Can't We All Just Get Along?

“Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

(1 Corinthians 1:10)

Nothing looks worse to a non-believer than believers who act like non-believers & nothing in a church looks more like non-believers than those who can’t get along.

The word used for “divisions” in this verse is the word, schisma; it means that there should be no open break, no fracture of the church. Division is caused by things like gossip, backbiting, bitterness, jealousy, ect… These things cause great divisions, divisions that sometimes are never repaired, which leads to church splits & fruitlessness.

I once wrote a letter to all the Baptist churches in Calhoun County…there were about 87 to 95 Baptist churches alone. I looked up the number of churches in Calhoun County, not just Baptist, but all…do you want to know the number listed? Two hundred & eighty six, now I’m by no means saying that all the churches listed were Christian, there were three I know of that were no where near Biblically Christian, but the other two hundred & eighty three, very well maybe. Think about it, two hundred & eighty three churches in this 612 square mile county…& we still aren’t affecting this county for Jesus, why? When the non-believers look to the church for something different than what they have…they normally only see more of what they have… strife. They see people that can’t get along to the point that they can’t even attend church in the same building or even work together for the same cause. So why would they want to know Jesus…if it looks as though He hasn’t done any good for those who call themselves by His name?

Philippians 2 tells us to, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” This “attitude”…He emptied Himself of who He was, was humble, became like a bond-servant & was obedient, even unto death…death on a cross.

What would happen in a county that had two hundred some odd churches that were filled with men & women who strived to honestly seek the mind of Christ every day of their lives? Why don’t we live it, and see.

Vern

No Smoking in the Temple

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16)

I was flipping around the ol’ telly, that’s British for Television, & ran across a church service where the pastor said something that really caught me & stuck with me…this was about two weeks ago & I’ve thought about it ever since.

He was speaking to a congregation of several thousand, & he said this, “If there is anyone here today that smokes, I know there has to be some here who smoke…feel free to take one out & light it up.” As he looked around he saw no one lighting up, so he continued, “No one’s gonna light up? Why? Let me answer that for you. If you are here & you smoke…you probably have too much respect for the house of God to light one up in here.” When he said that people were mumbling “Yes, that’s right” & “Amen”, but then he said, “If that is the fact…then why, when you walk out of this building, do you light one up? Why do you inhale that smoke into your body? Don’t you know that you are a temple of God?” He went on to include not only smoking, but gossip, cussing, porn, backbiting, drinking, drugs, lying, lust, ect… or as God calls it… SIN…at that point even the Amen’s stopped & it got silent.

If you feel funny doing something because you are in a church building, that we call God’s house…if you are a Christian never forget that you are a house of God, that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Treat yourself the way God sees you, if you are truly indwelled with the Holy Spirit, that is if you have been saved, God says “…you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION…” (1 Peter 2:9)

Are you a house of God, if not check out the links to the top right of this page, they will show you what God’s plan is & what a relationship with Him means.

Vern

Feeling Froggy

A farmer came into town & asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs.

The restaurant owner was shocked & asked the man where he could get so many frogs legs! The farmer replied, “There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs millions of them. They croak all during the night & are about to drive me crazy.

So the restaurant owner & the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time, for the next several weeks.
The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, “Well…where are all the frogs?”

The farmer said, “I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!”

You ever had something on your mind, something that kept you up at night, a worry that was so massive that it seemed like there was no way out? Me too, but it usually isn’t as big a problem as I thought it was, & it certainly wasn’t worth staying awake for. Once, when I was worrying about a problem I had, someone tell me that it seems big now…but five years from now you’ll look back on it & wonder what the big deal was…they were right. Jesus is right too…big surprise there…He said “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27)

In other words…why worry? It’s all in God’s hands anyway & in His hands…all worries are just a couple of scrawny frogs. That is...if you leave it in His hands.

Vern

Never Empty

“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth,
it will not return to Me empty, without
accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding
in the matter for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:11)

A few Thursdays ago, I found myself in what I’d have to say was my most nerve racking night that I have ever experienced in the last eight years of jail ministry. Let me set the scene for you, during the months of December & January I was in the section that most ministers dread, the Pink section. The Pink section is the lock down section, the section where the rowdiest inmates are housed. Some are in there because they couldn’t get along with other inmates, but the majority are in there for murder. I myself have grown to love ministering in this section, because these guys are at about the lowest place that you can go inside the jail. It’s a place where hope seems to be non-existent. These guys are in there cells which usually measure about 7 feet by 10 feet, for 23 hours a day. They are allowed out of there cell for 1 hour a day inside the cellblock, some haven’t seen sunlight other than what comes through their about 6 foot by 10 inch back window. The doors are solid steel with a small 1 foot square steel screen window, where you can see the inmates that are listening to the sermon standing & looking out.

While in this section there were 2 men who didn’t want to hear what was being said, the rest of the men were eagerly listening although they could hardly hear me. Now a lot of the men in this section have accepted Christ & are going through our Bible study courses & doing well. But this night God had laid it on my heart to speak about being ready for the return of Christ & how it will be as it was in Noah’s time when Jesus returns. The two men who didn’t want to listen started banging on their doors which echoed to the point it was almost deafening. One on the bottom row was hitting his door so hard that it was moving & appeared as though it would be knocked out of its track. The two were calling me all kinds of profane names, one yelled 666 over & over while the other screamed “There is no God” & both would through some form of liquid out of their window aimed at me, liquid that I’m pretty sure came from the toilet, but I just stepped back & kept preaching…believe me after this 9th grade boys Sunday School doesn’t seem that bad. During this time some of the other men were yelling at them to stop.

For the first time in the jail I was very nervous, a little afraid & felt as if I was wasting my time, I even asked God if I should just leave. But at that time God placed a peace on my heart & as clear as a bell He told me to stay & continue to say exactly what He wanted me to say… so I did. I was still nervous & a little scared but, I could see that the ones who wanted to hear God’s word were standing & listening at their window. I finished & decided to go to each cell & pray for the ones that wanted prayer, which were all but those two. I was kind of leery about getting close to those two cells because I was afraid that I would get doused with Lord only knows what. But I prayed with each cell, even one of the guys that caused trouble all night. He prayed with me with tears in his eyes, (I found out that he had just come off suicide watch). The other "666 yelling guy" asked me to pray for him, but he didn’t want me to pray for him there, “just pray for me when you get back to your church”, he said as he sat in the floor looking out of the crack between his cell door & the white block wall.

I left that night distraught & miserable, I felt as if it was all for nothing, my throat hurt from trying to talk over all the noise & I thought that there was no way that anything could ever come from this service…but I guess I underestimated God.

About a week later I received a letter from the guys in the Pink section, I thought I’d share it with you:

Shawn,

Hey, sorry about the situation that you walked into today, but I’m glad you came on in, it showed a lot of respect for your faith & the strength of God's work. We’re going to miss you, you inspired us all & we love you. I know it’s hard to tell with the way we carried on today but there is more than one way to show love. We’re proud that you stayed & didn’t walk out because we needed to see some strength other than ours. God’s work is not easy & you blessed today not saying you didn’t before, but today was great & you won our hearts forever.
Keep up the good work, because God is watching.

Love,
Pink section

P.S.
We send you our blessing so you will keep on blessing others with God’s word. We love you all (the CCJM), thanks for everything.

Needless to say, after I received this letter, Isaiah 55:11 came to mind, where it states “it will not return to me empty”. What I thought was a waste of time… God was using to teach a lesson to these men... & to me. That no matter the place or situation, no matter how bleak life at times can appear, He is still in control, His plan is always in action & He can work through anyone...even me.

Vern

Jehoshaphat cat

“The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father David's earlier days and did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as Israel did. So the LORD established the kingdom in his control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor.
He took great pride in the ways of the LORD and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah. Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. Now the dread of the LORD was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.”
(2 Chronicles 17:3-10)

True revival, doesn’t come from a man or a church gathering. It can only come, when people turn back to God & His Word. But like Jehoshaphat, if you want revival to happen within the body of Christ, go into your room, put a chair in the middle of the floor, sit in that chair & pray for everything that is sitting in that chair. If you want to see true revival, it starts with you, Jehoshaphat understood that. He also understood that the word of God is the key to unlocking true revival. No honest revival of God has ever started with anything other than God’s Word. People have to be called back to the Bible, to the standard that God gives us to live by, to the salvation that He provided through Jesus Christ, without this kind of true revival, there will be no revival at all.

There are generations of people now who do not know or even study God’s word, many attend churches around our nation weekly. But they don’t make the Bible a priority during the week. That’s what happened in Judah, the people had gotten away from God & His Word & had fallen into idolatry, we see that when Jehoshaphat “removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah” The High places or the Hebrew noun BAMAH meaning, “back, high place.” the place where they worshipped false gods like the Asherim or Asherah which was a fertility goddess, the mother of Baal. Also notice in the word BAMAH, the first four letters BAMAH, this is where they worship Nick, just another reason to be an Auburn fan (just kidding... that’s vernmason1@gmail.com).

Jehoshaphat saw the need for teaching God’s word, “having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.” When the priest went out they went out with God’s law in hand & ready to teach it to the people.

We need to have more teaching of God’s word in our churches, there are tons of preachers, but we need more teachers of God’s word. Jehoshaphat knew that, for the people to turn from God as they have, they didn’t know God’s word, preaching, though it is needed, will not teach people God’s word. We have a dire need for Bible Study groups, for parents to teach their children at home as well as bring them to church & for people to study there Bible in a daily quiet time alone with God. If the Bible is unknown to the people... God is unknown to the people. If the people are not taught in the ways that God wants us to live…how will they know?

“Now the dread of the LORD was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.” Another awesome thing happens when we turn back to God, we have peace with Him & the comfort of His protection. Throughout the Bible when cities or nations turned to God, He protected them & they prospered, away from God they would crumble & fall. What our nation needs isn’t a better government, a more elaborate, effective school system or even a stronger economy, no what our nation needs is a true revival, a great awakening…a turning back to God & His word.

“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

D. L. Moody

Vern

"It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom"

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

(Matthew 16:26)

Yesterday evening I was surfing the channels on the cable box, when I ran across what I must say is my most favorite movie…“Braveheart”, the movie that allowed me to see that men in kilts, can kick your butt. It also made me love the sound of bagpipes. But even more than those two things, it leaves you with some pretty good quotes from Mel Gibson’s Character William Wallace, if you ever have to fight England or are just looking for freedom.
Quotes like:

“There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.”

“Lower your flags and march straight back to England, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for a hundred years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.”

“I came back home to raise crops, and God willing, a family. If I can live in peace, I will.”

“Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!”

“Go back to England and tell them there that Scotland's daughters and her sons are yours no more. Tell them Scotland is free.”

“Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I.”

“Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

“We all end up dead, it's just a question of how and why.”

But what I believe to be the greatest quote in this whole movie, was when William was going to meet with the soon to be queen & his closest friend tells him that he is worried that it may be a trap. He tells William that he doesn’t want to be a “martyr”, William replies “And neither do I! I want to have a wife, children & a home, I want to live! But it's all for nothing if you don't have freedom.”

Matthew 16:26 teaches us the same thing, if we marry, have children, a nice home, a great job, a sharp car, money, money & more money… “It’s all for nothing, if you don’t have freedom”, freedom provided by Jesus. Often we think that material possessions will make us free, but they usually just make us a slave to making or accumulating more. But Jesus said, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”. Now that is a good quote.

Does James 1:13 really mean that God does not tempt anyone?

Does James 1:13 really mean that God does not tempt anyone? We read in the Bible that God sometimes tempts/tests the believer. Should Christians be tempted?

People often say that God is testing them when it's not God at all. God cannot be tempted with evil nor does He tempt with evil. In verse 12 it states that God is trying us as Christians, it proves us, verses 13-14 show that God in no way tempts us to do evil.

Often man wants to blame God for the problems/tragedies that happen in their lives such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes; etc… people usually shout " God did this to us!" When really it is our own fault. We build next to a river for example. We build there for the beauty, the recreation or whatever, then when a natural occurrence come & the heavy rains fall, the water rises & overflows, flooding homes & businesses people get angry at God. When we ourselves maybe shouldn't have built so close to the river, same with hurricanes & the beach house. This kind of thinking has been around since Adam & Eve. They were tempted by Satan to disobey God. They did it & Adam says, "… The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” " The woman whom You gave to be with me…" He blamed God for Satan's temptation that he fell into.

Jesus could not sin, Why then, was He tempted? In Matthew 4:7 Jesus said: "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" God wants to save from sin, & He does not tempt men to sin. He wants to deliver men. He never uses sin as a test, but He will permit it, as we will see. Jesus had no sin in Him, "…the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me." The reason He was tempted was to prove that there was nothing in Him. After Jesus had been on earth for thirty some odd years, Satan came in with temptation that appealed to man's total personality …physical side, mental & spiritual side of man. Jesus could not fall. The testing was given to demonstrate that He could not fall.

Vernon McGee gives a great story of a time when he was young growing up in Texas. He lived near a branch of the Brazos River & in the summertime there wasn't enough water in the river to rust a shingle nail, but in the wintertime, you could almost float a battleship on it. One year a flood washed out the wooden bridge on which the Santa Fe Railroad crossed the river. They replaced it with a steel bridge & when they completed it, they brought in two locomotives stopped them on top of the bridge & tied down the whistles. All of the people in the little town knew for sure that something was happening; so they ran down to see what it was. When they got there one of the braver citizens asked the engineer, "What are you doing?" The engineer replied, "Well, we built this bridge, & we are testing it." The man asked, "Why? Do you think it's going to fall down?" That engineer drew himself up to his full height & said, "Of course it will not fall down! We are proving it won't fall down." Jesus was tested for the same reason. God cannot be tempted with sin & He will not tempt us with sin.

God does permit us to be tempted with sin. 2 Samuel 24:1 reads "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, & He moved David against them to say, go, number Israel & Judah." Really that was sinful. So did God tempt David with evil? To understand the Bible you have to get the full story.
In 2 Samuel you have man's viewpoint of the events recorded. Man sees it as God was angry with Israel & He just had David do this. But if you check out 1 Chronicles you're told God's viewpoint. "And Satan stood up against Israel, & provoked David to number Israel". Who provoked David to sin? It was Satan. Not God. God permitted Satan to do it because God was angry with Israel & their sin. God never tempts man to do evil.

What causes us to be tempted & sin? Look at James 1:14, "But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust & enticed." God does test us as Christians, but He will never tempt us to sin, that blame lies on Satan & us.

Vern

When in Rome...

Gibbon an English historian (1737 - 1794), said that there were 5 reasons that lead to the decline & fall of Rome:

1) The undermining of the dignity & sanctity of the home. Which is the basis of human society.

2) Higher & higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread & circuses for the populous.

3) The mad craze for pleasure. Sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, more immoral.

4) The building of great armaments. When the great enemy was within, the decay of individual responsibility.

5) The decay of religion. Fading into mere form, loosing touch with life, loosing power to guide the people.

I believe in America we are at, or may be way past number 5. Back in the 60’s we started undermining the home, if not earlier. Taxes seem to continue to rise, paying for everything from a photographer to create “art” by taking a picture of a crucifix in a glass of urine, to wool research. Thought we knew all you could know about wool? Guess not.Wasteful spending goes from the city government all the way through the federal government. Our politicians have lost sight of “who’s” money it truly is.

A look at the UFC & (even though it’s fake) the WWE & you can see the level of violence in our society, all for our pleasure. Not to mention the fleshly pleasures that people take part in, from drugs & immoral sex to immoral movies & music, our society is becoming more & more depraved in the way of pleasure & becoming “mad crazed” about it.

Do you know that San Francisco is about to vote, or may already have voted, on legalizing prostitution? On AOL news a few months ago, they put out a poll that had two questions 1) Do you think San Francisco should decriminalize prostitution? Out of 29,208 people: 62% said yes only, 33% said no & God bless em’ 5% didn’t know. 2) Do you think prostitution is a victimless crime? Out of 38,204 people: 54% said yes only 39% said no & again, God bless em’ 7% said I don’t know. I think the 7% of the “I don’t know people” scare me more than the “yes people”.

Though we do have enemies outside our country that we must defend ourselves from, we more than overlook the enemy we have here within. I’m not speaking of some terrorist cell, but decaying morality & ungodliness. God’s hand has been on this nation, because of it’s Christian roots & the true Christians that pray for it, but as of now, God may be removing & may have already removed His hand from us.

"The decay of religion", we are passed this stage. We have watered down Christianity & the worship of God so much that people can claim to be believers & live however they want without guilt. We have made it a bad thing to feel guilty for doing wrong. We have candy coated the gospel & God’s Word to the extent that it hasn’t the effect it should on wayward believers & unbelievers. We are terrified of speaking about hell & sin afraid that we may offend someone. We won’t even use the word lie anymore; it’s now stretching the truth. A person who is hooked on alcohol isn’t in sin they have a disease. If someone committees a heinous crime, their not guilty, it’s their environment’s fault or their parents are to blame.

If a politician lies, cheats or steals no big deal, that’s just the way they are, or we take up for them because of our party affiliation. Abortion is just being pro-choice & homosexuality is called an alternative lifestyle. It’s all good with us, it’s all gray. No more black & white, night & day, right or wrong, we are riding the fence, we are lukewarm.

You open the paper or turn on the news & it’s, there was a murder here, a robbery over there, yesterday someone was raped, a drug deal happened up the street, there was a shooting in a school, ect… but you never hear the word Sin. We don’t have anything in this country more than a SIN problem. We can call it what we want, but our nation is turning away from God & falling deeper into sin. We are no better than Israel, God’s chosen people. He disciplines them, & He will discipline us as well.

All throughout history any nation or people who turned against God or would not turn to God, that nation or people were destroyed by their own sin, or removed by God. George Bernard Shaw said it best, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” It’s a very sad thing that we as Americans have been handed a nation by God through the faith of our forefathers who understood what they had & now we have. Unless we are total fools we can look back at our American history & see the hand of God. We hear it from the lips of our founders:

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible" President George Washington, September 17th, 1796

"Without a humble imitation of the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, we can never hope to be a happy nation."
President George Washington

"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over the universe, who presides in the council of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States.." "...Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency" From President George Washington's Inaugural Address, April 30th, 1789, addressed to both Houses of Congress.

"I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- God Governs in the Affairs of Men, And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, Is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid?" Benjamin Franklin

"Let the children...be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education. The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating [removing] Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools." Benjamin Rush

We also hear it from the lips of some of our greatest presidents & citizens:

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior (Jesus) of the world is communicated to us through this book. President Abraham Lincoln

"The only assurance of our nation's safety is to lay our foundation in morality and religion." President Abraham Lincoln.

"Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty" President Abraham Lincoln.

"The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country." President Calvin Coolidge

"The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, 'In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." George Washington Carver.

The list & quotes can go on & on, we my friend have lost something from the times of the pilgrims landing till now & that something can not be regained without God. We have lost our knowledge of history. History has taken a backseat to the other school studies & Christianity has all but been removed from the history books. Abraham Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." We are seeing this first hand.
Hopefully you are now thinking about our nation & how it would be without it. Hopefully you are thinking about the future of your children & what we will leave them. Hopefully you will get off of your backside & help in changing things. We need to start by praying, seeking God in our everyday lives. He is the only one who can stop us from forgetting history & becoming history.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
George Santayana

Vern

Wii Old

“The glory of young men is their strength & the honor of old men is their gray hair”
(Proverbs 20:29)

While sitting at home one night, my oldest son yelled at me to come & play a video game with him, this usually means that he has been practicing & wants to humiliate me with his mad gaming skills…but I went anyway. He brought out the video game “Wii Sports”, now I don’t know about you but this “Wii” deal takes way too much energy, I mean, if I’m going to play a video game I want the character to do all the work.

We started off bowling, which he killed me in, then we moved on to boxing where I had him for a few rounds, but then all I remember is hearing the 10 count as I got a close look at the quality of the canvas.

After he refused to play golf, seeing that he would take a beating there, he moved onto the fitness test part of the game. The fitness test takes you through several different activities, like batting, bowling, tennis & boxing, all done back to back as fast as you can. At the end of the test, it rates you on your fitness level, by showing what age you should be. Let’s say you did well, then your age would be younger, the worse you did the older you would be. Have I mentioned that I scored at age 72?

After a game like that & the gray hairs that keep popping up in my beard, the verse above really hits home, but the meaning here is not a bad one. As I’m now about Mid-way between puberty & retirement, I can see the benefit of both youth & old age.

How many times have you heard an older person say something like this, “Those young people sure do have a lot of energy, I’d love to have just half that much”. Young people have a lot to offer, their strength & vitality will be what keeps the older generation going. From their material production, to their service to our country, young people & their energy have a great value. But on the other hand so do the older people, the wisdom that they have gained over the years & their sacrifices through out their lives, whether work or military related have allowed a place where the youth can be free to spend their energy. This can be seen clearly at our church. The youth have stepped up & began to see what it truly means to walk with God & honor Him. They come together & worship on Sunday mornings, Wednesdays & now thanks to some of the youth, they have started a service on Friday or Saturday nights called “The Garage”. There are a large number of them who are really standing out for Christ & displaying that in church, whether they are singing in the choir or leading in the standing to honor God’s Word when it is read during service. The main point is that they are living out 1 Timothy 4:12 & that is a thing to be respected & honored. There is also another side to that. They are able to have a place to worship, because of the sacrifice & hard work of the ones that came before them, those who started out in that church when it was held in a tent. Though they are now gray headed, some have even gone on to be with the Lord, they once were young. They followed God, sacrificed & labored to provide a place of worship for those who would come after them. They are full of knowledge & most importantly godly wisdom, wisdom that needs to be shared.

In both sides, young & old, there are great benefits. So neither should be envied or looked down upon, for one without the other, would be total ruin.
In this getting older thing, I’ve learned that though I may not do so well in the realm of Wii fitness & my son may overshadow me there…he still has to go to bed at 9:00 & I can stay up as late as I want… MUAHAHAHAH… MUAHAHAHAH! This aging thing isn’t that bad.

Vern

A Son Like Bart

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:6-9)

I've always wondered what would have happened if Adam would have told his wife, no. Would it have stopped there? Would it have made a difference if he would have said, "look God told us not to touch that fruit, let's go to Him right now and handle this". I'm sure that I maybe way off on this, I'm not saying that it would have changed anything, but that's just a little Vern theology, kind of some "V-eology", which you may not even want to taken with a grain of salt.

I've noticed that when Eve took the first bite, nothing happened…but when Adam took it, then it says, "The eyes of them both were opened". Now ladies don't hear me wrong, I don't believe for one second that you are insignificant or not a person to be considered. I just see that God placed the man at the head…hold on now, don't lynch me yet…I believe that God wants us as men to be the head of our homes, not to be slave drivers or kings, but to love & take care of our wives & children. To love our wives as Christ does the church, enough to die for her. I believe that men should take a stand in their marriages, a stand for the Lord & lead their families in a walk with Christ.

I think that there are way too many "Good Ol' Boys" out there that think that a night out with the guys is more important than time spent with family. Now I'm not saying that men can't do things with their friends, but if it takes away from the family then, yea it's wrong.

I was on a trip a while back, it was mostly guys, but it seemed that nothing could be done without beer. It was like a bunch of teenagers who got away from mom & dad for a little while. How old am I? LOOK!!! IT WASN'T COOL WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER & GUESS WHAT, IT AIN'T COOL NOW. I thought it was, but I also thought that I was smarter than my dad & that I wanted a life like one of these burnt out rockers on behind the music...heck I thought Georgia Championship Wrestling was real.

We need, as men in America, to grow up & act like real men. I'm not saying in any way that I am some great, "never sin or mess up" kind of guy, but we need to strive to be like Christ, not Homer Simpson. What we do now as fathers will affect our children for life. If you strive to live a Godly life, expect a son who strives to live a Godly life. If we strive to live like Homer, expect a son like Bart. I am in no way saying that your child will do everything perfect & never mess up, but I can promise you this...I am not perfect either, but unless I expect my son to do well, he probably won't. It for sure will be a more Difficult road for him if he can't respect his on father.

I hope that we can start teaching boys from a young age to be morally responsible. Show them how to treat women with respect, how to speak without cussing, how to keep your cool in any situation, how to live a life without alcohol, etc… We start that and you'll see a world change. If boys will learn to become true men of God, the ladies will follow their lead.

If you are not happy with the way your life has gone so far, the best time to make a change is right now!

Vern