Just a few pictures of our teens

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." What did he mean by that? Salt is crucial to our existance. With out the proper sodium balance in our bodies we could die. Without the gospel we will die as well. The gospel is as important to our soul as salt is for our bodies. Salt permeates our bodies in just the right amount in order to keep us balanced. The gospel, in just the right amount, can change our lives. Too much and it can leave us bewildered or skeptical. Too little and we might not believe.

Salt was a valuable commidity back in the day of Jesus. It still is today. People would ship salt all over the world because of it's value. In the same what Jesus wanted His disciples to spread the gospel through out the entie world. If they would succeed as becomming, 'the salt of the earth' the gospel would permeate the entire world.

This week I challenge you to become the 'salt of your family', the 'salt of your school', or the 'salt of your job.' Allow the gospel to permeate your soul and become an effective agent in spreading the gospel to those who don't believe.

Messengers to Prepare the Way: Sunday, Dec. 6th

In Mark chapter 1:1-8 Mark tells us about John the Baptists ministry. Have you ever stopped to think about how much impact John had on the ministry of Jesus? John says, "Make a straight path for the Lord to travel." In John's day, Whenever a person of royalty took a trip he would send people ahead of him to prepare the roads. Repairs would be made and anticipation would be spread from town to town as people awaited to catch a glimpse of the famous person. John cleared such a path spiritually for the ministry of Christ. He preached repentance and a baptism of forgiveness. This cleared a path for Christ and jump started a movement that would change the world and eternity. John did things out of the ordinary and out of step with tradition. Nothing wrong with tradition as long as it still works. But, the tradition of the Law was more of a burden. The gospel of repentance and forgiveness brought freedom and new life to the people who went under the muddy water of the Jordan river.

How can you make a straight path for the Lord to travel in your own life. John's words are more than just a message to a bunch of Bethanites on the banks of the Jordan river. I believe it is a mandate to the church and it's people of today. We need to clear a path and get ready for the spread of the gospel as we anticipate the 2nd coming of Christ. Take some time this week and think of some ways in which you can make repairs in your spiritual life and spread anticipation as we celebrate the advent season.

Been a while

sorry it has been so long since I have posted a sermon on my blog site. I plan to start reposting my sermons as of this coming week.

Sunday, May 2nd, "God is a Vacuum"

I never understood why some people say, "God is like a vacuum." That is until I traveled to Alabama with my brother-in-law Mike, who went to Purdue for engineering. In the time it took us to drive from Louisville to Nashville he explained to me how a vacuum actually works. We got on the subject of a vacuum because we were talking about God. Mike said, "I believe God is like a vacuum." I listened and tried to stay interested but my mind wandered a little.

Basically, I understood that a vacuum is simply made up of a canister, bag, or box of some kind that simply has all the air pressure sucked out. The air pressure in the canister is less than the air outside the canister. This causes what is called suction. Your vacuum works because of this process. I have an upright canister vacuum. The moter causes a fan to turn that in turn sucks all the air out of the canister. When the air pressure decreases in the canister the hose connected to it begins to suck in more air bringing with it all the filth I run over with my machine. A filter keeps the trash and dust from clogging the air flow to the fan. As long as the air flow continues the suction continues.

This past weekend I was at Jr. high weekend at Indiana Wesleyan University. While I was lying in the dorm room half asleep the concept that God is like a vacuum finally clicked in my mind and it all made sense. When I lived on campus at IWU it felt like I lived inside a spiritual vacuum. It often felt like we were inside a vacuum canister. Gods pull in our life was powerful and strong as long as we stayed inside the canister, or bubble, we sometimes called it. We were surrounded by preachers, professors, scripture, chapel, prayer, bible studies, and community service. As I visited campus this week, I felt like I had re-entered that canister, and I could feel the pull of God strongly while I was on campus. However, the minute we left I felt life taking over again and that suction power became less and less powerful.

Gods power operates like a vacuum. His holiness is a powerful cleansing tool. If we allow him to he can literally suck all the bad out of our life leaving us clean.

Many things can block this suction power. Things we should never suck into a vacuum can hinder it's flow as well. Such as pennies, nickles, water, or too much dirt or hair at one time. Our spiritual suction can be shut off by sin, bad attitude, skipping church, or just by being too self reliant. The way to get it to work again is simply repent and seek forgiveness. Allow God to do a cleaning work in your life all over again.

Most importantly, remember that God is still God. Sometimes when we can't feel Gods pull in our life we must simply rely on faith that God is still in control. If we can't do anything else in painful situations we must praise Him irregardless. It's amazing how a little praise and worship can get the flow of God back into our life.

Hope you find this encouraging and thought provoking.

Sunday, March 22nd, "The Life of the Apostle Paul"

This Sunday, Shiloh had a special visitor. The Apostle Paul came to teach us about how God wants to use scripture to change our character. He also reminded us that Satan wants to use our culture to further degrade our character and to destroy others. Paul shared stories from his life about his conversion and his years in the Arabian desert and how through out his life God used His word to develop Paul's character. That training resulted in the gospel being spread through out the entire known world. He ended his speech with his favorite verse from Philippians: "He who began a good work in you will not stop until it's completed."

Sunday, March 15th, "The Death of the Righteous"

This week our church witnessed the "death of the righteous." There was no doubt in any one's mind that Beulah Mardis was now in heaven. She is now alive and well in heaven. The Old Testament saints used to pray, "Let me die the death of the righteous." When I was a teenager I witnessed the death of such a saint. Her name was Marilyn Cromer. She had cancer, diabetes, and went to dialysis three times a week. Even so, she never missed church. If you asked her how she felt she would reply, "I'm joyful." One Sunday evening our pastor came to the pulpit and said, "Our piano player is sick tonight so we'll have to worship a capella Marilyn got up from her pew and walked slowly to the front of the church. She sat down at the piano and began to play one of the selected hymns. That night our little church worshipped louder and with more passion than I had ever heard before. As long as she was able she wouldn't dream of our church worshipping God without a piano player. (it just so happened that Anna Belle was present in our service this Sunday and Joanne, our regular piano player was sick, Anna Belle stepped up and played our piano) Her first Sunday back in 5 months and she played a vital part in our worship service.

The question of the day was, "So what makes a person righteous." The root word of "righteous" is "right". To be righteous simply means to have a right relationship with God. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. The only way to be right with God is to be born again. To be forgiven of our sins and accept Christ as our Lord and savior. However, their are things that we should do in order to preserve and enhance our righteousness in Gods eyes.

I've come up with five "oughts". Five things a Christian ought to be in order to be called righteous.

#1. A Christian ought to love God. Heaven is a place for those who love God. The Bible says, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind."

#2. A person ought to hate sin. We ought to avoid sin like a plaque. We can't both be righteous and constant sinner at the same time. Paul said that's impossible. Even though we may never reach a point in our life where we will never sin we "ought" to try our best to avoid sin; even though sometimes we catch it's symptoms.

#3. A person ought to love the Body of Christ. The Christian life was not meant to live alone. The Bible says, "Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together." Sometimes, I think people isolate themselves from the Body of Christ. They distance themselves over one reason or another. I know that sometimes we physically should not attend church; but in some cases I know that we allow our physical ailments to become more of a cover up for the real reason we don't attend. We ought to love the Body of Christ and attend as often as possible; even if we physically don't feel like it.

#4. We ought to keep the 10 commandments. If there was ever a list of rules a righteous person should keep it would be the 10 commandments.

#5. We ought to be people of prayer, scripture, and devotion. This is truly a lost art in today's churches.

What will your funeral be like. Will people witness the Death of the Righteous. Or, will they wonder where your soul will spend eternity. The book of James tells us our life is like a breath that is here today and gone tomorrow. We only have one breath; we ought to make sure it's a righteous one.