Are You Still Digging Johnson Grass?

Posted on May 27, 2009 by russellmckinney

A young man hired himself out to a neighboring farmer for the summer, but the farmer turned out to be a strict boss who worked the boy very hard. Finally, the young man decided to claim his revenge. Late one night he took fifty pounds of Johnson’s grass, one of the most despised nuisances a farmer can face, and sowed it into the farmer’s fields.

A little while afterwards the young man happened to meet the farmer’s beautiful daughter. The young couple fell in love and, after a suitable courtship, got married. That made the young man family and destined him to work the farm for the rest of his life. Years later, someone asked him how his life on the farm had been. He answered, “Wonderful, but I’ve spent all these years digging up Johnson grass.”

Moses once warned the tribes of Reuben and Gad, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). That’s a warning that all of us should heed. God doesn’t miss a thing, and He seems to take great pleasure in looping our sin back around and nailing us with it.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I fell out of church completely. Even worse, when some of my fellow church members said and did things that I didn’t think were very Christian, I criticized the church every chance I got. One day, when an elderly church member named Charlie said to me, “We’d sure like to have you back at church,” I looked at him and said, “I don’t want to go to church with a bunch of hypocrites.” Immediately after making that comment, I walked off and thought, “Boy, I sure told him.”

A few years later, when the Lord broke me, I rededicated my life to Christ and got back into church. Since Charlie was there every time the doors were open, I had to somehow deal with the Johnson grass I had planted. You might say that my sin had found me out. Finally, I went up to Charlie and apologized for what I had said. He just smiled and said, “Son, don’t worry about that. It’s alright.” That was very gracious, and it taught me a lesson about forgiveness.

In Luke 15:11-32, we find Christ’s famous story of the prodigal son. In that story, the son sins against his father by asking for his inheritance while the father is still very much alive. Since it’s bad when your father is worth more to you dead than alive, the boy was surely sowing his Johnson grass. That was grass he had to deal with after he blew his entire inheritance, hit rock bottom in a foreign land, and had to come crawling back home. So, what did the boy say to his father upon his return? “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” There it is. That’s how you say, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you.” And what did the father do? He played the role of Charlie by instructing his servants to clothe the boy in the finest apparel and throw a great feast for him.

Take an honest look over your past and see if you have sinned against someone to such a degree that you need to apologize or ask for their forgiveness. Please understand that I’m not trying to get you to needlessly poke a stick at a calm hornet’s nest or reignite a dormant volcano. The fact is, some situations just need to be left alone. But if God presses His finger directly on some old scar, you need to deal with that.

It might mean making a phone call. It might mean sending an email. It might mean writing a letter. It might mean paying a visit. But whatever God burdens you to do, do it. After all, you’ve dug enough Johnson grass over the situation. Now it is time to remedy things as best you can.

And don’t be afraid to do the remedying. Believe it or not, the world is filled with Charlies who are just waiting to graciously forgive and release you of your guilt. But you are the one who has to take the initiative in the matter. Will that involve you laying your pride in the dust? Sure. Will it mean admitting you were in the wrong? Oh, yeah. But will you regret doing it? No way. The regret is in continuing to live with having to dig the Johnson grass.

Posted in Making Restitution, Obedience, Personal, Reconciliation, Restoration, Seeking Forgiveness, Sin, Sowing and Reaping | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Runaway Child

Posted on May 23, 2009 by russellmckinney

One night, when my son Royce was eight years old, my wife Tonya had to chaperon a school dance for a couple of hours. That left me at home with not only Royce but also his older brother Ryan, who was eleven at the time. Everything was going fine until Royce decided that he wanted to go outside and practice his baseball swing. As he stood in front of me holding his plastic ball and bat, I had to tell him that it was getting too dark to go outside.

Not long afterward, I heard some kind of crash down in our basement. I didn’t think too much about it because I knew that Royce had gone down there after I had told him he couldn’t go outside. I also knew that he averaged three or four “crashes” every day. If they were serious enough, he would come and report, and since he didn’t report, I figured that everything was okay.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes had passed, Royce came to me in tears. As it turned out, he had taken his ball and bat down to the basement to practice his swing. He had thrown the ball up and hit it straight into one of the fluorescent lights down there. The light was now lying in a million pieces all over the basement floor.

Now, here’s where I need to give you a little background to this story. A few weeks prior to that night, Ryan and Royce had busted another one of those lights by throwing balls in the basement. At that time, I had laid down one of those eternal, never-to-be-challenged rules concerning balls, the basement, and fluorescent lights. Fathers love doing that kind of thing. So, naturally, when Royce busted another light with another ball, he knew he was in trouble.

Rather than face that trouble, he came up with what he thought was a better plan. While I went downstairs to survey the damage, he headed out the door toward the garage. By the time I came back upstairs, he had already pulled his little two-wheel scooter out into our driveway. When I said, “Get in here,” he answered, “I’m going to run away because I don’t want a spanking.” I said, “What are you going to do, just walk the roads?” He said, “That’s why I got my scooter.” I asked, “And how do you plan to eat?” In response, he showed me that he had gone to his room and gotten his billfold, which had $30 in it. (That was money he had accumulated from his grandparents.) When I asked him how he was going to live on $30, he said he would just keep on buying bags of Cheetos.

Well, I finally got the pint-sized runaway back into the house, and once inside I did give him a one-swat spanking. If I had let him off the hook for his disobedience regarding playing ball in the basement, he wouldn’t have thought twice about disobeying me in other matters. Actually, the fact that he expected me to spank him for disobeying was a good sign. It was good because it showed that he had a healthy respect not only for me but also for rules.

Continuing with this same theme, what struck me about Royce wanting to run away that night was how much it reminded me of the story of Adam and Eve. In the wake of their sin, when they heard God in the garden of Eden, their first impulse was to hide, get away, and keep from reporting (Genesis 3:8). This being Royce’s same response after he had disobeyed me proved that the inherited sin-nature was alive and well in the little fellow. He had been born with mommy’s eyes, daddy’s nose, and Adam’s nature.

As for other similarities between Royce’s situation and Adam and Eve’s, consider the following list:

#1: I didn’t want Royce to run away and hide any more than God wanted Adam and Eve to run away and hide. It would have crushed me to lose my son forever just as it would have crushed God to lose His two kids forever.

#2: Like Adam and Eve, Royce was all ready to accept an inferior way of living rather than confess his sin. Adam and Eve had their fig leaves; he had his Cheetos.

#3: Just as God couldn’t wink at Adam and Eve’s disobedience and say, “We’ll let it go this time,” I couldn’t let Royce off the hook. The disobedience had to be addressed.

#4: After the disobedience was addressed, the fellowship was restored. The souls of Adam and Eve are in heaven right now, still enjoying fellowship with God, and Royce and I are getting along just fine today as well.

#5: Even though the disobedience was dealt with and the fellowship restored, the fallout from the sin remains. We lost our basement light and Adam and Eve lost their sinless perfection, innocence, and immortality. Sin does damage, and there’s no getting around that.

Royce’s story ends with his parents buying a new light to replace the ruined one. And how does the story of Adam and Eve end? It ends with their heavenly Father loving them (and their race) enough to send His Son Jesus to die so that Jesus’ blood could potentially cleanse not only all their sins but also the sins of their entire race (John 3:16). You see, Adam and Eve learned the lesson that forgiveness of sin only comes via the shed blood of a sacrifice (Genesis 3:21). With that knowledge acquired, they placed their belief in the Lord and in so doing experienced salvation (the forgiveness of all their sins). Now the question to you is: Have you placed your belief in Jesus and allowed His blood to cleanse you from all your sins (Hebrews 10:4-14)? If you haven’t, then you might as well be (at least spiritually speaking) going down life’s highway on your scooter, living on Cheetos.

Posted in Backsliding, Belief, Children, Christ's Death, Corporal Punishment, Depravity, Disobedience, Family, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, Humor, Parenting, Personal, Rebellion, Salvation, Sin, Spanking | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Hasn’t Russell Been Posting More?

Posted on May 21, 2009 by russellmckinney

This morning, I want to thank all of you who faithfully read this blog. Don’t ever think I don’t appreciate your interest and confidence. I also want to explain why I haven’t been posting as much the past couple of weeks. It’s not because I’ve been too lazy or didn’t have anything to say. The fact is, I’ve been absolutely slammed with work.

For one thing, we’ve been plowing through the process of moving Disciples Road Church into a larger facility with a better location. I’m thrilled with the new building, but it took some doing to get us in there. We had to purchase a shipment of new chairs as well as a new sound system. We had to mount the video projector and screen. We had to get all the computer stuff up and running. My brother-in-law, Ben Pressley, handled all of the electronics. (I’m useless in that department.) And I’m happy to report we held our first service in the new building on Mother’s Day.

In addition to the church move, I’ve also been very busy working on a website for the church. We’ve hired David Biddix to create the site for us, and he is doing a great job. My role is to figure out how we want the site to look and get the content for it to David. The site will offer a word about Disciples Road Church, a place where people can listen to some of my sermons, a link to this blog, and an “Articles” section that houses some pieces I’ve written on various topics. We are far along with this project and hope to launch the site in the next couple of weeks.

Another item that is on the schedule for the month of June is the release of my first book, Straight Talk About God’s Will. The book is being published by Jebaire Publishing in Snellville, Ga. For the past several months, I’ve been working with Shannon Clark, Jebaire’s acquisitions editor, to get the book out into the marketplace. We’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on that, but it has been a chore. I wrote the book over the course of January-March of 2008. If you’ll do the math, you’ll find that it has taken over a year to:

-send out queries and proposals to publishers

-find a publisher who wanted it

-weave through the steps of the editing process

-get a preliminary version printed for early reviews

-etc., etc., etc., etc.

Needless to say, I’ve got a whole new appreciation for what it takes to get a book to a store shelf. I feel like the father in that movie “A Christmas Story.” When he won that awful, gaudy lamp, he said, “It’s a major award!” When I’m actually holding my published book in my hand, I plan to quote that line.

And, of course, it’s not like life slows down to let you move into a new building, launch a website, or get a book published. This past Tuesday night my eight-year-old, Royce, had his last rec. league, coach-pitch baseball game. The “coach” in that term “coach pitch” was me. We had a great season, but I don’t mind admitting that I’m glad it’s over. That’s one less thing on my plate.

The same can’t be said for Ryan’s season. He’s my eleven-year-old, and he still has a lot of baseball to play this year. He’s got one game left in his rec. season, followed by a season-ending tournament. Then he heads right into the practices and tournaments for his Cal Ripken All Stars team. I’m an assistant coach for his rec. team and his Cal Ripken team.

Of course, there’s always the yard that needs mowing. I’ve got that on the itinerary for this afternoon. I also need to preach and record the sermon for my Sunday morning radio broadcast. I’ll do that either today or tomorrow. That’s in addition to finishing the preparations on my Sunday morning sermon for Disciples Road. A new building doesn’t do much good if the pastor doesn’t have God’s message for the hour.

But you know what? As rundown as I get sometimes, I’ve learned to be thankful to have the health to be able to go. The Bible says “In Him (God) we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). It also says life is so fragile and vaporous that we aren’t guaranteed another tomorrow (James 4:13-15). Take a trip to the hospital or the nursing home sometime. That will give you a new perspective on things. Those folks would love to have the health to be “busy.” So, if you’ve got such health, thank the Lord for it and use it for Him.

I’ll end this little personal update by asking you to pray for me, Disciples Road Church, the website, the book, and this blog. Ask God to use every item on the list to expand His kingdom, instruct His people, and bring honor and glory to His name. Any ministry that I have is really just Jesus ministering through me. If it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t be doing any of this. Instead, I’d be off playing some brand of “trivial pursuit” with my life.

Again, I thank you for your interest in this blog and your confidence in me. If God is using the blog to help you, I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment sometime. That would be a real source of encouragement to me. Have a great day!

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A Dry Land

Posted on May 18, 2009 by russellmckinney

When a drought hits a land, springs go dry, wells stop working, and creeks run low. There is, however, another kind of drought, one that is mentioned in Psalm 68:5-6. Those verses say:

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. (N.K.J.V.)

The teaching here is that God doesn’t bless the rebel. He acts as a father to the fatherless, serves as a defender of widows, sets the solitary in families, and brings out those who are bound into prosperity. But what does He do for the rebellious? He lets them dwell in a dry land.

While this thought is easily understood in terms of a literal interpretation, there is also a spiritual aspect to it. I say that because, spiritually speaking, the Bible equates water with the word of God. We see this in passages such as Psalm 119:9 and Ephesians 5:25-27. Therefore, Psalm 68:5-6 can also be rightly interpreted to say that the rebel’s land is dry because his life runs contrary to the word of God.

Even though the rebel might own a Bible, it’s possible to like hell with a Bible under your arm. After all, a person can memorize and quote various passages and yet still live a life that contradicts the book’s plainest teachings. As evangelist Gypsy Smith said, “What makes the difference is not how many times you have been through the Bible, but how many times and how thoroughly the Bible has been through you.”

And, oh, how our society glorifies the rebel! James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Johnny Depp became icons by playing that role. Similarly, Frank Sinatra’s signature song was, “I Did It My Way.” Pirates, gangsters, outlaws, and bad boys all have a certain “coolness” about them, don’t they? People look at them and want to be like them, either secretly or not so secretly.

When we come to God’s word, however, we find a different opinion of rebellion. It says:

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…(1 Samuel 15:23, N.K.J.V.)

Have you been dealing in magic, conjuring up spells, and chanting to strange spirits lately? Probably not. But have you been rebelling against God? If you have, you might as well have been practicing witchcraft. Have you been offering sacrifices to a graven image in your backyard? I doubt it. But have you been stubbornly refusing to do what God wants you to do? Then you might just as well have been fully embracing idolatry.

Isaiah 65:2 is another verse that goes a long way in describing the rebel. In it, God says:

I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts. (N.K.J.V.)

Obviously, God wants the rebel to rush into His arms so that He can hug him and pour out His blessings upon him. But that doesn’t happen. Why? It’s because the rebel wants nothing to do with submitting to God’s commands. To the rebel, no word carries the stigma the word “submission” carries. He’d rather die in his rebellion than live in submission. Even as his life dries up, he refuses to repent of his sins. The bottom line is, he’ll choose to dwell in a dry land where he can do as he pleases rather than dwell in a lush, fertile, well-watered land where he must submit to God.

And the lengths to which the rebel will go to explain away his sin are astounding. He’ll rationalize his conduct in an effort to make it look acceptable. He’ll compare his life to the lives of other sinners rather than to God’s standard of holiness. He’ll say, “I’m just doing what makes me happy.” Through it all, though, one word will ring out loud and clear over his life: rebellion.

Those of us who know something about a fireplace know what a backlog is. It’s a big log that you put at the back of the fire to keep the smaller logs from rolling off the back. One day a father asked his grown son to bring in a backlog. The son said, “No.” The father kindly but firmly said, “As long as you live in my house you will obey me. The choice is yours. You can obey me and live here or disobey me and leave.” The son flew mad, packed his bags, and left. But a few days later he came back home. The father met him and said, “Son, that backlog is still out there.” This time the son obeyed and was welcomed back into his father’s good graces.

I ask you: Do you have some backlog that you are in rebellion to God about? If you do, I plead with you to lay aside your rebellion, repent, and rush into God’s open arms. By refusing to repent you are surely headed for a dry land, if you aren’t already living in one. Remember, dry lands always come to rebels as God eventually reaches the limits of His patience. That doesn’t have to happen to you, though. All you have to do to keep your land watered is live in obedience to the word of God. Yes, that will cost you your rebellion, but that price will pale in comparison to the blessings that God sends your way.

Posted in Attitude, Backsliding, Bible Study, Change, Character, Choices, Confession, Decisions, Disobedience, Doing Good, Dying To Self, God's Chastening, God's Love, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Pride, Problems, Rebellion, Repentance, Reward, Scripture, Sin, Sowing and Reaping, Submission, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building a Babel

Posted on May 14, 2009 by russellmckinney

Let’s say that you are toying around with doing a particular thing in your life. Maybe you are considering buying something (a house, a piece of land, a car, a boat, etc.) Maybe you are mulling over making an investment. Maybe you are thinking about marrying a certain person. Maybe you’ve been asked to accept a position, teach a class, or coach a ball team. Well, here’s the one thing to always keep in mind when you are making any decision: Seek God’s will in the decision and DO THAT!

In Genesis 11:1-9, we find the Bible’s record of how a group of people once got together and built the city of Babel, the centerpiece of which was the fabled Tower of Babel. The group’s leader was an impressive fellow named Nimrod, who was renowned for his skill as a hunter (Genesis 10:8-10). The site for the city was a plain in the land of Shinar (v.2). Today we know that land as Iraq.

But God had three major problems with the building of Babel.

Problem #1 was: Nimrod was a godless leader. The name “Nimrod” literally means “rebel” or “let us rebel.” With a name like that, you know what kind of leader you are getting. Ancient historical records tell us that Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, founded a mystery cult religion that promoted the worship of her and her son, Tammuz. She was known as “the queen of heaven” and Tammuz was purported to be a Messianic figure. The legend associated with him told that he was conceived by a sunbeam. When he was older, he was allegedly killed by a wild boar and miraculously resurrected forty days later. Down through the centuries, the false “mother-child” religion spread around the world. It even worked its way into Israel (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25; Ezekiel 8:14). And it all started in ancient Babel in the house of a rebel leader named Nimrod.

Problem #2 was: Babel itself was an attempt to disobey God’s decreed plan. When Noah and his family got off the ark, God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). To fill the earth, Noah and his descendants had to scatter themselves. In other words, in those days God did not intend for people to find a nice spot, build an empire, and remain in that specific location. But what did the builders of Babel say? They said, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (v.3-4).

Problem #3 was: Pride was the driving motivation behind the entire project. The people said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves” (v.4). Those people didn’t build something to bring honor to the name of God; they built something to bring honor to their name.

With all of these things going against it, it comes as no surprise that God the holy Trinity (note the use of “Us” in v.7) put a stop to the building of Babel. He did this by confusing the peoples’ language (v.7). The construction project was brought to a screeching halt as simple everyday tasks that involved people talking with one another became monumental struggles. Imagine telling the guy next to you to hand you a hammer, only to discover that he now speaks a completely different language. Babel was the beginning of multiple languages being spoken upon the earth.

You see, God understood that unity was the secret to the strength of the people of Babel. Unity, of course, is a very powerful thing. Used rightly, it can bring about tremendous good. Used wrongly, it can bring about tremendous evil. The people of Babel used their unity wrongly, and so God ruined their unity. In Nimrod’s day, the name “Babel” meant “the gate of god” or “the gate of the gods.” After this event, however, the name came to signify conversational confusion. Even today we sometimes hear the question, “What is that fellow babbling about?”

Now, as you think about God’s will concerning your particular decision, you can pull five valuable lessons from the story of Babel.

Lesson #1: Some amazing Babels can be built. This story offers clear proof of the incredible capabilities of the human race. God Himself said of the people of Babel, “Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (v.6). We have it in us to ignore God and yet still accomplish tasks that seem to be great and wondrous. Certainly that applies to mankind as a whole, but it also applies to individuals.

Lesson #2: The blueprint for your Babel always looks appealing. As you think about building your Babel, you will quickly find that the idea appeals to you. Nimrod and company wouldn’t have dedicated themselves to building the grandest city on earth if the idea hadn’t appealed to them. A Babel is like that. It looks good to you.

Lesson #3: Building your Babel adversely affects others besides you. Nimrod’s building of Babel wasn’t a solo project. Others got caught up in its wake. That’s how it works with a Babel. When you begin to build one, a domino effect is set into motion. You don’t just hurt yourself; you hurt others.

Lesson #4: God never helps in the building of a Babel. When you do something that is in God’s will for your life, the thing goes better and the end result creates a lasting effect for the good. But when you step out of God’s will and build a Babel, the reverse is true. Isn’t it interesting that the city of Babel was never actually completed (Genesis 11:8)?  What happened? God worked against the endeavor.

Lesson #5: A thing that is the will of God for one person might be a Babel for another person. City-building is neutral. It isn’t always right or always wrong. David and Solomon renovated Jerusalem, added structures to it (namely the Temple of God), and built the city into a magnificent place. They did that in God’s will. Nimrod, on the other hand, did his building outside God’s will. Do you see the difference? One noted preacher from the past said, “There are plenty of things in life that are perfectly legitimate, but when they get on a God-forbidden tree they are not right.”

A Babel is anything that isn’t God’s will for your life. To build one, you’ll have to step right over Him to do it. And, friend, believe me when I tell you that’s not a step you want to make. Sure, that Babel looks good to you right now, but it won’t look nearly so good when all the accounts are in and all the dust has settled. Therefore, I’ll say again what I said earlier about any decision you ever face: Seek God’s will in the decision, and DO THAT!     

Posted in Choices, Decisions, Desires, Discernment, Disobedience, God's Will, Obedience, Pride, Rebellion, Sowing and Reaping, The Trinity | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why God Hates Gambling

Posted on May 12, 2009 by russellmckinney

God hates gambling. Perhaps your response to that simple statement is, “But what’s wrong with me having a little fun? I can buy a lottery ticket every now and then, go to a casino a couple of weekends a year, or put some money on the ballgame, and it not be a big deal. I might even win some money.” Well, my friend, it is a big deal with God, and any money you win from gambling is ill-gotten gain. Let me take the Bible and give you four solid reasons why God hates gambling.

Reason #1: God hates gambling because it shows a lack of contentment (1 Timothy 6:6-10, Philippians 4:11-12, Hebrews 13:5, and Exodus 20:17). When you gamble, you are, in essence, saying to God, “I am not content with the financial situation in which you have me. I want more money.” Not only is this matter of discontentment at the heart of the famous commandment — “Thou shalt not covet” — it can be traced all the way back to the garden of Eden. Remember, Adam and Eve coveted the fruit from the one tree God had deemed off limits to them.

Reason #2: God hates gambling because it involves get-rich-quick schemes (Proverbs 28:20,22; Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 13:11). The Bible never promotes such schemes. Instead, it consistently promotes hard work, good stewardship, and even wise investing.

Reason #3: God hates gambling because it exploits the poor (Proverbs 14:31; Proverbs 28:27; Proverbs 29:7; Psalm 41:1). Did you know there are many more lottery outlets in poor neighborhoods than in higher income areas? Did you know that on those days when welfare checks arrive around this country, long lines form around the stores that sell lottery tickets? Did you know that in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, the Illinois state lottery rented billboards that showed a lottery ticket and the caption, “This could be your ticket out of poverty”? In gambling, for one person to win, other people must lose. And what category of people can least afford to hand over money and get nothing in return? Poor people.

Reason #4: God hates gambling because it frequently destroys peoples’ lives (Proverbs 24:1-2; Ephesians 5:11). Ungodly people and their industries work to tear down society rather than build it up, and the Bible tells us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11). But how does the gambling industry tear down society? First, gambling leads to an increased crime rate. Studies have shown that while casinos initially bring short-term economic benefits, property crimes take a sharp rise by the fourth year. Second, gambling leads to addiction. A survey done by two Duke University professors found that 10% of those who buy lottery tickets are compulsive gamblers who account for a whopping 50% of all money bet on lotteries. It’s also been proven that people are twice as likely to become problem gamblers if a casino is located within fifty miles of their home. Third, gambling leads to what we might call “a culture of destruction.” One survey of compulsive gamblers found that 22% had divorced because of gambling, 49% had stolen from an employer to pay gambling debts, and 79% said they wanted to die. Fourth, gambling leads to a demise in local business. Show me $50 that was spent on lottery tickets, and I’ll show you $50 that wasn’t spent in local stores on groceries, gasoline, clothes, or dinner.

The fact is, the gambling industry is a dirty business that thrives off peoples’ pain. Evidence of this is seen in the pawnshops that are frequently located near casinos. One pawnshop owner in Reno, Nevada has actually displayed a jar of gold-filled human teeth that his customers have pulled and pawned. Why would we want to have anything to do with an industry that causes people to do such a thing?

Matthew 27:35 is an interesting verse on this whole topic. It says of Jesus and the Roman soldiers:

Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Even while God in the flesh was giving His all in dying for the sins of mankind, sinful men were engaging in the equivalent of “shooting dice” to see who would get His clothes. Instead of recognizing what Jesus was doing for them, their attention was focused upon gambling. Sadly, something about that makes me say, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Ah, but here comes the cry in defense of gambling, “But so many people are doing it.” Well, a lot of people are cheating on their spouses, but that doesn’t make it right. A lot of people are abusing their kids, but that doesn’t make it right. A lot of people are watching pornography, but that doesn’t make it right. Therefore, let’s have none of this argument that says gambling must be okay because so many people are doing it. That argument is nothing but a lie. The hard, cold truth of the matter is that God hates gambling, and it’s about time that message started being heard.

Posted in Addiction, Christ's Death, Christian Liberty, Contentment, Gambling, God's Will, Greed, Money, Personal Holiness, Prosperity, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Abounding More and More

Posted on May 7, 2009 by russellmckinney

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. (1 Thessalonians 4:1, N.K.J.V.)

As you read this passage from the apostle Paul, take special note of the phrase “abound more and more.” Paul’s point is that, generally speaking, a Christian’s service to the Lord should increase over the course of life as there is a noticeable progression in that Christian’s service. At 20, that Christian should do more for Christ than he or she did at 15. At 25, he or she should do more than at 20. At 30, he or she should do more than at 25. On and on it should go like that.

Of course, we understand that at some point the physical limitations of getting older will stop a Christian from performing certain acts of service. Even in old age, however, a person can shift focus to different kinds of service. For example, the elderly preacher can no longer hold down a pastorate, but that just gives him more time for prayer. The retired school teacher can no longer be “salt and light” in the school system, but she can do more visiting. Even the Christian in the nursing home can be an effective witness for Christ. The goal is to always abound more and more in service.

I was in my early 20s when I gave myself fully to Christ. Since I had been out of church for some time, my first order of business was to start attending Sunday morning worship services. That led to my faithful attendance in Sunday School. That led to me getting serious about having a daily prayer life. That led to my faithful attendance for Sunday night services. That led to my faithful attendance for Wednesday night services. All of that church attendance led to me getting serious about Bible study. That led to me teaching a Youth Sunday School class. That led to me hearing God’s call to preach and accepting it. That led to me becoming a pastor.

You see, my progression in service started with me taking the baby step of attending Sunday morning worship services. I took that step, stayed at that level for a little while, and then felt God push me to take another step. Then I took that step, stayed at that level for a little while, and then felt Him push me to take another step. Then I took that step, stayed at that level for a little while, and then felt Him push me to take another step. The process has been a slow walk, not a long jump.

The New Testament uses the words “bishop,” “elder,” and “pastor” interchangeably to describe the role that I am currently fulfilling in church. Each of these three words speaks to a different aspect of the role. “Bishop” carries the idea of overseeing. “Elder” carries the idea of leading with wisdom. “Pastor” carries the idea of shepherding the sheep.

In 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Paul gives a God-inspired list of the qualifications of a pastor. Interestingly, in verse 6, he says that a pastor shouldn’t be a “novice.” Why did he say that? He said it because the young Christian who has been rushed into the ministry hasn’t had the necessary time to get his roots sunk deep. He hasn’t been able to sit under enough teaching, and he doesn’t have adequate experience where the rubber of Christianity meets the road of life. This explains why many young preachers flame out like shooting stars. Much of that could be avoided if each potential preacher was made to work through the careful process of abounding more and more in service to Christ.

I don’t mean to imply that the end of every Christian’s road of service will be the ministry. It won’t be. I’m saying, Christian, that your life should show progression in service. If you aren’t currently doing any more for Christ than you did last year, you are wasting valuable time. You need to get off dead-center and take another step in service to Him. There is another level, one just above you, that you need to reach. You’ve got to keep moving on up in regards to your service.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a great basketball player who had incredible natural talent. To his credit, though, he also had a strong work ethic. As evidence of that, each off-season he would diligently work to add another dimension to his game. One off-season he worked on his free-throw shooting and became an excellent free-throw shooter. Another off-season he worked on his long-range shooting and became an excellent long-range shooter. He was never satisfied with where he was as a player. He was always working to get better.

What Magic Johnson did as a basketball player each Christian should do as a servant of Christ. Christian, when you get your church attendance where it needs to be, start working on your prayer life. When you get that in order, go to work on your Bible study. Once you get a good handle on that, hone in on specific acts of Christian service. Once those have become part of your routine, start working on your evangelism. Etc. Etc. Etc. You get the idea.

While it’s true that God wants to start with you right where you are, it’s equally true that He doesn’t want to leave you there. At the close of our text verse, Paul doesn’t talk about “how you ought to stand and to please God,” Instead, he talks about “how you ought to walk and to please God.” And there is a big difference between standing and walking, isn’t there? Walking implies movement and progression and goes right along with “abounding more and more.”

So, Christian, take a look at where you are in your service to Christ right now and dedicate yourself to abounding more and more for Him. I don’t know where God’s road of individualized service will ultimately lead you, but I do know that it will get you busier for Him than you’ve ever been. You don’t have to try to become the apostle Paul in a week, but you do need to get busy at the next level of service on your own ladder. Putting it another way, you need to stop standing and start walking. That, after all, is how the abounding begins.

Posted in Aging, Church Attendance, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, Giving, God's Work, Ministry, Personal, Prayer, Preaching, Service, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Costly Salvation

Posted on May 6, 2009 by russellmckinney

The great preacher G. Campbell Morgan was once approached by a miner who said, “I would give anything to believe that God will forgive sins, but I cannot believe He will forgive me if I just turn to Him. It is too cheap.” Morgan replied, “You were working in the mine today. How did you get out of the pit?” The miner answered, “I got into the cage and was pulled to the top.” Morgan asked, “And how much did you pay to come out of the pit?” “I didn’t pay anything,” said the miner. “Well,” said Morgan, “weren’t you afraid to trust yourself to that cage? Wasn’t it too cheap?” “Oh no,” said the miner, “it was cheap for me, but it cost the company a lot of money.” That gave Morgan the perfect lead-in to explain that the salvation the miner called “cheap” cost Jesus His life and that Jesus is the cage God uses to pull men out of the pit. We don’t have to reconstruct that cage or pay for it. All we have to do is climb aboard it and let it pull us up from the pit.

Consider the following passages (all from the N.K.J.V.):

Mark 14:64-65: And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands. That’s not cheap.

Matthew 27:26: And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. (A scourge was a whip in which the thongs were weighted with jagged pieces of bone or metal to rip away more of the victim’s flesh.) That’s not cheap.

Isaiah 50:6: I gave My back to those who struck Me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. That’s not cheap.

Isaiah 52:14: His visage was marred more than any man. That’s not cheap.

Matthew 27:28-31: And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. That’s not cheap.

Luke 23:35-36: And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” Then the soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” That’s not cheap.

John 19:32-34: Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. That’s not cheap.

Isaiah 53:5: But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. And by His stripes we are healed. That’s not cheap.

Many of us have seen the Mel Gibson movie The Passion of the Christ. Admittedly, the film is not without its drawbacks, most of which stem from Gibson’s Catholicism. For one thing, the virgin Mary is played up too much. For another, certain scenes are based upon the so-called “visions” of a nineteenth-century nun rather than the Biblical text. Still, though, despite these flaws, the movie has spiritual value in that it graphically depicts Christ’s death in a way that other films don’t. If anything, Gibson might have even gone a bit too far with the brutality of Christ’s scourging. At least, however, the film doesn’t try to clean up the very messy and very bloody process of a Roman scourging and crucifixion.

The bottom line is this: If we think salvation is cheap, it’s only because we don’t properly understand what it cost Jesus. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.” Let’s not miss the imagery of that word “slaughter.” A “slaughter” is not a pretty scene. It isn’t for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. Being whipped with a scourge produces real blood flowing from real stripes. Having a crown of thorns placed upon your head produces real blood flowing from real cuts. Having nails driven through your hands and feet produces real blood flowing from real puncture wounds. Being pierced with a spear produces real blood oozing from a real gash.

Why did they offer Jesus that sour wine as He hung on the cross? They did it because the wine was a narcotic that was used to deaden excruciating pain. Why did Jesus say to doubting Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side” (John 20:27)? He did it because those marks on His body were conclusive evidence of a terrible death.

And why did Jesus voluntarily submit to such a death? He did it to pay the sin debt of the entire human race (1 John 2:2). Now He asks each person to believe in Him as Savior so His death can stand good for that person’s sins and provide forgiveness for them (John 3:16). So, tell me, have you done that? If you haven’t, just know that you are ignoring a salvation that was very, very costly.

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A Boll Weevil Experience

Posted on May 5, 2009 by russellmckinney

In his book It Is Toward Evening, Vance Havner tells the story of a group of cotton farmers in the deep South. Year after year these men grew cotton, put their profits back into it, and set all of their fields in it. Then tragedy struck in the form of the devastating boll weevil. All of the cotton was destroyed and it looked as if the farmers were headed for the poorhouse.

Being farmers, though, the men persevered. In the wake of their disaster with cotton, they shifted gears and planted peanuts. Amazingly, they ended up making more money with peanuts than they ever had with cotton. When the farmers realized that what had seemed to be a disaster had actually turned out to be a boon, they erected a large monument to the very thing they thought had ruined them: the boll weevil.

Havner concludes the story by saying:

Sometimes we settle into a humdrum routine as monotonous as growing cotton year after year. Then God sends the boll weevil; He jolts us out of our groove, and we must find new ways to live. Financial reverses, great bereavement, physical infirmity, loss of position – how many have been driven by trouble to be better husbandman and to bring forth finer fruit from their souls! The best thing that ever happened to some of us was the coming of our boll weevil.

When God either causes or allows you to go through a boll weevil experience, you might think it is the ruin of you. You might say, “I will never get over this. This is more than I can overcome. These wounds are too deep to ever heal.” But that is a wrong assessment of your situation. If you will turn things over to God and allow Him to help you, you won’t just get past the experience; you will come out the other end of it a better person who will, as Vance Havner said, “bring forth finer fruit.”

The book of Genesis gives us the record of Joseph’s boll weevil experience. He was sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:12-36) and taken from his homeland of Canaan and transported south to Egypt where he became the servant of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (Genesis 39:1-6). There, he was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:7-18) and thrown into Pharaoh’s prison where he remained for two years (Genesis 39:20-41:1). Talk about devastating times!

But God took that whole experience and used it to bring incredible fruit from Joseph. After interpreting two dreams for Pharaoh, Joseph was made second in command of all Egypt (Genesis 41:1-46), and because of Joseph’s foresight and administrative skill, Egypt prospered through a seven-year famine (Genesis 41:48-57). Ultimately, his position in Egypt allowed him to reunite with his family and bring them from famine-ravaged Canaan to Egypt, where they thrived (Genesis 42:1-47:27).

I can just hear Joseph saying when his brothers sold him into slavery, “Lord, don’t let this happen to me.” I can just hear him asking when Potiphar’s wife told her lie, “Lord, are you going to let her get away with this?” I can just hear him praying as he languished in Pharaoh’s prison for those two years, “Lord, it seems as if my life is over.” But then I can also hear him, as an old man, looking back over his life and admitting, “When I was going through that experience, I thought it was the end of me. But now I see that God used it to make me better than I was.”

Perhaps you are in a boll weevil experience right now. Something has happened that has absolutely devastated you. If that’s the case, don’t give up hope. Times may seem hard now, but God isn’t finished working the process. He’s been clearing the fields of your old crop of service so that He can make room for your new and more fruitful crop. So, don’t begrudge whatever it takes for Him to do away with your cotton because that cotton has to go to make room for your peanuts.

Is a boll weevil experience pleasant? Certainly not. Is it something you want to volunteer for? Not if you have any sense. But is it something that God can use to make you a better servant? Most definitely. He won’t expect you to follow those farmers’ example and erect a monument to your experience, but He will expect you to see the value in the experience. And there will be value in it. As a matter of fact, you will never produce a certain quality and quantity of fruit in your life until your boll weevil wipes you out and you are forced to rethink the way you live and serve.

Posted in Adversity, God's Work, Perseverance, Problems | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Billy Graham

Posted on May 1, 2009 by russellmckinney

The Billy Graham Training Center At the Cove is located in Asheville, North Carolina. That’s about an hour from my home. Yesterday, the Center put on a free breakfast for the pastors of this area. So, I fired up the Dodge Caravan, met three of my fellow pastors from the county, and off we went.

The breakfast buffet was an impressive spread. As we ate, a few speakers took turns standing at a podium and telling us some nice things about The Cove. The last speaker was Will Graham (Franklin’s son, Billy’s grandson), who also gave us a personal report on how Billy is doing these days.

For most people, that was the end of the breakfast. But my friends and I had an “inside man.” Even though this fellow works at The Cove, he lives in our county and attends the church where two of my friends serve on staff. After the breakfast, he took us on an extensive tour of the whole facility. He drove us around Camp Cedar Cliff, the youth camp that is located at The Cove. He walked us through the Visitor’s Center and the Chapel. He took us into one of the rooms of The Cove’s two inns. He even let us go inside a couple of the cabins where the famous speakers who come to teach at The Cove stay while they are there. Billy’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, had recently spent about a month in one of the cabins we toured.

Trust me when I say that The Cove is quite a place. Wherever we went I couldn’t help but marvel at the simple beauty of the design and construction. Millions of dollars have been spent, but the place is far from ostentatious. It strikes that difficult balance between the time-honored and the contemporary. I don’t impress all that easily, and I was impressed.

We all know about the praise and laud Billy Graham has long received. But do you know about the criticisms he has also long received? There are three of them. As I say a few things about each, I want you to do me a favor: Take an unbiased look at each case and see what you think. When I get to the end of this post, I’ll sum up what I think.

The first criticism involves the close relationships that Billy Graham has enjoyed with many of our Presidents. In particular, he and Richard Nixon were very dear friends. The critics say that Graham always went too soft on the Presidents. They say, “Here was a man who had the ear of the most powerful men on earth, but what did he do with it other than keep himself in the celebrity spotlight?” The contention is that Graham was more concerned about remaining in good standing with the Presidents than truly playing the role of sin-renouncing, fear-of-God-evoking prophet. The critics feel that he should be have been more like Nathan — who boldly looked at King David and said, “You are the man” — or Daniel — who defied Darius’ decree and openly prayed to God.

The second criticism stems from Billy Graham’s breaking down of denominational lines. It was back in the ’50s when he started letting ministers other than Baptists sit on stage with him. Over the years, he continued down this path of religious inclusiveness. Bringing a Graham crusade to an area meant all of the local churches working together. Baptists got on the same team with Lutherans. Methodists came alongside Episcopalians. Presbyterians joined up with Catholics. When an individual responded to a Graham invitation, the person was asked to give a denominational preference. His or her name was then handed over to a local church from that denomination. Critics have always contended that Graham’s practices violated Bible passages concerning separation over doctrinal error, passages such as: Matthew 15:9; 1 Timothy 1:3; Titus 2:1; Hebrews 13:9; Ephesians 4:14; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:1; Romans 16:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 John 9-11; and 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.

The third criticism has to do with Ruth Graham, Billy’s wife. She was left at home to raise the children while Billy traveled around the world holding his crusades. Billy himself has even admitted that this criticism holds some merit. He loved Ruth and his family immensely and couldn’t help but feel some remorse that his schedule took him from them so much. Of course, it should be noted that Ruth never complained about Billy’s constant traveling. Marrying him had ended her hopes of becoming a missionary. Consequently, she believed that by raising the children while he was off preaching the gospel, she was doing her part to see people won to Christ.

So, what is my opinion of Billy Graham? I think he is like most of us in that he is not as wonderful as some perceive him but not as bad as others perceive him. The truth is somewhere in the middle. I do know there will never be another like him. At The Cove, I saw pictures of him with celebrities such as Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. I saw a picture of him sitting on his front porch with Muhammad Ali. I saw other pictures of vast crowds gathered in stadiums to hear him present the gospel. I saw sermon outlines that had been given to him, handwritten outlines from Charles Spurgeon and D.L. Moody. I saw a priceless pocket watch that had been given to him by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. I saw old posters from the legendary Los Angeles crusade that made him a household name. For reasons that are still debated, news mogul William Randolph Hurst, who never met Graham, ordered all his newspapers to play up that crusade and make it headline news. I saw a Dallas Cowboys jersey that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had given to him. It had the name “Graham” on the back.

What do you make of such a preacher? It’s kind of hard to say. I can understand the points of both the praising and the criticizing. What I’m going to do is let God sort it all out. And, from what I know about Billy, he would be just fine with that answer.

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