Life Goes On

Regardless of whether we set out to establish a "norm" for our family, it will happen.  Families that worship (more than just attend church) together will produce an air of worship within the household,  Families that pray together will produce a dependence on prayer in each member.  Families that fuss and fight will produce an atmosphere of animosity that filters down to the youngest member of the family. Sometimes I hear my father or my mother speaking in my head and suddenly realize that it is my voice and I'm actually saying what they said, the way they said it.  My Mom passed away 27 years ago and my Dad about 4 years ago.  I really didn't live with them much beyond my graduation from high school, and yet their influence is still strong almost 70 years later. I've said all of this to make a particular point.  We must be aware of the enemy at our gate.  If Satan can sneak in when the door is left ajar by sin that is not confessed, unresolved confl...

Since June of this year I have been involved in three funerals and will be doing another this coming week.  Thankfully, each of the deceased were strong Christians and had lived their faith in such a way that comforting the believing family and friends was easy.  At each funeral I do, I always present the gospel, believing that this is a vulnerable moment for any un-believers in the audience.  There are certain times when people are more open to the gospel than others, and I believe that we should discern those times and boldly seize the moment to present the good news. Just last week when I did this, two people, including a relative of the deceased, gave their lives to Christ.  We did not have an “altar call” as such, but after I had prayed a prayer of repentance and faith and invited any one to make that prayer their own, I asked that those who did pray that prayer please open their eyes and make eye contact with me.  This in no way took away from the servic...

I have a friend who once gave me this formula. Impression without expression leads to depression. He didn't actually give that formula just to me, he gave it in context of a personal story he told about his trying to circumvent an impression from God. What reminded me of that formula was preparation for teaching the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah. First, Nehemiah became aware of a problem with his people in Jerusalem. His awareness came in response to a question posed to his brother who had just arrived from Jerusalem. Quite often we ask people how things are with them, their family or friends. Just as often, we immediately forget their response, or file it away in our "information" file. Nehemiah didn't file it away. He immediately began to act on the information he had received. His actions included; Prayer and fasting (indicating the intensity of his concern) Formulating a plan of action Going through the proper steps to launch his plan. He had no e...