Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “Today know this: God, your God, is crossing the river ahead of you – he’s a consuming fire. He will destroy the nations, he will put them under your power. You will dispossess them and very quickly wipe them out, just as God has promised you he would.” Deuteronomy 9:4 (The Message)

Our thought for today: “God goes before you.”

One of the things about the future that concerns and even frightens people is the uncertainty of it. We look forward and try to imagine what’s waiting for us around the next curve in life – next week, next month, or next year, and we don’t know. That uncertainty often produces fear and anxiety.

We tend to forget that God is already in the future. Time doesn’t pertain to God. God exists in eternity. Time is something He created as a useful tool for human beings. So in that sense, God exists simultaneously in the past, present, and future all at the same time.

But in another sense, with respect to the future, He goes ahead of us, He prepares the way for us, and then He waits for us to catch up. So when you arrive in the future, God is already there. You will never enter into any situation in which God is not already there.

How does that pertain to our theme this month of keeping first things first? Just that as we think about the future and as we plan for it, we need to remember that God is already in the future. He already knows what we’re going to face and how it’s going to turn out. And, we know that He has our best interest in mind. God is more concerned about your future than you are. So in your thinking about the future the first thing you need to do is remember that God holds the future, and He is sovereign over it.

I want to leave you this morning with two very reassuring promises from God, both recorded in the Old Testament, and quoted from the NIV:

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “The most important factor in a relationship is spiritual compatibility.”

What is the most important aspect of a relationship? What is the basis upon which a person should choose a spouse? I have a young relative who, when she was in her early twenties used to joke that her goal in life was to become a trophy wife. She was very beautiful and her joke implied that she would use her looks to capture a wealthy older man and thereby be set-up for life. (She actually married a nice Christian man her own age who, while not wealthy, is a very good husband and father and they are happily married).

As a Pastor I have a policy that I will not perform a wedding between a Christian and a non-Christian. That’s because they are spiritually mismatched. Our spirituality is at the core of who we are. It determines virtually everything about us. If two people are not in-synch spiritually, then they are incapable of connecting at the deepest and most intimate level in which two human beings can connect.

This is what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. He was instructing his readers to not enter into deep and important relationships with unbelievers. That pertains first and primarily to a marriage relationship, but I believe it applies to other important relationships as well. I think it’s a bad idea for a Christian to enter into a business partnership with a non-Christian partner. Because of the spiritual mismatch, their value systems are necessarily going to be different.

Likewise it can be risky business for a Christian to share living quarters with non-Christians. This is an especially important consideration for young people as they make their initial venture out of the family home. Christian teens and young adults sometimes end-up sharing houses or apartments with non-Christians and end up getting involved in drinking parties, drug use, sexual immorality, and sometimes criminal activities.

When forming any important relationship the first and foremost consideration for the Christian is whether or not the other person is a Christian too. Every other factor in the relationship is of secondary importance compared to spiritual compatibility.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Slow down and relax”

Are you in a hurry today? Is your schedule filled with appointments? Do you have a long list of things you think you need to accomplish? I have to admit that that does describe me on most days.

While it is good to be productive for the sake of the kingdom, and there’s nothing wrong with making full use of your time, it’s also true that we can easily become so over-scheduled and so busy that we’re not taking the time to simply be still and be with God. When that happens we’re no longer keeping first things first.

In his book, “Intimacy with the Almighty”, Pastor Chuck Swindoll makes reference to the picture painted for us in verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 23. He writes, “Tragically, precious little in this hurried and hassled age promotes such intimacy (with God). We have become a body of people who look more like a herd of cattle in a stampede than a flock of God beside green pastures and still waters … We must learn anew to think deeply, to worship meaningfully, to meditate unhurriedly.”

One of my all-time favorite quotes on this subject comes from Richard Foster. In his classic work “Simplicity” he wrote, “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”

Most of us need to slow down and relax. We need to lie down in green pastures, rest beside quiet waters, and allow God to restore our soul. That is the first and most important thing. I encourage you to set aside extra time today to simply be with God.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens – what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol – what can you know?” Job 11:7-8 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Getting to know God takes time.”

Almost twenty years ago I came across a little book which radically altered my thinking about God, and my approach to Him. The title was “Intimacy with the Almighty”, written by Chuck Swindoll. In it Chuck wrote about the rewards which come to the person who will invest the time to develop a deep and intimate relationship with God. He wrote,

“Deep things are intriguing. Deep jungles. Deep water. Deep caves and canyons. Deep thoughts and conversations. There is nothing like depth to make us dissatisfied with superficial, shallow things. Once we have delved below the surface and had a taste of the marvels and mysteries of the deep, we realize the value of taking the time and going to the trouble of plumbing those depths.”

While that is certainly true of jungles and water and caves and canyons, it is even truer of God. Chuck goes on, “This is especially true in the spiritual realm. God invites us to go deeper rather than to be content with surface matters … Some of His best truths, like priceless treasures, are hidden in depths most folks never take the time to search out. Our loss! Patiently and graciously He waits to reveal insights and dimensions of truth to those who care enough to probe, to examine, to ponder.”

But exploring the depths of God takes time. It requires intentional and determined effort. Going deeper with God will have to be more important to us than anything else we could otherwise spend that time on. That would include sleeping later in the morning, reading the newspaper rather than your Bible, going to the lake rather than going to church, etc.

“As important and intriguing as divine depths might be, they defy discovery by the natural means of our minds. He reserves these things for those whose hearts are completely His … for those who take the time to wait before Him. Only in that way can there be intimacy with the Almighty.”

I encourage you to make your time with God your highest priority every day. If you do, spiritually He will take you to places you never even knew existed.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:28-29 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Unity in Christ is what really matters.”

It’s amazing how many things are allowed to come between and divide people. We are divided by national origin. And so there are Africans, and Europeans, and Americans, and Chinese, etc. We are divided by race. There are Whites, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, and more. We also divide ourselves by language, religion, economic status, political affiliation, and even sports team loyalties.

But Christians should allow themselves to be divided by none of those things. As a follower of Jesus Christ you have a spiritual bond with all other believers which is higher, more important, and longer lasting than any artificial manmade issue that could possibly come between us.

African Christians and American Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. Christians in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Min City have a spiritual bond with Christians in Katmandu and Kalamazoo. The unity believers have in Christ should even transcend the differences between Republicans and Democrats!

You’ve probably heard it said that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. That means that we’re all equal in the eyes of Jesus. On the one hand, you’re not more important because you have a big income, and I’m not less important because I don’t. It means that in the eyes of Jesus the President of the United States has no higher standing than the cashier at Walmart.

But that saying also reminds us that as Christians there is only one thing about us that really matters and that is our faith in Christ. Everything else about us is of lesser importance – much less importance. And since we have that one, most important thing in common, there is nothing else about any other Christians which should be allowed to come between us.

It is unity in Christ that matters.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Be careful not to worship the god of money.”

The common everyday language of Jesus’ day was Aramaic. Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament. The official language of the government was Greek. It crossed cultural boundaries and was therefore known by most people regardless of where they came from. Therefore most of the New Testament was written in Greek. But the everyday conversational language of the people of Palestine in that day was Aramaic.

That being the case, when Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 6:24 during the Sermon on the Mount the word He would have used for money would have been the Aramaic word “Mamonas”. In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as “mammon”.

“Mammon” is a concept which represents the Aramaic understanding of a preoccupation with riches and worldly wealth that leads to unrighteousness and evil conduct. When Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and mammon He was using the concept of mammon as a god that is worshipped and served.

Author Philip Yancey, in his book “Rumors of another World” had an interesting insight about this passage. “Jesus saw money as something to guard against, not desire … He portrayed money as a negative spiritual force, a god named Mammon that pits itself against the kingdom of heaven.”

This is why in 1 Timothy 6:10 the Apostle Paul writes that “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” It is the love of money, not money itself, which is the root of all kinds of evil. Kept in its proper place money, and the things that it can buy, are neutral, they are just tools to be used for a purpose. But when you become preoccupied with the desire for money and for the riches of the world, it then takes on the persona of the demon Mammon and it becomes the driving force for all kinds of evil.

This is a special challenge for Christians who live in the USA. Christians in this country have the highest standard of living of any Christians anywhere in the world. And my goodness, we do like our creature comforts. We do like our big houses, our fancy cars, our refrigerators full of tasty food, our recreational activities, etc. We’re spoiled and we’ve come to expect it as the norm. Therefore we need lots of money in order to continue maintaining our very comfortable lifestyles.

That being the case, money as a neutral tool which can be used for good purposes can easily morph into the demon Mammon who drives us to become preoccupied with an unhealthy lust for more, more, more.

I encourage you to push back against Mammon and his evil intent to be first in your life. I encourage you to intentionally resist his subtle allure. Keep first things first in your life by making the kingdom of God and His righteousness your preoccupation and pursuit. Make Mammon bow before and serve the only One who deserves to be on the throne.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” Ephesians 6:12 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t forget who the real enemy is.”

Welcome to Monday morning! I hope you’re looking forward with eagerness and anticipation to a productive and successful week. If you’re like me, then you probably have a full schedule of tasks, meetings, responsibilities, and yes, challenges, lying before you.

Chances are that not all of those activities are going to go smoothly or well. In all likelihood you will find yourself dealing with unexpected situations, unhelpful or even difficult people, and there will probably some frustrations and disappointments to contend with.

And if you’re like me, your tendency will be to focus specifically on the issues and people who are giving you problems. That’s natural, but it’s also wrong. The truth is that we spend most of our time focused on our struggles in the physical world, when the underlying cause of our difficulties is almost always spiritual.

As you lean into those difficult situations you are surely going to face this week, and as you push through them, I encourage you to remember Paul’s helpful caution in Ephesians 6:12. He reminds us there that we are involved in a spiritual battle. People are not your enemy, not really. There is an enemy of our souls, the devil, who wants us to struggle and fail. Even if he can no longer lay claim to your soul (because you belong to Jesus), he can still harass you and do his best to make you ineffective and miserable. And you can bet that he will!

Paul goes on in that passage to instruct us on how to deal with Satan. He tells us to pray; read your Bible; keep in mind what you are really involved in and who you’re really contending with. The battle is spiritual and the enemy is the devil and his demonic forces.

So in verse 13 Paul tells us to be prepared. In verse 14 he urges us to stand strong. In verse 18 he instructs us to pray at all times. Also in verse 18 he reminds us to stay alert and to persevere. The clear implication is that if we will do that, we will win the battle that really matters, the one that takes place in the spiritual realm. That then will give us victory and success in the physical world too.

As you go through your week I encourage you to remember who the real adversary is, and remember also that the Lord has prepared you and equipped you to be able to deal with him. Your battle is spiritual and your victory will be found in and through Jesus.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first.”

Our Bible verse for today: “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:2-3 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Avoid petty squabbles.”

Have you ever wondered who Euodia and Syntyche were, and what it was they were fighting about? We don’t know anything about them other than that Paul knew them and he was aware of the fact that they were on opposing sides of a public conflict. They were probably the cause of the conflict, and perhaps even leaders of opposing factions within the church.

So in this letter to the church in Philippi he calls these women out publically, and urges the church to help them resolve the conflict and to be reconciled to one another. Paul was also pretty explicit in pointing out that they were not keeping first things first.

In verse two he reminds them that they are Christian sisters and therefore they have to strive for unity and agreement in the Lord. Second, he reminds them that in the past they worked alongside each other, and with Paul, and with the other Christians, for the sake of the Gospel and for the cause of Christ. But now they were obviously allowing some petty secondary issue to disrupt the unity of the church and to distract themselves and others from the things that really mattered.

It was so much of an issue that Paul felt the need to address it in this public record which would ultimately be preserved for all time in the Bible. Ouch. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to be remembered for other things rather then for being petty and small.

This Sunday, as we gather with our church families, I encourage all of us to give careful thought to the things we will focus on and to how much importance we will assign to them. Only one thing really matters and that is to exalt Jesus and to advance His kingdom. Everything else is small potatoes.  I urge you to keep first things first.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”

Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33

Our thought for today: “Keep God first in your life and trust Him for everything else.”

We here in the USA are known as a nation of workaholics. The average workweek is now 47.5 hours but it’s not uncommon for some people to work 60-70 hours a week. The recommended maximum number of working hours in order to maintain a balanced and healthy life is 37.

Americans typically take less than two full weeks of vacation each year, and many people leave unused vacation on the books. Studies indicate that a full-time employee really needs three weeks of vacation per year in order to fully decompress and renew, with four weeks being optimum.

Why do we work so hard? Well, to make more money of course. And why do we feel the need to make more money? So we can buy more stuff. And why do we need more stuff? So we can sell it in a yard sale five years from now when we finally come to the point of admitting that we never actually use it.

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus shows us a better way. In that passage He reminds us that our Father in heaven is fully aware of all our true needs – and He will meet them for us, if we will only make Him and the advance of His kingdom our first priority.

The truth is that we don’t need to kill ourselves working ridiculous hours trying to earn big paychecks just to fill the garage with big boy toys. We don’t even need to fuss and fear about our basic needs. God has us covered. We are to simply put Him and His kingdom interests first in our lives, utilize our time and resources accordingly, and trust Him for everything else.

I encourage you to take your Bible, get away to a quiet place for 15 or 20 minutes, and prayerfully study Matthew 6:25-34. It will give you a new perspective on the things that really matter.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first.”

Our Bible verse for today: “God has made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)

Our thought for today: “If the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy.”

Not too long ago my wife and I came to the conclusion that it’s time to make some significant changes in our lives. For one thing, I’m way too busy. I’m the Pastor of a healthy and dynamic church; and I work for a mission agency planning and leading international mission trips; and I have a jail ministry assisting men with substance abuse problems that are destroying their lives; and then there are household projects; and yard maintenance; and hobbies; and I try hard to be a good husband, and father; and … well, you get the picture. In fact, that probably sounds a lot like your life.

“But those are all good things”, you say. And you’re right, they are. In fact, we can fill our lives with so many good things that we end up missing the God things. Not every good thing is necessarily a God thing – it’s not necessarily something the Lord intends for us to be involved in. Pastor Rick Warren teaches that if you’ve become so busy that you can’t get it all done, then you’re busier than God intends for you to be.

Additionally, we occupy a house that is twice the size we need. To maintain it we probably spend twice the money on living expenses as is really necessary. Two people just don’t need 3000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, and 2 ½ baths. Much of it is wasted space and wasted money. And so, we’re selling it and moving to something smaller, cheaper, and easier to take care of.

I love the way Today’s English Version (the old Good News Bible), translates Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God has made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Yup, that describes me. But with Linda’s patient help I’m in the process of correcting it.

Are there some adjustments you need to make in your own life? It really is true that if the devil can’t make you bad, he will settle for making you busy. Either way you end up out of synch with God and less effective than you would otherwise be.

Keep first things first. Don’t let good things get in the way of God things.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim