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“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 NLT The days after Pearl Harbor were dark days in America. Much of our navy had been destroyed and Hitler was marching across Europe as the Japanese moved across the Pacific. Both forces seemed invincible.  Our armed forces were minimal and, besides, all that had been happening far away was moving close to home. There was much grieving and crying and dying. Things are dark today. Our economy is in a shambles. Unemployment is sky high. Government spending is out of control and politicians are out of touch. The church is not in any better shape. Attendance is down in most places. Christianity is under attack. The concept of separation of church and state is completely out of wack with our history and our freedom. There is […]

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. – 2 Timothy 2:3 Today’s devotional is inspired by a recent column by Greg Laurie.  The Declaration of Independence declares that we are endowed with certain rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our life and our liberty should not be taken from us without just cause. We have a right to pursue happiness. We don’t have a right to be happy. That’s a distinction that seems to be lost on many in these days. The result is a population that expects to be provided everything necessary for happiness. When the government can’t deliver that, expectations are dashed. The same kind of confusion weakens the gospel. Consider the Christian life: God takes a life that was empty, aimless, and, worst of all, headed for a certain judgment and then turns it around and transforms it. He forgives all our sin, removes our guilt, and takes residence inside of us through the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, He changes our eternal address from hell to a place heaven. Sounds like a pretty good deal, certainly “good news.” Why would we proclaim any less of a gospel, a Gospel […]

Attitude is everything. Brother Lawrence demonstrated this. Consider these words: (His attitude about himself)Yet, I think it is appropriate to tell you how I perceive myself before God, whom I behold as my King. I consider myself as the most wretched of men. I am full of faults, flaws, and weaknesses, and have committed all sorts of crimes against his King. In deep regret I confess all my wickedness to Him. I ask His forgiveness. I abandon myself in His hands that He may do what He pleases with me. (His attitude about God) My King is full of mercy and goodness. 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.  Consider how often our attitudes mess us up. We often consider ourselves put-upon. Poor, poor pitiful me. We focus on our problems and struggles. That’s why taking a mission trip […]

Today is the first day of school. That’s just not right. School is supposed to begin in September, sometime after Labor Day. It seems the first day of school has been inching earlier for years. I remember when the school board first set the first day of school before Labor Day. Many parents just ignored them and didn’t send their kids until after the Jerry Lewis Telethon. I miss that kind of independence. Of course, it’s not the Jerry Lewis Telethon any more. He’s gotten too old. This year for the first time he won’t be on the show. Why does school need to start so early? Are they teaching our children more than they taught us. I don’t think so. Are they afraid that parents will have too much time with their kids? Okay that sounds like a conspiracy theory.  I remember the start of school as a good thing. I liked getting back with friends. Having clean empty notebooks and new textbooks. The start of school meant football and gumbo weather wasn’t far away. That just isn’t so when school starts in the middle of August. It is important that we get a fresh start on our […]

Knowing Jesus “9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. .” 2 Corinthians 8:9 Last night was the first Saints’ exhibition of the year. Although it really doesn’t count for anything, it was fun to watch, as familiar players mixed with the new guys. Everyone fighting for positions. This morning at breakfast I found myself engaged in deep conversation over the relative merits of the players I had watched the night before. The truth of the matter is that I never played football and have never met a single member of the team. Yet, there I was, expounding on their faults and virtues like I knew them personally. Sadly, that’s how it is for many with Jesus. There are many who have never heard of Him; but there are many more who think they know Him because they know some facts about him.To put it in modern terms, it’s like going to a stranger’s Facebook page and, after having reviewed the “facts” there, conclude that we know that person. In scripture to “know” another implied the […]

This weekend is the Louisiana  Bible Prophesy Conference. It features Dr. Dave Reagan, Dr. Tim LaHaye, Al Gist and Don McGee. It begins tonight 6-9 pm and continues tomorrow 9 to 5 at First Baptist Church of Broussard, 211 South Morgan Street, Broussard. I plan to attend with Rosemary. I have to admit that I am not a Prophesy fanatic. It’s clear that scripture contains an extraordinary number of prophetic passages. I guess my prophesy theology is simple: the Lord is going to return at a time we don’t know. I believe the faithful will be raptured  before the tribulation. But I have to admit that’s based as much on hope as it is on careful scriptural analysis. I also believe that time is very near. There are just too many signs that point to the soon return of Jesus.  I believe we should be aware of the signs of the times and, like the mentally challenged orphans in a recent devotional, we should be smudging our windows looking for His return. But I also believe that we can be so focused on the details of His return that we have no time for the work we should be […]

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18Jack Graham recently shared this story. He heard a man who was the head of a Christian orphanage in Kentucky talk about his charges who are all mentally handicapped. “You know, we have a maintenance problem at the home. We teach these precious children the Bible and they don’t understand a lot of what we’re saying. But we tell them about Jesus and that Christ came to save them. And not only that, but we also tell them that Christ is coming again and when He does, everything’s going to be perfect and they’re going to be perfect. “We’ve got a maintenance problem. And the maintenance problem at our home is the windows! We can’t keep the windows clean because […]

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” [This is] the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:8–9    A few years ago, while working in my wife’s garden, I injured my knee. I try not to let her forget this all started because I was working in her garden…. It was painful for several weeks. I saw an orthopedic surgeon. He did an MRI and diagnosed arthritis and some soft tissue damage. I was not alone with my knee problems, my pastor and one of our best friends had similar problems. I was prayed for and the pain stopped. I had not symptoms and took no medication for several years. In the meantime, my pastor and others I knew had knee replacement surgeries and worked their way back to good health. I could not understand why I received a miracle and others, more spiritual than I, did not. The Lord says, “Your ways are not My ways.”   On my birthday on March 16, I twisted my knee and the old pains returned. I have […]