Giving Answers (1 Peter 3:15)

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  (The words of Jesus; Matthew 5:10-12 ESV) I wonder how John the Baptist would be treated today.  I know that it seems like a strange place to start...but follow me here. John the Baptist had basically one job...to prepare the way for the Lord (see Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-17; John 1:19-28; Isaiah 40:3).  And he had one message...Repent! People came from all around in anticipation of the Lord's coming.  So they asked questions of John in practical terms to understand what "repentance" was.  He told the crowds to be generous with what they had to the poor (Luke 3:10-11).  He told the tax collec...

I worry for the church in these tumultuous times.  As I look at the headlines of our ever changing nation, I know that I can be overwhelmed with the speed and ferocity by which we see our country's ethical standard deteriorate.  This transition which I am seeing is disappointing, but not unexpected.  As a matter of fact, I have been talking about these changes for about a decade.    My worry for the church isn't in whether or not Jesus will keep His church.  He has already bought and paid for His bride with His blood.  He has given us the promised Holy Spirit which is to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and also to lead the believer into truth and seal him for the day of redemption.  The church...the true confessing, believing church...is safe in the arms of their Savior. My worry is over whether the church will be one, as Jesus wants them to be:  United as one body with many parts, who all have a...

I worked at a bank for many years.  And for those who know me, I gave them as hard of a time as any of my youth in my current youth group.  Aside from the phone calls that I gave to the person next to me, I actually learned a thing or two about banking. Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net One of the most important lessons that we were taught was about counterfeit money.  At a seminar in Savannah, we were taught to recognize all types of counterfeit things.  The best way to recognize a counterfeit bill was to be intimately acquainted with the real thing.  Before we even encountered any of the counterfeits, we spent a good part of the day looking at the real bills.  We felt their texture.  We learned every little secret about the bill.  Some are well known to the public.  Some are not.  To be honest, by the time we were done, we were bored.  I mean, this is the currency that we handled and counted everyday...n...

Good things come to those who wait...or so the saying goes.  I wonder if the person who invented that phrase could have foreseen the age of the internet and smart phones. Image courtesy of adamr @FreeDigitalPhotos.net The idea of waiting for anything in our culture has become anathema.  So much so that we have road rage incidents when we are caught in traffic.  We get impatient at the grocery store when we choose the wrong line and have to stay 5 minutes longer because of our misstep.  We are always in a hurry and when we fall behind, we have no grace for those who have cost us those precious moments that we will never get back.  (Just ask my kids as they have been the target of my wrath for the 2 minutes that I think I'm behind...only to still arrive on time.) This hurried culture has made us a less patient people, and as a result, less self controlled. This lack of self control manifests itself as a reactionary people whose peace is only found in the...

If I were to ask you how you were doing in your relationship with Christ...how would you answer? If you are like a lot of people, immediately your mind runs to two areas of spiritual devotion:  prayer and getting into the Word.  From these two areas, we often assess our relationship with God.  Usually when looking at these areas, the common response I hear is that prayer is alright and Bible reading is non-existent or could do a lot better. Responses like that make me sad for two reasons.  First, as Christians, we have identified only two disciplines and called it our relationship with God.  And secondly, we aren't very good at even those two disciplines. Listen to the following verses from Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewi...

Our goal as believers is to strive for holiness.  Not just for ourselves but for our fellow believers.  It should also be our prayer for those who don't yet know Jesus.  Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net However, in our personal conflict avoiding society, we are often settling for far less...happiness.  "If it makes them happy..." has become the mantra and wish of our generation and many of us, as Christians, have fallen for it.  We may not personally agree with the choices that they make, but instead of taking a stand for holiness, we settle for wishing them happiness.  Happiness is easy.  It costs you nothing to wish someone happiness.  Happiness has no conviction other than happiness be the goal.  The greatest evil to happiness is that which denies someone the happiness they seek.  Happiness says that relationship must be preserved at all costs beyond condition.  Which is what makes h...

I have a drama queen in my family.  Maybe you have the same. Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Now I love my daughter with this trait with all my heart.  However, as a father, I recognize that this drama queening will get her into a LOT of trouble in life, if I don't guide her through how to properly handle conflict (whether it is conflict with her own desires and wants or with others). Give me a moment to define the term drama queen (or king).  A drama queen (or king) is someone who over-exaggerates the importance of trivial matters.  These trivial matters then become the most important thing that is happening in their lives...at that moment.  Because of this attitude, there becomes unrest in their lives and everyone else's lives around them.  Their happiness and joy is affected by these trivial matters.  Fights begin.  Pouting happens.  Slammed doors.  Loud wails.  Disconcerted complaining abo...