This past Sunday I preached from the fourth commandment, which is really two commandments in one: 1.) work six days, and 2.) rest one. We explored the extreme views on sabbatarian doctrine - legalism which asserts we must keep every point of the Old Testament sabbath laws and liberalism which ignores the underlying sabbath principles altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m currently studying Zechariah, chapter 7 in the course of teaching through the Minor Prophets on Wednesday nights. We’ve been covering these dozen books in leaps and bounds, but sometimes I am forced to slow down and really camp out in a shorter passage of Scripture. Such is the case here. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, the agony of defeat!

First, it happened Thursday evening in our softball match-up. We lost the first game to Bentonville Church of Christ by a decent margin, but we were pounded the second game 26—3. Ouch! I’m guessing about nine other guys are wishing I just wouldn’t have brought it up.

Then, it happened again last night as the Razorbacks gave up a touchdown in the last couple of minutes of the game to lose to Alabama in a gut-wrenching defeat. I’m guessing a few hundred thousand fans are wishing I wouldn’t bring that up either.

So what do we learn from losing? First, we learn that it stinks! But we also learn to regroup, to sharpen and hone our skills, to get our heads back in the game, and to try a little harder next time.

God doesn’t want you living in spiritual defeat. He’s called you to be “more than a conqueror!” But the greatest spiritual conquerors I know have suffered some losses… and they have become all the better because of the lessons learned. So when you lose… learn! But strive for the victory today!

Here’s a bit of practical wisdom… take care of your teeth. Wednesdays are typically set aside for study time as I prepare for Wednesday nights and Sundays. Today, however, was set aside for a visit with the dentist. Almost a year ago, my #19 molar broke in half. The smart thing to do would have been to go to the Dentist immediately. I waited two weeks. He told me upon my visit that a root canal would be the best option, so what did I do? I waited almost a year.

Three weeks ago, I went for a cleaning and scheduled the root canal for today. I was given a prescription for an antibiotic and was told to take them until they were gone. What did I do? I took about two days’ worth and left the rest on the shelf. Therefore… (here’s something you should know) the anesthesia did not take its full effect because of residual infection. In other words, I felt it just a bit.

I’ll tell you another mistake I made - I researched root canals before going to have one done. Therefore, I knew exactly what the Dentist was doing at each step. I knew he was drilling a hole, grinding out the pulp (nerves and tissue), scraping away infected material, then packing it with medicated metal. With every yank of the tools, I replayed in my mind all that my research had warned me about. This is why I’ve simply decided to trust the Dentist next time instead of studying in advance.

Every experience was given for our edification, of course. So what do I make of this root canal experience? How about, don’t procrastinate! That’s what our lesson is on tonight. Haggai preached to a bunch of people who put off building God’s Temple so they could spend lots of time and money on their own houses.

Since it’s a Bible story, our initial reaction is, “Ah, the nerve of such people!” But I can honestly admit that I sometimes build my own “house” while God’s house waits. Our spiritual motto is often, by default, “Why do for God today what you can put off until tomorrow?” But God’s house, that special place of communion in the heart of every believer, is certainly worth hurrying up for… and it’s also worth staying a while!

I’m not going to be preaching at Bethel today since I’m in St. Louis visiting my in-laws. My Father-in-law, however, did ask me to preach for him at Lindsay Lane Baptist Church in Florissant, Missouri. I’m going to be speaking from 1 Corinthians 3:10-17. The message was inspired by the second half of my Bible study lesson this past Wednesday night from Zephaniah. Let me share with you some of the principles I plan on teaching today at Lindsay Lane…

1. Our foundation matters the most. You can’t build anything on a faulty foundation - it has to be torn down so that you can start all over. Paul asserts that Jesus Christ is the only proper, only possible foundation for a life that counts for eternity.

2. What we build on the foundation of Christ matters almost as much. Of course we’re to be concerned with the foundation we have in life more than anything else. We need to be making sure that everybody has a relationship with Christ and is going to heaven. But what’s next? We don’t just get raptured as soon as we’re saved, so what is this life for?

3. We’re all going to build something. We have this life, we have time, we have our bodies. So we’re going to use our time on earth, in this body, to do something, to build a life. The only problem is, much of what we build will be useless as eternal building material. It will rot away, be thrown out, or worse yet be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ.

4. We can build something that lasts. When we build lives properly on the foundation of a relationship with Jesus, what we build lasts. Are we building heavenly lives?

5. All that we build eventually passes through the fire of Jesus’ judgment. That’s not meant to scare us, but to encourage us. The judgment seat of Christ will be commencement day, a final graduation ceremony for all those who name the name of Christ. But what special achievements for the glory of God will we have to show for the energy we’ve expended on this earth?

6. We will all enter eternity, prepared or not. We Baptists are bad about assuming that to be “prepared” for eternity means to be saved. I have recently come to believe that there are many saved people in the world who are not prepared for eternity. They are going to heaven, but they are not ready to enjoy it. Their lives are too wrapped up in sin. They have too many compromises remaining, too many unshaped areas, unharnessed opportunities, and too many undeveloped heavenly qualities.

7. We can judge our lives here, or pass through God’s fire someday. I once wrote a short blog article entitled “Prune Thyself!” It had to do with the fact that we have a choice. We can either prune ourselves in this life, or God, the husbandman (vinekeeper) will prune us someday. The impurities will be removed, and it will be painful, either way. We can go through the painful pruning process now and be ready for heaven, or we can endure it at that fiery judgment seat someday, suffering the loss of some of our enjoyment of glory.

Heaven is a free gift, but our degree of enjoyment of it rests upon how much we decide to prepare ourselves for it in this life. Tough truths, but life-altering nonetheless. Are you preparing for eternity? That’s not simply a question of your salvation. Rather, it’s a present, active question. Are you actively, now, in your life, preparing daily to be a permanent resident of heaven? Is it going to be the place you’ve longed for? Or will you miss this world too much?