“Christian Verses” Podcast: Isaiah 43:19

Posted on May 12, 2020 by russellmckinney

Let me ask you a serious question, and please don’t be so quick to answer. Think long and hard about your answer, and be completely honest. The question is: “If God told you that He wanted to do a truly new thing in your life, how would you feel about that?” Would the idea excite you? Would it scare you? Would you say, “Yes Lord, when can we start?” Or would you say, “Wait a minute, Lord, I’m going to need to know what this thing is before I sign off on it”? Do you long for change in your life? Or do you like your life just the way it is?

In the new podcast, Malcolm and I build a discussion around God’s promise to do a “new thing” in Israel and how He sometimes does “new things” in our lives. To hear the podcast, just click on the link below:

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When God Makes You a Troublemaker

Posted on May 11, 2020 by russellmckinney

Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17, N.K.J.V.)

Ahab was the king of Israel, which was the name the Jewish northern kingdom took for itself while the southern kingdom called itself Judah. Ahab reigned for 22 years as king of the northern kingdom after succeeding his father, Omri, who had reigned over it for 12 years (1 Kings 16:21-29). Ahab was a wicked king who married a Phoenecian princess named Jezebel for purely political purposes (1 Kings 16:30-31).

Upon becoming queen, Jezebel brought her fanatical worship of the false god Baal to the northern kingdom. Ahab soon joined her in her religion and threw his full support behind it by having a Baal temple, complete with an altar, built in Samaria, the northern kingdom’s capital (1 Kings 16:32). He also had a wooden shrine built to honor Ashera, the false goddess who was thought to be Baal’s female consort (1 Kings 16:33). Ahab and Jezebel employed no less than 450 prophets to lead their citizens in the worship of Baal (1 Kings 18:19), and ultimately Jezebel even had the land’s true prophets of the Lord massacred (1 Kings 18:4).

Ahab and Jezebel’s actions set the stage for the prophet Elijah. One day Elijah showed up unannounced at Ahab’s palace and said to him, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1, N.K.J.V.). Then Elijah left Ahab’s presence and wouldn’t be seen again for more than three full years. As soon as Elijah left, Ahab must have thought to himself, “Who was that nut? How did he even get in here?” The funny thing was, though, there was no dew on the grass the next morning, the morning after that, the morning after that, etc. And it didn’t rain, either. Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed. Years passed. But not even a single drop of rain ever fell. By the time three-and-a-half years had passed, it still hadn’t rained a drop (James 5:17).

It was at this point that God told Elijah to pay Ahab a second visit (1 Kings 18:1). By now Ahab’s kingdom was deep in the throes of the severe drought (1 Kings 18:2). As Elijah was making his way there, he happened to meet up with Obadiah, a godly man who was what we might call the manager of Ahab’s royal palace (1 Kings 18:3-15). Obadiah arranged a meeting between Elijah and Ahab, and Ahab went to the meeting place (1 Kings 18:16). Upon seeing Elijah, Ahab uttered the words of our text verse: “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

I’ve taken the time to provide all this background information for the quote because I want you to understand that Ahab, not Elijah, was the actual troubler of Israel. He was the one, along with his wife Jezebel, who had brought Baal worship to Israel. He was the one who had built a temple to Baal. He was the one who had allowed Jezebel to slay God’s true prophets. And yet, in his mind, Elijah was the problem.

In God’s work, it is typical for the one who delivers God’s message of rebuke or condemnation to get labeled as the one who causes the trouble. Rather than accept the delivered message in the spirit in which it is given and repent of the sins, the person who receives it typically continues in his or her sin and goes gunning for the messenger. As evidence of this, there soon came a time when Jezebel put a “hit order” on Elijah. As further evidence of it, consider these other scriptural examples from the Old Testament:

  • The prophet Micaiah was imprisoned upon the orders of the same Ahab after delivering another message that Ahab didn’t like (1 Kings 22:1-28).
  • A seer named Hanani was imprisoned for delivering a message that Asa, the king of Judah, didn’t like (2 Chronicles 16:7-10).
  • A prophet named Zechariah (not the writer of the Bible’s book of Zechariah) was stoned to death for delivering a message that Joash, the king of Judah, didn’t like (2 Chronicles 24:20-21).
  • The prophet Elisha had his life threatened by Jehoriam, the king of Israel, because he thought of Elisha as being the spokesperson for the God who had allowed the Syrian army to lay siege to Samaria and create desperate conditions within the city (2 Kings 6:24-31).
  • The prophet Jeremiah spent virtually his entire ministry being persecuted and living under the threat of either arrest or death for preaching and prophesying things the people of Judah didn’t like (Jeremiah 11:18-23; 18:18-23; 20:1-18; 26:24; 37:11-21; 38-1-13).
  • The prophet Uriah verified and proclaimed the prophecies of Jeremiah and was put to death by Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, because of it (Jeremiah 26:20-23).
  • The prophet Amos was insulted by Amaziah, the priest of the northern kingdom’s city of Bethel, who told him to, “Go back home and do your prophesying there” (Amos 7:12-13).

Moving into the New Testament, the well-established pattern continues. Since I provided seven examples from the Old Testament, here are seven from the New Testament:

  • John the Baptist was imprisoned and eventually beheaded for delivering a message that Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias didn’t like (Matthew 14:3-12).
  • Jesus was crucified by the Romans at the request of the Jewish religious authorities.
  • All the apostles were arrested and beaten for preaching Jesus and healing in His name (Acts 5:17-40).
  • Stephen was stoned to death for delivering a message the Jewish Sanhedrin didn’t like (Acts 7:1-60).
  • Herod Agrippa I killed the apostle James and arrested the apostle Peter with the intent to kill him as well (Acts 12:1-4).
  • The apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra for preaching Jesus and healing in His name (Acts 14:8-20).
  • Paul and Silas were jailed and whipped in Philippi for preaching Jesus and casting out a demon in His name (Acts 16:16-24).

As you can see, the Bible leaves no doubt as to the reaction the person who delivers God’s message, a message that cuts against the grain of those in authority, can expect. At best, those in authority will reject the message and ridicule the messenger. At worst, they will reject the message and seek to imprison or in the most extreme cases kill the messenger. This, Christian, is the territory you can expect when God makes you a troublemaker in His service. The good news, though, is that such perilous assignments carry with them incredible eternal rewards, rewards that you just can’t earn through more pleasant types of service. And I’ll offer Jesus’ own words concerning those rewards as the close to this post. They read as follows:

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12, N.K.J.V.)

Posted in God's Work, Ministry, Persecution, Preaching, Prophecy, Reward, Service | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Scared Yet?

Posted on May 8, 2020 by russellmckinney

Some people say the Coronavirus is a pandemic of potentially biblical proportions and if I don’t practice social distancing I’m putting myself and others at risk for nothing less than death. These people are also quick to point out that even as we are seeing a decline in the rate of cases and deaths here in America, there will almost certainly be a new outbreak of the virus during the fall. Even more than that, they say there’s a high chance the virus will mutate at some point and start the entire ordeal all over again.

On the other hand, some people say the Coronavirus is nothing much more than the seasonal flu and that the powers-that-be are nefariously using it as a tool to control the masses. These people say the past couple of months have all been just a trial run for a larger event that is to come, one that will allow the powers-that-be to control the masses in an even greater way. To hear these folks tell it, it’s all part of taking away our civil liberties and ushering in a one-world-government.

Some people say that if Donald Trump gets reelected this coming November, it will signal the end of the American way of life as we know it. These people say the damage that Trump will do during a second term as President will be so great that America will never recover from it. If I believe them, a vote for Trump this November will be a vote for not only my own demise but also the demise of my country.

On the other hand, some people say that if Joe Biden gets elected this coming November, it will signal the end of the American way of life as we know it. These people say the damage that Biden will do as President will be so great that America will never recover from it. If I believe them, a vote for Biden this November will be a vote for not only my own demise but also the demise of my country.

In the midst of all this fear-inducing hyperbole, last week the United States Department of Defense officially released three video clips that show navy pilots, during training flights, engaging unidentified flying objects (a.k.a. “ufos”) in the skies above military bases. One of the clips was from 2004 and the other two were from 2015, and all three had previously been circulated on the internet in an unauthorized way. For some reason, though, Pentagon officials decided that now was the time for them to officially release the footage and admit that the clips are real and that they show aerial phenomena that remains “unidentified.” Apparently, we didn’t have enough to worry about with the coronavirus. It’s as if the Department of Defense was saying, “You think the Coronavirus is scary? Here’s what you really have to worry about!”

And did you hear about the Asian giant hornets, known as “murder hornets,” that have now been seen in the United States for the first time? That comforting little bit of news came out last week, too. These are two-inch long insects that have killed as many as 50 people in Japan in a given year. And if causing human deaths isn’t bad enough, these invasive creatures might also devastate the populations of honeybees in the United States because they prey upon honeybees. According to the experts, these hornets actually decapitate the honeybees. Yikes! My son asked me if there was anything in the Bible about hornets. I said, “Yes, God promised to send hornets ahead of the Israelites to drive the inhabitants of Canaan from that land” (Exodus 23:28). Of course, applying that story to the United States today doesn’t produce a happy ending for us.

I’ve always been a big fan of horror movies, but it seems to me that the scariest thing on t.v. these days is the nightly news. The Coronavirus? Politics? UFOs? Murder hornets? It makes you wonder what else the year 2020 and the media might have in store for us. I sure am glad that I know Jesus Christ in a saving way and have the deep-settled inner peace that comes with that relationship.

I’m also glad that I have a working knowledge of Bible prophecy. Because of that knowledge, I don’t walk around scared to death of what the future holds. I know what it holds: events that will make anything the news is giving us now seem like “the good ole’ days.” I’m happy to report, however, that I also know that whether I leave this world by way of the prophesied Rapture or by way of death, Jesus is in charge of both trips. In that I take great comfort. But how would I be feeling these days if I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior? Well, I guess I’d have my basement turned into a bomb shelter and I’d be fixating upon every tidbit of doom-and-gloom news that I could find. I’d be watching the skies. I’d be stocking up on honey. And I’d own a really thick bee suit, too.

Posted in Christ's Second Coming, Christ's Return, Current Events, Fear, Politics, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Does God Do With the Christian’s Sins?

Posted on May 6, 2020 by russellmckinney

I recently ran across a little piece, entitled What Does God Do With My Sins?,  that was written to help the Christian feel thoroughly confident in his or her assurance of salvation. I liked the piece so much that I thought I’d share it as a blog post. In the interest of providing full accreditation, let me mention that I cut the piece out of The Sword the Lord newspaper with the original source for it being The Biblical Witness. Ready? Here we go (all references from the N.K.J.V.):

What does God do with my sins? He lays them on His Son, Jesus Christ.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

What does God do with my sins? He forgives them.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

What does God do with my sins? He cleanses them all away by the blood of Christ.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

What does God do with my sins? He blots them out as a thick cloud.

I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22)

What does God do with my sins? He remembers them no more.

…then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17)

What does God do with my sins? He will not reckon them against us.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. (Romans 4:8)

What does God do with my sins? He blots out the proof of them, nailing that proof to the cross of Jesus.

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

Okay, that is where the original piece stopped, after having listed those seven answers to the question of what God does with the Christian’s sins. As I went through the list, though, I thought about a few more Biblical answers. So, I’ll add in three more of my own to bring the number up to ten. Here we go:

What does God do with my sins? He purges them.

…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…(Hebrews 1:3)

What does God do with my sins? He makes them as white as snow and wool.

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”

What does God do with my sins? He removes them as far as the east is from the west.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Posted in Christ's Death, Comfort, Eternal Security, Forgiveness, God's Love, God's Mercy, Grace, Guilt, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carrying Water

Posted on May 4, 2020 by russellmckinney

The Civil War’s Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was primarily fought on December 13, 1862. Approximately 200,000 soldiers fought in the battle, as Union General Ambrose Burnside commanded his 120,000 troops in a two-pronged attacked against Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s 80,000 troops. Lee’s troops were able to turn back both prongs of the attack, but the Union army and the Confederate army each suffered casualties in the thousands.

One field in particular, which was marked by a long stone wall, had hundreds of Union soldiers who were either dead or wounded lying in it. The carnage was the result of 2,000 Confederate soldiers holding their positions behind the wall and firing into the Union soldiers as they attempted to advance toward it. To make the horrific scene even worse, the Union soldiers who were wounded spent the rest of the day and the entirety of the night crying out for water their fellow comrades couldn’t bring them for fear of being shot themselves.

The cries were so mournful and so persistent that they broke the heart of a nineteen-year-old Confederate sergeant named Richard Kirkland. The next day, December 14, Kirkland went to his field General, Joe Kershaw, and said, “General, I can’t stand this any longer! All day and all night I have heard those poor people calling for water. I’ve come to ask permission to go and give them some.”

General Kershaw admired the young sergeant’s compassion for the enemy, but he couldn’t help but worry about what the Union soldiers on the other side of the field would do if they saw a Confederate soldier moving toward their wounded. Kershaw said, “Sergeant, don’t you know that you would get a bullet through your head the moment you stepped over the wall?” “Yes, sir,” Kirkland answered, “but if you will let me, I am willing to try it.” Finally, with one last comment on Kirkland’s noble motives and a request that God would protect the young sergeant, Kershaw agreed to the request.

From the second-story window of his command post, Kershaw watched as Kirkland, carrying several canteens of water, jumped over the wall and headed out into the battlefield. To Kershaw’s amazement, the Union soldiers didn’t fire upon Kirkland even as he arrived at the first wounded Union soldier. Kirkland carefully lifted the soldier’s head, gave him a drink of water, and then adjusted the soldier’s coat for warmth before moving on to the next of the wounded.

It soon became evident to the Union army what Kirkland was doing, and they allowed him to roam the battlefield freely. By the time his job was completed, Kirkland had made several trips back across the wall to get more water to give to the wounded soldiers. His incredible act of compassion will always stand as one of the greatest acts of compassion ever offered in the midst of warfare.

Russell Dennis, Jr., the President of Heritage Baptist College in Franklin, Indiana, has said the following concerning Richard Kirkland’s deed:

As soldiers in the army of the Lord, we see so much need and suffering. If we listen, we can often hear their cries. Like the woman at the well, they seek for water — that Water of Life found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. When we take courage like Richard Kirkland and say, “I can’t stand this!” we can begin to be led by the Holy Spirit to reach a thirsty world.

So, Christian, how about you? Have you jumped over any walls lately to minister to someone who needed your help? If you haven’t, maybe it’s time you did. The wounded are lying here, there, and everywhere all around this world. As Jesus said to His chosen twelve in that same story about the woman at the well, “…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” Those wounded all need Jesus, the Water of Life. Will you step out from behind your protective wall and take Him to them?

Posted in Courage, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, God's Work, Mercy, Ministry, Salvation, The Gospel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Christian Verses” Podcast: Judges 21:25

Posted on May 3, 2020 by russellmckinney

This week’s podcast is centered around Judges 21:25, which says: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This business of people doing what seems right to them has been a problem for a long time and continues to be one today. In the podcast, Malcolm and I discuss not only how the problem applied to ancient Israel but also how it applies to these modern times. Basically, it always comes down to one thing: a lack of submission to the Lord. To hear the podcast, just click on the link below:

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One Man’s Thought About the Coronavirus

Posted on May 2, 2020 by russellmckinney

I’ve frequently been asked about the Coronavirus (Covid-19), but I’ve been hesitant to render much of an opinion simply because I didn’t know enough about it to speak intelligently. And, to be honest, I’m still no more an expert on the topic than the average person. Like most everybody else, what I know about it comes from the local and national news, articles on the internet, or everyday conversations with people. I’m not a doctor or a health official, and I certainly haven’t been with God atop Mount Sinai getting special insight about the virus.

With that said, though, I do feel led of the Lord to use this post to share my current thoughts about the topic. If you find these thoughts helpful, that will be great, but my feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t. If you agree with what I say, that will be a nice bonus, but we’ll still be friends if you don’t. Again, what you are about to read is all just one man’s opinion.

First, in my opinion, the Coronavirus has generated a sizable degree of media overhype. Fear sells, and the people who work in the media know this. Reporting on all the deaths the virus has produced is reliable news, but reporting on all the deaths the virus might produce is something else. We might call that fearmongering. I’ve also found it interesting that about the time some states started talking about easing restrictions, the media started pushing stories about a possible resurgence of the virus in the fall. Sure, the last thing we all need right now is a little bit of optimism. Why choose to promote that when you can keep everybody living under a rock?

Second, in my opinion, the Coronavirus actually is worse than the flu. I’ve lived through a lot of flu seasons in my life, but I’ve never seen people die from the flu in a matter of just a few days or funeral homes become overwhelmed with corpses. Even in regards to a big city like New York, I haven’t seen body bags stacked up like cordwood. That’s new territory for this fifty-three-year-old. Someone says, “But the mortality rate for the Covid-19 virus isn’t any greater than the mortality rate for the flu.” Okay, let’s just pretend for a moment that I agree with that assessment. Since Covid-19 is by virtually every account more contagious than the flu, doesn’t that automatically mean that it kills more people than the flu (even if the death rate between the two really are the same)?

Third, in my opinion, the people — many of them Christians — who think the Coronavirus is little more than an orchestrated event to bring down President Donald Trump and sweep him out of office this November must think the entire world has a vested interest in American politics. I say that because the entire world has been adversely affected by this virus and over 170,000 people would still be dead worldwide if the virus had never reached American shores. Think about that. That’s 170,000 people dead who couldn’t have cared less whether the President of the United States was Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or John Doe. That sure is a lot of “cover story” just to get one guy out of office.

Fourth, in my opinion, our churches have been right to switch to either online services, “drive in” services, or both in the wake of the Coronavirus. Believe me, I’ve heard the other side of this debate. In particular, one conservative website of which I am a faithful reader has laid waste to us pastors for daring to kowtow to the wishes of our local governments, state governments, and national government in regards to public assemblies. All I can say is that I have prayed, faithfully and fervently, for God’s direction and guidance during this pandemic, and He has consistently guided me to forego my church’s in-the-building services. We began by streaming our Sunday morning and Wednesday night services live on You Tube, and then a few weeks later we added the “drive in” option — featuring a short-distance radio transmitter that sends the signal to the cars in the parking lot — for anyone who either doesn’t have the internet or prefers to literally show up for church. Am I in sin for doing all that instead of having in-the-building services? If I am, then God needs to let me know it because I haven’t felt one ounce of conviction over it. Much to the contrary, I’ve had a great peace about it all.

Fifth, in my opinion, the Coronavirus isn’t the means by which the “powers that be” are trying to bring down Christianity. If the closures had only targeted churches, obviously that case could be made. But that isn’t what’s happened. The NCAA basketball tournament was cancelled, and the NBA playoffs are in danger of being cancelled. The college baseball season was cancelled, and the MLB season has been put on hold. The Masters golf tournament was postponed, the French Open tennis tournament was postponed, and the Wimbledon tennis tournament was cancelled outright. Oh, and by the way, let’s not forget about all the MONEY that has been lost because of these cancellations. Frankly, most of our churches are continuing to collect offerings through online giving, mail-in giving, etc. Financially speaking, that puts them in a lot better shape than all the sporting events that got cancelled.

Sixth, in my opinion, the Coronavirus has nothing to do with the persecution of the church. Here again, I’ve heard the other side of this debate. Try using Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13 — both of which instruct Christians to submit to their governments — as scriptural evidence for why you aren’t holding typical church services, and see what you get. It won’t be long before someone is coming back at you with Acts 5:29: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” My response to the Acts 5:29 application is that during this pandemic no new laws have been passed that forbid preachers from preaching against abortion, homosexuality, or any other politically incorrect topic. That indicates to me that the issue at hand is public safety, not religious persecution.

Seventh and last, in my opinion, there actually is a vast, global conspiracy to devalue Christianity, deemphasize each nation’s autonomy, and usher in a one-world government. As a matter of fact, I even know who is behind this conspiracy. His name is Satan. Yes, the devil really is getting this world ready to one day bow down to his human masterpiece: the coming Antichrist. Still, though, this doesn’t mean that every politician that you didn’t vote for and every media outlet that you don’t like is secretly in league with Satan. Instead, it’s more correct to think of Satan as being the behind-the-scenes puppet-master who knows how to use the world’s happenings to bring about his grand plan. And, of course, he can’t even do that without God’s permission.

So, in closing, you can consider these thoughts to be my current take on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Am I saying they are all 100% correct in their conclusions? Nope. Am I saying that I won’t revise them accordingly if I come across some purer truth? Nope. What I will say is that the Bible teaches that God the Father is still on His throne, God the Son is still seated at His right hand, and global events are still not causing any panic in heaven. Putting all that another way, even though we don’t know what the next few days, weeks, and months will hold, we do know who holds them. This fact alone can be enough to bring us comfort during this uncomfortable time if we will let it. But if we won’t, then I guess we’ll just have to live at the mercy of the next news broadcast. And, as we’ve all now had a chance to experience firsthand, that’s just no way to live.

Posted in Current Events, Prophecy, Satan, The Devil, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When God’s Answer Isn’t What You Asked For

Posted on April 29, 2020 by russellmckinney

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, N.K.J.V.)

One day a little girl asked her father for a quarter. The father tried to oblige her but all he had at that moment was a $20 bill. So, he said, “Honey, I don’t have a quarter, but I’m going to do you better than that. I’m going to give you this $20 bill.” Then he handed her the bill. He thought that would thrill the child, but it didn’t. Instead, she said, “No, Daddy, I asked you for a quarter.”

The father chuckled a bit and said, “Honey, you don’t understand. What I just gave you is a whole bunch of quarters put together.” By now, though, the little girl was starting to get upset. She said, “Daddy, all I’m asking you for is a quarter, and you won’t even give me that. I thought you loved me.” The father answered, “I do love you. That’s why I just gave you $20.” But the girl still wasn’t impressed. She said again, “If you loved me, you would give me a quarter.”

At this point the father decided that it was time for an arithmetic lesson. He said, “Honey, let me explain this to you. There are four quarters in every dollar, and I just gave you a $20 bill. That means that I just gave you 80 quarters.” Try as he might, though, he just couldn’t make the child understand. Finally, she started crying, pitched a fit, and ran into her bedroom to get away from him.

You say, “That dumb little girl. She certainly didn’t know what was best for her.” You’re right, she didn’t. But tell me, Christian, do you always know what’s best for you? How many times have you asked your heavenly Father for something, only to get upset when He sent you a replacement product that you couldn’t understand was exceedingly abundantly better than what you asked Him for?

Try to keep this in mind the next time God sends you something different than you requested. The fact that you can’t see His answer for what it is doesn’t mean that it isn’t a veritable goldmine for you. Never forget that He loves you enough to give you more than you request from Him. That’s why He feels free to send substitute answers when they fit better. Just because His answer is different doesn’t mean that it’s worse.

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The Blessing of Rest During the Coronavirus

Posted on April 27, 2020 by russellmckinney

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31, N.K.J.V.)

As the Coronavirus continues to adversely affect our daily lives, many people are wondering what lesson God is trying to teach us through it. While I don’t claim to have a patent on that answer, I feel safe in saying that, if nothing else, God seems to be using the virus to slow us down. I mean, who can argue that “Go, go, go” hasn’t become “stay home, stay home, stay home”?

This reminds me of a lesson that a certain college football player once learned the hard way. The player’s name was Nate Irving, and he was a linebacker for N.C. State. Going into the 2009 season, Irving was a preseason All-ACC pick and was poised for big things. That all changed, though, on June 28, 2009, when he left N.C. State’s Raleigh campus and made the 90-mile drive to visit his family in Wallace, NC. When the visit was over, Irving’s family tried to get him to spend the night with them and drive back to school the next morning. Irving, however, would hear none of it and insisted on driving back to Raleigh that night. That turned out to be a bad decision as he fell asleep at the wheel about 30 Raleigh miles outside Raleigh and crashed his car.

The wreck left Irving with broken ribs, a separated shoulder, a compound fracture in his left leg, and a collapsed lung. His injuries forced him to miss the entire 2009 season, but he counted himself fortunate just to be alive. He then rehabbed his injuries, returned to the team for the 2010 season, played at an All-American level that season, and was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. Needless to say, Irving’s story had a happy ending. Still, though, he never forgot his death-defying crash and said of it, “There’s nothing more important than getting your rest. I almost lost my life because I didn’t get enough rest.”

Am I staying busy during this current pandemic? Yes, I am. I’m still preaching to my congregation twice a week (by way of You Tube online streaming and short-distance radio broadcasting), I’m writing three blog posts per week, and Malcolm Woody and I are doing a podcast most every week. But am I as busy as I was before the Coronavirus hit? No, I’m not. I haven’t been doing any personal visiting, and I haven’t been having any meetings at church, either.

Of course, my family and I count ourselves blessed that not one of us has been afflicted with the Coronavirus (at least not yet). That blessing in and of itself would be plenty for which to thank God. I have to say, though, that another blessing that we’ve experienced during this time has been simply being able to slow down for a while and catch our collective breath from life’s hectic pace. Others have experienced this blessing as well even if they haven’t fully appreciated it for the good it’s done in their lives. No doubt God knew that many of us needed such a slow down. And maybe, just maybe, that’s one of the reasons why He has allowed the Coronavirus. It’s at least something to consider, even though I’m sure that it hasn’t been His only reason.

Posted in Current Events, God's Provision, God's Sovereignty, Needs, Personal | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Is God Doing Anything With You?

Posted on April 25, 2020 by russellmckinney

Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. (Acts 14:27, N.K.J.V.)

Most of us want God to do something for us. We prove that by taking our Christmas list of prayer requests to Him on a regular basis. But how many of us want God to do something with us?

The events of Acts 14 are found within the context of the record of Paul’s first missionary journey. His ministry companion for that trip was Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3), even though Mark, the writer of the gospel of Mark, traveled with them for a while as well (Acts 12:25; 13:13). Paul and Barnabas were both Jews, but they ministered to Jews and Gentiles alike. As a matter of fact, their ministry to Gentiles produced more spiritual fruit than their ministry to Jews.

That missionary journey ended where it had begun, at the church in Antioch. It was there that Paul and Barnabas gave a full report to the church. And what did they tell those Christians? Our text verse says they told them how God had worked with them to open up salvation (“the door of faith”) to the Gentiles.

Could God have opened up the door of salvation to those Gentiles without using Paul and Barnabas? Certainly. He could have had a host of angels visit all those cities and preach the gospel. Or, He could have had every single one of the Gentiles in those cities have a dream, a dream in which the gospel was presented. But God’s preferred method of getting the gospel shared in all those cities was to have Paul and Barnabas preach it.

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, once said:

I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.

Those words “do His work through me” equate to the same thing as Paul and Barnabas reporting what God “had done with them.” Either way the idea is that God uses you as the vessel by which He gets His work done. The funny thing about God is that, as awesome as He is, He is always hard up for help. That’s because He relies upon volunteers rather than draftees.

Trust me, if God isn’t doing anything with you or through you, the problem isn’t on His end. He has given you talents. He has given you skills. He has given you abilities. If you are a born-again Christian, He has given you have at least one spiritual gift. Also, He has sovereignly placed you in your little corner of the world, which means that you live next door to people, work with people, and meet people that are uniquely your folks.

There’s an old saying that goes, “He’s our man in ………( fill in the city).” Well, God is looking for you to be His man/woman in wherever you happen to be at any given moment. Paul was that person. Barnabas was that person. Hudson Taylor was that person. But the question right now is, will you be that person? If you will be, then I guarantee you that God will do important things with you. Just give Him a try and see.

Posted in Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Work, Individuality, Influence, Missions, Prayer Requests, Sacrifice, Sanctification, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Talents | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments