Someone Is There

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I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray,
I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray,
Way Down Yonder By Myself
An I couldn't hear nobody pray

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You ever felt like you were all alone? The world can be a terrible place when you are alone. I can remember as a young child having dreams about being somewhere where I couldn't get in touch with or contact my family. There is something about being with others.

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Don’t Turn Around

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Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Round,
Turn You Round, Turn You Round
Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Round,
Walking Up The Kings Highway

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One of the biggest issues standing in the way of forward progress is perseverance. We start a bit and then stop. We don't lose those the weight because we cease our program. We don't finish the book, because we allow things to stand in our way. We stop.

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God Wants To Be With Us

Every year around this time when I was growing up we made the long trek from Kansas City, Missouri to Etowah, Tennessee. I can remember getting up at 1 am as my father would pack the cars and me and my two brothers would get in the back seat of the car and go to sleep. By the time we would be half way there.

I had no idea how important those long trips were. For many of those years I didn't realize that "grandma" meant "Mother's Mother." In fact, not until becoming a parent myself did I fully understand the need of parents and grandparents to just "see" their off spring.

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Wrong Time For The Blessing

Proverbs 27:14 reminds us that there can be a wrong time even for a blessing. When it is time for something else, and someone comes in and loudly shouts, even the right sounding thing, we can find our blessing turning into a curse. This scripture gives the example of someone yelling the blessing to wake up the sleeper. It is time for sleeping. Sleeping has benefits and is a needed by the human body. However, someone might feel the need to wake up the sleeper to give her a blessing.

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Traditional or Contemporary Worship…So What?

How do you Praise God? Today we have battles over the music that is sung in church. We have the traditionalists calling us back to the solid songs of their youth. They argue that the best music supports the church theologically and musically. It is largely a call to the rich heritage of the church.

In contrast there are those who argue for contemporary music. They argue that the church must reach the youth with their music by speaking to the "felt needs" of this generation or we will lose them.

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Why Worry About Doctrine When You Have Jesus?

Many Christians separate doctrine from their daily lives. This idea is manifested in the idea of "doctrine is less important than relationship." Some who each this argue that doctrine is good and fine, but a personal, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is more important. This is the common way that this is taught. We hear about how some Christians know too much doctrine, but don't know the Man behind the doctrine.

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Good Is Not Good Enough!

One of my seminary professors preached a powerful sermon. In it he argued that the greatest temptation for most of us is not to do that which is wrong. Many of us have that temptation, but it is not the greatest one. The greatest temptation is to do that which is "good" rather than that which is "great."

Here the temptation is to attempt to accomplish good things rather than accomplishing your God given purpose which for you would be great.

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Does Your Work Require Faith?

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Ron Edmondson asked the simple question "Is the work you are doing requiring faith?"

We all have been given a work to do. We all have been given an assignment from God. And if we are to do that work in a way that God would be pleased, it must be in the power of faith. We simply cannot do our God given assignment without the power that comes from God and we appropriate through faith.

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Weakening Christianity By Removing The Cross

Perusing the best selling books of popular Christianity provides some interesting information. While there are certainly exceptions, it seems as though a "cross-less" Christianity has come into the drivers seat. There seems to be little difference between popular Christianity and the "present evil world." (Galatians 1:4). It appears that there is a minimization of holiness that comes from an appreciation and participation in the cross.

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God Mighty Creator

Scripture is unambiguous, God is creator.

The Divine Other

God as creator means that God is other-than the created order. God is not manufactured by the creation neither is God a concept that aggregates human action in some way. God is an active participant in relationship with that which is created.

In addition, God as creator means that everything depends on God in some way. God is the ultimate power that not only brings into existence all, but also continues to maintain all that we see. (Psalms 24:1-2; Psalms 104:10-14).

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Wake Up, Throw Off, and Put On

Romans 13:11-13:14

Introduction

It was 5:30AM and the alarm had just elevated its piercing voice and shook me out of my sleep and slumber. I really didn’t feel like getting up that morning. I mean I really wanted to steal a few more moments of blissful unconsciousness. It was one of those days where we had plenty to do. It was one of those days where we had to get up, pack the car, and get out on the road. You see it was time to take that long trek to see family members in a far away town. But like any trip, it required preparation. We had a lot to do. In fact, we had to do some things that we normally wouldn’t do at 5:30 in the morning. Because of this realization, I simply hit the snooze button every 15 minutes to prolong the sleep, but also the agony of realizing that I was stealing more and more time away from the preparations that needed to be done. However I promised myself that after this time hitting the snooze I would get up.

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The Complete Savior

As we near the close of this earth's history, we find ourselves in need of a complete savior.  Too often we fall into the trap of only wanting a partial savior.  You know the savior who drapes us with a superficial sappy "love", but never disciplines us.

However, the Jesus who came to this earth is both a savior and a from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin in our lives.  We need to stop being happy with the "Jesus-lite" that forever promises us money and fame and success, but never changes us.  We need to stop being happy with a Gospel that forgives but never empowers.  We need to stop being happy with an incomplete savior.

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Do You Want Victory?

We often lose in our battle because we don't really want to win.  We talk about desiring victory over sin, but we keep the emblems of sin around, "just in case."  Sure we want victory, just not the victory that requires sacrifice.  We want the victory that doesn't require giving up anything.  We want an easy victory

Romans 6:11 gives us the key to victory.  It is a key that is not easy.  It is not what we want to hear.  But it is simply to "reckon" or "consider" yourself dead to sin.  This is a very interesting image.  Reckon yourself dead to sin.  How does one do that?  You do that by simply treating yourself as if you already have the victory.  This is not to say that you will not fall again.  You probably will.  But what it does say is that you are not aiding the enemy in your defeat.

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Do Not Be Surprised

1 Peter 4:12

Introduction

I remember when I was a child that I would sometimes attend a surprise birthday party. We would attempt to hide from the guest of honor. Soon the guest of honor would show up and we would jump out from behind things and yell, Surprise! The guest of honor would look surprised, whether surprised or not. In this case, surprise was a very good thing.  The surprised one gets something valuable and desired.

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Lord, Help Me To Hold Out

Perhaps you have heard the song, "Lord Help Me To Hold Out." It is a call for perseverance in the midst of the storms of life. It doesn't ask for the removal of storms, but it only asks that God would help the singer to hold on until "my change" comes.

As the singer moves into the verses, we learn about the struggle. We learn about a way that is not easy, but there is a resolve to put one's trust in God. Yes hold on. As I think about this song, I am struck by the fact that pains and problems are accepted as normal. We will have difficult days in this life. We will have struggles in this life. We will find ourselves in situations that are almost unbearable.

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