Late last evening, Pam Chesley, Dr. John Turner, Mack Phipps, and I returned from a very brief yet very meaningful trip to Belize in Central America. I had gone to dedicate two church buildings we built this past year and to help ordain a pastor. Pam went to sing, and Mack went to film a TV documentary of our work in Belize....
Today we launch into our fall stewardship emphasis, and in the next few weeks, through testimonies in Sunday school and in the worship services, you are going to be hearing some things about Christian stewardship. I hope that you will be listening attentively to what God may have to say to you about this important area of our...
The apostle Paul tells us this when he writes in the book of 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” The word purposeth means in the Greek “to chose beforehand.” And it i...
Would you know the devil if you met him on the street? “Sure, I would,” you say. “He is a well-formed healthy male with a red suit, horns, a tail, and a pitchfork in his hand. I would know him anywhere.”
Once we buried a young lady who was only 21 years old. She was killed in a head-on collision while on her way to church. The night before the funeral, my daughter asked why God allows things like this to happen.
I wish I knew. Things like this have puzzled saints, wise men, and philosophers since the world began.
There is simply no one easy answer as to why tragedies like this happen. The answer may lie in the fact that God made us free. He created us with the ability to make our own choices, and choices always involve consequences. If we are careless or foolish in our choices, or if others are, we may suffer because of them. If God did not allow us freedom, we’d be less than people. We’d be robots.
This may be the only explanation we will ever have for some suffering. However, we do not have to know why things happen in order to be victorious over them. On the cross Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) But the heavens were as brass. God was silent. He didn’t even answer his own Son. Jesus might have despaired and become bitter against God. But instead he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend [entrust, hand over] my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
This kind of faith is far more important than any answer we might receive. In our lives, as in the life of Jesus, it is faith that makes the difference between victory and defeat.
So keep believing in God no matter what. Commit your life to him and regardless of what happens, God will help you.