Priceless!

Let’s suffice it to say today that I failed at coffee making 098.  And that’s all I am going to say about that!  The SECOND pot is actually going to make it!

Now that being said, let’s move on!

¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

He is writing to Titus – called him once before his “partner and fellowhelper” in the Corinthian Letters.  Dealing with people can be a difficult task.  When the church is mixed with religious people who take the greatest freedom in the world of “grace” and then stop and teach people that you have to keep the law as well in order to be right with God and you add a great dose of ignorant Christians who refuse to learn and walk with God, you have a tough assignment in that local church.  Paul was famous for teaching young ministers and helping them get their spiritual and theological legs under them.  He was encouraging Titus to teach those who were Christians to remember to walk right.

The Christian life is kind of like milking cows – it’s unbelievably daily.  The basics are just that – basic.  You cannot get away from them.  Watching out for ungodly things, being self disciplined in your moral activities, your Bible Study and prayer, fellowshipping with Believers…things that we must be self-disciplined in.  We do not have a choice.  Let me regress a moment – yes, we do have a choice.  Because of Grace and because God made us people with free wills, we can chose to follow Jesus or we can chose to follow our own ways.

I was interested this morning in Paul’s instruction to Titus!  That is simple, but profound.  Paul had to remind Titus and told Titus to remind the Christian family there.  Some one was to take the responsibility to help keep each other on the narrow path.  We cannot do this Christian thing alone.  It is not meant to be done alone.  We need each other.  I am not going to take a moment to pile drive Governor Sanford for his impropriety in office, but I will visit it enough to say that it would have been helpful to our dear friend if he had a Titus up close to his heart who could have been real enough with him to guide him to walk right before God and men.  When we get “alone” and “away” from others we live dangerous lives and open ourselves up to a major impact by the enemy.

I was watching parents at the Tailgate Party the other evening at the church.  The little kids would walk away from the parents but not for long.  A mom was always watching and a dad had an eye on their child.  It was important to keep an eye on your children.  The older youth got farther away that the little kids but the parents still knew where they were.   However, if you took your eyes off of them long enough you gave opportunity for them to get in trouble.  God is still watching his children.  He is expecting his children to watch His children and to walk with each other encouraging each other to walk lives worthy of our name.

I am glad that I have friends.  I have people around me that care!  Priceless!

It’s a Three Legged Race!

³ Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?

Country Preacher!  Not one of those big time preachers on TV all the time.  Just a simple preacher with a message from God that would change the lives of the people forever.  He was given a message for a people who were comfortable and religious.  Doin’ well, I guess you could say.  Comfortable, complacent, severely slack concerning their relationship with God.  They liked they way this preacher started his sermon.  He started kicking the other nations around.  He was preachin’ to them stinkin’ liberals and they liked it.  But what they thought was a seven point sermon actually had eight.  He got to the eighth point and camped out for a while.

I guess they thought that God was their best friend forever!  Amazing what happens when we get comfortable in our walk with God…or can you call it a walk with God when HE is the only one walking.  Coming to church is no substitute for walking with God!  Walking WITH HIM is his idea from the start.  Adam and Eve were to walk to gether in the garden, that is until SIN entered the picture.  They got to thinking in the midst of their comfort that some how God relaxed the commands.  Self-discipline and a sound mind went out the window and we have been suffering ever sinces.  Jesus walked with God and I am glad He did for He made a way whereby I could walk with God.

How could they walk together?  They don’t agree!  They are going in two different directions.  Can’t be friends if you can’t get along.  Let’s see if I can remember here!  I was 11 when I became a believer in Christ and if I remember well, I chose as an act of my free will to die to what I wanted and promised to allow Jesus Christ to be LORD of my life – boss, controller, owner, the ONE I would follow.  I wish I could say I made that decision and I have never had to work on that one again.  However, I find that when I don’t pay attention to something that it has a way of becoming distant.  You can get very used to that kind of thing.  And when you “get used to something” you have to be very careful not to forget!  Comfort and complacency can be dangerous!

Ruth Graham (Billy and Ruth Grahams middle child), in her book In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart , she tells of a time in her life where her husband relocated a family business in Texas.  He worked in Dallas and she was a stay at home mom on farm they lived on.  His commute was an hour long from farm to Dallas.  He stayed very busy.  She did as well.  Kids.  Daily issues.  Next thing you know they were miles apart as a couple.  He became focused on other women… How can two walk together unless they agree?  I guess you can be together without “being together”.  I guess you can confuse sleeping in the same bed, seeing the same children, eating at the same table, talking to each other on the phone from time to time, with a marriage.  Maybe there is something completely different between being married and being “together” in life.

I am remembering for myself this morning that I made a commitment to the Lord.  He wants to walk with me every moment of every day.  Maybe he wants me to camp out around when our walk started.  Maybe he wants me to hunger for HIM as much as he loves me and wants to guide me.  I am discovering that He wants to guide me more than I want to be guided.  I have a cronic problem with wanting to do what pleases me.  I know I am the only one with that headache, but at least Iam honest.  I am learning.  I have not arrived.

I used to laugh at the Field Day times Nancy used to pull off at McLauin Elementary.  The used to be competitive races.  Now all we have is “sissy let’s make everyone in the world feel good” kind of races.  Everyone’s a winner now!  Like we never compete in the real world.  Anyway, before they took out the competitive edge, she would have a three legged race.  Two people would stand side by side and tie their inside legs that were together with a cord or strap.  Nancy would blow the whistle and the race would begin.  It was a hoot.  Three steps into the race they would be laying all over the ground because they refused to figure out that if they moved their legs at the same time and concentrated on walking together they would go farther down the path.  Someone had to be in charge!  Someone has to take the lead.  When you refuse to learn that, you end up on the ground.

Alright, Lord.  I repent!  Let’s get this three legged race thing going!  I choose to tie my life to yours.  You are the leader.  Let’s go!

Chief Running Preacher!

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

I don’t have a statue of Buddha in my office at home.  There is no burning incense to some deity on a table nor  icons of religious leaders on my walls in my study.  Now, I can hear folk breathing again worrying about that kind of thing.  Neither did Jonah (for the sake of this blog let’s call him “Chief Running Preacher”), but he was traveling with a group of men who were all over that kind of thing.  They worshiped different deities other than the Lord God!  Chief Running Preacher invaded their boat.  Things were going along fine until the running away preacher hopped on board.

It is amazing how irrational a man thinks when he is running from God.  You try to out think One with all the brains and knows all.  Stupid is as stupid does and stupid Chief Running Preacher was on a boat ride into deep water where the Que line awaited for the ride of a lifetime.  It is also amazing how God gets your attention.  Taylor made just for old Chief Running Preacher.  Chief Running Preacher stopped his running once God got his attention.  A big storm, an angry frustrated bunch of sailors, and a quick dip in a deep ocean were the means for getting he and his big fish ride together.  And ride they did.  Big fish swallowed Chief Running Preacher and took him deep in the ocean so he could listen to the heart of God speak.  Rolling around in a fish belly should grab all of our attention.  He started praying.  Smart!

In the midst of that prayer is the verse that caught my attention.  His idol was “doing life his own way”.  And when he decided to do life his way, he forfeited the grace that God provided for him.   I think I am remembering right – Scripture says, ” There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Prov. 14:12  Maybe that is what is meant by him fleeing from the presence of the Lord.

I am reminded this morning that the way of the Lord leads to the grace of God and is filled with the grace of God.  I want to go HIS way today.

How the Lord loved Jonah!  Free ride from the belly of the big fish right up on the beach near his original assignment given by God.  What confidence the Lord had in Jonah knowing that his preaching would be what changes the whole nature of a city.  Chief Running Preacher ran right into the heart of God.  God was waiting for him there.  When I became a believer in Christ, the greatest Traveling Partner in the world partners with me.  God now lives in me!

Teach me to listen to you, Father!  I don’t want to forfeit the grace of God in my life.

Another one of those “Three’s

⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

It’s another one of those “Three” things in the Bible.  Father, Son, Holy Spirit!  Body, Soul, Spirt!  Power, Love, Sound Mind.

Timothy got his strength by being around Paul.  He was bold as he could be when Paul was there.  Paul was in prison in Rome.  Even though Paul’s courage and “old man experience and strength” was what protected Timothy, maybe just maybe, Timothy was scared to step out on his own.  Paul saw the potential.  Paul was captivated by the strength of the call on Timothy’s life.  He told him he had a great Godly heritage.  He was raised by Godly women and had a great foundation to work from.  He was timid.

It is amazing what happens when God put a man right in front of Timothy.  We know of Timothy’s grandmother and mother.  The Bible seems to be very quiet regarding any male influence in his life except for Paul.  And what a man to model your life after.  Timothy had a lot of catching up to do and I am certain that his ambivolence in wanting to step up to the plate and be bold like Paul had something to do with his lack of confidence.  Paul certainly was encouraging him.  Timothy knew how to step up to the plate spiritually and lead and be bold because he had seen it in his mentor.

I am reminded that God blessed me with people who encouraged me in my calling.  I am very comfortable that I am called to preach in the local church and that my current assignment from God is to preach here in Florence, SC.  I have had my Paul’s in the past.  I just officiated at my mentor’s funeral a month ago in Jacksonville, FL.  Stafford was one who taught me not be timid in the pulpit but to clearly and graciously declare the truth from whatever pulpit I was in.  I saw it happen in his life.  I got strength from him.

God gave Timothy a great legacy in his mother and grandmother who had the loving sense to raise him in the strength and truth of the Scriptures – the living Word of God – The Bible.  He provided him one more powerful example to follow and his mentor was allowed by God to leave the world two letters that Paul wrote to his friend – Timothy.   Out of love Paul looks this young preacher in the face and tells him that God did not give him a spirit of cowardice, timidity, or fear.  He gave Timothy, Power, Love, and a Sound Mind.

The Power Of the Holy Spirit that lives in us.  “You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”  Not a thought but the complete truth for all believers who are filled with the Spirit of God at salvation.

The Love of God – one of the great evidence that the Holy Spirit lives in you is that the fruit of the Spirit is love.  He, Paul, states to the Corinthian church that “…three remain, Faith Hope and Love and the greatest of these is love.”  He gives us a love for the Father and for those the Father loves.  That is powerful information to our hungry spirits for we now have the ability to love those who are believers and those who are not believers.  We now have a great story to tell to the world.

Sound Mind – Self-discipline – I am like Beth Moore this morning.  I heard her say to the television crowd the other day that she wishes she had something new to say but there are only two things that will feed a sound mind and that is self-discipline in the area of prayer and Bible Study.  Listening to the Father in heaven talk to you – Bible Study.  Talking to him about what He just said to you is prayer.  Heavenly conversation that will impact the mind and keep it sound.

God seemed to be saying to me this morning, “Jim, forget the timidity deal – there is no fear.  I live inside you and you now have the right to claim that you have power from heaven, the power to love others like Christ does, and you have the right to a sound mind.  Celebrate the fact that the Father loves you enough to live inside you.  Celebrate the fact and act on the fact that you are here to encourage the saints and to witness to the lost and minister to people by loving them.  Celebrate the fact that God – through Bible Study and Prayer – will give you a sound mind and give you strength.  Be disciplined in your walk with me regarding Bible Study and Prayer.”

1 Timothy 6 – It never ends

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith.

There are days when I wish you could task four Christian pills per day for ten days and then your work and fight would be over as a Christian.  One could then walk around in great shape with no temptations, trials, struggles and then simply rest it out until Jesus comes to take us home.

OK!  I woke up.  I was reminded again this morning that there is a battle to fight.  There is discipline to exercise.  I was reminded that there is nothing new in this business of walking with Jesus.  Prayer and Study of the Word of God – The Living Word and only guide for faith and practice – are two parts of that discipline that cannot be ignored.  I know that times are changing and that people are doing different than they were in the ’50’s, but, hey, some things never change. I am certain that there are many different things that could be added to the list but in order to win you have to pick up the armor and put it on every day.  You cannot afford to go into this daily kind of battle undressed and unprepared. I cannot pass it off to some other staff person or one of my secretaries.  I cannot expect my wife and children to pick up my slack.  This kind of fighting is for me to do.  I have the responsibility.  Because of the Cross of Christ, and his victory over sin, death and the grave, I can focus, fight, and find myself a victory in this daily pursuit of holiness.

Thank you God for meeting with me today!

The Faith Walk is a fight.  The battle field is right inside my own head and heart.  I am to fight the  good fight.

No time to quit!  Let’s get this day started!

Sometimes it is hard to get the smell out!

OK!  I had to get up early and get to the hospital yesterday and I did not get to blog my verse.  Opal was doing alright yesterday and Betty came through with flying colors.

Now Today! 2 Kings 10

³² In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel.

I wanted to know, why!

King Ahab’s dad was Omri.  Ahab was pretty good politically.  He fortified a number of his cities to protect them from attacks.  He was good militarily.  He made military and trade alliances with other countries which were made with marriages, and marriages, then as now, are cemented with religion.  To support his regime, he married the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Sidon and a priest of the fertility goddess Astarte.   She brough her faith along with her.  It just wasn’t the godly kind of faith.  The marriage began to stink quick.  Quickly the nation of Israel began to smell just like her.  It wasn’t long before old King Ahab was allowing his wife, Jezebel to build all kinds of worship centers to her fertility gods.  Baal being one of them.  Once you get it on you sometimes it is hard to get the smell out.

The two of them are now dead – the place stinking with Baal worship and evil.

Think about how long it took to recover from one more evil king Ahab.  He is now DEAD King Ahab.  Dead King Ahab and his Dead wife Jezebel had worked their evil in the nation for years.  The nation is paying for it.  They thought it was alright to live out a life that had no Biblical World View.  They were the leaders and they could do it the way that they wanted.  They left a legacy of evil in the ranks.  Now there is some cleansing needed among the ranks.  New King Jehu is now on the scene.  New King Jehu loves God and begins the process of cleansing.  The cut off heads of 70 princes of Ahab got together in a sack when delivered to Jehu.  They were piled in two piles in front of the gate.  Next came and interesting gathering of the leaders of Baal.  They had a party and worship service and when it was all over they were the sacrifice offered up to God.  Now the princes and the preachers were dead.  God had done what he promised to the family and friends of old Baal Worshiping King Ahab.  He wanted to get the smell out.

I have noticed that when you go into Subway to eat, you come out smelling like Subway.  When they cook the bread, an odor permeates the place and all the clothing you have on.  I like the sandwiches and put up with the smell in order to eat there.  Israel had eaten at the table of the world around them.  Their neighbors had rubbed up close to them and gotten the smell of their gods and lifestyles on them.  Their view of life was so much different than the one that God had instructed for the people of Israel.  But when you eat at their tables it ought not to be a strange thing to walk away smelling like a non-God centered world.  Baal Worship and it’s lusty fleshly lifestyle had infiltrated the people of God. After all the good that was done by new king Jehu, new king Jehu still did not take the cleansing thing the whole way.  He did a lot of good things but still liked to worship the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.  The impact of sin is awesome.  Once it gets in the ranks of your life, the church, or anything including the government, it is especially hard to get rid of the problem and it is very difficult to get the smell out.

Call it what you will, but sometimes what is needed is a backdoor revival.

The Lord did some “spring cleaning” in his household.  Piety and righteous living were not primary and the profane had taken over. I guess it shouldn’t be abnormal to hear that God began to reduce the size of Israel.  He was cleaning up and taking out the trash.  Maybe he wants to travel through the tabernacle of my life gather the trash and carry it out.  Could there be some pet sin that I want to keep.  Maybe I still like to worship my own special golden calf at Bethel adn Dan, too!  I hate it when I am reminded that I am still on this side of eternity and that there are things that God is still trying to clean out of my life.  I am glad that HE is doing it and not others who would never be as patient nor loving.  His Grace is still amazing.

I saw the verse and was reminded that God is still Holy and wants his children to be holy. I am reminded that I have the same choice that Jehu – I can get rid of all sin or just some of it and leave the parts that I like.  I guess as long as I have the choice then I get to pay the price for whatever I choose to do.  I can allow myself to be filled with the purpose of God and be a person of piety, or I can choose as an act of my free will to be a person that lives in the influence of the profane and unrighteous.  My choice.

I was just thinking, it didn’t get in that wicked condition over night.  Years of decay and disobedience combined with a friendship with the world opened the door for the nation of Israel to get in that condition.  They walked into it a day at a time, a choice at a time.  Look at the generations that suffer because of the wicked choices of the leaders (preachers, parents, teachers…or whatever word you want to use).  We leave a legacy that generations have to deal with!  Sometimes it can get pretty ugly…

I guess it is easier to keep clean to start with.  Sometimes all the soap in the world will not get the smell out.

“…made the iron float.” 2 Kings 6

⁶ The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.

If I jump off the top of some tall building, the sudden stop at the end of the drop could possibly loosen up a lot of things in my body.  Thankfully there are laws of nature that can give us pain at the end of a stupid jump but are also our friends as well.  Gravity holds us to the earth and keeps us from spinning helplessly out into space.

I guess every time I read this passage, I get caught up with the floating axe head.  Here is a group of preachers who gather to be around Elijah.  They are respectable prophets themselves but they are smart enough to connect to a master teacher who will be their guide and mentor.  They have a need for a larger space for their group to gather and learn. They go and build a simple place to stay.

The axe head was borrowed.  The prophet was not a bit lazy.  He was willing to care for what was borrowed and wanted to do what was right.  Now the borrowed axe head was no longer on the axe handle but now in the water.  Iron does not float!  No joke – fact.  The Book, The Bible – the Living Word of God -  said it was made of Iron!  No joke – fact.  You use things made of iron as an anchor not a floatation devise.  You can twist this story all you want but the laws of nature will not make the axe head float.

Elijah asked him to show him where it was.  He cut a stick and dropped it in the water and the next thing you know – Iron Axe Head Floats!

The God of Nature is not tied to its laws.

I remember that when the budget is low and we (in our human efforts) are seeking to find man made ways to make the weekly demand.  So far the financial axe head has floated.  God has never let me down.  He has never given me all I wanted but has always given me what I needed.   When I am in a counseling session and I see two bull headed people headed right for a divorce and it seems that the laws of nature are again going to show a head on collision – I remember that the marriage axe head floats.  God still can help to “iron heads” keep things together.  You would have thought it would have sunk to the bottom and drowned but again it floated.  God still allows the simple Word of the Living God to be preached and lives still are changed.  What seems impossible always finds a way in the hands of a God not tied to natural laws.  He can still stop a flowing river and allow people to walk across.  He can still open blind eyes and heal broken bones.  He can still cause people who are drowning in the world to float to the top, be rescued and returned to the OWNER who made them – Saved at last!

OK, Tammy – so the pills are wiping you out and you feel like you are drowning in the “feel bad days” – remember axe heads still float.  The God that governs nature is still  ABOVE it all.

Oh, to see my confidence REST in a God who still causes fish to gather on the other side of the boat, calls dead men to “come forth” from the grave, can speak to a fig tree and watch it die instantly, who can become a man and die for the sins of the world giving us hope…and yes, still calls those of us who are so swamped and drowning in the world to float.  It is funny to me that he cut a new stick and the axe head floated to it…

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross…that “stick” is still doing supernatural things – for in the hand of God nothing is impossible.

In God’s hands – Axe heads can float! – I am depending on it!

1 Timothy 1:5-6 It’s what drives us!

5who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

Vacation Bible School Report! I am reminded again this morning to affirm what the Scripture, the Bible – The Living Word of God – states about God wanting all men to be saved.  I will always be so thankful to Teresa Godwin and her fine staff of volunteers who sacrifice each year to tell boys and girls about Jesus.  This year’s experience was no different.  We enrolled 411, high attendance of 351 on Wednesday, had over 450 last night at the celebration, and had the chance to see 12 young people give their lives to the guidance of Christ as they became believers in Christ.  It was awesome for this preacher to start the celebration baptizing Ms. English.  She comes every year to Vacation Bible School with friends and this year was a different year for her.  All the preparation of former years bore fruit as she responded as a 9 year old to the gospel message.  She asked if she could be baptized here at Southside and I will admit that I did not have to pray about that one.  Yes!, was my answer.

We long to see folk saved.  We ask them deliberately to make a decision to follow Christ.  This week’s focus was on Peter a follower of Jesus.  He had not always followed Christ.  One day while he was attending to his very viable and fruitful fishing business, Jesus came along and asked him to follow Him.  Peter dropped his nets, left it all and began a three year process that changed his life forever.  He chose to become a follower of Christ.  On Wednesday, I had the joy of joining the rest of the volunteers who were teaching and carefully confronting the people with the gospel in making an appeal for them to follow Christ just as Peter did.  By the end of the week I had a chance to witness 12 that gave their lives to Christ at Vacation Bible School, a dad who carried me out to lunch and had is daughter explain to me how she accepted Christ as Lord at home as dad led her in a prayer of commitment to Christ and then had a young student tell me how she went home and led her friend to Christ following Vacation Bible School.

Mandy Godwin has been attending Vacation Bible School since she was four.  Her 22nd birthday was yesterday and she has only missed one Vacation Bible School in those years. That one year was when she was on summer mission assignment with the South Carolina Baptist Convention with a focus on Children’s Missions.   Her mother is our Minister to Families who have Children and she has watched her mother minister for years.  I have the joy of watching a second generation Children’s Minister being released right before my very eyes.  She is to be married in September and will be moving to the Augusta – Aiken area where I am more than certain she will be involved in Children’s Ministry.  She and Rick Estes (our Minister of Worship and Arts – and the set designer for Vacation Bible School) were our worship leaders for the week.  They had a missions offering competition going on.  The money collected would go to local mission efforts and missions education.  Of course, Mandy represented the girls and Rick the boys.  The group that collected the most would have the joy of watching the other representative being tarred and feathered and do the chicken dance during the Friday evening Celebration.  As it worked out the girls won and rick ended up with the delight of being tarred with chocolate pudding and feathered – and I understand he did a superb chicken dance.  The children collected over $1,700.00 to go toward these missions projects.

THEN as if that wasn’t a blessing from heaven, another one came my way.   I got a call from Romania.  Tim Spurling, the medical doctor on the medical trip, told me that they had seen in all the clinics that week 950 people.  He had seen 95 of those folk give their lifes to Christ after being confronted with the Good News of Christ’s love for them.  It may have been midnight in Romania when he called, his back may have been killing him after standing and dealing with people all week, his voice weak from the labor there, but you could tell the joy in his heart as he explained what he had seen God do this past week.  One tenth of the people they saw made a commitment to Christ.

All the effort, the travel, the money – all of it – is worth it when we get to heaven and see in its fullness all we can and cannot see now of how God worked to see folk’s lives change.

Latest from India as of the last Facebook post:  Ryan and Chris write:

Orphanage in India where Ryan and Chris labored

Dearest brothers and sisters we send you greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ and also our brothers and sisters here in India. Here is what has been happening and what we need prayer for. Yesterday we were on a retreat with the Bible college teachers and it was good. One of the teachers caught fever and was very sick. Ryan and I got to lay hands on him and he recovered that very night praise God. Be in prayer for us for this next eight days Ryan and I will be teaching English to the orphans. We leave Madurai the twenty sixth and we will arrive in Hanamkonda on the twentyeighth early in the morning to work with Dr. Wilson and the Banjara people. In a sense we will be starting over again and will be here for God willing two weeks to a month. Here is some things we need prayer for: discouragement, patience, and being bold in why we are here not to forget the gospel. Specifically for myself it has been the hardest thing to get into the presence of God but be encouraged last night God definitely met with me. Pray that we will stay strong in seeking His face. We also have some other things on our heart in the future that need serious prayer and discernment for. Ryan and I both have found it in our heart to try and go to the state of Manipur which borders Myanmar also known as Berma. We need prayer and discernment for there is a lot of fighting going on in this place over drugs and a lot of underground and military violence. So be in prayer and if you have any prophetic words or words of knowledge or encouragement or praise reports please email them to us or write them on the wall of the Love India group. Keep also in mind that we have our eyes set to boldly proclaim the gospel in Varanasi Lord willing. This is the Hindu holy city or mecca and known as the most religious city in the world. What better place for the gospel to come and the Spirit of God to come in power? Thanks brothers and sisters for your prayers and encouragement. We miss you all and love you all very much!

Ryan and Chris

Psalm 82 – A Song for Our Leaders

⁸ Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.

I read about them in the Bible.  One of the benefits of the Word of God we know as the Bible is that God recorded for us good and bad.  There were good kings and bad kings.  There were kings that followed what God said do and there were kings who thought themselves to be little gods and did what they wished.  I read of one today.  In 2 Kings we read of Ahaziah who fell through the lattice work and hurt himself.  Listen!

¹ After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. ² Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

³ But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went.

He was King in a nation that God blessed seeking the blessing from Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron.  I guess it was normal for him for Ahab his predecessor had modeled that behavior.  Ahab and his dearly beloved Jezebel had done all they could to wipe those of faith off the map.  It was time that the Nation of Israel tasted life from the gods of the rest of the world.  They were tired of their land being a one-sided God fearing nation.  Let’s give all these foreign gods a chance.   Go ask the “Lord of the Flies” if I am going to get better!  (Jesus used a similar phrase Beelzebub (prince of the demons) to describe the devil himself)   Ahaziah had a chance to change things.  He didn’t.

Enter stage left – Elijah, the prophet and preacher – God tells him to tell these servants of this disobedient king to tell the king – “Did I somehow quit being the Lord of this nation?”  “Did you forget about me?”  Your little injury will cause you die.

And die he did.  The king who failed to remember that there is a God in heaven, seeking the advice a god other than God Himself, ended up never leaving that bed.  He died.

I grieve over the fallen state of political leadership in our country.  It has nothing to do with Democrat or Republican.  It has to do with what I perceive as a president who has no concept of a Biblical Worldview.  I am watching our key leadership govern from a perspective that there is no God in heaven…no guidlines set out by the Bible.  I grew up watching a great deal of mischief happen in the political arena, but nothing like I am seeing today.  Here we have a president who declares that Jesus is a prophet and puts him in the same line up as Mohammed and Abraham.  He is moving away from what we have held sacred in the area of marriage.  He acknowledges the homosexual lifestyle as a valid alternate lifestyle.  He is distancing our country from Israel and doing all he can to “partner” with those who have been enemies for years.

History shows that there are kings or presidents who are sensitive to the guidance of God and there are those who would solicit the guidance of any god.

I am glad that the Lord of the Hosts of Heaven is still in charge and will not fail to guide us.  I am thankful that I can yeild myself to His control.  God is not wandering around heaven wondering what He will do next.  Watching Him work is a daily task.  We are placed in an interesting place in His-story!  I wonder what He will do today?

That’s just how I see it this morning!  Just a few rambling thoughts…

Seasoned with salt!

⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Wiersbe says, “…A thoughtless word of criticism, a questionable remark, an angry word—any of these could tear down in a minute whatever Christian testimony others have tried to build up. (Wiersbe, Warren W.: Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1997, c1992, S. 372)

I love to laugh and find my self crying from time to time.  A good joke that makes me laugh is great medicine to my heart every now and then.  Being at Bazen’s in the morning and listening to a bunch of men deal with laugh, tell stories and rib each other from time to time is one of the high points of my day.  However, I am reminded that I am to have a conversation that is seasoned…flavored…by the grace of God that has saved me.  I deplore hypocritical unreal legalistic religious and overly pious Pharisee type Christians.  If I fail at times it is to be far more “earthy” than slobering pious in the way I carry on a converstation.  I don’t have trouble being “nice” in my conversation, but I ain’t running for office or trying to impress the Queen of England with my use of the English language.

However real I might feel, no matter how earthy the words  would fit, I was reminded today to be a person that fits well with the grace that has been bestowed on me.  The grace on the inside should be reflected in the careful use of words.  My whole person has been redeemed…including the use of my language.

I have the opportunity to build up a person and encourage them even if they are not present.  I have the choice at every point to use stories and jokes that build up instead of tear down the Christian testimony that I consider to be precious.  I am reminded that the Lord’s presence in me – that sweet presence of the Holy Spirit – is there to hold back any thing that would bring destructive expressions of anger forward to my lips.

I read Lori Dulaney’s twitter this morning and heard her heart.  She wants to go to the beach.  I don’t blame her.  I do, too!   I saw a picture of a young couple at the beach.  They were busy, shovels in hand, building their version of a castle.  You could tell that it was very important that they not quit their day job because their creative abilities in the area of sand castles was lacking, but the important thing was that they liked it and enjoyed doing it together.  They labored for hours on it and were excited at their results only to discover that it took one big wave to undo what had taken so long to build.  What was a beautiful creation was now making its way into the ocean!

The wrong comment, the inappropriate story at the wrong time can damage a testimony.  I am reminded of that today.  God forgive me when I have misused my words.  I want to live a great testimony for you today.  I want my words to be seasoned with salt!

Vacation Bible School Report for Wednesday

348 present and over 400 enrolled

We are tallying up the number of children who indicated a desire to become believers.

Continue to pray today as the teachers follow up on the decisions…

Jim

Set your mind on things above – Command not a Suggestion…

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

At least I am learning where the battlefield is located.  The mind is the battlefield.  The enemy, Satan, wants to control my mind – fill my mind with his thoughts.  He wants to do so.

Let’s see if I can remember the verse that Barry Lord taught us in one of our worship experiences and that I heard Beth Moore repeat the other morning.  God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a SOUND MIND.  We have been gifted by God with a sound mind.  This battlefield has been bought back.  It has been redeemed and now can change.  It used to be the open receptor of all the information that the enemy wanted to put in it.  But God took that mind so bent on the flesh and opened it up by his death burial and resurrection to buy it back and let it become sound.

He instructed me today to “set” or fix mind on things above.  I don’t have to hunt the gutter, it finds me!  I know where it is and the voices that scream from it are insufferable.  I have not always lived as a redeemed person because I allow my mind to be fixated on things that do not please the Father.  I am longing today (and it only happens a day at a time or morning at a time, or a minute at a time or even battle seceond by second) to allow my mind to be fixed on things above.  I want to allow my mind to rest in things above.  I know I will have all the help I need from the enemy in his attacks to think on things below…but I choose above.

May he be praised!

Vacation Bible School Report

Wednesday Monrning early…Pray for today – I will be sharing the gospel today with the older group.

Tuesday

Enrollment – 389

Attendance – 343

Today is a big part of the Vacation Bible School process.  We are very intentional about telling the children of God’s love for them.

Vacation Bible School Monday Report

There were over 320 present on Monday.  I am always blown away at the way men and women volunteer their time to help tell children about the love of Jesus.  I am thankful to all that are working hard to make this a success.  The workers and teachers are sharing the gospel with the children.

Wednesday is the time I get to share the gospel with the whole group.

Give us this day…

1 Kings 17 -

² Then the Lord said to Elijah, ³ “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. ⁴ Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

There were two times when Elijah ended up by a brook drinking water from the brook and bread from the ravens who were servants of God and ministers to the prophet.  How he gets us ready to do the work to which he calls us is His business and his alone.  I am certain by reading this that Elijah had to learn to trust that God would take complete care of him.  God’s providence is more than adequate and perfect in taking care of his children especially the ones who are preparing for their next assignment.  His future depended on learning that you don’t have to have all the things in life to be successful.

I hear Jesus telling the listeners as they hear his “sermon” or teachings on the mount that if God can clothe the lillies of the field and take care of the birds of the air then certainly he cares for me.   In the same sermon prior to that he teaches the disciples to ask God to “…give us this day our daily bread…”  He always does!  I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread.  He is our providing God.  His providence is strong.   Ravens brought him his food.  It would always be that God would do the supernatural through natural means.  Birds are bringing food.  Water is flooding the altar.  Things that make no natural sense are being used to provide for all that we face. I hear him say again and again – Nothing is impossible with God.

Help me to learn to sit still and depend on the grace of God to provide all that I need.  I am trusting in the Lord today!

Ryan/Chris Report from India – Tim Spurling Report from Romania

Note from Ryan and Chris in India

Please pray that Chris and I hear God’s voice with a readiness to obey and that we make the right decision to stay or leave this village. We have been able to spend time with the orphans, preach and testify to the greatness of our Lord in the church and Bible college. God has used us in the gift of healing on a pastors eye as we layed hands on him and prayed for it to be opened. It was almost closed shut and he had not been able to see out of it for 6 years. God has also used the gift of prophecy and word of knowledge to lay bare the intentions of certains people’s hearts to know that God is really among them. We have also been able to go through some of the Hindu villages where we have been invited in to shops/homes to talk and drink chai. Our eyes are set on proclaiming the gospel to the lost, but the Christians here at the orphanage are very protective of us because of the persecution in the state and their wanting to keep us from being taken advantage of or hurt which we are very thankful for, but we are kinda hindered from going out to places where the kingdom of God must come. So please pray that we be full of the Holy Spirit and use wisdom and discernment as we obey the voice of God. Our sight is set on a Muslim city north of here near Hyderbad, so also please pray about this and if you have any words of wisdom, knowledge or encouragement please write them to us. Thank u so much for your laboring with us in intercession. May the grace of the Lord be with you.

2Chronicles 20:12

Ryan and Chris

Note from Tim Spurling in Romania along with the Medical Team

Jim,
Had a good day in clinic…saw >100 patients…
11 professions of faith. A few still dealing with issues.
Death of Romanian aquaintance has left 39 year old widow
searching for spiritual guidance. Please pray as she wants to come and talk with me tomorrow during the medical clinic.
Yours in Christ,
Tim

Thoughts on Forgiveness by Bill and Pam Farrell

I was in OM Ships Bookstore in Florence, SC just the other day with Barry Lord and he recognized another  book by some familiar authors, Bill and Pam Farrell.  These two were the authors of the familiar book Men are Waffles -Women are Like Spaghetti.  The book I saw was The Best Ten Decisions a Couple Can Make.  In an effort not to plagiarizer their work but to get you to read the book, I wanted to copy a brief section from the book that addresses the whole issue of forgiveness.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)  We (Bill and Pam) designed six statements to help people work through the  process of forgiveness.

1.  I forgive (name of person) for (offense that was committed).

2.  I admit that what was done was wrong.

3.  I do not expect (name of person) to make up for what he or she has done.

4.  I will not define (name of person) by what he or she has done.  Instead, I will define him or her as someone who needs just as much grace in life as I do.

5.  I will not manipulate (name of person) with what he or she has done.

6.  I will not allow what has happened to stop my personal growth.

(p. 88, Farrell, Bill and Pam.   The 10 Best Decisions a Couple Can Make. Harvest House Publishers.  2005)

I thought that this section was one  of the most helpful for me so far and wanted to share it with those who are brave enough to read my blog.  I hope you will purchase the book and read it.

2 Chronicles 16:9 God is watching! Why fear?

⁹ The eyes of the Lord search (KJV – runs to and fro) the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

He sees it all.  He searches or as the KJV puts it “runs” – doesn’t miss a lick.  He sees it all (through out the whole earth – to and fro).  And he is actively involved in strengthening those whose hearts (and I like that part for He sees the intent and motivation of the heart).  He notices those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.  I know that I am not supposed to do word studies for the purposes of just reading the scriptures but I wanted to know about that word “fully” – שָׁלֵם (šā∙lēm) fully devoted, i.e., have a great love and zeal, implying obedience Swanson, James: Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. DBLH 8969, #6 It has a great deal to do with being in a close relationship with God and out of that relationship grows deep intimacy which opens us the joy of great love and zeal for serving the one that is loved.  The natural response of lovers is to do out of a loving servant heart what is desired as compared to the idea of a duty to do it…with no heart…

The other day during one of our famous Bike Weeks at Myrtle Beach our loving and caring Highway State Patrol set up several road blocks on one of the major traveled coming into the beach.  Traffic was blocked for miles as they did road checks looking for violations as people entered the beach.  I am certain they were checking for any kind of violation including seatbelt, broken or burned out lights, drugs or any other illegal substance.  They could check a lot of things but they couldn’t check the heart of the people there.

Maybe there is a “road check” today and God is looking me over.  Maybe today God is asking me to do a heart check.  He wants me to make sure my motivation is right.  He is looking and cannot miss a lick…he is thorough with me in love and his grace allows a look that is able to strengthen me and bring Glory to His precious name.

Maybe it is the calm assurance of his protection this morning.  I will not be missed today!  He looks my way!  I am loved by the God of heaven whom I call “Father” and He calls me “my son!”

The devil walks.  This is the second instance I have found that he is running to me to strengthen me.  The other was when he ran to a boy we call prodigal!

Do Not be Anxious about Anything?

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

These words are written and sent to us from a man sitting in prison between two guards possibly knowing of his death.  Rome was home for him at the moment.  He always longed to go to Rome because it was the vital center of the known world at the time.  Think of the impact of what could happen if the church caught on at Rome.  One could impact the world from Rome.  He got a free ride there paid for by the Roman Government.  He was eating meals that the Roman Government provided.  He had a place to sleep.  He wanted to go – but I am not sure this is the way he planned it.  And yet while there in prison he wrote this line in the letter sent to the Philippian Church.

Do not be anxious for anything!  Right and pass the Prozac!  At least that’s how I felt when I first read the verse.  I am older now and hopefully wiser and a person who enjoys the peace of God and it does transcend all understanding!

When I started this bible reading process, I asked God to show me one verse that jumps out at me as I read it.  This one did and it comes with so much attached to it.  This verse is one of the first verses I ever interacted with as a young Christian.  It became one of  the central verses I taught on as a young minister.  If I am not mistaken it was one of the verses that I built one of my first sermons around as a young preacher.  Preaching through this book has afforded me another visit to the whole of Philippians and it brings back such wonderful memories.

Right thinking, right praying,  right living  and the peace of God in your life that trancends all understanding are all byproducts of the grace life.  It’s the peace of God thing that caused me to stop on this verse.  I am reminded again this morning that because of God’s amazing grace I can have peace.  It straightens up my stinkin’ thinkin’, opens up channels of communication with God that are full of conversation, and allows me to have a partner to journey through life with (a partner who is in it for the long haul and through all the ups and downs of it all).  WOW!  Talk about peace – peace with Him – the peace OF God – can’t get away from his peace.  Praise his Holy Name!

When you settle that Jesus is your ONLY way through this life, lean to submit to His guidance instead of what this old world teaches and allow your mind to become spiritually focused the security or the peace of God becomes ours to enjoy.

Mind and heart…maybe it is the fact that worry get’s lodged between the two and blocks the path to the peace of God.

If God is who He says He is – And He is – then peace is mine today!

Look what dinner cost!

Sometimes rehearsing God’s work among His people causes one to stop and take notice. 1 Kings 13 is the text!

¹⁵ Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

¹⁶ “No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. ¹⁷ For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”

¹⁸ But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. ¹⁹ So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.

²⁰ Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lord came to the old prophet. ²¹ He cried out to the man of God from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. ²² You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”

²³ After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own donkey for him, ²⁴ and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. ²⁵ People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him.”

²⁷ Then the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey, ²⁸ and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. ³⁰ He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!”

It was Kimberly’s time to decide where we would eat supper.  “How about Jumpin’ J’s?”, she said.   Nancy and I agreed.  Kimberly got her predictable two hot dogs and a bowl of fries that would not fit in the trunk of a big car.  Nancy ordered her grilled chicken pita and I ordered a flounder plate.  It was a bit over $28.  I don’t know what the other cost entailed.  I do know that fried flounder is “heart healthy”, and at the time I didn’t give a rip.  I wanted grease.  I succeeded.  The flounder plate was “off the chain”!

(I wish Smith could write here and tell one of his stories [loose translation] because I am certain that he has a great dinner story that would fit right here)

Here is a little king who has built a little king altar, burning little king incense, and eat up with idolatry.  God is fed up with it.  God is kind enough to send a prophet, a man of God, to go and explain His displeasure regarding this little king’s activity instead of letting a lightening bolt consume his stupid self.  The man of God boldly confronts the little king which I find so awesome.  Not some little squeaky smiling feel-good sermon from Texas.  No, he shared God’s message boldly where the whole place could hear it.   His head could have rolled, yet at the moment the man of God had more respect and fear of God than of this little king.  I guess when your God is bigger than any little king or little president it doesn’t matter what a little man can say or do.  Little king decided to strike back at the man of God and God worked little king over.  The little king was trying to deal with the paralysis of his arm.  Amazing that when something happens to us, instead of repenting and getting the sin out of our life, clearing out the altar, we want relief from the circumstances not a change of heart.  He wasn’t completely ignorant.  He had enough sense to ask the man of God to pray for him.  I wondered why little king didn’t just go over to his little king altar and put some more little king incense on it and burn it to his little king god asking it to fix this situation.  Even the dumbest of us know when we need the God we are ignoring.   Arm was fixed.  Heart unchanged!  Wow!!!!!!!

Little king asked man of God to come and eat at little king’s table.  Man of God said it wasn’t what God told him to do so he refused little kings invitation.  God had been clear in where he was NOT to eat dinner and it wasn’t in Beth-el or any where close to where the king was!  He was honest and resolute.  Way to go, man of God!

That ain’t the end of the story.  Starts great but doesn’t end as well…

I observed all that, but here is what got me.  It is amazing how temptation comes at you.  Thus, enters the old prophet.  One would figure that you could trust an old man of God.  Smith, Sandifer, Collins, Hebert, Hattaway, and Kosin are a few in line in my life who are preachers and folk I respect.  I come from an old tradition of when preachers, evangelists, pastors and like minded ministers were treated with respect.  I also come from an age where one trusted school teachers as well.  I pastor in a town that still holds high the office of pastor.  Preachers should be people of integrity.  I will admit that I am a sinner like the next man, however, I long to be a person of integrity.

But this old prophet was a false prophet and was the enemy’s persuading voice that led the man of God to choose to disobey God.  He wasn’t much of a prophet.   I want to believe that there used to be a day in the life of this prophet when his voice had some Godly zing to it, where his voice was listened to as if the voice of God was speaking.  I want to believe that his legacy was not littered with this kind of testimony through out all of his ministry.  His prophetic power was impotent.  He held the responsibility of raising the level of righteous living, yet he did not have the integrity nor impetus  to confront little king about the big sin of idolatry.  God had to bring in a man from the outside to do that work.  Instead of helping the man of God stay on track he, being filled with lies himself, deceived the man of God.  I want to believe that the old prophet knew the man of God was thirsty from the trip and he genuinely wanted to help him with refreshment.  I want to believe that he had some genuinely good reason to help the man of God.   There are some places a man of God needs to stay away from.  Obeying God is better than sacrifice.  Ultimately, the man of God yielded to the old prophet’s desires and he disobeyed God’s command on his life.  I wonder on judgment day as we stand before God and give an account, how will we stand on how we have used our influence as ministers of God?

I hope dinner was good.  It was his last.  He saddled his donkey, headed toward home, and before the smell of dinner got off his hands a lion had killed him.  Big God told man of God what to do.  Man of God didn’t listen and it cost him his life.  They reported to the old prophet what had happened.  He went gathered up his body and buried it in his grave.

Ate.  Drank. And was Merry.

Dead.  Buried.  Buried in a strange place.

Unfortunately, I know some contemporary versions of the same story.  I will leave it at that!

I want to end well!  God help me to listen to you.  Help me to use my influence well.