The Pastor's Pocket

  A Father to the Fatherless (Psalm 68:5a) Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads! As a father myself, having raised two daughters, I am reminded today of the blessing it is from God to be a Dad. Every person on earth had a man who fathered them (two female lovers still cannot pro-create! Just thought I’d throw that in). Fatherhood is about relationship. There is a biological connection for every person and the man who fathered them. It is sad today, but the statistics are real. Seventy five percent of all incarcerated men (and boys) declare they never had a good or “normal” relationship with their father. Was he absent? Did he care? Did he take the time to love, instruct, or discipline? Was he too busy to have a relationship with his son? Every child suffers when their relationship with their father is skewed in some way. Psalm 68:5 reminds us that God (Heavenly Father) will be there for the abandoned. Put your trust in the “Father” who will never disappoint you! Dads – let’s work at it!

  Have you ever stopped to consider this truth?  God gave us our voices to communicate – to praise our Creator.  We are to sing unto God, to pray and call out to Him in prayer, to witness for Him and to proclaim the Gospel.  Of course, with our voices we communicate with other human beings and God tells us how we are to do that.  It’s unfortunate that we slander, criticize, gossip and lie with our voices.  We need to remember that God could take our voices away from us as He did with Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father (Luke 1:20, 22, 64). Imagine how it would be if you were mute!  What if your voice was useless or somehow rendered inoperative? Imagine how different your life would be if you had no voice! My friends, if we have the gift of a voice, let’s use it to call out to God!  Let’s learn to cry out to God (Psalm 27:7), “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy on me and answer me.” In Psalm 28:2 we read, “Hear the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee…”  Let’s

  If God leads us in a matter, He is, by necessity, going to help us. When God saved me and called me to preach, 40 years ago now, I was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do next. A man, a total stranger, knelt to pray with me that day.  He gave me words of wisdom that I’ve never forgotten.  He said, “Wherever God leads you, He feeds you”. This is true for me, for you, for anybody!  If God gives you an instruction, He will supply whatever you need to successfully carry out His will.  It’s like a divine umbrella that provides wisdom, grace, finances and protection.  As long as we do HIS will, He will provide. The Lord told a blind man in John chapter 9, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam.”  The man did as he was told, and he received his sight. A genuine miracle followed his obedience to an instruction. God gave instructions to Joshua after Moses had died, to lead the people into the promise land. In Joshua chapter 1, the Lord promised him that He would be with him. He said, “I will not f

  When we are young, we think very little about eternity.  Heaven just doesn’t hold much appeal for us when we have love, marriage, and careers on our mind.  But as we get older, we begin to ask more questions like, “what will my life AFTER death be like?” The truth is, Christians don’t get buried, they get planted. Paul writes of our bodies in I Corinthians 15:42b, “it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption”, and in verse 43a, “it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” God has placed just enough discomfort in our lives to make us long for heaven.  If we are saved, heaven is where we are headed after we die. So don’t get too attached to the things of this world.  Sooner or later we’ll all be leaving. Philippians 3:20 says, “For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven…”  That is our GPS address already typed in by God Himself. As we age, deal with a deteriorating body, more troubles, trials, and heartaches, we long more and more for our eternal home where we will

  Psalm 23 In reading Psalm 23, have you ever considered the meaning of the words, “Thou anointest my head with oil”, found in verse 5?  Remember;  David was a shepherd.  He knew well how to care for sheep. So as he writes these words, he draws upon his own experiences to relate the good care of the Lord (our Shepherd) for His people. A shepherd would anoint, or rub oil on the sheep for two primary reasons:   1. To repel annoying insects.  If certain insects were allowed to deposit their eggs into the soft membrane of a sheep’s nose, they would drive the animal crazy.  The ewes would stop producing milk and the lambs would be hindered in their growth. So, the shepherd applied oil like repellent that kept the insects off of the sheep and kept the flock happy and at peace. 2. To heal wounds. A wound today could become tomorrow’s infection.  So oil would be applied to scratches and cuts to fight disease and infection from spreading to other members of the flock. Interestingly enough,

 Romans 8:28b, “…called according to his purpose” .   Do you know your purpose in life?  Everyone should know the answer to this question.  How do you discover your purpose? Here are a few helpful hints: Look within yourself. What moves you? What stirs you up inside? What excites you?  We know from reading Paul’s letters to the churches that it was the gospel that moved him to live as he did.  He said once to the Corinthians, “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel” (I Corinthians 9:16). Look behind yourself. What has life taught you? What experiences have you had that lead you in the decisions you are making now? Look around yourself. God always uses people around us to influence us.  Interact with the right people – it will lead you to the right destiny. Look ahead of yourself. Do you have the faith to trust God with your future?  Helen Keller said, “The only thing that’s worse than being blind, is having sight but no vision.”  What can you “see” through the eye of faith? Look beside y

  I have a riddle for you…   People worry about me; get twisted up in knots over me; stay awake at night thinking about me; wish they had more of me; never have enough of me; trade away their integrity to get me; stew, scheme and steal to get me; envy those who have more of me than they do; seldom just give me away; trade me for the strangest things; and then, just leave me behind when they die.  Who am I? MONEY.  “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing unto this  world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (I Timothy 6:6-7) Our attitude about money says volumes about us.  It must not rule our lives.  Paul says, “ godliness with contentment is great gain”.  How many contented people do you know? I would venture to guess very few.  We live in a very materialistic culture which pressures us to pursue more stuff, but money never satisfies.  No matter how much of it we attain, we always want more of it.  If we give our lives to it, we will come up emp

I have a riddle for you…  People worry about me; get twisted up in knots over me; stay awake at night thinking about me; wish they had more of me; never have enough of me; trade away their integrity to get me; stew, scheme and steal to get me; envy those who have more of me than they do; seldom just give me away; trade me for the strangest things; and then, just leave me behind when they die.  Who am I? MONEY.  “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing unto this  world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (I Timothy 6:6-7) Our attitude about money says volumes about us.  It must not rule our lives.  Paul says, “ godliness with contentment is great gain”.  How many contented people do you know? I would venture to guess very few.  We live in a very materialistic culture which pressures us to pursue more stuff, but money never satisfies.  No matter how much of it we attain, we always want more of it.  If we give our lives to it, we will come up empty.

  Did you know that “fear not” is the command most often repeated in the Bible?  It’s true! Fear and timidity are never God’s will for His people, never an option for children of the living God. Fear and faith are opposites. When fear walks in, faith walks out, yet we know without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). If we want to please God, we must conquer fear and walk in faith.  Oh, I know, there are a hundred reasons to be afraid; high energy prices, home foreclosures, wars, civil unrest, sickness and disease.  The list goes on and on. Yet the Lord would have us trust Him with our fears and not worry. I love Psalm 46:1,2a, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…”  A choice is involved here. Either we worry all day, or we trust God. To live in fear is as much a disobedience to God as stealing or lying!  Most of us haven’t thought of worry like this.  Instead of living in fear, why not pray instead.  Give your fear

  We can easily sin against God by doing the wrong thing in our relationship with other people. Remember what Joseph said when tempted by Potiphar’s wife? Genesis 39:9, “…how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”  You say, “but wait a minute – Joseph would have only sinned with his master’s wife - right?” But Joseph saw it differently.  He knew the sin would ultimately be against God Himself.  Too many Christians block the flow of favor and blessing from God in their lives because they offend the Lord in their dealings with other people. Unanswered prayer, hindered worship, and lack of joy; these things and many other “spiritual problems” arise from relationship problems or sins against other people. Let me ask a few soul searching questions.  Can you think of people you may have hurt or offended in some way?  Are you bitter or holding grudges against people that may have hurt you?  Are you involved in any improper (unspiritual) relationship right now? Have you gott

“What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” Matthew 26:40-41 If we want happy homes, successful churches, and a nation that honors God, someone will have to “pray the price. Pray the price – think about it. Prayer by God’s people who are passionate about the Lord can get it done! Every genuine revival I know anything about was first bathed in prayer. This “one hour” convicts me, it challenges me, and maybe it does you. There are 24 hours in each day.  Can we not find “one” to get alone with God and talk to Him?  The scripture teaches me that Jesus, at this present moment, is in heaven, making intercession in prayer for us (Hebrews 7:25). Think about it; you and I are on His prayer list right now! This thing called prayer is so important that the Son of God has a continuing ministry of prayer.  Yes, He prayed when He was on the earth, and He continues to pray in heaven. Can’t we at le

  Satan has been the arch enemy of heaven ever since he was thrown out of heaven after his rebellion against God.  Where did he go? He landed here on the earth. The devil has laid claim to this planet and its inhabitants, but Jesus still holds the “title deed”  (Revelation 5:7).  In other words; Satan doesn’t even have the keys to “his” house. The devil is called the “prince of this world” (John 12:31, Matthew 12:29).  He moves about on the earth, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).  When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Satan offered Christ, “all the kingdoms of this world” if He would just fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:9). Jesus resisted that temptation and won that battle. Many people are presently under Satan’s control (Acts 26:18, John 8:44).  Many are deceived by his influence and in bondage to his power.  This whole world system is under his domination (2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, 6:12). But I’ve got good news!  I’ve read the back of the Book (the Bible) an

  I heard it once said, “bitterness is the poison you swallow, while hoping the other person dies!” Bitterness can be very destructive; harmful physically, emotionally, and even spiritually.  We must deal with it, conquer it, and get victory over it, or it will destroy us. Lots of things happen to us inside our bodies when bitterness is allowed to “set up” in our soul.  Job expressed “bitterness of soul” as he tried to cope with all that he was experiencing (Job 7:11, 10:1).  Carrying around bitterness, anger, and frustration can leave us an emotional wreck.  Spiritually, it can ruin our walk with God and affect other relationships in our life.  No wonder Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:31, “let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you…” I have watched many people through the years be overcome with bitterness.  It’s sad.  Disappointments can be hard to overcome.  We’ve all had to face disappointments in life, but disappointments can grow. They can

  “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 3:18a Christian maturity does not come easily.  If it did, everybody would attain it. The sad truth is the majority of those who claim to be saved will never reach their full potential in Christ.  Why not? Perhaps I could offer a few observations. First of all, there is resistance that every believer will face in the endeavor to grow.  When seeds develop into small sprouts they will have to push up through the soil in order to begin the process towards maturity.  It’s not easy.  Some never make it.  It’s the same way with a young Christian.  Today’s ungodly culture is not conducive to spiritual growth.  Secondly, there is of course, the adversary of every believer, Satan himself, who will hinder, discourage, intimidate, and oppose the growth process.  Why, because a mature well-grounded Christian poses a threat to him and his objectives.  The devil’s opposition to the growth of any Christian is just

You must guard your “inner circle”… You must carefully choose who you will allow to become your close friends.  Why? Because we tend to become like the people we associate with on a regular basis.  Proverbs 13:20 says, “He that walketh with wise men, shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” The book of Proverbs has much to say about our associations, our relationships with people, and for good reason.  We can so easily be influenced by others. (Study Proverbs 1:10 &15 - 14:7 - 22:24-25) Building the right kind of friendships can prove beneficial to us. Becoming involved with the wrong crowd can prove harmful, even disastrous!  Remember the story in 2 Samuel 13:3; “Amnon had a friend…”  A friend named Jonadab, who led him to wickedness. As parents – monitor the friendships your children develop.  How many times have you witnessed good kids influenced by the wrong crowd? In high school, I stayed clear of bad influences.  I played sports; basketball, baseball, trac

  Contrary to what many people believe today, there are absolutes in life.  Some things are wrong and will always be wrong.  Some things are right and will always be right.  For example, the Bible says, “honor thy father and thy mother”. It’s always right to do so.  “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”. It’s always wrong to lie and to deceive. There are always choices in life.  We make choices every day.  The challenge is to choose to do right. To do the right thing requires courage and moral fortitude, but it has its rewards. There was a radio talk show host who gave advice to callers and she always ended the conversation with these words, “now, just go do the right thing”.  I like that.  Doing the right thing may not always be easy or even popular, but it makes the most sense.  Read the story of Joseph in Genesis , chapters 37–50.  Joseph had a tough time. His brothers sold him into slavery. Potiphar’s wife lied about his actions and he was imprisoned.  Joseph cou

  Jesus taught us to pray, “thy Kingdom come…”  In a spiritual sense, His Kingdom is already here in the hearts of all who know Christ as their Savior.  But one day, in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus will return from heaven and will set up His physical, literal Kingdom on this earth and will rule the whole earth forever in eternity. Paul writes in Philippians 3:20, “for our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven…”  The citizens of Philippi were under the authority of the Roman Empire and were actually Roman citizens even though they didn’t live in Rome.  They were colonized by the Romans and lived under Roman law even though they lived in Philippi.  Therefore, to the Christians living in Philippi, they understood well what Paul meant when he wrote about being citizens of heaven. What does Philippians 3:20 mean to you and me?  It means that as the people of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are an earthly colony of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Far from our home (heaven), we live here on ear

  Have you reached out to someone? Remember when Jesus first sent out His disciples? He said, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). It was God’s plan for the nation of Israel to hear the good news first and later on the Gentile nations (Romans 1:16). God doesn’t require us to reach everybody, but He does require us to reach somebody.  Not everyone is interested in our ministry, nor for that matter are they receptive to our message – but some are!  We must, as Christians, focus on those who we can reach.  This is also true of us on a personal level. God doesn’t qualify us to minister to everyone we meet, but He does prepare the hearts of some people to need what we have to offer. Let’s say you have experienced a divorce in your life, or struggled with the death of a loved one. Perhaps you have battled an addiction, struggled with an extended illness, or dealt with