I think I was twelve when I had my first beer and I immediately liked it. Later, I figured out how many I needed for a real buzz. After high school, whiskey and coke was my “forget-about-it” choice. I didn’t have to drink, but if I had one, it wouldn’t let me stop until my body was no longer controlled by my mind. A Viet Nam vet introduced me to marijuana, but I quickly realized it couldn’t take the place of alcohol. Marriage didn’t change my love for the drink, but it made my life a whole lot more complicated. Marital bliss was on a collision course with booze.

One evening after a drink-infused night, an argument ensued and my wife made a threat. She wasn’t going to live like that anymore. I didn’t want to lose her. I cried out to God whom I didn’t believe in, “Lord, if you are there, help me.” He did and that was forty-eight years ago.

Would I still like a drink? Yes, but I don’t have to have one. You don’t stop being part Irish because you came to Christ, nor do you lose your taste for alcohol. However, there is a more powerful influencing factor.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

Luke 19:10

for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

If called upon, God breaks through in a person’s life.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I wonder what this message will do. This is not a question, but something I’m examining. Sadly, we pastors sometimes put the congregation through a maze which seems to lead nowhere.  I’m afraid some of the messages I’ve given over the past four decades fit into the following categories.

1. Annoying messages
2. Interesting messages
3. Sad messages
4. Ill-prepared messages
5. Overdone messages
6. Lacking-substance messages
7. Long messages
8. Short messages (Is this a favorite of most everyone?)

What does the Scripture have to say about our delivery as pastors and teachers?

Acts 20:20

 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,

1 Corinthians 2:4-5

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Conclusions I’ve arrived at:

Don’t make it too long. Like the gambler, I’ve made a living of reading faces. So, if I’m not connecting, I need to close in prayer and pick it up at another time. If I’m irritating someone I don’t like, then I’m tempted to drag it out. (Not really) Sometimes it looks like no one is breathing. I find myself going back in my mind to my last minutes of communication, praying my audience is responding to the Word.  Like a pilot, the two most dangerous times in flying are during the take-off and the landing. I pray I took off and landed this devotional correctly.

Think about it.

Gary

Traffic was heavy in town, especially near the schools. Two busses were stopped in front of me and I was slowing down to stop also. This kid on a little bike shot across the street in front of me. He must have missed that part about looking both ways when crossing the street.

He was probably eight or nine years old. There was a look on his face like I’m Austin Theriault and I’m fast. Feet pressing hard on the pedals, he crossed the road and shot down over the hill on the other side. Traffic was moving, so I didn’t see if he made the turn at the bottom.

My mind took me back sixty-two years to when I was a kid with a small bike and little sense. I wasn’t carrying much pressure and was looking forward to whatever the day might bring. Why did we ever want to be adults with all its deadlines and commitments?

You’re wondering what the Bible says about this. Here it is:

Ecclesiastes 11:9 

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 

2 Timothy 2:22 

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

I pray that kid made it. How about you, kid?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Snoopy and Charlie Brown are sitting on the dock, looking out over the water. You can just see their backs as they are talking, at least Charlie Brown is talking; Snoopy is listening. Charlie says, “Snoopy, many folks are praying for God to heal our land, but I think He’s still waiting for people to humble themselves, repent and turn from their wicked ways.”

There was nothing funny about this comic strip.

Charlie Brown’s creator found that statement in a book of ancient words:

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The message was for the nation of Israel. They didn’t heed it. It is still relevant for today: for the nation, for the church or for an individual.

How about you? Could you use this revelation?

Think about it.

Gary

Hiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout who did not surrender at the war’s end in August 1945. After the war ended, Onoda spent 29 years hiding in the Philippines until his former commander travelled from Japan to formally relieve him from duty by order of Emperor Shōwa in 1974. He lived to be ninety-one years old. He missed out on 29 years of peace and prosperity.

Many people are living on this planet and still fighting the battle that started in the garden. They don’t realize Christ has made peace with us.

Romans 5:1-2 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Come out of hiding like Adam and Eve did. The war has been won. Enjoy the peace.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Two Frenchmen met up in a bar. No, this is not a joke. These were two French-Americans. One of them would be my godfather six years after this incident. They were American GIs fighting their way through France.

My godfather had been wounded and was convalescing. The medical staff okayed his going out to a bar on crutches, along with some other wounded men. When he arrived, the place was packed with GIs and he couldn’t get in. Out of nowhere, this big rugged army soldier from his hometown appeared. The guy picked him up in his arms, crutches and all, and forcefully moved through the crowd of thirsty combat soldiers, all the way to the bar.

It always amazes me in the Christian life how a brother or sister appears at just the right moment. We might have a wound and could use some “forget-it-time.” Thank God for these burden-bearers and their unforgettable service.

However, there are so many in the way of making that possible.

Proverbs 17:17 

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Galatians 6:2 

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Help the wounded.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Some time ago, President Carter was on a tour that took him to several nations. The men who went with him said that the most touching and moving part of the whole trip was when President Carter stopped at Normandy Beach. He stood there, looking at those markers, those monuments, signifying that tremendous battle, that change of the tide of human affairs which switched the victory to our side. It is said that he was moved to tears as he looked at that monument and thought of the great price that was paid for freedom.

How could anybody not be taken by such a sight of sacrifice, devotion and bravery for the cause of freedom?  This is an event that should be remembered every year.

Israel was told to never forget their deliverance from bondage in a feast day.

Exodus 13:3

And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

There are events in history that must never be forgotten.

Think about it.

Gary