It's Worth What?!?

Yesterday I watched the show that I had seen advertised many times, but I had never watched it. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, who is not one of my favorite comedians, as I find his humor a little dry. But my wife had control of the remote, so I sat on the couch and observed this show.
Now the main theme of this show is to discover if you know how much something is worth. Then you have to guess how much is the price, or if it is lesser or greater in value than another object, or if it belongs to someone famous.
I especially couldn't believe that a pair of dirty underwear that pop singer Madonna had worn at some time would be worth almost 2 grand. A tissue that another star had blown her nose in was worth hundreds.
It got me to thinking. We put such a high value on such ridiculous things, and yet one of the lowest valued items in many homes today is the bible. For many people there is no value to it, except to sit on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. If it is fortunate, it may get taken down on Sundays to visit church, or if it is really lucky, it gets to sit on the coffee table in case the preacher comes by.

Why is it that something so precious as God's word, and so priceless as the instructions that are contained therein are not valued anymore? The US has turned from being a nation built on God and His principles. We are making into law things that God calls an abomination.

Wake up America! Either we do love God or we don't. We cannot be both ways. Either we will get back to having a country that is founded on Him, or we had better be prepared to face His wrath.
Look around you. See the turmoil in the markets! The crime that is now prevalent everywhere, even in small towns. Godlessness creates this, fosters this and will eventually be our downfall if we're not careful.
Christians, step up! Start to tell the people in charge that it has to get back to the bible before we collapse completely. I just pray that it is not too late for us to turn around and become a God fearing nation once again!
May God bless you and thanks for stopping by!

Harold Camping Strikes Again

By now everyone should know who Harold Camping is. And everyone should feel disappointed, relieved or somewhat quizzical when his prediction last Saturday didn't come true if they believed in it. (if you're reading this, I hope you weren't one of the few who did)
Frankly, I believe in the bible. Everyone has quoted the scripture in Matthew and maybe a few people will have at least learned one bible verse to include with their knowledge of John 3:16.
But if I could warn Harold and any of his followers of one thing it would be this:
You went against God and were made a fool of, the first time in 1994 and now in 2011. Learn from your mistakes. Do not be duped into the revised Oct 2011 date that has just been released. (3 strikes and you're out!?!) Sooner or later, God may say "enough is enough." Besides, what if you're wrong and God comes today or tomorrow.
Prince once put out a song that said "Party like it's 1999" (another prediction that went sour, though not Harolds this time).
I say "let's get right with God now" in case Oct 2011 is too late!
Okay, enough on that subject, new post in series tomorrow.

I'm a child of the King

From Previous Blog:

Children and Youth committees need to have someone who has a child that is full time in their home in that age group. A senior or junior in high school should serve on the committee (rules can determine if they have a vote or not) so that the young people have a voice in what happens in their ministry. Kids know what kids want. Adults can decide if it is appropriate or not.

I have known churches where the only people on a Youth/Children’s committee were on Social Security already, and some didn’t even have grandchildren active in the church. The problems manifested themselves tremendously and they showed like eyesores. Activities from 50 years ago were suggested and given, and the attendance lacked because of it. Young families pulled out and took their kids to another church where the offering was more up to date.

Now I’m not saying that you can’t use the things of old. I think some things should be put back.

For instance, bible drills. One of the best ways to get a child to learn the books of the bible is to have them do bible drills. In case you are not familiar with them, this is what you do:

Have the children/youth line up in a row facing you. One hand is underneath the bible, one hand is on top of the bible. The adult calls out a book, chapter and verse. When you say the info, the child/youth searches for the scripture and when they have it, they step forward. Give a few of them time to find it, and then call on one of them randomly to read it. That way you know that they have found the actual correct scripture and it also gives them practice speaking in public. Two great lessons, and hopefully something about the verses will stick with them too.

Okay, back to the topic. Find out what children/youth like and incorporate it into your time with them. The best way to know what kids want is to have a parent/guardian on the team/committee that works with them. They see what their kids spend time doing, and they know what will reach out to them.

And kids/youth aren’t stupid either. Put an older youth on the committee. Let them have a voice in ideas that you may not think of, especially if it has been awhile since you were in that age group. They do not necessarily have to be given a vote, but draw ideas and input on your ideas from them. Two things are accomplished.

They learn how committees work. They feel that they are being a part of the church, and not just an attendee. This also gives motivation for others to aspire in the church so that they can serve as well.

Our children/youth of today are our leaders tomorrow. Don’t keep them in the dark until they get a plate full shoved at them with no utensils to use or choose from. Quality leadership is taught, not given. Let’s start now before it’s too late!

Starting Over

On a recent trip I met someone who I hit it off with immediately. We were talking about churches and he mentioned about starting a church, and some of the local denominations. His next sentence caught my ears. “Why not start over? It has to be better than what we have now.”

Wow, what a statement. Starting over. That tells us a lot about how denominations are perceived. And also one other thing. Long established churches. It is not uncommon to wind up with a lot of clic’s and groups that can quickly make anyone start to feel like an outsider if they are new. I addressed this in a previous blog, so I won’t go into this again.

But I do want to address the idea of starting over. Starting over in many ways can be a path to a better life.

Christianity. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you start a new life (hopefully), leaving behind the things that caused you to stumble in your life. Some people try to pin down exactly what actions are a sin. The bible is explicit on a few, but in a world that is rapidly changing, the list can grow quite quickly. So here is the simplest way to decide if you are in doubt.

(1) If you do something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(2) If you say something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(3) If you do something that makes you feel guilty

(4) If you do or say something that makes you wonder if it is right or wrong

Well, then it’s wrong.

Problem comes in what a lot of people do next, they listen to the words of an old popular song:

“If it feels good, do it.”

You cannot always substitute the “feel good” into the above to determine if it is the right thing to do. The only checkpoint for that is the bible. There are so many things that tell you what to do and how to do in the bible.

What? You don’t know what those are? Read the bible.

“But it’s too hard. I don’t understand it.” This day and age you can find all kinds of versions of the bible. Some versions stray from the original content, but the King James Version, New King James Version, and the New International Version are the ones who track the closest to the original document.

“But Keith, you just listed the King James as a version.” Yes, it is a translation, so it is a version. It is not the original document. Unless you are fluent in Greek and Hebrew, the documents that we have from that age would be “greek” to you. (haha, I couldn’t resist!). I personally prefer the NIV translation. The writers have gone back to the original document and they have tried to keep the translation current to the meaning of the language of today.

Find a version that you can read and start reading. Some of the items that are mentioned are hard to understand, especially in the Old Testament. My suggestion is to start with the New Testament and read one of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the first four books that start off the New Testament. Pick one and read it, then skip to Acts and read until you get to Revelations. Stop. Go back to the Old Testament and read it carefully. If you don’t understand a term, go to Wikipedia.org or go to www.biblegateway.com and look it up. These two sites are free, and they have a ton of resources for you to read. I use both of them for my biblical studies. Plus, if you cannot afford a bible or another translation of a bible, biblegateway has many different translations for you to read. Then go back and read the rest of the gospels, and finally Revelations. Revelations can be a tricky book to read and grasp. I highly recommend a study series by Dr. David Jeremiah, “Escape The Coming Night”, which will help you understand Revelations, as well as apply it to modern times. I have attended several of his seminars, and listened to him on the radio, and he is “spot on” with his teachings and preaching.

So start over in your life.

Start over by reading the bible.

“But I’ve read it already.” Well, I don’t doubt you, but did you absorb anything that you read? Read it this time, even a chapter at a time, and then ask God to reveal to you what He wants you to learn from it.

Start over by being a “new you.”

Be someone that even you wouldn’t recognize. When you get to church and the same group gathers to start their gossip. Stand up and tell them they shouldn’t. If they still continue, walk away. Leave the room. Make a statement by doing so that you won’t be a part that does not fit with the Christian lifestyle.

Start worshipping while in church. (I’ve covered quite a bit about this in previous blogs)

Quit checking out who is doing what in the sanctuary. Shut your eyes and start your private prayer time. Start by asking God to work in your life. Ask God to help you clear your mind of everything else that is going on around you, and start praying for yourself, your family, your friends, the people who are currently in your church, the people who can’t be in your church, and the people who should be in your church.

Start to be a new employee/manager/owner

If you’re employed, go to work and be different. No gossiping. No backbiting. Start by telling someone thank you when they help, help someone when they need it, and start to be someone that others come up to you wanting to know what is different about you. PERFECT opportunity to be a witness for God in this situation.

If you do wind up in a place where you can’t be the Christian that you’re supposed to be, find a place where you can. Not all churches are Christian, though the name or denomination on the sign might indicate differently. If they need another book in addition to the bible, nope, not a Christian group. Resources that help you to understand what the bible is telling you are wonderful. But if someone wants you to study something instead of the bible, RUN FORREST RUN! Not all employers welcome a Christian environment. Employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. Just be the example, and pray for God to change their hearts.

Start to be the spouse/(g)(b)friend that you need to be. If your “significant other” isn’t a Christian, rethink your relationship.

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

I’ll go more into this in a later blog series where I tackle relationships.

Be the “S O” that you need to be. Show them that you love them. Kiss them, hold their hands, do special things that cause you to have to go out of the way for them. Guys, hold the doors for the girls. And guys and girls, initiate bible study together. Have devotional time. There are plenty of resources for different types of devotions, based on what you enjoying doing and reading.

Start over in your mind. Quit being negative. God is not negative. Start to believe in what you pray for, and in what you do in your daily life so that others can be reached for Christ.

In other words, START OVER!

Traffic Signs that you need to know

While driving on the road this past weekend, I wound up on a 4 lane highway that was divided by a grassy median. Two lanes went in each direction, and every so often there would be a portion of the median that was paved so that people could cross the road. On both sides of the road facing the direction that would have traffic flowing in the wrong direction, there were signs saying, “Wrong Way” or “Do Not Enter.”

This got me to thinking. That is what the bible does. It shows us that our ways are wrong when we are committing sins that the bible is Very Explicit about. God’s word should be a sign in front of our face when we are contemplating doing something that we know is wrong. Following Satan is the “Wrong Way” and the door that he will try to lead us through needs to be flashing “Do Not Enter.”

A little bit further down the road I saw a sign that said, “Keep right except to pass.”

I thought about this and decided that it is another sign that we need to apply to our daily lives. We need to “Keep Right.” We need to stay on a path that doesn’t stray away from God’s word and His commandments. And that includes not picking and choosing which ones we want to obey, and which ones we want to ignore. We need to either keep the whole bible as God’s word or throw the whole thing out. Some people have said that they don’t believe it is the word of God since man wrote it, yet they observe things that were written in the bible. You can’t have it both ways. Either read the whole manual and live a life like you should, eventually enjoying an eternity in Heaven with God. Or throw the whole thing out and risk getting fried (in about every way possible, both here on earth and in hell.)

But then I thought about the rest of the sign. “Keep right [except to pass]”

So, when would I pass? Well, that is easy to solve. A lot of people mature at a faster rate than others. The same can be said for Christians. There are some who buy the “fire insurance” and they can barely maintain a safe speed through life. You know these types of people because every little bump in life upsets their whole life, and they frantically try to “grab the wheel” to bring their life back under control.

There are others who notice the bumps, keep a tight grip on the steering wheel, and they make it through life fairly unscathed. They have learned how to worship God. They have learned how to ask God for what they need. They have learned to count on God to care for them and be their Rophe, Jireh, Nissi and many other names that I’ve covered earlier in other blogs.

These people are going to pass up the first type of people on the road to success and contentment in their lives. When you learn to trust God for your daily needs, you learn to keep your eyes on the road, study the “road map” on your trips and trust that you’ll arrive at your destination “Heaven” as scheduled.

Life is also like what I found when I went further down the road. There was an exit ramp. Life has exit ramps. Growing up I can remember the old folks saying that someone who had been active in church and then left to pursue “worldly” interests had “backslid.” I think of it as an exit ramp. They got off track and took another road, eventually realizing that they were headed in the wrong direction, and then hopefully they did a U-Turn and came back to where they took the exit ramp. There is almost always an “on-ramp” for them to get back on track and continue on with their life pursuing God. Sometimes they reach the wrong destination, and tragic events can often happen.

What road will you take? What lane will you find yourself in? Will it have “Wrong Way” signs staring you in the face? Or will you find traffic flowing smoothly in your direction, the Son shining upon you, and “Keep right except to pass” will be the road sign that greets you periodically. Sure, you will have “danger” signs, “reduced speed” signs and other road hazards in your way. But if you have God as your GPS (Globally Positioned Savior), your road ahead will be the best possible route in front of you.