Making Music Out of All the Noise

Posted on June 18, 2018 by russellmckinney

Famed American composer/pianist George Gershwin was standing on a crowded beach talking to a friend. The waves were crashing into the shoreline. Other people were engaged in conversations. A nearby merry-go-round was operating in full volume. Venders were trying to drum up business by shouting out the praises of their products. It all made for quite a noisy scene.

Gershwin, who was a man who understood sound, music, and symphony far better than most, paused to listen to it all for a moment and said to his friend, “All of this could form such a beautiful pattern of sound. It could turn into a magnificent musical piece expressive of every human activity and feeling, complete with pauses, counterpoints, blends, and climaxes of sound that would be beautiful. But it is not that. It is all discordant, terrible, and exhausting — as we hear it now. The pattern is always shattered.”

Gershwin had it right. The sounds of life don’t naturally align themselves into beautiful music, do they? To the contrary, they exhaust us and make us long for quiet peace and tranquility. Rather than symphony, we get stress.

It is only by you placing saving belief in Jesus Christ and bringing every corner of your life under His Lordship that all your noise can become God’s symphony. Psalm 23 and John 10:11-15 explain that Jesus becomes the shepherd of the Christian’s life, and in keeping with that Psalm 37:23 tells us the Christian’s steps are ordered by the Lord. Romans 8:28 even promises us that all things, even bad occurrences, work together for good for the Christian who loves God.

What these passages are trying to get us to understand is that Jesus brings a divine order to the Christian’s life. High notes. Low notes. Flat keys. Sharp keys. Sweeping movements. Subtle movements. Fast beats. Slow beats. Core sections. Transitional sections. Majors. Minors. Ensemble parts. Solo parts. Jesus can orchestrate it all into a rhythm and harmony that makes for a beautiful symphony that runs the gamut of all aspects of life. Without Him as your Maestro Conductor, though, life is just noise to you, noise with no order, direction, flow, or purpose. And that’s no way to live.

So, tell me, when you stop and listen to your life these days, can you hear God’s music in it? Can you hear what He is doing in your life? Can you hear where He is taking you? Can you hear how He wants to use you? If you can’t, then I advise you to pray a simple prayer. I offer it in closing:

Jesus, right now I give myself completely to you. Take me wherever you want to take me and let me experience every ounce of the scenery along the way. Your will is now my will. Do with my life as You see fit. You be the Shepherd and I’ll be the sheep. You supply the leadership and I’ll supply the followship. Take the podium as my Maestro Conductor and organize this mess I call a life into a beautiful, harmonious symphony. I’m tired of just hearing noise. Help me hear the music.

Posted in Belief, Brokenness, Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Discernment, Discipleship, Dying To Self, Faith, God's Omnipotence, God's Omnipresence, God's Guidance, God's Omniscience, God's Sovereignty, God's Will, God's Work, Human Life, Music, Peace, Prayer, Priorities, Problems, Restoration, Salvation, Submission, Suffering, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Day Wasted

Posted on June 17, 2018 by russellmckinney

Scotland’s James Boswell was a lawyer and writer. He is best known for The Life of Samuel Johnson, his biography of the famous English literary figure Samuel Johnson. That biography is considered by many to be the greatest biography ever written.

James Boswell was the oldest son of Judge Alexander Boswell. As a child, James suffered from a nervous condition. He also felt that his father was too strict. Perhaps this explains why one particular day from his childhood made such an impression on him. It was a day in which his father took the day off to take young James fishing.

In his adult years, James would frequently talk about that day and recount the things his father taught him over the course of it. He spoke of the day so much that someone eventually decided to check Alexander Boswell’s journal entry for the day. And what did they find when they dug out the father’s old journal and turned to the day in question? Alexander had entered only one sentence on that page. It read: “Gone fishing with my son; a day wasted.”

A day wasted. Can you believe that? Going into that day, Alexander Boswell assumed that the day his son would later classify as the highlight of his childhood would be a day lost on the seemingly unproductive task of fishing. Dads, if that doesn’t send a chill down our spines, it should. You just never know what seemingly inconsequential event, trip, vacation, conversation, moment, etc. will make an indelible impression upon your child, an impression the child will carry throughout adulthood.

This is why you must always be on the job, always at your post, always walking in tune with Jesus Christ. Only He knows what your child needs from you and precisely when he or she needs it. So, in order for you to be the best dad you can be, you need to not only place saving belief in Christ but also get up each day and let Him guide you through the day. That’s your best shot at ensuring that you won’t miss an all-important, perhaps even life-changing, experience with your child. I realize it’s a scary thought, but the fact is that, in actuality, a day “fishing” (or whatever word is applicable to your child’s situation) just might be the hinge upon which the course of your child’s life hangs.

Posted in Children, Family, Fatherhood, Influence | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” Podcast: Proverbs 24:23

Posted on June 16, 2018 by russellmckinney

This week’s “Christian Verses” podcast uses Proverbs 24:23 in relation to the sin (yes, that’s what it is) of showing favoritism. Bosses promoting favorites at work. Coaches showing favoritism toward certain players. Deacon elections at church becoming little more than popularity contests. A parent showing bias toward a certain child. The motivation behind all of these situations, as well as many others we could name, is the sin of favoritism. Join Malcolm and I for a 25-minute discussion on this subject that somehow seems to affect so many corners of life. Just click on the link below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/the-injustice-of-favoritismcv2018020

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, Church, Fatherhood, Favoritism, Motherhood, Parenting, Sports, Work | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ministering in Humility

Posted on June 14, 2018 by russellmckinney

Louisiana televangelist Jesse Duplantis made national news a few years ago by asking his followers to help him “believe for” a new $54 million jet he wanted God to gift him. Was the request Duplantis’ sneaky way of asking his followers to send in enough money for him to buy the jet? Probably. Either way, though, Duplantis claimed that if Jesus was physically alive on the earth today, He’d be flying around in an airplane preaching the gospel rather than riding a donkey. I had to laugh when I saw a video clip of Duplantis and his televangelist buddy, Kenneth Copeland, complaining about having to fly commercial. Copeland said it was like being in a long tube with a bunch of demons. For the record, Copeland owns his own personal jet, too.

Let’s contrast these two men — and their high-flying ministries (pun intended) — with the apostle Paul. In 55 A.D., he wrote the letter we call the book of 1 Corinthians. In that letter, he said, “I am the least of all the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9, N.K.J.V.). Obviously, that’s quite a statement of humility right there, but, after all, we are talking about the apostles. Even the least of them should rank far above any average Christian, right?

Approximately five to seven years later, sometime in 60-62 A.D., Paul wrote the letter we call the book of Ephesians. In that letter, he calls himself, “the least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8, N.K.J.V.). Since the New Testament plainly teaches that every Christian is a saint (Acts 9:13; Romans 8:27; Philippians 1:1, Philemon v.7; etc.), Paul was classifying himself as the least of all Christians. Wow. Things just went to a whole other level in regards to the man’s humility. But, of course, even the least of Christians should rank far above any lost person, right?

A year or two after Paul wrote Ephesians, he wrote the letter we call 1 Timothy. In that letter, he says that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, “of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15, N.K.J.V.). Okay, so who is a sinner? Every person in the world! So, now Paul is telling us that he is the biggest sinner of them all. Such a statement calls for an even louder WOW.

By now you might be thinking that Paul must have been wired with some kind of inborn self-esteem problem. But you’d be wrong. In Acts 22:1-3, Galatians 1:14, and Philippians 3:4-5, he lays out his impressive resume. He was “a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” He advanced in Judaism beyond his contemporaries. He was a Pharisee. He studied under Gamaliel, the most celebrated Jewish rabbi of the day. That resume caused him to assert, ‘If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more” (Philippians 3:4, N.L.T.).

And it’s not like Paul became a nobody once he converted to Christianity. Remember, this was the guy through whom God worked unusual miracles, so unusual that handkerchiefs and aprons he used in his work as a tent maker had the power to cure diseases and cast out demons (Acts 19:11-12). This was the guy who raised a young man named Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:7-12). This was the guy who had personally seen the resurrected, glorified Christ (Acts 9:1-9). This was the guy who wrote half the New Testament. This was the guy who had the backbone to rebuke the great apostle Peter (Galatians 2:11-21). Not one of these things lends itself to humility.

So, what made Paul so humble? What compelled him to call himself “the least of all the apostles,” “the least of all the saints,” and “the chief of sinners”? I think we can name at least three reasons:

#1: He never forgot his shameful past. Before he became a Christian, Paul “made havoc of the church” (Acts 8:3), tried to destroy it (Galatians 1:13), went house to house to drag Christians off to prison (Acts 8:3), went around “breathing threats and murder against the disciples” (Acts 9:1), and persecuted Christians “to the death” (Acts 22:4).

#2: He was afflicted with a thorn in the flesh. In some way in which even he himself didn’t fully understand, Paul was granted a visit to heaven. He records the story in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. In the wake of that incredible experience, a “thorn in the flesh” was given to him to keep him humble lest he be “exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations.” I won’t speculate here what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” might have been, but if you are interested in the subject, please read these two posts:

What Was Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh?

What Satan Did to Paul: A Thorn in the Flesh

#3: He walked closely with the Lord. Like the prophet Isaiah before him, Paul learned that the closer you walk with the Lord, the more sinful you see yourself. When Isaiah saw the Lord, sitting on His throne, high and lifted up, with seraph angels singing His praises unceasingly (Isaiah 6:1-3), Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:6, N.K.J.V.). Surely Paul, as closely as he walked with the Lord, understood why Isaiah had said that.

I can only imagine what Paul would say about Jesse Duplantis needing a new jet to fly around the world and preach Jesus. Landing in your own $54 million airplane doesn’t exactly scream, “I’m a humble servant of Jesus Christ,” does it? I know what I would think if I watched such a man fly in to save me. I’d think, “This guy can’t possibly relate to me and my problems because he runs in a different league than I do.” I guess this is why Jesus ministered as He did, never owning a home, never charging anyone for His services, never focusing upon worldly wealth, and never turning down anyone’s invitation to dinner, even when the invitation came from a scandalous man or an enemy. Such humility has always appealed to the masses and always will. For that matter, ministering in humility will still work today if we will try it. And we won’t need new jets to do it.

Posted in Brokenness, Character, Contentment, Current Events, Dying To Self, Evangelism, God's Work, Greed, Humility, Ministry, Money, Preaching, Pride, Prosperity, Service, Sin, Suffering | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Remember Lot’s Wife

Posted on June 12, 2018 by russellmckinney

When the burgeoning camps of Abraham and his nephew, Lot, became so large the same area could no longer support their flocks, the two men separated (Genesis 13:1-7). Lot took one look at the lush, fertile, well-watered plain of Jordan, and said, “That’s the place for me” (Genesis 13:10-11). While that might have seemed like a no-brainer choice, it was actually an unwise one. Why? The answer was simple: Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other ungodly cities of that plain were located there.

Lot began by dwelling at times in each of those cities, but it wasn’t too long before he took up permanent residence in perversely wicked Sodom (Genesis 13:12-13). It seems likely that he sold all his flocks and herds, moved into town, and became an official “city boy.” That accounts for him living in Sodom when the soldiers of an alliance army of eastern kings raided the city, looted it, and carried him off as a prisoner of war along with Sodom’s other citizens (Genesis 14:1-12). Fortunately for Lot, Abraham (known then as Abram) had 318 well-trained, well armed servants in his camp. With God’s help those servants became a personal army formidable enough to attack the alliance army, defeat it, and rescue Lot along with everyone and everything the enemy army had taken (Genesis 14:13-24).

Lot’s capture and subsequent rescue should have been enough of a scare to keep him out of Sodom, but the next thing the Bible records of him he is “sitting in the gate” of Sodom (Genesis 19:1). Since the trials and other legal matters of ancient cities were conducted at the gates, any man who held a seat at a city gate had to be a prominent citizen, perhaps a judge or a member of the city’s ruling council. The point is that rather than separate himself from Sodom as a result of him becoming a prisoner of war for a while, Lot not only resettled in the city but actually immersed himself deeper into it in the years that followed.

Accordingly, it was at some point that he took a wife — evidently, she was a woman from Sodom — and became a father many times through her. So, by the time God’s two angels showed up to rain fire and brimstone down upon Sodom, Lot had sons, unmarried daughters, married daughters, and sons-in-laws (Genesis 19:12-22). The Bible indicates the total number of family members was ten (Genesis 18:32-33).

As for Lot’s wife, the Old Testament never tells us her name and only mentions her in regards to the story of the destruction of Sodom. She was along with Lot and their two unmarried daughters when he led them out of the city and away from the fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:15-16). Lot could force those three to flee with him because they all lived under his roof, but he couldn’t force his other family members and so they ended up dying in the city’s destruction (Genesis 19:14). Perhaps he would have had more influence with them if he hadn’t lost his testimony through years of being a player in Sodom.

But what happened to Lot’s wife? Once she, Lot, and their two unmarried daughters were out of Sodom, she looked back longingly toward the city and was immediately turned into a pillar of salt as God’s judgment upon her (Genesis 19:26). Why was God so hard on her? It was because He knew that her heart would always be in Sodom. Even when He made His disapproval of the city clear to her, she sided with the city over Him.

It’s obvious that Lot’s wife was right at home in Sodom. Every day she looked upon the city’s pride, laziness, unconcern for the poor (Ezekiel 16:48-50), and homosexual culture (Genesis 19:1-11; Jude v.7) and saw nothing wrong with it all. As backslidden as Lot was, at least he was bothered by the city’s litany of sins and spent his life under conviction for continuing to live in the midst of such a place (2 Peter 2:6-8). His wife, on the other hand, evidently had no such qualms. She was almost certainly a lost unbeliever, which (if the assessment is correct) made her marriage to Lot an Old Testament version of an “unequal yoke” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

It’s no wonder that Jesus left us with the solemn reminder, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). He wants us to hate sin as much as He hates it. He wants us to be convicted by the way we (at best) tacitly approve of the sins around us, or (at worst) take part in those sins (Romans 1:26-32; Ephesians 5:11). He wants us to value holiness over worldliness. He wants us to pursue repentance rather than carnality. Most of all, He wants us to choose Him over all the allurements this life has to offer. The love that Lot’s wife had for her “Sodom” cost her everything. And so, I ask you, “Do you have a “Sodom” you refuse to give up?” If you do, you had best be on the lookout for God’s judgment because it is surely on its way. Such is always the case with Sodoms.

Posted in Angels, Backsliding, Choices, Coming Judgment, Conscience, Desires, God's Judgment, Homosexuality, Influence, Marriage, Sin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” Podcast: Psalm 42:5

Posted on June 9, 2018 by russellmckinney

The verse for this week’s “Christian Verses” podcast is Psalm 42:5, and the discussion centers around the topic of depression. Millions of people suffer from depression. This past week alone two famous people — fashion designer Kate Spade and chef/author/television host Anthony Bordain — committed suicide. And would it surprise you to learn that an alarmingly high percentage of Christians struggle with depression?

Malcolm and I don’t claim to have all the answers concerning this sobering topic, but our discussion features many of the relevant issues and keeps the topic rooted in scripture. So we trust that it will be a blessing and help to those who listen. Even if you, yourself, don’t struggle with depression, you might know someone who does. And if you are one who does struggle with it, you can take heart in the fact that even a man as great and as godly as David faced bouts with it. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/depressioncv2018019

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, Depression, Encouragement | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Why a Lion Tamer Uses a Chair

Posted on June 8, 2018 by russellmckinney

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. (Psalm 43:3-4, N.I.V.)

Most of us have watched the scene of a lion tamer using a chair and a whip to help keep a lion at bay. But have you ever wondered why a chair is used? It’s because a chair has four legs and that confuses the lion enough to keep it from attacking in earnest. The lion will jab at one leg of the chair and paw at another one, but he won’t lunge forward in full attack because he’s unsure of his target. If lion tamers used brooms or mops, we’d hear more stories about mauled lion tamers.

This tidbit from the field of lion taming illustrates a profound lesson from life: It’s hard to do your best when your focus is all over the road. While diversity can be a wonderful thing in its proper place, it can actually become a hindrance that can cost you “your best” in a singular field as you settle for “pretty good” in a variety of fields. The truth is, you minimize your effectiveness when you spread your talents, abilities, and gifts too thin.

I’ve always loved our text passage because in it the unnamed Psalmist (most likely David) says, “I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God” (verse 4). That thought begs the question to each of us: What’s your harp? In other words, what is that one thing that you can do to the glory of God? What is your talent? What is your skill? What are you really good at? That is where your focus needs to be.

Of course, I realize that life forces us to play many roles. For example, if it was David who wrote Psalm 43, he certainly played more roles than just harp player. He was also a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a king, a soldier, a builder, a musician, and a writer of Psalms. Likewise, I myself play the role of husband, father, son, brother, pastor, radio preacher, and blogger. Still, I know deep down that if I poured 100% of myself into any one of these roles, I’d do a better job with it.

So, my purpose with this post is to get you, the reader, to examine your life and see if you’ve got too much going on these days. Ask yourself, “Do I need to simplify my life by eliminating some of the things I’m doing?” You see, doing more isn’t necessarily better, especially if you are doing it in a half-baked way. That old saying, “Less is more” rings true if you do a better job with the “less.” Unfortunately, we’ve got too many confused lions running around out there, people who can’t strike an ideal lick because they can’t narrow their focus enough to do it. But that doesn’t have to be you, and it won’t be if you will figure out what your best “harp” is and play it to the full extent of your ability.

Posted in Choices, Commitment, God's Will, God's Work, Individuality, Influence, Ministry, Personal, Priorities, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Talents | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Are Some Lives Spared While Others Aren’t?

Posted on June 6, 2018 by russellmckinney

The name R.G. Lee is on the short list of the most famous preachers America ever produced. Most notably among his various pastorates, he served as the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, for over thirty years. While there he also served four times as President of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and three times as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is estimated that he preached his signature sermon, Payday Someday, over 1,200 times in places all across America and in other parts of the world.

But the world almost missed out completely on Dr. Lee’s legendary life and ministry because he had a brush with death when he was just six years old. Lee told the story in his foreword to Jerry Spencer’s book, Almost Persuaded to be a Liberal, and I’ll let him tell it in his own words here by offering it verbatim from that foreword. Lee wrote:

My father, after being a share cropper for years, was selected by Mr. Eli Springs, a wealthy man from Charlotte, North Carolina, to be superintendent of the Springs’ farm on which was the Springs’ mansion built by slave labor in 1804. On that farm was a big barn. One day my mother said to me, “Bobby, I think there is an old Dominique hen on her nest under the barn. Please crawl up under the barn and put your hand under her and see if she has eggs under her body.”

Obediently, with the purpose of pleasing my mother, I crawled under the barn, the floor of which was fifteen or eighteen inches above the ground. When I had crawled under a few feet, I heard a sinister rattle. I thought it must be a rattlesnake because I had seen the farmhands kill rattlesnakes on occasion and had heard rattlesnakes “buzz their buttons.”

I crawled up a little further. The rattle, more strident and a bit louder, I heard again. Then, a frightened little boy, I went out backwards much faster than I had done forwards. I ran to the house, where my mother was in a rocker on the white-columned porch. I said, with excitement, “Mama! Mama! There is a rattlesnake under the barn!” My mother, doubt in her voice, said, “Oh, Honey, you must be mistaken.” I said, “No, ma’am, I heard it rattle!”

My mother called old Boss, an old Bloodhound that belonged to the owner of the farm, and she and Boss went with me to the barn. I showed Mother the spot where I had crawled under the barn. “Sic ’em, Boss,” she said. The old hound went up under the barn. There was a strange medley of sounds: old Boss growling and the rattlesnake rattling his tail buttons. Out from under the barn came faithful old Boss growling and chewing a hissing, writhing rattlesnake. There was a hoe leaning against the barn. Mother picked up the hoe and chopped at the snake until it was dead.

Ole Boss went right back, and the same growlings and hissings were heard. Boss brought forth the second rattlesnake, larger and hissing more violently than the first. Mother used the hoe, and Boss used his mouth and jaws. Soon the second rattlesnake was dead.

My mother picked me up, carried me back in her arms to the front porch. Then she sat down in the huge rocking chair, pulled her apron up over me and hugged me close — and she said over and over again, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you.” She was thanking God that the snakes had not bitten me. I came that close to dying a terrible death.

In that foreword, Lee uses his life-threatening experience as an analogy of how Jerry Spencer, the book’s author, came perilously close to being bitten by the poison of liberalism only to be rescued by a belief in the divine inspiration of the Bible. For the purpose of this post, however, I want to use Lee’s experience as an illustration of how God sometimes spares lives while other times He doesn’t. I truly believe that it was God who protected R.G. Lee’s life under that barn that day. He protected it because, as Jesus said of the apostle Paul even before Paul became a Christian, Lee was “a chosen vessel” of His to proclaim the gospel to the masses (Acts 9:15).

Let me be clear, though: I don’t pretend to fully understand the providence of God in regards to when He chooses to spare a life from a life-threatening situation and when He chooses to let the death occur. There is a mystery to that providence, a mystery that is shrouded in a foggy darkness. The fact is that for every R.G. Lee whose life was spared there are scores of others whose lives weren’t. And we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t stand over the gravesite of such a death and ask, “Why, God?”

Unfortunately for us, the answer to that question will elude us as long as we are in this world. Some things we simply have to leave with God and trust that He knows best and never makes a mistake. I realize that it’s not adequate comfort to a grieving loved one, but in such times Isaiah 55:8-9 really is the best answer we can give. And so, I’ll offer it as the close to this post:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Death, God's Omnipotence, God's Omniscience, God's Sovereignty, God's Will, Human Life, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Problem with Trying to Please Everybody

Posted on June 4, 2018 by russellmckinney

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Genesis 5:24, N.I.V.)

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5, N.I.V., emphasis mine)

Aesop’s Fables is an ancient collection of fables, each one teaching a life lesson. One of the fables involves a father, his son, and their donkey. The fable is a bit outlandish in the story it tells, but the lesson imparted is a timeless one that we’d do well to revisit today.

As the fable goes, a father, a son, and their donkey were walking down the road toward the market. Everything was fine until some people passed by them and said, “You fools, what is a donkey for but to ride upon?” So, the father placed the son upon the donkey and continued down the road.

A little while later some more people passed by and said, “Look at that lazy youngster. He lets his father walk while he rides.” Embarrassed by the criticism, the father and the son switched places and continued down the road.

They hadn’t gone too far, though, before some more people passed by and said, “Shame on that lazy father for riding while his son has to trudge alongside.” Consequently, the father had the son climb onto the donkey with him. Then they continued down the road.

When they reached town, some of the townspeople pointed at them and jeered. When the father stopped the donkey and asked why people were pointing and jeering, the answer he received was, “Aren’t you two ashamed of yourself for loading down that poor donkey?” Embarrassed again the father and son dismounted the donkey and tried to figure out the best way to proceed.

Since they had tried every other way and been criticized for each one, they hit upon the idea of cutting down a pole, tying the donkey’s feet to it, and carrying the pole across their shoulders, with the donkey hanging upside down in suspension between them. It took some doing to get all that accomplished, but they finally got it done and started making their way onward to the town’s market.

Again, however, onlookers laughed at them. But by now both father and son had decided that they weren’t going to do any more changing. So, this time they ignored all the laughter and continued toward the market.

Unfortunately, when they got to the bridge that lay just before the market, the donkey worked one of its feet loose from the pole and started kicking wildly. All the commotion caused the son to drop his end of the pole, and as a result of the ensuing struggle the donkey (with three of its feet still tied to the pole) went over the side of the bridge and drowned. As the father and son stood there looking down into the water, watching their poor animal succumb to its death, they heard the critical voice of an old man who had followed them through town. The old man said to them, “That will teach you.”

Okay, boys and girls, what is the life lesson of this fable? The Aesop’s Fable puts it this way: PLEASE ALL, AND YOU WILL PLEASE NONE. As for us today, we might word it: YOU CAN’T PLEASE EVERYBODY, SO DON’T EVEN BOTHER TRYING.

In Genesis 5:24, the Bible tells us that Enoch walked with God and God took him from this earth by some means other than death. Hebrews 11:5 then adds some commentary on the event by saying that Enoch was a man who pleased God. You see, Enoch understood how to live. The priority of his life was to please God.

All I can say to that is, “May Enoch’s tribe increase!” The goal of your life and my life should be simply to please God. If we can do that, what our critics have to say won’t matter. So, with this in mind, let’s stop worrying so much about other people’s opinions and expectations of us, and let’s strive to focus exclusively upon doing God’s will in every given situation. If we’ll do that, we shouldn’t be losing any donkeys to drowning.

Posted in Adversity, Choices, Commitment, Contentment, Courage, Criticism, Decisions, Desires, Discernment, Doing Good, Dying To Self, Faithfulness, Fear, God's Guidance, God's Will, God's Work, Humility, Obedience, Persecution, Priorities, Problems, Service, Spiritual Warfare, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” Podcast: John 16:33

Posted on June 3, 2018 by russellmckinney

The verse for this week’s “Christian Verses” podcast is John 16:33, as Malcolm and I discuss how that verse plays out in the life of the Christian. Why don’t more Christians have the inner peace that Jesus promised? It’s because the world keeps throwing tribulation at us. Unfortunately, rather than having deep-settled inner peace, many Christians today are even reaching the point of outright depression. These issues, and some others, provide the heart of this week’s discussion. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/being-an-overcomercv2018018

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, Peace | Leave a comment