2013

Happy New Year!

I know, I know! I’m a day late and a dollar short! No really, I am a dollar short!

I have been thinking about this new year: 2013. The number itself is kinda catchy: 2-0-1-3, or twenty-thirteen, or 13, or 1-3. The sound of it brightens my day. It is isn’t because I will turn another year older in October. It really isn’t because I pastor a great Church. It really isn’t because of anything in-particular. It’s because it is another year to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!

After reading so many different blogs and the Twitter feed, I discovered that so many people have set their goals for 2013. They have planned their lives out over the next year and they are already hard at work so when their goals list is through they can say, “Wow! Look what I’ve done! See what I’ve accomplished!” I shall never forget being a part of Zig Ziglar’s Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church of Dallas and he would say, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!” Oh, how everyone would write down words like this and would really try to live by this rule. Then someone from Amway came along and wanted me to be a part of the direct line. Every tape that I heard had sayings like Zig’s. They’re not bad sayings, but how true are they?

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to speak to the President of a large financial institution and told him that I have planned this year to preach the Word of God to the best of my ability. I want to tell as many people as I possibly can that Jesus Christ saves people from their sin. My goal is simply to improve my walk with the Lord Jesus so one day I can hear the words, “Well-done, thy good and faithful servant.” I have not set goals per se. I don’t plan to win so many people to the Lord every year. I wait on Him and just try to remain obedient to tell people the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I plant or as I water I know that God is the One who gives the increase. See how Paul the apostle said it:

So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:7, NASB)

Let me put it simply: My goals in life are 1) To win people to Jesus Christ by telling them the Gospel and exalting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; 2) To help people to think about the things of God by preaching and teaching His Word; and, 3) To help people to laugh now and then. These three goals have been my goals since I was 15-years-old. Nothing more and nothing less. Again, as I plant or as I water I know that God is the One who gives the increase. I am merely a servant of His doing that which I ought to be doing (cf. Luke 17:10). So I live for today simply seeking His righteousness and His kingdom and I am leaving tomorrow to the Lord (cf. Matthew 6:33-34). I would encourage you to do the same.

Happy New Year!

Sunday Review, December 30, 2012

GalatiansSunday, December 30, 2012, ended our study through the Book of Galatians. Paul the apostle gives final instructions by which to live. Those who add something to the very Gospel of Jesus Christ are not preaching a gospel at all. Rather, they are skewing the truth thereby nullifying what it is that Jesus Christ has adequately done for those who believe. He died according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures. Man is saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone. And as one button that I saw at a restaurant says, “No ‘ifs, ands, or buts about it, satisfaction guaranteed!'”

Thanks be to God for the great things He has done for us through His Beloved, Son, Jesus Christ. (You can listen to the message by clicking here.)

Sunday evening we continued our study in the Book of Exodus. Moses, in Exodus 4, continues to protest against God’s holy words to him. God has told him what he needs to do and each time God responds to him, he protests and makes excuses one after another. God, at some point in the conversation, begins to burn with anger toward Moses. But something interesting happens: God shows GRACE to Moses! Rather than forcing Moses to speak for Him, God brings Aaron, Moses’ brother, to him to be his mouthpiece. Now that’s GRACE if I have ever seen GRACE! God could have chosen to rid Himself of the one giving lame excuses for protesting against Him. But instead, God made a way for redemption once again. (Unfortunately this message had a recording glitch (it wasn’t recorded at all!!) so it is unavailable!)

ALL Good Things

Galatians 6:6

This morning I preached a message (that will be posted tomorrow) on Galatians 6:6-18. It is a great passage of Scripture. But on this post, I want to focus on Galatians 6:6. It is a hard verse for preachers to preach. But it is a necessary verse for preachers to preach if they are going to stay true to preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word.

Now we have to ask the question, “Why is it hard for preachers to preach this verse or others like it?” Simply put: When you start to preach about money and giving, people tend to pucker up and sometimes they even stop listening. It’s a fact that no one really wants to talk about giving and giving and giving and giving…did I say giving? However, Paul the apostle’s line of thinking is simple: It’s our responsibility!

He opens Galatians 6 with telling us to be responsible, if we are spiritual enough, to help a brother out when he is surprised and caught up in sin. Then he tells us to carry out the responsibility of tending to our own burdens; that’s right, we should carry our own load of whatever comes to us in this life. Then he says:

The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. (Galatians 6:6)

There it is! We as the Church have a responsibility to make sure that those who are preaching and teaching are taken care of. Notice what Paul says though. He does not say that we are to simply give money but he says that we are to “share all good things.” In fact, if you see how Paul said it, it will change your attitude when giving. Notice he did not say to “give” all good things, but to “share” all good things. Sometimes we just think that the preacher is always asking for money.

I received an email one time that accused me of saying every Sunday, “Dig a little deeper in those pockets of yours.” I have never used this sort of language with my people. It’s inappropriate to say such a thing. But to say that we ought to be faithful just as God has been faithful to us is a good and accurate thing to say. After all, when you consider the two greatest commands that Jesus Christ gave us in Matthew 22:37-39 we will want to be faithful. Why, for what reason? Because if we are loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves we will want to share. Our God is a giving God! Our God is a sharing God because He shared His one and only Son, Jesus Christ!

Now you might say to me, “Well, Pastor, I have not been as blessed as the next guy.” Perhaps you haven’t been blessed with material things as others or financially. However, you’ve been blessed with what God has given to you. Have you ever wondered how those in third-world countries seem to be alright with being poor? I was in Monterrey, Mexico ministering in the city dump where the government had built cinder block houses for families to live. Children hardly clothed were rummaging through the trash heap and their parents were too. But they were smiling. The families were thankful that they could actually find something to eat there. They were using discarded things to make a life together. And as one of those men that I met there said, “I’m thankful that God has taken care of us to be able to have what we have” I couldn’t help but start to think about sharing with others.

But I have to admit something: sometimes I don’t like to share. Sometimes I want to keep everything for myself. In other words, sometimes I’m just plain selfish! However, I also realize that I am not alone in this regard. What I ought to be doing, as any Christian should, is “share all good things” with those who teach me the Word of God.

So, as I say to my people, let’s be faithful knowing God’s faithfulness to us! Let’s make 2013 about sharing and giving and being faithful to the Lord as He leads us. What we sow we shall reap!