September 2008 

As the seasons are changing and fall is in the air, I find myself looking at life. How we change from year to year. As I leave Lancaster to follow God into a new arena of life, I wanted to let all of you know I will miss you. My prayer is that God will be with each and every one of you until we meet again.

 “I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delights. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight.

 When we set our eyes on Jesus and keep looking to Him, it no longer matters if we miss watching a few programs on television or reading fiction.  Jesus truly becomes our best friend.  We want to spend the day with Him.  We long to hear His voice.  We seek Him out only to discover He was right there.

Let’s make 2007, the year that we do all things for the glory of the Lord.

Take time this month to think about the things you would like to ask Jesus. 
But, more importantly, think about all the things you have to thank Him for.

We need to get back to the plain truth of the Word. God is the Creator. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus died and rose again. The Ten Commandments are vital to a Christian society. Homosexuality is a sin. Sex outside the bounds of marriage is a sin. Lying is a sin.

There are hundreds more truths found in God’s Holy Bible. Have you studied it to find the truth or are you still following some human’s master plan? God’s master plan ends with those who are willing to let Him direct their lives as they are moving to the New Jerusalem in Heaven. Those who continue to follow their own master plan will be destroyed by God when the New Jerusalem descends to this earth. 

Whose plan are you following?

 What about hell? Would a loving God torture people in the fires of hell for hundreds or thousands of years, again I say NO! The Bible teaches that God is a God of mercy.

Would it be fair for Cain who killed his brother to suffer for thousands of years and yet Hitler who killed thousands and thousands has not even been burning for a hundred years. The Bible gives a clear answer in Jude verse 7 “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha  and the cites about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Since I cannot go watch these cities burn, I must conclude that hell fire is not yet burning.

I would like to challenge you to search a concordance to study death, heaven and hell. See what you learn, you may be surprised. If you would like to know more about these or any other Bible topics, please contact us

The Bible tells us that sin is the transgression of the law and that if there was no law there would be no sin. To me it is clear that God’s law is very important to God, because Jesus came to pay the penalty of transgression, death. If you look at the story of Cain and Able you can see that the law was known by them. If there was no law at the time that Cain killed his brother, then the punishment given by God is unfair. Adam and his family knew the law of God and accepted the penalty that God placed on Cain. The Sabbath was a part of this law and was kept from creation. It was so important to God that He used the giving of the manna in the wilderness to teach the people how to keep His Holy Sabbath, since they were forced to ignore it during their slavery.

I believe that Jesus is weeping over the choice of people that claim to love Him; the choice to only keep nine of His Ten Commandments.  He told us in scripture “If you love ME, keep my commandments.” The Ten Commandments were written by the very finger of God. He wrote them on stone so that man would know that they were not to be changed. You cannot erase a message that is put in stone, and you cannot nail stone to a cross. The moral law of God was active at creation and it will be active throughout eternity. Isaiah 66:22-23 says “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Jesus expects us to keep the Sabbath here on earth as a pattern of the behavior we will have in heaven. Jesus told us what to do to honor His death when He said to keep the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him. Neither Jesus nor His followers changed the day of worship to Sunday. Sunday is just another work day it is not the Lord’s Day, Jesus said that He was Lord even of the Sabbath Day.

The church that I belong to sees that the Sabbath is a way of showing Jesus how much we love Him and that we want to obey all that He taught and commanded. If you are interested in finding a deeper relationship with Jesus and learning more about His Holy Sabbath, please contact us. We would be happy to answer any questions you have.

I am praying that each person who reads this message will study what the Bible has to say about obedience to God’s Holy Law. Remember that Jesus said He did not come to change it.

When I was a teenager, still in high school, I had my first opportunity to teach. I was assigned the 4 and 5 year old class at VacationBibleSchool. Every day we had a snack for the children. I remember that one little boy named Matthew really loved BibleSchool. On the first day of my first class I said a prayer thanking God for the snack. While I was passing out the snack I noticed that Matthew was crying. I asked him what was wrong, and he said “God did not say you’re welcome.” For a moment I did not know what to say, and then I looked Matthew in the eyes and said “the Bible says that God speaks in a still small voice, I think we were making to much noise to hear Him.”

Have you ever wondered if God hears you and why He does not answer? Planet earth is a very noisy place, and sometimes we are so busy listening to the noise around us that we miss the still small voice of God. It has been close to thirty years since I taught that class, but I still remember the lesson I learned about listening for the still small voice of God.

This month remember how much God loves you and longs for you to hear His voice. Take time to turn off all the noise around you and listen for God’s still small voice. If you are quiet long enough, perhaps you will hear God speaking to you.

Many years ago I saw a cartoon in a Christian publication; it showed a shepherd leaning against a tree asleep with his hat over his face. Standing to one side of the picture were two sheep, one looked at the other and said “Don’t tell old straw hat over there, but the Lord is my Shepherd.” When a new year begins we start thinking of all the things we can do to change our lives. We make bargains with ourselves about losing weight, exercising or some other thing that we see wrong with ourselves. 

We need to start thinking like the sheep in the cartoon. If we put the Lord first in our lives, all the other things that we were worried about will take care of themselves. For the year 2006, put God first. If you need to make a resolution, make one that will improve your relationship with God. Resolve to respond in kindness and never in anger all year. Resolve to read and study your Bible every day. Resolve to be a joyful Christian so that people will ask where your joy comes from and you can tell them about Jesus. Resolve to pray for the people you meet. Resolve to get involved in your local church.

There are hundreds of other things you could resolve, so I guess it’s all up to you. Do you want to get closer to Jesus? 

For example, the shepherds were out with their flocks at night. During the night it was common practice for shepherds to bring several flocks of sheep together and drive them into a ravine or pen. Then the shepherds would build a fire and sit together watching the sheep rest and keeping them safe. Think about what they may have been talking about. (Remember that Caesar Augustus had already sent out his tax decree.) I’m sure one topic around the fire was complaining about the new tax (wouldn’t you). I’m sure that at least one shepherd would have expressed a longing for the Messiah to come and deliver them from all the taxes and other Roman ideas.

Suddenly an angel appeared, lighting up the whole sky, telling the shepherds that the Messiah was born and that they could find Him wrapped in strips of cloth in a stable in Bethlehem. The shepherds left their flocks to seek the Savior. Don’t let this statement pass by you. They left their flocks: their livelihood, their sheep who could not take care of themselves. They left everything to seek the Savior. This is what Christmas is all about.

This year when you celebrate the memorial of the Messiah’s birth, leave behind all the turmoil and pressure of this world and really seek the Savior this Christmas.

The ninety second Psalm begins with the statement, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” In November, especially on Thanksgiving Day, we pause to give thanks to the Lord for the things we have. The rest of the year we human beings struggle with the concept of giving thanks. We even expect God to give us certain things like food, shelter, and clothing. When something happens and these things are missing from our lives we blame God, even though we did not thank Him for providing what we had. As a matter of fact in our human weakness we fail to even notice the basic things God provides. We all take our homes, food, fresh water, clothes, and even our families for granted. When we see a disaster like hurricane Katrina, we feel sorry for those living in that area and we pray for them, but we still take these basic needs for granted. The instant they are gone we cry out to God to help us get back the things we were not even thankful we had.

A book I have read many times really helped me understand what being thankful is all about. Betsy Ten Boom was a woman who lived during Hitler’s time of terror. She and her family hid Jews in their home and helped them escape from Hitler’s army. When Betsy and her sister Corrie ended up in a prison camp, Betsy told Corrie that they needed to pray and give thanks. Betsy began to pray a beautiful prayer thanking God for the Bible they were able to smuggle into the camp, the fact that they were together, and then she thanked God for the fleas and lice that were in the back room where they had been assigned to sleep. Amazed Corrie told Betsy that she couldn’t do that. Betsy reminded her to give thanks in all things meant all things. Later they found out that the bugs kept the prison guards out of the backroom, and they were able to share the story of Jesus with hundreds of women in that prison camp using their smuggled Bible. (You can read the whole story in The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.)

For the month of November, start a list and add to it all month the things you are thankful for.  When you sit down with your family for Thanksgiving dinner, instead of sharing one thing you are thankful for, share your list.

I have learned through the years that God truly inhabits praise. He lives for the times when we lift our voices in praise to Him, not because what He has done, but because of who He is. Hebrews 13:15 says, “let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.” When I praise God, I feel His presence in a special way. This is especially true when things are bothering me or I feel depressed. When I offer a sacrifice of praise, my own problems just seem to melt away. We should go about our daily lives with a song in our hearts and praise on our lips. We need to praise God for being a God of love, truth, and life: a God who gave His all to save each and every person who ever lived or will live on planet earth.

For the month of October, see how many ways you can find to Praise God.
(Example: Open a song book and sing praises to your God and King. - - By the way, God does not care if you can carry a tune, He just wants your praise.)