Our pastor Bro Dennis is beginning a men’s study on leadership. Men, if you are a member of Midway Baptist Church or live in the Florida Panhandle, please consider this an invitation to join us on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30 (Bible Study begins at 6:30).
I am so looking forward to this teaching.
Glory to God, for He is on His throne! Jesus is King, Lord, and Savior to all who call to Him for salvation. America is today still the greatest nation in history and I praise God for being born an American. No matter the outcome of our elections throughout history, the peaceful transition of power is a God-breathed miracle captured by godly men who founded our nation. They were God-fearing men who recognized and relied upon the Providence of God.
Our nation is truly at a crossroads. The political outcome of yesterday’s election is a reflection…a symptom…of what ails our great country. Over half of our country clearly has an entitlement mentality where they believe by merely being Americans who may or may not have been dealt a bad hand that they are entitled to other people’s money. Beloved, that is a clear indication of a deeper issue that must be addressed.
Fear can strangle us or we can at least suffer from what many call the paralysis of analysis. Beginning on Friday I will begin writing on the fear of man because I believe we do so more than we realize.
I have taught my children to live by the rule that if you cannot justify an action in 30 seconds, then it is probably wrong. You see, there are no gray areas in my life. Oh there used to be plenty! But I’ve learned that there is right and wrong, and I don’t know. My associate pastor Pete Belmain shared with a few men at my house a couple of Sundays ago that he experienced tremendous freedom in coming to the conclusion that it was okay to say, “I don’t know.” I’ve taught my children, and I am still learning, that we can go to God’s Word for guidance and trust His promises within because they are sure. You can count on them; you can take them to the bank. King Solomon knew this as well as anyone:
Since Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare, I have seen all manner of exposition and explanation for why Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling was brilliant. I have been asked if I want conservative judges, oppose liberal judges, want those that are Republican, and oppose those that are Democrats. Do I want originalists and oppose activists.
I take none of the above.
Faith is a tough thing. We’re going to look at faith more closely on Friday. The object of our faith at times is a moving target. As Christians we always proclaim faith in Christ, but when it comes to trusting the affairs of this world, are we willing to trust them to the sovereignty of God?
For God to be truly sovereign in our lives, He must be sovereign over all aspects of our lives. The Random House Dictionary defines as “a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler; a person who has sovereign power or authority.”
In case you forgot, today is Tax Day and your taxes are due today. Karen and I paid ours Sunday night through the convenience of the internet. There are among some fringe “Christian” movements the idea that we do not have to pay our taxes because the federal government has moved beyond the original intent our Constitution and individual liberty. While the latter may be true, the former is counterintuitive to the argument. We get the government we deserve; we have the right to choose our rulers. So what about paying our taxes? You already know the answer because Jesus provides it:
What causes stinking thinking, and just as important, how do we clear it up?
First, we use worldly principles to guide our thoughts and actions. Even as Christians we can get to the point that the world’s point of view governs our actions. One example is how Christians elected to office end up rolling over to a godless edict sent down from the courts. To bow at the steps of an unlawful judicial ruling not only is godless, it is also unconstitutional.
My sister Minji (given name Mary) wrote yesterday in response to our devotional on the last conceit to go and said she has been struggling to understand her “artist self”, lately realizing that we never really understand ourselves. As we said, only God understands us. Minji is realizing a great freedom in losing herself instead of the exhausting fool’s errand of trying to find oneself.
I continue to be amazed at the vitriol thrown at the jury of the Casey Anthony trial. One lady called them a bunch of idiots. No one has called the prosecutor an idiot. Has anyone considered that perhaps his smug courtroom demeanor may have been an outward sign of some pride issues? I don’t know this man nor do I know his motives, no more than 99% of the commentators do about the evidence presented in the case. I’m still awaiting eyewitness or forensic evidence that would convict Casey.
Yesterday Casey Anthony was found innocent of wrongdoing in her daughter Caylee’s death, except for lying to the police. To read the posts of Facebook and listen to the dumdits on cable news, the twelve jurors must have been asleep at the wheel. Obviously, according to most of what I’ve read and heard outside the courtroom, Casey Anthony was clearly guilty of killing her daughter and should be attaining room temperature real soon.
This week we’ve looked at what the Bible has to say about the moral characteristic of honesty. We know that if aletheia truth is going to prevail in our lives, then honesty should be the hallmark of our lives.
A synonym of honesty is integrity. Random House Dictionary defines honesty as “truthfulness, candidness” and integrity as “honor, uprightness.” A common definition for integrity I learned in the military is “doing what is right when no one is looking.” In fact, two leadership characteristics the Army instills in its soldiers are honor and integrity. King Solomon knew the importance of both:
All of you saw the reply that Dr. Alan Keyes sent out in response to yesterday’s devotional. I must apologize for not keeping your emails private when I built my new devotional group list, but then each of you got to personally read Dr. Keyes’ words. I’ve since made all emails private.
I received the following reply from Dr. Alan Keyes to my devotional “Despairing of Everyone.” You can read more of Dr. Keyes’ brilliant writing at his website, “Loyal to Liberty.” It is linked under my Citizen Action links.
Alan Keyes
Aletheia is a Greek philosophical word that means truthfulness that corresponds to reality. This means we can trust Biblical, aletheia, truth because it is true and it is real. It is undeniable. Do people deny this truth? Of course, but it does not make it any less true.
Let’s go back to our foundational verse and this is the foundational verse of our new venture starting in three weeks.
The first use of the word aletheia is actually used by the Pharisees in one of their tests of Jesus:
Karen and I received wonderful emails and phone calls yesterday from people around the country letting us know that they were thinking of and praying for our families on Memorial Day. We don’t do Memorial Day services; that’s one hurdle we haven’t jumped over. I’m not able to go to those events. Something keeps me away. I truly do want to pay respects to our fallen heroes, but it’s just too personal for me.
Can you believe that Memorial Day Weekend is already upon us?! Summer begins and this week it got a head start here in Florida with the temperature warming up and the humidity rising. A new season is upon us!
The next big fight in Congress is whether or not to raise the current debt ceiling. Supposedly, Capitol Hill and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—purportedly filled with self-avowed Christians—understand that this spending and debt accumulation cannot go on forever. Alas, right understanding does not always turn into right action, particularly not inside the Beltway.
