how to overcome evil

I finished writing the notes for the message Sunday and I wanted to give you a sneak peak into the sermon.  I want you to feel empowered and not overwhelmed with what is going on in the world today.  So, I will be sharing how to push back the darkness.  We are not to just sit around and do nothing about the evil in the world, we are to overcome it.  The Bible says Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. 

1 John 3:8 (NLT)   But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil.

As Christians and followers of Christ, that is our mission as well.  You might ask how we do that.  The Bible gives us a very practical way.

Romans 12:21 (NIV)   Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Every time you and I choose to do good, we are driving out evil and darkness around us. 

I know now in our nation it seems to be somewhat dark, but I want you to be encouraged because the darker the world gets the brighter our light for Christ becomes. 

The world needs your faith to be seen and displayed now more than ever before.  So, don’t allow yourself to feel pressured into keeping quiet about evil or standing up for injustice.  Draw a line in the sand and stand with God for good.

Matthew 5:16 (NLT)   In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

what is in your heart to do?

I see our world and our country in a state of fear.  Here in America we try to keep creating laws that will keep bad things from happening to anyone.  That is a good intension, but it ends up paralyzing everyone.  That philosophy of life binds everyone because we have to make sure we are not breaking a law when we want to do good for people.  It is crazy, many people want to do good, but are afraid to do something because they may break a law or get sued by the person they are trying to help.

The only law that works is God’s moral law.  God not only wrote them in His Word, but He writes them on our hearts.  It is called a God given conscience. 

The old saying, “follow your heart” is a good philosophy of life if your heart is set on God.  When your heart is set on God and His ways you can trust Him to lead you in the path of right things and not be filled with worry and fear of doing the wrong things.

Let me ask you, “What is in your heart that you feel you want to do, but fear has kept you from doing it?”  I would strongly encourage you to do a heart check by asking God if what is in your heart will please Him and not violate His Word.

If what is in your heart is in line with God’s Word and brings attention to God, I say go for it in spite of your fear.  By the way, that is called courage; when you act in spite of your fear.  Listen to what God told Joshua.

Joshua 1:7-9 (NIV)   Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Remember

Yesterday I had the privilege of going down to Heritage Park in Henry County for a memorial service to remember our soldiers who have given their life for our freedom.

I had not planned on being there, but after the service Sunday something inside of me was moved to want to take a moment with those who have given their all for our country.  I also wanted to, in some strange way, be around the loved ones of those who had suffered the pain of losing a family member or close friend to war.  I just wanted to be there to comfort them and support them.

I didn’t know who would be there at the memorial or what a memorial service would look like because I have never been to one.  When I walked up to the memorial site, I was pleasantly surprised to see 50% of the people were from SCC.  As I moved around I could see the determination on each ones face to honor those who had given their lives.

You know, I don’t want the sacrifice of our soldier’s blood to be wasted.  They died that we could live in this country and be free to say the name of Jesus and share the name of Jesus.  So today, I guess I would say I am thankful to Jesus for dying that I can call him my savior and I am thankful to the soldiers who were wounded and died for my country that I may be free to publicly share the name of Jesus with others.

Remember!!!

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)   We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

when life gives you lemons…

As I write this I am on my way home at last.  I didn’t have my prayer answered yesterday to come home.  If you don’t understand that sentence just read my last post.  After being politely let down by a customer service agent, I thought, “What can we do constructive for the next twenty four hours while stuck in AZ?” 

So, I rented a car and asked, “How far to the Grand Canyon?” and they said, “Four hours and you will never make it there and back if you have to catch a plane at 3:20 tomorrow.”

After I rented the car I looked at Ricky and Chesnee and said, “Have you all ever seen the Grand Canyon?”  They said, “No”, and I said, “You are about to.”  Their faces were blank as if they did not want to hurt my feelings.  I could tell they would be content to stay close and go enjoy dinner some were new.  “NOT!”  I said, “I can’t let you be this close to one of the Seven Wonders of the World and not see it.”

So, to make along story short we got to a town that was 75 miles away and got us some cheap rooms and got up at 5am and left for the canyon.  It rained like you would not believe so I prayed again and asked God to please let it be nice at the canyon so Ricky and Chesnee could see it in all of it’s splendor.  We arrived at the canyon at 7am and with 15 miles before we got there the rain stopped and the skies got bright.  We walked over and looked and it was beautiful.  We only had one hour tops we could stay and get back without missing our plane.  After they looked at one of God’s greatest natural creations for about 20 minutes, a fog rolled in.  I just think God held the clouds back at my request.  I just believe he does things like that for all of us that we just take as coincidence.  The difference is prayer goes up first and something different happened.

We made our flight in plenty of time and had some great conversation in that 9 hour car ride.  I got to see more of their heart for God and SCC from the words that were shared.  God knows best.  Why not take your disappointment as maybe a redirection and take a risk at something new?

Romans 8:28 (NIV)   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

when delayed….pray

 Have you ever had one of those days that nothing turned out the way you had it planned?  Well, today is one of those days for me.  We left our hotel this morning at 6:30 so we could be at the airport in plenty of time.  The truth is I have a three day window when it comes to being away from home.  Traveling is not something I enjoy for business, it is only enjoyable when Rhonda or the kids are with me on vacation.  Days like today are why. 

 So let me tell you what has happened.  We got to the airport and through security at about 7:50am, which was very early.  We ate at McDonalds and went to our Gate for departure and saw that our 9:45 flight to Phoenix AZ, had been delayed.  We thought that will make us miss our connection to Atlanta, but no big deal, Atlanta is one of busiest airports in the world we will get on a later flight out of Phoenix.   WRONG!!!  So as I write this entry from thirty thousand feet the present plan is that we spend the night in Phoenix and if everything goes good we will flight out tomorrow at 3:45pm and be at Atlanta at 9:50pm.

 I am praying now that something changes before we land in Phoenix.  That may sound like it is silly to you to ask God for something like that, I mean I don’t have an emergency or anything.  I believe God is concerned about the little things in our lives and wants to help us if we will only ask him.  It takes faith no matter how big the problem is and God wants us to grow in our faith so why not ask God for the little things in your life every day and watch what will happen.

I will let you know how my trip turns out.  If God does the miracle I will be at home tonight with my beautiful wife and children and if he doesn’t, I will be stuck another night with Pastor Ricky.  After writing that, my prayer just became more intense.  PLEASE GOD, PLEASE GOD let me get home tonight.

 Ask God for the little things and you will have the confidence in him to ask for the big things when they come.

 James 4:2 (NIV)   You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

God’s part….our part

We are finishing up with our conference with Rick Warren and it has been fabulous.  I feel like I have been drinking from a fire hydrant of information.  One thing Rick reminded us of is that our spiritual growth has two parts, God’s part and our part.  He shared this verse and made the following comment that I totally agree with.

Philip. 2:12-13 (NIV)   …continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

God works in you through changing your thoughts and challenging your will on the inside as you give your life to him.  At salvation God does a great work in us, but it takes years for us to work it out in our life.  The more we seek God’s will for our life he releases his power that changes us. 

If you are saved, you have all the power you need for whatever you are facing.  That’s God’s part. Your part is to learn to trust God as you live out your life for His credit.

Go today walking in God confidence because he is in you and is for you.  Trust him and take the step toward him you have been procrastinating on.

Opportunities Missed

You may be getting this a little later because I am in California at a conference with Rick Warren which is going wonderfully.  It is 7:30pm here which means it 10:30pm on my body clock.  I am functioning on very little sleep. I am rooming with our student pastor Ricky and he can snore with the best of them.  I also had an air vent blowing right in my face so I finally gave up the fight at 4:30am California time and went to the exercise room.

I told you yesterday I was on a plane writing my blog and reading a book.  I was determined I was going to finish a book I started a month ago.  I could tell a young man beside me was interested in talking.  He told me he was on his way to Fiji which is half way around the world because he had joined the Peace Corp.  I didn’t really know there was a place called Fiji, I just thought that was a great name for a company that produces bottled water.

Well I had a short conversation and was determined to do work on the four hour plane ride. So I just kept my nose in the book and wrote my blog and a few important emails.  About 10 minutes before the plane lands, you know when they tell you to sit up in an upright position and prepare for landing. The young man leans over and says, “Do you watch the news?” I said, “Not today, but I do.”  He said, “Did you hear about the man drowning in a rip tide?”  He mentioned the city and I didn’t pay much attention because I thought he was just making small talk.  I said, “No I didn’t hear about that” and he said, “That was one of my best friends and I got the call last night and I am leaving without going to his funeral or anything.”  He said, “I just need to get that off my chest.”  Of course you could have knocked me over with a feather.  I felt like the most selfish person in the world because my goal of finishing that stupid book was more important than being sensitive to a hurting person.  God forgive me.

With God’s help I don’t want to ever let that happen again.

Hebrews 13:2 (Living)   Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Thoughts from 32,000 feet

As I type this entry, I am on an airplane flying over Lubbock, Texas.   The screen says we’re at an altitude of 32,009 feet and traveling at 540 miles per hour.  Last night I taught our membership class and there was a lady that shared with me that she had took the challenge to drink more water as a result of a message I shared in January.  She shared with me and those standing around that she had a habit of drinking 8 to 10 20 0unce diet cokes a day and had replaced that habit with drinking an 8 ounce bottle of water at the top of every hour.  She said she drinks between 120 to 150 ounces a day.  The result of all this water drinking is that her arthritis is much better.  She could hardly move her fingers without discomfort and now she can move her fingers freely without pain.  This is making the case for consistency, which it always pays off.

 How are you doing with those goals that you set at the beginning of the year?  Have they faded into the sunset and are you right back to the place you were before you set them? Have you been consistent with the little changes?  Remember, it is the little changes that you make over time that make the biggest difference.

 Dave Ramsey shared in Financial Peace University a lesson that he learned from a billionaire.  The billionaire got it from a very famous book called, “The Hare and the Tortoise.”  The lesson is of course…… the tortoise always wins.  I don’t want to ever forget that in every area of my life. 

 I remember reading one of John Maxwell’s books and in it he did a great job describing how people look at different situations and make decisions.  He uses the illustration of people on a sail boat and the wind.  He says some people complain about the wind, some people hope the wind will change direction, but people who really want to change quit talking about the wind and adjust the sail.

I challenge you to ask God to help you to adjust the sail of your life.

Galatians 6:9 (NIV)   Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

It’s not in vain

There is a verse in the Bible that I memorized a long time ago.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (TEV)   So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.

The last part of that verse has helped me keep going as a Christian for many years, “know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.”  As a young follower of Christ I embraced that and believed that with all my heart.  Little did I know that God’s plan for my life was much bigger than I could ever imagine.  Sometimes it feels like the things that you do seem useless as a Christian. 

I have spent hours, weeks, and sometimes even years with people sharing with them God’s love and only to watch them, just out of the blue, turn and walk away.  It just makes me say, “What are you thinking?”  I mean, these people’s lives were better than they had ever been once they made the decision to follow God.  Yet, as they turned back to their old ways their life got twice as bad as it was before following Christ.

It is that uselessness that drives me nuts because I took it personal every time.  But, I realized that most of those people just had a relationship with me and not God.  Nevertheless, God’s promise is that the good that I did to help those people is not useless or in vain.

That is what keeps me serving, is to know that I am to do what I do for God and him only.  I can’t control what other people do with what I offer.  It is just my responsibility to keep offering hope and help to anyone who will receive it through God’s word.

I think getting past those discouragements has helped me learn that God is God and I am not.  I am his servant and I know that he has a greater plan than what I can see. So, I will serve him passionately and be willing to be taken advantage of, talked about, and misunderstood because I know that my work for him is not in vain. 

How about you?

Life saver

Yesterday I talked with two people, one had just come through deep depression and the other person is just coming out of a failing career and starting over.  In both situations, they both had experienced God in great ways.  They found God to be real in the most difficult situations.  I can tell you I have been there myself and I will say what I have said many time before, “You don’t know God’s all you need until God’s all you got.”  It seems to me that most people find the reality of God on the bottom.  I guess the life lesson for all of us is start looking for God before you get to the bottom. 

You know, when you go out in a boat you have to have by law a life preserver on board for every person in the boat just in case the boat sinks.  Any time you are doing any kind of water events, you have to have on a live preserver because if you fall in the middle of a lake, you can’t swim but so far before you get tired and give up and drown.  After having the conversation with those two people, it just reminded me again that God is our real life preserver.  Trying to live life with out God is like trying to swim the ocean with out a live preserver. It is too overwhelming and you give up and drown. 

So if you find yourself drowning in doubt, difficulty, pain, a broken heart, financial brokenness,  embrace your relationship with God through prayer and reading his word. By doing so, you will let go of the things that are dragging you under.

 Proverbs 3:5-6 (NCV)   Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don’t depend on your own understanding. Remember the Lord in all you do, and he will give you success.