Back to School!

Back to Marshall Middle School that is. We are finally done with our temporary summer home in Ingomar and heading back to Marshall for the Fall/Winter/Spring '16-'17 seasons. We are so happy that most of you joined us all summer long. We also enjoyed getting to meet some new local faces that checked us out for our weeks at Ingomar. Please remember to plan ahead and join us in Marshall this coming week 9/11.
Check out the map below to prepare for the move!

 

An Unshakeable 'Know-So' Faith

A couple weeks ago, I met an 80-year old fellow with a grey shaggy beard who shared a room at the hospital with my father for a couple days.  He was quite an individual with no shortage of colorful vocabulary and interesting stories.  

I walked into his hospital room about ten minutes after he had gotten the worst news of his life.  Nearing the room, I could hear him apologizing profusely to the nurse for having exploded into a fit of rage just moments earlier.   Apparently the staff was gently trying to break the news to this man that he was dying from liver cancer, but they didn't quite know how to make it palatable for him.  The outlook for Skip was very grave, and they were beating around the bush which upset him exceedingly. "All I want is for people to be straight with me!", he exclaimed with passion.  "I just want the truth!"   

You gotta respect a man who just wants the truth, right?  And so, being a 'truth' guy myself, I saw this as a wide open door to ask him some pointed questions about eternity.   He had just gotten some really horrible news and he was all alone.  No family, no friends.  No one to walk with him upon hearing that his life probably was nearing the end.  "Well, I guess this is it", he mumbled in defeat.  "This is how it all ends".   

I asked him if he ever gave thought to what’s next for him when he dies.  “What about the after-life, Skip?  You ever think about that?”.   “Oh, yeah!”, he shot back, sort of excitedly.  

In our discussion, he told me he had been sober for forty years. He didn’t really participate much in his ‘religion’, but tried to live a clean life.  He was very hopeful that since he was a decent guy, maybe God would let him into heaven. 

“Skip, you don’t have to wonder if you are going to heaven.  You can actually know for sure. The Bible gives people assurance of eternal life”.  I walked him through the gospel message, starting with the grim reality that all of us are sinners, separated from God and helpless to do anything about it on our own (Isa. 59:2, Rom. 3:23).  “Because of our sin”, I told him, “we are all condemned to spend an eternal, conscious punishment in a real place called hell.  God is a just and righteous judge, requiring payment for sins.  He wouldn’t be much of a judge if He just winked at sin and let people off the hook, would He?  Consequently, God’s justice demands that our sin be paid for (Rom. 6:23)”.   

“God, in his infinite love and grace however, provided a way of escape, sending Jesus Christ to the cross as the all-sufficient payment for every one of the sins of those who surrender their lives to God’s Son”.   I told him that this is called ‘salvation’, which is really just another term for ‘deliverance’.  I continued: “Skip, deliverance means that you were once in a position of danger, and now you have been moved to a position of safety... you have been saved!  Jesus Christ provides deliverance to those who put their faith, hope and trust in His finished work on the cross.  Skip, you and I both belonged on that cross, but Jesus took our place - he was our substitute.  Christ’s work on the cross is His offer to take ALL your sins upon himself (2 Cor. 5:21).  The free gift of eternal life is there for your taking.  He offers to make you completely clean, just as if you never sinned.  And even so much more than that, He offers to place His righteousness upon you.  Do you know what that means Skip?  That means that you become an adopted and forgiven child of God (Eph. 1:5).  When God looks at you, He sees you as He sees His own Son, completely blameless!  That is amazing!”   

“But Skip, this requires a response on your part.  To receive this amazing gift of forgiveness and eternal life, you must reach out to God in faith and accept the gift of His Son, and renounce all your own efforts and so-called good works (Eph. 2:8-9).  You must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved (Rom. 10:9-10)”.   

“You see Skip, Christians don’t have a flimsy ‘hope-so’ outlook.  We don’t have a nervous ‘think-so’ attitude.  We don’t have a questionable ‘maybe-so’ thought process.  Because of God’s special promises in His Word, we have an unshakable ‘know-so’ faith.  And that faith can be yours!” 

I followed up with Skip the next day by giving him a gospel tract that reinforced everything I had told him.  We prayed together a couple times, and he thanked me for talking with him, but only the Lord knows where Skip’s heart really is.  Pray for his salvation! 

Blessings to you as you share the hope of the gospel in your area of influence,

Mark

Those aren’t Cade’s rules.

Our kids recently got involved with an ice hockey league. My 10-year old (Cade) has been especially loving it. Now that he learned how to skate (kind of), he has started learning stick handling and shooting the puck.

At dinner time, talking about his accomplishments to date in his short career (one month, as of this writing), Cade said, “I got a lot of goals!”

Erin explained that the puck has to go into the goal for the goal to actually count. Cade answered, “No, if it goes in the goal, or off the side, or off the post, it counts as a goal.”

I interjected, “No, buddy, it has to cross the goal line to count.” To which he objected, “No it doesn’t.”

I said, “Well it does according to the rules used by all hockey players everywhere!”

He put his head down, softly and defiantly replied, “Those aren’t Cade’s rules.

He’s 10. At this point he knows as much about hockey as I know about this "Pokemon Go" thing (next to nothing). But something about the way he said that last line sounded a familiar bell that man has been deceiving himself with since the devil lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden. In his damning sales pitch to get Adam and Eve to transgress, one of Satan’s promises (lies) was that eating from the forbidden tree will make mankind “like God” (Genesis 3:5). Your eyes will be opened. You will know good and evil. Horrible deception.

I have to wonder how much impact those 5 little words made on the minds of the First Couple. “You will be like God”.

The truth is nothing and nobody is like God – never was, never will be. Yet we find ourselves in the mess we are in because Adam and Eve took the bait. And how enticing are those words...? I will be like God, I will be like God, I will be like God.

The Sovereign Almighty of the Universe has created a world with “rules” and has already established the “rules” for us in His commands: Love God with our heart, soul, mind, strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Forgive others. Serve sacrificially. Help the needy.

And in our moments of defiance, when we persist in self-centered sin, in our bid to be like God, we hear God’s Word clearly but want to be a god unto ourselves. We put our heads down and say, “Those aren’t MY rules.”

If you are sitting on the throne of your own life right now, it’s time to get off and allow Jesus His rightful place. You will never be like God, and living by “your rules” isn’t going to take you very far.

Just ask Adam and Eve. Or Cade, when he finally has his first real hockey game.

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. -1John 2:4-6

Pastor Jeff

-Who is on your throne?

So, Are You an Expert?

I had to do some research this week on some technology that I was struggling with as I was developing a new system at work.  I didn’t have any prior training with this particular computer language and so I attempted to teach myself through some various technology websites.  While I was out surfing on the web, I found some interesting articles on what it takes to be an expert in something.  

Some articles said that with diligence, commitment, study and practice you could be an expert in 10 years.  Other sites said it took 10,000 hours of dedication in a subject to become an expert.   So I started to do a little math (basic math, because I am not an expert!) and figured that if I spent about 2 hours and 45 minutes a day studying and practicing, I could achieve 10,000 hours in 10 years and then you could call me an ‘expert’! 

I started daydreaming about how much scripture I could digest and how much better I would know God if I spent 2 hours and 45 minutes a day learning about Him and spending quality time with Him.  I began to wonder how much more of God’s Word I would understand if I put in the effort that an ‘expert’ would put into learning his craft.  

I would love to spend almost three hours a day reading and studying my Bible, and I am sure you would too.  But the reality is, we have jobs to keep, kids to play with, grocery trips to take, bills to sort through, grass to cut, and on and on.  

But what if it doesn’t take 10 years and 10,000 hours to gain a greater understanding of scripture?  What if God honors faithfulness and commitment in our personal time with Him?  Maybe there’s a way to find a healthy balance in our lives and discipline ourselves to spend one hour... or even just a half hour... alone with God.    If the average reader would open their Bible at Genesis 1:1 and read to the end of the book of Revelation one sitting, they could finish in about 75 hours.   That means if they read a half hour each day, they could read through the entire Bible in 150 days (there’s that math again)!  In one year they could read the entire Bible twice and still have some extra days.  

One thing is for sure, attaining knowledge of the Bible takes hard work and dedicated time.  Because the Bible contains inexhaustible riches, becoming an ‘expert’ in the Bible might be nearly impossible even if you get your 10,000 hours in.  But we can be absolutely certain that if we don’t spend any time at all in it, we cannot expect to master any of it’s truths.  I fear that some Christians spend so little time in their Bible that they know just enough to misinterpret it and mishandle it.  That is a very dangerous place to be. 

So here’s the challenge:  if you’re reading your Bible regularly, great!  Keep up the good work.  With that kind of discipline, you will go far in your growth, because we know that the Word of God has great power.  If you’re Bible reading and study time is rushed or it’s kind of occasional hit and miss, then I want to challenge you to mark off at least a half hour every day.  Find a quiet place, a reading plan and keep track of what you’ve studied so you can be encouraged by your progress.  Stay focused and don’t give up.  If you miss a day, just start up the next day and keep going!

Lastly and very importantly, when we read the Scriptures, we need to pray that God would give us understanding.  Do not attempt to study God’s Word in your own strength!  We need to rely on the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us in all truth.  Without the Holy Spirit’s involvement in our Bible reading and study disciplines, we will not hear all that God is trying to convey to us.  And finally, read the Bible with the intention that you’re going to obey it’s commands, no matter what.  In other words, be a doer of the Word! 

Blessings to you as you read and study!

Mark