May This Not Describe Us!

I received this joke via email. I assume it is ok to post it here, but if there are copyright issues please advise, and I will remove it immediately.

A driver did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman behind him went ballistic, pounding on her horn and screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to drive through the intersection with him. Still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.

The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm awfully sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the "Choose Life" license plate holder, the "What Would Jesus Do?" bumper sticker, the "Follow me to Sunday School" bumper sticker and the chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.

Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.

If it's only a joke, it's amusing. If it's descriptive of you or I, it is tragic. Jesus was harder on hypocrites than on any other class of people. Throughout His earthly ministry, He rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, at one time warning His disciples to not be like them. He said, "But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Matthew 23:3 NIV)

May we not be such. May we practice what we preach - walk according to our words, and live the things that come from our lips.

Indestructible!

Here is another great thought from David Jeremiah:

Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)

In AD 303, Emperor Diocletian ordered Bibles everywhere rounded up and burned, and the Christian Scriptures destroyed. Instead, Diocletian perished; and within 25 years, the next emperor commissioned Eusebius to prepare 50 copies of the Bible at the expense of the government.

Centuries later, the French infidel Voltaire claimed that within 100 years, the Bible would be forgotten and Christianity would be swept from existence. But Voltaire died in 1778, and within 50 years the Geneva Bible Society was using his press and his house to print Bibles.

No other book has been so hated, vilified, attacked, abused, burned, banished, criticized, and despised. Yet it is history's best seller, read today and loved by billions. As H. L. Hastings put it: "Infidels for 1800 years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before."

That's our Bible!

If this book had not been the book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers have all tried their hand at it; they died and the book still lives. (H. L. Hastings)

Have you read yours today? I encourage you to do so, and also to carry it with you tomorrow as you join your brothers and sisters in worshipping the Author of this indestructible book.

Not Enough Bandaids

Dr. Tom Malone, founder and former pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Pontiac, Michigan told a story from his boyhood. He grew up in a rural community, and would often find himself in the woods and fields playing with his friends. There was, somewhere near his home, a deep ravine filled with blackberry bushes. It was a test of manhood for boys to run and jump that ravine. He, being the youngest of his group, was one day dared and goaded into jumping that ravine. He had never tried, and wasn't sure he could, but he couldn't resist the power of the double dog dare. And so he tore off across the field toward that ravine, legs pistoning, arms pumping, eyes bulging - determined with all his being to clear the distance.

But then something happened. Bro. Malone said a little doubt began to creep in as he hurtled toward the precipice. He began to think he shouldn't do it, and so he wavered between running full speed ahead, and turning back. He hestitated. And he ended up in the bottom of the ravine. His story ended with him saying that there were not enough bandaids in all of the state to cover the cuts on his young body.

Several times in our Bibles, Jesus warned of just such a mindset. He warned that the end is coming, and we need to be ready. Don't look back - don't hesitate, or you will be lost, He said. Don't hesitate, but rather follow Him wholeheartedly. Meditate on these verses today and consider what they mean to you.

Remember Lot's wife. (Luke 17:32)

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

Are you hesitating to serve Him faithfully in your local church? Why? Such hesitation not only lands you in the blackberries of life, but it also cuts your brothers and sisters in Christ, who need your faithful influence in their lives. Christians are taught to "... look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil. 2:4)

Or perhaps you are hesitating in trusting Christ? There won't be enough bandaids to help you if you die lost.

Amazed by the Gospel

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
-- from Charles Wesley's hymn, "And Can It Be"

I continue to read the excellent book by Mark Dever entitled "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church." This morning, I read that a healthy church will have a right understanding of evangelism and discipleship. Dever made many excellent points, but then summed up his thoughts with this comment:

"We need to get back to being amazed at the gospel."

And it was as if I had been clubbed. I was immediately convicted of the vital truth of that statement. "We need to get back to being amazed at the gospel."

This past week, Ms. Rowlings sold 8.5 million copies of her latest installment in the Harry Potter series of books. Why? Because she knows how to tell a story, and people will always stand in line for a good story.

But the gospel is the greatest story ever told. How is it that so few are interested? How is it that our churches are empty? RCC was empty six months ago when I arrived, and although it's got a few less empty seats - it's still pretty empty!

"We need to get back to being amazed at the gospel."

When was the last time you were amazed with it? When was the last time you found it so astonishing that you just had to share it with somebody? The early Christians were amazed by the gospel, and they "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) as a result. Paul the Apostle was amazed by it, and he reached the entire known world during his lifetime.

God can build a church at Randolph, but He will do it the way He always has, by the proclamation of His Word - His amazing good news gospel.

May God forgive me for allowing the gospel to become anything but amazing in my heart. And may God help me to become once again astonished by it. Will you, my friend, pray the same prayer?

Wesley said it well:

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

The Bible - Valuable for All Time

I liked the thoughts in Dr. David Jeremiah's daily devotional today. I share it here with you:

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to
be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. (Psalm 19:9-10)

In 1944, newspaper editor T. Harry Wilson bequeathed a special book to the Greater Victoria Library in British Columbia. It was a rare first-edition copy of the King James Bible, one of only 50 known copies in existence. It was displayed in 1979, then stored away in the vault and forgotten. Now the library has rediscovered the book and sent it to Sotheby's auction house in New York where it's expected to raise about a half-million dollars.

The Bible is your most valuable possession, more precious than gold, and sweeter than honey. How easily it can be forgotten, but how valuable when rediscovered!

"I want to know one thing," said John Wesley, "- the way to heaven: how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book."

Have you neglected your Bible? Isn't it time you rediscovered it?

The Holy Scripture is of much greater benefit to us than day or night, than the air we breath, or the light of the sun. (Matthew Henry)

Tremble

I never cease to be amazed at how God wants to communicate with us. If we will just seek His face, He will be there, and He will reveal more and more of His truth to us.

An example happened to me in just the last 2 days.

This past Wednesday we held our first midweek prayer meeting. These meetings last no more than 1 hour, and have a two-part format - discussion style Bible study followed by praying for those in our church by name. This week we prayed for the first 10 families in our church database by name. Next week we'll pray over the next 10, and so on until we reach the end of the list, at which time we will start over. If you are in our database, you are being prayed for by name. We also prayed for our missionaries, by name.

But the example I refer to happened in the Bible study portion of the meeting, not the prayer time. We began a discussion of Bible words - important words in the Bible and what they mean. I asked for suggestions on words we might study - words like submission, faithfulness, forgiveness, love, etc. One person suggested a word I would never have thought of - trembling. And so I wrote it down for study.

This morning I opened my Bible for my daily time with God, and read this:

The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. (Psalm 99:1 KJV)

I encourage you today to read Psalm 99. For in it God gives us a picture of His holiness. And when we get a view of God in His holiness, we cannot help but tremble.

How do you see God, my friend? Is "love" the only word that comes to mind when you think of God? I have a Basset Hound named Chloe that is like that. She only loves, always, no matter what I do to her. Is that your picture of God? If so, how do you explain things like Psalm 99 in the Bible, where God's justice and holiness are said to be reasons for us to tremble?

Interesting thoughts, huh? We'll talk more about it on a coming Wednesday night study, so plan on coming and joining in the discussion. We need you there. Your brothers and sisters need you to be praying for them, just as they pray for you.

PRAYER AND GOLF

Just a reminder that we will be having our first open mid-week prayer meeting tonight. The elders and deacons have been meeting for prayer every other week on Wednesday evenings, but starting tonight we want to open that meeting to all. Please join us as we do a brief discussion-style Bible study, followed by a time of prayer. We will meet at the church at 6:30 and be finished by 7:30 at the very latest. You've heard the old saying, I'm sure - "You can tell how much people love their church by the Sunday morning attendance. You can tell how much they love their preacher by the Sunday evening attendance. And you can tell how much they love God by their Wednesday evening attendance." I'm not sure how true that is, but I do know that we as a church need to pray more.

Also, a reminder that the Timothy Club will once again be playing golf this Sunday at 1:00 at the Paradise Lakes golf course in Randolph. Cost is $15.00, which includes the cart, and all are invited to attend.