Each of us will face eternity

Many people have the mistaken belief that this life is all there is. We are born, we die, and that's it. Those who believe this are seriously mistaken. Each of us are created as eternal beings. There will come a time when we will die, but that does not mean that is the end of our lives. While the body may die, the soul and spirit lives forever. The Bible speaks of both heaven and hell, and while many people might want to believe in heaven and not believe in hell, the Scriptures do not give us that option. Both are real, and the truth is that we will determine which will be our eternal home by the decisions we make in this lifetime.

Some state that if God is love as Christianity teaches that He could send no one to hell. These Universalists believe that when mankind is finally judged that a benevolent God will simply let everyone enter into heaven. If this is true, why did His Son, Jesus Christ, die on the cross? If His suffering and death had no purpose, why would He endure it?

However, they are true in one respect. God will send no one to hell. All those who find themselves in hell chose to be there. They made the decision, not God. You see, God has made it possible for all mankind to be saved from hell through the death of His Son on the cross. All who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Those whose eternal destination is hell chose that for themselves by their refusal to accept God's offer of salvation. God will not force anyone to believe in Him, but gives each of us free will to choose for ourselves. God has done all He needs to do. He gave His only Son to die on a cross so our sins could be forgiven. Now, it is our decision to receive that offer of salvation by trusting in Him or by rejecting Him. Accepting Him leads to salvation; rejecting Him leads to eternal separation from God.

Each of us will choose. At a revival one year a group of young people presented a skit. One person was sitting on the back of a chair which represented someone sitting on a fence. Another person was representing Jesus Christ while a third person played the part of Satan. The Satan figure kept offering the person on the fence all kinds of incentives to follow him. The Jesus figure simply held his arms out to the side representing the cross and saying "I love you." Then the Satan figure would begin again offering numerous pleasures if the person would pick him. The Jesus figure continued to hold out his arms and repeat, "I love you." The scene repeated the third time. At that moment, the person on the fence announced his decision to remain on the fence. Satan then put his arm around the person and said, "Good, I own the fence." I almost came our of my seat! You, and every person who has ever lived, will choose whether to follow Jesus Christ or Satan, and that decision will determine your eternal destination.

What choice have you made? Have you decided to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior or are you still sitting on the fence refusing to decide? If you are on the fence, you have already decided because Satan owns the fence. 

Your greatest need in these unsettled times

No one can doubt that we live in very unsettled times. As a nation, America is divided as it has not been since the Civil War. We now question everything that comes from the mouths of our politicians, the media, advertisers and even the church. Truth has become hard to come by leading to conspiracy theories and a general suspicion of everything we hear. Violence is widespread with drug gangs even infiltrating smaller, rural communities. Crime is rampant with the police and courts seemingly powerless to do anything about it. Churches and entire denominations have abandoned the Word of God and now proclaim a spurious gospel that will appeal to a "woke" generation. Immorality is rampant with legislative bodies and the courts now legalizing behaviors that were considered immoral throughout recorded history. Our education system is in ruins. Parental rights are being taken away slowly but surely by the courts and schools. Children too young to vote, too young to drink alcohol, too young to have a driver's license, even too young to enter grade school are being allowed to choose their gender. We could fill an entire book with all that is wrong with today's society, but this should be enough to convince anyone that we live in very difficult times.

While I am not a conspiracy buff, I do not think this is all accidental. When you think of all the negative changes that have taken place in our world in the past few years, it's hard to not believe there is a power, a force, behind it all. I sometimes feel I am living in a magic show where the magician draws our attention elsewhere while he or she works his or her "magic." I can only wonder what's next as our nation, and world, moves even further from God.

There are some things we can do. Certainly, we can pray that God would send revival to turn our world back to Him. With elections coming up we can vote for persons who seem to support our values and moral beliefs. It is amazing to me that Congress has an approval rating of under 10 percent, and yet we keep electing the same people who have created much of this mess back into office. I would like to see every Christian vote in the next election and vote every incumbent running for office out. That would send a message to those who are not up for election that we are fed up with what they have done to our nation, and if changes are not made, they will be the next ones who will have to find an honest job outside of politics. BTW - this is not limited to national politics. We need to do the same thing with school boards, local politicians and anyone who is supposed to represent the people.

We can advocate for the truth of God's Word. There is One far above the President, Congress and the Supreme Court who has the final Word. It is His Word that must be followed and obeyed. The three Hebrew captives refused to bow down to the political powers and announced that even if they were cast into the fiery furnace, they would not deny their God. Instead of the church compromising the Word of God in order to get along in our current society, we need to be speaking truth to power.

The most important thing we can do in these unsettled times is to be sure of our Christian faith. Let me ask the reader a very simple question, are you a Christian? If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven? This is important...you are not a Christian because you attend church sometimes, or that your parents were Christians, or you have been confirmed or even baptized. You are a Christian because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You are not a Christian because your good works outweigh your bad deeds. You are not a Christian because you belong to a church. It is by faith you are saved. Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life, and no one could come to God except through Him. There are no other roads that lead to God but through Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that even more difficult times are coming, and only those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation will be able to endure these times. Do you know that you know that you know that you are a Christian? If not, please contact me or a pastor of a Bible-believing church in your community. Eternity is at stake.

Finding true value

 One of the most difficult things I have to do as an auctioneer is to tell someone that the things they have treasured have little actual value today. Many of the people I do auctions for are people who are older and moving into assisted living or a smaller home and cannot take everything with them. As we walk through their home, they tell me stories about the dresser they got from their grandmother. I often have to explain to them that the dresser didn't belong to anyone else's grandmother, and that antiques do not sell for much, at least in our area. The sentimental value they have for many of their items is far more than what they can expect them to bring at auction.

Similar things happen with those who buy "Collectibles" from television ads. One young man got angry with me when I told him the 200 or so "Collector Plates" his mother owned might bring a dollar apiece at auction. "Do you know how much she paid for them," he demanded? Yes, and I also have seen many of them sell in auctions. Here's a tip...if it says it's a collector's item, it probably isn't. Such items have little value in the secondary market, especially when sold at auction.

What does hold its value? What is a good investment? The Bible tells us "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Like someone said, you never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. The story is told of two men who attended the funeral of a very wealthy individual known for his tightfisted ways. One asked the other, "I wonder how much he left behind?" The other man responded, "He left it all." Everything we acquire on earth is just stuff. It breaks, it gets dirty, it loses its value, and eventually, much of it ends up in a dumpster somewhere.

I've been on this rock for nearly 75 years, and the most valuable thing I possess is my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When I leave this life, and leave all the stuff behind I've accumulated, I know that I have a heavenly home. It is there that I will be reunited with loved ones who have gone on before. It is there that I will enjoy a life without sickness, poverty, pain, hatred and any of the other things that are too prevalent in this life. Most of all, I will be in the presence of Christ who loved us enough to give His life on the cross for our sins.

I pray you are laying up treasures in heaven as well. A relationship with Christ is the most valuable thing you will ever possess because it is truly eternal. 

A life well lived

I read yesterday where Jack Hayford passed away. I never met the man, but he was one I admired from afar. He wrote over 50 books and more than 600 hymns and choruses. His song Majesty is sung in many churches each week. He was the founding pastor of The Church on the Way where he served as senior pastor for more than 30 years. He also founded The Kings University where he served as chancellor and was active with Promise Keepers. For five years he served as President of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

I heard him speak in interviews and on tape a number of times and was always impressed by his gentle spirit. He was a man called of God who recognized that calling and sought to live in that calling to the best of his ability.

One of the things that impressed me so much about Jack Hayford was his approach to ministry and to life. He was never flamboyant or excessive in his approach to either. The various positions he held could have made him arrogant, a problem some mega-church pastors and denominational leaders seem unable to avoid. I always felt I could sit down with Jack Hayford and talk about anything and be heard and come away with practical advice that addressed my questions.

Hayford is now in eternity with the One he worshiped so well. No doubt he has heard the wonderful words we all seek to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant...." He truly lived life well.

We could do worse than follow the example Jack Hayford set before us. He was a pastor to thousands, a founder of an important university, a writer, a song writer, and yet I believe if you asked him he would respond that he was simply doing what God called him to do. Far more than his successes, he was faithful to the work God set before him. This should be the goal of all of us called into ministry.

One of the things I find most attractive in Christian leaders is faithfulness. I own a print of George Younce and Glenn Payne, founding members of The Cathedrals, that is on the wall in front of my desk. Their faithfulness in carrying out God's call on their lives has always been an inspiration to me. I see that picture numerous times a day when I working in my study to encourage me to that same faithfulness. Jack Hayford inspires the same desire to be faithful to God's call on my life. I care not about the world's acclaim. I only want to hear God's affirmation of my life and ministry when I stand before Him. I encourage you to seek the same.

Treasures that aren't

I was recently asked by a couple if I would sell some items for them at auction. When I asked what they had they told me they had a little bit of everything: antiques, glassware, a lot of old stuff. I had them give me their address and made arrangements to meet the next day. It wasn't until I checked out the address that I learned they lived over an hour away from my house.

The next day I drove to their home to look at the items they wanted to sell. Unfortunately, what they had were inexpensive items that would not bring much at auction. It's always hard for me to tell people that, but as I explained to the couple I would rather tell them upfront rather than explain it as I hand them a disappointing check. They would get far more for their items by having yard sales than trying to sell them at auction.

Driving back I thought about how this would have made a great illustration for the last sermon I preached at the church I served as Transitional Pastor. My message looked at the Pearl of Great Price and dealt with how many people are willing to settle for things of lesser value rather than seeking the truly valuable.

A relationship with God through Jesus Christ is the Pearl of Great Price. Like the pearl merchant in the parable, we have to be willing to trade everything we have in order to enjoy this relationship, but it is well worth it. Nothing is more valuable in this life than a personal relationship with God, and nothing else prepares us for an eternity with Him when this life ends.

Yet, many people want to hold on to lesser things than to possess the greatest relationship they could ever know. They tightly cling to their material possessions, their dreams, their addictions, even their heartaches. They work their entire lives for pebbles when the Pearl of Great Price is available to them.

Since becoming an auctioneer I have been surprised by what people seek and cling to, and I've been even more surprised by the value they place on those things. Whether you amass gold bars or trinkets, it's all just stuff that you'll leave behind when you die. You won't find a hearse pulling a U-Haul. It will all be left for people to either fight over or throw out. The only thing that really matters in one's personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Without that you face a godless eternity when your life here ends, but with that relationship you are assured of eternity in heaven.

What are you seeking? What do you value more than anything else? If you want to know more about having a relationship with God please DM me. I would love to talk to you about it.

What is needed to be a soul-winning church?

Before the Lord ascended into heaven He gave the church its marching order: the Great Commission. The primary mission of the church is to reach out to those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, help them come to faith, and then assist them in growing in their new-found faith. This charge was not limited to large churches nor was it given only to those who have the gift of evangelism. This commandment was given to all churches in every age.

One would think that since we really have only one thing upon which to focus that we would be very good at it, but we're not. Many Christians will not lead a single person to faith in Jesus Christ in their entire lifetimes. Each year numerous churches fail to reach anyone with the Gospel. I once spoke with a pastor whose church had not baptized anyone in 50 years. This bivocational pastor was going to do his first baptism in that church, and he wanted it to be very special in hopes it would get the church excited about reaching out to the unchurched in their community.

We could scratch our heads and ask why churches fail to evangelize, but I think it's better to focus on what a church requires in order to become a soul-winning church. The first thing it needs is a pastor who is a soul-winner.

No pastor should complain if his or her church is not seeing lost people come to faith in Christ. If it's not happening in his or her church it means that he or she is not reaching the lost either. Pastors should not expect their congregations to do something he or she isn't doing. A soul-winning pastor will develop a soul-winning church.

Secondly, there needs to be a passion about soul-winning. Back many years ago before I started preaching (and door-to-door visitation was still OK) our church began a mid-week visitation program to reach the lost in our community. The first few weeks we met, had a light meal, and went out in pairs to various sections of the community to meet people, invite them to church, and share the Gospel when we felt it was appropriate. After a couple of months passed we noticed the numbers of people showing up for the visitation was growing less and less. Soon it was just the pastor and me going out each week.

Evangelism is hard work, and you can go for extended periods of time with little results to show for your work. It's easy to get discouraged, especially if you have little passion for it anyway. The rest of the people who signed up for the visitation program became discouraged, and their discouragement soon overwhelmed the little passion they felt about the visitation. Eventually, we pulled the plug on the visitation program, and everyone went back to complaining about the lack of growth in our church.

The third requirement is that people must actually believe that lost people are going to hell. That's not a very popular belief today in our postmodern world. Even those who still believe in some concept of hell often believe that only the worst of the worst will end up there. Surely, no one they know is bad enough to deserve hell so why embarrass them by talking to them about asking Christ into their lives.

I've challenged this thinking in some recent sermons I've preached in various churches. I've reminded the listeners that they believe that the Bible is true which means that when it speaks of Christ being the only way to God that is also true. When it says that all have sinned and come short of God's glory that is also true. When it says that the wages of sin is death, that is also true. Finally, I remind them that "all" includes everyone outside of Christ including the nice grandmother who lives next door, the sweet young person who checks out their groceries, and their own children, parents, and grandparents.

The church must recapture the biblical belief that people without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ are lost, separated from God by their sins, and if they die in that state they will be eternally cut off from God. Until we do we will never have the passion for evangelism that we need to be soul-winners.

Is what you are doing worth the life of the Son of God?

I do not remember where I came across the title of this post, but it is a question that I use to challenge the church leaders who attend my workshops.  It is one of the most powerful questions that churches can ask of themselves.  I remember that the pastor who wrote about this question said he asks each of the committees and boards in his church to ask this question at the start of every meeting, and that he asks it of the congregation about once a month.  "Is what we are doing here today worth the life of the Son of God?"  As I explain to my workshop attendees I am not always as tactful as others so I will sometimes ask the question this way, "Did Jesus really die for this?"  The emphasis is on the "this."

The reason I think this is such a powerful question is that I doubt that Jesus really cares about much of what the church is doing.  I fear that we spend way too much time focusing on things that really don't matter and miss out on what God wants to do in our world through us.  Board meetings are spent hearing reports on how many hospital visits the pastor made last month while never getting around to discussing how the church can best reach out to the unchurched in the community.  Committees spend incredible amounts of time deciding on the color of carpet for the sanctuary while people within the shadow of their church's steeples are dying without Christ and children are going to bed hungry.  Does it really matter whether you put down blue or grey carpet when people are going to hell all around us?

Denominations form task groups to discuss and re-discuss issues that churches and our culture are never going to agree on while their baptism rates continue to decline.  They create position papers that few people outside of their denominational leadership will ever read and that will have zero impact on the vast majority of their churches while failing to provide the leadership that their churches do need to more effectively minister to their communities.

Why did Jesus go to the cross?  Because man is a sinner whose sins have cut him off from God.  Christ came to reconcile mankind to God and gave the church the task of proclaiming that reconciliation.  If we fail to do that then we have failed as a church no matter what else we might be doing.

The mission of the church is simple.  It consists of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.  It does not matter if you are a church of 50 people or 50,000 your mission is the same: the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.  Your vision will certainly look different because your vision will be how your church will carry out that mission.  Obviously, a church of 50 people will approach that mission differently than will a church of 50,000, but the focus is still going to be on the mission.  Anything that distracts a church from fulfilling that mission should be avoided because it is not worth the life of the Son of God.

Depending on the statistics you read, 3,000-5,000 churches in the US close their doors every year.  Most of these churches are smaller, but they do not close their doors just because they are small.  These churches do not shut down because they no longer have a mission to fulfill.  They shut down because they have lost their vision for ministry.  They long ago forgot their purpose for being.  They substituted activity for ministry and began a downward spiral that eventually closed their doors.

The next time you begin a committee meeting in your church begin by asking the question, "Is what we are doing here today worth the life of the Son of God?"  The next time your church's business meeting gets a little heated stand up and ask the question.  You may want to also ask the question at the end of your worship service: Is what happened here today worth the life of the Son of God.  Or, if you're feeling real bold ask it my way, "Did Jesus really die for THIS?"

Where are you taking the people you lead?

I recently spoke to a member of a church who was frustrated with things that were happening in her church.  Part of her frustration was that she saw the church repeating the same mistakes over and over again.  She didn't know what to do and called hoping I could solve her problems.  I'm afraid I made them worse.

A major part of her concern was over some in the congregation who were becoming very critical of their pastor.  She said she would hear complaints about aspects of the pastor's ministry from one person and before the day was out she would hear from someone else how helpful they found that particular part of his ministry was to them.  I tried to explain that although the church had a formal job description for the pastor, in reality there were 150 job descriptions he was expected to meet.  That's how many people attend that church, and each of them have different expectations for the pastor.  Those who are happy with his ministry are happy because he is meeting their expectations while those whose expectations are not being met are going to be unhappy.  I then explained this is due to a failure of leadership.  I asked her if the church leaders had ever worked with the pastor to develop a set of goals for the coming year.  When she said they had not I asked how could anyone be expected to properly evaluate the pastor if he has had no goals to achieve?

After giving her a quick overview of SMART goals and how important it was for the church leaders and pastor to agree on 3-4 primary goals for him to give priority to, I shared that before they could do that the church needed to have a clear God-given vision for ministry that he would be expected to lead.  Only with such a vision could the leadership develop and agree upon goals for the pastor that would enable him to lead the church towards that vision.

I told you I made things worse for the caller.  She was hoping for a quick fix to resolve the problem and I began explaining that their problems are due to a number of structure problems in the church that can not be resolved easily.  As a result of those problems the church has been wandering around for years with no sense of direction or purpose.  They merely open their doors each week hoping something good happens before the day is over, but they are doing nothing intentionally to help something good to happen.

At this point I took my caller back to Moses and reminded her of him leading the Israelites round and round the wilderness for 40 years.  Why?  Because the Israelites earlier had refused to live into the vision God had for them.  That refusal sent them back into the wilderness until the rebellious generation was gone, and when that generation was gone God called Moses to take them back to the edge of the Promised Land where they would enter it.  One translation has God saying to Moses, "You've circled this mountain long enough," it is time to go back to the land I have given you.  I told the caller that her church has wandered around in the wilderness for years because the church refuses to live into the vision God has for them.  They need their pastor to lead them to the place God has for them, but he cannot do that until the church has a clear understanding of where that is.  I explained to her that there was nothing wrong with her church that a unifying vision, a pastor who clearly understands what the church expects of his leadership, and a congregation willing to follow that leadership would not resolve.

Leaders, where are you leading your people?  Lay leaders, what exactly is God's vision for your church?  Is your leadership team on board with that vision?  Have you given your pastor the authority to lead you towards the achievement of that vision?  If so, are you protecting him or her from the complaints of those who believe the church (and pastor) exists to tend to their personal agendas?  Are you gladly following his or her leadership and challenging others to join you on that journey?

Pastors, where are you leading your people?  Are you leading them towards the destination that God has determined for them, or are you just circling the mountain, wandering in the wilderness, hoping something positive will eventually come?  Has the church given you the responsibility to lead them but withholds the authority to do so?  If so, who have you spoken to about this?

Both lay leaders and pastors need to understand something: while we play little church games people are dying and going to an eternal hell.  Families are falling apart.  Our young people are leaving the church and the faith in droves.  Our nation is moving further and further away from God.  False religions are growing rapidly as people look to other belief systems to feed their spiritual hunger as they become convinced that Christianity has nothing to offer them.  It is time that leaders begin to lead their churches to the place where God wants them or step aside and allow real leaders the opportunity to do so.

Taking the wrong road

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This past Sunday was very frustrating.  I was supposed to take part in a pastor friend's ordination.  A few miles from the church he serves I found the road was out due to construction.  I still had plenty of time if I could find a good alternate route.  I entered the address of the church into my GPS and began following the directions.  It took me nearly four miles away and then would have me turn around and go back the same way I just came only for an additional nine miles.  I knew I would not go the entire 13 miles back the way I came, but I had already lost valuable time going the four miles.  On my way back I noticed a road that I thought might take me around the construction.  About four miles on that road I realized it was not taking me where I needed to be.  My GPS kept telling me to take the route it had mapped out.  I soon found the detour that had been set up by the state highway department, but it was a long trip to the church.  However, nothing else I had tried worked so I thought I would see how long I would be on that road before I needed to turn to go to the church.  By the time I got to my turn the service had already been underway for 20 minutes, and I was still 20 minutes from the church.  I turned the other way and returned home.  I explained what happened that evening to my friend, and he was very gracious and apologized for not telling me the normal route to their church was closed.

On my return home I couldn't help but think of how true Proverbs 14:12 is.  "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."  My instincts pointed me to a couple of roads that I thought would lead me to my destination, but in both cases they took me somewhere I didn't want to be, and they cost me valuable time.  Technology failed me as well as my GPS couldn't deliver on its promise to guide me to my destination.  Because I followed the wrong roads I did not arrive at my planned destination and my plan to participate in my friend's ordination died.

There are so many people on the wrong roads in life.  They travel on various roads thinking these roads will take them to where they want to be.  Some of these roads include materialism, power, drugs, alcohol, perversions, and countless other pursuits that people believe will provide them with what they are seeking in life.  It is so sad to see people making choices that they think will help them become successful and happy, and yet the end consequence of those choices is a life of pain and bondage.  Even worse are those who are seeking to find God but are traveling on paths that will never lead them to Him.  Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  It may not be politically correct in today's postmodern world to say, but there are not many roads to God.  There is one, and it is through Jesus Christ.  Every other road that one takes to find God will turn out to be a dead end.  Sadly, some will stay on that road until it is eternally too late to turn around.  Others will abandon that road only to turn down another road that also will not lead them to God.

I was on four or five wrong roads Sunday, but the only thing it cost me was the opportunity to participate in my friend's ordination service.  We were both disappointed, but there was no real damage done.  However, traveling on some wrong roads can destroy a person physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.  It can create major problems not only for that person but for others around that person.  In some cases, the damage is permanent, even eternal.  God created us and loves us.  He has given us in the Bible the directions we need to experience life in the fullest sense, and  the only way to enjoy a personal relationship with Him.  The only correct road to God is through Jesus Christ.  If you want some help in finding that road, please feel free to contact me.