It was a great day at Mt. Tabor this past Sunday. Praise the Lord for meeting with us in the morning service. I preached a message on "Salt and Light" from Matthew 5:13-16 and tried to challenge the church to use their influence to reach people for Christ. I have been preaching on Sunday morning through the Sermon on the Mount. We had a good number of visitors again with 195 in attendance.
After church Sunday morning, the Mission Belles provided lunch for the church to show their appreciation for helping them raise funds for Christmas gifts for our missionary wives. It was a very tasty meal and a good time of fellowship.
Following the lunch, we had our 5th Sunday Sing, even though it was only the fourth Sunday. (Next Sunday night, we are having Missionary Dean Zemke with us.) I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon service as several of God's people sang a variety of different songs that were a great blessing.
A group of our folks left on Sunday afternoon to head down to Cleveland, TN to work at the Rock of Ages Prison Ministry for the week. It is a great testimony for our church to have dedicated servants willing to give their time and money to serve the Lord.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Milk Cow for Christ - 1 Samuel 6:1-14
This morning, I was reading 1 Samuel 6 in my devotions. The Lord spoke to my heart from this very unusual and obscure passage.
To get the message from Chapter 6, you need to understand what happened in Chapters 4 and 5. Israel went to fight against the Phillistines, but they went in their own strength and were defeated by their enemies. They lost 4,000 men in that battle.
If that wasn't bad enough, they assumed the only reason they lost was because they didn't take the Ark of the Covenant with them. (The Ark represented the presence of God to the nation of Israel) So, they go get the ark and go back to fight the Phillistines. They didn't follow God's instructions concerning the ark - they just brought it along as a good luck charm. Once again, they were defeated. This time, they lost 30,000 soldiers and to make things worse, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Phillistines.
Stay with me. I am going somewhere with this....
So, the Phillistines take the ark in Chapter 5 and put it beside their god, Dagon, in their temple, to show it off as a trophy. When they came in the next morning, Dagon had fallen down on his face right in front of the ark. (Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.) So, they pick Dagon up and the next morning, they come in and there Dagon is again, lying on his face in front of the ark. This time, his hands and head was broken off. My God is so awesome!
All of this time, a plague is going throughout the camp of the Phillistines. They get sores all over their bodies and mice start destroying their crops. Someone suggests it might be because they have the ark in their camp - that Israel's God is taking it out on them.
So, in chapter 6, they bring in their theologians to seek their advice about the curse and the plague and what to do with the ark.
Now, is where the message is:
The theologians come up with this "off the wall" idea. They said to get two milk cows who had never been in a yoke, take them away from their calves, and put them in a yoke together. Then, tie a cart with the ark on it to the cows and see if they will transport the ark back to Israel. If they do, that is a sign that God is real and this plague is from Him. If they don't, then we know it is just bad luck - that God had nothing to do with it.
Talk about putting God to the test! Mother cows don't want to do anything but lay around and be milked. They don't want to leave their calves, and they don't want to get in a yoke, especially when they never had been in one. The chances of them walking to Israel with the ark behind them was 1 in a billion.
That's where God comes in! These lazy old milk cows carried the ark straight to Israel! What a miracle!
But, here is what God spoke to me about. If God can use a milk cow, why couldn't He use me to prove to the lost that my God is real! In order for God to use them, they had to do several things:
1. They had to get out of their comfort zone. They had to be willing to leave their calves behind. We must be willing to leave our comfort zones. Sometimes, we must be willing to leave our friends and family. We must be willing to go wherever God wants us to go. We must sever any tie, save the tie that binds us to Christ!
2. They had to be willing to get in a yoke. This speaks of submission. A yoke was to bring an animal that was stronger than you into submission. We are to "Submit ourselves to God." Our will must be lost in His will. We must make a total surrender and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done." They were completely controlled by God. In order for us to be used, we must be "filled" or "controlled" by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
3. They had to stay on track. They didn't get off to the left or right. They allowed God to guide them and lead them to Israel. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us that God wants to guide our steps and lead us. He has a plan for our lives, but many times, we go our own way when we neglect His Guiding Light - the Word of God!
4. They had to work together. There were two of them. If one of them took a notion to go in a different direction, it would have never worked. God wants us to be unified. He wants us to learn to work together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not to be isolated and alone. We are to be laborers together with Christ. "Two are better than one" Ecclesiastes 4:11 says.
5. They couldn't get an ego. If I was one of the cows that had carried the ark of the covenant back to Israel, I would expect some recognition. I would think they would make a statue of me and put it up for all to see. When these cows arrived with the ark, there was no mention of praising the cows. The people glorified God instead. What could be accomplished for God if we didn't care who got the credit - if all we were concerned about was God getting glory?
6. Their life was a sacrifice. When they got to Israel, not only were they not recognized, the people took them and killed them and offered them to God as a sacrifice! These cows were nothing but servants and their life was for the purpose of glorifying God and making Him known to the heathen. Romans 12:1 tells us to "present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice." We are to die daily, Paul said. We are to lose our life for Him. We are to bring Him glory whether by life or death.
Just as God used these two milk cows to bring Him glory and prove His reality to the heathen, He can use you and I as we are willing to leave our comfort zone, submit our will to Him, allow His Word to guide us in His perfect will, work together with other believers, care less about the praise of men, and give our lives in complete sacrifice to Him.
To get the message from Chapter 6, you need to understand what happened in Chapters 4 and 5. Israel went to fight against the Phillistines, but they went in their own strength and were defeated by their enemies. They lost 4,000 men in that battle.
If that wasn't bad enough, they assumed the only reason they lost was because they didn't take the Ark of the Covenant with them. (The Ark represented the presence of God to the nation of Israel) So, they go get the ark and go back to fight the Phillistines. They didn't follow God's instructions concerning the ark - they just brought it along as a good luck charm. Once again, they were defeated. This time, they lost 30,000 soldiers and to make things worse, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Phillistines.
Stay with me. I am going somewhere with this....
So, the Phillistines take the ark in Chapter 5 and put it beside their god, Dagon, in their temple, to show it off as a trophy. When they came in the next morning, Dagon had fallen down on his face right in front of the ark. (Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.) So, they pick Dagon up and the next morning, they come in and there Dagon is again, lying on his face in front of the ark. This time, his hands and head was broken off. My God is so awesome!
All of this time, a plague is going throughout the camp of the Phillistines. They get sores all over their bodies and mice start destroying their crops. Someone suggests it might be because they have the ark in their camp - that Israel's God is taking it out on them.
So, in chapter 6, they bring in their theologians to seek their advice about the curse and the plague and what to do with the ark.
Now, is where the message is:
The theologians come up with this "off the wall" idea. They said to get two milk cows who had never been in a yoke, take them away from their calves, and put them in a yoke together. Then, tie a cart with the ark on it to the cows and see if they will transport the ark back to Israel. If they do, that is a sign that God is real and this plague is from Him. If they don't, then we know it is just bad luck - that God had nothing to do with it.
Talk about putting God to the test! Mother cows don't want to do anything but lay around and be milked. They don't want to leave their calves, and they don't want to get in a yoke, especially when they never had been in one. The chances of them walking to Israel with the ark behind them was 1 in a billion.
That's where God comes in! These lazy old milk cows carried the ark straight to Israel! What a miracle!
But, here is what God spoke to me about. If God can use a milk cow, why couldn't He use me to prove to the lost that my God is real! In order for God to use them, they had to do several things:
1. They had to get out of their comfort zone. They had to be willing to leave their calves behind. We must be willing to leave our comfort zones. Sometimes, we must be willing to leave our friends and family. We must be willing to go wherever God wants us to go. We must sever any tie, save the tie that binds us to Christ!
2. They had to be willing to get in a yoke. This speaks of submission. A yoke was to bring an animal that was stronger than you into submission. We are to "Submit ourselves to God." Our will must be lost in His will. We must make a total surrender and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done." They were completely controlled by God. In order for us to be used, we must be "filled" or "controlled" by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
3. They had to stay on track. They didn't get off to the left or right. They allowed God to guide them and lead them to Israel. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us that God wants to guide our steps and lead us. He has a plan for our lives, but many times, we go our own way when we neglect His Guiding Light - the Word of God!
4. They had to work together. There were two of them. If one of them took a notion to go in a different direction, it would have never worked. God wants us to be unified. He wants us to learn to work together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not to be isolated and alone. We are to be laborers together with Christ. "Two are better than one" Ecclesiastes 4:11 says.
5. They couldn't get an ego. If I was one of the cows that had carried the ark of the covenant back to Israel, I would expect some recognition. I would think they would make a statue of me and put it up for all to see. When these cows arrived with the ark, there was no mention of praising the cows. The people glorified God instead. What could be accomplished for God if we didn't care who got the credit - if all we were concerned about was God getting glory?
6. Their life was a sacrifice. When they got to Israel, not only were they not recognized, the people took them and killed them and offered them to God as a sacrifice! These cows were nothing but servants and their life was for the purpose of glorifying God and making Him known to the heathen. Romans 12:1 tells us to "present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice." We are to die daily, Paul said. We are to lose our life for Him. We are to bring Him glory whether by life or death.
Just as God used these two milk cows to bring Him glory and prove His reality to the heathen, He can use you and I as we are willing to leave our comfort zone, submit our will to Him, allow His Word to guide us in His perfect will, work together with other believers, care less about the praise of men, and give our lives in complete sacrifice to Him.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Recap from 10/10/10
At 10:10 AM, 10/10/10, we were in Sunday School. That was kinda neat, because it will never be like that again. We had two first time visitors in our College and Career Sunday School class! The Lord gave us a great day at Mt. Tabor. It was a blessing to see Randy Adkins in church. Randy had an accident several weeks ago and had been in and out of the hospital. At one time, we didn't know if he was going to make it. The people rejoiced to see he and his wife and daughter at church. God also blessed us with several other first time visitors, though our attendance was down a little from last week due to many of our folks traveling. Steve Woodall sang a beautiful song before the message along the lines of intercessory prayer, and I gave the second part of a message on "True Happiness" from Matthew 5:1-12. I've got one more part to go next week. It was good to see God working in hearts.
On Sunday night, Brother Jeff played and sang one of my favorite songs, "Oh, I Want To Know You More". Brother Anthony brought a great message on the priesthood of the believer. He is preaching two messages on Sunday night on worship and music in the church. Our church is blessed to have both of these guys on staff, and it is a joy for me to work with them.
After church, we had a good time of fellowship at Ice Cream Paradise in Lebanon with the teens and their parents.
On Sunday night, Brother Jeff played and sang one of my favorite songs, "Oh, I Want To Know You More". Brother Anthony brought a great message on the priesthood of the believer. He is preaching two messages on Sunday night on worship and music in the church. Our church is blessed to have both of these guys on staff, and it is a joy for me to work with them.
After church, we had a good time of fellowship at Ice Cream Paradise in Lebanon with the teens and their parents.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Recap of 10/3/10
This past Sunday was a great blessing to me. Our attendance was good - 186, and we took up our Faith Promise Commitment cards and our people pledged to give $1,000 more per month than we gave last year! Praise the Lord for working in hearts! Before I preached, Bro. Anthony sang, "Ship Ahoy". What a powerful song! I began a series of messages on the Sermon on the Mount. I have entitled the series "The Disciple's Manual" since Jesus directed this sermon to his disciples. I preached on "True Happiness" from Matthew 5:1-12. I probably will need two more weeks to finish the message. I am praying that God will drive this truth deep in our hearts. Following the message, we observed Communion together as a church. As always, that was a sweet time.
Sunday evening, we had our Fall Cookout. We cooked out hot dogs, and the ladies brought sides and desserts. Bro. Jeff McQueary played the guitar and we sung some "campfire songs". Then, I brought a devotion on faith from Hebrews 11. It was a good time of fellowship, but it was pretty cold out, so I kept the devotion brief!
There is a good spirit in the church at this time. The Missions Conference/Revival was a real shot in the arm.
Sunday evening, we had our Fall Cookout. We cooked out hot dogs, and the ladies brought sides and desserts. Bro. Jeff McQueary played the guitar and we sung some "campfire songs". Then, I brought a devotion on faith from Hebrews 11. It was a good time of fellowship, but it was pretty cold out, so I kept the devotion brief!
There is a good spirit in the church at this time. The Missions Conference/Revival was a real shot in the arm.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Sin of Procrastination
James 4:17 says, "Therefore, to him who knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." It is foolish to expect life to go on forever. We are to plan as if we will live forever, but we are to live as if we will die today! I have discovered that life is totally unpredictable - the only thing that doesn't change in life is that life always changes! It is interesting to me that the middle two letters of "LIFE" are "IF". We just don't know what is going to happen in life.
I have also discovered that life is brief. One day, you're playing with hot wheels and before you know it, you are riding in a wheelchair! God has given us the gift of the "present." We can't change yesterday and can't control tomorrow, but we can do something about today! It is in that context that James says, "To him who knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Whatever you intend to do for the Lord, you better do it now.
All we have to do to sin is nothing! When we fail to do what we know is right, we sin. What is it in your life today that you know you should be doing, but are putting off until tomorrow? Bible reading and prayer? Inviting someone to church? Witnessing to a friend? Beginning to tithe?
The following makes me chuckle: "Procrastination is my sin - it only brings me sorrow - I know that I should change my ways -In fact, I will...tomorrow!" We not only need to pray for wisdom to know the right things to do; we should pray for the character to do what is right, even when we don't feel like it.
I have also discovered that life is brief. One day, you're playing with hot wheels and before you know it, you are riding in a wheelchair! God has given us the gift of the "present." We can't change yesterday and can't control tomorrow, but we can do something about today! It is in that context that James says, "To him who knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Whatever you intend to do for the Lord, you better do it now.
All we have to do to sin is nothing! When we fail to do what we know is right, we sin. What is it in your life today that you know you should be doing, but are putting off until tomorrow? Bible reading and prayer? Inviting someone to church? Witnessing to a friend? Beginning to tithe?
The following makes me chuckle: "Procrastination is my sin - it only brings me sorrow - I know that I should change my ways -In fact, I will...tomorrow!" We not only need to pray for wisdom to know the right things to do; we should pray for the character to do what is right, even when we don't feel like it.
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