Years ago I prayed that the Lord would give me a burden for the lost of this world.  I must say that this is one prayer that He has fervently answered.  Strangely enough my burden isn’t necessary for all those around the world as much as it for those people right in front of me.  While I strongly believe in world-wide missionaries and thank God for them, I also believe that one of the greatest missionary fields in right here in our own backyard.   Here in America our churches are dying.  There is very little difference between most “Christians” in the churches and the average unsaved person in the community.  The sin of worldliness abounds in the midst of the congregations.  The god of this world has blinded the eyes of those professing Christians who show no fruit of salvation to believe in a false sense of security.  We’re living in perilous times.  I thank God for men like my husband who has this same burden and live their lives proclaiming the coming judgment.  This is true love for mankind.  For true love warns, true love cares, true love proclaims Truth no matter what the cost.

               

“Excuse me, Mrs. Denial, but your little baby is playing out in the street.”

 

“Oh thank you, Miss Burdened, for telling me but I really don’t see any harm in her playing there.”

 

“There’s plenty of harm, look at her.  She’s in the middle of a 4-lane highway!”

 

“Please, Miss Burdened.  I love my child.  Look at how well she’s dressed.  And, take a look at those new shoes; she just learned to walk this past week.”

 

“Mrs. Denial, won’t you please go and get her!”

 

“Why would I do that?  All of her little friends are playing there with her; no one but you seems worried.”

 

“But Mrs. Denial, every day dozens of cars and trucks whiz through this street.  In fact, at 4 p.m. the UPS driver will come down this road and it’s now 3:45!”

 

“Miss Burdened, I appreciate the fact that you seem to care about my child but I must tell you, she’ll be just fine.  Besides that, every week we take our baby to preschool and if there are any real dangers in the street they will teach her about them.  Isn’t that enough?”

 

“Can’t you see the danger?  Mrs. Denial, It’s now 5 minutes until 4!  Please, please try to get her attention!”

 

“Oh, she would never hear me.”

 

“Then run towards her, scream at her, DO SOMETHING!  I see the truck coming!”

 

“I couldn’t do that, what if I scared her away?”

 

“If you don’t do something she will die!  There’s the truck, here it is…DEAR GOD….”

 

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”

Hebrews 9:27

 

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”   Eze 3:17-19

Do you want to give up?  Everywhere you turn you see people giving up;  giving up on their marriage, giving up on their family, and even giving up on God.  Some just give up on life all together.

 

Today in history I taught the children about the London Blitz during World War II.  This was an incredibly dark and desperate time for Britain.  Waves of German planes launched day and night raids from September 1940 to May 1941.  Thousands were killed and the spirit of millions was crushed.  But during that time it was the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill that inspired Britain and became one of the greatest Englishman of our time.  It was his determination to never give up and his resolute speeches that would motivate the world.  In one speech Churchill thundered, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”  Again speaking to the House of Commons he said, “You ask, what is our aim?  I can answer in one word:  It is Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival!”

 

 Couldn’t we all learn a lesson from this man?  Maybe you are in a difficult marriage and you’re tired of the heartache and you want to give up.  Maybe you are a student and the pressures of academics make you want to quit.  Maybe you are a homeschooling mother and the responsibility is overwhelming.  Maybe you’ve reached out time and time again to a friend to no avail and you want to stop trying.  Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed and prayed and all you get is silence.  Maybe your body aches with cancer and the thought of one more day is unbearable.   Maybe you’ve been fighting a spiritual battle and you can’t see victory.  Should we just quit?  I don’t think so for the stakes are too high.  Listen to what Paul tells the Corinthians.  “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.  (2Co 4:15-18) 

 

Dear friend, in the midst of the battle we must keep our eyes on the eternal.  There is more to life than the immediate.  And in the words of Winston Churchill we must remember to “never, never, never give up!”

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  Can you see the young man asking this question?  Righteous anger burns within him.  Will no one take a stand?  Each of you are the strongest and bravest of the Israelites, won’t you do anything?  The King himself, the one chosen to lead the people, sits by in fear doing nothing.  Subsequently, the one who is willing to fight for the Lord is criticized.  Outside vilification is expected but these words come from a brother.  “I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart” he says.  Yet David, with a heavenly wisdom, addresses the true matter by saying, “Is there not a cause?”.  (I Sam. 17)

Is there not a cause?  Such a pondering question for David to ask; yet I find myself asking this very one.  Millions of babies are being murdered in our country; the sanctity of marriage is being attacked on all fronts; humanistic teachings, evolution, and homosexuality is being ingrained into the impressionable minds of our children; witchcraft and sorcery flows throughout all of society, heretical and false teaching comes from pulpits all across America and sin abounds within the church. It has been said that the “average” Christian looks so much like the world that you can’t tell the two apart.  Dear Christian, is there not a cause?  Have we forgotten who we are?  Have we lost the will to fight?  Have we forgotten that we are called to reprove unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11),  exhort the unruly (I Thess 5:14) and abhor evil (Romans 12:9)?  Is there not a cause?

‘Choose your battles’ some would say.   I’ve chosen mine.  I chose mine the day I chose Christ.   We must love people with the love of Christ and fight for their souls.  We must stand up for what’s right without fear and never compromise on the Word of God.  We must be blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and shine as light of this world!  And, we must fight.  Martin Luther, standing against the heresies of the Roman Catholic Church, understood the principle of fighting.  He stated, “If I profess, with the loudest voice and clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle fields besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”  Now, dear Christian lady,  lift up your eyes, read the headlines, talk to a teenager, look into Hollywood and all the powers of this modern world and ask yourself, “Is there not a cause?”

A dear Christian lady said to a group of ladies at church recently, “I know I’m preaching to the choir!”  We’ve all heard the statement and maybe even said it ourselves; ‘I’m preaching to the choir’. 

Just what does it mean to “preach to the choir”?  And, why does the choir always have to be the ones preached to?  After all, they know all the truths being laid out  –  that’s the reason they “sing”.  

It is the faithful “choir” that hears the sermons on being faithful.

 It is the tithing “choir” that hears the sermons on giving. 

It is the loving “choir” that hears the sermons on loving the brethren. 

It is the serving “choir” that hears the sermons on serving the Lord. 

It is the quiet “choir” that hears the sermons on gossip.

It is the holy “choir” that hears the sermons on living above reproach.

It is the witnessing “choir” that hears the sermons on evangelism.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason the “choir” is always being preached to is because they are the ones who show up for practice.  God bless the choir members!  It is the faithful that shall abound with blessings (Prov.  28:20). It is those that tithe cheerfully that God loves (2 Cor. 9:6,7).  It is those that love the brethren who are assured of their salvation (I John 3:14,15).  Those that serve others are the ones who are serving Christ (Matt. 25:40).  Those that do not gossip are considered wise (Prov. 10:18-20).  It is the holy that are the obedient children (I Pet. 1:14-16).  And those that witness are doing the Will of our Lord (Matt. 28:19-20).  Are you a choir member?  If so, thank you!  Your service and sacrifice is sweet sounding music that flows all the way to the Throne of Heaven.  If you’re not a choir member, why not?  You can join today.

 

Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

I remember a few years back when my husband was working with the youth at our church. This particular Sunday some of the kids were talking about this new movie out and how everyone had seen it. They were planning on going to see it themselves that afternoon. When asked what they were going to see they timidly told me it was “A Man Apart”. I knew from reviews that this movie was rated R, so I asked the kids if they would consider waiting until I could go home and get the reviews before they would make their decision. They reluctantly agreed. Here is what the reviews said about the language in the film….“Nearly 100 f-words (10 or so used with “mother”; several used to denote sexual acts) are joined by about 20 s-words, 25 milder profanities and a half-dozen abuses of Jesus’ and God’s names” (pluggedinonline.com) With all the other negative aspects in the movie as well I thanked the Lord that they decided not to watch the movie. I have often thought about the things that Christian people will listen to and watch on TV and it amazes me. I think about how when my husband and I were first married how we were desensitized to the filth in front of us. My heart breaks when I remember things that we allowed into our home through that one eyed god, our TV. Most people would never allow people who were fornicating, committing adultery, doing drugs or using vulgar language to come into their home, to sit with their family during dinner and be around their children. But that’s exactly what people do when watching most television programs. Now putting all of that aside, let’s go back to the language issue. We are told to put off filthy communication (Col. 3:8) and to let no corrupt communication proceed out of our mouth (Eph 4:29). Understanding that I ask myself what does God himself say? The third commandment found in Exodus 20 says “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…” For years now we have agreed that in our home there would be no filthy TV. We do not have cable, satellite or local broadcasting. We watch videos. We can control what our family watches by doing this. We are limited to mostly watching rated G and PG movies. However, the other day as my children were watching one of their favorite movies one of the character said ,”O my God”. I looked up on the wall at the picture hanging in our living room that has the 10 commandments on it. My eyes were drawn to commandment number three. My heart was broken. We have become so deadened to the use of God’s name in vain that it no longer bothers us. We hear this, we watch this, people say it in their homes, at church, it‘s in the cartoons and in books. No one cares anymore. But I must believe that God does! The second part of the third commandment says “….the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” So what do we do? Do we continue to listen to God’s name taken in vain? Does this please the Lord? Do we throw away all our children’s videos that does this? Do we turn off the TV every time we hear our God’s name abused? Because if we listen to this talk it will go into our hearts and the Bible is clear that for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mat 12:34). So this much I know, if we turned it off we would have more time to devote to reading and meditating upon God’s word. More time to give of ourselves in service to others. More time to minister, more time to cultivate relationships and lead others to Christ. More time to spend playing games with our family, training our children, teaching our boys and girls how to live for Christ. More time to spend in prayer. God help me if I ever again become desensitized to Your commandments!

 

 

 

Did you know that God has called you to make disciples?  What exactly does that entail?  You may ask, “What am I to do?  And who am I to be discipling?   Our job description is clear, to “teach the young women.”   Mother, if your young daughter is still at home then this is your greatest priority.  A young lady growing up in the faith who has a good Christian mother is blessed indeed!  What a wonderful opportunity you have to shape, mold and influence your child in a way that will bring God honor and glory.  But, many young ladies who come into the church do not have Christian parents or maybe they were saved later on in life.  They need the more mature believers to come along beside them and in love to guide, teach and train them.  Even if they have Christian parents, young women need mentors in their lives.  When Dana was in youth ministry we had several young ladies who came from non-Christian homes come into our church and were saved.  God burdened me then to reach out and touch their lives.  He calls us to make a difference in the lives of others.  If we do not, then who will?  Their unsaved parents will not direct them toward holiness.  The world isn’t going to lead them down the paths of righteousness.  Their unsaved friends will not give them biblical advice.  Therefore, that leaves you and I. Titus 2:4-5 lays out the principle for mentoring the younger women.  “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”    Today’s churches are filled with young ladies who have no concept on how to live the Christian life they are called to.  These young girls act like, talk like, and dress like the unsaved.   They date like the unsaved.   They watch the same movies and listen to the same music as the unsaved.  And it’s time that the older women step up and speak up.  Instead of complaining about the worldliness of these young ladies, out of love we should take them in under our wings and point them to the Bible.  We should love them enough to hold them accountable to God’s standards. Regardless of your age you can make a difference in the life of another.  It takes commitment.  It takes time.  Above all else it takes the love of Christ.  Every age group needs mentoring.  Pre-teens, Teenagers, college students, newly married, and women with children all need someone in their lives who will reach out and give good godly counsel.  “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.”  Proverbs 27:9