WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RISK?

It was a small and rather poor town with a small and rather poor church, so poor they could not afford their own meeting place. The only place they could find to meet was on the lower floor of a dilapidated old building with a dance hall on the second floor. It was a terrible situation, as the dance hall was almost always full of people with loud music accompanied by the stomping of many feet and boisterous shouts.

One Sunday the church was meeting and the usual melee was going on above them. Suddenly there was a loud crack and plaster falling from the ceiling as well as the lower portion of a woman hanging through a hole in the ceiling.

Immediately the preacher called out, "Any man that raises his eyes to the ceiling will be struck blind by the lord." Dead silence descended upon the congregation as everyone wondered what would happen next. Then in a shaky quivering voice an old man in the back of the hall was heard to say, "Well, I think I might risk one eye anyway."

I know it's a humorous story, but it speaks to a very serious problem in our world and sadly in our churches today. We are constantly bombarded by nudity and fowl language in the sanctity of our own homes now. The television programs seem to be trying to push a liberal view of what is acceptable and what isn't. Honestly, we have had to turn off and stop watching several programs in the past year, because of the sinful content of the programs. They know that sex and nudity grabs people and causes them to watch the programs. They know exactly what they are doing, but not living lives guided by God they really don't care.

One of the problems is that it is possible to become hardened to what is being shown and honestly we don't realize that we have been watching something wicked. God demands that we change the way we think, act, live and what we allow to influence us.

Paul writing in Romans 6:1 reminds us of the transformation we made when we decided to serve Christ. Notice his words, because his question is still valid for us today:  "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?"(NIV) The old King James Version says, "God Forbid" that we should do such a thing.

The problem with far too many of us is that we are "willing to risk one eye," to indulge in just a little sin. Yet, that's not the way it works with God. You must be either 100% for him or you are against him, you can't be lukewarm in your commitment or he will judge you as guilty, (Revelation 3:16). Your kids might scream and holler that they like that show and all of their friends watch it, but God expects us to live differently from the world. The Psalms perhaps say it best in Psalm 101:3 here the writer says simply, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes."

As for me, I think I'll try my best to keep both eyes where they need to be

Change

We live in a world where (almost) everyone wants change. We
want to see new things, do new things, move to a new house, change jobs, learn
new things, experience new thrills, challenge ourselves to do things we have
never done before. Desiring change is not a bad thing, at least in regards to
most things.

 

One of the more familiar quotes we see from time to time is:
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've
always got." (Doug Caufmann). There is truth to that statement. If you
keep doing things the same way, you are not going to have change. Our society
seems to think that the lack of change is a bad thing, but is that always true?
Now, I'm no just being an "old foggy," who doesn't believe in change.
I love change in my life and expect it in our world. My wife and I have lived
in 7 states as well in Kenya,
East Africa. We love to experience new things
and different people. We embrace change in our lives for the most part.

 

However (you knew there would be a disclaimer didn't you), I
cannot and will not embrace change to God's church or God's Word. I've been
disappointed in churches and church leaders throughout our land who want to try
and make changes to God's church. They go to extremes to try and make
"church" more palatable to our young folks who desire change. And, if
they don't get the change they want, they go somewhere they can find it. It's
really not surprising, we were warned about it a couple of thousand years ago
when the Apostle Paul wrote a young preacher, Timothy. Notice what he said,
"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number
of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2
Timothy_4:3) 

 

Here is what we see happen so often. People who do not have
a lot of knowledge of God's word start to desire change. They want more
services that are more entertaining, something that makes them feel good. They
approach the leadership and demand change in the church. The leadership either
caves in to their request or they threaten to leave.

 

At some point we must realized that, yes, there are some
things that we can change, but there are some things that we dare not change.
Why? Because God gave us directions as to how things must be in His Word. He
was not mistaken, he did not communicate unclearly, he was not just kidding
when he told us what he wanted us to do. God doesn't think or act as we do as
humans.

 

We tend to forget what we are told in Numbers 23:19, that: "God is not human, that he should lie, not a
human being, that he should change his mind." God has given us
clear directions regarding what is necessary for our salvation. He it clear on
what is morally and ethically acceptable. He is clear about marriage and sexual
relationships. He is clear about the worship that is acceptable to him. These
things are not given to change just because or society has decided that they
want them to change.

 

What about those who demand change to what God has already
put into place? Psalm 55:19 speaks
of: "God, who is enthroned from of
old, who does not change, he will hear them and humble them, because they have
no fear of God. You see, it all boils down to having a "fear"
for God and His Word. (Hebrew lit. "respect or fear to displease
him").

 

Let me encourage you to be careful as to what you change
rather than one day standing before God and being brought to your knees in
shame, (humbled).

Different Standards

It's obvious to even the most
casual observer that different people have different standards that are
acceptable to them. In some cases it makes no real difference in life, yet in
other cases it does.

For example; for the past
couple of weeks my wife has been ill and because of that I have been 'helping'
with some of the household duties. (I offer a special thank you to each of the
ladies in our church who have offered to help.) Yesterday I had solid proof
that my wife is recovering. How? By the fact that "husband clean,"
was no longer sufficient for her. It was just little things, but I picked up on
them. Things like the comment: "You know; the kitchen floor really needs
moped." I thought it looked fine. I had wiped up the spots where I had
dropped food! Then there was the fact that she grabbed the hand vacuume and
cleaned up flower pedals and assorted other things in the living room that I
hadn't even seen. So, "husband clean," was not up to her standards of
what is acceptable. I have no excuse; after all, I am a husband and my ways are
not her ways of doing things.

One of the things about
standards is that they often change. You don't have to look to hard to
understand that our society's standards have shifted dramatically concerning
what is right and wrong or what is acceptable or unacceptable. God has set
standards in regards to what is acceptable in terms of morality, acceptable
worship and ethical behavior.

Our society, for the most
part, says there are no hard fast standards for morality; just do whatever
makes you feel good. Our society says, there are no standards for worship, just
do whatever makes you feel good. Our society says there are no standards for ethics;
just go with whatever profits you the most. Look at the corruption of our
world. Think about the thoughtlessness of our government leaders for the people
they govern. Think about the immorality that is flaunted by the world's
entertainment community and is mimicked by those they influence.

These standards of living and
action are not acceptable to our God, even though men say it makes no
difference. God said through the prophet Isaiah, "'For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD." (Isaiah 55:8)

The problem is that there are
so very many in our world who either don't take the time to read what God says
concerning His standards, or they disregard His words as being old fashioned
and say that God wouldn't possibly expect us live by those standards proclaimed
in His book today.

Paul writes these words of warning in 1Corinthians 6:9-11, "Or do
you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of
our God."

Now I'm pretty sure that some who read these words
will take offence at them, but you know what, you aren’t offended at me, you
are offended at God. He wrote them, I just pointed them out to you. God tells
us basically, "My standards are not your standards, and your ways are not
my ways, what you call right is not really right, what you call clean is not
really clean." You see, it's no different than my cleaning the house for
my wife, what is an acceptable standard to me is not to her. And if truth be told,
I like her standard of cleanliness and God's standard for living better.

Russ Lawson – Messages From The Heart

Blog: http://messages-from.blogspot.com

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HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH HURT IN YOUR LIFE?

This week posted by one of my Facebook friends was the
following question: "So what do you do when you REALLY want to tell
someone off who hurt you badly so that they realize the damage they've done,
but you know they won't care?"

There
were a great number of responses to this question, most of which urged the
person to pray about it or in someway turn to God about the problem. Several
people urged the perplexed person to write them a letter, so as to confront the
other person with the issue. All of the answers they received were good
answers, each with a personal insight, all involved God in the answer.

I can
relate to this question as probably each of you who read this can. Is there any
"one" right answer, probably not as long as we keep God's Word in
mind as we struggle with this question on a personal level. It’s the idea of
asking ourselves the question, "What would Jesus do in my situation?"
However, there are a couple of scriptures that come to mind as I consider this.

The
first is Romans 12:18-21, where Paul
writes, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with
everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath,
for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the
Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning
coals on his head."  Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

How
we treat others is not dependant upon how they treat us, but on how God would
have us to treat them. It may be that our first thought is, "But that's
not right!" "Where is the justice in that, you are just letting them
get away with bad behavior."

Understand
that if it is a matter of hurting others, breaking the law, hurting God's
church or weakening the power of God's Word, I will stand up and confront
someone. But if it is a personal relationship issue, I may just deal with it
between me and God.

A scripture that goes along with this idea is
Act 8:32-33a, where a Old Testament scripture is quoted: "This
is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: "He was led like a
sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did
not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice."

We
are told that this scripture was fulfilled by Jesus, who was humiliated and
deprived of justice. Did he have the power to require that justice was served?
Yes, but he chose to suffer the humiliation and injustice for the good of
others.

I
don't know where you are at in your spiritual life, whether you can do that of
not, it's not for me to judge. I believe that is why Paul wrote in Romans 12:18, "If it
is possible, as far as it depends on you." It could be that our
prayers for others should included the words of another scripture concerning
ourselves as the man said to Jesus in Mark
9:24; "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
He still had room for growth and so do I, how about you?

Christmas, A time to remember

'"So Joseph also went up
from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and
line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be
married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came
for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn." (Luke 2)

We realize that Christmas is a
holiday established by men; however it is based on the remembrance of the birth
of the Christ Child. Christmas has always been a family celebration, which is
why it has such appeal to us.

As we look at this scripture which
we all know so well, we remember that in the earliest of beginnings, Joseph
heard the angel as he appeared to him in a dream (Matthew 1:20), with a message from God. When he realized it was a
message from God he knew that he could trust Mary. They were committed to one
another as husband and wife, a family, while much of the world would have
rejected the situation.

They were also committed to the
care for the baby, which God had given them. So in reality, the Christmas is a
celebration not just about God sending a Savior, but it's about human love as
well.

Did you know that the most popular
American song ever written is Irving Berlin's "White Christmas?" The
tune is simple, but the message touches the heart. Berlin wrote these words that I'm pretty
sure that most of you know by heart: "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know. Where the tree tops glisten and children
listen to hear the sleigh bells in the snow." It brings memories of home
and family.

Christmas is about remembering the
sacrifice of God who "thought it not a thing to be held onto"
to stay in heaven, "but humbled himself and took on the form of
a man." Christmas is a time to celebrate family. A time to renew
love, celebrate with friends and family that we may not have seen since the
last Christmas.

In the celebration of Christmas we
see a God who humbles Himself and a young couple who have the most amazing
experience at the birth of their son, the king of the universe.

Let me wish each one of you a
joyous Christmas and you celebrate the gift of God and the love of family.

Russ Lawson, Messages From The
Heart

Books by Russ Lawson @
http://www.lulu.com/russlawson

Living Gratefully is sometimes hard

This is the
season for "Thanks" here in America, isn't it? Next week we
will be celebrating our national holiday of Thanksgiving. People will be
gathering all over the country reminding each other of all the things for which
they are thankful in their lives.

The problem
with that is; that not everyone is in a thankful mood. There are many, many
people who have had to deal with tragedy and loss. They are dealing with the
loss of family members, the loss of friends, the loss of jobs, the loss of
homes, cars, and things that cannot be replaced. Some of us despair over the
condition of our county and the loss of moral values in our government and our
society in general.

Sometimes it is
difficult to "Be Grateful," in general; much less live gratefully all
of the time. How do we cope? How do we not read the words of Paul in Philippians 4:4, where he says: "Rejoice
in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice," and not, at times,
feel resentment?

Are we wrong to
feel discouraged? Are we wrong not to go around smiling and laughing all the
time? Honestly; I don't think we are wrong for having emotions and feelings
which are not always in line with rejoicing. We often see Jesus as he is
weighed down with the unbelief of the Jewish nation sorrowing and weeping. If
you are human, then sometimes you are going to hurt.

I believe that,
even though he wrote the words above, the apostle Paul sometimes had trouble
rejoicing "Always". How many times did he chastise those who hurt the
cause of Christ? How often did he warn that judgment is coming to those who
fail to hold onto their faith and serve Satan? Really, do you think he rejoiced
in doing that? I don't!

I believe that
the point Paul was making is that we must never lose sight of the promise of
our hope in the future. Yes, sometimes it's difficult to rejoice or to be
thankful, but that is only until we remind ourselves that this world is only
temporary and that all loses on earth don't really matter eternally. Our live
is more than just the daily grind, pain and loss we suffer here; it is the hope
for the future in which we rejoice! When I remember that, I honestly can
rejoice always (or in all ways), because I remember the eternal promise of God.

TOLERANCE AND GOD

We are living in a very
difficult time in our world. We live in a world where tolerance is often
demanded by those in our society and our government. One definition of
tolerance which I read said, that: "Tolerance is being forced to put up
with something with which you disagree" .

Recently in California a law was passed saying that if a
boy feels that he was really a girl or a girl feels that she is really a boy;
that they must be allowed to use whatever dressing room or shower room they
desire in the public schools. In other words a boy may join you daughter in the
school showers and you daughter may join the boys in their school shower. Also,
a law was passed that said that if your son or daughter had these inclinations
that you are forbidden (by law) as a parent to seek counseling for them. This
is some folk's idea of what tolerance should be like.

As I consider this I think
their idea of tolerance is just plain crazy! It's not unlike the Calvin and
Hobbes cartoon which was run not long ago.

Calvin and Hobbes are shown walking through the
snow. Hobbes asks: "How are you doing on your New
Year's resolutions?"



Calvin replies: "I didn't make any. See, in order to improve oneself, one
must have some idea of what's 'good.' That implies certain values. But as we
all know, values are relative. Every system of belief is equally valid and we
need to tolerate diversity. Virtue isn't 'better' than vice. It's just
different."



Hobbes replies: "I don't know if I can tolerate that much tolerance."

Calvin response was: "I refuse to be victimized by notions of virtuous
behavior."

That in a nutshell is the
problem. People demand tolerance of their ideas based upon the concept that
there can be no right or wrong, no good or bad. This flies in the face of all
of us who were raised with strong moral and ethical values. Yes, I will readily
admit that my values are based upon God's Word, the bible, but then to begin
with so were most of the laws of our land.

To declare that there is no
true right or wrong, no definable good or bad is ludicrous. There have to be
constant's by which we can guide our society or it will crumble around us,
which is what I am afraid is beginning to happen. It is like declaring a three
egg omelet is good, because it only had one bad egg in it. You can say it is
good, but that does not make it so.

We see developing in our
country a path, a way that is taking us away from everything that made us a
great nation. "The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the godly
will flourish. There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends
in death." (Proverbs 14:11-12, NLT) Is there truly no right or
wrong, no good or bad? God say that there is. Notice what he says in Revelation
21:8 "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those
who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars, their fate is in
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death, (an eternal
separation from God)."

Some today are saying,
"Who is this God? He's not real! He is only the remnants of an old
mystical teaching. Psalms 14:1, tells us: "Only fools say in their hearts,
'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of
them does good!" You can be tolerant of evil or you can decide
that there really is a right way to live. The choice is yours!