Now what?

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. --Colossians 3:2

Since I have had many people ask me about it, I want to share with you my thoughts about last week’s election. First of all I realize that many of you are discouraged by the results. It seems that more and more we in the Church are finding that values based on the Bible are no longer embraced by a majority of our fellow citizens, especially when it comes to being pro-life and pro-traditional marriage and family. But here is the way I see it. We know from the Bible that in the last days things are going to get worse not better. That is why the above Scripture is so important. We as Christian need to put our thoughts on things above, not on things on the earth.

Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t believe for a second that we should just give up. After all I have a 15 year old son that I want to see grow up and be a godly man and to have everything that being an American can give him! But I also understand that there is a sovereign God who has a plan that has already been set in motion. So when I vote, I pray, I become familiar with the issues and what a candidate stands for. But I surrender the outcome to God. And then I pray for the men and women God has put in power!

I also have figured out that I can never count on a godly example from the world. So I as a husband and a father must be the godly role model to my family. My home is a Christian home and nothing that happens in the world will change that. I am determined to do everything in my power to see that my son is a believer. That means I must always be on guard to stand against the enemy of my Christian home! I will not count on a president or any other governmental leader to help me stand as a true believer in God! I’m calling on every leader of a Christian family whether you are a dad, a mom, a grandfather, or grandmother to be a living example of what a Christian is how a Christian lives!

Getting You to Heaven

Lately I have been preaching from the book of Genesis. What I didn’t expect was to find that these stories from the first book of the Bible would fit so perfectly with many of the things we are facing in today’s world. I am really enjoying all the new discoveries I am finding in Genesis. I hope you are getting a lot from them too. But I want to share just a couple of things with you to help you understand better why studying Genesis has been so important, at least to me.

I hope that I am not preaching too hard to you and that you are receiving from God the things you need to receive. Because my intent is not to offend people with my preaching but to show how important it is to be a believer in the last days. As I said yesterday I really believe one of the main aspects of my job as Pastor is to see to it that you get to heaven. What I mean by that is I want to give you all the tools you need to be successful as a Christian. After all Jesus said it like this…And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 24:12-13) According to Jesus success is getting to heaven because you have been able to endure the pull of the world to quit living the Christian life. Many of the stories from Genesis contain truths that we need today to live the life of a true follower of Jesus. I am fighting as hard as I know to make sure that you have everything you need to get to heaven. That is why I am afraid not to give you the Word of God in a straight forward, honest way.

So just hang in there with me a little while more because I believe Jesus is on His way! And I am praying that you will hear Him welcome you into heaven!

I have cancer...

…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (Philippians 3:10)

Yesterday, I broke the news to my Church that I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Telling my family and my Church the news has been one of the most devastating things I have ever had to do. Yet at the same time the support and love that has been returned has been amazing. We never fully understand how important we are to others until a time like this. But it has been a great comfort to me to know just how many people care and are willing to do whatever is necessary.

I am sorry to my family, my friends, and my Church for the burden this adds to them. There will be several weeks that the Church will have to come together and hold things together – truthfully I know they are up to the task because it won’t be the first time they have done it.

I have decided that for me this will be a learning experience. The first thing that came to my mind was the verse in Philippians which talks about the “fellowship of His sufferings”. Through these trials we get to appreciate a tiny portion of what Jesus endured. I also now know what it is like to be told, “you have cancer.” Looking back I wasn’t near as sensitive to that as I will be going forward. The third thing I have learned or rather experienced is my desire to get as close to Jesus as I can. My healing rests in being near Jesus.

Now for the good news! There is at this time every reason to believe that I will have a complete recovery. Thank you for praying for me and for trusting me as Pastor. I still have plans to get to heaven by way of the rapture, but either way I win!

The Trouble Maker

Who knew? After 20 plus years of preaching I am sure that at some point I managed to touch upon a few controversies or said something that was offensive to someone. But what has surprised me is the subject that would bring the most opposition in both a spiritual and a real-world sense has been…MARRIAGE! Now I have to tell you that I know a lot of married people, in fact I am even married myself! I have been married for 29 years this coming September 3rd, notice that I remember the date of my anniversary, which kind of gives me some credibility on this issue. Let me share with you some examples of the opposition and then I want to make a few observations. (You would think since there was opposition I would leave this alone.)

I had a woman tell me as she was going out the door the first Sunday of the series that when she heard I would be preaching on this subject she had decided not to come to Church until the series was complete, but she forgot. (I wonder if God had a purpose for her being there…just saying.)

A young lady left the service early one week and while she never actually spoke to anyone as to why it was just assumed by many that something I said was to blame…

Another week a visitor left the service even before I preached, without saying anything to anyone and once again speculation was that she read the sermon title in the bulletin and decided not to stay…

On the spiritual front every week that I preached this series I struggled, not with the subject matter, but with the mechanics of getting the messages from my head onto paper. Believe it or not, it really helps to have my sermons organized. Some you are surprised to hear that there is in fact any organization associated with my sermons!

I’m not going to address the second and third example because NO ONE knows exactly why these ladies left. But I will say that when these occurrences were told to me it had a chilling effect on my confidence about preaching this series. As for the first example, have we really gotten to the place where our Church attendance is going to be based on whether or not we believe the sermon topic is relevant to us? How many times in the course of my life have I heard a sermon on salvation since I was saved at eight years old? I can’t even attempt at a number, were all those sermons useless since I was already saved? Yet, I can tell you that in many of those messages even though the result wasn’t my salvation I heard things from them that I needed to hear. Sermons are not messages given by just the men and women preaching but also from the Holy Spirit.

I believe all of this was spiritual opposition from the enemy. So what I take away from this is that Satan is deeply opposed to marriage and he is especially determined to destroy Christian marriage. The fact is, when we talk about marriage we are getting at the heart of many of the problems that Christians are facing in today’s world. Here is the thing, no matter how difficult it is, take a good look at your marriage and at yourself as a spouse, are you doing everything you can to build a strong marriage that can withstand the attack of the devil? I am praying for every household in our Church, whether they are inhabited by singles or couples, or families because God has a great success story for you if you will take His Word to your heart!

Did Jesus Address Same-sex Marriage?

One of the things I keep hearing during this debate on same-sex marriage is that Jesus didn’t condemn homosexuality or same-sex marriage. While He didn’t talk about homosexuality, it would be incorrect to assume His silence on the matter was an acceptance of it as permissible. Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. --Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) In other words, whatever was written in the Old Testament Jesus not only accepted but was the living breathing completion of it. There were many sinful things that Jesus didn’t talk about but look at what He did say…For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. --(Matthew 5:20 NKJV) His expectation for us is to do better than those who were guided by the Old Testament. Even though some people want to put their opinion or spin on the teachings of Jesus; He left little doubt where He stood on the laws given in the Old Testament.

While Jesus did not specifically address homosexuality He did talk about marriage…And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. --Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV) According to Jesus, God specifically created us as male and female for marriage. Without getting too graphic here…the equipment we have been given by God makes it obvious that we were designed for marriage between a man and a woman. Jesus goes on to say that marriage is something that God does…notice it is God that joins us together in marriage!

I will be saying much more about this in our sermon series coming in June when we will talk about marriage.

The protection of the Church…And the bad word I didn’t say…

So yesterday while driving to church I was thinking about parts of my sermon which was about how we can live in the last days in a way that we can be ready for Jesus when He returns. I also have been thinking about people who have left churches and no longer worship. These people are becoming known as the de-churched. And then it occurred to me that without the Church it is almost impossible to be ready for Jesus’ return. I know there are those who say that you can be a Christian without going to church. That may be correct from a theoretical point of view but in the real world (where most of us live) we Christians need to stick together. Remember Elijah when he asked God to kill him, only to find out that he wasn’t alone but that there were thousands who were worshipping the true God. We need that assurance that there are others.

How often have we used this verse: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. --Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

Look carefully at this verse and what I see is that if I want protection form the gates of hell then I need to get it from the church. This is the strongest endorsement of the church that we get from the Bible. Living in this day and age I need all the protection I can get…the world and the enemies of God are doing all that they can to convince Christians to walk away from the church…why? Because that is where our protection lies!

So Eastside Assembly of God has issued a challenge for our people to invited one of these people who have given up on the church to spend Easter Sunday with us.

One more thing…Just so you know, boy did I get in trouble when I got in the car after church. Those of you who heard yesterday’s sermon will know why. We had an old fashioned altar call and I got saved! (for the thousandth time).