Is being a Jesus-follower safe?

I don't know where it originated ... but it's wrong. Horribly wrong. You've heard it, too, I suspect. The notion that the safest place you can be is in the center of God's will.


Following Jesus is NOT a safe thing. Not even close.


Over and over in Scripture, we are shown through illustration and principle that following Jesus will enable us to enjoy our God but will also put us in opposition with many of our peers and our culture.


Some followers of Jesus get persecuted and killed. It seems as if we are hearing more about Christian persecution these days. (Yeah, just try to tell THEM that following Jesus is the safest thing they could do.)


We know this from our own experience, too. Just ask any child who attends school and wants to follow Jesus. Sure, they can find Christian friends but there is an invisible line that they had better not cross. If they cross that line and express too much passion in their pursuit of holiness, even their 'Christian' friends will ostracize them.


It's the same way in our workplaces. It's even the same way at church. Satisfy yourself in being a nominal Christian - don't get too excited about it - and everything is ok. But, if you begin making it clear that even the small sins bother you, you'll find the number of peers who associate with you getting smaller and smaller. Try bringing God's Word into ordinary conversations on a regular basis and you'll find the same results. Speak of how many popular movies are offensive to a Holy God, and you'll see what I'm talking about.


If our safety and affirmation by others is our highest priority, we won't be able to truly follow Jesus with our whole heart. However, if our love for our God and His truth and our love for others (the two greatest commands - Matthew 22:34-40) is what primarily drives us, then we may not be safe and our peer group may be small but we'll see God smiling at us.


In my Bible reading this morning, I was reading through Jeremiah 20. In it, Jeremiah was beaten and jailed for sharing God's Word and calling people to repent and live according to God's standard. He talked to God and essentially said, "Wow. Wasn't I the fool! I thought following You would be safe. But, the more I speak Your Word, the deeper my trouble gets!"


Yet, it is in this context that he utters a very, very powerful statement:


Jeremiah 20:9 (New Living Translation)
"But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!"


God's Word is the standard for us. It tells us what to believe and it tells us how we are to act. It tells us what sort of behavior God is free to bless and what God must punish. It also tells us that God's heart is one that longs for people to live in His favor and enjoy Him.


Yet, when we fall into sin, God's Word is not pleasant. It convicts us. It nails us. It shows that we are wrong and need to make adjustments. It uses the word 'repent' over and over and over. And not one likes that!


But, we MUST be people of the Word. We must read it, strive to live by it and share it with others.


So, are you looking for a safe life? Are you paralyzed with the desire to be liked and affirmed by as many people as possible? Well, following Jesus isn't really for you then, my friend.


But, if you are serious about following Jesus, while it isn't safe and while you may find that other 'Christians' will reject you, you'll see that God is smiling at you. But, and this is exciting(!), one day you'll see Jesus look you in the eye, raise His hands to applaud your entrance into Heaven and hear Him say, "Well done! Well done!" (Matthew 25:23)


That's the ultimate illustration of delayed gratification!

Sermon (video): God's Design for Children and Parents

One of the greatest privileges that anyone can have is to raise the next generation of Christ-followers. Parents have that opportunity as they develop their children into the ones that God is free to use in the years to come.


This sermon digs into Ephesians 6:1-4 and points out two key commands given to children and parents if this relationship is to work.


To view the sermon, click here.

What motivates us to follow Jesus each day?

If you want to achieve some noble goal, you absolutely must find a powerful motivation.

For instance, you may want to lose weight. Well, that's good but if you don't have a reason for doing so that is powerful enough to keep you on track, to motivate you, you'll fail.

Motivation is powerful. It is essential.

In my Bible reading this morning, I came across a few verses that (once again) showed what motivated the Apostle Paul. After all, who in their right mind would go through all that he went though?!

He was committed to preach the Gospel to folks who hadn't heard it yet and what did he get for it? Here's an abbreviated list:

He was abandoned and betrayed by friends.

He was threatened with injury and death by his countrymen.

He was imprisoned.

He was beaten with rods.

He was whipped with 39 lashes - 5 times!!!

He was stoned with rocks until he was thought to be dead.

On and one we could go...

What kept him going? His motivation must have been extremely powerful! What motivated him?

It was the Day of Judgment! He lived his life in light of the Day he would stand before Jesus and give an account of how he spent the one life God had given him.

In fact, in the last letter that he wrote to his young protégé, Timothy, he acknowledged that there was a man named Onesiphorus who had been so kind to him. It seems that Paul could not repay Onesiphorus for his kindness. Yet, listen to what Paul says about when that helpful servant would be repaid:

2 Timothy 1:16-18

"May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me - may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day! - and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus."

The Day of Judgment was a major theme, a major motivation, in Paul's life. It permeates virtually every letter he wrote. It's what kept him going. It's what kept his chin up.

Consider engaging in an experiment today: Instead of living today as an end in itself, live today in light of the Day of Judgment. Live today with the knowledge that one day you will stand before Jesus and give an account of how you spent this day, how you acted, what you said, who you served, how you loved the unlovable.

I can almost guarantee you that it would radically change the way you and I approach almost everything that happens today.

Give God no rest

It is a foregone conclusion that God is a just God.

Even folks who claim no allegiance to Jesus who experience injustice say, "If there's a God in Heaven, how can He allow such things?!" Sentiments like that only prove that God has placed within our hearts the notion that He is a just God who will not tolerate evil.

We also realize as we read Scripture that the just God who reigns in Heaven is patient. He gives people and nations time to repent (2 Peter 3:9).

Yet, after a designated time that He has set, if repentance doesn't take place, He moves in judgment.

All we need do is read how God moved against a rebellious Israel in the Old Testament to see that He punished them with enemy armies, disease, drought, economic collapse, and any number of other things ... that America is beginning to experience.

So, what are we to do?

Throw up our hands in despair? No!

Bury our heads in the sand and focus only on the menial self-centered tasks of our day? No!

God will move powerfully on our behalf when "His people who are called by His name pray..." (2 Chronicles 7:14).

In fact, we see in a couple of verses that I read this morning that we are to 'pester' God. We are to pray and pray and then pray again. If God were a God who needed rest, we should pray so often that He never got to rest.

When our passion for God to powerfully demonstrate His glory in our midst is that intense, only then can we assume that He is about to show up.

Isaiah 62:6-7 (New Living Translation)

"O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;

they will pray day and night, continually.

Take no rest, all you who pray to the LORD.

Give the LORD no rest until he completes his work,

until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth."

God's Design for the Family (Ephesians 5:22-6:4)

On Sunday mornings, I've enjoyed

preaching through the book of Ephesians. Most recently, I have spent time in Ephesians 5:22-33 sharing biblical truths about how husbands and wives are to relate to each other in their marriage.

To view the sermon videos, simply click on the titles given below:


God's Design for Wives (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33)

God's Design for Husbands (Ephesians 5:25-27)

God's Design for Husbands - Part 2 (Ephesians 5:28-33)

God's Design for Children (Ephesians 5:1-3) (will preach on October 26)

God's Design for Parents (Ephesians 5:4) (will preach on November 2)

A Church Plant called Calvary Goldsmith

Westside Baptist Church has before it an opportunity to join other Southern Baptist Churches in a project spearheaded by the North America Mission Board. On Sunday morning, October 19th, we will vote as a church family on whether we believe God is calling us to walk through that door of opportunity.

As we seek greater clarity on this matter, I have made two short videos and will again make the full Exploratory Team's presentation available.

If you only choose to watch one video, PLEASE watch this first one. In it, I explain that this is a step of faith but I also explain exactly what that faith-step looks like. You can view it by clicking here or watch it here...



So, as described in this video, the motion that the church will vote "yes" or "no" on is as follows:

"Westside Baptist Church will enter into a family partnership with Calvary Goldsmith. The partnership will consist of enlisting prayer warriors, sending teams to do ministry projects and a love offering. This partnership between our two congregations will be reviewed annually."

In the second video, I explain how engaging in ministry outside our walls actually benefits us. You can view it by clicking here or watch it here...



Yep, you heard me right. I believe that a great way to give Murray and Calloway County residents 'new eyes' to see the needs of our community and the heart and hands to do something about it, we need to do missions somewhere else. When we come back, we'll see our home differently. Just ask the folks who have gone on mission trips.

The third video is the full presentation of the Exploratory Team. You can view it by clicking here. (I could not embed it on this site.)

Finally, if you would like to read how this opportunity was birthed in my heart, you can do so by clicking here.

Why we MUST pray "with thanksgiving" if we are anxious

Have you ever been anxious? Of course you have. We've all been there.

Maybe it occurs when you pay bills at the kitchen table with the knowledge that there simply isn't enough money.

Maybe it happened when you were sitting in a waiting room as a loved one was undergoing surgery down the hall.

Maybe you're a student and it happens as a deadline nears or you are sitting at a desk waiting to take a major test.

The possibilities are endless. Yet, we all agree that anxiety is a normal, sometimes frequent, response to life.

Well, in my time with the Lord this morning, I came across a familiar verse but I had a 'eureka' moment reading it. All of a sudden, I got it! It made perfect sense!

Let me share the verse and then some comments on how God has told us to get rid of anxiety.

Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So, in these two verses, we see that in order to combat anxiety, we are told to pray. We need to unload our burdens and talk to God about them. 

But, there are two words that I have often overlooked that are essential to dealing with anxiety. It is the words: "with thanksgiving."

You see, God is speaking to people who are anxious. They are worried. (Why else would he tell them not to be anxious?)

So, he is telling anxious people to pray "with thanksgiving." 

Now, that's powerful! Why? Because when I'm worried, I rarely ever thank God in my prayers. My prayers typically fall into two categories: 1) "God why!?" and 2) "God, get me out of this mess!"

If you think about the attitude of thanksgiving, it doesn't come natural at all. But, it is the way out of anxiety.

For instance, let's say that I have just been diagnosed with a terrible illness. I can get anxious (I probably would!) and remain filled with anxiety (this response is perfectly normal - most people do it).

However, I could intentionally apply the principle of Philippians 4:6-7 and spend time talking to God. In those prayers, I could express my thanksgiving to God. 

I might exercise faith and thank God for what He is doing in the illness by providing me with incentive to depend up Him.

I could thank Him for who I may be able to encourage along the way.

I could thank Him for promising to work the illness out for my ultimate good and His glory.

I could thank Him that even if I don't beat the illness that Heaven awaits me.

The possibilities to express my thanks are endless.

While being thankful for the bad stuff doesn't come natural, it is pleasing to God because it is an expression of faith in Him. But, it also helps us to put our problems into perspective. When we can thank God for anything and everything that comes our way, anxiety will have no place to hide in our minds and hearts. In fact, gratitude to God will chase it away. 

Why not comply with Philippians 4:6-7 the next time the waters get a little rough.

What was nailed to the cross? It's more than you may have realized...

As I read through Colossians 2 this morning, I came across a very amazing word picture. It's in regard to our sins and how God forgave them.

God is infinitely holy and demands moral perfection from us. When we sin, we become ever more indebted to Him. That sin cannot simply be forgotten. His holiness has been violated and someone must 'pay.'

We understand this in our American culture. We often say, "Do the crime? Do the time!"

We understand that when someone violates society's laws, they are indebted to society and must either pay a fine or go to jail.

This is the way it works in our relationship with God. When we sin (and we all sin every single day), we are indebted to a holy God who demands that payment be made.

Well, folks can be shipped off to an eternity in a Christ-less hell to experience the consequences of not paying their debt to a holy God in this life. Yet, we realize that this is not God's heart (2 Peter 3:9).

So, in eternity past, God determined to glorify Himself by paying our debt for us. That word picture is provided in Colossians 2:14 where it says:

"by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

So, God cancelled our debt by "nailing it to the cross."

We know from the narrative of the Gospels that Jesus had something nailed to His cross. In John 19:19, it says: "Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'"

This appears to have been common procedure at crucifixions. The crime that someone had committed was put in writing and nailed to the cross. So, as folks walked by, they could see the offense and see the person who had committed it.

As far as the Romans were concerned, Jesus was accused of insurrection. He was accused of trying to set up a kingdom in opposition to Caesar. That was His offense.

Yet, in Colossians 2:14, we're told that as far as God is concerned, there was something much different nailed to the cross. It was our sins!

Friend, that's how God paid our sin debt. He couldn't simply forget it. Someone had to pay the debt. So, when Jesus hung on the cross, God placed our sin debt on His cross so that as the Jesus-follower walks by, they can see their sin debt being paid for by their infinitely loving Heavenly Master.

We serve an awesome God!!!

Filled with God!

As I spent time in God's Word this morning, I was again overwhelmed at how gracious our God is!


The 'gods' of all other religions place a great weight upon the worshipper to perform. At the end of their lives, they can only hope that they have done enough good to enter a place of bliss. But, if they take their religion seriously, they live with anxiety wondering if they are being devout enough.


Our God is not so! He calls us to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) ... and then He gave us the Law. Through the Law of Scripture, any mildly contemplative individual will realize that we all fall so far short of God's perfect standard (Romans 3:20,23).


But, our God satisfied His own demands. He glorified Himself by paying the sin debt we owe to Him. That's incredible!


He calls it like it is and sees us all as guilty sinners. Then, He took the punishment on the cross for those sins so that we could be brought into relationship with Him.


But, that's only the beginning, friend!!!


This morning, I was reading through Colossians 2. In that chapter, I came to the truth found in verses 9 and 10. In those two verses, we are told that Jesus is fully God. Everything that God is was in the person of Jesus.


Yet, it doesn't stop there! The next verse tells us that Jesus (who is fully God) fills us!!! If we are a child of God, then every bit of God resides in Jesus and every bit of Jesus resides in us! (reread and seriously contemplate that last sentence!)


God didn't save us and then make us menial slaves who must continue to fear Him. No! He literally comes to dwell inside the body of each believer (Colossians 1:27) and calls them His children (John 1:12)!


Colossians 2:9-10
"For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority."


#Overwhelming

Does your god cause weight gain?

As I spent time reflecting on God's Word this morning, I came across a text that seemed to be particularly troubling.

You know what that's like, don't you? You are reading a book (God's Word) but a verse 'jumps off the page.' It's a clear reminder that God uses the reading of His Word to speak with us.

Well, the passage I'm referring to is Philippians 3:18-21. In it, God (through the Apostle Paul) notes one very important factor that shows who is truly a child of God and who isn't.

Simply put, people who are on their way to Heaven focus on the things of God. Those who are headed to a Christ-less eternity are focused on self-gratification and the temporal.

People who are truly saved 'seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness' (Matthew 6:33). Those who are not saved are focused only on their own interests.

Philippians 3:18-21 (ESV)

"For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

I found the phrase, "their god is their belly", particularly troubling. That seems to describe someone who eats more than is necessary to satisfy a craving that only God can and should satisfy. I know that too many times that characterizes my behavior. While I love the Lord, I am keenly aware that there are times that I run to the frig rather than drop to my knees or open His Word for solace.

Virtually every time I read God's Word, I am reminded that there is still much work to do as I strive to become more like Jesus.

Praying Scripture back to God

One way that I have learned to integrate studying my Bible, prayer and meditation is by personalizing Scripture. What I mean by that is this - as I read through Scripture, I turn it into a personal prayer to God.

As I spent time with the Lord this morning, I came across Romans 11:33-36. Let me show you how it works:

"Oh, how great are Your riches and wisdom and knowledge, God! How impossible it is for me to understand Your decisions and Your ways!

For who can know Your thoughts, LORD?

Who knows enough to give You advice?

And who has given You so much

that they need to pay it back?

For everything comes from You and exists by Your power and is intended for Your glory. All glory to You forever! Amen."

Do you see what I did? I simply turned Romans 11:33-36 into a prayer. In doing so, I have read God's Word, I am praying but I'm also meditating on God's Word (thinking about it so that it can be absorbed into my mind and heart).

Why God gets the glory for our spiritual growth

Here are some (hopefully) helpful thoughts after my time in God's Word this morning:

Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It is in these two verses that we see a very important principle for the follower of Jesus: 1) we must intently work toward becoming more like Jesus, and 2) God works intently to make us more like Jesus.

Someone who is on their way to Heaven isn't going to get rid of sin and evidence a growing number of evidences of holiness unless they roll up their sleeves and get to work. They must spend much time in Bible study, prayer, obedience to God's Word, submission to the Lord, serving others, and other spiritual exercises.

Yet, the second verse points out that it is God who is at work in us to make us more like Jesus. If God did not work in us to help us get rid of sin and grow in holiness, it simply wouldn't happen.

It's like this: Someone who wants to get fit may decide to go to a local gym and start working out. They'll pump weights and will initially get pretty sore. But get this, when they work out, they aren't becoming stronger. They are actually tearing their muscles down. Micro tears are occurring (muscle damage!).

If that was the end of the story, working out with weights would be horribly detrimental to our overall fitness. It only tears our body down.

Yet, something happens to our muscles after a workout - if our body is healthy, our muscles will begin to rebuild. Those tears are healed but in a slightly greater capacity. And what's the result? Stronger, bigger muscles!

In some ways, this is like our pursuit of becoming more like Jesus. Sure, we absolutely must go to the spiritual gym and read our Bibles and pray and do so many of the other spiritual exercises. That's absolutely necessary.

But, we cannot give ourselves any credit for spiritual growth. God must come along behind us and do His work in us if there is to be any spiritual growth at all.

So, we cannot take credit when we are becoming more like Jesus. It's God that has done it. Sure, we participate in the process but ultimately He's the One who completes the work.

Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.