December 2011 Ditties

February 1st, 2012 - The Most Important Test Question

I once read the story of a pop quiz that was given in a college class. The student who wrote about the test explained, “I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one, ‘What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?’ Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning lady many times. She was a tall, dark-haired black woman in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. ‘Absolutely,’ said the professor. ‘In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.’ I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned that her name was Dorothy.”

Every individual is important to the Lord. Jesus died for the unlovely, the unlovable, and those who hated Him just as much as He did for the most distinguished and accomplished members of society. In fact, the scripture even explains that He gave His life for us while we were yet His enemies. (Romans 5:10) If Christ died for all, should we not also live for them?

February 2nd,2012 - Four Important “S”s

Seek the will of God. Until you know the Lord’s will on a matter, you will wind up “spinning your wheels” and wasting your life; however, once you know His will on any matter, the rest is “a piece of cake.” Five simple keys can help you understand God’s will: 1) The Word of God -- spend time in searching the Bible for God’s written directives to you. 2) The Holy Spirit’s direction -- spend time getting to know the voice of the Spirit and becoming sensitive to His nudgings. 3) Supernatural signs and wonders -- God often interrupts our natural lives to authoritatively speak into our lives. 4) Godly counsel from spiritual leaders -- God has placed certain people in our lives who are close enough to Him and to us that they can hear from Him and help us understand what it is that He is saying. 5) Circumstances -- This is the weakest of all the indicators, but it is non-the-less important; if God wants something to happen in your life, He will see that all the conditions are in line for it to come to pass.

Surrender to the call of God. Once you have heard God speak to you about His plan, you need to immediately acknowledge that direction and accept the calling. Even if His plans may not seem to be what you had in mind for your life, you can be assured that they will be far more fulfilling that what you have dreamed up.

Submit to the man of God. Though we are ultimately following God, He generally places a human “sub-contractor” on the job to help shape us to His blueprint.

Succeed through the Word of God. “This book of the law shall…make thy way prosperous…” (Joshua 1:8)

February 3rd, 2012 - The Ugly American

In a business school commencement address, Indra Nooyi, CFO of PepsiCo, said, “The USA is a long, middle finger of the world.” A recent survey in fifteen countries found that the favorable view rating of the United States had seriously dropped. In Britain, the scores were down from eighty-three percent in 2000 to fifty-six percent. In Germany, the rating was down from seventy-eight percent to thirty-seven percent. A survey of consumers in thirty-five nations concerning national brands found that US products ranked tenth. Concerning our government, we ranked twenty-second. This is not a very encouraging report for any of us who love our country and consider it to be the greatest nation on earth. I believe that our problem is that we have begun to rely on our past victories and accomplishments rather than to continue to daily prove ourselves as good neighbors in the global village. Proverbs 18:24 declares that for a man to have friends he must show himself friendly. Notice that it doesn’t say that he must have shown himself friendly. Friendships must be won on a daily basis. We cannot expect that our friendships will remain any more vital without daily cultivation any more than we would expect our plants to survive without being watered on a regular basis.

On a much more significant plane, we must be aware that our friendship with God demands a daily cultivation. The passage in Proverbs goes on to say that God is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He doesn’t leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but we must constantly be aware of our own tendency to let our passion toward Him grow cold (Matthew 24:12).

February 4th, 2012- Anointing

When a young ministry novice asked for advice from a wizened old pastor, the response came, “Preach as long as you are anointed.” At first that seemed like a good kernel of advice -- that is, until he asked how to know when he was anointed and how to make sure that it happened to him each time he was to minister. Many ministers and those of us in the pews have some really varied ideas as to what the anointing is. Some think that they must feel some unusual sensations or have some superhuman physical manifestations in order the enter the realm of the anointing. Jumping pews, shouting loudly, preaching with a different tone of voice, or experiencing a tingling in the hands could all stand as proof positive that the minister is anointed. A calm, methodically delivered message, on the other hand, would have to be relegated to human effort falling short of the anointing; however, I really have a hard time imagining Jesus pacing back and forth across the bow of Peter’s boat while He taught the people, nor can I envision His wiping sweet with a towel or swinging a Bible around as He delivered the Sermon on the Mount or gasping in breaths mid-sentence as He taught the Parable of the Sower. But -- no one would ever dare to question the anointing upon Jesus’ ministry. Interestingly enough, the word “anointing” appears only three times in the New Testament, and only two of these times is it a noun with the meaning of a spiritual presence upon someone’s life. Both these references appear in one verse which actually communicates that the anointing is not a special temporary unction for ministry, but an abiding presence of God for our day-to-day living. (I John 2:27)

February 5th, 2012 - Standing

A careful reading of Ephesians chapter six will reveal that Paul taught us to put on the armor of God, not so that we can fight, but so that we can stand. Actually, standing our ground is a major objective in the New Testament. Just look at the list of directives given us in the scriptures:
Stand in faith (Romans 5:2, I Corinthians 16:13, II Corinthians 1:24)
Stand in election (Romans 9:11)
Stand in God's ability (Romans 14:4)
Stand in the power of God (I Corinthians 2:5)
Stand in the gospel (I Corinthians 5:1)
Stand in liberty (Galatians 5:1)
Stand in one spirit (Philippians 1:27)
Stand in the Lord (Philippians 4:1, I Thessalonians 3:8)
Stand in the Word (II Thessalonians 2:15)
Stand in the will of God by intercessory prayer (Colossians 4:12)
Stand by the grace of God (I Peter 5:12)
Stand in the day of wrath (Revelation 6:17)
Stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11)

The truth of the matter is that Satan is a defeated foe who lost the fight some two millennia ago. Jesus has won the victory and given us a solid foundation upon which to stand. If we ever feel that we have to fight and win a territory, it is only because we have surrendered ground that we should have stood for from the beginning.

February 6th, 2012 - Bad to Worse

I was visiting with a pastor friend when a boy from his congregation stopped by. He looked rather depressed, so the pastor asked him if anything was wrong. He replied that on Monday his dog had died, on Tuesday his belly button piercing had gotten infected, on Wednesday his girl friend had left him, on Thursday his parents announced that they were getting a divorce, and on Friday he woke up sick. I left the two of them to talk privately for a few minutes, but when the pastor came back I questioned him if the guy was for real or if all those stories were made up. When my friend assured me that the boy’s problems were legitimate and not exaggerated, I couldn’t help but think that when it looks like things can’t get worse -- they do!

When difficulties seemed the pile up and “the bottom would fall out,” my mother would always quote her favorite Bible verse: “It came to pass.” Even though this phrase appears four hundred fifty-seven times in the Bible, she was always quoting it out of context to mean something that it didn’t say -- but her interpretation was true regardless of how she came about it. No matter how bad things might get, there is always light at the other end of the tunnel -- and it isn’t a freight train headed toward you! The Lord has promised to deliver us out of all our troubles. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” (Psalms 34:19) “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” (II Peter 2:9) Even if we don’t see that deliverance in this life, He guarantees it in the world to come. (Revelation 7:17, 21:4)

February 7th, 2012 - Baptism

I once baptized a young girl in the turbulent surf of the Atlantic Ocean. After I pulled her up from the frothy waves, she remarked that she felt like she had been baptized in a washing machine and was sure that her sins had been washed out to sea.

A church used a fire hose to baptize people. Church elders from The United House of Prayer for All People, sprayed two thousand people in the parking lot of a church in Charlotte, NC, which was built to resemble Noah's Ark, with elephants, gorillas, and other animals painted on the outside wall as a sign that the church offers shelter to all in need. The mass baptism occurred during a denominational gathering which brought fifteen thousand believers to the city. A hose from a fire truck was hooked to a hydrant and set on a fine mist so no one would get hurt. “The method of baptism isn’t the main thing,” a denomination official said. “It’s not the water. It’s the belief you have in it.”

Many battles have been fought over immersion, sprinkling, and pouring; but the real question concerning baptism should be, “Did you do it in faith that your sins have really been eradicated and that you now have a new life through Christ?” “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)

Here’s a little acrostic to help us remember the true significance of baptism: Bury All your Past with a Tombstone Indicating that Sin is only a Memory.

February 8th, 2012 - Blessed

Some days I feel so blessed that I’m sure I’d have to be twins if it got any better.

I was a bit surprised when my friend pulled up in a brand new Lincoln Continental. He told me that he wanted to share the testimony of how he came to have such an expensive car. He and his wife were trying to shuffle their schedules so that she could get to work and the kids could get to school each day and he would still have a car available for his pastoral responsibilities. After looking around for an economical car that would suit their needs, he had prayerfully approached his church board with the proposal that the church buy a car for him to use for his pastoral visits and hospital calls. At that exact time, a miracle was brewing. Totally unaware of the request before the church board, one of the couples in the church was shopping for a new car. They settled on the Lincoln and signed all the paperwork. As they were driving it home from the dealership, the husband began to cry. Turning to his wife, he said, “Honey, this isn’t our car.” She was, of course, puzzled wondering if he was thinking that they should have picked another model. He then went on to say, “I think that the Lord is telling me that this car should belong to our pastor.” She immediately agreed, and they drove to the pastor’s home to present him with the gift -- no strings attached! It was an amazing story, but it also had one funny little aspect -- because the garage at the parsonage had been designed to fit a compact car, the new Continental would not fit in! My friend explained that this car was his Malachi 3:10 blessing -- one that he didn’t have room to contain!

February 9th, 2012 - Blood Diamond

During an exceptionally long layover in the Johannesburg (South Africa) airport, we befriended a gentleman from the Congo who offered to take us into a business deal in which he was marketing “conflict diamonds.” Of course, we declined to get involved in anything with a total stranger, but did not totally comprehend what was involved. He had simply explained that the gems he was marketing were ones that had been mined in the Congo during the civil war there and were, therefore, not able to be taken to the normal markets due to the instability in the country. It was not until I saw the movie Blood Diamond several years later that I realized how many people’s lives were lost in the diamond fields as the insurgents and rebels pocketed the money to finance their cause and procure the illegal arms necessary to continue their bloody mission. Not only was I torn by the tragedy of the innocent people caught in the crossfire of the warlords, but I was also gripped with the sensation of how I would have felt had I actually purchased some of those conflict diamonds. Every time I saw one of them, I would not have seen the luster of a brilliant stone but the agony of the victims of the African civil war.

In the same way, we must remember that all the free gifts we have received from God are truly blood diamonds -- beautiful gifts purchased with the very life’s blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. I say this -- not to make us afraid, unworthy, or embarrassed to receive them -- but to help us recognized the ultimate price paid and, therefore, to properly value them.

February 10th, 2012 - Busy Pastor

It was really news when one man held a whole town hostage. He parked in the middle of the main intersection of the tiny community and pulled out his gun. No one was able to move around the business district as he held the whole community under his power for several hours. The following day, I received a phone call asking me to meet with this man’s family. They had already had major issues to deal with, but this episode had traumatized them to the point that they felt that they needed counseling. At first, I thought that the family might not have had a church background and was, therefore, just contacting us because our church was well-known in the area. As the phone conversation progressed, the caller mentioned that she had tried to contact her own pastor, but he was too busy to meet with them since his church was so small. I almost had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Here was the pastor of a small church declining to meet with members of his own congregation in a very traumatic time in their lives because he was too busy. As a result, the family was having to turn to pastoral staff of another church that not only had a couple thousand members to care for, but also managed several television stations, maintained a publishing company, and ran a world-wide humanitarian ministry.

Something in that picture just didn’t seem right. It was an issue of misplaced priorities. If we learn how to properly prioritize our responsibilities, no task will be too big and we will never be too busy for the things are truly significant to us. After all, the President who runs the whole country, has the same twenty-fours hours each day that we do!

February 11th, 2012 - The Call of God

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (John 15:16)

The Greek language is probably the most precise language that has ever been spoken by the human race. With multiple words for each concept to express all the various nuances of each thought and a complete array of tenses and voices to pinpoint each action as to timing, duration, and intent -- there is little question as to why God chose this language to convey the truths of the New Testament. He wanted to make them unmistakable.

John 15:16 would be a great example of the exactness of the language and the uniqueness of the message it conveys. This verse is in written in the middle voice -- something which doesn’t even exist in English. The point of this special voice is to express that an action is being taken, not necessarily for the benefit of the person for whom the action is taken, but the benefit of the person taking the action. In other words, our Lord chose us for His own benefit. The point of this verse is that, no matter how much we are blessed by having been chosen by God, the real benefit in His having chosen us is the blessing that He receives from having us as His children.

Honestly, it is hard for me to even imagine this concept, but I rejoice in it even though it is a quantum leap beyond my comprehension. No matter how much I enjoy being His, He enjoys having me even more; no matter how much I enjoy His gifts to me, He enjoys giving them even more than I enjoy receiving them!

February 12th, 2012 - Circumstances

We often use the words “circumstance” and “situation” interchangeably. We feel equally comfortable of speaking of our condition as being “under these circumstances” or as being “in this situation.” These two words are not the same. In fact, they are radically different in their spiritual significance. “Circumstance” comes from two Latin words meaning the things that stand around us. “Situation,” on the other hand, refers to where we are placed or where we sit. As Christians, we are seated with Christ in heavenly places far above all the principalities, powers, and wicked spiritual forces. We must never forget that we are situated in a superior position with every advantage over any difficulty which tries to defy us. If we fail to focus on this victorious truth, we may find ourselves believing that we are “under the circumstances.” The first error with such a thought is that we have already abdicated our position of authority above the enemy by confessing that we are under the circumstances. The second error is that we have allowed our advocacy to gain equal ground with us by allowing him to stand around us rather than be subjected under our feet.

The last problem is that we have allowed him to get around or surround us. Since all our spiritual armor is described as frontal gear, we are equipped only for head-on confrontation with the enemy. The moment we give up that posture of direct confrontation and allow him to begin to surround us, we have exposed unprotected areas in our lives to him and have made ourselves vulnerable to his attacks. We must learn to aggressively maintain our situation and never allow ourselves to fall under the circumstances.

February 13th, 2012- Complacency

We have all heard the old adage, “For evil to prevail, all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing.” While the scriptural term for a good man doing nothing is “lukewarm,” we may be more inclined to use the modern term “complacent.” This lack of positive motivation bears horrible consequences:

And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, “The LORD will not do good, Nor will He do evil.” (Zephaniah 1:12 NKJV)

For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease (“complacency” in the NKJV) of fools shall destroy them. (Proverbs 1:32 ASV)

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand. (Proverbs 10:4)
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. (Proverbs 12:24)

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing. (Proverbs 13:4)

Rise up, you women who are at ease, Hear my voice; You complacent daughters, Give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; For the vintage will fail, The gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent ones; Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, And gird sackcloth on your waists. (Isaiah 32:9-11 (NKJV)

February 14th, 2012 - Simple English

The European Commission recently announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phase-in plan that would be known as EuroEnglish: In the first year, s will replace the soft c. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard c will be dropped in favor of the k. This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when troublesome ph will be replaced with the f. This will make words like fotograf twenty percent shorter. In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent es in the language is disgracful, and they should go away. By the fourth yar, pepl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing th with z and w with v During ze fifz year, ze unesesary o kan be dropd from vords kontaiining ou and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer. ZE DREM VIL FINALI KUM TRU!

Aren’t you glad that the gospel always remains the same simple truth!

February 15th 2012 - Angels Unawares

Just before midnight on a rainy night, an older black woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure the lashing storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in the conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him.

Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached, “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole”

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)

February 16th, 2012 - The Reward of Servanthood

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Eventually a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, it was not the priest nor the Levite who earned spiritual merit, but the unsuspecting Samaritan merchant. He stopped to do the right thing, never expecting a return from his efforts, but he was the one who was rewarded with a significant place in history and whose name has become a household term even among non-Christians as an individual of humanitarian merit and spiritual worth.

February 17th, 2012 - Condensed New Testament

The New Testament is not a theology book, although it is the only reliable book on theology. When I say that it is not a theology book, I am intending to say that it is not a systematic study of theology. Rather it is a book of applied theology; is a practical application of theology to the everyday problems of life. For example, Paul did not write the book of Galatians to impart theological lessons to the believers in Galatia but to correct errors and misconceptions in their church. In doing so, he had to explain a lot of theology along the way. The only letter which he wrote as a theological statement was the epistle to the Romans. This church was not one he had founded; in fact, it was not one he had even visited. Since he was not involved in their lives like he was in the other churches, he could not speak to them in the corrective manner he used with the other churches. To the Romans, he imparted his spiritual gift of teaching in a more methodical manner by laying out a systematic explanation of the theology of salvation. Interestingly enough, he gave a condensed version of this same theology in the book of Ephesians and an even more condensed synopsis in the letter to the Colossians. One interesting observation about the synopsis as recorded in Colossians is that the apostle does not mention the wrestling with spiritual principalities as he does in Ephesians chapter six. Is there a reason why? It seems clear that a truly spiritual believer should not have to be taught how to wrestle since our real position is one of authority over the forces of the enemy. As Dr. Lester Sumrall used to say, “Flies don’t land on hot stoves.”

February 18th, 2012 - The Prodigal Son

Luke 15 records the story of the prodigal son and his return to the father’s house. Over the years, we’ll all heard lots of sermons explaining the father’s love for his wayward son. We’ve learned that the father was the one who rushed to meet the son when he was still a distance away from home. We’ve also probably been made aware that it was the father who initiated a blessing toward the son while the boy was still declaring his unworthiness to be counted as a son in the household. Of course, we are aware that the father did not let the son negotiate the deal he had proposed of coming back into the home as a hired servant. However, there is one thing that we may have overlooked in all our years of reading and studying this passage -- the fact that everything the father did was a covenant symbol, confirming the immutability of his gifts to his son. When the father gave his son a pair of shoes, it was somewhat the reverse of the story in Ruth chapter four where Naomi’s near kinsman took off one of his shoes. In Ruth, he was negating his position as a covenant partner; in Luke, the father re-affirmed his covenant bond to his son. The ring that the father gave his son was one of his signet rings which bore his name or family seal. The right to use another’s name is the ultimate expression of covenant unity. By placing a robe on his son, the father fulfilled an ancient practice depicting a covenant of protection. Killing the fatted calf established the covenant in blood, and the subsequent banquet publicly sealed the covenant relationship. Just like the father in this parable, our heavenly Father not only forgives and accepts us back after our failures and sins -- He covenants His love to us.

February 19, 2012 - Church Assembly

Have you ever made a purchase and noticed that there was a declaration on the box, “Some assembly required”? I’m certain that you had the same anticipation that I have in such a moment: that there will be four or five pieces which need to be bolted together in order to finish the project. However, when you get the carton home and pour out its contents, you discover that there are a zillion little parts and a huge manual which you at first mistake for a copy of War and Peace but later discover to be the assembly instruction manual. Hours later, as you screw the final piece into place, you are puzzled as to why there are a couple spare parts still on the work bench -- only to discover that they were to have been used in step four or five, which means that you will have to essentially disassemble your entire day’s work in order to get them into their functioning place.

With this experience in mind, let me ask you if you have ever considered why we call church an assembly rather than a gathering or a crowd. It seems to me that there is a divinely appointed use of words in this phrase. A true church is not just a bunch of people who happened to show up at the same place at the same time. It is a carefully -- actually a divinely -- orchestrated assembly of believers who all have their individual place to serve and function in the whole. If any one part is left out, then meticulous reconstruction is necessary in order to fill the void so that the whole will function properly. When we comprehend the interdependence of the members, it is easy to understand why loyalty and dependability are such indispensable requirements in the church assembly.

February 20th, 2012 - Checklist for Checking Out

Being prepared to die is part of being prepared for living. Can we determine when we will die? Paul seemed to be in decision position in Philippians (verse 1:23); later, he said that he had finished his course and was now ready to go (II Timothy 4:7). Peter also seemed to indicate that he felt that he was at least somewhat in charge of his departure. (II Peter 1:13-14)

"Your time" may be far off, but it’s never too early to arrange your paperwork and get it into a logical location. Make a will and leave a written list of your wishes for the memorial service. Prepare an estate checklist and update this information every few years. On this checklist, include the location of your will and contact information for your attorney, your financial advisor, your pastor, and the funeral home where you wish to be taken. The list should contain all your assets such as trusts, investments, real estate, bank accounts, insurance policies, IRAs, pensions, and any debts owed to you. The list should also include all debts such as credit cards, loans, and mortgages. Important papers such as deeds, military records, auto titles, bank statements, tax returns, birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce papers, passport, Social Security records, pension records, insurance policies, military records, VA records, and organ donor permission forms should be filed in a safe but easy-to-find location.

Most of all, make sure that you are prepared to meet your Maker. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

February 21st, 2012 - Brass for Gold

After service one Sunday morning, I was praying for a woman to receive healing from a rather serious disease. Following the directions of James 5:14-16, I was praying as fervently as I know how. Suddenly she interrupted me and asked, “Is this when I’m supposed to fall down?” Suddenly, my intensity in prayer was replaced with an all-out effort to control myself from bursting out in laughter. On another occasion, I watched a young girl who had come to the altar for salvation one night; she was carefully led through the sinner’s prayer and was gloriously saved. After the prayer, she was asked if anyone had ever presented the plan of salvation to her before and whether she had ever received Jesus into her heart prior to that night. Her negative response literally made cold chills run down my spine because I had watched that same girl come to the same altar time after time over the previous several weeks. Each time, she was ministered to by laying on of hands followed by her falling in the floor. The horror was that she had never met Jesus -- just the church carpet!

When the Egyptians invaded the temple in Jerusalem and took away the shields of gold that Solomon had placed there, Rehoboam replaced them with shields made of brass. (II Chronicles 12:9-10) The new shields may have looked very much like the originals, but they were nothing like real thing. In our quest for God’s blessings, we must always insist on the real thing and never accept the substitute brass for gold. In fact, God is eager to see that we have the real thing. “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron.” (Isaiah 60:17)

February 22nd, 2012 - TETWAWKI

If it isn’t a scientist or politician threatening us with global warming, it is an evangelist warning us of the last days -- but we are getting the same message from every side: we are headed for TETWAWKI, the end of the world as we know it.

Forty percent of all Americans and forty-five percent of Christians believe that there will be a final battle between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist at Armageddon. A recent poll showed that seventy-one percent of evangelical Protestants, twenty-eight percent of non-evangelicals, and eighteen percent of Catholics believe that the scenario will take place. About half of those who share the belief said that they think that the Antichrist is living today, and forty-five percent said Jesus Christ will return before they die. Most who believe in the Second Coming of Christ say that the world is experiencing the “end times.” Many believe that current events signify that the end is near: eighty-three percent cited the spate of natural disasters, sixty-six percent noted diseases such as AIDS and Ebola virus, and sixty-two percent said outbreaks of violence are signs of the end. Ninety-five percent of believers in the Second Coming said that it is important to have a saving relationship with God when the end comes, and sixty-five percent said that it is important to evangelize others.

When Jesus was questioned about TETWAWKI, He replied, “See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet…this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:6-14)

February 23rd, 2012 - Bible Translations

Matthew 24:14 declares that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations before the end comes; and Revelation 5:9 promises that heaven will be populated with worshipers drawn from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. Every day, we come a little closer to seeing these scriptures come to fulfillment. Each day sees the gospel message reaching farther and further. Today, portions of the Bible have been translated into more than one-third of the world’s 6,500 languages. The efforts to make the Bible available in every mother tongue are making progress, but the mission is still far from accomplished. According to the United Bible Societies the number of languages into which at least one complete book of the Bible has been translated reached 2,426 at the end of 2006. Approximately ninety-five per cent of the world’s population theoretically have access to Scripture in a language they can understand, although not necessarily their first language. The remaining five per cent add up to three hundred million people. In the single year of 2006, translations were completed in twenty-three new languages and dialects and the New Testament was published in thirty-one new languages, of which five had never had any portion of the Bible previously. Additional Scripture portions were registered for thirty-four languages which did not have either an Old or New Testament and for twenty-one languages which had the New Testament

February 24th, 2012 - Being a Member of the Body of Christ

It is important for us to function within the Body of Christ to be able to do spiritual warfare. Very few times do we read of successful soldiers who went out on “Lone Ranger” expeditions; yet history is full of the success stories of soldiers who functioned within the entire army. We cannot just go out and do spiritual warfare on our own. Instead, we are commissioned to link together for security, support, and success.

In biblical times when the Roman soldiers went out to war, they had shields with an interlinking hook-and-eye system. By interlocking their shields, the soldiers formed one great mobile wall. They became a human tank marching forward toward their enemy with their shields as one solid wall of protection. If one man stood alone and held his shield in front of himself, he was still in grave danger from his enemy because the blows could come at him from every direction. Unless he was very agile and quick, he could be struck from the left when he was using his shield to guard himself from a blow from the right. However, when he was joined by soldiers on his right and left, his companions and their shields guarded him on the right and left -- making him invulnerable. The fascinating realization is that neither of his companions needed to be great muscle men; all that was needed was for them to be in their places, securely fastened to him. Just the fact that they were there covered his vulnerable spot.

Ephesians 4:15 tells us that as the whole body is strengthened as every individual part is securely joined together and supplying its unique input.

February 25th, 2012- Andrew Wommack

Here are some great quotes from Bible teacher Andrew Wommack:

We are all in varying degrees of failure.
Mary had a little lamb. It would have been a sheep, but it joined the church and died from lack of sleep.
Are you a human being or are you a human doing?
When we go through the heat of life, we will get melted, but it is our decision which mould we will get poured into. “Conformed” means to be poured into the mound. Don’t be poured into the world’s mould.
Our lives are not behavior modification, but transformation in the very core of our being.
The Lord makes you look good by giving you supernatural wisdom which you will not even recognize as something out of the ordinary at the time.
Any problem we have is really a knowledge problem; if we know God and His word, we find the solution to any problem which might arise.
Don’t worry when you are out on a limb; that’s where the fruit grows.

February 26th, 2012 - Aught

With a heritage from the Deep South, I sometimes come out with terms that no one around me seems to understand. Perhaps, it’s the use of “fixing” to mean that I’m planning to do something a short time later or the reference to putting something into the “boot” of the car rather than the trunk. One of those instances was when I started to count by using the word “aught” rather than “one.” Everyone seemed to confuse my counting with the term for something that I should do, “ought.” As we tried to ferret out the difference between the word I was using and the word they thought I was using, it dawned upon me that our number one responsibility could be considered our “aught ought.”

A good family man might say that his aught ought is to care for his wife and kids. A conscientious businessman might say that it is to guarantee to security of his employees. A devoted political figure might list upholding the Constitution. A genuine Christian might add serving the Lord. And the list could go on and on; however, there is one clear statement in the Old Testament and a beautiful declaration in the New which we cannot ignore when looking for our aught ought: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

February 27th, 2012- Flesh Flashes

In defining “anger,” one preacher called it a “flesh flash.” Wrath is included as one of the works of the flesh mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like...” However, a perfect remedy for these fleshly works is found in the following verses, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (verses 22-26)

Notice several things that these verses suggest about controlling flesh flashes -- whether they be anger or any of the other works of the flesh. First, these manifestations of the flesh are considered to be works (or efforts) as opposed to fruits (or natural outgrowths of a healthy life) as in the case of the spiritual manifestations. If we are really living spirit-led lives, we will find it demanding and taxing to live by these carnal impulses. Next, those of us who are in Christ have crucified -- or put to death -- the fleshly nature out of which these impulses originate; therefore, there shouldn’t be an active source from which these flesh flashes can arise. But most importantly, we must notice that Paul says that it is possible to be living in the spirit yet not walking according to its direction. As Christians, we must make an active decision to not only live but also walk in the spirit rather than to manifest such flesh flashes.

February 28th, 2012 - Is Your Pastor an Angel?

Psalm 91:11 promises, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” In most translations, the term “angel” is translated with the meaning of a heavenly being; however, there is a legitimate possibility that it can be translated “messenger” as it is in the Young’s Literal Translation. In chapters two and three of the New Testament book of Revelation, letters are addressed to the angels of each of the seven churches located on the peninsula of Asia Minor. In this context, the angels or messengers are often understood as the pastors over those seven churches. Today, I’d like to apply a bit of deductive reasoning and ask if it is possible that we might apply this same interpretation to the passage in Psalms resulting in the interpretation that God has placed pastors over us so that they can keep us and protect us from stumbling.

Although I truly believe that God has commissioned supernatural angelic messengers to guard and protect us and to intervene on our behalf when necessary, I also realize that the role of a true pastor is also to stand in the gap as a spiritual protection over his flock. Take a few minutes to read the introductions to Paul’s letters and you’ll see that the Apostle consistently declares that he is constantly praying for the churches which he has fathered -- no matter how many miles and years have separated them. He adds that he would very gladly spend all that he has and even all that he is for the well-being of the church. (II Corinthians 12:15). With such men caring for our spiritual well-being, we can have a renewed confidence that we can be kept in all our ways.

February 28th, 2012 - Whole Lot of Shaking Going On

Several years ago, some students from our church went to a revival and came back home manifesting what they considered to be the presence of the Holy Spirit. They were continually shaking and trembling as they felt the tangible presence of God, leaving those of us who weren’t shaking with the impression that we were not as sensitive to the Spirit as they had become. As a born-and-bred Pentecostal, physical manifestations were not new to me; but this trembling seemed excessive, so I decided to do a little Bible study in the matter. My research yielded pages of verses on the topic of shaking and trembling -- almost everyone of which was related to the response of sinfulness when exposed to the righteous judgment of a holy God. Ezekiel 38:20 says that fish of the sea, the fowls of the heaven, the beasts of the field, the creeping things upon the earth, and all the men upon the face of the earth will shake in the presence of God. Haggai 2:7-8 speaks of causing all the nations and the very heavens and the earth to shake. Hebrews 12:27 says that everything that can be shaken will be removed and only the things that cannot be shaken will remain in the presence of the Lord. Only in Jeremiah 33:9 did I find a verse suggesting that the nations of the earth would tremble for all the goodness and prosperity of the Lord, but even this verse seemed to suggest that their trembling was because they were left out of the blessing that they saw in the lives of others.

My conclusion was that I am not impressed by the external manifestation but by whether we allow the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives shake out the sinfulness and carnality we have allowed to hide inside our flesh.

Dr. Delron Shirley's Daily Ditties