Integrity

To some degree, women deal with issues related to trust on a daily basis—can I trust the waiter who says I ordered the best thing on the restaurant menu? Can I trust the teacher who said my child is progressing socially? Can I trust my friend to keep my secret? Or can I trust my kids to have good manners when I’m not with them?

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. Introduction: The recruiting slogan of our U.S. Marine Corps is “We’re looking for a few good men.” The Marines also have a motto in Latin that states their code of conduct in battle and in their affairs, Semper Fidelis, or “Always faithful.”

You might be thinking it’s the word remote control. I guess that’s actually two words. And certainly a case could be made that the remote control is a major factor in the health of any marriage. In my opinion, watching successive episodes of any HGTV program is the visual equivalent of the sound of scratching fingernails on a chalkboard! Of course, I’m kidding…that is, about the remote control being the most important word, not the part about HGTV and the chalkboard.

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.

I am so glad that our God has given us many promises and that He absolutely performs His promises. I have never been disappointed in the faithfulness of our Lord as He has been true to His Word time and time again in my life.

As we walk in humble sincerity before the Lord, we will insist on godly integrity. Our purpose in ministry is to exalt the name of Jesus Christ. He receives glory when people are saved and His Word is preached—unless we sabotage that glory with unethical or immoral ministry. The greatest motivator to serve with integrity is not protecting our “image,” but magnifying the testimony of Christ.

Being an independent Baptist in the 1970s was exciting. Elmer Towns published The Ten Largest Sunday Schools in America in 1969, and we occupied a majority of the spots. People were being saved, and churches were growing exponentially through aggressive soulwinning and outreach.

Telling lies has been and will be part of the human condition; after all, before we were saved we were of our father the devil, and he is the father of lies. However, I must admit it seems like lying has soared to new heights in our culture.

One of the most frustrating things to watch is a sports team in which one individual wants to be the star—even at the expense of the team’s success.

A few days ago I received a call from my credit card company’s fraud department. As I spoke with the representative, he began to verify some recent activity on my account. As he went through the list, there were two charges that I did not recognize. One was for $1.75, it was an online purchase from some company in the United Kingdom and the other was also an online purchase of over $1,200.00 to some construction company. I assured him those were not mine and he informed me that I was the victim of credit card fraud and my number had been stolen. He then immediately shut down my account and had new cards sent overnight for my wife and me.

One teacher astutely commented that the duty of a Christian is to do God's will, in God's way, with the right heart motive. I don't think that any of us are naïve enough to believe that one’s motives are not important. Somebody might foolishly say, “As long as the job gets done, I don't really care how it’s done!” But that somebody certainly is not the Lord!

Lot’s message to his sons-in-law was clear and urgent. “Up! Get you out of this place: for the Lord will destroy this city.” His message, however, was not compelling because the messenger was corrupt.

Most young missionaries have no idea how much their relationship with other missionaries can affect their own work. Hudson Taylor was an excellent example of how . . .