Tag: God

Finding His Presence

by Truth's For Today, posted in Poems

peace-in-the-storm-sermon-video-poster1Oh, what a thrill to witness God’s power upon the mountain peaks. To see Him rain fire from the heavens above so vic’try the prophet would see. We stand in awe as we gaze in the flames that surround the three Hebrew men, and see the face of the Son of God abiding as their shield and defense. Our hearts rejoice as we stand at the tomb where his body has laid in the earth, and hear the trembling words of our Lord, as He cries to Lazarus, “Come forth”.

These triumphs of life, remind us, no doubt, of our God’ awesome power and might. But, sometimes the greatest experience with God, is found in the stillness of night. There we can lay on the breast of our Lord, under the shadow of His sheltering wing, and find peace in the midst of the tempest of life that only His presence can bring.

He only asks that we come unto Him, bringing all of our labors and cares, so, that we see clearly, in the darkest of night, the He longs to answer our prayers.

Food for Thought – The Latest and Greatest GPS

by Truth's For Today, posted in Our Daily Walk

Earnestly-Contending-for-the-FaithThere 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.”

Church?, What is that all about?

by Truth's For Today, posted in Church Ministry

        christian-clipart-4  We are living in a generation that, for a lot of people, church is just another weekly social event that gives our families something to do. There seems to be no understanding of its necessity and ultimate potential to revolutionize our lives. Church is not a place to seek out a Holy God or find help for a hurting soul. Someone uniquely said that “Some Christians spend the first six days of the week sowing their wild oats, then they go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure”. It is sad that there is such a “cheap” commitment to something that used to be part of the foundation and bedrock of this Christian nation. Some may say that I don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian but I am more of the belief that “Professing a love for Christ without a committed love for the church is a biblical impossibility.” The scripture still exhorts us ” not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together”. As I have been a part of the ministry for the last thirty years, I see five different ways that people generally view the church.

1. Church is a RITUAL     We have at times been hard on churches that are characterized by formalistic worship, but often our church worship has taken on the same characteristics. Certainly there is something to say about getting into good habits and certainly church would be a good habit to be involved in, but ritualism can sometimes take the place of heart-felt worship. Children go to church because dad made them and then when dad is not around to make them, the ritual ends. Ritualism can cause us to sit in a service and never be stirred by the Spirit’s moving. We can sing and not know what we are singing about. We can pray, but it is only the prayer of a Pharisee. Ritualism can soon lead to manufactured worship that will soon die because it does not resonate from a heart of love.

2. Church is an Emergency Room     I remember a family that I had the privilege to pastor. They would come to church periodically, and when they walked in the door of the church I knew that there was some tragedy that had come into their lives. This was the only time that they came, and their commitment to come would last till the end of their trial. It continued on the same humorous circle for several years. God becomes their “spiritual bell-hop. When tragedy strikes, they know where to find God. The fellowship becomes important. The Word of God becomes necessary, but, when the need is taken care of, the need of God diminishes. We found this out as a nation during the dark season of September 11, 2001. The following Sunday our churches were overflowing with people who generally showed up for Easter and Christmas. There was a hunger for God and a realization that we had left Him out of our midst…. but, soon the threat to our nation subsided, and soon our churches were occupied by the faithful few. What a sad way to look at God and His church to only feel the need be a part when I’m experiencing tragedy.

3. Church is a Recreation Center    We seem to be so fascinated with recreation today. The driving force of the average home is how many activities that we can be involved in. Church has been added to a lengthy list of necessary activities for our homes, but, the sad thing is that church has been placed far down on the priority list. Although we should  enjoy the fellowship of our church family in times of activity, families must recognize that the purpose of the church is not to entertain us.

4.  Church is a Religious Act   America is quickly becoming a, self-professed, religious nation and not a Christian nation. In the south, it is a known fact that every “good-ole boy” believes that it is right to attend a church service each week. If you were to ask them, why, they would quickly tell you that we are “religious” people. Religion has replaced revival, and repentance, and righteousness and we have become satisfied with surface religious acts. Christ had much to say to the religious crowd that only had a surface representation of what should be a personal walk with Christ. This brings us to the last point which should be the desire of our hearts when it comes to church.

5.  Church is a Responsible Relationship   Church should be a personal relationship that we strengthen, build up, nurture, protect, and encourage others to be a part of. If we see the need of this relationship, how can we not be committed and faithful to something that Christ loves so much. It is impossible to have the right love for Christ if we do not have a love for His church. We go faithfully to church because we love it, we love Him, and we see the necessity of being faithful. We realize that we need the church and that the church needs us. Is not that the way we should look at all relationships. May we nurture and build and protect this wonderful relationship.

Related articles