March 3, 2023 · 10:17 PM

True Revival?

Many people have been watching the events at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY. After a chapel meeting on February 8, students stayed in the Hughes Auditorium and continued praying, singing, testifying, and reading Scripture. Their gathering became an extended time of worship that lasted for days and attracted large numbers of people. Attendees report a special sense of God’s Spirit moving among them.

Surprisingly, almost exactly the same events in the same location took place fifty-three years ago in 1970 (also in February!). In the months following the 1970 meeting, groups from Asbury visited other colleges and churches from New York to California and even into South America. Revival broke out in more than 130 locations by the summer of that year.

The history of God’s people is filled with spiritual ups and downs, times of wandering away or fading away from the Lord, sometimes over years or even decades, then times of returning to the Lord. This has been the case among Christians for the past two thousand years, and it was true in the Old Testament with God’s chosen people Israel.

Once, when Israel was experiencing a dark time spiritually, they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Philistines. They foolishly took the ark of the covenant into battle. It was captured by the Philistines, who returned it after several months of suffering God’s wrath. Instead of placing the ark in the temple, where it belonged, the Israelites took it to Abinadab’s house.

The ark of the covenant was the special container made to hold the tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them. The commandments were a reminder of the unique relationship Israel enjoyed with God, and a reminder of their responsibility to worship and serve him only.

The ark of the covenant was at Abinadab’s house for twenty years, a constant reminder to the people that things were not right between them and God. Finally, they began to long for the Lord. They lamented the current state of things. They wanted to return to the Lord.

God raised up a spiritual leader for the people: Samuel. When Samuel saw that the people were ready for positive change, he called on them to put away their foreign gods, their idols, and to worship God only.

Samuel called the people to gather for prayer at Mizpah. When they came together, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. This act is unexplained in Scripture, but it is associated with fasting. Abstaining from food for a time was an established practice often observed during times of prayer and seeking God. By combining these two actions, the people seemed to be expressing a desire for God that was even greater than their need for food and water.

In addition to fasting, the people confessed. They admitted sinning against the Lord. Confession implies a willingness to repent, to turn away from sin. Returning to God requires turning away from sin. Confession can also be positive. God’s people confess their faith in God, expressing their desire to trust him by obeying his commands and following his ways.

When the Philistines saw what was happening at Mizpah, they attacked Israel. The people were afraid, but they continued to follow the leadership of Samuel and to trust the Lord. As a result, God gave them a decisive victory over their enemies and brought peace to their land.

Samuel set up a stone to memorialize the Lord’s work in their hearts and with their hands. He named it Ebenezer, saying that the Lord had helped them to that point.

So, Mizpah led to Ebenezer. In other words, Israel’s meeting at Mizpah inspired them to trust God for victory. Their faith and God’s power resulted in blessings memorialized by the Ebenezer stone.

People are asking if the events at Asbury in Kentucky signal a true revival, an authentic move of God’s Holy Spirit. If it is a true Mizpah meeting that inspires God’s people to trust the Lord for a great spiritual victory, then we will see an Ebenezer stone set up in the future. In 1970, the results were clear. In 2023, we hope and pray to see the same.

Israel’s revival began with a longing for the Lord, a dissatisfaction with the status quo. The next step was putting away the things of the world and worshiping God only. They gathered for prayer, commitment, and confession. And when the enemy responded by attacking them, they trusted the Lord.

There is no guarantee that God’s Spirit will move in a mighty way if we follow certain predetermined steps. God is sovereign. Nevertheless, Samuel’s advice is good. We should gather and pray, commit ourselves to the Lord, and confess our sin and our faith. Only then will we be ready to follow God’s Spirit to victory when he chooses to visit us in an extraordinary manner.

Let’s pray that we are seeing an authentic move of God’s Spirit, one that will result in victories that cannot be explained by the planning and performance of people, but only by the presence and power of the Living God!

May God inspire us and enable us to return to him with all our hearts,

Brother Richard

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February 18, 2023 · 1:26 PM

He Is The God Who Speaks

Samuel was just a boy. He was growing up in the temple in Shiloh, learning about the various responsibilities of a priest. It was a dark time spiritually in Israel. The word of the Lord was rare, but not silent.

One night, Samuel heard the Lord call his name. He got up and ran to his mentor, the old priest Eli. But Eli was not the one calling Samuel. Two more times Samuel heard the voice calling him and mistakenly thought it was Eli.

Finally, Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy. He instructed Samuel to go back to bed and wait. If the Lord called again, Samuel was to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9). 

The Bible tells us that Samuel failed to recognize the Lord’s call “because the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him” (1 Samuel 3:7). He knew about God, but he did not know God personally.

To know God personally, Samuel, needed to have the word of the Lord revealed to him. The Bible speaks often about the word of the Lord. By the power of his word, God spoke into existence the universe, all that is, was, and ever will be.

Jesus quoted the Old Testament when he was tempted by Satan, saying, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). The word of the Lord is life itself!

The frequent appearances of the phrase “word of the Lord” in the Bible remind us that he is a God who speaks. God wants to reveal his character and his plan to us. God’s desire is that we know him and that we share in his kingdom work and kingdom victory.

It is not enough for us to have a vague awareness of some “higher power.” God is powerful, yes, but he is also personal. He wants us to experience more than his power. He wants us to know his love, wisdom, holiness, grace, mercy, patience, kindness, and more. He wants us to hear his word.

Jesus is God’s ultimate communication to us about himself and his plan. Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt for a while among us (John 1:1, 14). “My sheep hear my voice,” Jesus said, “I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). We are his flock.

God is both one who speaks and one who writes. Over a period of more than a thousand years, on three different continents, in three different languages, God patiently and carefully produced his written word, the Holy Bible. For thousands of years he has guarded and guided its transmission so that we can read his perfect word for ourselves in our heart language.

God has called, empowered, and sent his servants to preach, teach, and communicate his word. These gifted people are given by God to his people to give a human voice to his word.

By the power of his Spirit dwelling in the hearts of his redeemed sons and daughters, God gives believers the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the heart to receive his word.

What an incredible effort God has made to speak to us! Will we take the time and make the effort to listen? Do we have a desire for the power of God’s word to take root in our souls and bear spiritual fruit that will last?

May God inspire us and enable us to hear his voice and to follow him faithfully,

Brother Richard

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February 4, 2023 · 3:14 PM

State Of The Church

How are things going in God’s house?

First Samuel chapter 2 gives an assessment about conditions in the house of the Lord in Shiloh during the days of the Judges. Eli was priest. His sons served with him.

The Bible tells us that Eli’s sons were wicked. Instead of serving God’s people, they abused their position and served themselves. They took the choice meat that people brought as an offering to the Lord and used it for their own selfish desires. They even engaged in sexual immorality with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

They had no respect for God. In fact, Scripture says that they did not know the Lord.

If we stop here, our assessment of the worship in God’s house in Shiloh would be very negative. But that would be an incomplete picture. God’s word has more to say.

A young boy named Samuel was also in the Lord’s house in those days. His mother, Hannah, had promised God that if he gave her a son, she would give him back. He would be dedicated to the Lord’s service all his life.

After years of marriage without any children, God answered Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son. Hannah was faithful to her promise. When Samuel was very young, she brought him to Eli at the Lord’s house in Shiloh and the boy grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Hannah’s son Samuel was a sharp contrast to Eli’s wicked sons. Samuel was not using the Lord’s house to fulfill his own desires. He was there to fulfill a promise to God. Samuel would grow up and be a mighty man of God.

So, a fair assessment of the ministry in God’s house in those days would include both the wicked deeds of Eli’s sons and the great potential of Hannah’s son, Samuel.

How would we assess the state of things in our churches today? As in the days of Eli, we can and should take note of both the ups and the downs.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, average attendance has decreased significantly in many local churches. As a result, budgets are tight and volunteer hours are harder to come by. The mission of the church appears more difficult than ever.

The pandemic seems to have accelerated trends that were already in motion. Many people are increasingly distracted by activities that compete with church. These activities are not necessarily bad or sinful, until they interfere with worshiping and serving God.

The results of eroding commitment to worship and discipleship are easy to identify: biblical illiteracy, moral confusion, false teaching, and eroding support for missions, to name a few. Of course, one might argue that the process works in the reverse: biblical illiteracy, moral confusion, false teaching, and lack of interest in missions may cause a lack of interest in church attendance. Either way, church attendance and spiritual vitality are closely connected.

Refocusing God’s people on God’s house is a worthy goal.

Can we identify anything good in our local churches? The gender confusion movement has forced many Christian groups to choose between worldly delusions and God’s Word. Sadly, some churches and denominations have chosen false teaching over Scripture. But not all.

Hundreds of Methodist congregations have chosen to remain faithful to God’s word, even though it means breaking their long-standing association with the United Methodist Church. They will take the challenging steps of finding or creating new groups for fellowship, cooperation, and accountability. Their willingness to take the difficult road of faithfulness to God’s truth is inspiring.

Groups like Southern Baptists have at times struggled with finding the proper response to the gender confusion agenda, but they have not suffered the radical division now disturbing Methodists (and others). We can rejoice that many Christians have not been led astray by a movement wreaking so much havoc and harm, especially on children and youth.

The assessment of God’s house in Shiloh included mentions of God’s presence, especially with regard to young Samuel. The boy Samuel served in the Lord’s presence. Samuel grew up in the Lord’s presence. And, God stood by Samuel one night and spoke to him in the temple at Shiloh. Despite the failed leadership of Eli and the wicked actions of his sons, God’s presence was still in God’s house!

Perhaps the most important measure of a church is God’s presence. The greatest thing we can say about any church family is that they experience and enjoy the presence of the Lord. People who are seeking the Lord can find him there.

The current challenges faced by local churches are multifaceted and they often seem overwhelming. Without denying the complexity of our times, God’s presence gives us a focal point that delivers hope. When Jesus showed up at Lazarus’ funeral, that sad and tragic gathering was transformed into a joyous occasion. God’s presence always makes the difference!

Jesus was no isolationist. He did not retreat into the desert with the Essenes. Neither should we retreat from the challenges we face. Nevertheless, our first love must be to meet with our Lord! Let’s continue seeking and serving our Lord with all our hearts, praying that he will always meet with us and enable us to be victorious, to bear fruit for eternal life.

May God inspire us and enable us to honor him and serve him in his house this year,

Brother Richard

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December 7, 2022 · 8:28 PM

God Is With Us – So What?

We often hear the name Immanuel during Christmastime. What does it mean? It means “God is with us.” Why is this name so closely related to Christmas? It goes back to the first Christmas.

The first Christmas started with a big disappointment for a good man named Joseph. He was soon to marry the love of his life. Joseph and Mary were “betrothed.” Betrothal in ancient Israel was somewhat like our engagement used to be, only stronger.

I write “used to be” because now many people (not all) who claim to be engaged feel free to live together as husband and wife, or at least to sleep with one another. Sex used to be a joy reserved for marriage. Thankfully, some folks still respect marriage, one another, and God enough to wait.

Joseph and Mary had respect for God and his institution of marriage. They also respected each other enough to save themselves for marriage. This is where the problem appears. Mary was pregnant before their wedding day.

People would conclude that either Mary and Joseph didn’t wait, or that Mary was unfaithful. Joseph knew the baby wasn’t his. He could only assume that Mary had been with another man. Imagine his heartbreak!

The Gospel writer Matthew tells us that Joseph was a “righteous man.” He knew the right thing to do. The Old Testament law said that a woman who was pledged to be married and slept with a man was to be stoned to death. This was a horrible thing for Joseph to consider. He still loved Mary.

Consider Joseph’s dilemma. If he acts according to the letter of the law, even if he just divorces Mary for cheating on him without taking any other action against her, he will expose the disgrace of the woman he loves. She will have a mark against her that will follow her the rest of her life.

On the other hand, if Joseph follows his heart, if he ignores her unfaithfulness and continues with the wedding, he is defying God’s law. He knows that God condemns adultery and sexual immorality. He would be deciding what is right based on what he wants. He would be rejecting God’s word.

Joseph struggles to find a way to be right and still be loving. He finally settles on a compromise. He will divorce her (that was necessary when two people were betrothed and ended their relationship without marriage). But he will try to do it secretly, so it doesn’t cause Mary too much trouble. Sounds weak.

This is when God steps in and gives Joseph the missing piece of the puzzle. Mary’s baby was conceived by God’s Holy Spirit. She has been faithful to him. Joseph can take her as his wife, knowing that the baby is a miracle from God.

And there is more. God tells Joseph to name the baby Jesus, which means “God is salvation.” Why? Because Jesus will save his people from their sins.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that all this took place to fulfill a word from the Prophet Isaiah: “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,” which means God is with us.

Jesus is God with us. When God comes to us in Jesus, he solves our greatest problems. He was the solution for Joseph’s heartbreaking dilemma. Jesus is the answer to our most deadly difficulty. He will save us from our sins and guarantee us eternal life with God in heaven.

Praise God for being with us this Christmas,

Brother Richard

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November 4, 2022 · 3:13 PM

The Invisible Hand of God

God’s invisible hand is at work all around us to accomplish his good purposes. We sometimes refer to this as God’s providence. God’s providence is his often-unnoticed guidance of events. God guides events toward two ends.

First, he provides for his creation. Jesus taught about this aspect of God’s providence. He said that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good. He causes the rain to fall on the unrighteous and the righteous (see Matthew 5:45).

Another term used for this part of God’s work is “common grace.” Have you wondered why God sometimes blesses those who are wicked? It is an expression of his common grace. He gives the sunshine, the rainfall, and many other blessings to all creation indiscriminately.

Second, God’s providence works for the redemption of his people. To redeem is to gain back something that is lost. Because of disobedience and rebellion, people are lost from God’s favor and turned over to his judgment. God sent a Redeemer, a Savior to regain ownership of his people and restore us to his favor. That Redeemer is Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came, he was opposed by the religious leaders. They plotted against him, seized him, unjustly condemned him, and turned him over to be publicly executed like a man cursed by God.

Those enemies of Christ thought they were destroying Jesus, but by God’s providence they were unwittingly participating in God’s plan to provide the final and full atonement for our sins. Jesus’ voluntary death on a Roman cross was carried out by God’s design. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Then God displayed his victory over every enemy and his mastery over all history by raising Jesus from the dead and exalting him to the right hand of glory! What an impressive feat!

But what about the widespread spiritual darkness in our world today?

We live at a time when many people refuse to distinguish between a tumor and a baby, a time when our culture apparently cannot tell the difference between a boy and a girl, when many people confuse sexual immorality and faithful loving commitment. They hear someone speaking the truth in love and label it as hate speech. It is a time of spiritual deception when even the darkness is called light and light is called darkness.

God’s invisible hand of providence is at work despite this present spiritual darkness.

What about all the economic uncertainty?

Inflation is driving the price of everything higher, making the dollars we have worth less. Many of our leaders enact policies that make life more difficult, lowering our standard of living, decreasing our liberties, discouraging people from working, increasing the number of criminals who run free. Despair tempts us to give up hope, but we need not do that.

God’s invisible hand of providence is at work despite the uncertainties of this age.

What about heartbreaking family losses?

We want everyone to live long and happy lives, but in this world, that does not always happen. Unexpected losses can be devastating. Sometimes we fully appreciate a family member only after they are gone. Sometimes a wayward child or grandchild can cause great anxiety. Sometimes a marriage falls apart or disappoints. These and other family disruptions can truly be disheartening.

We need not lose heart. God’s invisible hand of providence is at work despite family disruptions and losses.

What about the faulty faith of God’s people? Who among us can say that our faith is a finished product? We are all works in progress. We gather regularly for teaching and preaching and discipleship so that God’s Spirit can advance his work in us, transforming us into the image of Christ, opening our eyes to see his hand at work in us and around us, opening our hearts to accept his timing and his methods.

God’s providence never slumbers. His plans are unstoppable. His love is immeasurable. His grace is unshakable. Our faith in Christ rests on a sure footing.

May God give us eyes to see his hand at work on our behalf,

Brother Richard

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October 5, 2022 · 3:34 PM

Satan Is As Real As Evil

A recent news story reported that an after-school Satan club now meets at a high school in Pennsylvania. This is not the first after-school Satan club. Others have already been established at public schools in our nation.

No surprise that one of their core issues is abortion. The Satanists teach kids that they are empowered to end the lives of unborn children. They compare abortion in Satanism to baptism or the Lord’s Supper in Christianity, a solemn ritual – outrageous!

They teach kids a song that includes lyrics saying that Satan is your friend, he wants you to have fun, and there is no hell. The song ends by saying that Satan doesn’t really exist. Sounds confusing and evil.

The Bible warns us that believers have three enemies: the ‘flesh,’ the world, and the devil (Satan). The ‘flesh’ is not a reference to our physical bodies. It is Bible terminology for the corrupt sinful desires that tempt us to disobey God and rebel against him. The ‘flesh’ threatens our peace and blessings from God.

The devil appeals to our ‘flesh,’ our sinful nature, stirring up the desire to disobey God. As followers of Jesus, however, we have crucified the ‘flesh’ with Christ. We are no longer in bondage to the sinful nature. We can choose to follow Christ instead of our sinful desires. We have God’s Spirit in our hearts empowering us to grow in our victory over sin.

The second enemy of believers is the world. In this case, “the world” is not creation, but the cultures, institutions, ideas, and attitudes of sinful humanity. This broken world is like a tide that always goes out to the sea of confusion and destruction. The devil exerts great influence on the world, using it to pull people away from God through skepticism and unbelief.

We face the temptation to be like the lost world around us instead of distinguishing ourselves as followers of Jesus, as a people with an eternal perspective. Jesus warns that the road to destruction is broad and many find it, but the path to life is narrow and difficult and only a few travel its way.

The third enemy of believers is the devil himself: Satan.

In Genesis 3, Satan makes his debut into the biblical account. He appears in the Garden of Eden and tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit. Sadly, they were easy to persuade. And, sadly, people are still easily led astray by Satan and his lies.

Evil is real. It is not a human or cultural idea that we can redefine. Good and evil are defined by God. The standards for right and wrong are established and uncompromising.

Evil is powerful. We are helpless to stop it without God’s intervention. By any reasonable standard, humanity is not making progress at defeating evil. War, hatred, violence, deception, immorality, they still grow like weeds everywhere. No continent, country, community or culture is free of evil.

Evil is personal. Satan is a living personal being. He is a fallen angel who led a third of God’s angels astray and into rebellion against God. Now he wants to deceive us and lead us into tragic rebellion against God.

We cannot destroy the devil, but we can resist him and his temptations. James tells us that the first step in resisting the devil is submitting to God (James 4:7). With God’s power, we are able to stand against our enemy. Ephesians 6 urges us to put on the full armor of God so that we will stand and not be destroyed (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Once fitted with the full armor of God, we pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers and requests. Our power to overcome is in our Lord. Let’s submit to God, resist the devil, stand against evil, and walk in victory!

May God’s Holy Spirit always inspire us and enable us,

Brother Richard

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September 1, 2022 · 10:45 AM

Don’t Go Halfway To Church

Jesus promised to build his church. He assured his disciples that the gates of Hades will never prevail over his church. This wonderful promise is recorded in Matthew 16. It is the first appearance of the word “church” in the Bible.

The underlying term used for church in the ancient Bible language is ekklesia. Bible teachers sometimes point out that ekklesia consists of two parts. The first part is ek, which means from or out of. The klesia part of the word is closely related to klysis,the ancient word for call or calling.

When we put the two parts of ekklesia together, we get something like “called out.” Some Bible teachers conclude from this combination that church means the called out ones, or those who are called out. In other words, “church” means those who are called out from this world of unbelief, called out from those who are in rebellion against God.

Come out of the world and be different! Be holy! That’s certainly an important part of God’s call to his people, his church. Believers are called to come out and be distinct from the unbelieving world. However, the word ekklesia means more.

First of all, we should note that combinations of words don’t always determine or even hint at the resulting meaning. For instance, butterfly does not mean that dairy products sail through the air on wings. The combination of butter and fly creates a completely new meaning: a delicate little critter with beautiful markings.

The word ekklesia is not bound by the meaning of its parts. The combination creates a fresh emphasis. Ekklesia is not focused entirely on what Christians leave behind, called out of the world. Instead, it points to what we are called to. The word emphasizes the fact that followers of Jesus are a people who gather together in an assembly.

We are the “assembly” of believers, so we assemble. We gather. Another English word that expresses the meaning of ekklesia well is “congregation.” As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we congregate with one another.

If we limit the word ekklesia to a negative connotation, being called out from, then we could stay at home alone and convince ourselves that we are being the church. After all, we have left the world behind, right? But leaving the world and being alone is not the meaning of church.

Staying at home to worship alone is halfway church. Retreating alone to a favorite place in nature for private worship is only going halfway to church. It is retreating from the unbelieving world, but it is not gathering with believers.

When we follow Jesus, we gather with brothers and sisters in the Lord. We congregate with Christ’s people, his church. We assemble for Christian fellowship and God meets with us in a special way.

When we assemble for Christian fellowship and worship, we send a message to the world: God is alive and well and working in us and among us! Our meetings are meant to be a positive witness to the world. Our meetings are meant to show the world the love of Christ.

Every enemy we have tries to keep us from church. The world works to lure us away by planning its best activities during church time. The devil whispers in our ear about what a failed and pathetic group God’s people is. Our own flesh, the sinful nature, urges us to pursue personal fun instead of public faith.

When we listen to God’s Spirit and follow his ways, we fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We worship and serve God together. We are a light in a dark world. We fulfill our eternal calling.

Going halfway to church is not far enough. Let’s be faithful in our generation. Let’s go all the way to church!

Brother Richard

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August 12, 2022 · 11:31 AM

Does God Love An Un-Cheerful Giver?

The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). That is, God loves it when we give our tithes and offerings with a glad heart.

To tithe means to give a tenth of our increase (our income) to God by supporting his work (the local church). Offerings are the contributions we make in addition to our tithe.

What if our heart is not cheerful? Should we give when we can’t be happy about it? If we think of giving as a duty, should we stop giving?

The great missionary Paul spent a couple of years gathering an offering from various churches in Gentile cities. The money was meant to provide relief for poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who were struggling to survive.

When the time approached for him to deliver the offering, Paul wrote to believers in Rome and shared his plans with them. He asked them to pray that things would go well in Jerusalem.

Paul saw the threat of a division in the church between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. He hoped a generous offering from Gentile churches to Jewish believers would not only provide for their needs, but also create goodwill and promote unity between the two groups.

As he wrote about the offering, the apostle noted that the Gentile churches were pleased to contribute to this project. Then he wrote that they were obligated to give material assistance because the Gentile believers had enjoyed spiritual blessings from the Jewish Christians (see Romans 15:26-27).

His remarks seem to be contradictory. Did the Gentiles give financially to the work of the church because they were pleased to do so or because they were obligated to do so? Did they give as an expression of delight or from a sense of duty?

Giving to God’s work is a joyful responsibility. Joy and responsibility, delight and duty, they can stand together. They need not cancel each other out. A duty can be an act of discipline and an act of discipline can bring deep satisfaction.

Think about parents and their kids. We believe parents have a responsibility to provide loving care to their sons and daughters. Those of us who are parents and grandparents agree. We accept the notion that we have an obligation to our children. We are responsible.

But we also have a desire to care for our children. It pleases us. Knowing that it is a responsibility does not rob us of our desire to do so, nor does it erase our joy in caring for them. In fact, knowing that we are fulfilling our God-given responsibility only adds to our pleasure.

Giving to God’s work is a duty, but it can also be a delight, a joy. Duty and desire combine without diminishing one another.

The apostle also believed that the offering he gathered would have a spiritual benefit not only on the individual givers, but also on the larger community of Christians. He wanted the gift from Gentiles to Jews to inspire unity among believers, to remind them that they were part of an eternal family with a shared mission.

The spiritual discipline of giving binds us together in our common Christian faith. We can accomplish more when we combine our efforts. And, we share the joy of a job well done when our Lord uses our gifts to advance his kingdom.

May the Lord inspire us to honor him with our giving,

Brother Richard

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July 14, 2022 · 3:46 PM

Oops! Another Reminder Of Life’s Frailty

On Saturday morning, June 11, I decided to trim a holly in front of our house. It had gotten too tall. I wanted to shorten it significantly so it would be easier to trim in the future.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I engaged in an ill-conceived strategy to reach the top of the holly that included non-sanctioned supporting equipment. (OSHA would have been appalled!) Suffice it to say that it included a bucket turned upside-down and other sundry items.

The instant I fell, I knew that this would not be my finest hour. Every breath was a struggle. A trip to the emergency room let me know that I cracked/broke (is there a difference?) four ribs and two vertebrae. My movements over the next couple of weeks were curtailed, to say the least.

Thanks to all who went to the emergency room, brought meals, did shopping, gave rides, filled in at the church, checked on us, and most of all, prayed for God’s mercy and healing. Church family made a difficult time so much easier.

I’m sorry for taking an unnecessary and foolish risk, but I’m grateful for the grace and mercy of God, demonstrated through the love and concern of brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, and I’m so grateful to God that he made our bodies so that they heal!

Accidents and illnesses are reminders of how fragile life is. Things can change in an instant. The world says, “Your days are numbered!” That’s certainly true, but it sounds so negative. In fact, it sounds a bit like a threat.

The Bible, on the other hand, says, “Teach us to number our days aright” (Psalm 90:12, NIV). This is no threat. It is good advice. It is wisdom from God’s word.

We know that God has blessed us with a certain number of days in this world. He urges us to be aware of how precious time is and to be fruitful in spending it. This includes healthy balances of work and rest, productivity and pleasure, family and friends, worship and service, being in the church and being in the world (but not of the world), staying home and getting out, and so forth.

Jesus told his disciples, “We must do the works of the One who sent me while it is day; night comes when nobody is able to work” (John 9:4). The word “day” in Jesus’ saying signifies the time of opportunity. “Night” symbolizes the time when opportunities are past.

Jesus said that we must do the works of the One who sent him, that is, the works of God. The Lord holds out opportunities to each of us to participate in his great kingdom work in this age. These are opportunities to number our days aright, to use our time in a fruitful manner.

Every day that we can get up and go is a gift from God. He is inviting us to be fruitful and to enjoy a harvest from the work he gives us to do. Know your calling and pursue it with wisdom and passion.

May the Lord enable us to go and do, for him and for his glory,

Brother Richard

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June 2, 2022 · 1:22 PM

God Saved Us To Do Good Things

The Bible verse for Vacation Bible School this year is Ephesians 2:10: For we are his (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we might walk in them.

The “we” in this verse refers to Christians, followers of Jesus. Immediately before this verse, we read about how to become Christians: For by grace you are saved, by faith; and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works so nobody can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Christians are saved by grace, not by works. Grace is the wonderful gift of salvation offered by God. He sent his Son Jesus to give himself as an atoning sacrifice, to die for our sins. He did this so that we can be forgiven.

Since God offers us salvation as a gift, we are not required to earn it by doing good works or by being good people. Jesus earned our salvation for us. This is good news. We would be incapable of earning a place in heaven. Why? Because only one who is perfect deserves heaven and nobody is perfect except Jesus himself.

God’s gracious gift of salvation comes to us through faith. Faith is the step of trust we take to believe God’s promise about Jesus and to ask him to forgive our disobedience. Faith includes a commitment to be a follower of Jesus, confessing Jesus as Lord. The result is God’s priceless gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

So, what about all those verses in the Bible that talk about obeying God and doing good deeds? After God’s grace saves us by faith, God’s plan lays out a path for us to follow which includes good works. It is vital for us to note that Ephesians 2:8-9 comes before Ephesians 2:10. We don’t work to get saved. We get saved to work.

Verse 10 starts by saying that we are God’s workmanship. It’s his work that saved us. He sent Jesus to die for our sins. That’s why it then says we are created in Christ Jesus. Jesus is our Savior, the one who died so that we can be a new creation. God also sent his Spirit to speak to our hearts and to transform us into the image of Christ.

Now we see in verse 10 that we are saved to do good works. God wants us to avoid spending eternity in hell, but his salvation is more than a rescue from eternal punishment. God’s salvation enables us to do good things that he prepared beforehand. Since he prepared these works, we know he will be pleased by them.

God prepared us for the works and the works for us. To be saved by faith in Jesus and to do the good deeds God prepared for us is to experience the fullness of a life well-lived. Since God prepared these works for us to do, we know that they will be meaningful, eternally meaningful.

The last part of verse 10 says that we are to walk in them (“them” being the good works). The Bible describes our daily lives as a ‘walk.’ We ‘walk’ through this world step by step, day by day, decision by decision. Our ‘walk,’ our daily life, has a direction and a destination.

The works prepared by God for us to do become a pathway that leads to a full and fulfilling life. By walking in the pathway laid out for us by God, we enjoy rich experiences of his presence, power, and blessing along the way. And we know that he is our great destination, to stand in his presence, to see him face-to-face, and to worship him with abundant joy!

What marvelous things God has revealed to us in his word! How abundant the blessings that God stands ready to pour into our lives!

May God always bless us with good deeds to walk in,

Brother Richard

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