Dan’s Ramblings

When I was growing up I did not like going to high school. I did not like English, History, or Algebra. By the skin of my teeth, I passed Algebra 1 and 2 with a “D” grade. Even though it was just barely passing, I passed. I tried to get my Dad to allow me to quit school, but he refused. When I graduated from high school, I never imagined that I would ever go to college, because I was not considered “college material.”

Even though I attended church regularly as a preacher’s kid, I was not a Christian. It wasn’t until I was twenty-two years old that I became a Christian. Within two months of being born-again, I found myself at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Because of my poor study habits and bad grades in high school, I really struggled in college. I didn’t know how to study. There were some classes that I had to take three times before I passed the course.

When I met Becky (now my wife), she helped me with my classes and assignments, and my grades improved. By the time I was in my junior and senior years of college, I passed Greek 1 and 2 with A’s. That was nothing short of miraculous!

Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

If you were given a grade for your words and thoughts, would they be “passing” grades in God’s sight? Would your words and thoughts be acceptable, or would they be unacceptable?

As Christians, we should do all to the glory of God, and that includes our words and thoughts. We should purposefully strive to get “passing grades” with the words we say and the thoughts we think. I’m not talking about being satisfied with getting a “D-” as that is just barely passing. No, we should do all we can to get an “A+” in our words and thoughts. In fact, I think it would be good if we strived to not only say or think what is acceptable, but we should have a goal to have words and thoughts that are exceptionally good for the glory of God.

If you stop and think about it, there’s not much difference between a D- and a F+. Our words and thoughts should be far above what the average unbeliever says and thinks.

While you may not always get an A+ after every “test” you may have, that should be your goal. How can you improve your “grades?” The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

May your words and thoughts be acceptable in God’s sight today, and every day!

I don’t know who started this, but as long as I can remember, every Christian seems to have a “life verse” from the Bible. My dad’s life verse was John 3:30. (He must increase, but I must decrease.) I thought that was a good life verse, so I copied my dad and made it my life verse, as well.

After forty years of having John 3:30 as my life verse, I think it’s time to make a change. Yes, Jesus must increase, and we must decrease. However, as Christians, we must never forget or neglect our responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission of Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

This world needs Jesus. The world population is over eight billion people, and the vast majority have not even heard the gospel message one time. It is our responsibility as Christians to preach the gospel to those with whom we come in contact. Do your neighbors know that you are a Christian? Don’t assume they know just because you back out of your driveway on most Sundays.

I think it would be a good idea if every Christian would change their life verse to Romans 1:16. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” If every Christian would make this their life verse, memorize it, say it out loud before you leave your house, and say it every time you get out of your car, then more people would probably get saved.

It’s easy to say you’re not ashamed, but when was the last time you shared the gospel with someone? The opposite of being ashamed is to boldly share the gospel with everyone. Carry gospel tracts with you at all times – lots of tracts – and take advantage of the opportunities that God gives you to tell someone what Jesus did for you.

One of the characteristics of the early church was boldness (Acts 4:13,29,31; Philippians 1:20). May God give you boldness to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ without being afraid or ashamed.

Everyone will fall and hurt themselves from time to time. If possible, you will get back up and continue on your journey. You may not be able to get back up without help, but hopefully someone will come along soon and help you back on your feet. You may feel the results of that fall for a long time, but you can only get back up once from one fall. You cannot get back up five times if you’ve only fallen once.

This same principle applies to when a Christian sins. When you sin, there may be long-lasting feelings of hurt, resentment and shame. However, when you repent, confess your sin to God and ask for His forgiveness, He will forgive you the first time you ask. Once God forgives you of that sin, then you do not need to ask His forgiveness for five or ten more times. Yes, you will feel the guilt and shame for some time, but God’s forgiveness is immediate, so you don’t need to confess it or ask for His forgiveness anymore. With God, when you’ve been forgiven, it’s over with. As Jesus told the woman taken in adultery, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

Now, you may need to ask someone else to forgive you, so do it without delay.

You will also need to get over it yourself, and not allow that FORGIVEN sin to linger on in your heart and mind. The devil wants that sin – that’s already been forgiven – to keep you down, discouraged and disheartened for a long time. He wants you to feel the pain, the shame, and think about it after it’s already been forgiven. If you confessed and asked God for forgiveness of sin yesterday, then He forgave you yesterday. Don’t allow the forgiven sin of yesterday to hold you down today!

It’s incredible that in today’s world, a person can identify as anything he wants to identify as, and it doesn’t even have to be a person. Men are identifying as women, women are identifying as men, and some people are even identifying as animals.

The same type of thing is happening in Christianity. Some people identify as “Christians,” and an increasing number of Christians are identifying as unbelievers.

You can read about the unbeliever that identifies as a believer in Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus said that there will be those who stand before God that sincerely identify as Christians and will even point to their good works as “proof,” but Jesus will sadly say, “I never knew you.”

 On the other hand, there are Christians today that, by their lifestyle, are identifying as unbelievers to their peers.

For example, police officers have a badge, a uniform, a gun, and some other pieces of equipment that will identify them as law enforcement officers. Military personnel are easily recognized by their uniforms, as well as their strict military demeanor and discipline.

Unfortunately, there have been imposters that have put on a uniform to either draw attention to themselves, or to receive honor and respect of which they are unworthy. They have identified as something they are not, but they are not what they want you to believe they are. These types of people are often referred to as, “wolves in sheep clothing.”

Going back to the example of the Christian identifying as an unbeliever, the person who has been saved but does not act like a Christian causes the Holy Spirit of God to grieve. The Christians that want to fit in with the world are like, “sheep in wolves clothing.” I cannot understand why a Christian would want to identify as a “wolf.” There is danger in hanging out with the wolves because they will identify you for who you are, and they will eat you up!

Does the music you listen to “identify” you as a Christian or an unbeliever? Do the clothes you wear make it easy to identify you as a Christian, or do you look like the rest of the unsaved world? What about the movies you watch and the words you say? When other people look at you and listen to you, when they see you at certain places that are questionable, how would they identify you?

It greatly concerns me to see that so many Christians are completely comfortable and “feel at home” among people that are drinking, dancing, going to worldly concerts, listening to rock, funk, rap, and country music. More and more Christian women are copying the fashion of the world in regard to short skirts and dresses, tight jeans, and bikinis. When Christian men want to flaunt their manhood with tight clothing, going around shirtless, and sporting tattoos, this is not an indication that, “after all, this IS the twenty-first century,” but rather an indication that we may be living in the end times.

In today’s world, the feeling of many people is that they don’t care what other people think of them. There is a growing trend among Christians that says, “I am who I am, and I don’t care what you think because I am who God made me to be.” The problem with that thought process is that, even though God made you and saved you, He didn’t mean for you to stay the way He found you. He certainly doesn’t want you to copy the world and be identified as an unbeliever. Yes, every person is unique, but the Christian needs to be very careful about not caring what others think of you. You are supposed to be copying Jesus Christ, and your identity in Christ is what others must see in your life.

The Bible says, “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15,16). In 1 Peter 1:16 and 17, the Christian is commanded to, “be holy” in all aspects of life. If a Christian is living a life that is unholy and sinful, and also loves the things of this world, then he or she is not “identifying” as a Christian at all. Don’t identify as a Christian on Sunday and identify as an unbeliever the rest of the week. Love God. Hate the world.

Christian friend, what you identify as is very important. What other people identify you as when they see you is also extremely important. How do YOU identify?

Although every Christian is not called into full-time ministry, every Christian should be involved in some ministry of their local church on a voluntary, part-time basis. When you were saved, you were separated from the world in order to serve the Lord. A Christian that is not serving God will not hear, “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” at least, not from the mouth of Jesus. Could it be that you’ll hear those same words from the devil? Of course not, because Satan will not be present when you stand before the Lord.

However, what if the devil were to be in the near vicinity when you stood before God as rewards are given out? Would you hear the Lord say to you, “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” for a life that has been faithfully active in serving God? Or, would you hear Satan scornfully say, “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” because you did nothing in service to God?

Just as Joshua told the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, to choose whom they were going to serve, it’s possible to be a child of God, and at the same time be serving Satan. The word, “serve” is a verb, a word of action. It’s also a word that denotes that someone has authority over you to whom you must submit. Are you actively serving God, or have you submitted to Satan? To whom are you submitting?

Those who do not submit to God are, “by default,” submitting to Satan.

Don’t be a child of God, while at the same time being a servant of the devil. If you’re saved, serve God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Serve God with everything you are, and everything you have. Serving God is loving God. If the only thing you do at church is to show up in time for the service, and then leave at the final, “Amen,” you’re missing out on an opportunity to serve the Lord. You’re not only missing out on being a blessing, but you’re also missing out on receiving a blessing. Serving the Lord is one of the best things you can do after you are saved.

I know that every Christian is not called to be a full-time pastor, missionary, or evangelist, but every person who is saved is called to be a full-time Christian who is serving God in some capacity of ministry.

Are you fulfilling your calling? If not, determine to stop serving the enemy, and start serving the Savior today!

“Discouragement” is a dark and awful place. Don’t go there. You may be tempted to go there when things aren’t going your way. When you have a loved one that is sick or having problems, Discouragement is the last place you need to go!  When someone breaks your heart, stay far, far away from Discouragement. When it seems as if the world is crashing down around you, you don’t need to run to Discouragement, for it is a lonely, sad place. I know that many people are there, but they are sad and lonely, too.  “Misery loves company,” and they will only make you even more miserable than you already are.

When the storms of life hang dark and heavy, instead of running to the place of Discouragement, you should head straight on over to the place called, “Encouragement.”  I know you won’t feel like going there, but it’s the best place to go, and you’ll be glad you went. There are happy people there that will help you. They can’t dispel the storm clouds in your life, but at least it won’t be so gloomy. 

When your storm passes, and you feel encouraged, then it would be good if you went over to the place of Discouragement to try and help someone that may be stuck there.  Discouragement is an easy place to go to, but difficult to leave. There are many people there that need help leaving the muck and mire of Discouragement. Only a person who has been to Encouragement can help a person leave Discouragement.  YOU can be that person!

Friend, I don’t know where you are today, and I don’t know what is going on in your life. Run to the place of Encouragement, for Jesus is the King there, and He is all about loving and helping and encouraging you.

The king of Discouragement is the devil, and he wants you to avoid King Jesus and Encouragement.

Every day you make choices in life. You will choose who you’re going to be with, what you’re going to do, and where you will go. Choose to go to Encouragement and choose to go with those that will encourage you.  Those who are discouraged will try and lure you to that horrible place of Discouragement.  Don’t go!

When things seem to be going “all wrong,” stop in your tracks, turn around, and make a beeline for Encouragement.  Someone will be waiting for you with outstretched arms, a shoulder to cry on, and a listening ear.  When things go wrong, go right to the place of Encouragement.  You’ll be glad that you did.

In March of 2020, the whole world came to a screeching halt with what is now called, “the pandemic.”  Schools, businesses, and churches were closed as governments around the world ordered their citizens to stay at home.  And stay at home we did.  Fear gripped the world as the COVID plague was out of control.

It’s been two years.  For a good part of the past two years, people have spent countless hours playing online games, watching innumerable movies, and being “glued” to an astronomical amount of YouTube videos. While many people have done workouts and learned to cook new recipes, I would venture to say that a large percentage of people have “wasted” nearly two years of their lives.

I’m not going to do a Google search of things that you can do in two years, but I know that it’s possible to get an Associate degree from your local community college or technical college in two years. I understand that those colleges were also closed part of the time, but while it seemed as if life had come to a standstill, time did not.

Now that businesses and schools are open again, let me encourage you to consider either taking an online class, or even going to a class in person.  Maybe you started college but never finished.  Think ahead to the NEXT two years, and consider the possibilities of learning a trade, or getting an Associate degree, or even finishing college.

Don’t waste the next two years playing Minecraft or Call of Duty. Don’t throw away your life watching endless movies or videos. Think, plan, and get up from the couch to start living a productive and meaningful life.  

In two years, your life can be completely different, and you can be going to places of which you’ve only dreamed. Or, in two years, you can still be sitting on your couch, doing the same old thing, and going nowhere.  Don’t be satisfied with doing nothing, when you could be learning, growing, and going places.  You’re never too old to learn something new.

Let me challenge you to make some goals and make some changes in your mundane way of living. Perhaps in two years you will write me to say “thank you” for encouraging you to get busy and do SOMETHING.  I hope so.

The best time to get started is now, so don’t waste another day.  The past two years of the pandemic are history.  The future lies straight ahead, full of adventure and opportunities just waiting for you. Are you going to miss out?  I hope you don’t. Make a decision to improve your whole being (spiritual, physical, mental), and begin this two-year journey today.  In two years, will you look back with satisfaction and gratitude, or will you look back with regret?  The choice is up to you.