Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Righteousness & You

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

I’ve been a pastor a long time, long enough to have learned some things about professing Christians. One of those things is: not many of them hunger and thirst after righteousness. When you do come across such a person, you are actually taken aback by how much he or she stands out from the crowd. Your reaction is, “Wow, now that’s the way this Christianity thing is supposed to work. That’s the kind of person it’s set up to produce.”  

I take no pleasure in reporting that a high percentage of professing Christians are only interested in living righteously enough to keep God from getting too ticked off at them. The time they spend in prayer is minimal. Their Bible study is barely a blip on the radar. They attend church only if all the planets align and nothing else comes up. They give sparingly and many times even begrudge that (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). They’ve never witnessed to anyone in their lives.

Even those who do better in some of these areas typically fall short when it comes to actually repenting of sins and making needed changes in their lives. I’ve known professing Christians who were at church every time the doors were open, but they were petty, bitter people who refused to forgive any perceived slight. I’ve known others who made prayer a vital part of their lives but didn’t mind engaging in pre-marital sex or “shacking up.” Others would give generously to the church but spend even more on alcohol or drugs. To all of these people, the idea of hungering and thirsting after righteousness was foreign. They had just enough religion to keep them at peace with themselves and certainly didn’t have a burning desire for anything more than that.

Imagine a man who hasn’t eaten for two days. He gets the opportunity to sit down at a buffet filled with delicious food. The way that man’s eyes dance over that food is the way the Christian’s eyes should dance over righteousness. The way he craves that food is the way the Christian should crave righteousness.

Imagine a woman who has been stranded in the desert for hours. When she is rescued, a rescue worker hands her a bottle of water. At that moment, there is nothing on earth she wants more. That’s how the Christian should thirst after righteousness.

Christian, when you are obsessively hungering and thirsting after righteousness, when righteousness is what you are chasing in life, you won’t have to be goaded into coming to church. You won’t have to be begged to pray. Your pastor won’t have to chide you into Bible study. It won’t take a ten-sermon series on stewardship to get you to give generously. You won’t have to be coerced into telling others about Jesus and inviting them to church. All of that will come as naturally to you as breathing. It will flow effortlessly out of your hungering and thirsting for righteousness. 1 John 2:29 describes this as “practicing” righteousness: “If you know that He (God) is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 5:1; John 3:1-8). 

And, furthermore, Jesus promises that your pursuit of righteousness will not be in vain. He says you shall be filled. I see a two-fold meaning in this promise. First, it only makes the sense that the more you devote your life to righteousness, the more righteousness will be exhibited in your life. Second, as for your eternal standing with God, the moment you realize that your life is stained by unrighteousness and you place your belief (faith) in Jesus as Savior, God actually imparts to you His spotless righteousness (Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-26; Philippians 3:7-9). That is an even more important filling.

So, Christian, how hungry are you? How thirsty? Are you burdened enough about righteousness to do some repenting? Will you commit to moving up to a higher level of practicing righteousness in your daily life? When you get hungry and thirsty enough to actually make some changes in how you conduct yourself, you’ll find Jesus standing ready to help you. He’ll be right there with the never-ending buffet and bottomless well. You will be filled, no doubt about that. But never forget that no one can be filled who is already full enough to suit them.

February 11, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Belief, Bible Study, Change, Choices, Church attendance, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, Holiness, Money, Personal Holiness, Righteousness, The Sermon On The Mount, Witnessing, faith, giving, obedience, salvation, stewardship | Leave a Comment

A Three-Point Checklist For The New Year

Proverbs 4:25-27 says: “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil.”

These verses make for one of the Bible’s best texts on the subject of a new year. In them Solomon offers a three-point checklist that will help us make this new year a godly, blessed, spiritually productive year. Let’s take a look at that checklist.

Item #1 is: Rivet your attention upon this new year. Solomon says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids right before you.” Think of yourself as standing on the precipice of this new year. What should you do as you stand here? You should focus your attention straight ahead and fix your gaze on what lies ahead.

In order to do that, you’ll have to step out of your past. You might as well step out of it, because you can’t change one second of it anyway. Rearview mirrors make poor windshields!

You say, “But Russell, you don’t know my past. You don’t know the things I’ve done. You don’t know the things I’ve gone through.” Well, you’re right, I don’t know your past. But I do know two things. One, I know that Jesus wants to meet you right where you are and do wonderful things for you, in you, and through you. Two, I know that in order for Him to do that you’re going to have to join Him in the here and now. The fact is, this new year can be your fresh start with Christ.

One day a man stormed into the office of his local newspaper and said to the secretary, “I want to see the guy who is in charge of the obituaries.” When the secretary pointed him to a rookie reporter, the man marched over to that reporter and said, “Young man, I want you to know that my name appeared in your obituary column today. And, as you can see, I am very much alive. I want you to print a retraction in tomorrow’s paper.” To that, the young man said, “Sir, I’m afraid that we don’t print retractions in our obituary column, but I’ll put you in tomorrow’s birth announcements and give you a fresh start!”

This new year can be your fresh start with Jesus. You can have a fresh start in the areas of prayer, Bible study, church attendance, personal holiness, giving, and evangelism. Whatever sins you’ve committed in the past, whatever mistakes you’ve made, whatever you’ve gone through, rivet your attention on this new year.

Item #2 on the checklist is: Reassess the path you are traveling. Solomon says, “Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.” The Hebrew word translated as “ponder” means to mentally weigh. The point is, think about the path you are currently traveling. Is it a path that will take you into more intimate fellowship with Jesus? Is it a path that will take you into a deeper level of service to Him? Is it a path that will make you a better Christian and a better person?

It’s sad that most people never take the time to stop and really think about where their path is taking them. Oftentimes this is why they repeat the same mistakes over and over again, year after year. I read about a man who went to the doctor to get some help for his two burned ears. The doctor said, “Before I treat you, I’ve just got to know how you burned your ears.” The fellow said, “Well, doc, here’s what happened. The phone rang while I was ironing my shirt, and I picked up the iron instead of the phone.” The doctor said, “That’s terrible! But what happened to your other ear?” The man said, “The guy called back.”

We laugh at that story, but this world is filled with people who never learn from their mistakes. I’m saying that the beginning of a new year is a great time to get by yourself, turn off the television, lay the phone off the hook, and take a good, hard look at your life.

And don’t be afraid to hurt your own feelings. Be honest about where you are. If the path you are on is a bad one, admit it. You will never get where Jesus wants to take you in life until you get on the right path.

So, here at the start of this new year, I encourage you to reassess the path you are traveling. If you don’t like the harvest you are getting, change your seed! It is a form of insanity to keep doing what you are doing and expect different results. If you want to change your life, change your path.

And then item #3 on the checklist is: Resist the temptation to veer off your God-approved path. Let’s say that you get on the path the Lord wants you to be walking. Is that the end of the story? No, it isn’t. Solomon gives the warning: “Do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil.”

As you walk your God-approved path, certain things will appear to your right, things that will look appealing to you. Don’t leave your path and go after them. Certain things will appear to your left, things that will look appealing to you. Don’t leave your path and go after them.

I’ve noticed that some people are very good at making fresh starts with the Lord. Such a person goes his or her own way for a while and then says, “I’ve got to get right with the Lord.” Then they make a renewed effort at living a Christ-honoring life. They walk that God-approved path for a while but then stray from it. Some sinful pleasure to the right looks good, and they leave the path. Some worldly amusement to the left looks good, and they leave the path. As Solomon describes it, they step off the path and out into some form of evil.

Then, after the person has filled up on the evil, he or she again says, “I’ve got to get right with the Lord.” At that point the cycle starts all over again. Such a roller coaster walk with Christ isn’t what He has in mind for you. You just can’t get anywhere like that. How much better it is to get on God’s path for your life and then resist the temptation to veer off your God-approved path. I’m all for fresh starts with Christ. Ideally, though, you only need one of those. And that’s all you will need if you resist the temptation to stray off your God-approved path.

In closing, let me tell you about two boys who once tried to outwit a wise old man. These boys had grown tired of hearing other people talk about the great wisdom the man possessed. So, they decided to show him up. First, they caught a very small bird, which one of the boys concealed in his hand. Next, they went to the old man, where the boy with the bird asked the man, “What do you think I have in my hand?” The old man answered, “You have a bird in your hand. I can see some of its feathers.” The boy said, “Yes, but is the bird dead or alive?”

It was here that the boys planned to trick the old man. If he said “dead,” the boy would open his hand and let the bird fly away. But if the man said “alive,” the boy would crush the bird before opening his hand. And so how did the wise old man answer? He looked at the boy with the bird and said, “As you will it, son. As you will it.”

Will this new year be one in which you serve Christ better than you ever have? The answer is, as you will it. Herschel Hobbs, that notable Southern Baptist preacher of days gone by, said, “Years become new only if we make them so.” You can make this new year “new” by following Solomon’s spiritual checklist. Rivet your attention on this new year. Reassess the path you are traveling. Resist the temptation to veer off your God-approved path. By doing these things, you’ll be able to make this year the best one you’ve ever had in serving Jesus.

January 1, 2010 Posted by russellmckinney | Backsliding, Change, Choices, Discipleship, Doing Good, God's Will, Holiness, New Year, Personal Holiness, Temptation, contentment, obedience | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Temptation’s Wreckers

As a native of North Carolina, I’m interested in interesting bits of information about my state. I’d like to share with you an old legend about Nags Head, a town located on the Outer Banks of eastern North Carolina. This legend has never been officially verified, but it sure makes for a good story.

The legend has it that in the 1700s Nags Head was home to a group of ruthless land pirates known as “wreckers” (sometimes also called “bankers”). These men would hang lanterns around the necks of “nags” (horses or mules) and slowly walk the animals up and down the beach at night. Out in the darkness of the Atlantic, a ship would mistake the bobbing light for the light of another ship. Figuring that the other ship had found safe passage around the shoals just off the island, the ship would turn inland and run aground on Diamond Shoals.

In the morning the “wreckers” would come along and gather up the timber to sell it and make money. The timber was used in everything from building new houses to making kitchen utensils. It was all a thriving business.

Even now visitors to Nags Head are shown old houses that were supposedly built and furnished with the material taken from these shipwrecks. They’re also told that it’s very possible that Nags Head took its name from the practice of hanging the lanterns around the necks of the ”nags.”  Estimates say that over two thousand ships perished off this coast during this time period.

Nags Head is now a tourist town of around 2,700. If it actually ever was a haven for land pirates, those days are long gone. This doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t still some “wreckers” out there. A “wrecker” is anyone or anything that causes another to sail into dangerous waters. A desirable man or woman can wreck a marriage. A bottle can wreck a life. A dirty business deal can wreck a career. A church leader who doesn’t follow the Lord can wreck a church.

The key to avoiding each of these “shipwrecks” is to accurately recognize the wrecker. Don’t fall for just any light in a dark night. Don’t be so quick to trade the known for the unknown. Don’t be misled by a false reality. 

Most of us have heard the old saying, “God won’t put more on you than you can handle.” I even had a friend once call me and ask me where that verse is in the Bible. Even though the saying’s principle is a sound one, I had to tell my friend that there is no Bible verse that specifically supports the saying. The verse in question actually has to do with temptation. It is 1 Corinthians 10:13, and it says: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Please note the teaching of the verse. God will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to withstand. Whenever you get close to your breaking point with some form of temptation, you need to look for God’s escape hatch out of that situation. The promise of the verse is that it will be there. 

I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, but could it be that you are considering sailing off toward some strange light? Are you just about to change your course in life simply because you think this light will lead you into safe waters? Friend, beware the wrecker! If God really wanted you to chart that course, the way would be much clearer and more sure. The night wouldn’t be so dark and the light wouldn’t be so questionable. Rather than turning yourself toward that light, you need to start looking around for God’s way of escape from the temptation. That way will be there and it will keep you from a disastrous shipwreck.

September 17, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Change, Choices, God's Will, Temptation | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

The Blessing Of Changing A Sermon

Two Sundays ago I had in mind to preach a sermon on prayer. Specifically, I planned to preach on the so-called “Lord’s Prayer.” But as I began to ease into my studying and preparing for that sermon, the Lord made it clear that He wanted me to preach something else. He commanded a sermon on salvation.

The text He told me to use was Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Since preachers are always being told how important it is to grab the listener’s attention with the sermon’s introduction, I opened up with these words: “You can die and go to hell from a seat in church just as much as you can from living in a box in some rat-infested alley, taking your meals out of a garbage can.” Pretty attention-grabbing, huh?

From there I proceeded to explain that the person who has experienced genuine salvation will evidence that experience in his or her conduct. The state of being saved will show up in the way the person lives life. As James 2:20 so succinctly puts it: “faith without works is dead.” Good works can never produce salvation, but salvation will inevitably produce good works. Good works can never flow into salvation, but they must flow out of it.

This doesn’t mean the person who gets saved will never sin again. Romans chapter 7 is the Bible’s best passage on why saved people (Christians) still sin. There Paul explains that the Christian has two inner natures that are constantly at war. On the one hand, at the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit comes to live inside the Christian’s body, and the Spirit brings the nature of God to the person. That nature seeks control over the person, a control that will lead to deeds of righteousness. But, on the other hand, even when the Spirit comes to indwell the individual, His presence doesn’t eliminate the individual’s old nature (the nature with which everyone is born, the nature of Adam). This nature also seeks control over the Christian, a control that will lead to deeds of sin.

The point is, though, that the truly saved person will evidence salvation, to some degree, in his or her life. Some Christians evidence it more than others because they handle the Romans chapter 7 set-up better, but every Christian must evidence it somewhat. That was my central message.

As part of the sermon, I walked the listeners through the plan of salvation. I told them that salvation required a head knowledge of certain facts:

Fact #1: There is a God. Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Fact #2: God is thoroughly holy. Psalm 47:8: “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.”

Fact #3: You are a sinner. Romans 3:10,23: “There is none that is righteous, no, not one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Fact #4: Your sin separates you from God. Psalm 5:4: “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.”

Fact #5: Jesus (God the Son) left heaven, came to the earth, took human form upon Himself, and ultimately died on a Roman cross for all the sins of the world (and that included all your sins). 1st Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…”

Fact #6: On the third day after His burial, Jesus arose from the dead and eventually ascended back up to heaven. Matthew 28:5: “…the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen…’”

Once you have these six facts settled in your mind (you believe them, you agree with them), then you have to get your heart involved. It is with your heart that you must voluntarily, willfully, purposefully place your belief in Jesus as your personal Savior. In Acts 16:30-31, a jailor in the city of Philippi asks Paul and Silas a straight question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer they give him is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” And then Romans 10:10 shows us that this belief must be from the heart. That verse says: “…for with the heart one believes unto righteousness.”

Please understand that the Bible uses different terminology to describe this saving belief. It speaks of coming to Jesus, opening the door to Jesus, putting your faith in Jesus, trusting in Jesus, and calling upon Jesus. But these aren’t separate experiences. They are just different ways of describing what it is to believe in Jesus in a saving way. Salvation is not a process; it is a moment-in-time experience.

But now let me get back to my story. What were the results of my sermon on salvation? Well, at the close of that Sunday-morning service, I got no response. That was a little disappointing, but I thought, “Lord, I obeyed and preached what You told me to preach. That’s all I can do. I’m sure You had Your reasons for having me preach that today.” Then I put the sermon out of my mind and went on about my business.

The following Monday was an especially busy day. I hardly stopped all day. Even at 7:00 that night, I had to have Ryan at baseball practice for his all-star team. I’m an assistant coach on that team, and the practice lasted for over two hours. Ryan and I got back home around 9:30. I was whipped.

No sooner had I gotten in the door than Tonya said to me, “We need to talk.” Royce, our eight-year old, was sitting in her lap. The whole scene made me respond, “Oh, no, what do we need to talk about?” She said, “It’s nothing bad.” That calmed my fears, but I was still a bit apprehensive. We ended up taking Royce back into his bedroom, where Tonya explained to me that he wanted to get saved. My sermon had bothered him. He didn’t want to go to hell; he wanted to go to heaven. He wanted Jesus to forgive him of all his sins and be his personal Savior.

And what did I do? Right then and there I took him by his hand and said, “I’m going to pray and I want you to repeat what I say.” Then I led him through a version of what you might call “a sinner’s prayer.” I kept the focus on the basics: sin, Christ’s death, belief, and forgiveness. Don’t ever force a child to become a Bible scholar to get saved. That child has the rest of his or life to learn all the finer points of Christian doctrine. Just keep things simple and anchored to the basics. That will do just fine.

Since I never want to rush a child into the waters of baptism, I’ll wait a while before baptizing Royce. Over the coming weeks, I’ll talk with him some more and make sure that he really does know Jesus as his Savior. Then, when the Lord tells me he’s ready, I’ll gladly baptize him. In all honestly, though, I have full confidence that the little fellow experienced authentic salvation that Monday night. What a glorious thing that is! As a father, there’s nothing better than knowing that both my sons are now Christians. 

And now, as I finish up this post, I want to leave you with a word. That word is obedience. Just as I obeyed God by changing my plans and preaching that sermon on salvation, you must obey God and do what He is telling you to do. Even if you don’t fully understand it or agree with it, you must obey. If He is giving you a command, He has His reasons and they are good ones. I’m not saying that your obedience will lead to someone getting saved, but, you know, you just never can tell.

July 15, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Belief, Change, Children, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Disobedience, Forgiveness, Parenting, Personal, Reward, Seeking Forgiveness, Sin, The Holy Spirit, obedience, preaching, salvation | , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Change

In her newspaper column on gardening, Jan Riggenbach gives us a good word on how to plant bedding plants. She writes:

“Giving new bedding plants some rough treatment at planting time may be the best thing you can do to help them survive in the garden. When I was new to gardening, I tried to set tomatoes, petunias, and other bedding plants in the garden without disturbing their roots at all. Nowadays I am much more ruthless…If the plant has been growing in its pot so long that the roots are circling the bottom, I jab my finger into the bottom of the soil and pull down to untangle the roots…If the whole pot is filled with circling roots, I have to be merciless. I don’t worry if I break some of the roots; that’s better than allowing the roots to continue to circle when the plants are growing in the garden.”

I think Riggenbach’s gardening advice about breaking up encircled roots can also be applied to life. Oftentimes, the worst thing that can happen to a person is to continue to live the same life year after year. Such a circling of roots doesn’t lead to health and growth; it leads to stagnation and rut.

Change can be a good thing, a healthy thing. God told Noah to build an ark (Genesis 6:5-22). That was change. He commanded Abram (Abraham) to leave his home in Ur and journey to a land that He would show him (Genesis 12:1-3). That was change. He commanded Moses to leave the safety of Midian, go back to Egypt, and lead the Israelites out of bondage (Exodus 3:1-10). That was change. He commanded Amos to leave Tekoa and go prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel (Amos 7:14-15). That was change. Jesus commanded Matthew to leave his job as a tax collector and follow Him (Matthew 9:9). That was change. Peter was instructed to eat meat that wasn’t kosher (Acts 10:9-15). That was change. On and on the list of Bible examples goes.

One of my favorite ones from the list comes from the life of Jacob. Through an incredible series of events, Jacob came to the point where he was prepared to load up his large family and his sizable holdings and move the whole show from Canaan to Egypt. He had learned that Joseph, his long-lost son, was now second in command of Egypt and wanted Jacob and the family to join him there.

Charles Spurgeon suggested four possible reasons to explain any hesitation that Jacob had concerning the move:

#1: Jacob was 130 years old at this time. Old people don’t like change.

#2. Egypt was a pagan land. It was well known for its pantheon of false gods.

#3: Egypt was the subject for bad memories for Jacob’s family. Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, had once gotten into trouble in Egypt. God had forbidden Isaac, Jacob’s father, from going there.

#4: Jacob had been warned of future evils. God had told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land and serve the people of that land for four-hundred years. Assuming that Abraham passed that revelation down to Isaac, and that Isaac passed it down to Jacob, it wouldn’t have taken much deduction for Jacob to figure out that Egypt would be that land.

Still, though, despite these four very real reasons for hesitation, Jacob pulled up stakes and made his way to Beersheba. That was pretty much the southern edge of Canaan. It was the jumping off point to Egypt. It was also a place that Jacob knew well. He and his family had a long history there. From what we can gather from the Bible’s record, Jacob had spent his childhood years at Beersheba.

But now we come to the best part of the story. While Jacob was camped at Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to God. That was his way of rededicating himself to God and saying, “Lord, I am about to make a major change in my life, and I want to make sure that this change is Your will.” What a great attitude! Jacob did a lot of things wrong in his life, but he certainly got it right on this occasion.

God must have thought so too because He spoke to Jacob that night and said, “I am God, the God of your father, do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” Let’s take these statements one at a time and examine each of them.

First, God said, “Do not fear to go down to Egypt.” God wouldn’t have said that unless Jacob was somewhat afraid of the change. Yes, Jacob had stepped out in faith and begun the move, but he certainly didn’t blow past Beersheba and head straight on down to Egypt. The fact that he stopped at that southernmost part of Canaan and offered sacrifices shows something.

Second, God said, “I will make of you a great nation in Egypt.” God did keep this promise. Four hundred years later, when the Israelites made their exodus out of Egypt, they were some two million strong.

Third, God said, “I will surely go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.” There are a couple of possible ways to interpret these words. God could have been referring to where Jacob would be buried. When Jacob died in Egypt, a large group made a one-time trip back to Canaan and buried him in the family burial cave. On the other hand, God’s promise could have spoken to the fact that God would one day bring Jacob’s nation, the Israelites, up from Egypt and settle them again in Canaan.     

Fourth, God said, “And Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” What a beautiful scene this describes. Upon Jacob’s death, his beloved son, Joseph, would be right there to close the eyes on the corpse. What a comfort it was for Jacob to know that he would die with loved ones gathered around him.

You see, God was breaking up the encircled roots in Jacob’s life. He was replanting Jacob in brand new soil by commanding him to make the greatest change of his life. It was a scary time for Jacob, even painful. But the change would produce incredible blessings and fruit that simply would not be produced if Jacob stayed where he was.

Perhaps God is dealing with you these days about a major change that He wants you to make. If He is, I encourage you to follow Jacob’s excellent example. Before you officially “take the plunge,” have your time at Beersheba. Rededicate yourself to God completely and let Him know that you don’t want to do anything that isn’t His will. But when He gives you the assurance and peace that the change is of Him, don’t be afraid to launch out with Him. Don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from your “Egypt” blessings and fruit.

A Persian general once presided over the execution of an enemy spy. This general had an unusual procedure for putting prisoners to death. He gave them an option. They could either accept death by the sword or walk through a big, black door. After thinking the situation over, the spy chose death by way of the sword. Following the execution, one curious observer asked the general what was beyond the black door. The general answered, “Freedom, but they always prefer the known to the unknown.”

June 4, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Change, Choices, God's Will, Reward, fear, obedience | , , , , , , , | 1 Comment