I'm Thankful

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  I thought I would share some of the many things I am thankful for.

Golf. Golf is a game I can play with my dad, brothers, and sons. I have also played with many wonderful friends. Playing golf has taken me to some of the most beautiful places in the world.

Mountain Shores Church. This is the first church I pastored. I learned many valuable lessons, enjoyed some great fellowship, saw the Lord do some wonderful things, and grew in my appreciation for God's Word.

Turkeys. Turkey is one of my favorite meals and I love it on Thanksgiving Day.

USC. USC is where I went to college. This is where I met my wife and my Lord. What else can I say? Fight On!

Ben. My youngest. He loves learning. He enjoys music. He loves the Lord.

Books. I love to read and I treasure the books I have and the encouragement and instruction I have received through them.

Believers Fellowship. The second church I pastored. The Lord blessed me through many wonderful people in this church. I saw the Lord work in many powerful ways. I miss the dear folks at BF. Maranatha.

Billy. Our middle son. He's athletic. He's great with kids of all ages. He loves the Lord.

In-N-Out. It's what a hamburger is all about.

Grace Church. The first church I ever attended starting in 1974. Back then there was an energetic young pastor. Now I have the privilege of serving at this church. Same energetic pastor, but we both have gray hair now.

Bobby. Our first born. He's passionate. He has a godly wife (Christa). He loves the Lord.

Naps. The older I get, the more I like them.

The Master's Seminary. The place I learned the skills necessary to cut it straight. Some godly men invested in my life in a very significant way.

Roberta. My loving wife of 28 years. The nest may be empty but I'm enjoying the time with the mama chick. Roberta is a great help to me. I love and appreciate her more all the time.

Jesus Christ. He's my Savior and Lord. I am supremely thankful for Him and His love for me demonstrated in His sacrifice on my behalf. I will give Him thanks for all eternity.

There is much more I could say about all of the above and so many more things I can be thankful for. I trust that this holiday your heart will overflow with gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Job: The Man for the Job

In my last post I raised the question about the man who fears God. The Bible talks about fearing God and we have a great example in the person of Job. We are told that Job was blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil (1:1). Also, twice we have quotes from God Himself bearing testimony of Job as a man who feared God (1:8;2:3).

These statements give us some insight into what it means to fear God. Last time I pointed out that Abraham demonstrated the fear of God by his willingness to sacrifice his son. He was willing to give up anything to follow the Lord. We see this in Job as well. He turned away from evil. He was willing to turn away from sin and all its enticements in order to follow the Lord. Fearing the Lord means that God has our attention.

Now think about Job's life. He lost it all - health, wealth, and family. He had a wife who gave him poor counsel. He had three friends who gave him even worse counsel. Now, to be sure, Job was discouraged, frustrated, confused, doubting, questioning, etc. but he never lost his focus on the Lord. He was a man who feared God.

Let's consider the results from Job's time of trial. During this time, Job's faith was refined. Trials are meant to bring about perseverance, endurance, and patience. As we walk by faith, the Lord works these qualities into our life. He certainly did with Job whose patience is spoken of in James 5:11.

We also see how Job's submission to God's sovereignty (1:21) silenced Satan. Job never said what Satan said he would because, even though Job didn't understand what God was doing, he did not rebel against God but stayed submitted. You also see how Job drew near to God. All he wanted was to talk to God about this situation. In the end God drew near to Job. God did answer Job, not in the way that Job may have expected, but in a sufficient way nonetheless. Job's commitment to God's sovereignty was strenthened during this time and he learned a valuable lesson - its not all about me, its all about Him. An important lesson for all of us to learn.

Job also learned humility during this time. His physical condition was humiliating to say the least. His encounter with God was even more humbling. And Job humbled himself and assumed a position of repentance before the Lord. And just as the Lord promises, he gave grace to His humble servant and exalted him.

Job learned compassion as a result of his fearing the Lord. The Lord was not pleased with Job's friends and he told them to go to Job and ask him to pray for them (42:8). Would you have prayed for these three men? Job did. His fear of the Lord, combined with the trials he had gone through produced a compassion for others and Job did pray for his friends.

Lastly, we see how God rewarded this man who feared Him. God blessed Job and filled his life with joy. The fear of the Lord is the way of life. May you and I be encouraged to follow the example of Job in fearing the Lord.

A Man Who Fears God

Where can you find a man who fears God?

Genesis 22:12 says that Abraham feared God because he was willing to sacrifice his son (Isaac, the son of the promise) at God's command.

What kind of commitment is that?

Do you know anyone like that? Do you know someone who really fears the Lord?

God is Sovereign

On Saturday Roberta and I were in Lincoln, Nebraska. I had the joy of officiating the wedding of Corey Chandler and Amber Lechtenberger. The wedding was great and we enjoyed our time in Nebraska. We had to leave the reception early, however, because we needed to get to the airport in Omaha for our trip home.

We arrived at the airport at about 5:00, plenty early for our 6:30 flight. We were scheduled to fly from Omaha to Denver and then from Denver to Burbank. We were looking forward to getting home as I had a full day scheduled for Sunday. But then the fun began.

We were notified that our flights had been cancelled. What? They told us that they tried to call us but since we bought these tickets before we moved from Texas all they had was our old telephone number. Curious. When they were informed that the number was no longer in service, why didn't they try a different means, like e-mail (Our e-mail address is still the same)? Well they just didn't. So now the scramble begins. They are able to put us on a Frontier Airlines flight from Omaha to Denver and then a United flight from Denver to Los Angeles. Small problem though - our car is in Burbank. So we quickly call Ben to see if he can pick us up in LA and drive us to Burbank. No problem. So we say ok.

Next we have to walk the length of the terminal to the Frontier desk. We explain to them what is happening and they are careful to mark our baggage as going with them to Denver and then with United to LA. Everything seems ok so we get something to eat and relax a little before moving on to the gate. When we go through security though, our tickets indicate that we have been randomly selected for a full security search. What joy - but we survived. When we get to the gate we find out that our flight has been delayed by a half an hour. This creates a problem because now our connection in Denver will be really tight especially since Frontier and United are in two different terminals.

So, we fly to Denver and then we sprint through the terminal to make our connection. And we did. So we sit back and relax thinking everything is working out just fine. When we get to LA we go to baggage claim and there we stand watching and waiting - waiting and watching. Eventually that sick feling began to rise in my stomach that our luggage didn't make it. I went to the United baggage claim room and tell them that apparently our luggage isn't here. They checked and they could not find our luggage anywhere in their system. That was not very comforting. They gave me a receipt and told me that when the luggage arrived there they would call me and make arrangements to deliver it to my house. This meant that on our way home, Roberta and I had to stop and buy some essentials that were in our luggage. We finally got in bed at 11:30 (1:30 Nebraska time where our day had begun).

Sunday was a full day and our fatigue didn't make it any easier. I did get to do the baptism part of our evening service, though, and that was a great joy to me. I was encouraged by the testimonies of those who were baptized. After church I had a short meeting and then, finally, I was able to go home to relax. Had we heard anything from United? Nope. So I made a note to myself that I would need to call them on Monday and track down where my luggage was.

At 3:30 on Monday morning I was in a deep slumber because of the fatigue from my busy weekend when I heard the door bell ring. No way I am getting up to answer the door at 3:30 in the morning. However, the door bell rang again and the thought flashed through my mind that this might be our luggage. No way - they said they would call first. Just then the phone rang. I answered the phone and the man on the other end said that he was standing at our front door with our bags. Wow. This is customer service from the people who roam the friendly skies? Well, I was gald to get my stuff back.

Why did I drag you through my travel woes? One simple reason. When we say that God is sovereign we mean He is sovereign over the every day stuff. All of it. If I forget that I will get all anxious and angry. When I remember this truth I can remain peaceful and calm. My God is in control of all things and He is working all things for His glory and my good. If I forget this truth I will forfeit the benefit of what the Lord is doing. By remembering I experience the peace and joy that the Lord tells me about in His Word. I gain in patience and in perspective. While I appreciate the stuff that was in our bags, I could live without it.

God's sovereignty is more than just an intellectual, theological truth, it is extremely practical and beneficial. God is sovereign over everything that happened in your life today. Would you rather have it some other way?