What is God's Will?

November 30 (I Thes. 5:14-18)
It always amazes me the number of people who want to know things like God’s will for them about a job when they don’t do God’s will about things that are clearly spoken in His word. Equally amazing and somewhat scary is the number who tell me God speaks to them on a regular basis when they admittedly spend little or no time studying His word. Of course, I know "a" god speaks to them. The frightening and sad thing is they don’t know the difference in the voice of the god of this world and the God of Creation. It makes me truly sad when a married man with three young children tells me God got him a job 800 miles away making three times his current salary who has no intention of taking his family with him to that job. His excuse for not being at home each evening is that he gets a week or two off at a time, so he convinces himself he'll actually get to spend more time with his family. God has literally spoken His will in thousands of places in His word that few have ever read. Mega-church preachers make sure their church members know verses like, “I can d o all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “With God all things are possible,” but they fail to teach those verses in context, and they don’t bother sharing verses like, “Wives be subject to your husbands,” or “Let the women keep silent in the church,” because such thoughts are politically incorrect and very unpopular in America.

Please be sure of this biblical truth if you don’t get much else yet. Your failure to obey the clearly revealed will of God only guarantees you will never know His will about what job you are supposed to have or what church you should attend. You are a walking blind man if you are not absolutely, unwaveringly determined through diligent reading, study, and prayer to understand God’s will in all those things He has revealed. Imagine, if you will, your son asking if he can go out with the friends this week with whom he got picked up last week by the local police and charged as minors in possession of alcohol. Would you let him go? Not if you’re sane. It’s utter foolishness, even pure fantasy, to think God will tell us His will about things like whether or not we should take a certain job offer when we demonstrate more interest in our own will by our failure to make godly activities a priority in our lives.

So, our point for today is that you are expected by God to study His word diligently so you can know what His will is in all matters about which He has spoken. He is patient and kind, so have no fear if you are a new believer and haven’t yet had sufficient time to read His book of admonitions and wisdom from cover to cover several times. Don’t start worrying He won’t take good care of you if you disobey a command you aren’t aware exists yet. That would be legalism. However, if you claim to have been a believer for several years and haven’t read his book from cover to cover several times, you really do have reason to be concerned. Actually, I think you should be terrified. If you’re not the least concerned about your abject failure to demonstrate your love for Him, you’re probably one of those false converts about whom He speaks in Matthew 7.

I can already hear the jeering from the crowd. Many are already shouting, “Away with him; away with him. He deserves to be crucified! For he has told us we need to obey God’s commands to be saved!” Not so! What I have told you is that if you are a child of the King, you “will” act like it. Children of the King desire more than anything else to know His will in all things pertaining to life, death, the resurrection, and the coming judgment You likely don't know that because you haven't read John 10 or the entire I letter of John. The only place we can get to know that will is in His word. If you are depending on your pastor to teach you such things, you are of all men, most to be pitied. First of all, if you don’t study diligently yourself, you have no idea if your pastor is teaching you the truth. You might as well be a Mormon or Catholic. Second of all, if you are not studying diligently you don’t know God’s will is that you study diligently (II Tim. 2:15). There are myriads of things you don’t know about God if you are not making it a daily priority to spend significant time studying God’s word. If you’re not feeding your soul on the matchless truths contained in scripture more than you’re feeding your body steak and potatoes or your spirit the ungodly foolishness from Hollywood, you’re likewise, of all men, most to be pitied.

I’ve discovered an interesting phenomenon: the more I study God’s word, the longer I walk with Jesus, the shorter my list of acceptable television programs, movies, and recreational activities becomes. For years I watched the charming “Samantha the witch” tweak her nose and do her magic. Then one day it hit me like a brick over the head, “There’s no such thing as a good witch!” I watched comedians use foul language for a while and then just got sick of their complete lack of intelligence. Their humor was crass, crude, and often directed at things like godliness and self-control. I watched police shows for a while, actually not realizing the reason I did so was because the violence was mesmerizing. Then I read in God’s word that ungodly men love to see violence. Now, I even turn off commercials that flaunt nakedness the moment I see they are doing that. I turn off news that shows or talks about anything I wouldn’t want a five year old to see or hear. I refuse to watch or read anything that glorifies magic, sorcery, and/or astrology. That’s not exactly true, however. I occasionally watch a show that’s getting a lot of attention publicly for the specific purpose of addressing to my brother’s and sister’s things in it that are a direct affront to God.

In closing, I will address a point I heard one of my favorite Christian talk show hosts provide and answer to yesterday. He is kind of like me about today’s topic. A caller accused him of being a puppet of God because of his stand on these kinds of issues. He denied it, but then admitted, and I’ll try to quote him accurately, “If that is true, I can assure you, I’m okay with being a puppet as long as God is holding the strings at the other end.” One thing I have discovered in the 38 plus years I have walked with Jesus. People who spend massive amounts of time reading and studying God’s word are usually in agreement on all of the critical issues found in it. I only know about twenty men of God who preach his word whom I also know, do in fact, spend massive amounts of time daily studying it. They seldom preach anything with which I disagree. Beloved, no preacher can tell you the half of what God wants to tell you. But you’ll never hear his voice if you fail to obey the one instruction that makes that possible, “Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed.” And that’s His word for us today.

What' the Gospel According to Peter?

November 29 (Acts 2:14-36)
Of course I’m really not going to share with you an outline of the gospel according to Peter in the sense that it is any gospel other than the one God breathed through him at Pentecost. I’m sure word position in a sentence and word structure can be misleading in all languages, but in English it can have so many meanings I imagine it’s a nightmare for foreigners to learn all of its nuances. I have been puzzled for decades about why we here in America present so many different versions of the gospel when there are three magnificent examples of it in the book of Acts. Peter preached it two times and Stephen once. For today’s devotional, I’m just going to outline Peter’s first one. Without examining all three closely, I can still conclude they all have the same basic elements that must be included in all gospel presentations if those who respond to it are to have any chance of becoming full-fledged, properly indoctrinated disciples of Christ.

A young lady once told me she didn’t like the church I attended because the sermon was too full of doctrine. I imagine she was used to having her ears tickled and she didn’t want to hear anything that took an IQ above 9 to understand. No offense intended for slow learners, but doctrine is what preaching and teaching is all about. Doctrine is what grows children in the faith into warriors. Most of the so-called inspirational preachers in mega-churches today make their mega-congregations feel warm and fuzzy all over every time they speak, but most of them loose that warm and fuzzy feeling as soon as they leave the church building. Unprepared to do battle with the enemy, they go through their daily lives making sure they never say anything about their faith that has the slightest chance of upsetting anyone? I humbly suggest that’s another one of the myriad of reasons so many churches in America are so listless and impotent.

In Peter’s sermon, he first took his stand with the eleven (v. 14). The first thing any biblical presentation of the gospel must do is to take a stand. The gospel is a message that confronts and contradicts the wisdom of the world on all truth that is of any eternal significance. By its very nature it will make some angry. When one is convicted of sin, he reacts one of two ways: repentance in humility or complete rejection in arrogance.  The next thing Peter did was to declare to them (v. 14). We need not justify the truth; all we need to do is declare it. Next, Peter began from where the crowd had addressed the disciples and explained that their observations were incorrect (vv. 15-21). He quickly made the transition between what they perceived and what was really happening by quoting OT scriptures. He wanted to make sure they understood the entire basis of the truth he was preaching had as its foundation Old Testament prophecies. Next Peter quickly moved to the whole point of any gospel message, the person of Jesus (representing His humanity) the Christ (representing His divinity vv. 22, 23). He explained how they had failed to recognize the Messiah, continued by pointing out to them that what they had done to Him (nailed Him to the cross), was part of God’s eternal, divinely predetermined plan (v. 23).

Next, Peter made the connection between OT prophecies to Jesus’ resurrection, making sure they understood the resurrection is not a negotiable part of the faith (vv. 23-28). Then, Peter made sure they understood Christ’s resurrection was both unique and final (vv. 29-31). Then Peter assured those listening what he was telling them was attested to by more than two people, an Old Testament requirement for truth to be accepted in a trial about any issue of any significance (v. 32). Then Peter explained the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the divine plan of salvation. He told them He (the Holy Spirit) is the source of the miraculous speaking in tongues they observed. Next, he reiterated the evidence of Jesus divinity by assuring his listeners it was Jesus who ascended into heaven, not David (vv. 34, 35). Finally, Peter does something that would end all suggestions that Jesus was not “the” divine, eternal, second person of the trinity (God the Son). If more people just read God’s word they wouldn’t be so easily duped into believing otherwise. Bad doctrine is easily perpetrated on ignorant people.

Peter said, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” The false teachers who start entire denominations of heretics bound for hell fail to understand that to the Jew, Peter’s statement left no room for doubting His (Jesus') divine nature. Peter made it clear if one is to be saved and covered by His blood he must know in whom he is placing his faith. “He is both Lord and Christ” (a Grenville Sharp structure in Greek) was a non-negotiable declaration that He (Jesus) was co-equal and co-existent with the first person and third persons of the trinity. Verse 37 tells us how the divinely elect, predetermined, effectually called, and regenerated, respond to the gospel. They were “pierced to the heart, . . .” Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Pentecost is the proof text for the statement in Hebrews 4. The true gospel instantly turned a ravaging crowd, who very likely would have stoned the apostles to death at Pentecost, into a repentant crowd of humble souls ready to be covered and redeemed into the eternal kingdom of God by the blood of Jesus.

I spent a few years in ministry in lock-up facilities (jails) and I can personally testify the gospel does the same thing there. I once had one man about 6’6” weighing in at least at 300 lbs. almost beg me to show him how to be saved. He had been attending our studies for several sessions. One day he told me he wanted to be part of Jesus’ kingdom. He basically said, “What must I do to be saved?” Sound familiar? I spent several minutes trying to convince him he probably wouldn’t really like the persecution, trials, and tribulations Christians always experience. He assured me he was ready to take his stand for the cross of Jesus. That’s what the gospel does to mighty men. It softens their hearts, humbles them, makes them moldable by the King of kings, and grows them into warriors for His Kingdom.

When asked what they had to do, Peter didn’t suggest they pray the sinner’s prayer. He didn’t tell them to go to church. He didn’t ask them to bow their heads and raise their hand in secret if they wanted to be saved. He told them they had to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins so they could receive the promise of gift of the Holy Spirit. But Peter wasn’t through speaking with them yet. We learn from verse 40 “with many other words,” not specified here, he continued exhorting them to be saved from this perverse generation. And finally, we learn “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”

I’ve written a book on those four elements of real church business. It’s an excellent outline for the church to follow to make sure it functions as the church is intended to function. Scripture is replete with instruction we must understand if Jesus’ body is to function as a complete and powerful body of warriors able to go into its members’ world and fight the good fight. If we are to storm the gates of hell, we have to know how to use the weapons of our warfare. I am amazed at the number of people in churches across this land who haven’t a clue how to help someone else become part of God’s flock. I’m dumbfounded at the number of preachers who are feeding this ignorance by suggesting the members of their congregations need to bring their friends to church so they can get saved. Rather than train their sheep and demonstrate for them how to help others move from darkness into the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, these would be evangelists suggest by their actions and words they don’t think the members of their congregations are smart enough to do what God has demanded they do (Matt. 28:18-20).

If you never fully grasp anything else I've written; ifyou seldom or never agree with the content of these daily devotionals, don’t miss this point; I tell you by the word of the Lord, “If you are not bearing fruit, it is because you are not part of His kingdom.”(Matthew and Luke 3). If we are not bearing fruit (leading people into the light), Jesus prunes us back until we do bear fruit. If we still do not bear fruit, He cuts us down and throws us into the fire (Matt. 3:10). And that doesn’t mean you lost your salvation. It means you never had it to begin with. You see, everything else about the gospel can be faked. One can be kind and gentle when it suits his purposes to be kind and gentle. One can be loving when it suits his purposes to be loving. And attending church is a must for anyone who wants to make good business contacts. However, leading others into the into the kingdom of God, snatching others from the jaws of Satan, and storming the gates of hell, all demand massive amounts of time and commitment to learn and then put into practice. One can’t meander through life, listless and impotent if he is determined to be a warrior for Christ. One thing the New Testament church knew above all else was that following Jesus wasn’t a detour from B.C. life; they understood they needed major heart surgery, a completely different outlook on life and a completely new set of priorities.

That is the simple yet undeniable reason the church grew so rapidly and spread like a wild fire throughout the Roman Empire. And today’s churchs' failure to understand those truths is another of the myriad of reasons it is so listless and impotent. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to preach the gospel to the poor, downtrodden, blind, lame, orphans, and widows in the streets. And that’s what He expects us to be doing. And that’s God’s word for us today.

A Doctor, a Lawyer, or an Indian Chief

November 28 (Luke 14:16-20)
When I was a young lad, my mother used to ask me if I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an Indian chief when I grew up. Every time I read the parable Jesus tells in Luke 14, I think of that question. Jesus was the Master story teller, literally. He used common everyday subjects with which His followers would have been familiar. Luke 14 records the story about three different kinds of people who had been invited to a big dinner put on by a man. One was a real estate investor, one a farmer, and one had just gotten married. He invited each of them to his dinner, but they all had excuses for why they were unable to attend. In this story the man represents Jesus, the dinner represents the marriage supper of the Lamb of God that believers will attend in the kingdom of God.


One can go wild speculating many things about this parable, but in keeping with my propensity to only conclude the obvious, I’ll stick to the following analysis of this story. All three people, the real estate tycoon, the farmer, and the newlywed, represent those who were first invited into the kingdom. Today that would be anyone who has heard any presentation of the gospel and has, for one reason or another,  decided the life they currently live is too good to give up to follow Jesus. Israel, as a nation, rejected Him at His first coming, though most don’t realize how many Pharisees and religious leaders did in fact get converted. Today people come up with all kinds of excuses why they want to wait a few years to give up the good life. Thinking “the offer will hold” until they die of old age, they unwisely decide they’ll sow their wild oats until they get too old to enjoy such things and then they’ll get saved. What they fail to understand is that Jesus is the one who decides when to close the door.

People love to hear stories of converts who lived lives of wanton pleasure for forty or fifty years and then got delivered from drugs or alcohol abuse and were ushered into the kingdom of God (they got saved). We love to hear about nationally acclaimed athletes who found Jesus and put verses on their faces before a game. Of course, nothing is inherently wrong with anyone’s personal testimony to the greatness of our God. He does, in fact save famous and infamous, rich, and important people too. I would like to humbly suggest, however, it is just as much, if not more of a testimony to the power of God to take a child from birth and keep him from ever becoming a drug addict, abuser of alcohol, wife beater, or murderer. Anyway, back to the story at hand. As it continues, the man’s servants come back and tell him those he invited were too busy. Angry, the man tells his servants to go into the streets and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame to his dinner. They do so and there is still room at the dinner table. He then sends them into the highways and along the hedges and tells them to compel everyone to come. He concludes with this stern and frightening warning, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.”

I thank God daily that He took me from a life of wanton pleasure and called me into His kingdom. I know there is nothing within my wicked soul that deserved such love and kindness. I beat my chest (figuratively speaking) regularly asking why He chose me, a wicked sinner to demonstrate such loving kindness. The year I got saved I must have had thirty or forty people share the gospel with me. I praise His magnificent Name that finally, the night I quit running away from Him, He illumined my mind. It was like 100,000 camera flashes going off at once. It was like all the stadium lights at the Los Angeles Coliseum coming on with me standing in the middle of the field. In a moment of time He regenerated my dead soul and made me alive to Him. I was finally able to grasp the significance of Christ’s death on the cross for my despicable soul. I was so eager to learn all I could as fast as I could that I read the bible in three translations twelve times that first year. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to make up for all the lost years I had wasted chasing the American dream. In a moment of time I realized nothing in life was more important than being pleasing to our Master and honoring His Name.

That was over thirty-eight years ago. My desire to absorb all I can about God has only increased as the years have passed. My Achilles heel (recurring sin) is that I often demonstrate little tolerance for anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ who doesn’t plan his life making sure it gives him multiple opportunities each week to share the gospel message with someone. And I have even less tolerance for anyone who thinks God has called him to be a teacher in His church who doesn’t spend massive amounts each and every day reading and studying directly from the word of God taking special care to limit the amount of time he reads any books about the word of God. I am weary of men who get the major content of their sermons from some other man’s insight. I am weary of men who download entire sermons and memorize them. I am weary of men who practice when and where they tear up during their sermonizing. More importantly, I believe God is weary of these things. I believe God has even less tolerance for such foolishness than I do; but, of course, being God He has the right to be intolerant. Because He is God, He never misjudges a person’s motives or misreads a person’s heart.

God is loving, kind, and patient. The Psalmist tells us over and again “for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It is misleading to conclude thusly that His patience is also everlasting. The parable in Luke 14 clearly demonstrates that is not true. The parable of the ten virgins tells us likewise that a time comes when Jesus’ patience reaches its climax. When God’s patience reaches its end point and He shuts the door, anyone who has not entered is left outside for eternity. If you are reading this devotional and have been contemplating whether or not you want to give up all your worldly possessions and follow the Master of the universe, you need to understand His offer will not always be offered. There will come a point in your life when there will no longer be room for repentance. I have no idea when that will be for anyone, nor do you. You have been duped into believing the treasures of this world are fulfilling. That is a lie perpetrated on you and the rest of the world by the father of lies. Jesus has gone before us into heaven to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3). Of course, in this life you’ll be tested by fire. That’s just another way to say this life of following Jesus will be filled with heartache, loss of ungodly friends, persecutions, trials, tribulation, and a glorious relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And I can tell you after 38 years of walking with Him, I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold on the planet. He’s the hidden treasure who's worth giving up all we own to acquire. He’s the pearl of great price. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the great “I AM.” He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Messiah, the Anointed One whose first coming was in humility to take away the sins of the world. When he comes again, He will be the Lion from the Tribe of Judah. He will come to slay the nations of the earth with the sword that proceeds from His mouth. He will come to rule them with a rod of iron. Even so, Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Come!

The Father of Lies

November 27 (John 8:44)
I grow weary of people who always present a picture of Jesus as the kind, benevolent, loving, never judgmental, mealy mouthed girlie man they apparently think He was at His first coming. Certainly He was benevolent. Certainly He was kind. Certainly He was loving. Those are all qualities one would expect to see in a man who told us to love our enemies. What wearies me is those people who don’t also realize he used biting wit and unrelenting insults when addressing liars and wicked men who claimed to be the religious leaders during the time He was physically on earth. John 8:44 is a perfect example of what I mean. How anyone could suggest it is inappropriate to do what He did is beyond me. His response, as recorded in John 8, was to a group of people who were claiming to be descendants of Abraham, which they were, as the proof they were the chosen of God, which they were. They had just suggested He (Jesus) was a bastard child because everyone knew His mother was pregnant with Him before she married Joseph.

They still didn’t get it. They didn't have a clue that His immaculate birth was one of the many proofs of His divinity. Anyway, His response went like this, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Wait a minute! Did Jesus just call people to whom He was speaking murderers, liars, and children of the devil? On another occasion He called the Pharisees serpents, a brook of vipers, and hypocrites. I think His example tells us something that is often missing from our interactions with one another as Christians. First of all it is crucial to understand God does not love murderers, liars, and hypocrites. I did not say nor did I mean He does not forgive any such people who repent of their sin in humility and seek Him. He does not turn away anyone who repents in humility and seeks to bring glory and honor to Him. And He does indeed command us to love our enemies. In Romans 12:20 Paul adds some interesting insight to the reason we should love our enemies when he quotes Proverbs 25:22, “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Of course, our motivation for feeding our enemy is not to heap burning coals on his head, but the point is that an enemy is dumfounded when fed by one he considers his enemy. He doesn’t know how to deal with such kindness. And Jesus’ point was that when we do that we are demonstrating we are different from the rest of the world’s citizens. We demonstrate we are above the petty foolishness that makes most people love or hate those with whom they have dealings each day.

Our point for today is that it is not ungodly to use appropriate language to rebuke people who are leading great multitudes astray with their lies and demonic doctrine. People like Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, Rick Warren, the entire gambit of preachers from the emerging church movement, and any who preach things like God wants everyone to be fat, happy, rich, and free from illness must be confronted about their false doctrine. Joel Osteen is leading thousands of people into the pits of hell with his “God wants everyone to be a positive thinker message;” and that’s the gospel message he preaches every time he gets center stage. He and the hundreds of other positive thinking preachers are liars, children of their father the devil, serpents, and vipers. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with being a positive thinker; that isn’t the problem. The problem is with the one who preaches that’s the gospel. When one welcomes homosexuals into his church without telling them such behavior is sin, all he's doing is helping them on their way to hell. I once advised a mother, who publicly proclaimed she loved her homosexual son, she might want to demonstrate her love for him by informing him his behavior was sin that would assure him a front seat in hell if he didn't repent. I thought for a while she was going to put a contract out on me for being so unloving (as she put it). It's staggering to me the number of people who think it is loving to help people feel good about their sinful behavior.

In closing, I think it is important for Christians to be informed enough about what God’s word says that we are able to confront false teaching and do it effectively. I am not suggesting that if I got a chance to speak face to face with Rick Warren I would immediately go for his jugular. I would begin any initial conversation asking him something like why he never attempts to deal with drunks by explaining to them drunkenness is sin. I would ask him things like why he writes a book on dealing with alcoholics and refuses to call ungodly behavior sin. I would ask Robert Schuler something like how much time he spent daily studying or even reading God’s word. I would ask him when he actually repented of his own sinful life, got baptized by immersion, and began walking the narrow path in the footsteps of Jesus he claims to be walking. Those kinds of questions quickly bring to the forefront the unbiblical things those false teachers teach. Then, if in a public forum one of them were to call me a bastard child or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’d change my rhetoric and demeanor immediately and act in a manner appropriate to the changing circumstances.

I’m often rebuked rather severely by positive thinking, God loves everyone, gurus or people who claim they are born-again, followers of Christ. It’s almost comical the incredibly nasty language some of them use to describe me while suggesting I’m being unloving for pointing out the heretical teachings of others. Jesus made it abundantly clear, and Paul speaks to the issue countless times in his letters to the churches, that there would be such teachers forever and always and that we must shut them up yesterday. I have personally observed and confronted dozens of men and women teaching heresy in churches in America. I will continue to do so. It makes me a very unpopular person in the small town where I live. Many accuse me of being arrogant and nasty tempered for doing it. It goes with the territory. False teachers and their followers did the same to Jesus, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They did it to every single prophet in ancient Israel; and they’ve been doing it for centuries to anyone who exposes them. No one likes having the light shined on them when they want to work in the dark. Please take this admonition to heart. If everyone loves you, you're doing somehting terribly wrong. I only have about ten people in this world who I believe are friends in any really significant sense. They're probably the only people in the world who would drive more than five miles to attend my funeral. The only overwhelming obsession I have in life is to be pleasing to my God and Savior Jesus Christ. That even makes great multitudes of people who say they are born-again believers uncomfortable being around me. I wouldn't have it any other way.

What are the Signs of the Times?

November 26 (Matt. 16:3; I Tim. 4:1-5; II Tim. 3:1-5; II Pet. 2:1-3)
In Matthew 16:3 Jesus chides the religious leaders of the time saying, "And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times” Yesterday was a holiday, so Sharon and I were lying in bed talking about our state of readiness for the final hours of history. We moved to Montana 17 years ago because I believe we are living in the final hours of history as we know it. I believe we are on the brink of the seven year period of time the bible refers to as the tribulation. I’m not an alarmist, but I am a pragmatist. One doesn’t have to be a loony psycho to get his house in order and be ready for whatever might come. In this particular case (being prepared for the tribulation) I think it’s entirely safe to say one is an irresponsible oaf if he ignores the many signs that seem to be indicating we are very near the end times.

I’ve written an entire book on the subject, so I’ll make no attempt to deal with the myriads of myriads of signs that are, as we live and breathe being fulfilled right before our eyes. I will disclose three undeniable signs that will signal we are beginning the countdown to the final 3 ½ years. I will do that because, though the first 3 ½ years will be rough, they will seem like a walk in the park when compared to the final 3 ½. Three clear and indisputable signs will launch the tribulation: Sign number 1 will be the rise of the Beast, an extremely charismatic man who will be chosen by a world order (the United Nations or a similar organization), to head up a project to unite all nations under the complete authority of that organization. He will be one who promises peace, makes a peace pact with a worldwide religious conglomerate (possibly some kind of pact between the Catholic Church and the really liberal group who call themselves Christians the WCC), and the Jews. It will be under the guise of bringing all peoples together under a single banner for peace. It may come after an untimely and unexpected nuclear exchange by a few rogue nations who have acquired their weapons on the black market. I suspect, though I have no specifics, the United States will have been neutered by that time (a much easier task than most believe).

Sign number 2 will be the rise of two prophets in Jerusalem who will begin prophesying to Israel. If you saw the Left Behind series, that’s one thing I believe they got spot on. They’re called the two olive branches in Zechariah. And they will have the power to slay any who try to stop them with fire that will proceed out of their mouths. My guess is that these are Moses and Elijah, but there are a couple of other Old Testament prophets who qualify and may be them.

The third sign will be the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Possibly the nuclear exchange mentioned will have destroyed the current Mosque that sits on that site now. I think the anti-Christ will likely head up that project under the pretense He is doing it as a peace gesture to the Jews. And we don’t know for sure when that rebuilding actually begins; it might be earlier, but it isn’t likely that it will be after the beginning of the tribulation, because it must be completed before the mid-point of the tribulation. The anti-Christ’s appointment as a world leader coincides with Revelation 6:1 when one on a white horse is given a crown and goes out conquering and to conquer. That is the beginning of the tribulation,

Please don’t let those who are thinking wishfully convince you we will not be here during that time. Request my book on CD and/or with my notes on the Revelation and get a definitive study on the topic. I use hundreds of verses and present an indisputable case for the post tribulation rapture of the church theory. Glenn Beck is speaking daily about the need for us to prepare for difficult times ahead. It may not be the tribulation yet. On the other hand, it may be. If you’re foolish enough not to heed the signs of the times and it turns out that we are on the very brink of that historical period, you will rue the day you ignored the warnings. Great multitudes are suggesting gold and silver are the safest investment against inflation one can engage. God’s word says in the final hours of history gold and silver will be worthless. Isaiah and Jeremiah indicate a loaf of bread will be more valuable than a pound of gold. Sounds to me like gold will be pretty worthless. At today’s market price for gold that means a loaf of bread will cost about $16,000. What most of today’s generation doesn’t know is that when real hard times hit, no one is interested in shiny, sparkling metal.

In the final analysis, the choice is yours. Be ready or be sorry. There's not an ounce of harm done for the one who begins preparing an escape route for a flood that never comes. Of course the analogy breaks down because this flood is definitely coming. The only question is when. If you see any of the signs I have described coming to pass, your time is extremely limited; and I can assure you, it will cost a lot more to get prepared once those signs appear. And that’s God’s word for us today.

Who Is Jesus?

November 25 (John 14:9)
Just recently I learned Mormons don’t even believe Jesus is God. One of my very articulate friends just informed me they believe both Jesus and Satan were created beings and that they were created by “the father” as brothers. Several years ago I had the occasion to actually read the book of Mormon for the express purpose of pointing out to my own father and mother it was heresy. I only needed to read the first twenty or thirty pages because I found dozens of contradictions to scripture. Of course I then discovered, to my dismay, that didn’t make any difference to my father and mother. That was my next discovery that completely blew me away, to use an old worn out cliché. Mormons apparently don’t accept the doctrine of inerrancy of scripture. Not knowing the difference between a paradox and a contradiction, they suggest the word of God is filled with contradictions. To say that darkness is the absence of light, and then to say darkness is not the absence of light is a contradiction. To say Jesus is all man and all God at the same time is a paradox. A paradox is a fact that is difficult to understand but it’s not a contradiction.


The bible is full of paradoxes. One being manifested in three persons is a paradox that I believe is impossible to fully understand with our finite minds, but which we can believe, because the Holy Spirit gives us the faith to believe, and because God’s word demands it. One evangelist put it this way, “If one tries to understand the trinity he’ll lose his mind; if he denies the trinity, he’ll lose his soul.” I’m not quite sure the first part is true, but certainly faith in Jesus as our Savior is meaningless if He is not divine in nature. If we actually consider him little more than a man who lived a perfect life and was therefore an acceptable sacrifice to the God of creation for the sins of the world, our salvation hangs on a fairy tale. We might as well spend the rest of our lives watching Snow White, How to Train Your Dragon, and stories like Robin Hood.

It is heresy in the highest degree to suggest Jesus was just a good man. It is heresy in the highest degree to suggest he was likely the best man to ever live. If He is not God, He is incapable of being our Savior. It’s interesting to note Jesus claimed to be God, His enemies had Him crucified because they believed He claimed to be God, His disciples claimed He was God. And the incredible miracles He performed proved He was God. Only people devoid of enlightenment by the Holy Spirit would suggest He is not God the Son, the second person of the trinity, the Savior of the world, God the Father’s only Son. A systematic theological study of the triune God provides a great deal of insight on the topic. There are literally hundreds of verses that clearly demand one accept the divine nature of the Messiah of Israel and the world if he is to be covered by the blood of that Messiah as shed at Calvary. If you would like a copy of a systematic theological study on the topic, you can contact me by making that known in the comments section below on this blog site.

In closing, it is critical we understand the one thing that separates true disciples of Christ from all others is our insistence on acknowledging the divine nature of God the Son. There is nothing more basic and essential than that truth. If you have swallowed anything to the contrary, repent of your sin on bended knee and come back into the fold. I recently informed a young man if he was going to call God “the man upstairs” again to let me know in advance so I could get as far away from him as possible. My statement was meant to make a significant point not to suggest God was going to strike him dead instantly (though that is certainly a possibility). Though it is undeniably blasphemous to suggest God is a man and that He is upstairs, Jesus made it clear such blasphemy is forgivable. The point is one cannot be part of His kingdom who believes He is the man upstairs. Such flippant comments only indicate the level of depravity to which one has sunk. I suggest it’s tough to get much lower in the muck and mire of this world than to suggest God is the man upstairs. Such frivolous foolishness is a poignant indicator one is still bound to the god of this world. And that’s God’s word for us today.

One Must Take up His Cross Daily!

November 23 (Luke 9:23)
It’s interesting that only Luke includes the word “daily” in this admonition about taking up one’s cross. Matthew 10:38 and Mark 8:34 don’t include it. Mark however gives us some insight not found in Matthew or Luke. He tells us what it means to take up one’s cross with the preliminary comment that one must deny himself. There have been a multitude of bad teachings about this admonition, so it behooves us to make sure we verify the meaning of any given scripture with scripture. I’ve heard many make comments about a particular illness they have contracted as it was just their cross to bear, alluding to these texts. Please understand, illnesses, trials, persecutions, etc. are not our cross to bear. Our cross to bear is to stop being so ego-centric and become more Christo-centric. John the Baptist put it this way, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn. 3:30) It is part of progressive sanctification that we become less self-centered and more Christ centered as we mature in Christ.

I suspect most who proclaim Christ as Lord get up each morning, take a shower, have breakfast, and head for work with little or no thought about God until there is a lull in the days activities, or maybe not even then. I’m relatively confident most don’t think much about God until something unpleasant happens in their day, at which time they might shoot a quick prayer to “the man upstairs” (please forgive the blasphemy) asking for help. I often hear those who claim Jesus as Lord call God “The Man upstairs.” It sometimes gives me an opportunity to confront them gently with a question or two about who they thing God is. I try to get to the point with them that they understand and are a little embarrassed to have called Him the man, and I make sure they realize He most certainly is not up stairs.

Several years ago, I began realizing I was waking each day an hour or two before I had to actually get up and get ready for work. For a couple of decades before that I had begun getting up with an alarm clock a couple of hours early so I could have a significant amount of time studying scripture and praying. When I began waking without an alarm, I decided it was God telling me He wanted me to use the time in prayer. I began lying in bed for at least an hour each day praying for friends, relatives, our national leaders, our local leaders, dozens of people with whom and to whom I was ministering, and anything else God placed on my heart. I did these things because I came to realize several decades ago we do not need more self-esteem as our contemporary psycho-babblers would have us believe. Scripture teaches the exact opposite. Gosh, I wonder how that happened. Oh yeah, it began in the Garden of Eden. One can almost be certain, anything contemporary psychological research has discovered will be the antithesis of biblical mandates. Several verses in I Corinthians 1 and 2 make it abundant God makes the wisdom of the world utter foolishness, and declares the wisdom of God beyond the scope and understanding of any who do not have the Holy Spirit abiding within them.

My final thoughts for today’s devotional go something like this. Firemen teach us when our clothing catches on fire to stop, drop, and roll. I suggest if you want to put out many of the fires in your life before they start each day that you stop, kneel, and pray by your bedside each as you awaken. Kneeling is critical because it reminds us we are in servants in our relationship to our God. It reminds us we are not in charge, He is. It is a position of humility. Of course, we also have to have an attitude of humility. Kneeling alone is not a magical formula for anything. Beginning each day in humility will go a long way to prevent us from becoming arrogant and/or overbearing with those over whom we may have authority. And, it will enable us to allow our God to so fill us with His indwelling Spirit that those around us will be drawn to the King of kings and presidents and Lord of those think they’re lords (you may have to read that sentence several times to get the point). Finally, as I have stated repeatedly, there are actually ten things that must be present if one is to enter the kingdom of God upon departure from this life. Nine occur during this life and the final one is our state upon receiving our new bodies (glorification). I believe, if one thoroughly understands the five I have addressed in the past six devotionals, he realizes all ten are implied in those five. As always, if you have any questions or comments I invite you to make them in the comments section below. I’ll be pleased to respond to any and all such comments. God bless and keep you.

One Must Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead!

November 22 (Romans 10:9)
Several months back, the extremely liberal history channel ran a series of documentaries that claimed some archeologist in Israel found the actual grave of Jesus and his bones were still inside. Being the ignorant unlearned dupes these, so-called scientists are, they suggested they weren’t trying to undermine or even debate the person of Jesus Christ's diety, or, to in any way, suggest Christians were wrong about anything. Of course, their problem is they know nothing about absolute or eternal truth. God’s word makes it abundantly clear if one does not believe Jesus was raised from the dead, he cannot be saved. Paul says it another way in I Corinthians 15:2 when he wrote, “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" He continues to point out if Christ was not resurrected, our faith is worthless, we are of all men most to be pitied. And then, of course our verse in Romans 10 makes it clear one must believe Christ was raised from the dead to be saved.

I’m unsure how anything could be clearer. I do believe part of the problem comes from pagan practices the church has adopted like Easter Egg hunts. The Easter Bunny was the pagan symbol for the god of fertility. When the church demonstrates it is appropriate to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord by hunting eggs laid by a pagan god, we have a problem of epic proportion. Christmas is another problem altogether. I can't count the number of so-called believers in The Way who don't know Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. Originally a pagan holiday that Christians adopted, Christmas is filled with obsessions that have nothing to do with the birth of the Savior of the world. Our obsession with giving presents is staggering. I currently attend a church that is filled with pictures of Jesus. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we think it is anything less than idolatry to hang pictures that are supposed to be of the man/God no one ever attempted to describe physically until about the 15th century.

The only thing scripture tells us about Him physically is that there was nothing physically attractive about him. It is absolute, unwavering, unbending, uncompromising, eternal truth we must believe. God the Father raised God the Son on the third day after He was crucified. He had flesh and bones, but there is no indication He had blood. He can, in this physical body, decompose and reappear enabling him to transcend time and space. He can go through solid objects and move to a locations thousands of miles away in the blink of an eye. He can change His appearance sufficiently that one can only identify Him if He gives him the ability to do that. I’m not sure how many of those traits we saints will have in eternity, but I can't wait to find out. When He returns, it will be as the mighty conquering Lion from the tribe of Judah, not as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He will come with myriads of saints all riding on white horses. He will slay all his enemies instantly with the word that procedes from His mouth. They will all go directly to hell; they will not pass go, and they will definitely not collect two hundred dollars.

To avoid verbosity and straying from the topic at hand, I won’t speculate in this devotional the myriad of implications Jesus’ forty days teaching the disciples, and over five hundred others, after His resurrection have for us. I will close by suggesting we haven’t begun to understand the incredible lives we will be living in the kingdom of God when Jesus ushers in the new heavens and earth. I beseech each of you, if you aren’t anxiously awaiting His return, you might consider there is the possibility you haven’t yet become part of His kingdom. If that possibility exist, and I assure you it does, please correct it post haste. If I can be of any assistance to you, you can contact me by commenting below and leaving your contact information for me; or, send a message to me on Face Book. I will call you or meet with you personally and do my best to make the true gospel available to you directly from God’s indisputable word. And that’s His word for us today.

One Must Confess Jesus as Lord

November (Rom. 10:9)
Romans 10: 9 demands that two thing be done for salvation to occur: 1. one must confess Jesus as Lord; and 2. one must believe God raised Him from the dead. It is crucially important we know what it means to confess Jesus as Lord. I immediately connect three biblical principles to this confession: 1. it means we acknowledge He is God’s one and only Son in any divine sense. 2. it means we determine to allow Him to be our solitary guide to all of life’s problems and that His word be the authoritative, inerrant, word to which we turn for all answers. 3. it means we believe He is God the Son, the second person of the trinity, co-existent and co-equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

The major problem with trying to put the gospel into a tract is that the gospel is really contained in its almighty magnificence in the Bible from Genesis to the Revelation. We can give a condensed version of it in one really well thought out sermon, but we can’t begin to teach or learn the significance of something like election and predestination without a serious long term study on the topic. Some actually teach and apparently believe uttering the words “Jesus is Lord,” is all there is to it. Of course the Bible tells us otherwise. In Matthew 7:21-23 we learn that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord, Lord, not everyone who does miracles in His name, casts out demons, heals the sick, and prophesies will be part of His kingdom. He railed against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees for claiming to be followers of the Law of Moses while living like followers of the devil. Confessing Jesus as Lord means we strive daily, by the indwelling power of His Spirit who resides within us, to live like Jesus lived, caring for the poor, lame, downtrodden, loving the unlovable, being charitable, studying His word diligently, praying without ceasing, fellowshipping with the brethren, and anxiously awaiting His return.

I heard Donnie Swaggart, the son of the infamous Jimmy Swaggart, the other day ask his entire congregation to pray the sinners prayer after him. Upon completing the prayer he jumped and danced on stage like a circus clown and told his entire audience (I wouldn’t dare call them the church) if they prayed that prayer they were bound for the kingdom of heaven. I heard another preacher the same day suggest we don’t have any idea what heaven is going to be like but he was sure it was going to be wonderful. It’s little wonder when people meet together all over this land every Sunday they leave their meetings no more informed about their relationship with the Creator of the universe than when they came to them. Preachers are being ordained and graduating from cemeteries (intentional sic) all over America without a clue what the bible teaches about its most basic tenets, salvation and the kingdom of God. I would venture to guess less than 25% of churches in America teach anything about divine election and predestination, yet the Bible has hundreds of verses than make it abundantly clear that God determined before the foundation of the world who was going to be part of his eternal kingdom. Hundreds of verses speak about the effectual calling of the saints, yet I’ve never, in 38 years of following Jesus heard one preacher try to demonstrate from the Bible what the term even means. Dozens of verses address the idea of regeneration. How many times in your Christian experience have you had a teacher of scripture show you from scripture what it means? I challenge everyone reading this to ask themselves and their preachers how many people with whom they have shared an accurate presentation of the gospel.

I humbly suggest the problem is that most who claim to be disciples of Christ aren’t. I humbly suggest no one could be a child of the Creator of the universe and go through life not seeking every opportunity to help lost souls get found. If you confess Jesus as Lord, bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance. That means, if you haven’t already done it, you will so order your life that every part of it is geared to make you one who demonstrates by his life there is no other thing in it more important than Jesus. It means you will so order your life that you tell anyone who will listen how they too can begin their long, diligent, God blessed, persecuted walk to the cross with you. The promise of an abundant life by Jesus in John 10:10 is not to be interpreted to mean God wants you to be a happy camper. It means that in spite of the many trials, the overwhelming temptations to do evil, the persecutions, the temporary cold, hunger, or thirst one might encounter, the cold sleepless nights, the hatred from those who were once friends, the badgering from those who claim to be spiritual brothers, and even death, we rejoice and have complete peace because our Lord holds us in His arms, because our reward is in coming and assured, because the King of kings sees it all and promises both reward for those who are His and vengeance against those who aren’t.

If you’ve been sitting in churches for years and don’t have a clue how to so order your life, I urge you to leave that church and find one that preaches the gospel. If you can’t find one, call me. If you can get a few others who will meet faithfully two or three times a week and aren’t more than a couple of hundred miles from where I currently reside, I’ll come there and teach you. Otherwise I’ll be pleased to hold studies in my home for any who are willing to come to them. If you’re in a church that is properly preaching the gospel, you won’t be able to be there long before you begin leading others out of the darkness into the light. If you confess Jesus as Lord and yet don’t imitate His behavior, you’re a liar and the truth is not in you. And that’s God’s word for us today.

Confession of Sin

November 21 (I John 1:8-10)
“If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteousness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Mark tell us Jesus’ words in 2:17 of his gospel, " . . . It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." I suppose it’s possible some think He actually believed the Pharisees were righteous but what He was doing is what we in the English speaking nations call biting wit or being facetious. In other words, he was being cleverly insulting to these self-righteous bigots who thought they were better than the common man. Two aspects of confession are absolutely crucial to the concept of confessing sin, and they are seldom taught regarding their connection to both salvation and sanctification. Of course they are contingent on the premise that we believe God’s word when it declares we were all depraved sinners prior to salvation (Rom. 3:10-18), and that once we have Christ in us we deal moment by moment with our personal sin as it is revealed to us by the indwelling Spirit of God (Psalm 32:1-5; 66:18; and Is. 59:1-3).

When one is effectually called into fellowship with Christ, he recognizes he is, in very general terms, a hopelessly lost sinner, bound for eternity in hell, unless he gets covered with Christ’s sacrificial, propitiational (substitutionary) death on the cross for his sinful state. It’s also called being covered with the blood of Jesus. That, however does not completely fix the problem and it is this point that causes most so-called born-again experiences to fall short. First, allow me to assure any of my readers, I do not mean by the following comments one is not saved if he doesn’t take this step immediately, but the problem is one’s maturation is greatly diminished until he takes this step. Confession of sin involves first and foremost for us to realize we have committed specific sin that needs to be corrected biblically. Zaccheus was an excellent prototype for us to understand this concept. In Luke 19:8, 9 Jesus has come into the house of a tax collector. Zaccheus makes a profound discovery while listening to Jesus speak. He stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house. . .’”

Lest anyone conclude Zaccheus received salvation for his deeds, let us properly conclude that Zaccheus’ response was the effect of the cause. It was the evidence that Zaccheus’ soul had been regenerated, that he was one of the predestined, who was elected, effectually called, given the faith necessary to repent, was definitively sanctified, adopted, and on his way to being progressively sanctified. His response to Jesus saving grace to repay those he had defrauded was the confession of his specific sin and the specific steps he knew had to follow to demonstrate he was going to correct his problem.

In his case, money had been his god. Giving half of his possessions to the poor immediately demonstrated he no longer worshiped the mighty dollar. The new testament church in Jerusalem right after Pentecost, demonstrated that same kind of repentance when they all sold the things they did not need, which included lands and homes in which they did not live, and gave all the proceeds to the apostles to distribute to those in need. For now, I’m not going to address the issue about whether or not they sold their primary residences, for the sake of brevity. I will only point out it would have been counter-productive and utter idiocy to sell their primary residences because that would have made them all homeless and destitute.

Finally, I’m not suggesting one need confess ever sin he ever committed before being regenerated and called into the kingdom of God. What one must do, if he is to be a powerful witness to the majesty of our Lord is to confess any sin that is an immediate and obvious hindrance to his relationship with God. And then, what one must continue to do is to determine any sin in his life that can be corrected. For example, I did many things to others in my life about which I am not proud. When I got saved I had a friend coming from a town in Texas to California where I was at the time. Upon his arrival, I had to tell him about my newfound faith and ask his forgiveness for several lies and half truths I had told him to get him to come to California. There were many people whom I mistreated badly before I got saved I tried unsuccessfully to locate so I could ask their forgiveness. Since that day in July of 1972 when Jesus took me into His sheepfold, I have renewed many old acquaintances that necessitated me asking forgiveness from many whom I did not treat kindly many years before.

That kind of continual repentance and confession of sin is essential if one is to be a powerful witness to the grace and majesty of our Lord. It is essential if one is to demonstrate daily that the God of Creation has indeed elected, predestined, regenerated, effectually called, granted faith and repentance, justified, definitively sanctified, adopted, and is progressively sanctifying him. It is essential if one expects to be glorified on that day when Jesus Himself calls us to Himself. Whether it is by physical death or when He physically returns to establish His millennial reign, all of those who belong to Him wait anxiously to hear that, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your master.” And that’s God’s word for us today.

Is Harry Potter Harmless Entertainment?

November 20 (Deuteronomy 18:9-22) 
I know I’m supposed to be dealing with confession of sin today, but a rather troubling thing has surfaced on Face Book I believe needs desperately to be addressed. People who are professing Christians are suggesting it is no problem to go watch moves like Harry Potter. I can hear the arguments a thousand times in my mind, so I won’t spend a great deal of time addressing them; rather I will show from scripture it is both adultery and idolatry at the same time. One of my high school acquaintances suggested she watched the Wizard of Oz and is now a Christian, apparently believing that is proof such things are harmless. That kind of sounds like Satan's suggestion to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Indeed, has God said, now superimpose, watching movies about witches, warlocks, and sorcerers is bad? Using that logic one could then conclude because God delivered someone from prostitution, it’s okay to continue being a prostitute.

In ancient biblical times, under the law of Moses, mediums, spiritists, sorcerers, and all false prophets got the death penalty (Deuteronomy 18:9-22). Pay special attention to verse 20, “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other Gods, that prophet shall die.” Israel was commanded not to marry foreign women because those women would lead them to honor other gods who were really not gods at all. They disobeyed and ended up worshiping other gods. Their excuse was that it was harmless because they also worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nonetheless, he destroyed both the Northern and Southern kingdom for their adultery/idolatry. It’s adultery for Christians to play the harlot with mediums and sorcerers because the church is the bride of Christ. The whole book of Hosea deals thoroughly with that topic. When a bride goes and joins herself to another she is an adulterer. It’s idolatry because anything that comes between us and the pure worship of our God is idolatry by definition. For one who professes to be a Christian to take pleasure in watching a movie based entirely on witchcraft and sorcery is most assuredly committing idolatry.

I engaged dozens, if not hundreds, of acts that were clearly not pleasing to God before I was called to our Lord. When Jesus called me into an intimate, personal, relationship with Him, I quit doing those things because I instinctively knew they were displeasing to Him. I don't believe for a moment doing good deeds will earn me God's grace. I do not, nor have I ever believed one can earn God's approval. That said, God's word makes it abundantly clear those who are His children passionately desire to be pleasing to Him above all else. Of course I have stumbled and sinned more than once in the past 38 years I have been a disciple of Christ. That admitted, I have strived to immediately confess known sin the moment I have become aware of it, claimed his forgiveness as promised in I John 1:9 and continued down the straight and narrow path that FEW will walk. If you insist on watching things like Harry Potter, I would ask this final thing of you. When God disciplines you for doing so, you immediately fall on your knees and beseech His forgiveness and be wise enough not to play with such fire again. Be assured, He will discipline you for indulging such things. Of course, if he doesn’t, one of two things is true: 1. I’m full of hot air; 2. You aren’t one of His children.

My final thoughts on this subject go something like this. For decades people have argued Marijuana is harmless and that it does not lead to heavy drug usage. None of the studies can confirm it does or doesn’t. Would you want your child to try it to see if it’s true? Do you think so little of your child you would experiment with him? Jesus promised that anyone who caused one of his children to stumble would have been better to have had a millstone hung around his neck and that he be cast into the sea (Luke 17:2). Can you swim with a millstone around your neck? If so, you can ignore this warning. And that’s God’s word for us today.

No Salvation without Repentance

(Acts 2:38; Matthew 3; Luke 3)
November 19
Salvation is both simple and extremely complex. There are actually ten things scripture declares happens in the process and the act of salvation. They are the complex part, and thankfully we don’t have to understand them all, nay few do, for God to implement them. It is absolutely critical we understand salvation is entirely a work of God that is impossible with man. No man can save himself. No man can do anything do deserve God’s grace and mercy, which is what we inherit when He saves us from spending eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone (aka hell, aka, Hades, aka sheol). I know there are those who argue sheol and hell are different places, but for the purpose of this devotional we are going to consider them all parts of the netherworld.

Salvation is a process that involves ten things: 1. election; 2 predestination, 3. effectual calling; 4. regeneration; 5. faith and repentance, 6. justification; 7. definitive sanctification; 8. adoption; 9. progressive sanctification; 10. glorification. It should be relatively easy to understand that one who does not believe in election and predestination might be in trouble. It isn’t necessary to understand it thoroughly, but I can attest to the fact that as a brand new believer I realized I had done nothing in my life that made me deserving of receiving salvation. I knew absolutely nothing about divine election and predestination, but I fully realized my salvation was based entirely on God’s grace and mercy. Any hint from the individual that he somehow did something to deserve salvation is the proverbial death knell to that salvation. To suggest I had to exercise my free will to get saved indicates a complete misunderstanding about the topic. Romans 3 clearly indicates the man who exercises his “free will” will always chose to do evil.

Repentance is likely one of the most misunderstood parts of salvation. Paul spent a lot of time dealing with those who thought salvation just meant confessing Jesus as Lord once and then going back to the lifestyle out of which Jesus had delivered them. Repentance is a lifelong act of turning away from the moment by moment temptations of the world and the devil. Many teach incorrectly that we need to repent once a week; some teach once a day is sufficient. The Catholic Church teaches the only way our confession can be accepted is if we do it in the presence of a Catholic Priest. Repentance must be done the moment we become aware something we have done displeases God. Failure to do that is like unplugging the lamp from the electrical socket. The lamp is still a lamp and the power to make it function as it is intended to function is still available, but sin, like unpluging the lamp causes a disconnect between God and His child (Is. 59:1-3; Psalm 66:18; I John 1:9; I John 5:14, 15). Many teach repentance is moving from the path to hell (south for example) to the path to purgatory (southeast takes us there). The bible teaches repentance is a 180 turn from the path that leads to hell to the path that leads to the kingdom of God. We cease going one direction, and begin going in the opposite direction.

The parable of the sower and the seed tells us there are four kinds of reactions to the gospel message (Matthew 13): 1. One who hears who is beside the path. He hears and immediately the devil takes away the word and he continues on to hell; 2. the second is the one who is in the rocky soil. He hears and receives the word with joy, but the moment persecution comes (people make fun of him for his faith), he turns back onto the path that leads to hell; 3. The third kind of person who hears the gospel receives it with joy, but the cares of the world, the lust of the flesh, eyes, and the boastful pride of life cause him to eventually turn back to the path to hell; The fourth kind of person who hears the gospel receives it with joy and produces fruits, some 30, some 60, some a hundredfold. This scenario fits the “many are called, but few are chosen” concept. Many people hear the gospel and many completely ignore what they hear. They never repent. Many hear and temporarily engage its principles but they don’t ever repent. Many hear and engage its principles for an extended period, but they don’t ever repent.

Without repentance, there is no salvation. Without repentance there is no regeneration or sanctification. Fortunately for the chosen, even the ability to repent is given to us by God so that we are able do that. Man, left to his own devices will never choose to repent. That’s the whole point of Romans 3:10-18. In Acts 2:38 Peter responded to the question from Scribes, Pharisees, and the masses about what they must do to be saved. Of course, we have to realize this was a group of people who had extensive exposure to the Law of Moses. They had deep theological roots. His response, “Repent, each one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” They needed no explanation for the implications of repentance.

I do some drug and alcohol and marriage counseling. It is uncanny how many have tried things like the twelve step plan. One of our more popular teachers of false doctrine, Rick Warren, decided to use the secular model to try building a religious model of drug and alcohol rehab. He made millions on his idea and, in the process led millions to hell since publishing it. I won’t attempt to systematically deal with these false doctrines in this devotional. I’m written a complete treatise on the topic for anyone who wants to have it. What I will say emphatically is that Jesus has a one step program. Follow Me! One cannot be a drunk, wife or child abuser, or drug addict while following Jesus. He leads us in the opposite direction. These 12 step programs tell you to fill your life with activities that will keep you out of trouble, and of course, if you do that it works. Jesus’ program says fill your life with Me and I’ll give you both the will and power to resist all temptation that comes your way (I Cor. 10:12). When one repents, the Holy Spirit literally enters into him and makes him a new creature (II Cor. 5:17). The Holy Spirit, among other things, leads him into truth, thus he is able to recognize lies, (John 16:13). Baptism by immersion symbolizes two things. While going into the water one is symbolizing dying to the things of the world. While coming out of the water, he is symbolizing resurrection unto a new life.

So, beloved, if you have attended any kind of service where the preacher asked you to raise your hand if you wanted to be saved while all eyes are closed. If he asked you to pray silently in your heart repeating the words he prayed out loud, and then told you, you were part of the kingdom of God as a result of doing that, you have been duped by one of Satan’s cleverly disguised angels of light. There is no such thing as the secret service Christian. What we have heard we are to proclaim on the housetops. God is weary of the great multitudes who go to church week after week, sit comfortably nicely padded pews, listen to a mundane monologue from some guy who spent a few minutes downloading a message from the internet that he reads to the congregation, and never tell anyone what great things He has done for them. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and one of the most telling signs that you have not repented is that you don’t plan ways you can go and do the same. There is no priority for the born-again, God loving, regenerated, neighbor loving, on fire, unwavering, uncompromising, genuine, card carrying child of the King more important than helping the lost get found. And that’s His word for us today.

What's the True Gospel? (Gal. 1:6-9)

November 18
For several decades now there has been circulating among liberal churches and many evangelical conservative churches a gospel that is completely foreign to God’s word. I have alluded to it a couple of times recently, so I thought it would be a good idea if I took time to explain what I mean, or better yet what God’s word has to say on the topic. It’s nothing new for Satan and his forces to try spreading a false gospel. While listening to Donnie Swaggart yesterday, I heard him make so many stupid remarks about the gift of the Holy Spirit (tongues) that I nearly threw up. Most importantly, he kept claiming he was giving the biblical view on the topic without ever quoting one verse. The false gospel began immediately in the early church. All of the churches throughout the Roman empire were new and didn’t have the writings of Paul, Peter, the writers of the gospel accounts, James, Jude, and the writer of the book to the Hebrews that addressed the many heresies that were being taught by those who had infiltrated the church and were teaching things not authorized by the council in Jerusalem.

In II Corinthians 11:4 and Galatians 1:7 Paul specifically called those false teachings another gospel, but the fact is that most of his letters were specifically written to clear up the massive influx of false doctrines these false teachers were teaching. Unfortunately, the problem has only multiplied exponentially as the centuries of church growth have brought us to the incredibly subtle but destructive point where the overwhelming majority of denominations and their satellite churches have sprung up across the land preaching this false gospel. One of the major contributing organizations, to my utter dismay, was Campus Crusade for Christ. I was personally acquainted with Bill and Vonette Bright, its founders, and believe they were well meaning individuals who, because of their complete lack of theological insight began the “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” movement. In their eagerness to see great multitudes pray a prayer of repentance, they wrote a tract that is filled with untruths, the most blatant of which was the idea that God wants you happy and satisfied.

That tract has been shared with millions and has led most of them to believe they actually got saved by praying that sinner’s prayer. Of course there isn’t any such prayer anywhere in scripture, but that apparently was of little interest to Bill and Vonette. If one were to espouse a one line admonition for salvation it would have to be the one John the Baptist and Jesus spoke, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The subtlety of “The Four Spiritual Laws” is that it suggests, though it doesn’t come right out and say it, one can be saved by faith accepting Jesus as Savior and later decide if he wants to make Him the Lord of his life. Bill Bright used one verse completely out of context to support this theological nightmare. In I Corinthians 3:3 Paul is addressing the church admonishing them for acting like children and acting fleshly. Thus Mr. Bright developed an entire theological doctrine that one can be fleshly (carnal) and still be a Christian. He missed the rather significant point that if they didn’t repent of their utter foolishness immediately, that would be the sign they weren’t Christians to begin with. Of course one who has been born-again sometimes stumbles in sin, but the biblical fact is that the moment they become aware of their sin, they repent and return to following what they know to be godly behavior.

Christians have used the term “backslidden” for decades to justify the obvious fact they were never saved to begin with. The term isn’t even found anywhere in the New Testament, and when it was used in the Old Testament it was addressed to the nation of Israel for their national condition. It is never used in scripture to refer to the state of an individual. One who can live for weeks or months or years in sin without repentance demonstrates by his conduct he was never saved to begin with. I know personally of no one who got saved, backslid for months or years, repented and is now living in sanctification and honor. As a matter of biblical fact, Hebrews tells us it is impossible to renew the one to repentance who has once tasted of the grace and mercy of our Lord. Hebrews 6:4-6 tells us,

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

I can already hear the murmurs of those of you reading this who are thinking I’m losing it. Allow me to set your mind at ease. If you grew up in the church and left it when you became an adult for several years, even though you may have actually made a confession of faith, said a sinners prayer, and got baptized, that does not mean you ever tasted of the grace and mercy of the Lord. You should also be aware however, if you are attending one of the millions of unordained assemblies that call themselves a church, are listening weekly to the sermons given by the unordained of God pastor, are loving it without producing any fruit, you likely still have not qualified as tasting the grace and mercy of God. That’s the whole point of today’s devotional.

If your church does not teach reformed theology, it’s likely it does not teach much that is solid biblical fact. Of course that doesn’t mean the pastor never says anything that is biblical. Satan loves little more than quoting scriptures to baby Christians and those who love to hear scripture quoted without any care for its context. This is not a treatise on election and predestination, but I have written one, so if you’d like a copy of it, let me know. I refer you to Ephesians 1:3-11, John 6:37, 44, 65, and Romans 3:9-18 which tell us that only those whom God has chosen before the foundation of the world can or will come to Him. Most false teaching about the gospel begins with a failure to understand that one, simple, yet exponentially critical doctrine. It is not critical that you accept Jesus. It is essential that He accepts you. You can’t be “in Christ” unless He is “in you.”

Having set the context, we can move to the basic tenets of the gospel without which there is no salvation: 1. without repentance there can be no salvation (Acts 2:38); 2. without confession of Jesus as Lord, there can be no salvation (Romans 10:9a); 3. unless on believes in the resurrection there can be no salvation (Rom. 10:9b); 4. Unless one confesses his sin there is no salvation (I Jn. 1:9); 5. unless one takes up his cross daily and follows Jesus there can be no salvation (Luke 9:23). For the next four days I will be expanding on each of these points because today’s devotional is already too long. Please don’t miss any of these devotionals, because I believe they will clear up centuries of confusion and bad teaching about the gospel. God bless you and keep you.

Should Preachers Address Polital Issues?

November 17
I often hear people suggest Christians should not be involved in politics. I respectfully have disagree and apparently so does God. The long line of politician/prophets is impressive. Beginning with Joseph who became the equivalent of Vice President to the Pharaoh, moving to Samuel who was Chief White House Counsel to four kings, then on to David who was the President (king) of Israel, Ezra was Chief White House Counsel to a king. Nehemiah became the governor of the province of Israel under Cyrus and Darius, Jonah went to the king of Nineveh and told him if he and his subjects didn’t quit tolerating sin in his kingdom God was going to destroy it, and the list goes on. I suggest what America needs desperately today is a Christian man who is not willing to compromise biblical values to get elected and become our next President.

What we need are Christian men running for every political office they can possibly win and upon winning it to begin ministering in that office as God’s representative to a lost nation. Most of all, what we need in America is for Christians to stop sitting on their sacroiliacs and begin speaking up, running for public office, and insisting this nation return to the principles upon which it was founded. Abortion is not a right, homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle (it is an abominable sin and a direct affront to God), adultery is a capital crime, prostitution is a curse on any nation, drunks aren’t sick, they’re fools, women need to take care of their husbands and home school their children; murder, rape, kidnapping, and idolatry are also capital crimes;

I am discovering, thanks to a new technological wonder, Face Book, just how low we have sunk and the picture is worse than I could have imagined. In the two years I have been out of the public school system, I would estimate the decline in public morality has doubled among teens. Of course, while teaching one always has a few students he is quite confident will be drunken losers all their lives. He wishes it weren’t so, but there are so many signs to confirm it that he just raises his eyebrows in disapproval and prays for the best. Then there are those He is usually confident will do well, get a degree, a good job, get married, have 2 ½ children, and live happily ever after. I probably had a couple of thousand students in 18 years of teaching. I’m aware of about six that haven’t had children out of wedlock, many by multiple fathers, many have died in alcohol related auto accidents, more than one by suicide, and I lost count of those who shacked up for several years before moving on or getting married for a couple of years and then moving on.

Christians are sitting comfortably in church pews week after week, many of whom are living out of wedlock with someone, and some of those couples are of the same sex. Congressmen are being charged almost daily with fraud, theft of financial funds (they like to call it misappropriation), failure to pay their taxes, failure to declare income, sexually assaulting members of their staff, pedophilia, and blatant lying under oath to investigative committees. We have probably killed more babies in the past thirty years than the totality of the rest of the nations of the world.

It’s difficult for me to imagine why God has not already completely destroyed this ungodly nation. Certainly, He is trying to get our attention with earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, mine disasters, volcanic eruptions, devastating snow storms, attacks like the one on 9/11, and really poor decisions by our leaders about sending our soldiers to fight other country’s wars. I will close today’s devotion with this final thought: If God’s children in this country don’t get into politics and quickly get this problem turned around, if God’s church in America doesn’t repent, turn from their wicked ways, and call upon Him for deliverance, I fear we haven’t snowball’s chance in hell of lasting another decade as a world power and maybe as a nation. And that’s His word for us today.

Why Did Jonah Run?

November 13
Boy! I read Jonah through Zechariah 2 today and that makes it difficult to decide about what to write. One could preach two or three years worth of sermons onthose books alone. I think I’ll focus on Jonah 2. Since this is supposed to be a daily devotional and I know we here in America have trouble focusing on anything more than two or three brief paragraphs, I’ll focus on the thoughts contained in Zechariah 2:4-6. Most people don’t have a clue why Jonah wanted to ignore God’s call, so I’ll provide a brief background here. Nineveh was a pagan nation that practiced intimidation warfare. They captured the leaders of a nation, cut off their heads and hung them in a public place to intimidate their subjects. There were a perverse, idolatrous people who had no knowledge of use for the God of creation. At the time Jonah was asked to go prophesy to them, they were in the process of enslaving Israel and doing rather perverse things to their women.

Jonah knew God is slow to anger and full of compassion, so he didn’t want to warn them of impending judgment for fear they would repent and God would forgive them. And lo, that is just what happened. The story is an incredible image of Christianity in America today. Like the Jews of Jonah’s day, we have a “Go get ‘em God and punish ‘em,” mentality. We think all those bums living in streets and the beggars on street corners don’t deserve God’s compassion and forgiveness. We think they just need to pee or get off the pot, to put it nicely. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the idea that some are just too lazy to work. I used to offer to pay them for working around my home if they really wanted to have something to eat. That sent most of them packing.

I just saw one of the most realistic and least Hollywoodized versions of the gospel I think I have ever
seen. In it, Jesus was condemned because He took the gospel to sinners. I know we read it, but seeing it really takes the message home. The attitude of the Pharisees was so much like what I see in many churches today that it was scary. I really do think Jesus expressed righteous indignation often in His earthly ministry. He became angry but did not sin because His anger was directed at sin and He offered a solution to that sin immediately. Pharisees, Sadducees, and Lawyers thought they were righteous; they were proud of their humility.

The point for today is that Jesus rescues each of us from the pit. He drags some of us screaming and clawing into His glorious presence and places in us a heart of flesh that yearns to bow down to His magnificent glory and majesty. At least that’s how He got me into His kingdom. Like Jonah, I was sinking into the oblivion of my sin.

"The great deep engulfed me; water encompassed me to the point of death. I was wrapped in seaweed; the water engulfed me to the point of death. Weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains; the earth with its bars was around me forever.”

And God, in His magnificent grace reached down and lifted me out of the pit. For 38 years now I
have lived in His grace and majesty and I can testify that is the only way to experience the life He intended us to live. I’m not sure Jonah ever learned the point of this story. It leaves us without a clue on that point. But I also know the story has an everlasting truth we need to absorb.

God sends us out to preach the gospel to the lost. It matters not what their state in life. He saves the rich, the poor, the blind, the lame, the downtrodden of society. We have no clue into which category anyone to whom we speak fits. That’s His problem. It is our responsibility to preach the gospel in and out of season. When He says he will not allow His word to return void, it doesn’t mean those listening will all get saved. It means everyone’s eternal status will be determined by the amount of information they received. It is our responsibility to preach he word. It is His to do with it what He wills. And that’s God’s word for us today.

What's the Dumbest Sin of All? (I Cor. 6:18-20)

November 16

Last everning I attended a men's bible study where we discussed Samson's bent toward sexual immorality. I know most Christians believe all sin is equal. Of course, that is preposterous, but I understand where they get that idea. Their pastors tell them it's so, so they believe it. First, allow me to admit that all sin is alike in the one sense that it is sin (generically speaking) which resulted in man’s separation from God. But the suggestion that all sin is alike comes from the desire to believe sin is why we go to hell for eternity. That is the most universal and least biblical thought I can imagine. No man, woman, or child goes to hell just because he or she was born with a nature to sin. No man is able to fix that problem. Man is doomed to live separated from His Creator because His Creator is holy and cannot fellowship with unholiness. That is a truism with which no sane man would argue. It is one of the most basic tenets of scripture, and Romans 3 makes it clear no man, without intermention by God, will choose to do good. 

The problem with concluding that is why man goes to hell upon death is that it leaves out the entirely historical and biblical fact that God began making the way for sinful man to regain complete
unhindered fellowship with Him immediately after the first sin engaged by Adam and Eve. Man will be rewarded in eternity (both in heaven and in hell) for the deeds he has done in the body. That truism includes both those bound for the kingdom of God and those bound for hell (II Cor. 5:10 Rev. 20:12). Therefore, the dumbest sin of all is that sin which one commits against his own body. I Corinthians 6:18-20 tells us what that sin is, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.” I wrote a book called The Great Conspiracy. In it I outline the incredibly effective tactic used by Satan today to destroy the fabric of America culture. He has convinced millions in America that things like premarital sex and living together out of wedlock are good ways to test out whether or not two people are compatible.

First of all, allow me to point out there are no couples, assuming it is a man and a woman, who are incompatible sexually.  Please trust me when I tell you there is no such thing as bad sex when it is engaged by a man and a woman who are married and who are following the biblical mandates about sex (I Cor. 7). Living together out of wedlock has very little to offer in spite of what the devil would like you to believe. Most of those who do it end up divorcing anyway when they marry. It only means if one of the spouses dies, there will be no guarantees of inheritance by the surviving spouse. The idea that it prevents the tragic divorce is utterly without merit. Whether a couple is married or not has nothing to do with the incredible emptiness each feels when he/she is, all of a sudden rent from the one he/one once slept beside each night, shared dreams and trials, and engaged in sex, the most sacred act created by our Father in heaven.

There is a solemn warning found in I Corinthians 3:16, 17, “Do you not know that you are a
temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” Then in I Corinthians 7:9 we read, “But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.” And I Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”

Satan is the great conspirator who has devised the plan to destroy the traditional family in America. At this very moment Congress is enacting legislation to make hate crimes including any preaching that declares things like premarital cohabitation and homosexuality a felony punishable by imprisonment
and huge fines. Already many have been arrested for engaging in counter demonstrations by gays who are publicly defaming the minds and hearts of our children committing lustful acts publicly without any intervention on the part of law enforcement. It seems even our legal system is more afraid of the ACLU than it is of God. Our Constitution says nothing about people being allowed to publicly demonstrate their homosexual bent. It is an affront to God He is not going to continue to tolerate. He will bring this country to its knees one way or the other. And that’s His word for us today.
  

Why the Small Church?

November 15

There is what I like to call “The Great Debate” going on today about whether the large or small church is better. I use the relative term here for a special reason. It means I am offering an opinion
that I believe is solidly based on scripture, but has little if any bearing on one’s salvation. There is strong biblical support that most if not all churches met in homes until nearly 400 A.D. During that period the church grew as fast, or it could actually be argued faster, than it did after that time. I’ve
explained that situation numerous times in prior writings, so I won’t waste space here beating that horse. What I will say is that it is extremely arrogant to suggest one church of 10,000 members can do more that 100 churches with 100 members each. There is little point in attempting to prove either to be true.

The important point to point out is that those who suggest the larger church can do more for the kingdom of God are very much like those in Babylon who built the tower of Babel into the heavens and said to themselves, “My, what a fine thing we have done.” God’s word makes it clear over and again He can deliver by many or by few. One man of faith can do more for the kingdom of God
than 10,000 mighty men without that faith.

I will point out why I believe it is so crucial that we keep our churches small. As a matter of fact, I would vote for all churches moving into homes, eliminating the buildings altogether,
appointing a group of men in a given area to eldership of the flock as it meets throughout that region. Have the pastor/teachers, prophets, evangelists, and apostles rotate in each of those places doing the teaching as they meet two or three times a week each. My personal experience has been that isn’t likely in most places in America because we have become so accustomed to the traditional
place to meet as a church that we have come to believe that building is actually the church. That is one of Satan’s most effective strategies. He has gotten the real church (those saints who meet together) to believe the real church is nothing more than a cold, inanimate structure that can save no one
nor can it grow anyone to maturity in Christ.

I will go so far to declare the millions of dollars denominations build on structures in America in one year alone would feed, clothe, and shelter every true, born-again believer in every nation on this planet for life. Please trust me, God is appalled at the billions of dollars those who claim to be His waste each year in this wicked, blasphemous, ungodly nation. We are so weighed down with the burden of the guilt of our sin we can’t see Him or hear His voice when He speaks. I am weary of hearing pastors stand in pulpits and ask for money for this project and money for that project. One local church is asking for shoe boxes to send presents to children in foreign countries. That action clearly identifies the major problem we in America have with evangelism. We see pictures of children’s eyes lighting up as they open the first package they have ever gotten in their entire lives with things in it that will decay in a few short years, or in some cases days. I watch in horror as mealy mouthed, listless, fools drool and tear up when they see such utter idiocy. Those children need food, clothing, and shelter, not stuffed animals, dolls, and monopoly boards. They need books they can read, warm caps, underwear, good inexpensive shoes, and coats.

To suggest that the smile on their faces makes it all worth, is like suggesting my wife’s smile at the sight of the 5 karat diamond I bought her for her 30th anniversary is proof buying it was the
right thing. Of course children will smile when getting presents, but we are telegraphing our screwed up priorities when we give them such things on Christmas rather than make sure they understand the Christian message about the birth of Christ. Maybe we should give them gold, frankincense, and myrrh. All of which goes to make my point. If we had been meeting in a home as is described in I Corinthians 14 and a pastor had said something so incredibly unbiblical, it would have provided a chance for another of the pastors to address the problem, or at the very least, confront that ill advised pastor privately at a later time. The small church is a perfect environment to make sure everyone is accountable, including the pastors.

Some mega-churches throughout the land are attempting to have their cake and eat it. They are forming hundreds of small groups where the closeness enables them to be accountable to one another.
It’s better than those churches that are making no such attempt, but the problem remains that they are accountable to one man usually, the “senior pastor”, who rules like the Caesars of Rome. Even churches with less than 100 members, under the traditional structure of the church, are wasting the
overwhelming majority of the money they collect in offerings on repairs, heating, air-conditioning, grounds maintenance, and salaries of pastors, most of whom could support themselves by getting a real job most of the time.

I’m not suggesting the church should not reimburse financially those elders who are working hard and preaching and teaching. I Corinthians 9 and I Tim. 5:17 make that clear. Certainly, Paul taught such men ought to make their living at preaching the gospel. That said, aul never suggested those men should live in the lap of luxury while claiming to be servants of Jesus. I can’t begin to number the many pastor/teachers I have known who insisted they were worth a lot more than their congregations
were paying them. The statement alone is enough to make me want to slap them upside the head (in a good Christian way) and tell them to get out of the ministry if that is the order of their priorities. How can a pastor/teacher ever teach humility, sacrificial living, and the need to give to help the orphans, widows, and downtrodden of society if he isn’t setting the example of what that actually means in the life of a real person?

In closing today’s devotional I would like to suggest the small church, even the house church, has a much better chance of fulfilling the variety of responsibilities the bible indicates is its
calling.  While many large churches are trying today to overcome the impersonal atmosphere such a church, by its very nature, sets. I humbly suggest most are failing miserably. And that’s God’s word for us today.