SELF: Burying The Old Nature!

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."

Colossians 3:5

I love to scour old cemeteries; the history and the intrigue manifested in grave markers is fascinating. While in Boston about 17 years ago I made it a point to visit the old cemetery above the harbor near North Church. What a treat.

D. Gene Strother tells of a visit to Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Texas. He describes all the monuments that fascinated him … the shrines, the crypts, the old-west styles … one had a statue of Jesus in a pair of cowboy boots.

A common sight was the family plot, where there is a central monument, with the family name on all four sides, and family members spread out from the center.

On one drive through Evergreen, Strother said he noticed one tombstone of particular note … not for its beauty but rather for its simplicity … the occupant was identified simply as SELF. Every family, every home in the world, needs a family plot with a grave marker like this … a place to put SELF.

God knows unbelievers won’t do it on their own; He expects, however, the believer to do so. Every believer, every soul, that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ should have a place for self in his or her home!

[Adapted from a message by D. Gene Strother, Pulpit Helps, September 1995, p.1]

Christianity, Illustrations, Religion, Self

LIFE: What are we doing to one another!

OF PLANTS AND OTHER LIVING THINGS: 1 John 1:5-7

Just because a thing is assigned a particular name doesn't mean it will absolutely function according to that name. For example, calling a thing a "house" plant doesn't mean it will thrive, or even survive, in every house; especially flowering houseplants.

All plants, at least all flowering plants, require certain essential things in order to thrive and survive: sunlight, carbon-dioxide, moisture, nutrition.

All over the world, there are places where houseplants will not thrive or survive, their environment is hostile to them, especially the outdoors. If there is a lack of life-supporting essentials, this too will stifle and thwart the well-being of a plant. We now know the absence of an unseen intangible (tenderness perhaps, some might say love; I'd say support and encouragement) will also affect a plant's quality of life.

Simple calling a person (or yourself) a Christian won't in and of itself insure thriving or even surviving under all conditions; a houseplant left outside will die; a houseplant deprived of nourishment and care will also die, even though inside the house.

On the one hand, we tend to project an unattainable standard upon those called "Christian," sort of recreating them in our own image, insisting they meet our expectations just because they are called Christian.

On the other hand, we tend to knowingly place ourselves in environments hostile to our well-being. This ought not be!

Like houseplants, Christians need a particular kind of light and moisture, a special diet, supporting encouragement and fellowship (prayer and koinonia), as well as a manageable environment. Struggle (sometimes stunting or even death) comes from the absence of these growth essentials. We all need to mindful of our own needs and the needs of others if we expect growth in ourselves or them.

Christianity, Growth, Illustration, Religion

HYPOCRISY: Not a Fatal Disease But It Ought to Be!

LEANING ON A BROKEN CRUTCH: [James 3:13-17]

A few years ago a sixteen year-old told me he didn’t need God because he was “not that insecure.” What did he mean by that statement? He was implying, “You Christians only go to church and believe in a thing called God because you're insecure and need a crutch to get through life." Where do young people get ideas like this?

First, they see the way some of us live and see that the walk doesn’t agree with the talk, so we’re hypocrites in their mind. As a result, they want nothing to do with what we’re selling.

Second, they lack simple life-experience [aka: common-sense], which breeds selfishness and self-centeredness. As I age, and gain in experience, I’m amazed I survived my own youth.

Much of what we say as young people becomes a hardened belief as an adult. We hear things from others, whom we respect, and accept them as gospel without question. What we don’t know, at that age, is that much of what we hear is what others also heard and accepted without question. The young man I shared my faith with was himself guilty of hypocrisy; however, he lacked sufficient life-experience to discern it.

In repeating, as truth, something acquired from another, without personal knowledge of its truthfulness, we are guilty of using that person as a crutch in the same way Christians are accused of using God ... only we have personal knowledge of the Gospel’s truthfulness.

WITNESS - It's ours to lose!

BACKYARD CHRISTIANITY [2 Samuel 16:7; other topics - Carnality; Sin; Transparency; Walk; World]

Pilots will understand when I say that Christian lives are often like the disparity between the front and backyards of many California homes.

On bright sunshiny days, when you’re blessed to be dancing with the clouds, you’ll be amazed to see the stark difference between the front and backyards of numerous homes.

You’ll see beautiful lush, green, landscaped front yards, one after another, like a Irish giant’s checkerboard quilt, but every third backyard or so will be Sahara-brown, weed-covered and trash-littered. It may be difficult for us to see a man’s backyard but a pilot has no trouble.

Likewise, the soul and spirit of a man is as hidden from other men, as his backyard is hidden from the passerby. It may be impossible for one man to see the inner reality of another, but from God’s perspective, it’s no trouble at all.


FOR APPEARANCE SAKE [Matthew 10:24-33; other topics - Easter, Fear-Fearlessness]

Today we all know about computers; even in the most undeveloped nations on earth, great numbers of people know about computers. Yet, many folks, are scared to death of them.

Take a kid who’s never seen a computer into a room with one, leave him alone for a couple of days, come back later and you’ll be amazed at what he’s learned on his own. On the other hand, leave a grown up and you’ll have a nervous wreck in two hours. What’s the difference?

In the case of the former, there is no fear. It may be an unknown to them but they are filled with a fearless “can-do” attitude. The later are filled with terror, not of the machine, not of the software, or the firmware, or the hardware ... no, none of these. What then?

It’s the fear of failure and the fear of embarrassment; the fear that they might somehow look bad to others, that they might somehow seem to be foolish or worse, stupid!

Every year Easter brings this human quirk home to me; for this season of the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension ought to cause all believers to witness for Jesus. But they don’t! Why?

Consider for a moment the differences between the kids and the adults above: youth brings a kind of fearlessness which says, “I don’t care what other people think, I’ve gotta do this!” Age, on the other hand, brings with it a deep concern for appearances. Doesn’t it? We get all hung up on what others might think.

RED DOT WITNESS [Matthew 28:18-20; Atonement, Blood, Sacrifice]

Sandi Martin is a critical-care nurse who has a red dot on the face of her wristwatch. In hospitals people are very conscious of blood-borne disease, many patient’s and staff assume blood has splashed onto her watch.

However, when asked, Martin’s quick response has always been, “... don’t worry; this blood is 2,000 years old. This dot reminds me of Jesus, who paid for my eternal salvation with his own blood.” Most respond with a smile and nod while gazing at the dot.

Witnessing is so simply many times. People are not offended so often by our attempts to share Christ as they are by the way in which Christ is shared. If what Jesus has done for you, means something to you, then tell people what it means to you. Follow that up with what He will mean to them.

I don’t recommend witnessing gimmicks, but a gimmick such as Nurse Martin’s, when based on a personal truth, will bear much fruit.

[Adapted from “Red dot on wristwatch opens doors for witness,” by Barbara Denman; Baptist Press, 4/14/99]

TEMPTATION - The Devil made me do it!

FAMILY PRAYER CLOSET [1 John 2:15; Television]

A pastor was preaching an impassioned sermon on the evils of television. He said, “It steals away precious time which would be better spent on other things." He advised the congregation to do what he had done. "I put that confounded box of ours in the closet.” He roared with great satisfaction.

To which his wife was heard to mumbled, "And it's really crowded watching movies in there!"

[ Adapted from CLEAN LAFFS - Thursday, November 1, 2001]

HOLD THE SAUCE [Various Scripture; other topics - Sin (Cost of); Righteousness; Pornography; Testimony; Voyeurism; Walk; Witness]

In Chicago, Illinois, health officials are investigating the explosion of two bottles of Col. Johnson’s Thermo-Nuclear barbecue sauce.

According to a report from United Press International, the explosions occurred in people’s kitchens. No one was hurt, but the spicy, hot sauce caused hundreds of dollars in damage to curtains, carpeting and furnishings.

Man continues to play around with dangerous items on a daily basis, not knowing for sure where the next explosion will come from or when it will happen.

Surveys tell us that huge segments of society are involved in Internet pornography; other data reveals the numbers are so large it must cross over the threshold and into the very sanctuaries of the household of God. It is statistically unreasonable to expect otherwise.

The Bible tells us our sins will find us out. The Bible tells us we will pay the price for our iniquities, both in this life and the next. We are to keep ourselves unstained from this world [James 1:27] but it appears that much of the church has been sleeping in a garbage truck.

[Adapted from David Miller, American Family Radio, News Network 1999]

Sovereignty (of God)

God as A Waiter (or God as A Relief Pitcher) [Amos; Malachi; 2 Timothy 3:5; other topics - Commitment]

The generation just past crowded God to the boundaries of life, while the present generation is shoving Him over the edge.

Oh, we want Him around when it’s useful, but we don’t want Him intruding when it isn’t. We see Him like a waiter at a party, standing silently against the wall until needed. He is then beckoned with the hand, to come and serve or to clear the dishes.

Sometimes, we see Him like a relief pitcher in a major league bullpen, hidden from view until the team is in trouble … we then beckon him to come in and save the game for us.

"God is a Gentleman, if you ask Him to stay out of your government, your courts, your schools, your businesses, or your homes ... He will oblige you." [Ruth Graham Lotz, paraphrased]

[Paraphrase - Hubbard, David Allan; “Why Can’t I Worship God My Own Way?,” Amos: God Speaks to an Age Turned Sentimental; Themes from the Minor Prophets: A Bible Comm. for Laymen; Regal Books, 1980 p.37]