31

Jump Start # 1673

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1673

Genesis 1:29-30 “Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of al the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food.’”

 

Genesis one is God’s story of how every thing started. He alone was there. He alone knows. Moses wrote this, as inspired by God, before Israel entered the promise land. They were moving into a land filled with people and gods. Jehovah wanted Israel to know that He alone is the one true God. It was Jehovah that not only chose them and made them a nation, but it was He alone that started the universe. There is no God but Jehovah.

 

Today, moderns find it hard to believe Genesis 1. Most put their stock in the claims of atheistic scientists who proudly state that the earth is billions of years old and everything is a gradual evolutionary process of naturalism. No design. No order. No God. Museums teach this. Kids books about dinosaurs teach this, by claiming, “no human ever saw a living dinosaur.” TV shows about nature include evolutionary statements. Visits to caves, canyons and mountains all emphasize that naturalistic, long time theory of how things were made. No God. No evidence for God, even though PS 19 and Romans 1 declare that the works of His hands are visible. Moderns today will dismiss the front part of Genesis as allegory at best and at worst a collection of local stories that have been blended into this ancient tale. God is removed from even writing the Bible.

 

I for one believe in Genesis 1. I believe it is intended to be taken just the way it was written. It is not presented as a “story” or a piece of fiction. It is stated as this is the way it happened. I’m bothered by those who claim to be Christians who cannot accept Genesis 1 as literal. If a person cannot believe the first page of the Bible, can they believe the last page of the Bible? Can they believe any page of the Bible? If this is not how the world was made, even though the Bible says God made it, how can I trust this book about salvation, Heaven, death or any other topic? This is not one of those things that “it really doesn’t matter which way you believe.” Yes, it does. The foundation blocks of life and our relationship with God are established in that first page of the Bible. If I didn’t come from God, then why should I do what the Bible says? If there is no God, why not live for today, have a great time and squeeze all the pleasure that I can out of life, because when I die, that’s it?

 

I believe in Genesis 1 because of the Bible. The proof of the Bible points to God. If God didn’t write the book, then who did? It’s an old book that took a long time to come together. Why are there no other books like this book? Why is there a defined unity that covers hundreds of years? Why did the writers talk about things that were not common knowledge? How do you account for fulfilled prophecy? All over the Bible, God is given credit for creating the world. Not just on the first page, but throughout the book. If God didn’t write the book, who did?

 

I believe in Genesis 1 because there are footprints of evidence all over the world today. There are dozens and dozens of visible evidences of man and dinosaurs existing at the same time. This is counter to the evolutionary theories. They say that dinosaurs died out millions of years before man appeared. Yet, in medieval art and stories that are accounts of knights slaying dragons. Those dragons were dinosaurs. There are cave drawings throughout the world showing men and dinosaurs. There are columns carved in stones of known animals. Among them are dinosaurs. The is art on old tombs in Europe that show known animals, among them are dinosaurs. Why include dinosaurs with known animals? How would these long ago people know what to draw if they had never seen a dinosaur before? Proof is there, not just for dinosaurs and man’s existence, but for the flood. The sudden appearance of major fossil families in the Cambrian layer points to a sudden creation, not a gradual evolving. Simple and complex fossils all together. The complexity of DNA does not allow time and chance to develop the sophisticated systems necessary for life. God has left his footprints in nature.

 

I believe in Genesis 1 because there is no evidence for naturalism. Today, there are millions of primates or monkeys. There are millions of humans. Logic would tell you that there ought to be millions of intermediate stages between monkey and man. There are not millions. There is not even one. If monkeys are alive today and man is alive today, why is no living intermediate state today? We are told that it takes millions of years to make a fossil, yet in different mines throughout the world, the remains of the miners have become fossilized. It takes water and pressure to make a fossil, not millions of years. Our own bodies challenge the theories of evolution. We are not getting better and stronger. As we get older, we fall apart. We can’t do at 50, what we could do at 20. We are not progressing and advancing, we are going the other direction. Where’s the proof for atheistic evolution?

 

Arrogant college professors can ridicule faith in God, but they can’t prove what they claim. They can’t answer simple questions such as, if there was a big bang, then who was the big banger? How does life come from non-life? How does order come from chaos? How does intelligence come from non-intelligence?

 

Our verse today, from the end of Genesis 1, reminds us that our world has changed. Originally, from the first week, man and animals were all vegetarians. God gave plants and fruit for both man and beast to eat. Before the sin of Genesis 3, nothing died. Death had not been introduced. The first to die was the animals that God used to cover Adam and Eve. So, originally, all animals were vegetarians. That’s not the way it is today. Lions in the zoo don’t eat salads. They want and need meat. There has been a change. It’s hard to look at our world today and try to make sense of the first world because we have all of these changes. We age. We die. We fight weeds, pain and death. We have storms. We have crime. We have sin. Our world is broken. Looking at our world and trying to figure out the perfect first world, is a lost project. Things have changed. The flood reshaped things. The age of man was reduced after the flood. Relationships are broken because of sin. We are broken because of sin. Our world is not paradise.

 

Could there have been millions of years between each day of creation? Where would you get that idea? Not from the Bible. There is nothing in Genesis one that you drive you to that conclusion. How would plants survive, being made on day 3, if there were millions of years between day 3 and day 4? The sun was created on day 4. I don’t see it.

 

Could God have used evolution as the process of making the world? You don’t get that from Genesis. God defines a day, “there was evening and there was morning.” God distinguished between day, days, seasons and years (v. 14). God knew what one day was. Stop trying to marry atheistic science and Biblical faith. It’s a bad marriage. It won’t work. Biblical faith usually gets kicked out.

 

A better question to ask is, could Genesis one be the way it happened? Can you accept that? Can you believe that? Can you be content with that?

 

This is more than just an interesting topic. This is everything. Your kids are being bombarded in school and especially the universities with atheistic evolution. Too many preachers dismiss Genesis ones.

 

I believe in Genesis one. Do you?

 

Roger

 

30

Jump Start # 1672

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start #1672

1 Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”

 

Sometimes we forget that the Gospels cover three years of Jesus’ ministry. It’s easy to think that we are reading decades. Three years. That’s shorter than it takes to get a high school degree. Three years flies by. But when we read through the Gospels we find Jesus encountering difficult people and difficult situations nearly every day. There were desperate parents whose kids were possessed with demons or were stricken with deadly diseases. There were cripples, blind and deaf seeking Him out. There were Jewish leaders who were throwing difficult questions and trying to trap Him. Synagogue officials were angry with Him. Crowds followed to see what would happen next. The disciples went from one fearful moment to the next. Screaming demons, violent storms and audiences that didn’t understand what Jesus was about. All of this in three years. I wonder if Jesus lay in bed thinking “what’s going to happen today?” So many of the people Jesus encountered were difficult. Pharisees who refused to open their eyes and see Jesus. Social outcasts, like lepers and tax collectors. There was the woman at the well, a Samaritan, confused and a track record of broken relationships. There was the woman caught in adultery, a person in trouble. Difficult situations. Difficult people.

 

Our verse today, taken from around the arrest and trials of Jesus, sum up his life. He suffered. He was the suffering Savior. In His suffering, He left footprints for us to follow. Many of us have difficult people in our lives. Unlike Jesus, they are not for three years, but rather three decades or more. These difficult people come in many forms.

 

They often start as our parents. Unwilling to listen or consider our standpoint of things. Demanding and controlling. Even as adults, they interfere and try to run our lives. Usually, the outcome is not running our lives, but ruining our lives. The problems with in-laws and out-laws causes a lot of heartache in the lives of young couples. Parents demanding that they come around for the holidays and wanting them to spend all the time with them, never thinking that there is his or her parents that want to see them as well. Calling daily. Over the top pressure and guilt—parents can be difficult. Some need to go to adult day care for a few days and chill out.

 

Demanding bosses can fill our lives with stress and pressure. They see your job as your life and that it is far more important than your family or your faith. They pour on the work, expecting longer and longer hours and they become more and more demanding. If it were for only three years, we could probably make it. But, twenty years? It’s hard just walking away and finding another job. So often, you leave one place and you walk right into the same high pressured, demanding situation that you left. These jobs take a toll on us. We are weary at the end of the day. We have a hard time leaving all the issues there, so we find ourselves unloading upon our mates. Toxic co-workers are everywhere.

 

Demanding elders at church can ruin worship and make our spiritual life a burden as well. Instead of being helpful and supportive, these elders are always pointing their finger, demanding to know where and why and layering your life with more guilt and pressure to do what you really do not what to do. Worship is dreaded because of these overbearing elders who are clueless to how to shepherd people and lead people to green pastures and quiet waters. They would rather drive cattle, than lead sheep, so they drive sheep. They drive them crazy. They drive them to dropping out. Folks fear getting the third degree right in the doorway as others are walking in. Demanding. Controlling. Hurting. This approach kills growth. It darkens the atmosphere. It leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

 

Christ also suffered, leaving you an example to follow. The next verses in Peter takes us to the Lord’s trials. He uttered no threats. He did not revile in return. He kept entrusting Himself to God. That’s hard. It was hard for Jesus, and it’s hard for us. It’s hard to hold your tongue. It’s hard not to just turn your desk over and walk out. It’s hard not to just hang up the phone when your mom starts her ranting. It’s hard not to just stay home and have worship with just your family. Those thoughts cross your mind. There are days. We think, “how did Jesus do it?” Some reach a point where they feel that they can’t take it any more.

 

Demanding and difficult people generally do not see themselves that way. They believe that they are being helpful. They believe that if they weren’t that way, then things would not get done. Rough. Unpolished. Crossing the line. This is way it is for demanding people.

 

What’s the hope? What’s the solution?

 

First, do what Jesus did. That’s always the first and right choice. What did the Lord do? Our verse tells us. He trusted God. He did not get down in the mud with others. He did not lose His cool. He didn’t say or do things that He had to go back and apologize for later. I haven’t always followed that lead. I should have. I know all too well what it is like to have demanding people in your life. Been there. You feel like a prisoner and you look every day for a way to escape. I have said things that now I wish I didn’t. I nearly punched one guy for the way he was talking to my wife. I walked away. So glad. What helped was prayer. What helped was others who advised me. What helped was finally leaving some of those situations and establishing some boundaries. You have to have boundaries.

 

Sometimes Christians misuse the Bible to control people. I started seeing that. I realized you can’t do that. Your assumed guilt isn’t working because what you say isn’t Biblical.

 

Second, keep doing what the Lord wants you to do. This is important. Do not let demanding people turn you from the Lord. Continue to worship. Continue to be engaged in the kingdom. Continue to help others. You can’t hang your hat on  the nail of others as an excuse for you not doing what you should. So the preacher is demanding. Tell him to take a vacation and you continue to walk with the Lord. You boss is demanding. Pray hard as you walk into work. Pray that you will not say the wrong thing. Continue to let your light shine.

 

Third, I have found, that those difficult periods of our life is something we move through. We were with some good friends the other day. Our paths go way back. We all had experienced difficult times with difficult people. We were telling a few of those sad memories. But at one point I declared, “Yet, here we are.” We moved on. We refused to be ruined or defined by those difficult times. We are past it now. On this day, we were laughing, sharing and enjoying the great friendship and fellowship we have in the Lord. For Jesus, it was three years. For you it may be longer. But, you can make with the help of the Lord.

 

Difficult people do not realize the misery nor the damage that they cause to others. They could make things so much better, but they don’t know how. They do not understand the message of Christ, even those who claim to be Christians. This is not how Christ wanted our relationships to be.

 

There is one other aspect about difficult people. They have shown me what not to do. They have driven me to be the opposite.

 

With God’s help, we will overcome. Some day, we will be with the Lord and all of these things will just be a memory. Some day, you may even be able to laugh about these things, as my friends and I did the other day.

 

Some day…

 

 

Roger

 

29

Jump Start # 1671

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1671

Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

  Our verse today is the Lord’s answer to a question from the disciples. Jesus had just told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and follow Him. He couldn’t do it. He walked away. His heart and his god were his possessions. This follows with the statement that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. The disciples then asked, “Who then can be saved?” This is when Jesus says what is found in our verse. With people it is impossible. With God, all things are possible.

 

Salvation involves God. Salvation is God’s idea. Salvation is on God’s terms. But with God all things are possible. With God, what we might exclude, deny or think “no way,” can be.

 

1. A person doesn’t have to be able to name the books of the Bible from memory to go to Heaven. Entrance into Heaven isn’t a matter of passing a test. If it were, most of us would be sunk. Faith in the Lord and God’s grace is what makes Heaven possible. There was a time, especially in Europe, when many common people could not read or write. Could they go to Heaven? With God all things are possible.

 

2. A person can be odd by our standards and still go to Heaven. I have seen many strange and unusual things in and around church buildings. I had a guy once ask me a very serious Bible question. We were standing outside the church building on a bright sunny day. His front tooth was gold and in it was a diamond. I’d never seen anything like that. The sunlight was hitting that diamond in just the right place that it looked like a spotlight was on his face. As he talked, I couldn’t take my eyes off of that golden tooth. You can go to Heaven with a golden tooth with a diamond in it.

 

There as another time when I was preaching and a woman sitting in the second row, right in front of the pulpit, put her foot on the song book rack. I’m watching this as I preach. She took out her nail clippers. Oh, yes. Right there. She clipped that big toe nail. There was a loud sound when she clipped it. I watched that toe nail fly into the air and spin all the way down to the floor. It just laid there, that big toe clipping. She put away her clippers and looked up. As I preached, I kept looking down at that toe clipping on the floor. She never did pick it up. I don’t think she would appreciate anyone doing what she did in her house. But, you know what, she can go to Heaven.

 

There are folks who never seem to have two nickels in their pocket. It seems that they are always struggling. They can go to Heaven.

 

There are families that seem to be accident prone. The kids are always going to the hospital for broken arms and stitches. They can go to Heaven.

 

There is the guy who drives a rust bucket of a car. It’s old looking and worn out. He has money, but he just doesn’t get a different car. It looks pitiful and sounds worse when he starts it. When he turns the engine off, it seems to keep sputtering for a few seconds. Poor car. Someone ought to put the car out of it’s misery. Guess what? That guy can go to Heaven.

 

I’ve seen the church building completely empty and someone comes it, and the first place they sit is the back row. They wouldn’t want that seat at a ball game or a movie. With all those choices, they want the back row. Guess what? That guy can go to Heaven.

 

There are some who think that you have to go to a certain school or send your kids to certain camps and go to certain workshops to be faithful. They can believe that. And they can go to Heaven. And those that don’t, they can go to Heaven too.

 

I expect one surprise about Heaven will be seeing people there that in our book we wouldn’t think had a chance. They were odd. They were different. They weren’t like us. But what is impossible, is possible with God.

 

All of this reminds me and if a person is believing in the Lord and walking according to God’s word, he doesn’t have to like everything that I like or do things just the way I do things. That’s hard for many of us. We want folks to do things a certain way because we think that certain way is the only way. I had a guy fuss with me once about how I baptized someone. I went one direction and he thought I should have gone the other direction. I listen and smiled. He talked and frowned. Guess what? He can go to Heaven baptizing people his direction and I can go to Heaven baptizing people my direction.

 

We are the ones that makes things impossible. We can make rules when God hasn’t. We can expect everyone to do things our way, when God doesn’t expect that.

 

With God, all things are possible.

 

That’s a good thing!

 

Roger

 

26

Jump Start # 1670

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1670

Ecclesiastes 2:!6 “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten.”

  Ecclesiastes has a way of taking the breath out of us. We tend to think that we are superstars and are doing such great things. Then we read the pages of Ecclesiastes and it reminds us that there is one fate that faces all of us, death and soon after that we will be forgotten.

 

Recently, I experienced the truthfulness of what Solomon was saying. A friend and I, about once a month, travel the back roads of Indiana and Kentucky tracing down old church buildings and the graves of some of this regions first preachers. Restoration history is the official name of this form of study. I’ve got stacks of books and articles in this area, but nothing beats seeing things with our own eyes. On one trip, I got to hold some very rare first addition books that we part of a long ago preacher’s library.

 

The other day, my friend and I were off on another journey. We were on the back roads outside of a small Indiana town. I don’t think I could have found this place on my own. Along side some small road sat a small cemetery. There were only about ten graves in this cemetery. We were only interested in one and there we found it. His name was David. He was an early circuit rider preacher among the Baptists in the early 1800’s. He spent most of his time in Kentucky but died and was buried in this small place in Indiana. For all of his sermons and for all of his travels, he is remembered for one memorial service that he preached. Three years after Indiana became a state, according to most historians, David, traveling the hills of Kentucky preaching, received a letter from a nine year-old boy. His mother had died and was buried without any formal service. The simple letter asked if he would come and preach a memorial service. No dates or time was set. There was a huge uncertainty whether the letter would even reach the preacher. No post offices, no stamps, no “mailmen” existed back then. The letter was passed from friend to friend to try to find preacher David in Kentucky, somewhere. Folks didn’t even know where he was in Kentucky. It finally reached him and in March of 1819, preacher David traveled on horseback over 100 miles to a small village in Indiana to preach a memorial service for a woman named Nancy. And for all the sermons, and all the travels and all the funerals and all the weddings that preacher David conducted in his life, he is remembered for this one thing. The little nine year-old boy that wrote the letter was Abraham Lincoln. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln had died that precious December. David Elkins, the preacher, buried in a nearly forgotten cemetery, in the back roads of Indiana, is known for this one event. He was the man who preached the funeral for Abraham Lincoln’s mother. Had Lincoln not become the famous president, David Elkins, as Solomon tells us in our verse, would have been completely forgotten by this generation.

 

As I stood and looked at this grave, I had to reflect upon my own life. I have a room at our church building that is packed with three and a half decades of my work. I have notebooks full of bulletins that I have written. A bulletin every week, for thirty-six years. Everyone of them saved. There are file cabinets, several, stuffed with sermons. There are dozens and dozens of notebooks of classes that I have taught. A lifetime of work is housed in this one room. This room represents hours and hours and hours of work, thinking, writing, teaching and preaching. And to think, as in the case of David Elkins, all of it comes down to being remembered for one funeral. Nearly everything taught and written will be forgotten. Nearly everything, if not everything, saved, will one day be pitched. This has a way of humbling a person. It makes one realize that he is not so great that monuments will be built in his honor. It makes one realize that Solomon is right, in coming days all will be forgotten.

 

If one is not careful, these thoughts will lead a person to conclude, “who cares.” It may lead a person to wonder, why do I work so hard? Why do I put so much into it? Why not just enjoy life? Why not take the day off and go golfing? Why?

 

Here’s why:

 

1. Indeed, future generations may not remember or even know of your time here. Ours is for the present. King David served the purpose of God in his own generation, is what Acts 13 tells us. That’s what we must do. We are shaping and changing and helping lives all around us. The hours we preachers pour into sermons, most of which will never be preached again, is not wasted. There are those in the audience that are helped that moment. Like the falling rain, it helps the growing crops at the present. It is so needed for the present. The rain that falls today won’t do much if anything for next year’s crops, but for this season, it makes a difference.

 

2. Heaven remembers the good that we have done. Jesus reminds us that a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple will not be forgotten. If Heaven sees and remembers one cup of cold water, what about the hour spent with a lonely soul? What about the few dollars given to a struggling family? What about the book given to a young preacher? What about the funeral service for a nine year-old’s mother? God recognizes the good that is done.

 

3. Eternity can be changed because of the good we do today. One sermon, one article, one class, one discussion, can be all it takes to change a heart and lead one to Christ. The jailer in Philippi. The eunuch on a deserted road. A seller of purple down by a river bank. Your story. My story. Lives are changed because of the goodness that is done. A couple is taught the gospel. They raise their children in God’s way and they grow up and become Christians. The spiritual legacy continues on because of one simple family. Most of us can trace such a story in our own families. It was grandpa, or it was great– grandma, who first became a Christian, a long time ago. Now, here we are, journeying down that same path. Forgotten names, a long time ago changed the eternity that has now affected us. What was the sermon or who was the preacher that made grandpa become a Christian? Forgotten. What is remembered is the godly life and the great example he lived. Now that has become our story as we live and love the Lord.

 

Why do we put so much effort into what we are doing? Why do we try so hard? Why do we want things to be right? Who will care? Who will remember? God does!

 

David Elkins died before Abraham Lincoln ever became famous. He went to preach the funeral for that poor family simply because he was asked and he wanted to do what he could. He never thought that cool March day in the backwoods of Indiana that the young teary-eyed boy who sent for him would one day be the President of the United States. He went to offer comfort to a grieving family. He did what he could do.

 

An amazing lesson for all of us.

 

Roger

 

25

Jump Start # 1669

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1669

Galatians 6:10 “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

  Doing good is characteristic of Christians. Three times in Titus the plea to be engaged in good deeds is used. The example of Jesus, the story of the good Samaritan and the overall concept of loving all people and being compassionate drives God’s people to help others. Christians are “do gooders.” They are to make a difference in the lives of others.

 

Three things come from our verse today:

 

Christians must have open eyes. This is how one makes the most of opportunities. It is easy to miss opportunities or to let opportunities go by, simply because we didn’t see them. Look for them. Keep your eyes open. There are ways to help every day. Little things and big things. Something as easy as stopping by the hospital on your way home from work to visit a sick friend. It’s as easy as mowing your neighbor’s yard when he is out of town. Someone in our congregation handed me some money recently and told me to go buy four Bibles for a mother and her three children that started attending with us. They love the Bibles. They don’t know who did this for them. Someone with open eyes saw an opportunity.

 

  Christians must have a willing heart. It’s one thing to see opportunities, it’s something else to act upon them. The easy thing to do is to say, “I wish someone would do something about this.” We are that someone. Helping others puts them at the top of the list and ourselves at the bottom of the list. If we wait until we feel like it, the opportunities are gone. Opportunities show up on a Saturday morning when we’d rather sleep in. Opportunities come when I have a full schedule. The willing heart is the key. Selfishness kills the good that can and ought to be done.

 

  Christians must have the resources. To see what needs to be done, but to be unable to help, doesn’t do anyone much good. Resources of time. Resources of money. Resources of talent. Put all of these together and lives can be changed. The good Samaritan could help the wounded man because he saw him, he cared for him and he had some resources that allowed him to help. He used his oil. He took the wounded man to an inn and left money for his care. Had the Samaritan been living paycheck to paycheck with a credit card maxed out, he wouldn’t have been much help. He had resources. Would it be wise for us to set aside some money for good Samaritan causes? If we wait until we pay off debt, the kids are out of college, and we are in a better position, the opportunity will be long gone. Opportunities come suddenly. They come unannounced. I have seen more than once, occasions where at the end of services some money is being collected to help someone, and right then and there, thousands of dollars are donated. Folks had resources. People were willing to give. It’s amazing.

 

Doors are opened when good is done. The very hearts that may be closed to the listening of preaching, may be touched and opened by the goodness and generosity of those who are doing good. When people help out without any expectations back, that moves people. We don’t do good with the understanding that now you must come to my church because I helped you out. That leaves the impression that you now owe me. That leaves the impression that we are buying your commitment or salvation. Do good with no strings attached. Do good without saying anything.

 

My wife and I went to a new place to eat last night after services. There were a few there from our congregation. When I got ready to pay for our food, I was told that someone had already paid for it. One of our members did that. What a surprise. What a delight. What a generous and kind act. Doing good. Making a difference. It doesn’t always involve money. Sometimes, it involves muscle. Someone needs help moving. You show up. A neighbor has a lot of yard work. You jump in and help out. A storm causes a lot of damage in an area and you are there with a chain saw, pickup and time. It’s shoveling the driveway of a senior citizen. It’s helping an expectant mother with a baby shower. It’s blessings from Heaven that come through you.

 

Most of us have a long list of people who have done things for us in the past. Most of us preachers can look through our library and see books that have been given to us by others. Doing good—that’s how Christianity is witnessed. Your belief in the trinity, the one faith, the inspiration of the Scriptures are all important and powerful doctrines, but those don’t help a guy who is down on his luck. They don’t do much for a two man job when there is only one man to do it. Stand with what the Bible teaches, but get out and get busy helping others. This is where it’s at.

 

God has a wonderful way of providing opportunities. Find what you are good at. Find what you can do. Then, go do it. Don’t come back tooting your horn or telling others that you were the only one who showed up. Don’t do that. That only ruins the good that you did. Just do it. Buy the older couple’s meal and don’t say anything about it. Work behind the scenes. Let God get the glory. That’s missed sometimes because we are wanting a shout out, a big thank you or at least a slap on the back. If that’s why we do things then our motives are misguided. It is never about us, but always about God and doing what we can to be His eyes, His feet and His hands.

 

Let us do good…shall we? Let’s start today!

 

Roger