by Pastor Cecil | Aug 5, 2009 | Romans
Romans 15:13
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Well, I find myself at odds with one of the well known ministers of our day. In recent weeks a few readers have forwarded comments made by this man which give his response to the question: “What is the purpose of life?” Here is what he replied: “In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.”
That response just did not sit well with me (as with some of his other comments). It is easy to make comments, but it is another thing to support one’s comments with Scripture.
As I have meditated on what is the real purpose in life, I recalled one of the most fundamental questions contained in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
Simply living our life in order to prepare for eternity leaves many gaps. It places undue focus on our own interests rather than upon the Lord Himself. If our chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, we will spend time in His Word and inquiring of Him what His will is for our life.
Yes, it is preparation for eternity, but we are not the important part of the equation. He is our all in all and our eternity begins the moment we are born again and have our name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. That is our real purpose for being here!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jun 30, 2009 | Romans
Romans 8:18-19
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”
Do we really understand what it means to suffer for our faith? Someone smirks at us when we bow our heads to thank God for our food and we feel we are being persecuted. We may even brag at our Bible study group about our courage in the face of these “vicious” attacks. (Oh, give me a break!)
I am in the process of reading a book on the lives of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are already aware that all of the disciples of Jesus, except John, died as martyrs. John was tortured by being dipped in hot oil but survived. What kind of persecution have you endured lately?
Archaeologists have unearthed death chambers under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The most hideous was the place where Peter was reported to have been held chained to a post for nine months.
The Roman emperor, Nero had expected him to die in this place of total dark and disease. Virtually everyone who had been placed in this chamber died from disease or starvation. Peter was taken out of the pit and crucified upside down.
So what happened during those nine months of dark and suffering? God’s glorious light shone through in the most magnificent way. History tells us the amazing fact that in spite of all the torture, Peter led his jailers, keepers and forty-seven others to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
I hang my head in shame for the times I have complained. May God forgive me.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | May 11, 2009 | Romans
Romans 12:9-11
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Several years ago I was watching the Animal Channel. The host was holding a red frog carefully in his cupped hands. He made a great case for the rarity of this small frog. He explained that it was close to being placed on the endangered species list. He remarked that he always held a frog lightly since a frog breathes through the skin and can absorb certain chemicals from the palms and may even cause its death.
He took great care to explain how this frog defends itself. He explained that when an animal took the frog into its mouth, the frog would inject a gooey, noxious substance into the throat and mouth of the attacker. This would cause such swelling and pain that the attacker would immediately release the frog.
Suddenly the frog he was holding about eight inches from his face made a leap into his mouth. He quickly spat and caught the frog in his hand. As he tried to control his emotions, he placed the frog down onto the dank forest floor and quickly stammered through the rest of his narrative.
Since then I have thought about this incident. I wonder why these wildlife hosts feel it is necessary to hunt down, “snakes and snails and puppy dogs tails,” hold them with seeming ecstasy before releasing them again. Many times they have been bitten by the creatures, but they still continue this dangerous practice.
Here is where I make the spiritual application! That is exactly how many people—even Christians—deal with sinful things. We go after them and hold them in our hands even though we know how dangerous they are. All too often these practices strike and place us in grave danger.
Today’s Scripture says that we are to hate what is evil. If we are to walk in the ways of God, we should see the danger of getting too close to the things which are detestable to God. What God hates, we have no business holding close to us. We should run from it and not hold it close.
The questions we always must ask ourselves are; “Am I in danger of having a frog jump into my mouth?” “Is there any sinful thing in my life that I am holding close enough that it can inject its poison into me?” We need to get rid of those things that pose a spiritual danger to us. Turn to Christ and ask Him to give us the strength and power to get rid of the “YUK” in our life.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 9, 2009 | Romans
Romans 12:9-11
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
I am scared silly by what I observe in the modern church world. Fundamentals are being sacrificed for the sake of fads. The Gospel is being replaced by gadgets. Spirituality is being traded for superficiality. Discipleship is being bartered for dependency.
This new wave of Christianity calls for little or no commitment except sending money with the selfish motive of getting good things in return. Entire groups of churches have adopted the premise that their own decisions hold priority over the infallible Word of God.
I am here to say that if the Bible says something is a sin—it’s a sin. No amount of ecclesiastical mumbo jumbo can replace what God has spoken. Now we are being subjected to efforts to form a one-world church. The book of Revelation will open your eyes to the pitfall such an organization presents.
So what are we to do—individually—as well as collectively? PRAY! Not in pride but in humility. 2 Chronicles 7:14 should be constantly before us: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Let’s obey God. Though none go with us let us follow Him!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 2, 2009 | Romans
Romans 13:8-10
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Perhaps you have heard the story of two men who shared the same hospital room. One of them was paralyzed and had been moved into a room occupied by a cheerful man whose bed was next to the window. Throughout the day he would carry on a colorful description of what he saw outside their window.
At first it blessed the man in traction who could only imagine the sight the man by the window was enjoying: fluffy clouds, children playing, lovers holding hands and birds in the trees. However he soon resented that he was not able to see what the other man saw. He became sullen and mean-spirited. Inwardly he hoped the man would die so he could be placed near the window.
Unfortunately that is what happened. The man by the window suffered a heart attack and they rushed him to the emergency room. A few hours later the nurse told the paralyzed man that his roommate had died. He asked her if she would mind moving his bed next to the window and prop him up so he could be the one who enjoyed all of the wonderful sights.
The nurse looked perplexed, but moved his bed near the window, raised him up and opened the blinds. There in front of him was a brick wall and nothing more. His roommate had created beautiful, but imaginary scenes to entertain him.
For the past few days my heart has been heavy with the burden of broken vows. We observe broken vows in marriages, on the job, between friends but especially in our commitment to the Lord.
Over the years I have served as counselor and friend to countless individuals who have suffered the fractured relationships. It is almost as if they stagger in the door and pour out their heartbreak begging me to help them.
As I listen to these hurting people describe their problems to me, it is evident that their life, as well as others, suffered because someone desired something they did not possess. “If I only had – – – – -I would be content. I will address this subject in more detail in the next few days.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Feb 16, 2009 | Romans
Romans 1:18-20
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Have you ever had to write a letter to a company or an organization? You have no idea who will be receiving the correspondence, so you address it: To Whom It May Concern. I have often wondered what the person looked like who would be reading what I had written and if in fact they would actually read it.
Back when I was a Juvenile Probation Officer, We had a teenage boy who had a long history of criminal offenses. The Judge committed him to the State Mental Hospital for evaluation and recommendation for further action.
I spent a considerable amount of time preparing a detailed background history of the young man. It listed his residence, how long he had lived there, what schools he had attended (all of them were local), reports from school authorities and his extensive offense record.
In a few days I received a call from the State Mental Hospital that they were finished with their evaluation and that we could come and pick him up to be returned to the community. The judge was disturbed, but ordered me to cross the state and pick him up.
While I was waiting for him to be brought to the office for release, a psychiatrist called me aside and expressed his sympathy. I was confused until he began to tell me how the boy had been shifted from state to state, home to home and school to school all of his life. He shook his head and said, “I still cannot believe that this poor boy has survived having lived in so many different homes.” I simply shook my head and smiled that this man had read nothing we sent to him.
As we were traveling back home I asked the boy why he had told the counselor such wild stories? He grinned and said; “Since the man seemed to believe anything I told him I decided to really make up a good one.” (I somehow believe the boy was smarter than the counselor!)
I fear that we fail to grasp the truth that our obedience to God’s Word is not simply directed to; “To Whom It May Concern.” We have a Savior in heaven that came to earth and sacrificed His own life to save ours!
It is far too easy to become nonchalant in our spiritual walk and forget the terrible price He paid for us. Today’s Scripture makes it plain that He knows us and His plan for men and women everywhere is revealed clearly so that no one can say that they did not know. He knows us and He wants us to know Him by name—His name is Jesus!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
