan had on my life weaken. Now, please keep in mind that I am not perfect. In fact, I still struggle with temptation, but now have an understanding to avoid the temptations and situations that cause me to stumble.

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Posted in Christian Living, My Walk, Our relationship with God

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An alert watchman or passive bystander

Posted on April 13, 2015 by | Comments Off on An alert watchman or passive bystander

Chemical-Warning-Signs---Industrial-42948BBHPLY2WY-lgAre you an alert watchman or a passive bystander? That seems like a straight-forward question that deserves an honest answer but seldom will we give it when it comes to our sharing the gospel message. There’s very few of us who walk past a burning house without making sure that those who lived in the house were safe from the danger of the smoke and flames. None of us would walk past a burning car with people trapped inside without trying to get them out. Yet when it comes to having the most important conversation we can ever have with someone, many of us become passive bystanders.

An alert watchman

There’s a very telling passage of scripture within Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul (Ezekiel 3:17-21). Although the Lord is revealing this to His prophet Ezekiel and his responsibility to the Hebrew people, there is a moral application that can be applied to Christians. 

Ezekiel was warned by God that because he was aware of the dangers facing Israel, he had a moral and spiritual obligation to sound the warning cry. Once the warning cry had been sounded, it was up to those that heard it to either heed the warning or to ignore it. Ezekiel’s obligation ended at sounding the warning; if he chose not to sound the warning, then anyone who died and was unrepentant of their sin, then Ezekiel would bear that responsibility. He would be held accountable by a holy and righteous God for not warning about His judgment and coming wrath. It was for this reason that Jonah spent three nights in the belly of the whale – God had given him instructions to warn those who lived in Nineveh; Jonah initially refused to sound the warning. He was content to be a passive bystander and content to watch God’s wrath and judgment poured out on people whom he (Jonah) had judged to be unworthy of God’s love and salvation.

Christians are to be alert watchmen

Within the gospels, as I shared often within this blog, Jesus gave Christians the responsibility to extend the gospel message. The book of Mark clearly defines our responsibility: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16:14-16). In the book of Matthew, it states: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:19-20). In the book of Acts, we see that this commandment and responsibility is further defined by Jesus: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 8:7-8). There is a clear teaching here – not only is it a commandment from Jesus for us to share the gospel, there is a moral obligation for us to share the gospel. God planned for each Christian to be an alert watchman, warning about the reality of hell and the importance of accepting Him as Lord and Savior.

In our modern society, we see various warnings all the time. Today’s image is one commonly seen near places where flammable liquids are often stored. The court system within our nation have upheld laws passed by all levels of government requiring places where flammable chemicals are stored to bear these warning signs. Similar legislation requires restaurants and stores to warn customers about wet floors. There are even local ordinances that require those who are on oxygen to hang a warning sign on the doors of their home warning visitors that oxygen, an extremely explosive gas, is being used within the home. If we, by legal obligation, most warn people of the physical dangers that await them, then why do we become hesitant to warn people of the judgment and wrath to come? Why do we become spiritual passive bystanders who seem indifferent to lost people who are facing the greatest spiritual danger – condemnation to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.

I cannot think of anything more sad than me, as a Christian, not taking the time to share the most important thing we can ever share – our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – with those people we say we love and care about. Just as we would warn them if their house were on fire, we should, without any reservation, be willing to approach them in love and share the gospel message with them. There is no other conversation we can have with them that literally has the power to free them from the bondage of sin, that has the potential to change their eternal destination, and to truly be able to enjoy a more meaningful and deep fellowship with Jesus at its center. Just as Ezekiel was to sound the warning of the coming judgment of the Lord to all of Israel, Christians have a mandate to sound the warning to all the world, calling them to repentance, to the Lord, and teaching them about the teachings of Christ. This mandate extends to our children, our grandchildren, our siblings, parents, friends, grandparents, and coworkers – basically anyone that crosses our path each day.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Responsibility, Personal Evangelism

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