It's OK to have a good time . . . just keep it God-honoring!

 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8: 9-10)

After the wall in Jerusalem had been rebuilt, guaranteeing the safety and flourishing of the city, the people gathered together in order to celebrate what they had accomplished by God’s power. On that day, Ezra the scribe stood on a tall platform so that he might read the Jewish law to all who had gathered. As he read, learned Levites helped the people understand the meaning of the text.  When the people heard the law and grasped its meaning, they were struck to the heart and began to weep. But then their leaders did a most surprising thing. They urged the people to stop crying and start partying!  

Today is Mardi Gras. Many of us associate Mardi Gras with lavish and lascivious celebrations in places such as New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Actually, Scripture encourages us to set aside special times for celebration, even doing that which is at the core of Mardi Gras. No . . . I’m not saying that there is any biblical warrant for the excesses of many Mardi Gras festivals, which look rather like what happened in Exodus 32 when the Israelites worshiped the golden calf. But the phrase Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday.” The name is derived from the classic Christian practice of eating fatty food on the Tuesday before Lent, in preparation for the Lenten fast from rich, sweet cuisine. (Some people actually refer to Mardi Gras as Pancake Tuesday because of their tradition of eating pancakes on the day before Lent.)

It's ok to have a good time . . .just keep it God-honoring! In fact, the Bible reveals that God created the good things in this life to be enjoyed . . . within limits. There is a time to eat the fat in celebration even as there is a time to fast in repentance, and plenty of times in between.

The Jews had many celebrations . . .the one written of in Nehemiah was leading up the Feast of Booths. Jesus in deed took part in such celebrations! These events would sometimes last weeks. . . . family, friends, and food and drinks. (remember the wedding feast!) Even some of their feasts got out of hand! 

So we as CHRIST-followers have much to celebrate, especially in such challenging times. So take time to celebrate the things of God. Celebrate all He has done and is doing . . . salvation, family, friends, memories, and all that is to come. Then tomorrow, when the Lenten Season begins, take time to fast, repent, and examine our lives seriously as we ponder the work of Jesus upon the cross! 

Wise Solomon would write about  "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance . . ." (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

Lord, help us to know when it’s time to celebrate, and when it’s time to be solemn. Teach us how to enjoy good times with You and Your people. Keep us from excess that dishonors you and misuses Your good gifts.

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

Let your gifts shine!

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.(Psalm 89:14)

 

Many of us are now familiar with this expression of tremendous talent. (https://youtu.be/Jp9pyMqnBzk) Ms. Amanda Gorman wowed us all on Inauguration day 2021! It reminded me of another young poet from the past . . .Phillis Wheatley!

“Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan
land, taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Savior too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.”
― Phillis Wheatley, Poems of Phillis Wheatley

She (Ms. Wheatley) was born in Gambia, West Africa, stolen from her parents at age seven enslaved, and brought to America. Boston tailor John Wheatley purchased her as a personal servant for his wife, Susannah. Phillis displayed a ready intelligence, learned English quickly, and soon began reading and writing poetry.The Wheatleys were members of the famed Old South Meeting House in Boston, where Phillis attended church and was baptized at age 18. She achieved some renown with the publication, in England, of her Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral (1773). Though she had been examined by "18 of the most respectable characters in Boston" (to prove that she, a black women, really wrote the poems), no American publisher would publish her. Only with the help of evangelical philanthropist Selina, Countess of Huntington, did her poems come to the public's attention. As a result of her obvious gifts, her owners eventually gave her freedom.

Her poetry reflects the neoclassical style of the day but also reveals the circumstances of her life, especially her race and her faith. Perhaps her most famous poem was "On Being Brought from Africa to America," quoted above. Later she won the notice of General George Washington with a poem she dedicated to him. She also memorialized the work of evangelist George Whitefield, a pioneer in preaching to blacks. (https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-62/black-christianity-before-civil-war-gallery--fruit-of.html)

What is your gift? What is holding you back? Let your gifts shine despite the circumstances!

An ongoing story of HIStory being lived out. . . yet TODAY!

An ongoing story of HIStory being lived out. . . . yet today!

My first mission trip as a believer was to serve with Voice of Calvary in Mendenhall, MS, founded by John Perkins in 1962. I must say, that trip lit a fuse under me that still burns brightly and hot today! 

You can read his story here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/final-charge-john-m-perkins/ . 

This is the verse he loves by: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, because it did not know Him. (1 John 3:1)

Here is his challenge to the younger generation today . . .and I must agree!

“Our job with them is to teach them not just to do life with each other, but to have the love of Christ,” he said. “Let’s get past working together and partying together and playing on athletic teams together, and let’s confront sin together. Let’s grow in faith together.”

For this generation, John Perkins’s message of forgiveness is just as crucial as it’s ever been.

It’s a gospel that’s leading Perkins, after nearly nine decades of working on civil rights and equal education and access to health care, to spend his last years on biblical reconciliation.

“The Bible says God made all people from one blood,” Perkins wrote in One Blood. “This tells me that he intended that humankind would be a people that were spiritually connected despite their cosmetic variations.”

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.(John 17:20-21)

Who are we leading today and where are we leading them?

“I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” (Harriet Tubman) These words by Mrs. Tubman were based upon the following psalm:

20 

I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times. (Psalm 119:19-20) 

To this day Harriet Tubman is still remembered as “the Moses of her people” for good reason. From 1849 to 1860, in seventeen dangerous missions to the Confederate South, she helped more than three hundred slaves escape to freedom in the North.

Harriet’s selflessness and disregard for personal safety, along with her deep faith in God, enabled her to help family members and many others to escape the chains of slavery. She continues to inspire countless Americans more than a century after her death.

Who are we leading today and where are we leading them? Many need to freed from the bondage of sin. Many are chained to habits that have them trapped. As Mrs. Tubman heard from God, she moved in obedience, leading hundreds to freedom. 

As we keep our ears focused upon His Word, I pray it will open our eyes to see where He is leading us and to whom. We could use a Moses today! 

Will we obey His voice as Harriet Tubman once did?

As it is said: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. (Hebrews 3:15 HCSB)

it is time for the CHRISTian to speak up and act today!

 As Frederick Douglass looked out on the boisterous crowd that had gathered to celebrate America’s independence, he thought of Psalm 137.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a foreign land? (v. 1–4)

The Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society had invited Douglass to deliver the keynote address for their Fourth of July celebrations in 1852. Fourteen summers earlier, Douglass had escaped from slavery. Now, at only 34, he was America’s most famous abolitionist.

Yet there’s a side of Douglass that’s not often remembered or celebrated: his radical Christian faith. Douglass was a kind of prophet crying in the wilderness of Christian slaveholding America. It’s no coincidence that in the most famous speech of his life—“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”—Douglass quoted the prophet Isaiah at length. He aspired to speak to America as biblical prophets once spoke to their people: with words of warning and rebuke, grace and hope.

In honor of one of my wife's forefathers, I say it is time for the CHRISTian to speak up and act today!

There is more to life than championships and talent!

But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

During a 2015 interview with The New York Times’ Mark Leibovich, Tom Brady explained he was open to different belief systems. “But I think we’re into everything. . . . I don’t know what I believe. I think there’s a belief system, I’m just not sure what it is.” 

Many people will argue that Mr. Brady is the G.O.A.T. , especially after winning Super Bowl LV (his seventh) and another M.V.P. Comparing trophies and titles, he probably is! At 43 years old, he is indeed special! However, there is more to life than championships and talent!

A talent is something that you are instinctually born with that gives you unique skills and abilities. Talent is set apart from knowledge in that it is not a learned behavior, although it can be strengthened and practiced. The Bible tells us that we are all born with distinct talents and gifts that set us apart from each other. When you discover the talents that God has given you and you use them to glorify Him, you will experience a full life!

Though Mr. Brady has achieved so much, there is always a desire for more. He seems to never be satisfied. There has to be one more . . . When one is seeking worldly acclaim, there is always going to be one better, another accomplishment to achieve. Nothing is ever enough! Yet the one who is working and living to bring glory to God can find inner peace in knowing they are pleasing God, if not man!

The world demands more . . .God provides peace and contentment! 

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. (1 Timothy 6:6-7)

Fear anything? Where is YOUR Faith?

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” (Luke 8:22-25)

Fear anything? Where is YOUR Faith?

When asked by the Baltimore Ravens News if he was afraid of anything on the field, Jackson responded by shaking his head no. But surely something must scare him like heights, snakes, roller coasters or 300-pound defensive linemen?

"I fear God," he told the publication, adding that he prays before every game. (CBN News: 12/30/19) “I give Him all His praise, the glory, the honor ... When you feel like you’re bigger than the Lord, that’s when all that success die. It goes away.” Ravens QB Lamar Jackson @Lj_era8 talks about how God keeps him humble. (12/18/19)

As we approach the "big game", I can appreciate the many top athletes who not only know Christ, but are not afraid to say it and live it out in their daily lives. As a Ravens fan, I love the fact that many, from the coach on down, express their faith publicly, not for show but as a genuine lifestyle. Many athletes do in fact!

In a day when many are in fear in real life, not because of a 300-pound man chasing them or a 100 mph fastball bearing down on them, but real life fears such as Covid-19, social injustices, and job securities, we need the example of believers living out loud for Jesus Christ!

Do you fear anything today? Where is YOUR faith? In WHOM is your faith?

Blessed Assurance . . . or You Need to KNOW this!

 

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. . . . . Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:1-2, 38-39)

Ahhh . . .blessed assurance . . . or in other words . . . you need to know this! In a world of uncertainty, clamor, uprising, deceit, and doubt, there are the promises of God! When one accepts the call of the Spirit upon his life, it begins and eternal relationship with Almighty God through Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. When Paul writes nothing can separate us from the love of God, that is exactly what he means! John writes that neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28)

If you need something or someone to hold on to today, try Jesus! If you know Him and are doubting, be reassured that He knows the struggles and is right there for you to reach out and grab ahold. At times we lose focus as Peter once did, (Matthew 14:31) yet Jesus will reach deep down and pull us out of doubt, mistrust, depression, and even sin!

Who needs some re-assurance today? I know I do at times!

Let not your heart be troubled . . . HOPE is in Jesus!

 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:1-6)

I realize there is quite a bit of frustration in our lives today. There are a lot of unanswered questions. How long will this pandemic last? When will the vaccine be available? Will it work? When will churches, schools, businesses and jobs return to normal? When will be able to see someone's entire face in public again? When will it be safe to shake hands, embrace, and talk face to face without a mask or gloves? Will it ever be normal again?

The answers lie with Jesus. The only hope lies in Jesus! I have come to that conclusion the past year. . . . hope for today and hope for the future! This is a confident hope for sure. In a time when many things are unsure, Jesus' words bring hope! When no one else can promise anything for sure, Jesus can be trusted! He is the ONLY way to a secure future!

Where is your hope?

 

Endure temptation . . .resist desires that lead to death!

 

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:12-15)

Yes, the world is full of temptations that seem harmless at the time, yet when accepted and full blown can lead to DEATH . . .spiritual and physical DEATH!  Innocent offers to join in on conversations, hang out with a group for just a night, try this or that just once, skip daily quiet time with the Lord, become comfortable with virtual church fellowship . . . BEWARE! 

In our culture today, dealing with so many ups and downs within families, jobs and society in general, it is easy to lose track, lose focus, give in or give up! DO NOT give up but. . . ENDURE! 

Christ did nor give up on us. He endured all the suffering leading up to and including the cross. His followers too endured . . .many to their death as well. Throughout our HIStory we have the examples of so many who endured suffering to leave a lasting legacy. There is such a great promise to those that stay in the fight . . . greater than anything this world offers. ENDURE my friend!

Let God know your struggles . . .what is it dragging you away today?

Purify me . . . clean me . . . wash me!

 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7)

David, the one after God's own heart (Acts 13:22, 1 Samuel 13:14) realized his sin after Nathan called him out. As was David's character, he repented, pleading for his life before God, knowing only God could cleanse his heart and soul.

Purify me . . . clean me . . . wash me! Should we all not pray this prayer daily? What if we this kind of conscience, this kind of heart before Almighty God?

Like new fallen snow upon a meadow, Jesus has purified us with His blood. All sin has ben washed away. His sacrifice has purified our hearts and souls. Imagine for a moment . . .whiter than even snow! 

The stench . . . the dirt . . . the grime . . . the mud . . . the ugliness of sin freshly covered and cleansed by Jesus. AHHHH . . . the fresh, clean, purified scent of salvation in Christ Jesus. 

Can you feel it? What then is our response?