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if we are faithless,    he remains faithful,    for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 Iphones, Ipads, Facebook, Twitter, How things are changing. But it’s not just cool technology. We are changing the way we live. Most of us live in urban rather than rural environments. In my area, Broussard and Youngsville there seem to be no more intersections, just traffic circles. More don’t work for a living. More live together and don’t get married. Even our churches are changing. They are often bigger and flashier.  The message is often designed to be friendly and “practical” instead of spiritual and challenging.  All this change can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. The older I get the less exciting and more confusing it gets. We need to make sure that just because we change and our lives “evolve” our God doesn’t change. He’s the same God who created man, the same God who led His people out of bondage, the same God who sent a Savior.  Spend some time in God’s word, especially the Old Testament. God didn’t change when Jesus was born. There is much to be learned from those sections of scripture that come before Matthew.  […]

Last week we consider the “parable” of the Sheep and the Goats. Today, some more thoughts.  First, it isn’t really a parable. A parable is normally a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. This discourse is more an explanation of the Judgment of the Nations. Jesus only mentions sheep and goats as he points out that the people will be separated like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  When we think of sheep and goats we think of two very different creatures. But in much of the world certain species of these animals really look pretty much alike. It might well take a shepherd to separate them. It is often pointed out that the sheep are rewarded because they treated the least like Jesus, feeding them, visiting them, and so on. But consider, the animals are separated not because of what they do, but because of who they are. Jesus calls the ones standing on the right, “blessed.” They are blessed because they are born again children of God. Yes, they cared for the least; but they aren’t blessed because they cared. They cared because they […]

Pride is the problem. Pride has always been the problem. It was pride that caused some of the angels to think that they could be God. It was pride that caused Adam and Eve to think that they could be as wise as God. It was pride that caused the Jewish leaders to believe that no good thing could come out of Nazareth. It is pride that makes men believe that they are better at running their lives than the God that created them. It is pride that makes men reject God’s plan of salvation. It is pride that leads men to conclude that God’s gift of salvation is too good to be true and that it requires more from them. It is pride that causes some to conclude that men who don’t worship as they do can not be Christians. It is pride that causes some Christians to conclude that they can become better men through their own effort. It is pride that causes some to believe that Christ’s death was just not enough and that their own effort is required for heaven. It is pride that causes men to say that faith in Christ is not enough, […]

At 33, Jesus had become man, died for the sins of men, arisen from the dead and ascended back to his Father. These days at 33 many folks haven’t left home yet. Consider this one statistic: In 1960, 77 percent of women and 65 percent of men completed all the major transitions into adulthood by age thirty. These transitions include leaving home, finishing school, becoming financially independent, getting married, and having a child. By 2000, only 46 percent of woman completed these transitions by age thirty, and only 31 percent of men. In short, among thirty-somethings less than one-third are done with school, out of the house, married with kids, and have a job that pays the bills. “Adultolescence” is the new normal. These statistics come from  Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will, by Kevin DeYoung (Moody Press).  Consider  that these statistics are ten years old. I bet things have only gotten worse since them. Now I realize these statistics may be skewed because today many are not getting married at all, or ever finishing school, or, for that matter, having a child. But really, isn’t it true that this generation doesn’t feel called to […]

. Far from chastising me, He embraces me with love. He makes me eat at His table. He serves me with His own hands and gives me the key to His treasures. He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways. And He treats me in all respects as His favorite. In this way I consider myself continually in His holy presence.  This is Brother Lawrence’s description of how  he is treated by His Lord. Compare your circumstances with those of Brother Lawrence:  Brother Lawrence was born Nicholas Herman around 1610 in Herimenil, Lorraine, a Duchy of France. His birth records were destroyed in a fire at his parish church during the Thirty Years War, a war in which he fought as a young soldier. It was also the war in which he sustained a near fatal injury to his sciatic nerve. The injury left him quite crippled and in chronic pain for the rest of his life. He devoted most of his life to his monastery where he worked as a cook and in the sandal shop. Still He considered God “full of mercy and goodness.” He felt embraced with the love […]

I receive about a dozen devotionals by email each day. I search them for ideas for this blog. It amazes me how often the same idea flows through many of the devotionals. It is the Holy Spirit at work. He works like the ocean waves affecting many at the same time. Similar ideas arise in different souls at the same time. For some time I have noticed the same idea arising not only in these devotionals,  but in my Pastor’s sermons and in Glenn Beck’s Israel event yesterday. It includes don’t fear, get organized, go and make disciples. I think the best word for it is “mobilize.”  “Mobilize” is a verb or action word. It is defined as 1.  Prepare and organize (troops) for active service. 2. Organize and encourage (people) to act in a concerted way in order to bring about a particular objective. The opposite of mobilize is “frozen in fear,” or fearful, inactive, slumber. So the call is “Awake, Arise and Mobilize.” Satan has successfully frozen the people of God. We have all experienced situations in which fear prevents us from acting. In some cases this is good, we are prevented for foolish and dangerous activities. […]

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit ? Or where can I flee from Your presence ? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there ; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. Psalm 139 Do you really believe that all are created equal? Do you really believe that all have equal value? It’s easy to say, “yes.” But give it some thought. Certain […]

I have a face made for radio. In fact, I have done some radio. I worked at KSIG in Crowley in High School. KVOL in Lafayette in college and did some time on the air at KSJY in my adulthood. So I am comfortable working unseen as “Web Pastor” at Amana. I enjoy maintaining web sites for the church, Kairos, and One Nation Under God.  Doing a daily blog keeps me in the word. My most recent project has been working with Jonathan on a web site for The Source, Amana’s Youth Group. The great thing about doing this kind of work is that it provides a daily opportunity for learning. Yesterday, Jonathan sent me an Introduction Video for posting on the web site. It’s great. Included is a wonderful statement about the purpose of The Source:  “We are determined not to be a social group; but a movement of teenagers, committed to Christ, beyond the four walls of the church. To change the direction of their generation through the power of the Gospel in their lives. We’re not here to babysit you but to equip you to be a tool for the Kingdom of God.” Isn’t that a […]