that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:10-11In life we can find certain great fundamentals, like pillars holding up the weight of some mighty building. I like to think of these pillars as creation, rationality, order and fear. I’m sure that you could come up with more, but the basics are in these four, if they crumble or collapse the whole building or as we say Christian / Biblical worldview will fall. Yet it is comforting to know there is no danger of that happening, because the pillars are supported by a hand which no one on earth can break the grip.The wise man will simplify his life by going to the center of it. He will look well to the foundations and or pillars and, having done that, he will not worry about the rest. He will have a worldview understanding to discern all the different influences around him.Life as we know it in our painfully complex culture can be deadly unless we learn to tell between the things that matter from those that do not. It is never the major things that destroy us, but always the multitude of small things which are mistakenly thought to be of major importance. These are so many that, unless we get out from under them, they will crush us body and soul with confusion. I think every believer as well as every minister of Christ must decide whether he will put his emphasis upon the majors or the minors. He must decide whether he will stay by the serious truths which constitute the beating heart of the Scriptures or turn his attention to those minor doctrines which always bring division and which, at their best, could not help us much on our way into eternity.
"Oh God, we are so swamped with distracting things and clamorous voices. Deliver us today from the insignificant things and help us to spend every minute of the day on 'the things that matter.' In Christ’s name we pray. Amen."
In Christ,
Sandy Perry
10/28/08
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
It Ain’t Ours. Really!
Psalm 89: 5-12
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,and awesome above all who are around him?8 O Lord God of hosts,who is mighty as you are, O Lord,with your faithfulness all around you?9 You rule the raging of the sea;when its waves rise, you still them.10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.12 The north and the south, you have created them;Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name
Command those who are rich, to trust in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17
We are surrounded every day by things that don't belong to us, yet we call them ours. For instance, I refer to the truck I drive everyday as mine, when it really is the company’s truck. Others might call their office mine or the company car mine. But none of this equipment belongs to us really. It's ours to use, but not ours to keep. When our company gave it to us, we both knew what that meant. It was on loan not really our own.
This kind of circumstances is not unique to employer and employee relationships. That's the way it is with all of us and all of the things we call our own. When we speak of our family, our house, or our car, we are speaking of people and things God has allowed us to enjoy while we are here on earth, but they really belong to Him. Notice here the writer of this Psalm’s praise to God, The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours Psalm 89:11.
Understanding who really holds the title to all we possess should change our thinking. Just as we are aware that our company lets us use its equipment to help us do our work more efficiently, so also should we be aware that everything we have is given to us to serve the Lord.
Our time, talents, and possessions are all on loan from God so that we can do His work effectively.
It’s a challenge for all of us whom God has blessed with food for today and even a job to go too; because there is so many that don’t have these things right now. Yet the very people who have been placed in the powerful financial places can not get enough and want more, although they have abundance. It’s why Paul wrote, People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs 1 Timothy 6:9-10.
The very thing that we may think will be the downfall of our lives trouble can actually be the very thing we need to strengthen our lives by forcing us to cling to Jesus and Him alone. And the very things that we think will improve our lives may in fact ruin us. To the wealthy, self sufficient church in Laodicea that didn’t feel they needed Him, Jesus warned that from His point of view they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
When we are consumed by the stacks of stuff going wrong in our world, we run the risk of missing the true treasures that are found in Christ alone. Do you think He might be trying to tell us something? I surely do.
In His Service,
Sandy Perry
10/18/08
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,and awesome above all who are around him?8 O Lord God of hosts,who is mighty as you are, O Lord,with your faithfulness all around you?9 You rule the raging of the sea;when its waves rise, you still them.10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.12 The north and the south, you have created them;Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name
Command those who are rich, to trust in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17
We are surrounded every day by things that don't belong to us, yet we call them ours. For instance, I refer to the truck I drive everyday as mine, when it really is the company’s truck. Others might call their office mine or the company car mine. But none of this equipment belongs to us really. It's ours to use, but not ours to keep. When our company gave it to us, we both knew what that meant. It was on loan not really our own.
This kind of circumstances is not unique to employer and employee relationships. That's the way it is with all of us and all of the things we call our own. When we speak of our family, our house, or our car, we are speaking of people and things God has allowed us to enjoy while we are here on earth, but they really belong to Him. Notice here the writer of this Psalm’s praise to God, The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours Psalm 89:11.
Understanding who really holds the title to all we possess should change our thinking. Just as we are aware that our company lets us use its equipment to help us do our work more efficiently, so also should we be aware that everything we have is given to us to serve the Lord.
Our time, talents, and possessions are all on loan from God so that we can do His work effectively.
It’s a challenge for all of us whom God has blessed with food for today and even a job to go too; because there is so many that don’t have these things right now. Yet the very people who have been placed in the powerful financial places can not get enough and want more, although they have abundance. It’s why Paul wrote, People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs 1 Timothy 6:9-10.
The very thing that we may think will be the downfall of our lives trouble can actually be the very thing we need to strengthen our lives by forcing us to cling to Jesus and Him alone. And the very things that we think will improve our lives may in fact ruin us. To the wealthy, self sufficient church in Laodicea that didn’t feel they needed Him, Jesus warned that from His point of view they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
When we are consumed by the stacks of stuff going wrong in our world, we run the risk of missing the true treasures that are found in Christ alone. Do you think He might be trying to tell us something? I surely do.
In His Service,
Sandy Perry
10/18/08
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Be the Salt & Light
In this era of financial troubles and spiritual woes we need to be able to openly demonstrate from the facts how this nation is experiencing the ineffectiveness of its beliefs. We are experiencing a moral and spiritual deficiency because this nation has puts its trust in almost anything but the Lord of the Bible. By the facts I am talking about our past history and heritage as a Christian nation, one nation under God. These are not the crazy ideas of someone’s imagination, these are facts of history which we all hold self evident to be true.. But we have ditched that foundation and with that change has came the present moral decline and the failure of our society to deal with its problems, financial or spiritual. Programs developed by secular humanists and big government to improve society simply have not worked and can’t work apart from faith in the living God. The founding fathers of our Constitution knew this and spoke accordingly.
We live in a time when the world is challenging Christian morals and beliefs and people are crying for answers. It is a time when the fields are ripe unto harvest for the Church. Many Christians, however, are hiding in their caves of greediness and sitting in their pews of comfort, afraid to risk their lives or reputations for our Lord. Or, rather than representing the Lord, we are representing ourselves in games of spiritual king of the mountain, defending our own turf, or simply carrying on business as usual without a sense of God’s mission for us in this world when at this time when we need to be the salt and light to the world. We all see it so many times, I’m sure, a regular church goer stuttering then cutting and running in fright when confronted with a cultist or new age thinker because they haven’t learned God’s word well enough and aren’t secure enough in their faith to stand firm with the Armor of God on. Or, perhaps some are being choked and bound from growth and service by the thorns, thistles, and vines of the details of life, what the Lord called the deceitfulness of riches. But God is still looking for men and women who will count on His presence by faith, represent Him and face the challenges and risks of our day with all its various “isms” (Ezek. 22:29-31). 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.
This is what we became Centurions for is to bring truth and light to the world in a sincere winsome way. Like Mr. Matt said the time is here, and I think of Daniels words, “but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” Obviously, the big question for the pew sitter is, how well do they really know our God?
Peace & Blessings,
Sandy
We live in a time when the world is challenging Christian morals and beliefs and people are crying for answers. It is a time when the fields are ripe unto harvest for the Church. Many Christians, however, are hiding in their caves of greediness and sitting in their pews of comfort, afraid to risk their lives or reputations for our Lord. Or, rather than representing the Lord, we are representing ourselves in games of spiritual king of the mountain, defending our own turf, or simply carrying on business as usual without a sense of God’s mission for us in this world when at this time when we need to be the salt and light to the world. We all see it so many times, I’m sure, a regular church goer stuttering then cutting and running in fright when confronted with a cultist or new age thinker because they haven’t learned God’s word well enough and aren’t secure enough in their faith to stand firm with the Armor of God on. Or, perhaps some are being choked and bound from growth and service by the thorns, thistles, and vines of the details of life, what the Lord called the deceitfulness of riches. But God is still looking for men and women who will count on His presence by faith, represent Him and face the challenges and risks of our day with all its various “isms” (Ezek. 22:29-31). 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.
This is what we became Centurions for is to bring truth and light to the world in a sincere winsome way. Like Mr. Matt said the time is here, and I think of Daniels words, “but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” Obviously, the big question for the pew sitter is, how well do they really know our God?
Peace & Blessings,
Sandy
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Buckle up sand traps ahead
I don’t know if you have ever paid any attention as you drive through the mountains but most all the steep grades you drive up there was a long steep grade coming down the other side. Here we see signs that say “runaway truck ramp one mile.” You wonder how in the world a ramp could be built that would stop a truck with no brakes as it barreled down the mountain. Then in a moment you see it, branching off to the right like a spur on the road and slanting only slightly uphill and maybe 50 yards long. But it was all sand. One big mound and then a series of small mounds, It was the soft, deep sand that would stop the truck and as it stops suddenly you are almost thrown through the windshield If not for the seatbelt. God is a lot like that seatbelt , as we are barreling along and suddenly come to a stop in His Word or our faith and trust in Him He is still holding on, never letting go.
The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are like a runaway truck ramp. They stop us when we ought to be trucking right on through the Bible. I wonder how many people resolve to read through the Bible, but instead grind to a stop in the sandy genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9. I know for me I just want to run right by them like an open weigh station on the highway. They are very hard to get over.
But the awesome thing is that the highway through 1 and 2 Chronicles is dotted frequently with scenic overviews of God’s gracious purpose, just as the scenic overlooks in the mountains you can drive onto and stop and gaze upon His glory in creation. If we can get through the sands of chapters 1-9, these scenes are tremendous refreshment to our faith. Here’s one example to encourage you to dig yourself out and keep going in the Appalachian mountains of God’s revelation.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king. So Hezekiah gathered the people and the commanders together in the square at the gate. If you memorize what he said to them you will know the power of God in a new way. He said:
Be strong and be courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with them; for there is one greater with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles. Then the writer adds, “And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 32:7, 8)
My prayers for us are that in this trying time today with the whole financial system falling away we can feel His awesome Presence and know God is with us. That’s God’s goal: “the advancement and joy of your faith.” What is the “King of Assyria” in our life? Is it doubts about our financial future or the future of our government? Whatever it is, remember: “there is one greater with you than with him!” If you trust him, the LORD almighty is on your side and will fight your battles! “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today…The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still” (Exodus 14:13, 14).
Father, we humbly thank You for your Sovereign grace and merciful love, knowing You are in control always, and all things work to Your good and perfect will. We ask that in these times You will pour out even more of the Holy Spirit on a world that cries out for You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
In His service
Sandy Perry
10/11/08
The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are like a runaway truck ramp. They stop us when we ought to be trucking right on through the Bible. I wonder how many people resolve to read through the Bible, but instead grind to a stop in the sandy genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9. I know for me I just want to run right by them like an open weigh station on the highway. They are very hard to get over.
But the awesome thing is that the highway through 1 and 2 Chronicles is dotted frequently with scenic overviews of God’s gracious purpose, just as the scenic overlooks in the mountains you can drive onto and stop and gaze upon His glory in creation. If we can get through the sands of chapters 1-9, these scenes are tremendous refreshment to our faith. Here’s one example to encourage you to dig yourself out and keep going in the Appalachian mountains of God’s revelation.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king. So Hezekiah gathered the people and the commanders together in the square at the gate. If you memorize what he said to them you will know the power of God in a new way. He said:
Be strong and be courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with them; for there is one greater with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles. Then the writer adds, “And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 32:7, 8)
My prayers for us are that in this trying time today with the whole financial system falling away we can feel His awesome Presence and know God is with us. That’s God’s goal: “the advancement and joy of your faith.” What is the “King of Assyria” in our life? Is it doubts about our financial future or the future of our government? Whatever it is, remember: “there is one greater with you than with him!” If you trust him, the LORD almighty is on your side and will fight your battles! “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today…The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still” (Exodus 14:13, 14).
Father, we humbly thank You for your Sovereign grace and merciful love, knowing You are in control always, and all things work to Your good and perfect will. We ask that in these times You will pour out even more of the Holy Spirit on a world that cries out for You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
In His service
Sandy Perry
10/11/08
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