Loving God!

“We love, because He first loved us.” I John 4:19

Sometimes you may feel that the word, ‘love,’ has really been overworked.

It is the easy, offhanded remark used to express a strong, though momentary, happiness about some thing or some experience. But there is no denying the potency of that word:

“But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I Cor 13:13

But how do we express our love to and for God? If, indeed, to know Him is to love Him, then where is the adventure in that expanding relationship - which is potentially complete from its inception.

Honesty requires that we confess that we have not known God all that well - all that long.

Paul’s prayer for believers: “That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work.” Col 1:9-10

Do you see the cyclical dynamic here?
Knowing God better. Walking worthy of Him. Pleasing Him. Knowing God better.

Getting to know God is to be found in His Word, fellowship with Him, meditation on Him and His word. Walking worthy of Him so you know and love Him better.

Today’s challenge: Love God more. Love God better. Write how you will do that today.

God Is . . .

"...for God is love." I John 4:8

God is love.
What did John mean when he wrote this Holy Spirit inspired statement?

God is light.
This is also a statement by John. Light signifies moral goodness and purity and shows itself vividly against the dark backdrop of immorality. To say God is light is to say His purity permeates all that He is, says and does.

In the same way, God is love, and His love permeates all that He is, says and does.

Here is comfort, for you.
An all powerful God, sovereign God, has declared His love for you.
He does not change. Jesus Christ, the living Word, is God's expression of love for you. He loved you and gave Himself up for you. Galatians 2:20

How practical is this? When life throws you a curve, the bottom drops out, you lose your job, or a loved one, your health fails, God is love!

He is in control and His love is constant.

By faith, based on God's declaration of love for you in Jesus Christ, say, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Can you do that?
If you think not, ask God to give you a deeper knowledge and trust in Him and the love He has for you. The Spirit of God will enable you to do this.

Our Need - Revival!

"Return to Me," declares the Lord of hosts, "that I may return to you..." Zech. 1:3

This was God’s call to the nation Israel. Surely it is His call to us today.

Obedience is the only ground upon which God can continue to bless a nation. We have walked perilously close to the precipice of His judgement.

Anti-God philosophy has so permeated our media, our educational system, our churches and our minds, that it is difficult for many to make the distinction.

Our society not only tolerates - but applauds wickedness. What we see being condoned in an average night’s television brings to mind this verse:
“...and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:32

Surely this knowledge will take you to your knees before our merciful yet holy God.

Look around you. Analyze the direction our society is going. Read statistics. Find out what children are learning in the public classroom. Compare TV today to what it was 20 years ago as it reflects society’s values.

Then, get God’s perspective. Until you see things as God does, they will not be too disturbing.

Pray today for revival. Pray that God will not be forced to turn His back on us for our wickedness.

Led By The Spirit

“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14

Understanding God’s will is not as difficult as we might think. The problem often could be attributed to a misconception of what it is to learn the will of God.

Total reliance upon the Spirit of God is biblical, but not when it excludes the knowledge and practice of God’s will revealed in His written Word.

God has given us many objective statements concerning His will. It is within the context of His revealed will, that you can know additional guidance from Him.

A married man meets a young lady who is not his wife. Both are Christians. They fall in love and all he can say is, “I feel closer to God now that I have met her. It must be God’s will.”

Your junk detector tells you this man is rationalizing, telling himself “rational lies.” The Holy Spirit never leads contrary to the written Word and the Bible deplores adultery.

In the context of Romans 8, those who are led by the Spirit are avoiding known sins. They are not pathfinders establishing a new morality.

Is there a particular area in which you need guidance from God? He has promised to lead you in righteousness.

First, search the Scriptures trusting His Holy Spirit Who is the illuminator of the Bible. Rightly related to Him, God can speak to your heart all you need to know to please Him.

Life With Purpose

“...this was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord” Eph 3:11

Does God guide? Your answer to that question could be based on many different factors. Generally, Christians emphatically answer yes. However, with today’s confusion, both in and out of the church, God’s guidance is sometimes suspect. How personal God is, His morality, even His immortality have been questioned.

But God’s guidance is real and is based on His eternal plan. God has always dealt with His people according to His plan. The Israelites were delivered from Egypt and from Babylonian exile as God planned.

God had a plan for Jesus, and it was Jesus’ purpose on earth to accomplish the will of His Father.

Jesus said to the, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” John 4:34

God has a plan for you. Phase one, you already know. In Him “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose...” Eph 1:11

Jewish believers were first to hope in Christ, and it is His will that together we all should bring Him glory.

He will guide you. Claim the reality of that marvelous truth for your life experience today.

Does God Guide?

“...He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Psalm 23:3

The question is - does God guide? Yes! He has a plan for you.
Most Christians agree with this statement.

Probably the area of greater concern is the communication of God’s will to those who want to know and do it. This has been the subject of many helpful messages and books. Can and does God communicate His will? Yes! The Bible is full of examples how our personal God communicated His will to individuals.

Paul recognized the possibility of this vital communication from God as he prayed that the believers at Colosse would “...be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding...” Col 1:9

What is wisdom but understanding the direction God wants you to take in a particular set of circumstances.

The promise “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

God is your Father. That is biblical truth. A father provides guidance to his children. Our Father has even provided a guide book.

The Holy Spirit within you gives you guidance. Ask yourself, “When is God glorified?” When you know His will and do it.

Pollution

“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper...” Romans 1:28

In light of the Supreme Court case in California last week in regards to marriage, I thought this was a very interesting excerpt from the Manchester Guardian, September, 1968.

Paris, September 15 – “Within the next two decades, life on our planet will be showing the first signs of succumbing to industrial pollution. The atmosphere will become unbreathable for men and animals; all life will cease in rivers and lakes; plants will wither from poisoning.

This frightening opinion has emerged from the Inter-Governmental Conference of Experts on the Scientific Bases for Rational Utilization and Conservation of Biospheric Resources which has the most prolix title ever given to a UNESCO symposium, but something extremely terse and telling to say.

Natural sources, like minerals, are being swiftly depleted. Other natural products that renew themselves, such as forests, have not been given time to regrow. As cities spread in a monstrous fashion, the problem of refuse inherent in urban life attains the size of an insoluble problem. Carbon dioxide and all the hosts of airborne industrial wastes are fouling the atmosphere and poisoning fresh water. In the last twenty years the whole process has been accelerating at a crazy speed.

But the growth of pollution has not been confined to the natural and material realms; it is much more serious in the moral and spiritual realms. Violence, murder, crime, immorality, and dishonesty - indeed, every form of sin - have polluted the atmosphere of souls since the Fall of man.”

Power Over Sin

Then Daniel spoke to the king, "O king, live forever! "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime." Daniel 6:21-22

It was the late C. I. Scofield, the author of the Scofield Study Bible who said that -
‘Within a week of my conversion I passed a picture store in St. Louis and saw, hanging in a window, a picture of Daniel looking up in the den of lions and answering the king’s questions. I was a drunken lawyer before I was converted. No one had told me about that picture, and a great hope and stood before that picture, and a great hope and faith came into my heart. I said, “Why ! These lions are all about me – my old habits and my old dins – but the God that shut the lions’ mouths for Daniel can shut them for me!’

But remember - God did not deliver Daniel from the lion's den but He did deliver him from the lion’s mouths.

Power of Prayer

“...for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28

David Brainerd did his greatest work by prayer. He was in the depths of the forest alone, unable to speak the language of the Indians, but he spent whole days in prayer.

What was he praying for? He knew that he could not reach those savages. He did not understand their language. If he wanted to speak at all he must find somebody that would vaguely interpret his thought. Therefore he knew that anything he might do must be absolutely dependent upon the power of God. So he spent whole days praying simply that the power of the Holy Ghost might come upon him so unmistakably that these people should not be able to stand before him.

What was the answer? Once he preached through a drunken interpreter, a man so intoxicated that he could hardly stand up. That was the best he could do. Yet scores were converted through that sermon.

We cannot account for it, only that it was the tremendous power of God behind him. After he was dead, William Carey read his of Brainerd's life story and went to India. Robert McCheyne read his diary and went to the Jews. Henry Martyn read his journal and went to India. The hidden life in communion with God in trying to reach the source of power, is the life that moves the world.

Believe me when I tell you that the problem today we face is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer. We need to plug into the power source and that is prayer!

Today

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you could have or should have done today.

It was on October 8, 1871, D.L. Moody addressed the largest congregation he had ever addressed in Chicago. His text was “What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?” Concluding, he gave the congregation this advice: “I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds, and next Sunday we shall come to calvary and the Cross, and decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.” Ira D. Sankey sang the closing hymn.

Then the clang of fire-bells was heard. The great fire of Chicago laid Moody’s hall in ashes and over 1,000 people perished, some of them among his audience. Moody said it was the greatest mistake he ever made - telling his hearers to postpone their decision till the following Sunday.

Today is the day you have. What do you need to do today? It’s the best day you have. Do you need to make a phone call, write a letter, share with a friend? Do you need to receive Christ, or be obedient to do something God has called you to do? Scripture says, “Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Heb 4:7

Kindness Wins

“To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.” I Peter 3:8

An old man, telling what led him to the Savior, said, “Walking out one morning I met a bright-eyed boy. The little fellow stepped up to me and in the most polite manner imaginable said, ‘Please, sir, will you take a tract, and please, sir, will you read it?’ I had always loathed tracts, and when offered one I sometimes swore dreadfully, but I could not swear at that gentlemanly little fellow with his kind ‘Please, sir!’ I took the tract and it was the means of leading me to Christ. The ‘Please, sir’ was the key that unlocked my hard old heart.”

“For hearts, like doors, open with ease -
to very very little keys,
and these are ‘Thank you! And ‘If you please!’”

People are far more open to those who show genuine concern and compassion, than those who shove the Gospel down their throat. I am convinced that there are many who do not turn down Jesus - but rather, those who are supposed to represent Him! Be kind, and most in turn will be kind back.

Appreciation

“For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10

...Or to put it another way, I would rather be the doorkeeper in the house of my God, than the chief cook and bottle washer in hell!

The word in the King James Version of our Bibles that is translated ‘porter’ really means a doorkeeper. By the temple of Solomon the humble doorkeeper had an honorable place and a responsible work in the House of the Lord.

In Nehemiah 12:45 they receive honorable mention as doorkeepers of the ward of their God, along with the singers, some of whom are mentioned earlier as being over the business of the House of God. The porter’s job was not carrying baggage, but keeping watch at the doors and gates of important places.

In meetings of the local church today, the saints owe much to the brothers and sisters who are ‘on the door,’ welcoming friends as they arrive, distributing bulletins, and making kindly enquires concerning those who come and their relatives or friends who are on the sick list.

Psalm 84 is a psalm of the sons of Korah who were content to be doorkeepers in the House of the Lord rather than be associated with those who, like their progenitor, Korah, opposed the divinely appointed order and were ambitious to rank along with God’s chosen priests.

Today, as you go to church and you see one of God’s doorkeepers, why not smile at them, give a kind word, and show appreciation to those who volunteer their time to be of service to God’s people.

Dembski: ‘Expelled’ Exposes Hypocrisy

“O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” I Tim 6:20

A controversial documentary released nationwide April 18th could foster a cultural shift “equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall,” says William Dembski, research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The seminary hosted a private screening of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” (PG) in early March. In the film, host Ben Stein tracks down scholars who have been “expelled” by the academic community for their support of intelligent design (ID), a research program that flies in the face of Darwinism. Dembski is featured in the documentary.

“The film exposes the hypocrisy of an academic and cultural elite who pretend that they value freedom of inquiry and expression, but in fact suppress it when it classes with their deeply held materialistic convictions,” Dembski said. He and other proponents of ID have suggested that the universe shows signs of having been designed by and intelligent being.

"Many fields of study within modern science involve intelligent design, including archeology, forensics, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)," Dembski said. An archeologist, for example, examines the evidence - such as a curiously shaped stone - to determine whether it might be the product of a human intelligence.

“These sciences, however, are uncontroversial because any intelligence detected though them could be an ‘evolved’ intelligence,” Dembski said. “Most of the action with ID, on the other hand, centers in biology, so than any intelligence involved with the emergence of living things is likely to be an ‘un-evolved’ intelligence. ID, therefore, challenges materialistic theories of evolution, such as Darwinism.”

Unlike biblical creationism, ID does not begin with the Genesis account of creation, nor do its proponents attempt to describe the nature of the intelligence that designed the universe. Despite this fact, Dembski noted, “ID is friendly to Christian theism in a way that materialistic forms of evolution never have been.”

“One of the biggest obstacles to people coming to Christ in Western culture is the impression that science has disproved the Bible and Christianity,” he said. “ID, therefore, helps to correct this false impression by showing that our best science supports belief in a higher intelligence responsible fore life. ID does not give you the Christian God as such, but it puts you in the right ballpark.”

Dembski told the Southern Baptist TEXAN that those who most need to see the movie are “parents of children in high school or college, as well as those children themselves, who may think that the biological sciences are a dispassionate search for truth about life - but many of whose practitioners see biology, especially evolutionary biology, as an ideological weapon to destroy faith in God.”

Intelligent Design Foes No Match for Stein in ‘Expelled’

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

Actor, commentator, and comedian, Ben Stein promises he hasn’t lost his mind. "Well, he says with his famous dry monotone humor, "at least not in this instance."

On the contrary, Stein - whose documentary film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” opened April 18th, believes he’s involved in one of the leading cultural and political battles of his life: the fight for academic freedom against an establishment that teaches Darwinian evolution as fact. Intelligent Design (ID) - the belief that certain aspects of the world are so complex that they must have been created by an intelligent being, instead of by a random process - deserves a place at the academic table, he says.

“I think I’m engaged in a struggle that’s very much uphill in which the establishment is very much against me,” he said in a recent telephone conference call with reporters. “But I’m a rebel to my core...and happy to be in an uphill struggle, as long as the cause is right.”

Obviously, conservatives and supporters of Intelligent Design don’t believe Stein has lost his mind. Rather, they believe “Expelled,” one of the year’s most controversial films, has a chance to change dramatically the landscape in the ongoing struggle between evolution and Intelligent Design. In the film, Stein travels the globe, interviewing scientists, philosophers, and doctors who believe in evolution and those who believe in Intelligent Design. In case after case, Stein recounts the story of ID supporters who lost their jobs or couldn’t get tenure because of their supposed controversial beliefs.

The documentary, rated PG for thematic material and very brief language, ends in a climatic scene with Stein interviewing one of the world’s leading backers of evolution, atheist and author, Richard Dawkins.

Stein’s humor is on display throughout the film, although supporters of evolution likely won’t find it too funny. Christian conservative leaders are on board, supporting it. The film was shown at the recent National Religious Broadcasters meeting. It’s also scheduled to be the topic of an upcoming Focus on the Family broadcast.

ID supporters, Stein, and the film assert, are facing staunch opposition in the academic world, in the media and in the courts. “The case we’re making,” associate producer Mark Mathis said, “is that there needs to be freedom in science, that we have highly qualified scientists who are being persecuted for unscientific reasons and are being driven away by a philosophy. That is the core content of the film - the persecution of scientists needs to stop.”

A secondary theme is that evolution, taken to the extreme, can have deadly consequences. In one part of the documentary that likely will stir controversy, Stein tours a Jewish concentration camp and interviews an expert who argues that evolution was a contributing factor to the Holocaust. For Stein, who is Jewish, the moment was personal.

McDonald's Joins The Gay Agenda

"...and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness." Eph 4:19

McDonald's, known for its distinctive golden arches is now being recognized for the dubious distinction of having a member of its executive team on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

McDonald's has been a "corporate partner" with the chamber for some time - now its national vice president for communications is on the organization's board of directors.

"I'm thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work," crowed Jim Ellis, the chief spokesperson for the fast-food restaurants, in a chamber press release last month. He went on to say that he shares the chamber's "passion for business growth and development within the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward."

In addition to McDonald's, corporations represented on the chamber's board of directors include: IBM, Motorola and Wells Fargo. Just last month, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced a partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce of offer discounts to "LGBT owned" businesses. The chamber reportedly exists to promote the economic health of such businesses.

It's one thing for a corporation to be a "member" of the chamber. Most major corporations are - www.nglcc.org/ht/d/sp/i/213/pid/213. It's another thing entirely to take such a prominent role in promoting the "LGBT" cause, especially for a company like McDonald's that has built its business on the backs of America's families - most of them solidly heterosexual and with children.

What will this do for Ronald McDonald's image? What secret had Ronald been keeping? What does McDonald's hope to gain by this action? No corporation does something like this without looking to benefit their bottom line.

I didn't realize McDonald's felt its market share among the "LGBT" segment of the population was suffering.

My family has decided to help the burger chain in beefing up its percentage of non-heterosexual customers. If we feel the need to eat a cheeseburger and fries, we'll be eating elsewhere, that will leave room at their counters and their indoor playgrounds for the other customers McDonald's desperately wants to court.

That'll be tough for me. I really do like their french fries.
---- 30----

Dwayne Hastings is a vice president with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Originally published at iLiveValues.com, a website of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The High Price of Divorce

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Galatians 6:7

Harriet McManus discounted the notion that couples can go through a "trial marriage."

"It's really more like a trial divorce," she said at a press conference at the Family Research Council. "The only question is whether you break up before the wedding or after the wedding in a legal divorce. As one of our marriage educator friends says, you can't practice permanence. Of 100 cohabiting couples, 85 break up before or after the wedding, leaving only 15 couples in a lasting marriage after 10 years, and who knows how many more divorces after 10 years.

Women who cohabitate are more likely to be abused and to be depressed than women in a marriage, studies cited by the McManuses say. Additionally, men and women in a live-together arrangement are more likely to cheat on one another. But perhaps most concerning, couples who cohabitate are nearly just as likely as married couples to have children - meaning that the failed relationship has an impact beyond the man and woman.

"The children feel abandoned when one parent moves out," Harriet McManus said. "That causes a great deal of trauma for the children, tripling the odds that the child will be expelled from school, compared to those raised in an intact family."

Couples who believe they can save money by cohabitating must weigh not only the biblical commandment against it, but the likely negative consequences of their decision, the McManuses say. Such couples should instead look for same-sex roommates as a money-saver, they added.

Often couple cohabitate because they rarely have seen a successful marriage up close, Mike McManus said.

"The major underlying reason for soaring cohabitation is that these are couples in which one or both partners grew up in a divorced home or in a home where there was not a marriage," he said. "These young couples fear marriage because they fear divorce."

Churches should mentor engaged couples as a way to strengthen relationships, stop cohabitation and prevent divorces, the McManuses believe. Statistics back them up. Of 288 couples who were mentored at their church between 1992 and 2000, only seven divorced or separated. Fifty-five of the couples, 19%, broke up before marrying.

"That's a huge percentage- that's 19 percent," Mike McManus said of the break-ups. "You need to have the mentoring process be rigorous enough that the weak relationships either break up on their own or get better and get stronger."

'Living Together' - A Statistical Risk, Experts Say

Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. I Cor 6:18

This week let's do something a little different - let's look at some issues that have theological implications. The following articles have been taken from the 'Baptist Press' and they are all hot off the press...
Does living together before marriage increase the chances for a successful marriage? The answer may surprise some.

Between 50 and 60 percent of all marriages begin with the two partners cohabiting and many of those couples no doubt believe they are making a wise move up front. But living together before marriage actually increases the chances of divorce in a first marriage - 67 percent of cohabiting couples eventually divorce, compared to the normal 45 percent for first marriages.

That and other myth-busting facts form the core of a new book by Mike and Harriet McManus, :Living together: Myths, risked & Answers" (Howard Nooks), with a foreword by Chuck Colson. Cofounders of the organization Marriage Savers, the couple have invested much of their lives trying to help strengthen marriages and push down the divorce rate.

The biblical warnings against cohabitation, the book says, are affirmed by statistics showing it's a bad idea.

"Men and woman cohabitate for different reasons," Mike McManus said in a conference call discussing the book. "Women see it as a step toward marriage. They think they can audition for this job. Men do it because they like to have the ready availability of sex and having someone share their living expenses. Women should heed their mother's advice - - if you give away the milk, he won't buy the cow."

The number of cohabitating couples has soared in recent decades, from about 439,000 in 1960 to more than 5 million today. About 10 percent of couples who married between 1965 and 1974 lived together before marriage. Today, that number is more than 50 percent.

Couples who live together not only are significantly more likely to divorce after marriage, but about 45 percent of them will break up before marriage, studies show. Cohabitation, McManus said, has a high failure rate because it's based on selfishness.

" 'If you make me feel loved, then I might marry you. If you make me happy, then I might marry you,' " McManus said. "Love and marriage is an investment, and cohabitation is a gamble. Cohabitation is conditional; marriage is based on permanence. These are radically different psychological premises. True love is selfless - seeking to serve the other person. Cohabitation is based on selfishness - 'How will this relationship satisfy me?"

He added that no studies have ever shown cohabitation to benefit relationship.

Here's a Thought

"...like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." I Peter 2:2

It is time we capitalize on the most popular book in America. Book clubs have sprung up in cafes, coffee shops and dining rooms all across America. Rather than allowing celebrities, talk show hosts and commentators to provide suggested readings, what do you say we come up with some suggested reading of our own?

What might happen if for 30 days a group of believers decided to invite neighbors, family and friends to a one-month book club to simply read the book of Proverbs?
Participants could be encouraged to read a chapter a day and then to meet once a week to discuss what they have read.

Imagine what might happen if at the end of the study they made the decision to put what they learned into practice by becoming doers of the Word.

There is a good possibility that lives would be changed both from within and outside the group, and that the book club would continue to meet for months to come, discovering new insights from God's Word on a daily basis.

Let's Get Out There !

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path." Psm 119:105

Too many Christians attend church week after week soaking up preaching from the Word of God. Few people take time to read their Bible on a daily basis, and even fewer learn to live out what they have learned. It is pitiful. Like over-soaked sponges, we return to the watering hole for more and more spiritual food while the world starves to death looking for the truth. We hoard what we get from the Lord and fail to share the wealth of knowledge and insight we have gained from years and years of exploring the most popular book in America.

It is time we dust off our Bibles, come out from behind the most popular book in America and put our love into action. Baptists are a people of the Book, by the Book and for the Book. The Bible is our authority and guide for Christian life. Unfortunately, all too often, we are content to draw spiritual nourishment from yet another Bible study, huddled in our comfortable small group. While failing to be doers of the Word.

Doers of the Word

"But prove yourself doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." James 1:22

It is official, the Bible is the most popular book in America according to a new survey among 2,513 adults conducted by the Harris Poll.

Surprised? Not really. What is surprising is how a book can be so popular and yet so few put what the book provides into practice. We need only look to other social trends to see popularity has little to do with practicality.

It is not that the Bible lacks power. No, we simply lack the will to put the power into practice.

James 1:22 sums up the age old problem, "But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." The Bible may be popular, but few are really putting the Bible into practice. We listen. We look. We talk. But the reality of God's Word fails to make it into our walk.

Where are the doers of the Word?

Being Faithful

'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. 2:10

A lady once asked John Wesley that suppose he were to know that he would die at 12:00 midnight tomorrow, how would he spend the intervening time. His reply, "Why Madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Rend Martin's house, who expects to entertain me, talk and pray with the family as usual, retire to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in Glory."

I like that story because it says that John Wesley was living for Christ and Christ so lived in him, that he would not have to do one thing different to be in His will.

The question then today is this - "Are we being faithful to do all that we know our Lord has called us to do...as a Christian...as a citizen...as a church member?"

He is worthy of our effort, He is worthy of our best! He has given His all for us, we need to be faithful.

Activity or Accomplishment

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. John 4:34

Jesus came to this earth to accomplish a goal. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10 While the theological differences between Jesus and the religious leaders are vast, you do need to make note that Jesus was always moving toward the goal; while the religious leaders were simply going through the motions of routine. Jesus was full of motivation, passion and truth. And the Jews were stubborn, hard hearted and spiritually dead, going through the motions of religion with no real relationship.

Zig Ziglar reminds us that a man or a woman without a goal is like a ship without a rudder. Each will drift and not drive. Each will end up on the beaches of despair, defeat, and despondency.

John Henry Fabre, the great French naturalist, conducted a most unusual experiment with some processionary caterpillars. These caterpillars blindly follow the one in front of them. Hence, the name. Fabre carefully arranged them in a circle around the rim of a flowerpot , so that the lead caterpillar actually touched the last one, making a complete circle. In the center of the flowerpot he put pine needles, which is the food of the processionary caterpillar. The caterpillars started around this circular flowerpot.

Around and around they went, hour after hour, day after day, night after night. For seven full days and seven full nights, they went around the flowerpot. Finally, they dropped dead of starvation and exhaustion. With an abundance of food less than six inches away, they literally starved to death, because they confused activity with accomplishment.

Many people make the same mistake and,as a result, reap only a small fraction of the harvest life has to offer. Despite the fact that untold wealth lies within reach, they acquire very little of it because they blindly, without question, follow the crowd in a circle to nowhere. They follow methods and procedures for no other reason than, "It's always been done that way."

Are you busy with activity or are you busy accomplishing the things of the Lord?

Motivation and Will

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." I Cor 9:24

In this world, persisting toward a goal requires either a want or a will.

When you want something, when you act out of desire, you depend upon feelings of motivation, interest, or excitement to carry you past problems to your goal. You don't need will.

When you will something, when you act out of duty, commitment, loyalty, or integrity, you depend only upon your power to act. You don't need motivation. You persist because it is the right thing to do, or because of the consequences of not doing it, or simply because it needs doing. You call upon the sleeping giant within you, the power of your will.

Motivation is a welcome wind at your back. But winds are changeable and fickle - motivation comes and goes. Will is a faithful friend, at your side in both the sunlit days and dark nights of the soul, speaking quietly of what is important and good.

You can depend upon your will, because it comes from within you.

So sail the winds of motivation when they blow, but in the calm and dry spells, rely on your will to carry you through.

Press On!

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philip. 3:14

There a lot of things you can say about the Apostle Paul, but you can never say that he didn’t have goals. Everyone needs goals - without them you have no direction, you drift and never accomplish all that you could in life.

Stevie Wonder said, “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”

It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.... It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.

Give To Receive

"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35

Many leaders step into their leadership roles at a time of triumph in their lives, getting that big promotion or starting a new business. But for writer and editor Rita Weinstein of Seattle, becoming a leader grew out of a nightmare, losing a job she loved and was doing well at.

One Friday, Weinstein received a bonus and a raise for stellar performance. The following Monday she was laid off. Angry yet determined, she started a job search at once. But, driven by more than anger, she wanted to make something positive from having her life upended, so she began to volunteer at a local food bank.

Here Weinstein’s energy and communication skills soon gave her leadership opportunities in sharing ideas and organizing people. She’s now on the board at the food bank. And, as she says, she’s also “made new friends, learned about my community, and found new ways to feel productive and valuable.”

Weinstein’s now deeply interested in a leadership career with a nonprofit organization and has started a certification program toward that goal.

From her point of view, sharing means receiving: “When you give of yourself, you receive in greater measure.”

Are you giving yourself away? Try it - you’ll find out it works.

What Can’t Be Undone

“He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18

According to a 19th century Jewish folktale, a villager developed a grudge against his rabbi and spread slanderous tales about him all over town. Days later, the gossiper came to his senses and was overcome with remorse. He begged forgiveness from the rabbi and offered to do any penance necessary.

The Rabbi surprised him by instructing him to take a feather pillow into the woods, rip it open, and let the wind take the feathers. The man did as instructed and returned to tell the rabbi.

“Now, gather up all the feathers,” said the rabbi.
“But the wind has scattered them, it’s impossible.”

“It is. And though your wish to make amends may be sincere, you can’t call back your hasty words any more than you can recover the feathers scattered by the wind.”

Remember, words are very powerful and you can never recover what has been said, edify don’t crucify! Be a person who encourages, not one who discourages. Remember, Thumper the rabbit, “If you can’t say something nice - don’t say anything at all!”