Food for Thought – The Latest and Greatest GPS

There are so many GPS units on the market today…….Garmin, Magellan, Tom Tom, Kenwood, Lanzar, Rand McNally, Pyle, Ouku, Cobra, and others. Each one is designed to be able to route some to travel from one destination to another in the best way possible. You can set up to go the fastest way or the shortest way. You can calculate to avoid certain types of roads, toll booths, and traffic interferences. You can access different color maps, different languages, and even different voices to speak directions. Some have small screens and some have large screens. 

Julie and I bought our first GPS several years ago. It was a Tom Tom with just the basic options. We thought it was the best thing since microwave popcorn. I would be pretty certain that we have four or five Tom Tom’s now. Pastoring a military church, it seemed like that every time a family would PCS back to the states, they would leave their GPS unit with us. We like everything about our Tom Tom. It has gotten us to many destinations without a hitch.

What if we decided that we were going to make a change in our GPS unit. We go down to the local retail store and we tell them that we want the “latest and greatest” He immediately pulls a box off the shelf and says, “this is what you need.Everyone is buying this GPS. It has a great look to it. It is easy to read. The language is simple to understand. If you will go online, you will see that this is the number one seller.

So, we purchase it, and take it home and get it all set up and ready to go. We leave for vacation a few days later and put in our destination and off we go. We just sit there amazed at the beautiful screen and all the options that it offers. An hour or so down the road we near the next interstate that we are to get on and to our surprise the GPS does not even show the interstate on the screen. We try to recalculate the route, but to no avail. Further down the road the same problem is repeated and now we are becoming confused. Why would this thing leave out a major interstate. Later on in our journey, it calculates our route and as we look at our next turn that it gives us on the GPS, we find that there is no such road on our route. What is going on with this thing. It sure looks good, but it is lacking on consistency of the routes. When we return from our trip we take it back to the retail store and inquire about the issues that we ran into. The store clerk proceeds to tell us that this is  the way that they have made the new GPS models. People are more interested in the way it looks, the easy read screens, and the clear voice, than they are the factuality of the maps.

It is sad, but, this is the same reasoning that many people have when it comes to purchasing a Bible. There are many people who purchase a Bible that is the newest thing. It is a lot easier to read than the old, out-dated King James Version, but, there are many roads on the map that are eliminated, changed, or sometimes roads are added on that are not there. 

Over forty passages from the original text are left out of the New International Version. Nearly two-hundred passages are left out of the New American Standard Version. Both of these versions add multiple applications that are not in the original text. Major doctrines are tampered with in these versions. In I Timothy 3:16 and Romans 14:10 of NIV, the deity of Christ is called into question. In Isaiah 14:12 Satan(Lucifer) is called “morning star” which is a name given to Christ. The Virgin Birth of Christ is brought into question in Matthew 1:26, Luke 2:23, Luke 2:43, and John 1:14. There are a number of passages in the NIV where the doctrine of the Trinity is taken apart. We could go on.

Why would I want a GPS that would lead me wrong, confuse me, leave out major roads that I need to know about…..but, even more than this, why would I want a Bible that is the newest thing, seemingly easier to read, everyone is using it, but, it is misleading, doctrinally unsound, confusing in application, and missing scripture.

God is not the” author of confusion .” Psalms 12:6-7  says,” The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

The INFALLIBLE Word of God

“I will begin using other versions of the Bible when they put back what was taken out, when they take out what was added to, and when they undo what was changed to fit their own beliefs.”

Sweet Communion

Have you lived deep enough in the well of sweet communion with God that mediocrity swiftly brings a thirsting of the soul. 

Looking unto Jesus – Taking Christ at His Word

Looking unto Jesus – Taking Him at His Word

When the giants come – ” I come to thee in the name of The Lord of Hosts “

When we find ourselves in defeat, living the life of a supplanter, a deceiver. – ” I will not let thee go until you bless me. “

If you have fallen prey to the wiles of the devil, put your hands to the pillar and cry out: – ” O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God. “

When we face the fiery furnace, we can find comfort from the “fourth man in the fire”.

When we find ourselves having to face the den of lions, we can still find God’s grace to kneel “three times a day” and pray to a Holy God.

 

 

 

Mandate of Missions

Someone that claims redemption’s work in their life must find it a reasonable responsibility to promote this same grace to every creature.

Lifestyle Evangelism

Lifestyle evangelism is when our life is so filled and running over with Christ that those who are in need around us come near to get their cup filled.

Our new Prayer Letter

https://mjelancaster1.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/october-29-2013-prayer-letter-1.pdf

The Healing Power of Love

A man who had become a wealthy, successful businessman began to go through some difficulties in the corporate world. His company was struggling. Business was declining and it was causing a great degree of strain. Emotionally he was beginning to collapse under the load of the failures of life. Physically he was struggling and depression was setting in, 

He soon began to bring the weight of his struggles home. Every evening he would come to dinner and in silence would block out his wife and his beautiful eight year old daughter. His sweet wife, knowing the burdens that were on her husband, tried to encourage him in every way possible. She would fix his favorite meals. She would have his paper ready for him to read. She would affectionately kiss the one she loved but it seemed that she was just kissing a shell of the man that she knew. After dinner the husband would retire to the den, with newspaper in hand, and would bury himself in the paper and wall his girls out of his life. His precious girl would show daddy the beautiful picture that she had colored, but, the dad indignantly would say,”that’s good, Hon”, and would push her away.

Things were daily becoming more and more strained. His depression deepened. The lovely wife wept as she saw the man she loved slip deeper in despair. The little girl, although young, could tell that something was not right with daddy. She was used to playing “piggy-back” on the floor. Daddy usually would push her in the swing every night when he would come home from work. She was missing the “butterfly kisses” that made her face tickle. Daddy had not said, “I love you” in several days. She loved her daddy. 

After several nights of this, one evening he came home from work, quickly ate his meal and went and hid himself in the living room with his newspaper. After a short while the little girl crawled up on the sofa, took her little hand and pushed the newspaper aside. She then jumped up into her father’s lap and began giving him butterfly kisses. Somewhat annoyed, he tried to get her to go away but she would not leave. Finally she wrapped her little arms around her daddy’s neck and hugged him as strong as she could. She would not let go. The dad, breathing heavily, said, “Honey, you are hugging me to death.” The little girl replied into his ear as she continued to squeeze, “no Daddy, I am trying to hug you back to life.” 

Often we take the cares of this world and allow them to push us away from God. We can’t enjoy His word and His fellowship. When don’t recognize His graciousness. Then the Lord often times will try to squeeze us with all His goodness to try to bring us back into loving fellowship with Him. Let’s be careful not to let the cares of this world draw us away from the one who loves us most.

Romans 2:4 …..not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

What Every Parent Should Know

In Proverbs 22: 6 We find some words of wisdom to those who are raising a family. This wisdom, from thousands of years ago, is still a foundation for every husband and wife whom God has blessed with an “heritage” from the Lord. In this passage we are reminded that there is a need to “train up our children in the way that they should go”. This is such a valuable proverb for the health of our home and the strength of generations to come. 

When I think of training, I think of the philosophy of the military. The military will take raw recruits, from many different backgrounds, and will train them how to be a first-class fighting machine. Most would know very little about weaponry, combat, and the logistics of battle before they came. The goal of those in charge is to graduate these recruits as men and women who are ready to face whatever foes may come their way. They will take these recruits and try to purge them of every weakness and characteristic that would be an hindrance to them being successful. Then they will train them to be fit, mentally and physically, to perform the duties ahead. This is hard work for those training as well as the trainees. They have the wonderful philosophy of “no pain, no gain”.

Certainly, we are not to treat our children like they are a soldier, but the philosophy of training still would apply. God has loaned our children to us and has given us the responsibility of training them in the “nurture and admonition” of the Lord. Then, we are to present them back to God when our duty is finished. If we as parents could remind ourselves that our children are ultimately not ours, but God’s, it should change our mindset of how we raise them. We are raising them in God’s stead and for God’s glory. Every decision that we make in their life should be to make them what Christ would want them to be. If we would recognize that, would that not make a difference in how we train our children. We would want to present them back to God,holy, pure, and and desirous to please the Lord. This will take some hard work on our part. If I make the choice that I am going to raise my children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” then I am going to have to decide to use the Word of God as my manual. I would like to use a few lessons to encourage us in how we can focus in on training our children biblically.

Let’s see some key acknowlegements to attain this godly training.

1. There must be a PROGRAM to follow.   Where do we get this program? From Dr. Spock? From the philosophy of the world? God has given us the program if we are willing to find it, accept it, and follow it. Scripture gives us mandates, proverbs, principles and promises all filled with the wisdom of God to help simple people like you and me to perform a duty that we cannot perform on our own. It would be good for every young parent to make a journal of every scripture that deals with raising our children. We could daily remind ourselves of these nuggets of wisdom and ask God to give us the strength to apply them. The sad reality with many parents is that they are satisfied if their kids grow up and are not a great burden. We should ask ourselves whether our program for training is geared to raise good children or godly children.

2. There must be a PURGING of hindrances.  We must eliminate any hindrances that will be a stumbling block to raising godly children. Sometimes those hindrance can be in the life of the parent and sometimes they can be in the life of the children. For parents,laziness can be a great hindrance. It can lead to frustration on the parents part and insecurity on the child’s part. For the child, an unbroken will is always an hindrance. Many times the surrendering of their will is the only thing keeping them from learning, growing and having a submissive spirit. It may be good for parents to make a list of these hindrances on both sides so that prayer can be made for these issues and special attention can be given to work on these problems. It is an eyeopener to see how little hindrances can become major issues if they are not dealt with quickly. A whinny attitude can soon blossom into a defiant attitude. Purge these through love, prayer and discipline.

3. There must be a PASSION for CONSISTENCY.  Consistency is probably the greatest problem facing good parents in properly training their children. The “little fox” of letting our children get away with something one day and then chastising them for the same the next is often what is “spoiling the vine”. It gives such a mixed message with our children and brings them confusion. Often parents will only discipline when they finally get irritated over something. If we are truly training our children then we want to take their hindrances and consistently hammer away and try to remove those problems. Consistent discipline, backed up with love, gives our children safety and comfort. Most issues of tantrums, back talking, crying to get their way, fighting, etc., could be turned around in a week if dealt with in a consistent manner. 

4.  There must be PATIENCE in difficult areas.  “We must have as much patience with our children’s faults as they have with our failures.” We need to patiently love them and listen to them. Someone said, “Your children need your presence more than your presents.” Time spent with them shows that you are interested in problems they are dealing with. We see a lot better results in difficult areas when we patiently work on the issues at hand and prayerfully show our children how God seeks for them to live.

Signs of Lukewarmness

When a Christian begins to replace spiritual things with carnal. 

When you become comfortable being among unbelievers without a passion to witness to them.

When your time for God in worship begins to slip.

When your heart is not pricked after you hear messages on our weaknesses.

When you are not burdened with things that concern spiritual growth.

When the Sword of the Spirit cuts like a wooden knife in you life.

When you show up as a Christian in public and go through worldly cosmetics everywhere else.

When you follow situational ethics; Like water your temperature adjusts to the atmosphere.

When the Spirit of God is no longer free to control you.