Faithful Over a Few Things

Posted on February 22, 2011 by russellmckinney

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'” (Matthew 25:23, N.K.J.V.)

George Matheson was a blind Scottish pastor in the late 1800s. While he was serving as the pastor of a church in Innellan, he preached to a mere handful of worshipers one stormy winter’s Sunday. He left that service discouraged because he felt that his sermon had been especially good and he wished that more people had heard it. But what he didn’t know was that one stranger in the congregation that day would never forget the sermon or the blind preacher who delivered it. Seven years later that man would recommend Matheson to become the pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburgh, a call that would lead to thirteen years of highly fruitful service for Matheson at that church.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus taught that the one who is faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many things (Matthew 25:14-30). While He gave this parable within the context of a teaching on prophecy and rewards in the afterlife, the basic principle can apply in this life. As proof of that, He gave another parable, one known as “the parable of the faithful steward” (Luke 12:42-48), which isn’t found within the context of a prophetic teaching.

Yes, God is always on the lookout for good stewardship, and He always takes special notice of a George Matheson who will faithfully preach to the best of his ability for a poorly attended Sunday service. That’s why you should never take lightly any opportunity that comes your way to do something in service to Christ. Remember that no job is too small for a servant who is big enough to do it well.

Posted in Attitude, Character, Church, Church Attendance, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Omnipresence, God's Omniscience, God's Work, Humility, Influence, Leadership, Ministry, Obedience, Pastors, Preaching, Prosperity, Reward, Service, Stewardship, Trusting In God, Weather, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You Just Never Know

Posted on February 21, 2011 by russellmckinney

The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. (Luke 16:10, New American Standard Version)

Lyman Beecher was one of the most famous Presbyterian preachers of the 1800s. Early in his ministry, he once exchanged pulpits for a Sunday with the pastor of a small country church. It was in the middle of winter, with snow piled up along the road, and it was all that Beecher could do to maneuver his horse through the drifts and get to the church.

Once he arrived he found that he was the only one in attendance that morning. Not knowing exactly what to do about the situation, he went into the pulpit and began to pray silently. Finally, one man entered the church and Beecher proceeded to preach an impassioned, fervent message to him. At the sermon’s close, Beecher hurried down from the pulpit to greet the lone worshiper, but the man made his way out the door before Beecher could approach him.

Twenty years passed, and one day, as Beecher was boarding a train, a pleasant looking gentleman approached him and asked, “Do you remember me, Dr. Beecher?” Beecher answered, “I don’t believe I do.” “Why, we once spent an hour together in a storm!” said the man. “I don’t recall it,” said Beecher, “where was it?” The man asked, “Do you remember preaching in a small country church to an audience of one man twenty years ago?” Beecher smiled and said, “Yes sir I do, and if you are the man, I’ve been wanting to see you ever since.” “I am the man,” said the fellow, “and the sermon you preached that Sunday morning led to my salvation, made a minister of me, and yonder is my church! And the converts from that sermon, sir, are all over Ohio!”

Christian, be faithful in whatever your duty is today, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential. You just never know how God might use it. Even if you don’t see any immediate results, the results might very well crop up long after you have left the scene.

Posted in Church, Church Attendance, Commitment, God's Work, Obedience, Preaching, Reward, Salvation, Sowing and Reaping | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Man’s Body

Posted on February 18, 2011 by russellmckinney

“The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body” series: (post #3)

This will be the last post in our little three-part series on man’s spirit, soul, and body. This time we’ll deal with man’s body. I’ll grant you that the body is more easily understood than the spirit or the soul, but my guess is that there are still some important things that you need to learn about it.

The best way to describe yourself is like this: You are a soul; you possess a spirit; and you live in a body. Really, the only thing that others see of you is your body. Furthermore, whatever you get done in this world, you’ll do it via your body. As mysterious and wonderful as the spirit and soul are, they aren’t much for mowing the yard, cooking a meal, holding down a job, reading the Bible, going to church, witnessing, etc. You need body parts (eyes, ears, arms, legs, feet, a brain, etc.) to get those things done.

This is why, at the moment of a person’s salvation, God the Holy Spirit comes to indwell the person’s body, not the person’s spirit or soul (Romans 5:5; Romans 8:5-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:5). Just as a pilot flies an airplane, a captain steers a ship, or a driver drives a car, the indwelling Holy Spirit wants to be at the controls of the person’s body. Also, having God the Holy Spirit inside your body automatically turns your body into a temple. Please understand that everyone’s body is not a temple. That honor is reserved exclusively for the Spirit-indwelt believer (the genuine Christian). The body-builder, the yoga instructor, the fitness guru, and the health-food advocate may all have bodies that are in peak condition, but if these people don’t know Christ as Savior, their bodies aren’t temples. Only Christians have “temple bodies.”

Still, though, just because a Christian’s body is a temple and the indwelling Holy Spirit is in there, that doesn’t mean that the Christian has handed over the controls to the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul understood this and said to the Christians of the city of Rome:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1, N.K.J.V.)

That term “living sacrifice” is an odd one. How can a sacrifice survive an altar of death by living once it has become a sacrifice? The answer is: The Christian’s body remains alive, but the inner will, which is sin-tainted, corrupt, and prone to take destructive paths, dies on the altar. The body will now be used to carry out that which is “holy, acceptable to God.” The indwelling Holy Spirit will be given the controls unreservedly. He will now fly the plane, captain the ship, and drive the car.

But would you believe that even the indwelling Holy Spirit will not stop the aging process? Mark it down, the bodies of non-Christians and Christians alike wear down over time and eventually cease working. This goes back to the sin in the garden of Eden. Genesis 2:16-17 says:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (N.K.J.V.)

According to Hebrew scholars, the original Hebrew behind the words “you shall surely die” literally mean “dying you shall die.” You see, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their bodies began the long, long process of dying, and eventually that process culminated in their physical deaths. Genesis 5:5 says that Adam actually lived 930 years, but that verse ends with the words “and he died.” And the members of his race have been dying ever since.

But did you know that when all of the various stages of God’s sweeping, eons-long, prophetic program have played themselves out, not one body will be left unresurrected? This isn’t the time or place for me to go into every last detail of that prophetic program, but concerning those resurrections, John 5:28-29 is a good summation passage. There Jesus says:

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (N.K.J.V.)

Notice that Jesus spoke of two categories of resurrection. There will be the resurrection of life and there will be the resurrection of condemnation. Scripture teaches that the saved believers from all of history will have their bodies resurrected and glorified, even though there won’t be one general “resurrection day” upon which it all happens. (As I said, there are multiple stages to God’s grand plan of prophecy.)

But what about the bodies of the lost people from all history? Well, those bodies will all be resurrected too, but for them the resurrection will not involve glorification. Also, their bodies will all be resurrected on a single day. This day will occur at the end of Christ’s millennial reign upon this earth, and it is described in Revelation 20:11-15.

You can read that passage for your homework, but I’ll go ahead and tell you that the bodies of the lost will be called forth from wherever their final resting places are (graves, the sea, etc.). Each body will then be reunited with the soul that once inhabited it, as each soul is called forth from that unimaginably horrific place we know as “hell.” And it is then that the lost person will be cast resurrected body and reunited soul into an even worse “hell” that is known as “the eternal lake of fire.” There, the souls will not be annihilated and the bodies will not be burned up. Instead, each lost person will spend all eternity — in body and soul — in that place of torment.

The Greek word for this eternal lake of fire is Gehenna, and Jesus says in Matthew 10:28:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).” (N.K.J.V.)

The “Him” who is able to cast both soul and resurrected body into the eternal lake of fire called Gehenna is Jesus. But listen, He doesn’t want to do that to you! What He wants is for you to experience salvation by placing your belief in Him as your personal Savior.

Once you do that, you won’t have to ever worry about the eternal fate of either your soul or your body, and you’ll be able to present your body as a living sacrifice to Him in this life and enjoy the awesome rewards of the afterlife. So, if you haven’t made this decision for Christ, won’t you do so right now?

And here’s one last thing: You need to get used to that body of yours. Why? It’s because you’re going to be spending all eternity in it via one type of resurrection or the other.

Posted in Belief, Coming Judgment, Death, Dieting, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Will, Heaven, Hell, Human Life, Personal Holiness, Prophecy, Reward, Salvation, Series: "The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body", Submission, The Holy Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Man’s Soul

Posted on February 17, 2011 by russellmckinney

“The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body” series: (post #2)

We’re in the middle of a series entitled “The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body.” In my last post, I talked about man’s spirit. With this post I want to say some things about his soul.

I probably should begin by pointing out that some people teach that the “spirit” and the “soul” are simply interchangeable terms. For you theological experts out there, this view of man is known as the dichotomist view. As I study the Bible, though, I find that scripture really does differentiate between the two. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12 both make a point of listing each one separately. Therefore, I find myself in agreement with those who hold to the trichotomist view of man.

Actually, the fact of the matter is that each person doesn’t have a soul so much as each person is a soul. Consider the following passages (all references from the N.K.J.V.):

1. Genesis 2:7 says: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living nephesh (the Hebrew word for “soul”).

2. Genesis 12:5 describes the servants that Abram had acquired in Haran as “the souls (nephesh) whom they had acquired.” This is just one of numerous places in the Old Testament where groups of people are referred to as groups of “souls.”

3. 1 Peter 3:20 says that eight “souls” were saved by way of Noah’s ark.

4. James 5:20 talks about saving a “soul” from death.

5. Romans 13:1 commands that every “soul” be subject to the governing authorities. Obviously, this means that every “person” should be subject to the governing authorities.

6. In Revelation 6:9, John sees heaven’s altar and under it the “souls” of many martyrs. Then, in 6:10, he hears those souls actually speak.

7. In Revelation 20:4, John sees the “souls” of those who had been martyred for Jesus during the Tribulation period.

When you understand that each person is a soul, you’ll understand how the Hebrew behind Amos 6:8 can rightly employ the word nephash. That verse says: “The Lord God has sworn by Himself (nephash)…” (N.K.J.V.). The point is that God Himself is a soul. Furthermore, you’ll also understand why the Bible talks about the need for the human soul to get saved. You see, the term “soul saving” is just another way of saying “person saving.” Passages that speak of “the saving of the soul” are Hebrews 10:39; James 1:21; and 1 Peter 1:9.

For the record, I should also mention that creatures and animals are also “souls” in the strictest technical sense. Verses such as Genesis 1:21,24; 2:19; and 9:10,12,15,16 all use the Hebrew word nephesh and translate it as “creatures.” Unlike man, however, this doesn’t mean that creatures go to any kind of afterlife. Believe me, I like to think of my favorite dog, Tramp, as being out there in eternity waiting for me, but the Bible really doesn’t teach that he is.

But where does the soul of the individual go in the afterlife? I mean, since the soul is eternal it must go somewhere, right? Well, first let me say that, like the spirit, the soul immediately departs from the body at death. Genesis 35:18 describes Rachel’s death in this way:

And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. (N.K.J.V.)

Likewise, 1 Kings 17:21-22 describes Elijah resurrecting the son of the widow of Zarephath as follows:

And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. (N.K.J.V.)

There is, however, a serious difference concerning the spirit’s departure and the soul’s departure. As I said in my previous post, each person’s spirit returns to God at death (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The soul, on the other hand, passes on to one of two locations. It either goes to a place of eternal salvation with God or a place of eternal damnation apart from him. The proof texts here are: Luke 16:19-31; Acts 2:27,31; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Matthew 5:11-12; Romans 8:16-18; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 25:41; and Romans 2:5-9.

And so, when everything is said and done, the main thing that you need to pull from all this is that you are a soul and you are going to spend eternity either with God in perfect bliss or separated from Him in indescribable torment. And the deciding factor on where you end up is your belief in or lack of belief in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. 1 Peter 2:24-25 says this to Christians:

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

I’m happy to report that Jesus really is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul. But I wonder, can the same be said of your soul? That’s a question you need to make sure you can answer in the right way because there is no more important one in all eternity. You see, your soul is the real “you,” and the real “you” is going to spend eternity either in perfect bliss with Jesus or in perfect torment without Him. That’s serious business, and you are the only person (soul) who can get it settled correctly.

Posted in Belief, Death, Heaven, Hell, Human Life, Reward, Salvation, Series: "The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body" | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Man’s Spirit

Posted on February 15, 2011 by russellmckinney

“The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body” series: (post #1)

You’ve probably heard that God is a triune being. He is one God, but He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But have you heard that man is also (at least in a sense) a triune being? He is body, soul, and spirit. In 2 Thessalonians 5:23, the apostle Paul says to the Christians of Thessalonica:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (N.K.J.V.)

Of course, there is a major difference between God’s triunity and man’s. Whereas the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each a distinct Person, the same cannot be said of the spirit, the soul, and the body. Nevertheless, each part of our makeup does make for an interesting subject. And with this post I’d like to say a few things about the spirit of man.

First, it is the spirit that gives life to the human body. James 2:26 says:

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (N.K.J.V.)

I would also mention Luke 23:46 here, where Christ’s releasing of His bodily spirit leads to His immediate death:

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed his last. (N.K.J.V.)

Similarly, when Jesus resurrected the daughter of Jairus, Luke 8:55 says:

Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. (N.K.J.V.)

When you understand that it is the spirit that brings life to the body, you can understand why the Bible teaches that even animals have spirits. Ecclesiastes 3:21 describes the difference between a person’s spirit and an animal’s spirit as follows:

Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? (N.K.J.V.)

Second, it is only through an individual’s spirit that he or she can worship God. When Jesus was witnessing to the Samaritan woman, He told her:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, N.K.J.V.)

Whatever else might be involved with worshiping God “in spirit,” it certainly means much more than just going through the bodily motions of performing outward rites or rituals. True worship is inner worship that begins inside a person, within the person’s spirit. Even though this worship might result in the outward actions of praising, singing, praying, giving, serving, etc., these are the visible results rather than the invisible prompting.

Third, in regards to salvation, the New Testament’s use of the words “regeneration” and “renewing” in the phrase “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 2:5) applies to the spirit part of a person’s makeup. Since our souls are eternal, they never need to be regenerated or renewed, and obviously our bodies don’t get regenerated or renewed at the moment of salvation, either. That only leaves the spirit as a candidate for receiving the Holy Spirit’s regenerating and renewing.

As for why we need the Holy Spirit to regenerate and renew our inner spirits, Ephesians 2:1 says that Christians have been have been “made alive” after having previously been “dead in trespasses and sins.” You see, the Holy Spirit regenerating our spirits and renewing our spirits equates to the same thing as making us “alive.” But wait a minute, haven’t we already noted that the spirit part of us is the part that gives life to our bodies? Yes, we have. Why, then, do we need the Holy Spirit to make us alive? Aren’t we already alive? The answer is: Even as we are alive physically, we are dead spiritually.

Each individual is born “dead in trespasses and sins because of what took place in the Garden of Eden. In warning Adam about eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said to him, “In the day you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 3:16-17). Interestingly, even though the aging process was begun in Adam and Eve the moment they ate that fruit, their bodies didn’t immediately die. Therefore, the instant death God warned about must have been a spiritual death, the death of the spirit part of each of them. Adam then passed this state of being dead in spirit down to all of his descendants as from then on each human being would be born “dead (dead in spirit) in trespasses and sins.” This was a part of Adam causing not only sin to enter the world but also death (spiritual death as well as physical death) to be spread to his entire race (Romans 5:12).

When you understand this, you can understand why Jesus described the salvation experience as being “born again” (John 3:3,7) and “born of the Spirit” (John 3:5,8). He then went on to say, “…that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:8). So, according to Jesus the part of a person that gets reborn is the spirit. And why does the spirit need to be reborn? It’s because each baby’s spirit is dead in trespasses and sins as the child enters into this world.

You see, on the one side of the coin the Bible teaches that it is each individual’s spirit that gives life to that individual (James 2:26; Luke 23:46; Luke 8:55), but on the other side of the coin the same Bible teaches that the spirit itself inside each individual needs to be regenerated (renewed, born again) in order to allow the individual to truly worship God. Furthermore, the only way this regeneration can take place is by way of the Holy Spirit as He comes to indwell the person the moment the person places saving belief in Jesus (Romans 8:8-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 4:30).

By putting all these teachings together, we are left with the conclusion that even though the spirit inside each individual works well enough to keep the person bodily alive, it is “damaged goods” because of Adam’s sin and, consequently, it is “dead” in regards to the power required for the person to properly worship God. Only when the person places saving belief in Jesus does God the Holy Spirit enter into the person’s body, thus regenerating (renewing) the person’s spirit and restoring its ability to enable genuine worship of God.

Fourth, a person’s spirit goes back to God the Father as soon as it leaves the body. Look again at Ecclesiastes 3:21. It says the spirit of man goes upward (to God) at death, while the spirit of an animal simply goes down to the earth, nothing more. Another relevant passage here is Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, which is the Bible’s best passage on the subject of growing old and dying. Verse 7 of the passage says:

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (N.K.J.V.)

Along these same lines, in Numbers 16:22 God is called “the God of the spirits of all flesh.” Likewise, in Hebrews 12:9 He is called “the Father of spirits.” These verses simply mean that God is the one who gives life to each person and each creature, and He gives this life by way of giving each individual and each creature a spirit.

Fifth, man’s spirit is also a center of various traits, emotions, and activities. Isaiah 29:24 speaks of those who have “erred in the spirit.” Psalm 77:6 associates the spirit with both remembering and making diligent search. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus speaks of being “poor in spirit.” John 13:21 says that Jesus was “troubled in spirit.” Numbers 5:14 links the emotion of jealousy with the spirit. Proverbs 16:18 warns that a “haughty spirit” goes before a fall. In Psalm 34:18, David sings the praises of having a “contrite spirit.” In Psalm 51:10, he asks God to renew a “steadfast spirit” within him. Finally, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Paul encourages us to cleanse ourselves from all “filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”

In the end, perhaps the best way to think of an individual’s spirit is to think of it as that person’s “life force.” I know, I know, that’s a little too new-agey, but it’s about the best I can do. The spirit is that part of you that separates you from the deceased. If you are alive, you can thank your spirit. Also, how you feel, how you worship, and how you carry yourself relates back to your spirit. Summing things up, when you hear someone say, “I feel more alive than I ever have,” you know that person’s spirit is functioning in high order.

Posted in Human Life, Series: "The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body" | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wrongly Judged Anybody Lately?

Posted on February 12, 2011 by russellmckinney

Years ago, a young girl sat at the counter of a diner and asked the waitress, “How much is an ice cream sundae?” “Fifty cents,” answered the waitress, without even glancing at the child. The young girl opened her fist, looked at her coins, and asked, “Then how much is a bowl of plain ice cream?” Annoyed, the waitress snapped, “Thirty-five cents.” The girl carefully counted out thirty-five cents, handed it to the waitress, and said, “I’ll take the plain ice cream.” The waitress took the money without a word and brought the ice cream. But after the little girl had eaten and left, when the waitress went to clean up the area, she was overcome by a wave of shame. There, placed neatly beside the empty bowl, were two nickels and five pennies – her tip.

It’s so easy to make snap judgments of others, isn’t it? We only have to be around someone new for a few minutes, even seconds, before we have them stereotyped and categorized in our minds. We judge on the basis of clothes, hairstyles, language skill, dialect, and the way a person carries himself or herself. We do it every day without even thinking about it. It just comes naturally to us. But what does God say about the issue? You’ll find your answer in the following verses (all from the N.K.J.V.):

Moses speaking to the people of Israel: “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great…” (Deuteronomy 1:16-17)

These things also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment. (Proverbs 24:23)

Jesus speaking: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)

Let’s all confess our sins in this area and strive to make some real progress at repenting of them. That means that we must stop assessing a person’s entire history and future by way of a fifteen-second conversation or a casual look. In reality, people are more complex than we realize, and they don’t fit so neatly into the limited number of pigeon-holes we use. Showing any kind of partiality is not good, and we must start seeing it for the problem it is in our whole approach to dealing with others.

Posted in Attitude, Character, Doing Good, Dress and Appearance, Favoritism, Personal Holiness | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What to Do About Clouds

Posted on February 11, 2011 by russellmckinney

I miss Patrick Swayze. He was one of my favorite movie stars. I always liked watching him, no matter what part he was playing.

Swayze and his wife Niemi were both pilots, and they enjoyed flying airplanes together. On one flight, however, they got into a big argument over how to handle a cloud bank in front of them. The husband wanted to climb above it, but the wife wanted to dive below it. I don’t know which option they chose, but later on they took the debate to a flight instructor and asked him who was right. He said, “You’re both wrong. You should have flown right through it. You should trust your instruments and stick to your flight plan.”

Christian, I think we can apply that flight instructor’s words to your life. When you know that you are in God’s will, and yet clouds blur your horizon, you should trust your instruments and stick to your flight plan. What are your instruments? They are the words of the Bible as well as the counsel and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. What is your flight plan? It is truth concerning God’s will that He has previously revealed to you.

So, has God told you to do something? Does He have you on a certain path in life? But is that path right now being obscured by some clouds of problem or difficulty? What should you do? Trust your instruments and fly straight through the clouds. If God wants you to do any climbing or diving, He will tell you. If He wants to change your flight plan, He’ll let you know. But until you receive some new directions from Him, the last ones He gave you still stand.

Posted in Adversity, Bible Study, Choices, Decisions, Discernment, Faith, God's Will, Perseverance, Problems, Scripture, The Bible, The Holy Spirit, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Words

Posted on February 10, 2011 by russellmckinney

Kent Crockett is a Bible teacher who is the President of Making Life Count Ministries. Like many of us, he is old enough to understand what the terms “8mm home movie camera,” “VHS,” and “VCR” mean. In reference to these items, he tells the following story from his past:

Years ago my wife and I recorded many of our family highlights using an 8mm home movie camera. We collected years of precious memories in numerous spools of film, which became antiquated after the invention of video cameras. Some friends living in another state offered to combine all our films into one videotape. We gladly accepted their generous offer and sent them our films.

Our friends placed an 8mm home movie camera in their living room to project our movies. They also set up a VHS video camera pointed at the screen and recorded the films while the other camera’s reels turned. They sent the completed videotape to us.

Cindy and I were anxious to watch the tape of our old movies. We brought out the popcorn and inserted the video into our VCR. But that’s where the fun stopped. As we beheld our old home movie films on videotape, we also listened to our friends’ remarks. They had not realized that when they recorded our films, the video camera also taped their critical comments about us!

When the videotape began, they started making fun of us. As the film continued to roll, their comments turned vicious. With every new scene came a cutting remark or hurtful joke. Daggers entered my heart as I listened to what our friends honestly thought about us. My wife was devastated.

Our friends looked at us through judgmental glasses. Although they were cordial to our faces, the video recorded the true thoughts of their hearts.

The Bible features numerous passages that are downright terrifying, and one of them is Matthew 12:36-37. In those verses, Jesus gives us an ominous warning:

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (N.K.J.V.)

When we consider this awesome weight our words carry, not just in this life but in the “day of judgment,” I think you’ll agree with me that our frequent prayer should be David’s from Psalm 141:3:

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Character, Communication, Discipleship, Doing Good, Friendship, God's Judgment, Lying, Personal Holiness, Reward, Sanctification, Sin, The Tongue | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beauty Untapped

Posted on February 9, 2011 by russellmckinney

Two men were driving down the road in a truck. Suddenly, the driver slowed down and said, “Look at that beautiful angel.” The passenger excitedly asked, “Where? Where?” The driver said, “Right there.”

The passenger said, “I don’t see any angel. All I see is that big rock.” The driver said, “I’m going to prove to you that there is an angel there.” He then took the passenger home, let him out, and drove back to his own house. There, he went into his garage, got out his hoist, and loaded the hoist into his truck bed. Then he drove back to the rock, used the hoist to load the rock into the truck bed, took the rock back to his house, and unloaded it with the hoist.

At that point, he went to work on the rock, systematically chipping away at it with hammers and chisels. He worked for weeks and weeks until finally he was finished. Then he called up the passenger and said, “Come over to my house. I want to show you something.” The passenger came over and saw a beautiful, sculptured angel. He said, “My, what a beautiful angel.” The driver said, “That’s the angel I saw on the road that day. It was in that rock all along. All I did was release it.” This story makes me think about how God can see the untapped beauty that lies within people.

God looked down at a timid sort of man whose family was entrenched in idolatry and saw the founding father of the race of people by whom Jesus would enter the world. Abraham was in that “rock” all along.

God looked down at a former member of Egyptian nobility, now living as a humble exile on the backside of the desert, and saw the man who would lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Moses was in that “rock” all along.

God looked down at a young shepherd boy whose own family didn’t even rate him all that high and saw Israel’s greatest king. David was in that “rock” all along.

God looked down at an uneducated fisherman, a man who was very prone to extremes, and saw the apostle who would preach the famous Pentecost sermon after which 3,000 people would get saved. Peter was in that “rock” all along.

God looked down at a brilliant, highly educated Pharisee, a man whose zeal for Judaism knew no bounds, and saw the apostle who would start churches all over the Roman empire, win hordes of people to Christ, and write half the New Testament. Paul was in that “rock” all along.

So, before you give up on yourself and decide that you’ll never amount to much in life, you’d better consider all these examples. You may be just a “rock” now, but God knows the untapped beauty that lies within you. But first you must believe in Jesus as your personal Savior and then unreservedly cast yourself at His feet, to do with as He will. That’s your part. His part is then to faithfully mold you and shape you, a little hammering here, a little chiseling there, until that beauty that was always within you is on display for the world to see.

Posted in Discipleship, Faith, God's Love, God's Omnipotence, God's Omniscience, God's Work, Individuality, Salvation, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Forgotten Word

Posted on February 8, 2011 by russellmckinney

Consider the following handful of verses (all from the New King James Version, with emphasis added on my part):

“I listened and heard, but they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle.” (Jeremiah 8:6)

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1-2)

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

“I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3,5)

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:5)

The word “repent” is a forgotten one in our culture. This holds true even in Christian circles. We hear much about mercy, grace, love, forgiveness, longsuffering, patience, tolerance, and acceptance but not much about repentance. This has turned our preaching and teaching into a vanilla batch of mush and gush wherein everybody is okay and no one needs to make any real changes in conduct.

The Greek word that gets translated as “repent” is metanoeo. Greek scholars tell us this word literally means “a change of mind.” Consequently, we might say that true repentance is a changing of the mind that leads to a changing of the conduct. Getting the conduct right begins with getting the thinking right.

In the matter of sinners, the Bible uses “repent” in two ways. First, it inseparably links repentance with saving faith in Christ. The idea is that genuine faith in Christ MUST be laced with genuine repentance. You don’t repent, place your faith in Jesus, and then get saved. Instead, the faith that saves oozes repentance. A wonderful passage that shows how repentance and saving faith walk hand in hand is Acts 20:20-21, where Paul says to the Ephesian elders:

…I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (N.K.J.V.)

Second, the Bible uses “repent” in a general way that calls Christians and non-Christians alike to turn from their sins and go in an opposite direction, a direction of holiness. A good verse here would be Luke 3:8, the first part of which quotes Jesus as saying:

“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…” (N.K.J.V.)

And so, in light of all this, I want to close by asking you a very simple question: Have you thoroughly repented of your personal “pet sin”? If you haven’t then consider this God’s way of looking at you right now and saying, “It’s time that you DID!” As someone has pointed out, repentance can never come too soon but it may come too late. Therefore, my advice to you is: Don’t let yours come too late!

Posted in Backsliding, Belief, Faith, Personal Holiness, Preaching, Repentance, Salvation, Sin | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment