“These (trials) have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:7

“Ya wanna buy some gold?” That was the question asked by a man who had some to sell. Having an interest about a year ago, I had asked about owning gold and he had strongly recommended it. Now, needing to raise some money for an emergency, my former interest made an opportunity for both of us. Knowing NOTHING about gold, I contacted a friend of mine who does! And good thing!

The advice of my friend was to get a picture, then to have the gold tested. When the picture came, my friend said, now get it tested. So arrangements were made and the valuable coin was taken to an expert with a tool to verify its authenticity. The ‘tool’ turned out to be a fancy gun shaped object that shot some kind of magic ray at the coin. Within a second, the expert said, “it’s a fake!” 

It became important to me to remember that the OBJECT being tested was the COIN! NOT the man selling it! Having been around the block many times, I have been taken advantage of many times, and sometimes intentionally. The lesson from being burned in the past has been reduced to an age old saying, “trust… but verify!” Relieved, the verse today reminded me ‘my Faith’ is under the gun!

The topic of testing by trial is a can of worms that nobody likes to open. Mostly because there are so many tests and testers to consider. The thing to remember is that God isn’t usually the one DOING the testing. Sadly, too many folks like to blame Him when He has NOTHING to do with it.

The world, the flesh and the devil are the typical culprits from which tests come. But it is important to remember that it is ‘MY FAITH’ that is being tested from all angles. NOT GOD! God is perfect! ANY leaning toward God being otherwise will only result in Faith’s failure of the test! Sadly, the world is falling for sin because it fails to WANT to trust the authenticity of the Creator of Life.

Everyone I know is going through some kind of test right now. It’s getting tough out there. But today’s verse tells me that testing is an INVESTMENT in my future. For when my faith PASSES the test, it will result in something FAR more precious than any earthly riches. Praise, Honor and Glory will be the eternal result. And that is good enough reason to press on and endure any test!

Are YOU passing the Faith Test? Or are you blaming God for something He has nothing to do with? I prefer to keep my eyes on Jesus. Not the fake stuff that glitters! How about YOU?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Last night was our annual Christmas Trivia Night! I had asked a couple ladies if they would mind bringing some snacks for the occasion, and was told by text that ‘Pigs in a Blanket’ would be part of the fare! Immediately I thought, “OH NO! That’s WAY too much to ask of somebody.” When I called, I learned that our experiences of that menu item differed greatly! I was happily confused!

Growing up, Pigs in a blanket was a MAJOR dinner item. It consisted of cooking meat and rice, wrapping tubular balls of that mixture in cabbage leaves, then baking them in the oven. It took a lot of work! When I was told HER version was mini hot dogs wrapped in dough, I still appreciated the effort, but was happy that HER pigs it wouldn’t take all day to blanket! I thought of this verse.

Basically it starts off with the idea that LOTS of people are watching me. Since that is the case, I’d better watch my behavior and STOP doing the sinful things that so EASILY mess up my life and reputation! Reading that part scares me because… THAT part isn’t so easy! Admittedly, I have been trying to do that since I first heard the word “NO!” So far it hasn’t easily worked! So what’s the deal?

OBVIOUSLY, sin is fun! If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have done it so much. Growing up, parents and teachers would say, “you stop that right now young man or you’re going to get in trouble!” I didn’t, and I did! Over and over again! My piggish sinful flesh was actually comfortable being wrapped up and coddled! In time, I realized I WAS in trouble, but had NO way to stop it on my own! Now THIS?

At my age and in my profession, I guess you could say I am a master at recognizing pigs in blankets. Having run to Jesus and been forgiven, it is now a pleasure to point people to the same Savior who ‘set me free from the law of sin and death!’ But once in a while I read a verse that scares me into an uncomfortable, labor intensive, working idea of Faith that DOESN’T work. Un-blanketing ain’t easy!

The First verse by itself leaves me the pig I am! And in the same position as those we ate last night! Wrapped up and headed for the oven! The Christmas JOY of this lesson comes in verse 2. Because while it is IMPOSSIBLE for ME to do the first verse alone, I CAN do the second verse… and that is ‘Keep my eyes focused on Jesus, the AUTHOR and PERFECTER of MY FAITH! Now I’m comfortable.

Are YOU trying to break free from sin and make a good impression on your own? Why not turn your focus on The Savior and stay OUT of the oven!  

“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'” Galatians 3:10

“Ugh!” “UGH!” “AHHHHHHH!” I was trying to get my pool pump cleaned, and the pesky top that unscrews off ALWAYS feels like it’s glued on! So I put more effort into it! I learned from MY dad that effort comes out in noises of frustration… and then defeat! In 35 years, I have done this job HUNDREDS of times. Yet I’ve never learned to just go and get the wrench BEFORE starting! DUH!

Now granted, as the pool filter basket cover has gotten older, it’s gotten harder to unscrew. Time does that to old parts. In men like me, time does the opposite… time makes me weaker! AND apparently dumber too! Because I certainly wasn’t thinking logically. Older, weaker me was trying to man-handle an old part that is practically FUSED together! Hearing demons laughing, I YELLED!!

As it took the whole of 2 minutes to walk to my toolbox in the garage to find and return with ‘The Wrench,’ I sensed The Holy Spirit chuckle as well! Then He spoke in His special way with no sound, “When will you ever learn son? Strength only comes through weakness” So pausing in weakness, I decided to look up the verse. Not because it was the first time. But cuz it SHOULD be the LAST!

This principle SHOULD immediately be acted upon in a Christian over 55 years. But I am living proof that God picks the foolish of the world to confound the wise (2 Corinthians 12)! TADAAAA! The whole ‘law vs faith’ principle is as universal and unchangeable as the laws ordering physics or gravity! AND the law governing my flesh as well. Deep down, I DON’T WANT TO GET IT! Sad!

As strange as it may sound, working to be and do good comes with us right out of the womb! I do bad, then feel bad. So I resolve to do better, then work harder toward that resolution. Which sounds good and pleases parents, teachers and bosses! But to God, it sounds like Idolatry! And THAT is what today’s verse actually means! Working HARDER at being good is a SIN! READ IT!

I am an old guy, which means my mind, will and emotions are even WEAKER than when I was first saved. If I couldn’t BE GOOD on my own THEN, there is NO possible way that trying harder now will get me anywhere close to that goal. What I NEED is a TOOL! That tool is the Cross of Jesus Christ, and all that He IS! That means dying to myself and submitting to HIS ability to work in me.

I”m happy to say that BOTH tools worked. The pool pump is cleaner and therefore more efficient at doing its job. And so am I!

Are YOU trying to be and do righteousness in your own power and strength? Are you frustrated enough to hear God’s snicker, dropping your own ideas of what it means to BE righteous in HIS eyes? Will you die to yourself so you can let Him live in and through you? If so.. Good boy (or girl!)!

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

I have a snake in my garage! Yup! We were headed out to a Christmas Party and I was wearing my suit. Seeing movement to the right of my feet, we instantly recognized each other! In that 21.9 nanosecond period of time, we both hesitated. Then as I reached, he slithered! The result? Like I said, I have a rat snake in my garage. My inside mischievous Christmas elf smirks at the possibilities!

I know lots of people freak at snakes… it’s only natural! When God put the curse on the serpent and turned it into a slithering belly crawler, humans were instilled with heebie-jeebies when they meet. It’s all part of the Edenic Curse. But I’ve been around snakes my whole life, so they don’t bother me. But my wife? Haaaaa! THAT is where interesting possibilities lay! She doesn’t want to go in there.

Now don’t give me that “you’re so bad and evil” attitude! It’s RAT snake! This one is a little under 4’, but it doesn’t have a fang or drop of poison in it’s non-slimy body! In fact, we have the advantage, it being in there means WE don’t have RATS! Or won’t for long! Things that irritate are the gnats, mosquitoes and palmetto bugs that show up more often. Bugs bug me! I can PLAY with snakes!

The Bible verse today has always intrigued me. It is obvious sheep and wolves don’t pair well. The CRAZY thing is, ‘Savior Jesus’ isn’t bothered in the least at the thought of sending me, his sheep, out into a world FULL of wolves! The operation method He provides sounds more ridiculous than the commission! “Go be shrewd like snake… innocent like dove!’ Like, “wax on-wax-off!” Funny Jesus!

The words used to define ‘shrewd’ hint at what Jesus expects. ‘Showing a clever awareness, resourcefulness, artful and cunning practices, tricky and penetrating!’ Which should be kind of fun! Except that He also demands ‘innocence’ like a ditsy dove! The verses afterwards warn us that I WILL get the snot beat out of me, but it’s ok! He’ll be WITH me through the beatings and fast exits!

There are snakes in my world. Satan is Biblically referred to as one. Sometimes they openly attack and send me running. Other times they sneak in the backdoor and cause terror just by showing a little skin! But Jesus doesn’t kill snakes, He USES them. Extermination day is coming. But not yet. Which means I am required to trust HIM for the attitude and skills necessary to live with snakes!  Even though I naturally don’t want to!

Are YOU fearful or shrewd? Prepared or oblivious? Are you ready to face the snakes in life using HIS skills and resources? Seeing snakes turned into saints is actually kind of interesting and fun!

We are asking for prayer for healing, strength and a special touch of the Holy Spirit for Keri Allen, Husband John and their kids J.D., Zach and Mallory.  They are battling a big snake and need our support in Christ!  Will you join us in expectation and hope?

Five Looks at Jesus

For every look at yourself, take five looks at Christ.

Those are the words of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a pastor in Scotland in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was born in Edinburgh in 1813, and what’s striking about his life (and that some still remember him today) is that he lived only twenty-nine years. He died of typhus fever in 1843.

Two years later, his friend and a fellow minister Andrew Bonar published Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne, which in time came to be published in over a hundred English editions. In Memoir and Remains appears a letter M’Cheyne wrote to a friend:

Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief! Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in His beams. Feel His all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and [rest] in His almighty arms . . .

Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him. Let the Holy Spirit fill every chamber of your heart; and so there will be no room for folly, or the world, or Satan, or the flesh. (293)

Ten looks at Christ for every one look at self. I suspect M’Cheyne’s counsel was striking in his day. But now, some 180 years later, what are we to make of it, living in an age so saturated in, so dominated by the ruse of the almighty self?

Ten looks at Christ for every one look at self was a countercultural word in M’Cheyne’s day. And how much more so for us now? And what healing might there be for us in heeding his counsel? How impoverished are we for our subtle and overt fixations on and fascinations with self, dwelling in a generation that both nourishes the love of self in us and conditions us for greater and deeper attention to self than we otherwise might dare venture?

So I want to ask you to come with me on a journey. I invite you in these moments — as much as you’re able — to put self aside, and together let’s take ten looks at Jesus. In this first session, we’ll take five looks at him from eternity past to the cross, and then in the second session, from his resurrection to eternity future. And with each look, we’ll anchor our glance at his glory in at least one key biblical text and also a key theological term that seeks to capture some of the majesty we find in Christ. So, here are five looks at Jesus.

Look #1: He delighted his Father before creation.

Look #2: He became man.

Look #3: He lived to his Father’s glory.

Look #4: He humbled himself.

Look #5: He died for sins not his own.

5  looks at Jesus that teach us just who and what He did! Remember that Jesus chose to come and die for us. His submission was not without joy. His was not obedience without willingness. He did not just endure death for those who believe; he embraced it.

Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross.” And I would not be surprised if Hebrews leaned on Isaiah 53:11 to make such a stunning claim: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.”

What sustained Jesus on that dark Friday we now call “Good,” on the single most horrible day in the history of the world? Joy. He saw ahead and was satisfied enough that what joy he tasted even then sustained him through the agony, distress, and anguish.

Unlike the animals who stood in temporarily as substitutes for God’s people in the old covenant, Jesus willed it, with his human will. He embraced it. It pleased him to give his own life as a substitute for sinners — for the joy of the many who would believe and the glory of his Father. What wondrous love we have available to us if we simply choose to look at Him.  Especially during this Christmas season.

Do YOU see Jesus in your circumstances?

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” Luke 3:8

It was far too ridiculous to be of any coincidence. As I turned the corner and approached the fountain, there was a man kneeling on the edge with his hands plunged into the water. It took a moment to process, then as I looked over him, it just came out! “HEY… WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Are you stealing money?” Standing up to about 6’2,” he confirmed that he was! So I just got louder!

Having a look about him that showed he was not only unrepentant, but even deserved to do what he was doing!  He defiantly said “I need a cup of coffee! How much money do YOU have?” That didn’t set well so God entered the discussion and I said, “Man, you KNOW how low you have sunk in your life AND you know what to do! What is the matter with you? WAKE UP! LOOK UP! TURN TO JESUS!”

As I said, it wasn’t a coincidence. The timing that this would happen the moment I walked by, plus the Spirit of God which seemed far too personal and prophetic, had caught me off guard as much as it did him. This guy’s story had been in the making for a VERY long time. And He KNEW it! He didn’t need a cup of coffee, he NEEDED a wake up call! God had me give it to him. I pray that he heard it!

America is a mess. People doing evil are on the rampage with deserving intent, trying to force their wants and desires on an embarrassed nation. My experience has been that ‘The Church,’ either unable to keep up or not knowing what to do, chooses to capitulate or slink backward onto hiding. Truth no longer boldly marches on, it folds! And like ‘fountain man,’ the Church KNOWS!

Of course I could have bought him a cup of coffee, or a sandwich! But having met hundreds like him over my life, I knew that would not have helped. He needed to hear from God, one more time, that it was time he repent and turn his life around. That God was continuing to press him to do so showed me just how much God really loved him! The man was being chased. I knew the feeling!

Jesus’ claim that He IS “The Way, The Truth and The Life” is a statement we all need to address. Yesterday, I wrote John 14:6 at the bottom of my lunch bill and, handing it to the cashier said, “this is the best verse you will EVER read!” Her statement back to me was, “knock yourself out!” Clearly indicating she had NO intention of reading it. But The Word had been preached!

Are YOU boldly standing up and proclaiming the Gospel to those in your world who need to hear it? You could very well be the 1 person they need to hear from today!

“Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3

“It won’t open!” were the words my wife said as she entered the front door-code for the 3^rd time. Looking at the door lock, I immediately knew why! The flashing lights, which are usually green, flashed blue. She didn’t know what that meant, but since household maintenance is my job, I did. The battery that powers the door lock was running low and indicated it needed replacing.

It was a few years back when I purchased the electronic lock. Not having any idea how much easier it would make my life, I’d never go back to a key locking system. Fumbling with, and trying to find the right key in the dark, is a thing of the past. Now I can even input a temporary code to allow people access to the house if needed. For now, ‘blue’ indicated I just needed some power!

Last night was our Church’s annual Christmas Decorating and Pizza party. Little did I realize that the light from my life had been flashing blue. When we all came together, everything just came together. Pairing up in groups, lights and decorations ignited joyful conversations, even drowning out the background Christmas music. Finally, with spirits aglow, we joined for our final act. Prayer!

My door lock flashes one other color besides green and blue. Red means something is wrong! Last night, as we joined for prayer, we first discussed the flashing red lights of our individual lives. A lot of sickness, death and pain was being experienced by many of our members. So they brought them out to share with the Church. Then together, we all took those flashing red lights to Jesus.

Looking back I can spiritually see how the power of Jesus Christ, also known as ‘The Door,’ took our red pains and sorrows from flashing blue to green.  By the time we were done, the Spirit of our church was unquestionably flashing ‘JOY!’ Even though the individual circumstances of our lives hadn’t changed, WE had! Such is the POWER of ‘The Church!’ And it has been this way for over 2000 years!

In all my years, I have never seen Jesus fail! The flashing red lights in life never seem to end, but time again, He has proven to me that His power is ALWAYS reliable, and that we ALL have access to The Father when we KNOW the password of His Son. Which is why I do not understand people’s choices to not do the Hebrews 10:24-25 thing and COME TOGETHER! Green beats red and blue all day long!

What color is YOUR life flashing and how could a trip to His Church help?