Dan’s Ramblings

In March of each year we have a month of emphasis on Missions.  Each Sunday in March during our worship service, my colleague spoke about a missionary from the past, where and to whom they ministered, and other interesting things or quotes from the featured missionary.  As I was preparing the bulletin for last Sunday, I was about to text my colleague to ask him, “Who is the missionary for tomorrow?”  However, when I first tapped out the message on my cell phone, it came out, “Who is the missionary of tomorrow?”

As we look back in time to see the faithful, hard-working, pioneering missionaries about whom we love to read, I came face-to-face with this question: Who will be the missionary of tomorrow?  Where are the committed Christians that are willing to forego their own plans, goals, and dreams?  Where are the young men and women that will plant churches, start Bible schools, and open orphanages?  Where are the “millennial” Christians that are willing to leave their “safe spaces” to go out into hard places?  Who will come after me and take my place?  I know that I must be training nationals here in my field of service to continue the work, but where are the NEW missionaries that will come and plant new churches?  Wherever you are, “missionaries of tomorrow,” why not surrender today?  Although we needed you here on the mission field with us yesterday, we will be happy to see you “tomorrow.”

I want to praise the Lord for the salvation of a young deaf lady on Saturday afternoon, March 18, that took place in the home of a deaf couple that live a long way from the church. From our house it took more than an hour to get there, and Becky and I were running low on faith since it was raining hard, not really expecting much of a crowd. Well, there were 35 people that showed up, 11 being children. I preached to the adults, and Becky taught the children. The man of the house has a small car, and he made three trips going around to pick up their deaf friends to bring them to the Bible study. It was rainy and cool, but the Son shone brightly today in the heart of Gabriely, as she put her faith in Jesus Christ. There was also another lady that wanted to talk to Becky, but she had to leave. We have scheduled another Bible study for April 15. Thanks for your prayers!

To give your child an electronic device (cell phone, iPad, tablet, etc.) during the church service to keep them still and quiet is a bad idea. Not only does it teach them that what is going on in the church service is unimportant, but it also teaches them that they don’t need to listen to the sermon. Instead of giving them an electronic device to keep them still and quiet, TEACH them to be still and quiet at home so they will know how to act when they go to church.

However, if the parent is checking Facebook during the service, well now, that’s another post for another day…..

Right outside my office window lives a big, beautiful garden spider.  I don’t like spiders, but she is beautifully colored.  She has made a web, and patiently waits for an unsuspecting victim to get stuck in her web.  I have tried to get her to come out of her hiding place by touching her web with a stick, but she knows the difference between a stick and a meal.  It’s amazing to watch, although I do feel sorry for her prey.  A few minutes ago, it appeared that something flew into her web.  The spider quickly came out to inspect the movement on her web.  Whatever it was either escaped, or was very still.  The spider waited, but after a couple of minutes, she retreated to her hiding place.

I have seen a moth get caught in the spider’s web, but the more it struggled to get free, the more it got stuck in the sticky entanglements of the web.  The spider quickly scurried down to the frantic moth, gave it a quick bite, and then wrapped it into a burrito to eat later.  It would have been better for the moth to have remained still, but the natural instincts tell it to fight for freedom, but to no avail.

Christians also get caught in sticky entanglements of sin’s temptation.  They either don’t heed the warnings of the Bible and their pastors, or they think that they won’t get caught because they are too sly.  The “beautiful” enemy has set a trap just for the Christian, waiting for him to fall into the web.  The best thing to do is to stay as far away as possible from the temptations around you.  When you do fall to temptation, it’s best to stop immediately right where you fell, without struggling to resolve the problem all by yourself, and pray.  Struggling alone usually makes the situation worse, but when you confess your sin to God in prayer, He will forgive you and release you from the perilous grasp of destruction.  There are consequences to giving in to temptation, and sometimes the scars remain the rest of your life.  However, there is hope, and you need not think that you are alone.  God is nearby, waiting for you to cry out to Him in prayer.  He won’t always break down the web and kill the spider, but He will hear and help you when you do get stuck in the entanglements of sin’s temptation.  Don’t struggle, but be still and pray, for God is only a prayer away.

In a small city not too far from where you live, there are two well-known churches. Everyone in the community knows about these two churches, because every Sunday both of these churches “feed” those that attend their services.
The pastor of the first church works hard to prepare the food that will be served to those that are in attendance. Some time ago, this pastor invested a great deal of money just to be able to purchase farm land where he could raise his own cattle. The pastor works all week in caring for his herd, and then carefully picks the right one that will be taken and made into steaks to be served in his church on Sunday. It’s hard work, but to him it’s worth the time and effort it takes so that he can serve a hearty meal to all that attend. Some of the church members have gone to this church for many years, and they all rave about the perfectly cut, seasoned, and cooked steaks their pastor prepares week after week. The pastor always prepares enough for a large crowd, so he and some of the church members actually go out and invite other people to come to church to enjoy the succulent steaks. To the dismay of the pastor and the church members, rarely does anyone come to the Sunday feast of delicious steak.
Some people complain that the steak is “too tough” or “too thick,” but the truth is that the complainers just don’t want a thick, juicy, delicious steak. If you could get the complainers to tell you the real reason they don’t go, they would give the excuse that the church building may not be much to look at, there aren’t enough people their age, or that there’s nothing to do while eating their steak.
They prefer to go to the other church.
The pastor of the second church is a real “cool dude.” He’s a “khaki and pullover” kind of guy. He spends much of his time golfing, bowling, hunting, fishing, waxing his car, and riding his Harley. He doesn’t “waste” his time on a cattle farm all week. He knows that Christians today don’t want steak week after week. The 21st century Christian is happy with “Skim Milk and a Movie Sunday,” and so that’s what they get at the second church. Besides, the music is “livlier” than at the first church, and at the second church you can, “come as you are, and leave as you are,” without having to change.
And so, week after week, month after month, and year after year, the only thing that changes at the second church is the movie that is shown while the people drink their skim milk, in a semi-comotose state. Next week, more people will show up at the second church for “Skim Milk and a Movie Sunday” so that they can be entertained.
The difference can be clearly seen as to which church a person attends. The faithful members of the first church are strong and healthy Christians because they have a steady diet of spiritual meat.
Those that attend the second church are like the pictures you see of children starving from malnutrition in war-torn countries. They look fat and bloated, but are actually starving spiritually for lack of proper, spiritual nutrition. When invited to go to the first church, they often get offended, and ask, “What? And miss the show?” They only want to be bottle-fed their lukewarm, instant skim milk, unlike the mature members of the first church that actually have to chew their food.
The people that attend the second church often say that they don’t get anything out of the services in the first church, but that’s only because they either don’t want steak, or are not mature enough to eat steak.
Oh, there are some at the second church that used to attend the first church, but now they say that their “taste” has changed. The real problem is that, during the week, they have a steady diet of junk food, and when Sunday comes around their stomachs are not able to handle strong meat. However, the watered-down skim milk doesn’t bother the junk food that they have ingested all week.
In the end, I guess it all boils down to what you prefer. Do you like to eat steak, and get fed the meat of the Word, or do you prefer “Skim Milk and a Movie”? Don’t settle for milk when you could have steak!

The devil does not want you to pray. The enemy doesn’t like it when he sees the Christian reading his Bible, but he absolutely hates it when he sees the Christian on his knees in prayer. Why? Let me give you one explanation that you may not of thought of before.

When the committed Christian opens his Bible, he is acknowledging that he needs God and wants to hear from God. God can and will speak to the Believer through His Word. God can touch, change, and work in the heart of the one that will take the time to earnestly seek God’s face.

However, when the Christian gets on his knees in prayer, he is still acknowledging that he needs God, but there’s more to it than that. By bending his knees before God, he is also showing that he needs God’s help, and he needs God’s hand, not only for him, but for everyone for whom he prays.

Quite simply, when you read your Bible, God can touch YOUR heart and life and soul. When you pray, God can touch the heart, life, and soul of many people around the world whose names you lift up to God in prayer.

Do you have a prayer list with the names of people for whom you pray, either on paper or on an electronic device? Are you faithfully praying for them?

How many people will God touch today because you stopped to pray?
Will there be many, or will there be any?
Ask God to “reach out and touch someone” today.

In the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855, many people flocked to California in hopes of getting rich. Gold nuggets were found, but besides being not much to look at, they were not useful for anything in their raw state. However, each small nugget was a “precious” metal, and valuable to the one who owned it. The potential of what a gold nugget will become can make the value of that gold nugget increase.

When Jesus Christ saved you by His gace with His precious blood, you were like a gold nugget. God picked you up out of the filth of sin, cleaned you off, and you are of great value to Him. In your new-found faith, you were “raw,” and not very useful, but God saw in you the potential of becoming someone that He could use. You are precious and valuable.

As I read this morning in Second Chronicles chapter two about the various utensils that were made out of gold, silver, and brass for the Temple, a cunning craftsman was called upon to make these things because he was very good at working with precious metals. He knew how to transform a nugget of gold, and other raw materials, into something beautiful and useful.

As a Christian, don’t be satisfied with just being an expensive doorstop or shelf ornament of raw, unworked gold. Allow the Master Craftsman to put you through the fire, melt you and mold you, and you will become a beautiful, valuable, and useful instrument for the Lord’s work.

During the annual Missions Conference, we look forward to “rubbing shoulders” with the missionaries, hearing their testimonies, seeing their slides, and sensing their passion. We know that we will hear great preaching regarding the Great Commission. We expect to be encouraged to pray more, and challenged to give more. And every year, the guest preacher – whoever he may be – always asks the same question: “Could God be calling YOU to surrender YOUR life to missions?”

Today’s culture has the habit of measuring a task by the “level of difficulty” in which it is required to perform that task.  However, our obedience to the Lord should never be based upon “level of difficulty.”

We read of the heroes of the Faith in the Bible, and we learn of the difficult tasks that God performed because of their “level of faith” in Him.  The level of difficulty required to perform the task had nothing to do with their obedience, but their level of faith in God is what prompted them to do what they did.

When God calls you to perform a difficult task, He is looking at your level of faith in Him, not at the level of difficulty required in which to perform that task.

What is God calling you to do that seems terribly hard, or even impossible?  As far as God is concerned, the “level of difficulty” is irrelevant, for with God nothing is impossible!

 

“Jesus is the reason for the season,” is not a true statement.

Now, before you write me off as a heretic, think about it.

Why did Jesus come in the first place?  His purpose in coming to this earth was to provide salvation for mankind.  Only through His sacrificial death on the cross – and His miraculous resurrection – can we be saved.

The Bible says in Isaiah 53:5 and 6 says, “But He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities…and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of US ALL.”  In Luke 2:11, the angel of the LORD said unto the shepherds, “unto YOU is born … a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Emphasis added)

When you get right down to it, you can look at yourself in the mirror and say:

“YOU are the reason for the season.”

“YOU are the reason that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, left Heaven and the praise of the angels.”

“YOU are the reason Jesus Christ came to this earth, was born of a virgin, and was placed in a borrowed manger.”

“YOU are the reason Jesus Christ suffered, died on the cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and gloriously resurrected the third day.”

“YOU are the reason Jesus Christ was humiliated and crucified, to pay YOUR sin-debt.”

Don’t take this the wrong way.  The Christmas season is not about YOU; it’s about Jesus!  Jesus is the reason for the celebration, but YOU are the reason for the season.

This Christmas, let us praise God for giving us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and let us be eternally grateful that His reason for coming was so that WE could be saved.  “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)