Christian Living

Next to the Bible, the book that has helped me the most in my walk with the Lord is a book I wrote. Actually, it’s an eight-volume set. Before you think I’m boastful, let me give two clarifications.

Building relationships is a lost virtue in our society today. Guys ask girls out on dates via text messages, we make friends by clicking a button on a website and hoping the other person reciprocates, and despite all of our technological advances, we are becoming more and more isolated.

Has God recently placed something new on your heart? Perhaps you’re feeling burdened to launch a new ministry or begin a new goal? There’s nothing that fuels my energy like dreaming for the future and planning action steps for a God-given vision! But before I begin something new, I always try to take a careful look at what foundation I am planning to build on.

If you are like me, you wake up one day and you’re thirty-five with five children, and you realize, “I am not young anymore.” I feel young. I may even look young. But I am not considered young anymore—at least not by the next generation.

Men like me who are over fifty are often baffled by the demographic shift in mindset represented by the Millennial Generation. (According to Pew Research Center, millennials, sometimes called Generation Y, include people born between 1980–2000.)

One of the things we must do to stay alive is eat! Along with air, water, and sleep, our bodies need food. The nutrients contained in the food we eat keep us healthy and strong. If we neglect to nourish our physical bodies, our health will inevitably decline. The human soul works the same way! We must regularly feed on God’s Word to stay alive and spiritually healthy. We must continually and purposefully nurture our souls with the Word of God.

Physiologically, a fresh calendar suggests a fresh start. But realistically, January 1 cannot obliterate the needs and burdens of December 31. What can you do practically to renew your soul for the new year?

If there is any aspect of Jesus Christ we should learn, it is His passion. What drove Him, and still motivates Him throughout eternity? Can we ponder: why would He leave that glorious realm of Heaven to come to this earth? Why humble Himself, take to Himself human flesh, and be willing to go to the cross?

In the Bible, although angels were used by God for a variety of purposes, the primary use was to deliver a message. In fact, the very word “angel” means “messenger.” Webster’s 1828 Dictionary further defines an angel as, “One employed to communicate news or information from one person to another at a distance.”

Don’t make the mistake of enjoying the wrapping of Christmas—activities, time with family, gift exchanges, traditions—without enjoying what is behind the wrapping—the gift. Quite simply, Jesus is the gift of Christmas. And, with Paul, we exclaim, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

We were looking forward to getting back to our home in Indiana for the Christmas season. As an evangelist, I look forward to those times spent off the road with family and friends. Our last meeting was in northern Wisconsin the second week of December. Snow had already covered the ground, and temperatures were well below freezing. It was easy to get into the Christmas spirit.

Christmastime may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also pass in a flurry of frenzied activity, with no time to enjoy the significance of the season.

I received a wonderful little handmade card earlier this year from “Kelly.” She is a little girl who has started coming to our children’s ministry on Wednesday evenings as a result of our summer Open House Outreach BBQ. I always enjoy cards and notes from kids—they really help to encourage a preacher and keep him focused on the work of God.

In the midst of one of the greatest works for God in the Old Testament, Nehemiah reminded God’s people, “…the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Why the reminder? Because God’s people need joy, and one of Satan’s first line of attacks to weaken our hands in the work is to take our joy.

Philippians 4:11 reminds us to be content in every season of life, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “Tomorrow, life will be better.” Sometimes we stew in discontentment over today, while we think things like this: “The kids will be older; they will do more for themselves; I won’t have to worry as much; or we will have more money.”

Do you know the single greatest enemy of gratitude? It’s not poverty. It’s not stinginess. It’s not mistreatment. It’s expectancy. That’s it—expectancy. We don’t often recognize the expectancy in our own hearts, because it seems so normal—so right—to us. But we can see it in others.

On Thanksgiving Day millions of Americans will enjoy and be thankful for a delicious meal (deep fry my turkey, please). As we prepare to dig in to the turkey, dressing, and gravy, we may express our gratitude for family and friends. Perhaps we will go around the table and share specific things for which we are thankful. Truly, we are a blessed people living in a blessed land.

Don’t let anyone tell you—and don’t you ever tell anyone—that believers are exempt from tough times in life. There is an element in the broad range of “Christendom” that claims God intends for us to be problem free. Just fly away towards Heaven… they have created their own form of escapism. God never works that way. Note, God says, “When ye fall into…” not if!

For years I have written and spoken against being contentious. Yes, I’ve contended against contentiousness! A contentious, always-in-a-fight spirit will damage whoever it touches. A wrong spirit will kill any marriage, church, or movement. But make no mistake. The mark of a biblical leader is his willingness to contend for the faith. While we should not be contentious, we must contend.

There were false prophets among the people of Israel in the Old Testament—that’s a matter of history, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. But the Israelites rarely had the will to deal with them, so they multiplied, causing disaster to the spiritual life of God’s people.