“I just couldn’t find a church to meet my needs.” People with that mentality are the classic church hoppers and shoppers. They practice consumer and preferential Christianity with vigor. But, alas, when none of the twenty-eight churches they visited met their needs, they decided to stop trying altogether. They are just too learned to belong to any congregation.

Revelation chapters two to three survey seven different churches. Five of the seven I certainly wouldn’t want to be involved with. However, God didn’t ask any to leave but only to obey Him and change what He found lacking in the congregations.

Often the ones leaving haven’t a solution but are part of the problem. They certainly make life better for those left behind.

Proverbs 22:10 

Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.

2 Timothy 2:23 

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

Titus 3:9 

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Hang in there and make your church a better place. Consider it.

Gary

“Why Me, Lord” is a famous country-gospel song written and originally sung by Kris Kristofferson. It was played in bars because it acted as a late-night, soulful sing-along track that resonates with people’s struggles, making it an emotional bar anthem for patrons seeking comfort or reflection.  Like the salted peanuts, it helped to sell beer.

I heard a man sing that song once, and he smelled like he had taken a swim in a vat of stale Budweiser. (Believe me, I’ve never forgotten that aroma.)

The words are truthful, but the setting is difficult to understand. I sing the song, but my Lord had taken me out of the bars.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Are you singing this in or out of a bar? Give it some consideration.

Gary

“Too Old to Cry”, is an AI generated song that will, like many country songs, make old men cry.  Here are some lyrics:

I found your picture in the dresser drawer

Behind some letters I don’t read anymore

Sit down slow the way old men do

Spent a long time just staring at you

Don’t wait till after that person is gone. Learn to appreciate her now. It’ll save a lot of tears of regret later.

Proverbs 18:22 

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 31:10 

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Proverbs 19:14 

House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

What are your thoughts? Give it some consideration.

Gary

“Light” is a highly versatile word that functions as a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb, with meanings spanning illumination, physical weight, and ignition. The most striking meaning is something that makes vision possible.

 Scripture records the story of a man who was born blind and had an opportunity to ask Jesus for the gift of sight.

Mark 10:51

So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”

Do you know that the most important use of the word light refers to Jesus?

John 8:12

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”

John 3:20

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

How about you, in the dark or in the light? Give it some careful consideration.

Gary

“North to Alaska” is a 1960 hit song recorded by Johnny Horton that was featured in the movie of the same name.  One-line of this recording spoke to me about the value of material things.

George turned to Sam with his gold in his hand
Said “Sam, you’re a-lookin’ at a lonely, lonely man
I’d trade all the gold that’s buried in this land
For one small band of gold to place on sweet little Jenny’s hand

‘Cause a man needs a woman
To love him all the time
Remember, Sam, a true love is
So hard to find

Love is hard to find, and the gold of this earth won’t replace it. Let me share with you where it’s really found.

Romans 5:8 

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:16 

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Have you found it, or are you still looking at the south end of a team of dogs mushing through Alaska? Give it some thought.

Gary

“The sign says: ‘Yield.’ Hmm, I wonder what that means. I’ll have to google it.”

Yield, submit, and surrender mean to give way or give up to someone or something. To yield is to concede under some degree of pressure, but not necessarily to surrender totally, as in yielding ground to an enemy.

Yes, I understand now. Necessity demands that I obey the signs.

Romans 6:13

Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

How are you doing with yielding? Think about it.

Gary

We are not a product of time and chance any more than AI just happened. God placed us here on this planet at this time and for a divine purpose. It’s up to us to stay in  contact with Him and build a relationship with our Creator.

 Exodus 19:5 (AMPC)

Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.

Jeremiah 29:13 

You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.

The offer is on the table. Now it’s your move. Give it some consideration.

Gary