The Fear Of Giants

I heard a quote from the writings of the Chinese Martyr, Watchman Nee yesterday…He stated that: “Giants will never destroy you…the fear of giants is what will destroy you!”

When I heard that quote I immediately felt like it was written for me alone. Sometimes I feel afraid to even face the problems in life and they end up destroying me anyways. Don’t be like the Israelites in the desert when they got to the promised land…they were afraid of the huge giants that occupied the land. You know the rest of the story after that.

Life Is Meaningless! Or Is It?

For My 100th post here on my blog I begin a series from the book of Ecclesiastes. I decided to do this because last night during my normal Bible reading time, I was compelled to read through the whole book at one time! Ecclesiastes was the next book in my reading straight through the scriptures and even though I have read it before, studied it in classes, etc. it never has opened my eyes more than it did last night! As we notice the decline of Christianity in our society, evil overtaking our politics and schools, families being destroyed by sinful desires, and the economy declining due to bad decisions…the reasons why are in this book!

Ecclesiastes was written by “The Teacher” who is general considered to be Solomon, the son of David. When you look at his life, his decisions, his sins, you can know he has authority on speaking on making wise decisions and placing the priority of earthly materials in life. Here are a few verses that popped out at me and bit me like a snake last night.

Ecc. 1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. I can relate to this being in the ministry. It seems it is best not to know everything about everything! The more you know, the more responsibility you have to deal with issues…”the more grief” as Solomon said.

Ecc. 2:24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too I see is from the hand of God. I have often heard about people who once they retired from working after 50+ years have gone into depression and have died! They lost the one thing that kept them going and “satisfied” The key to having satisfaction after retirement is to not stop working for the Lord!

Wisdom From A Cracker Jacks Box

I always seem to find significance in the small things in life. I enjoyed a snack of Cracker Jacks yesterday, it had been a while and someone left some in the Fellowship Hall here at church so I grabbed them. Anyways…It was the prize inside that struck my interest. When I was a kid, the prize was actually a toy of some sort or maybe even a temporary tattoo, but all I got was a piece of paper with a picture on it that you are supposed to tape on your pencil as a “topper”

being rather irritated (I mean, who uses pencils anymore?) I was going to toss it all when I noticed some writing on the back of the prize wrapper about pencils. It says:

“Fun Fact” – A typical pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a continuous line for 35 miles! Having that information to me was more valuable than the pencil topper itself. I have a tendency to ponder on the meaning of ordinary things (see the oyster cracker post) so I came up with a spiritual comparisons on the Christian life and pencils.

1. I rarely use pencils…Christians rarely use God, the Bible, Prayer, Faith, etc.

2. Pencils need to be sharpened to work properly…Spiritual disciplines sharpen our lives to

help us fight the battle as is mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-20.

3. A good feature about pencils is that you can erase mistakes…God erases our sins when we

repent and ask forgiveness, bringing us back into right fellowship with Him.

Just as the fact that pencil can draw a line about 35 miles shows…it has to continually be pressed down and moving, keeping it s sharpness, and not quit working. Paul addressed this idea of perseverance in 1 Corinthian 9: 19-27 by using a race illustration. A runner must keep himself in training for the race, run with all the intention of winning the prize, and to win means he must finish. Are you quitting your race? Is your spiritual life dull and need sharpening? Almost all pencils get thrown away before their usefulness is over. We as Christians should not quit running this race in life, “keep on keeping on” as they say!

God and Politics

Now that I am back from Orlando I have much to share with you readers in the next few days about The Florida Renewal Project Conference I attended. Let me start off by saying that this was an eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience for me as the Christian morality of this country in the realms of politics has been steeply decreasing. It seems that most Christians feel that they should leave politics out of the church and their lives. Wrong! It is our God-given duty to elect the right leaders for our government. To not care (not vote) in my opinion is an absolute sin in God’s eyes! We must vote based on our Christian values, not on a party preference or getting one candidate in over another one.

Also, the Florida Marriage Amendment is falling short of petitions due to and audit (I feel it was corrupted by the ACLU) and If you have not signed it, are registered to vote in Florida, and feel that marriage is between one man and one woman, then click here…sign the form and mail it now. It must be in by Tuesday the 29th in Orlando. Get as many as you can and sign it now!

Looking forward to sharing with you some thoughts from the speakers like David Barton, Newt Gingrich, Tim Lahaye, John Hagee, Bob Mcewen, Mike Huckabee, and others. Do not forget to vote on Tuesday!

Rediscovering God in America Tour

I am looking forward to Monday and Tuesday the 21st-22nd as I am going to be in Orlando, Fl. with about 600 other pastors meeting with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich about the current status of America and its losing faith of God. There will be other guest politicians and speakers like Tim Lahaye, Charles Stanley, and David Burton there as well. They are paying for our hotel and meals too which makes it more enjoyable to me also! I look forward to sharing with all of you about this time upon my return.

This Sunday morning’s worship service was centered around the theme of Holiness. The music emphasized the holiness and purity in God and the message by pastor Ron dealt with being holy and pure because God is Holy. I’m convinced that the lack of understanding on what being holy is has been causing the church in whole to decline in morals, relevance, status among the community, and even attendance.

Today Jessica and I will be bringing home a new addition to the family! Penny, a beagle-mix was rescued from an abusive home and we are going to be its new LOVING family. Look for pictures of her shortly. Have a great week everyone!