Category: Preacher

Have you ever asked yourself what’s next? On July 13, 2014, I asked that question before a congregation. I was preparing to travel for a long distant funeral service on the 18^th of a very deal friend. She had asked me a year earlier, should the moment occur, would I be present to perform her funeral service. It was indeed an honor to celebrate her life. Though I will not give out names, my prayer is that some readers of this will know how much she was loved. Just years earlier, we shared many enjoyable times together with her husband and my wife while on an overseas assignment. In those days, I certainly was not qualified to even think about everlasting life as I lived strictly in the moment. I asked myself what’s next back then and still ask that question even today. So back in 2014, while I was planning a trip to England for the funeral, I was asking myself what should I say, how should I prepare? Funerals in this country have a little more flexibility but in England where land space and time are perhaps more restrictive, 30 minutes is all we had. I was making a 9 hour trip for a 30 minute service! That’s right and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It is not the length of time that matters but the moment in time. I believe a second of God’s time is equivalent to an eternity of our time. In the weeks that follow this message, I will be sharing more of the moment in time experience that helped strengthen my resolve to continue on faith.

Matthew 13, tells the story of the sower of seeds. Some seeds fell on a pavement only to be eaten by birds, where other seeds fell onto rocky ground but died quickly as no soil to sustain growth, still other seeds fell within weeds and thorns only to be choked then finally some seeds fell on good soil producing good fruit. I believe we should never give up on ourselves or others. Instead, we should always ask for help to determine what is next. Is it going to be a rough road sometimes? Yes. Are we going to have our dreams shattered sometimes? Yes. Are we going to give up temporarily? Perhaps. But, do we give up in sowing seeds or do we search for the next step? I am guilty of being a bad seed, but thanks to divine intervention, continue to grow.

Experiences, whether lengthy or points of time, are all part of our lives and we should rejoice in the good times and take the bad times as things we are given to improve our endurance. In Romans 8, the Spirit of Life sets us free from the sin and death for the Spirit dwells in us all.

The following audio is about 2 minutes long. I cut out all of the details to only cover Romans then the last part of Matthew. In the weeks to come, I will be sharing more audios back in 2014.

T

Have you ever been asked that question only to realize it was YOU who did it? We can all play the blame game to explain away our acts of ignorance or selfishness. We buy into our explanation by saying it was a moment of weakness or we can blame the devil. Yes, that is a good one. The devil made me do it! I believe if you try to use that excuse in a reasonable court of law, you will not get much sympathy. We hear and see through our instant media feeds of road rage where innocent people are killed simply because they were merging onto an interstate ramp same time as another causing an unbelievable act of violence. Why? Was it because the devil made him do it? Not a good defense in the legal system but all too often we hear of such incredible acts of stupidity. All of us are guilty of acts of rage but if not controlled can lead to irreparable results. Perhaps, the results are a loss of a relationship that may take generations to heal or perhaps the results lead to injuries or loss of life that can never be healed. Maybe we should all recognize that we are all humans guilty of sin in need of salvation. Maybe it is the devil working in our lives to cause chaos and to confuse us into thinking that our actions are acceptable behavior. Maybe the devil did make us do it. But wait, who do we claim allegiance? Is it the devil representing the sins of the world or a source beyond this earthly world?

Paul struggled in Romans to first distinguish between being dead to sin and alive in Christ in Chapter 6. Further in Chapter 7, he struggles with sin in the laws we abide by and in our bodies. Especially, starting in verse 14, the conflicted wording of self struggles over sin and why we do it, may seem familiar to us. But, we have a solution to our conflict in verse 25. Thank God!

Perhaps, if we are struggling with conflict within our bodies or our perception of what we should do, we should turn to Matthew 11:28. Let us take a deep cleansing breath and remember that He will lighten our heavy loads and will give us rest. Instead of succumbing to the devil’s temptation only later to regret what we did, let us find rest in Him.

T

United Together yields an outcome far greater than one person can accomplish. We can start as one with a dream but we need to recognize there is strength in numbers. When we are united, we can accomplish so much more. When we are united for a common mission, we are unstoppable. When we are on a good mission derived from divine guidance, it makes the journey abundantly more rewarding.

By myself, I am not much of a fan for baseball but my grandson is so that makes me a fan. The College World Series plays every year in Omaha, Nebraska. This year LSU was in the Series but had lost badly to Oregon on Monday so was playing in the loser’s bracket on Wednesday. Since tropical storm Cindy was right on top of us and not much to do, I decided to take my grandson to Omaha. No big deal except it is a 16-hour drive so we had to drive half the trip on Tuesday then half on Wednesday to arrive in time for the game that evening. The mission was before us and we accepted the challenge. Now, what does that have to do with being united together? Well, we could not do this on our own. My wife and our daughter jumped into action to help get ready for the journey. We had friends at the games in Omaha that acquired our tickets and helped us find a hotel. We had supporters in our social media encouraging us on to victory. Many of you are already LSU fans and know the outcome. They won their game on Wednesday. They won on Friday and while we were driving the 16 hours back home, they won on Saturday to advance to the Championship. Ok, they lost to Florida but our mission was still a success. Memories and new friends were made along the way. The LSU Tigers still made it much further than expected after an earlier loss but they came together to overcome defeat. So too should we look to a better outcome when we keep our eyes on the mission and unite together. TEAM can be an acronym for Together Everyone Accomplishes More. LSU fans are loyal followers and become an integral part of the team. We had so many people come up to us to say Geaux Tigers!

Romans 6:5 reminds us we were united together in the death of Jesus so we can be united together in a resurrection like his. We used to be a bunch of slaves to sin but now we are united as a team for everlasting freedom. Let us not walk with fear into the darkness but boldly run with faith into the light as part of a team united together in victory.

The audio below is very short as I literally drove back from Omaha and walked into church exhausted but feeling victorious from the mission accomplished. Praise God!

T

Can you imagine being sent with these instructions? What instructions? First, you are instructed to only speak to people you are familiar knowing they are your worst critics. Second, you are given authority to perform acts considered to be miracles. Third, you must not expect to be paid. Fourth, do not bring any provisions to sustain you or even a change of clothes. Be good to those who are good to you and walk away from those who mistreat you. Expect deception but be as wise as a snake to deceive the deceiver but also be as innocent as a dove. Expect persecution even from your own family even to the point of life threats. Finally, expect all you endure will build character which then produces hope for an eternal future. With these instructions, would you accept the job?

Matthew 10:1-23 documents this type of instructions given to the 12 disciples. Can you imagine being sent into the mission field with these instructions? That is exactly what happened but if we are truly honest with ourselves, would we go? Romans 5:1-8 explains how we can obtain hope for the future. We first must be put to the test with some trouble in our lives that produces endurance which then gives us character that yields hope when others may not see a future.

As we celebrate father’s day, with cookouts and gatherings with friends and families, may we remember the strength of our fathers who have gone on to glory. May we look with fondness but also recognize they too endured to become a person with character and hope to fulfill dreams. May we seek to be strengthen for the future and look forward to our missions not yet revealed until we are prepared. We can accomplish much when we go out on the promise of tomorrow.

T

By definition, an obstacle is a thing that blocks one’s way or prevents or hinders progress. What is progress? A way forward or onward movement toward a destination. What is a destination? The place to which someone or something is going or being sent. Okay then. My question is this. Are we being sent to a destination that represents progress according to the will of a higher Spirit or the will of the great deceiver? There are obstacles in the way of progress and there are those who perceive progress as a means to obtain their will not His. An obstacle in the way of progress may be a tradition being held sacred or an obstacle may be a threat not to continue done a path for fear of failure. Fear of failure is perhaps the greatest obstacle in our paths to success. My message last Trinity Sunday was to “Put things in order.” All too often we believe we are putting things in order by actually not doing anything thus preventing miracles of faith from happening. You can search web for more about Maggy Barankitse’s story from her life in Burunji but her simple prayer reads “Lord let your miracles break forth every day and let me not be an obstacle in any way.”

I like that simple yet powerful prayer to remind me that sometimes we are point of light and sometimes we are the stumbling block or obstacle in the way of the miracles to come. 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13 reminds us to first put things in order, live in harmony, live in peace, greet all with a holy kiss, feel the grace of Jesus, love of God and be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

If we stay in balance by using the three puts. That is put Holy Trinity first, put fellow man or woman next and put these into action now, we can avoid being an obstacle in the way of miracles. We can also move through obstacles in our way to become willing servants to the miracles to come.

T