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#GodisGood

Friday, September 29th, 2023

Victory

It is hard for us, when we consider the incredible testing some people go through, to see how they remain faithful. To many people’s way of thinking, being thankful for adversity goes against their grain. “It’s not normal,” they will say. Then the questions start: “How can you be thankful for the death of a loved one, or a baby, or the diagnosis of ALS or MS?” That question looms larger when the person was a perfectly healthy individual and then BAM!  Or here is another one: “How can I be thankful for this financial downturn?”

Honestly, I’m not thankful for the adversity; I am thankful for the God who walks with me through the adversity.

The goodness of God is a sensitive topic, if for no other reason that the examples I just gave. Knowing and believing in the goodness of God is so important to our view of God.  Goodness, defined by J.I. Packer is “something admirable, attractive, and praiseworthy.” Pastor Chip Ingram in his book The Real God, defines the goodness of God as kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men.”

God’s goodness is not conditional. He feels that way about us all the time. God is infinite in His goodness. His goodness does not run out. He doesn’t give us a timeline to operate under.

As you can gather, my sermon Sunday is on the goodness of God. I’ve entitled it God is Great…God is Good?  I look forward to having you join us at 9:00 and 10:45 in person or via live stream.

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#OneTrueGod

Friday, September 22nd, 2023

Victory

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (NASB2020).  To go along with that verse is a quote from A.W. Tozer in his book, Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  To combine the two: what we focus on when we think about God will define us.

The buzz saw we run into as we form our thoughts is a teeny, tiny influence called “culture.” (Remove tongue from cheek).  Much is said these days that we all worship the same God and that all roads lead to the same place. Is this true? Is it egotistical? Is it sectarian to say that? Is it judgmental?

This Sunday my sermon is going to confront these accusations head on. For the purpose of information the first part of the message is going to show how different faiths represent God. Deism. Mormonism. JW. Scientology. Islam. Hinduism. New Age. And more.  I think folks will be rather surprised to see what other faiths believe.

The second half of the message will be a look at Deuteronomy 4:15-40 and see what God thinks of our “idol” worship. One high point I will be bringing out is that Religion is spelled “DO.” Christianity is spelled “DONE.” Religion is based on people doing something; Christianity is based on what Christ has done.

I would love to have you join us in person at 9:00 or 10:45. If you are unable to do so, then please join us online at the same time. We have a Facebook Page and also a YouTube channel. You can access either by going to the church’s website and clicking on the link.

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#Unchangeable

Friday, September 15th, 2023

Victory

The high-brow “religious” word for this week’s sermon thought is IMMUTABILITY. Simply put: the word means “Unchangeable.”

With our ever-changing world it is easy to get confused. It is also easy to begin thinking God changes as well. That is especially true when we consider our culture.  God established a covenant with His people. Noah. Abraham. The people of Israel. With us. The word covenant means binding agreement. The “owner” of the covenant agrees to certain things if the one signing the agreement sticks with his/her end of the bargain.

But, no matter how you shake it, it still comes down to the unchanging nature of God. J.I. Packer wrote a book back in the ’70s called Knowing God. I’m going to be sharing some thoughts from that book and I thought I would put them here for you:

God’s life does not change.

God’s character does not change.

God’s truth does not change.

God’s ways do not change.

God’s purposes do not change.

God’s Son does not change.

If you would like to hear more then please join us in person or via live stream. You can find the link to our FB page and YouTube page on the church’s website. We offer two services at 9:00 and 10:45.

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August 14

Friday, August 14th, 2020

Yesterday on my other blog, Cycleguy’s Spin, I posted this thought. It was so important to me (and I wrote it yesterday morning) that I thought I would post it here.  Jo picked up Braden, our grandson, yesterday and we are taking him home tomorrow, so I thought I would post this just in case I failed to find the time to post a new devotion. 

There are a few things I simply can’t stand, the thought of eating them just curls my stomach. (Pun intended). When I say them some of you will say, “Seriously?” I can’t stomach to taste cinnamon, coconut and parmesan cheese (the kind that smells like dirty socks that people like to sprinkle on spaghetti and pizza. **gag**. Talk about ruining pizza!!). It is a joke around here for some to tell me they made chocolate muffins, but added coconut or cinnamon. They ruin chocolate. 

But as much as I can’t stand those ingredients (and probably a few more), there is one thing I hate. I despise with a passion. And that is legalism. Legalism by my definition is ordering the Christian life by a list of rules and regulations, of do’s and don’ts. For way too many years I was in that camp. Tithing (you have to).  Church attendance (no Christian skips). Bible reading (every day buddy). Baptism (by immersion only for the remission of sins). Communion (every week). Prayer (I let some slack on this one because I was sketchy myself). Alcohol consumption (tee-total it without exception). Tobacco use (seriously you would put cancer in your body?). You name it; I probably had a rule for it. Now, in all honesty, I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was trying to legislate the Christian life. Salvation was based on what I do; not based on what Christ has done.

Paul faced that. We see it was an issue in the early church (Acts 15). Paul squared off against it in Galatians 2. The issue was so encroaching and so powerful  it even took down Peter. But Paul was not about to back down from that challenge either! (You can see what he does in Galatians 2: 11-14).  The Judaizers were the culprits, men who said you had to abide by the Mosaic law, especially circumcision. But Paul is very clear in Galatians 2:16: “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…by the works of the Law no one will be justified.”

Case closed. There would be no wavering for Paul. He didn’t care if you were Peter or not. Or Bill. I’m so glad I learned about grace and faith and freedom and God brought me out of that ugly jungle.

“Father, thank you for grace. Thank you for the rescue from legalism. Thank you for the introduction to and embrace of freedom. May I always be a messenger of grace.”

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June 30

Tuesday, June 30th, 2020

One of the members of “the Trinity” is misunderstood. Well…He does get a bad rap sometimes and, at times, is often forgotten. It is pretty obvious I’m not speaking about God the Father or God the Son. God the Holy Spirit is the One often looked at with shady eyes and raised brows. I think some of that is because of ignorance and some is because we treat Him with such mystery. We think He’s a ghost-like Casper- friendly, but oh so eerie.

I was ignorant of the Holy Spirit for many years. I knew He existed but was “afraid” of Him. I focused on Jesus and my first experience with raised hands brought a cold sweat to my body. I learned then and have continued learning about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8-11, part of the Scripture I read this morning, offers some help but, if you are like me, there may have been some confusion as to what those verses meant. As a result the Holy Spirit’s purpose stayed cloudy. I do know this: the Holy Spirit’s purpose was never to draw attention to Himself. His purpose was and is to always glorify Jesus. ALWAYS.  That’s why to draw attention to the Spirit in song or to the manifestations of the Spirit is wrong. John 16 tells us He was to do three things: convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

  • Convict of sin- the specific sin of not believing in Jesus as Messiah-the only sin not forgivable, that damns people to hell.
  • Convict of righteousness- this might be better understood as self-righteousness (hypocrisy). He exposes the blackness of our own heart.
  • Convict of judgement- the context is that of the world under Satan’s control. The world cannot judge itself because it is blind, sinful and evil. (Current events show that).

The Holy Spirit is not really a ghost- an apparition. He has a specific purpose.  And He accomplishes it all by always drawing attention to Christ and the cross.

“Father, help me to understand more. Help me to see the Holy Spirit’s influence in my life and allow Him to do His work in me.”

Note: I’m indebted to Pastor John MacArthur for his “help” this morning.

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