Acts 3:14,15 & 19 3/25/2025

“You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life…”

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”

Peter’s first sermon certainly isn’t “seeker” sensitive.  He’s launching the Christian church, and any good PR advisor would’ve told him to first fill the pews, then start preaching doctrine. But apparently God wanted a preacher, not a marketing consultant.  

Peter looked them in the eye and said, “you killed the Author of Life.”…  If you can read that and not be cut to the bone by it - then you don’t understand it.  If I present that fact in an unoffensive manner, then I have not presented that fact. 

Perhaps churches today have confused making disciples with recruiting members. Maybe we should worry less about hurting feelings and be more concerned about hurting futures. Eternity is in the balance, and God will judge sin, even sin our culture has deemed acceptable. Our goal is not popularity, it’s accuracy. We must speak the truth in love, but we can’t change the truth to make it sound more loving. 

The church must stop sticking its finger in the air testing the wind for which direction to go… we must follow God’s word whether it is deemed offensive or not. God commands, He does not negotiate. The law was given as a mirror to show what we look like. If you’re offended by what you see… the mirror isn’t the problem.

The “Gospel” is not that “I’m OK, and your OK”… Neither of us are even close to “OK”.  If we were, or could do something to make ourselves acceptable, then our salvation wouldn’t have required the death of God’s Son.

The Mirror is accurate… we are guilty. We killed the Son of God, and we must own that. But Jesus ‘sacrifice wiped away our sin, and we have been refreshed and redeemed. Our response cannot be to normalize sin, but to repent of it, and be restored in the joy of His mercy … Anything less than that is not the gospel. 

“Repentance is a holy horror and hatred of sin, a deep sorrow for it, a contrite acknowledgment of it before God, and a complete heart forsaking of it.” - I.C. Herendeen

Exodus 15:2 3/18/2025

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

This is a portion of the song of praise that the Israelites sing after God parts the Red Sea and destroys Pharaohs army…. The song celebrates God’s strength, and protection. As I read this, I have mixed emotions. Parting the water was a HUGE miracle… and the people dance and sing praises to God.  They exalt His name and praise His power and faithfulness. 

But God knows, what I know… and that is, that in the next chapter, just a few days later, they will again be grumbling and complaining … In the shadow of this undeniable miracle, they will begin to doubt and complain because of the perceived hardship of their lives. How can God be honored by their singing when He knows they will soon be complaining? … I tend to harshly judge their fickleness as I read through Exodus… but then I catch a glimpse in the mirror.

I too have a short memory when it comes to the times I have been delivered. I quickly forget the occasions that I have been miraculously rescued by God, narrowly escaping disaster… Yet, I have the memory of an elephant regarding the times I have even slightly suffered. This makes me spiritually unstable. How can God be honored by my praises, when He knows I am one lost car key, or long red light, or restless night, away from complaining and grumbling. 

I need a new mindset… or better, a new “heartset”… I need to remember the “Red Seas” that have been parted in my life … and find joy and confidence in the faithfulness of God.  I should build monuments to His trustworthiness that remind me daily of past rescues, understanding that godly joy makes me strong.  

Without hope we perish, so train your mind to praise… Reject self-pity, it is poison. Have confidence in the faithfulness of God and create habits of gratefulness for His protection. I love Keith Chancey’s quote, “You can’t make it tough enough for me to complain”. Unfortunately, I love to quote it,  more than I love to live it.

Rejoice in the Lord Always…

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope." – Helen Keller

Genesis 39:9-10 3/11/2025

“… How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?”  Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.” 

As a coach I often told my athletes to think through game situations so much that doing the right thing becomes a reaction not a decision. In the heat of battle, if you must deliberate your response – it may be too late once you decide what to do… so we practice situations until the correct response becomes automatic.

Joseph had done this with morality… He had already decided his response to this temptation. He didn’t need to debate whether he should sleep with Potiphar’s wife… He didn’t negotiate about infidelity… He reacted… he removed himself from the temptation - leaving behind anything he had to, in order to get away. 

What are you facing that you need to process until your response is not to fulfill your own desires, but to follow God’s will? What temptations are you still entertaining? What must you decide to abandon in order to pursue holiness?  

If you desire to chase after the heart of God, the first decision you must make is to commit to paying whatever it cost… Nothing else matters until that decision is made. If you have decided to pursue a holy life, you must  embrace the mindset which is the key to success… That is the realization that “My life is about God… not about me”. That mindset is essential to a life of obedience.

If you wish to resist temptation, then prepare your response before you’re tempted… Embrace the price tag, pray about your strategy, study the exact desired reaction until it becomes instinctive... It may be too late when the trap is sprung - so know your escape route before it happens.

Training yourself to react as Joseph did involves understanding, in the deepest parts of your heart, that you must decrease, and Christ must increase... Your go-to response to temptation must be, “thy” will be done… not “my” will. Your strength comes from realizing that  “it’s not about me”.  Write that down and put it where you’ll see it every morning… make it a mantra in your head…. “It’s not about me.”  

“… you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” - Norman Schwarzkopf

John 20:24-25 3/4/2025

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Are you a “Doubting Thomas” ? … If God doesn’t follow your plan, on your schedule,  is your default reaction to doubt?

 I, like Thomas, have the propensity to question and pout when I am disappointed. I sometimes give this “self-centered sulking” incredible power, ignoring the evidence around me in order to support my mood. Thomas stops short of calling his brothers liars, but he doubts them… These are faithful teammates that have proven themselves for years. Yet, he is skeptical of their testimony and though he stays with them, he clearly states that he refuses to believe. 

He doesn’t say I “can’t” believe… He says I “won’t”.  That is an important distinction... He makes a choice. You can almost see him with arms folded and a frown on his face… refusing to consider what his friends are telling him.  There have been times of crisis when I have made the same choice… I knew what God could do… There was evidence of His faithfulness, so I could’ve had faith … but the risk of disappointment was too great, so I chose to doubt.

The world has labeled him “Doubting Thomas”, but that does not define him. This lack of faith was not the end of Thomas’ story… Thomas doubted - until he didn’t. Tradition holds that after Jesus appeared to Thomas, his faith grew and he went and spread the Word, fighting the good fight until he was martyred in India. 

What about you and me? How many times must God figuratively show us His hands before we believe? How many times must God prove Himself, before we choose to die to ourselves and live for Him? Living a life of faith is a choice you need to make. It will remove anxiety from your life and replace it with the trust and hope that only God can provide.  

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”  - Oswald Chambers