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From Fear to Hope Hebrews 6:18–19 “So that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. [19] We have this [hope]—like a sure and firm anchor of the soul—that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” ( HCSB ) A recent study indicates that those who are not “hopeful about the future” are more likely to die than those who have hope for the future. Over a four-year span, from 1992 to 1996, researches asked 795 people aged 64 to 79 whether they were ‘hopeful about the future.’ Around 9% responded, “no.” Five years after the survey, the researches found that 11% of the hopeful died, contrasted with 29% of those who were not “hopeful about the future” died. ( http://www.freshsermonillustrations.net ) Where does this hope come from? How can one person be drowning in despair while another is floating on hope? Will religious fervor do it? What about ke...

Why Do I Give? Ma lachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Lately, I’ve been humming the lyrics to the "Three Dog Night song" that goes, "prices are rising, and the Devil’s to blame." Well, I’m not so sure the Devil’s to blame, but it sure seems to cost a lot to live these days. Two month’s rent today would pay an entire year’s rent in our first apartment we rented as newlyweds. A couple of weeks ago I was listening as my Dad talked about what it is like to live on a fixed income, now that he is retired. "Fixed income," I said, " I’d love for my income to be fixed, lately I’ve been thinking it was broken." Personally, we’ve never made more money than we are making now. The Church pays m...

Garment of Death Genesis 50:26 “So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.” Over the past few weeks, we’ve walked beside Joseph through the ups and downs of his life. Out of jealousy over Joseph’s favored relationship with their Dad, Joseph’s brothers ripped his robe off of him, soiled it with the blood of a goat and threw him into a pit. With his garment of favoritism, they deceived his father, telling him that Joseph was dead. But Joseph wasn’t dead. His brothers sold him as a slave to an Egyptian caravan. In the beginning, Egypt wasn’t all that bad for Joseph. Sure, he missed his father and longed for home, but he had a good assignment-watching after Potiphar’s household. He’d done well for himself and became head over the entire household. Potiphar didn’t keep anything from him, except of course, his wife. Potiphar’s wife had another idea. She found Joseph attractive and made a pass at him. “But Joseph re...

September 1 Tarzan’s Abs I wonder what life would be like if God gave me everything I asked for? Hmmm, let me think a minute. We’ll for starters, my pet cat when I was six-years-old would have risen from the dead. My friends would have always picked me first, every time we played a game, and by now, I’d be a professional football and baseball player. Every girl in Junior High would have fallen in love with me, well, maybe not all of them-most of them, OK, at least one of them. Today, I’d be able to eat chocolate all day long and have abs like Tarzan. I wouldn’t be living in California, I wouldn’t be a preacher, and I’d have two daughters instead of sons. The end of the work day would come right after morning coffee. At the time, it hurts when God says “no.” Sometimes, I feel mistreated, you know, like God doesn’t care about me. I see good things happening to bad people and wonder why God would bless them and not bless me. In all honesty, there have even been times when I ...

August 31 Small Talk “So, are you taking over Dan Coker’s church?” It was the day after we accepted the call to become the next pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church of the Monterey Peninsula. We were getting information to enroll our youngest son in school when the clerk at the school asked me the question. The question hit me wrong for a couple of reasons. I didn’t like the phrase, “taking over.” It made me feel like a corporate raider acquiring a business. I prefer the terminology we use, “to accept the call.” A pastor doesn’t “take over,” he accepts a call that is issued from God and from a church to become their pastor. The second part of that question bothered me too. It sounds like the pastor “owns” the church. This church never belonged to Dan Coker and it will never belong to me—it is God’s church . People can start to believe they own the church. Maybe they’ve been members a long time, have contributed a large sum of money, or they hold important offices ...

August 29 Get Connected Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;” Philip. 4:1 “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.” 1 Thes. 3:6 “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you,” 2 Tim. 1:4 “longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.” I don’t mean to do any one of these verses a disservice by lumping them all together, because each of them carry a powerful meaning when they stand alone, but I wanted to read them together because I wanted for us to see the strength of Paul’s longing to connect with fellow Christ ians. A longing God recognized when he created us. Throughout the creation narrative, God pauses to admire what He’s done, several tim...

August 26 Jezebel 1 Kings 21:1–4 “So Ahab went to his palace resentful and angry, because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had told him. He had said, “I will not give you my fathers’ inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and didn’t eat any food.” ( HCSB ) What a pretty picture this is! Ahab, the King of Israel is reduced to a pouting child who goes to bed without his supper. What was the catastrophic event that could possibly have this type of impact on him? He made an offer on a piece of land adjacent to his own that was turned down. Verses 1–3 say, “Some time passed after these events. Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard; it was in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. [ 2 ] So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard so I can have it for a vegetable garden, since it is right next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver.” [ 3 ] But Naboth said to Aha...

August 22 The Bronze Serpent Numbers 21:4–9 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea , to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. [ 5 ] And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” [ 6 ] And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. [ 7 ] So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord , that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. [ 8 ] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” [ 9 ] A nd Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serp...

August 22 A Pouting Prophet Jonah 4:1–3 Last week we left Jonah right after the city of Nineveh repented and God relented. God used his brief message, (5 Hebrew words) to penetrate the hearts of the people of Nineveh. The people spread the message like wild fire. When the word reached the king, he didn’t allow the message to get tied up in governmental red tape. He didn’t pass the buck saying, “It is impossible to legislate morality” or defer his leadership position to others. Rather, he issued a proclamation calling the nation to repentance and prayer-he acted more like a prophet than a politician. And the people followed. What do you expect Jonah’s reaction was? Did he join the people of Nineveh in repentance and marinate in God’s grace? Certainly, Jonah had some repenting to do. But you say, didn’t he repent in the belly of the fish? Hardly. In the belly of the fish, he reminds me more of a politician than a prophet-he said what he had to say to get delivered from his per...

August 19 Finding Happiness (part 3) Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” ( NKJV ) Today we study the third step in finding happiness, and like the second step, it is requires some reflection to fully understand it. Jesus says that the meek are happy people and that they will inherit the earth . I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t naturally associate meekness with happiness. Whenever I hear the work meek I think of someone with a wedgie personality, who allows other people to run all over them. You know the type I’m speaking of, emotional doormats. I’ve never looked at a person like that and thought they were happy. Do you think Jesus is saying the third step toward happiness is to allow other people to push you around, to be a big fat zero in life? I don’t. But that is one definition of meekness. If you listen to talk radio, watch daytime TV or stayed awake during your psych 101 class in college, you’ve probably heard the term pass...

August 12 What Does God Say When People Pray (Part 3) 2 Cor. 12:8–9 “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. [ 9 ] And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” Ever y Christ ian knows the sheer delight of answered prayer. Regardless of how long you’ve been saved, I know you’ve had at least one prayer answered-the “sinner’s prayer.” If you’ve been a Christ ian any length of time, you’ve also experienced the frustration of unanswered prayer. You’ve read verses like, Jeremiah 33:3 NIV “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Or Ephesians. 3:20 NIV “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” and claimed them for your need. But when the dust was s...

August 12 Get Multi Galatians 2:11–13 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [ 12 ] For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. [ 13 ] And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.” “Birds of a feather,” they say, “flock together.” It is natural for people who have something in common to want to hang out together and spend time with one another. I suppose there isn’t anything sinister or evil about that, but there is a point where this attitude can cross the line of acceptability. Especially when it stops clustering people together and starts dividing them. We live in an age of enlightenment-where we strive for equality and celebrate diversity-something, I might add, is more easily said than done. In an ...