Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Be generous”

Generosity is a Biblical principle that God not only encourages, but requires of His people. God is generous with us and He expects us to be generous with others. However generosity is actually just the icing on the cake of how we as God’s people are to handle the money He allows us to have. Generosity with others brings us into the “over and above” regions of stewardship. There is actually a more basic and fundamental principle which must be established first. It is the principle of tithing.

As a starting place, God requires His people to set aside the first tenth of all we receive and give it to the church to finance His kingdom-building work on earth. The practice started with Abraham and Jacob in the book of Genesis; it was established as a requirement by Moses in the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus; it was affirmed by Nehemiah during the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 10:38); and God even closed the Old Testament by reaffirming the practice in Malachi 3:8-10. There He promised great blessings for those who would obey Him in this manner.

Four hundred years after the time of Malachi, Jesus reaffirmed the practice of tithing in Matthew 23:23. Beyond that, the Apostle Paul encouraged his readers to give joyfully but also sacrificially (2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9).

Based upon the whole body of scriptural teaching on the subject, early Christians established the tithe as the starting place and as the minimum for faithful Christian giving but it was only that, the minimum. The truly meaningful giving was that which was sacrificial and which came after the tithe had first been paid. That then, is where true Christian generosity begins, and that has been the established understanding about tithing and Christian generosity for almost 2000 years since then.

It has become something of a Christian cliché in our day, but the old saying still holds true that, “You can live a lot better on 90% with God’s blessing, than you can on 100% without His blessing.” That is very true. Spend a few moments reading Malachi 3:8-10 and Matthew 6:25-34.  God promises to bless faithful tithers in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. He will bless in material ways probably, but with spiritual blessings without a doubt. That’s simply a Biblical promise pertaining to faithful tithing.

But then comes real generosity. Pay your tithe but don’t stop there. Bless others sacrificially, over and above, and the blessings of God upon you are compounded exponentially. Again, you can count on Him to meet your physical, material needs. But the best blessings of God are spiritual. And, you simply cannot out-give God.

As you prepare to gather with your church family this Sunday I encourage you to give careful and prayerful thought to your giving habits. Then, be generous.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Be strong and courageous by trusting God.”

It’s unlikely that any of us are facing a situation as big and difficult as what Joshua was facing. He was going to have to lead the Israelites out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. But they were going to have to fight for it. And the enemies were big, and well-armed, and in fortified cities. It was a big deal. There was great potential for failure – even death.

As they faced this tremendous challenge it was important for them to get their thinking right first. They had to have the right mindset about it as they approached the situation. So God told Joshua, and by extension the entire nation, to be strong and courageous. “Do not give in to fear or discouragement.” Why? Because “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

There it was – the key to right thinking – the Lord their God would be with them. As they marched forward, doing the thing the Lord had told them to do, He would be with them. And that being the case, they had nothing to worry about.

Now, that did not mean it was going to be easy. And it did not mean they would not face hard times and maybe even set-backs. But it did mean that as they walked the path the Lord was pointing them to, and as they did the things He required of them, He would go with them and He would enable them to deal with whatever they encountered.

What did it require on their part? Courage, obedience, and faith in God. On the front end of things they needed to get their thinking about it right. They needed to remember that their God was watching over them, He was guiding them, and He would protect them. Once they had that straight in their heads, then they were ready to move forward.

The same is true for us. This was not an isolated Biblical promise which only pertained to Joshua and the Israelites. This was about you and me too. “Be strong; be courageous; trust God.” It is a Biblical prescription which is repeated numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments. Read Proverbs 3:5-6. Spend a little time meditating on Isaiah 41:10. Hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:20 as He sent His followers off into the future, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Whatever it is you’re facing in your life, step one of preparing to deal with it is to remember the words God spoke to Joshua but meant for you, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “If any of you has a legal dispute against another, do you dare go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” 1 Corinthians 6:1 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Keep it “in-house”

Should a Christian ever file a lawsuit against another Christian? Is there ever a good reason for Christians to appear in civil court contending against each other? There are differing views about this in the Christian community.

In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Paul seems to have pretty clearly forbid the Corinthian Christians from doing so. He told them that taking another Christian to court before the civil authorities was a disgrace and a matter of shame. He said that there should be wise leaders within the Christian community capable of judging the matter in-house, and there was no good reason for two Christians to be slugging it out in front of unbelievers, because doing so was a bad testimony and damaged the cause of Christ. Paul even went so far as to tell them that if they could not resolve the issue quietly within the church family, then they should just let it go without seeking resolution at all.

There are some in the Christian community today who maintain that Paul’s instruction in this passage was situational and pertained primarily to Christians of that day in that culture. The Roman courts were notorious for imposing brutal punishment for minor offenses and therefore Christians needed to shield each other from that. Christians from this school of thought maintain that our judicial system today in the USA is different and better, and therefore this passage doesn’t apply to us.

Others maintain that the overriding principle of Paul’s teaching still holds. These folks argue that Christians need to keep such disputes in-house. There should be wise leaders who are capable, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lead Christians to fair resolutions of such disputes. And the individual litigants must have enough spiritual maturity and humility to submit to the judgment the leaders arrive at.

Many churches in our day actually have a written “Membership Covenant” which all new members are asked to agree to and sign as a condition of membership. In the covenant is a clause which talks about this very issue and which asks that all members agree to resolve disputes internally, within the church, with the assistance of Christian leaders. I personally believe this to be a very good, and Biblical, policy.

Paul’s point, I believe, is that the church must be ever-conscious of the testimony we present to the unbelieving world. If they see us squabbling and bitterly striving against one another, it damages our witness. It is much better to resolve our differences among ourselves, and to even allow ourselves to be wronged without resolution, rather than damage the cause of Christ in our community by engaging in public lawsuits against other Christians.

Keeping first things first means we’re more concerned with the cause of Christ than we are with winning a dispute against another Christian.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Pray first.”

Philip Yancey is one of my favorite Christian authors. I’ve read pretty much everything he has published. I enjoy his skillful use of words as he explains important concepts in clear and interesting ways, but I have also come to appreciate his deep insight into spiritual matters with which of all us wrestle.

In his book “Prayer: Does it make any Difference?” Philip addresses the common concern about whether or not some of our prayers are inappropriate, or maybe even petty and silly. Philip notes that even some of the greatest Christian pray-ers of all time have struggled with this. Meister Eckhart refused to bother God with what he considered to be “trifles”. Catherine of Genoa recorded in her journal that after thirty-five years of constant prayer she had never once asked God for anything for herself.

But is that understanding of prayer Biblical? Actually no, it isn’t. The prayers recorded in the Bible model the exact opposite for us. In the Bible we read of people making all sorts of prayer requests for their own sakes, and praying about the most common and even mundane issues of daily life. An infertile woman prayed for a baby; a poor widow prayed for more cooking oil; a solider begged for victory in battle; people prayed for rain during a drought. Jesus told us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for our daily bread. Paul prayed for safe travels, prosperous work, relief from physical ailment, and boldness in his preaching. James instructed us to pray for wisdom and physical healing.

Yancey writes, “After reviewing the prayers in the Bible, I have stopped worrying about inappropriate prayers. If God counts on prayer as a primary way to relate to me, I may block potential intimacy by devising a test of appropriateness and filtering out prayers that may not meet the criteria. According to Jesus, nothing is too trivial. Everything about me – my thoughts, my motives, my choices, my moods – attracts God’s interest.”

What does this have to do with our theme of “Keeping first things first”? Paul answered that for us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he told us to “Pray constantly”. In other words, pray about everything. Pray first, pray last, pray in the middle. Pray about big things and pray about little things. Pray when things are going well and pray when they’re not. There is nothing about you or your life that God is not interested in. So pray about it all, and pray about it before you do anything else about it.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

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

Our Bible verse for today: “For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.” James 3:16-18 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Unity in the body is more important than having things your way.”

The image the New Testament gives us of James, the biological brother of Jesus, is of a dignified elder statesman of the church who had great authority and was held in high esteem by the people. If you read his book (the letter of James) you get the impression of a man who had high standards, expected a lot from people, and had little patience for fools. James could certainly not be accused of being soft or in any way tolerant of sin.

That being the case, what he wrote in James 3:16-18 carries even more weight. In this passage he cautions his readers against allowing their personal preferences and their strong opinions to create disunity in the church. Please note that he is not saying that we shouldn’t contend for the truth or stake out firm positions on important issues. He is saying that rather than always getting our own way in the church, we need to be more concerned with peace and unity.

Look at the virtues he highlights and commends here, things like wisdom, purity, a peace-loving approach, gentleness, compliance, mercy. He encourages his readers to sow and cultivate peace. And again, please read the rest of the letter. Don’t mistake this as having been written by a soft man who didn’t have the strength of character to take firm stands on important issues or to hold people accountable for their actions. James was the exact opposite of that. But he recognized that human nature is always in play in the life of the church, and human beings have an innate tendency toward selfishness and self-righteousness. We also naturally tend to conclude that our way is the right way and that everyone else should see it as we do.

So in this passage he instructs them (and us), to back it down, be a little less impressed with yourself, a little less certain that you’re right and everyone else is wrong, and to intentionally strive for the virtues that help to facilitate peace and unity.

The fellowship of a church is a fragile thing that can easily be damaged. Therefore it’s incumbent on all members to be less assertive and more considerate; less insistent on having things their way; and more willing to let others have it their way. The truth is that not every point has to be challenged; not every issue has to be addressed; and not every problem has to be fixed (at least not right way).

Keeping first things first will sometimes mean that things might not be exactly the way you would like them to be, but that’s OK.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

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