We all take every day things for granted

There is a huge ammunition plant across the street from our church. This week, we had a visitor from out of state, who was asking me all kinds of questions about it...he was absolutely amazed at the size of this plant! The weird thing is, the plant is almost invisible to me. I've driven by it so many times during my life that I don't see it. I almost didn't know at first what the guy was asking me about, because I'd practically forgotten that huge army installation was even there.

That's what happens with our spouses. We see them every day, and take them, and all their good points, for granted. And if we're not careful, we'll start to not only not see our spouse, but only see other people of the opposite sex who seem to have some good points...and we're well on our way to covetousness, or worse sins.

This problem is not combated by merely "being thankful" for your mate, or telling God you're thankful for them. Instead, sit down and start making a list, or thinking specifically, of every single point about your spouse that you're thankful for. Everything about them you appreciate. When you start doing that, you'll realize how many wonderful benefits your spouse has that you have become blind to. Is she faithful? Thank God specifically for that. Is he a hard worker? Is she a good cook? Is he a good handyman? Do they like to laugh? Have a gentle spirit? Watch football with you? Have great looking hair? Love your children?....I think you get the idea.

Then, once you've made the list, every time you pray thank God specifically for one of those benefits that your spouse has. You'll realize what a great treasure your mate is, and, sure enough, you'll see what you have, and will win the battle over covetousness and ingratitude. Oh...when you get the list part way done, you might even want to give it to your spouse! Talk about a "Thank you note"!

~Pastor Brian

November 21, 2005: COURAGE AND CONVICTION

Don't normally use this blogspace to talk politics...and, I don't think its my job to endorse any person except Jesus Christ, because I know he'll never disappoint. However, I think its good both to commend leaders who do well, and condemn those who do not do well. After all, John the Baptist did as much (of course, he lost his head--literally--because of it!)

I want to commend our President for his courage and conviction. For those of you who have never been in leadership, suffice it to say that we are really pressured to go along with popular opinion...do what is politically expedient. I say "we" because even pastors face the same thing.

For example, let's say a difficult, sticky situation comes up in our church. I know it's something that should be dealt with, but the temptation is to just let it slide...after all, why start a commotion?

True, there might be bad consequences on the horizon from failing to deal with the problem, but perhaps I'll be long gone when that time comes...so why worry about it? Eat, drink, be merry today...forget tomorrow. That attitude was adopted by a lot of pastors over the last 60 years, and is part of the reason we have such a sin culture today. Pastors did not address sin in their churches. Now, we're reaping the fruit.

President Bush, after 9/11, looked at the intelligence he was being given about Iraq...but more than that, he saw how, in the ten years since the Gulf War ended, Iraq had continued to fire on American planes, continued to make dangerous rumblings and he saw that this nation was a threat. Matter of fact, before everyone got political, everyone saw it. I think we all knew that no good was going to come out of that situation. The President had a choice. He could have simply ignored the situation.

No messy war, no casualties, no falling poll numbers. After all, Husssein probably wouldn't attack openly for awhile. Just let it slide.

But President Bush decided to take action.

I know there are many on the left who think he did so because he delighted in war, and wanted a mess! What politician would want that?

Especially since there was little international support, there was opposition at home, he could have just forgotten the whole thing. But he pressed on because he believed this was best for the country. Now, you or I may disagree with that idea...maybe it wasn't best for the country...but what irritates me today is the people who question the President's heart that he truly believed this was in the best interest of the United States, and that failure to deal with this Iraq situation would be dereliction of duty.

So, he decided to act, and he has retained that resolve no matter what opposition has been hurled at him.

Do you know how rare that is in politics? Someone who governs by principle rather than by polls or what others think of him? It is a great rarity.

And it shows that he is a man of character and principle. Can he make mistakes? Yes. Does he make mistakes? Yes. But is he willing to stand for what he believes to be right? Yes.

And I'd rather have a man like that as President, than one of these politicians who are for the war one day, against it another, based on nothing more than what their self-interests demands.

Are you a man or woman of principle? In the stands you take, are you wishy-washy, or are you firm? Not stubborn, but rather sure to stand when in your heart you know one thing will lead to ruin, and the other to blessing. Do you take the tough stand, or do you leave the problem for a future generation to deal with?

Thank you, Mr. President, for standing firm on your convictions...for that is the essence of Courage.

~Pastor Brian

November 15, 2005: Beliefs Do Matter

"WHATEVER!" is often the cry of middle-school aged girls whenever a parent tries to win an argument with them. It's more or less saying, "Ok, you win the argument, but what difference does it make, anyway?"

"WHATEVER!" may not be actually said by those out of middle-school, but it summarizes well the way we Americans tend to think about things like religious beliefs..."Maybe your right, but what difference does it make, anyway?"

After all, when has one's belief for or against the Trinity affected what kind of citizen they are? Can't there be people equally committed to morals who believe differently about the doctrine of Salvation? Surely the way one raises his children has nothing to do with his beliefs on The Second Coming of Christ! "Whatever!"

Religious beliefs, on the surface, seem much less important than one's skills or character. On an individual scale, in specific instances, this might at times be true. An atheist might bring up kids who are constructive members of society, while a Bible-believing Christian might raise a child up who ends up in jail.

But on the large scale, and the big picture, beliefs do matter.

For example,

Did you know that there are thousands of Christian Palestinians? I went to school with one named Wadie Abu-Rahmeh. Wadie believed that the Israelis were occupiers of Palestinian land. He even disagreed with America getting involved in the Persian Gulf War. Wadie felt the same about these things as just about any other Palestinian. But isn't it interesting that ALL of the Palestinian suicide bombers are Muslim Palestinians, whereas NONE have been Christian Palestinians? Wadie and other Christian Palestinians want to see a Palestinian state, but none of them resort to the tactics the Muslim Palestinians do.

Is America the richest, most prosperous nation, just because of our climate or national resources? There are other nations with vast natural resources...how did we end up the world's superpower? Most historians trace this back to the Puritan Work Ethic. That was a religious belief that those Christian Pilgrims had, that followed Colossians 3:17,23,24 admonition that we are always to do all our work...even our "secular" work, as if we were doing it for Jesus Christ. That work ethic spurred a great source of efficient labor and capital that catapulted this nation from some backwoods colonies to the world's only Superpower.

You see, beliefs ultimately affect everything about a society. Some anti-religionists argue that religion has been a source for greater harm than good, since so many wars have been fought over religion. If religion didn't matter, they'd be right. But, in fact, next to religion NOTHING matters. It is a country's religious beliefs that ultimately determine its laws, its economy, its quality of life.

If beliefs are THAT important, then our priority must be to teach our children what they should believe about religion...before we teach them anything else at all. Too often we dads teach them about cars, and baseball, and fishing, but neglect the thing that really matters!

Secondly, we must express our beliefs and the reasons we hold them in the public square. True, most people might say, "Whatever!" to our reasonings, but little by little they will at least come to know what we believe and why we believe it. Their beliefs might slowly begin to change, in so doing, changing everything.

~Pastor Brian

November 8, 2005: Roots and Fruits

Life is a lot more interconnected than we pretend it to be. Generally, I think of my life in compartments: work, relaxation, family, home repair...perhaps your categories are school, friends, club, etc. Then within each of the areas are many smaller compartments...how we dress, what hobbies we like, how we vote, etc.

But try as we may to separate the areas of our lives, they are all continually connecting. Ever try to separate the mulch around your trees from your green lawn? It works for a while, but sooner or later the nice mulchy area will become filled with green grass and weeds, just like your yard.

Since we can't separate the different areas of our life, we have to make sure that each of them brings honor to God, or, sooner or later, none of them will.

For example, say a young lady is striving for moral purity. She wants to keep herself for her future husband. She has no intention of messing up her life in this area. But, in her dressing habits, she chooses to dress in an enticing, sultrous way. She thinks she can separate her commitment to morality in one area from her commitment to provocativeness in another. Sooner or later, the root that is shown by her dress may spread over to other areas of her conduct with the opposite sex, and she may fail in her commitment to purity there.

Perhaps a husband has a goal of being absolutely truthful with his wife, but on the job he lies for a living...making promises on deadlines he knows he can't deliver, giving bad quotes on prices, cooking the books. Sooner or later that root of deception will spread over into his relationship with his wife as well.

Maybe a teenager working a part time job at the store realizes he can pilfer a few things here and there, but in other areas of his life wants to be trustworthy. Given enough time, the unfaithfulness at the store will spread to other areas...not paying his friends back, "borrowing" from a parent's money stash.

Sin cannot be contained. Perhaps in the beginning the devil himself only intended to be evil in one or two areas...but now he is completely consumed. Given enough energy and time, sin, in one form or another, like that spreading grass in your yard, will take over every sidewalk, every driveway, every flower bed.

The Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. The reason: if water entered one part of the ship, steel bulkheads would keep it from spreading to the other parts. To this day there is debate among engineers about what exactly went wrong...why did the Titanic's compartmentalization system fail? All we know for sure is that somehow, someway, the water spread, and the ship sank.

Compartmentalizing sin doesn't work. Keep the water out altogether, or risk finding your life shipwrecked on the bottom of the sea. Use Roundup on the weeds of sin and kill the roots. Don't just try to fence them in.

~Pastor Brian

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