WHAT’S WRONG WITH AMERICA?

July 4, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

While there is much that could be said about what’s right with America it is also a fair question to ask “What’s wrong with America?” However, the fact that people have to ask that question tells you what’s wrong with America. Anyone who can’t see what’s wrong with our nation is what’s wrong with America. And one of the saddest things is that many of those who don’t know what’s wrong are government leaders. Some of the most inept people are those in high places, formulating laws and policies, etc. They are in a position of leadership but they don’t have a clue as to what is truly at the root of our problems, nor any idea how to fix them. They are the blind leading the blind. It’s not hard to foresee what might happen.

When a ship breaks away from its mooring it is at the mercy of the sea and that is a terribly dangerous place to be. And it is easy for any Bible believer to see what’s wrong with America. We have listened to lies and turned from the truth, and gone every man to his own way as in the days of the Judges. Is it any wonder we are where we are? But for the grace of God it would be a lot worse.

Inquire about what’s wrong with America and you will get a wide variety of answers– different responses from different people. You will receive answers that are diametrically opposed to one another. In regards to politics we might put people in one of two camps– liberals and conservatives, but it is more complicated than that. There are people on both sides of the issue who are blind to the truth because they see no sure standard of right and wrong. Having cast aside the Word of God as our guide the door is open for every weird idea and theory under the sun.

What’s wrong with America will never be solved until we get back to the things that made America great in the first place–knowing, trusting and obeying God. John Quincy Adams hit the nail on the head when he said on July 4, 1821, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this, it connected in one indissoluble bond, principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity”. That dear friend is a foundation that stands secure! —HDS, 7/4/17

THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHERS

June 17, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

There is no question about it–God expects us to honor our father. What you might not realize is that many of them, the best of them, feel undeserving. They are aware of their faults and failures, and wish they were better. Sometimes, although greatly appreciated, the nice things said about them in a Father’s Day card hurts more than the words of a critic. They hurt because they are aware of their shortcomings. They want to live up to the glowing compliments and it hurts when they don’t. They wish they could live up to the exaggerated statements about them and are embarrassed when they can’t.

Let’s be honest, regardless of how good your father is it’s fairly easy to find some fault with him– if that’s what you’re looking for. However, before you take that route I want to suggest that you stop and think about some things you might not have considered.

— He became a father without any experience.

There is no trial run, practice period, or special class to prepare him for such a difficult task. You can’t expect perfection. There is not a father on earth who could not have done better and most of us wish we had! It’s not easy dealing with the many different needs of a child, especially when you have no training whatsoever.

— Learning is a process.

Fathers have to learn as they go and sometimes life is going faster than their learning rate. They are always playing catch-up. Just about the time you think you’ve got it all figured out you’ve got a teenager and that’s a game changer for sure. Nobody is ready for that!

— He has other responsibilities as well.

There is no way dear old dad can give you his full attention all the time. He has other things to do–like putting food on the table. If you had any idea what he has to deal with on the job you might give him more credit than you do. It’s easy to find fault when you don’t have to earn the money, pay the bills, and take care of other stuff you never thought about.

— He is probably more aware of and concerned about his faults than you are.

Give him some credit. Naturally there are exceptions, but most fathers care more than you think. Dads are not like moms. A mother’s love is up-front and personal, it’s unmistakable. Dad’s aren’t always that way–even if they should be, and it can be for a number of reasons. But men cry too. You might be surprised if you knew just how many tears your dad shed because of his failures.

— He struggles with his growth and character development just like everyone else.

Don’t expect more from him than he is able to give. If you knew his whole story, what he experienced as a child, you might be more patient with him. It doesn’t excuse his sin, but it helps you understand a bit better. He might never become all that he should be (the same is true of you). But–

— He is your father and is to be shown respect, regardless of his failures.

His faults do not excuse yours. His sins do not give you the right to be unloving and unkind. There is no denying, some fathers are as mean as junk-yard dog, as selfish as a pig, and as unconcerned as a rock. It is awful that you have such a man for a father, but he is your father and you are obligated to be respectful. His best chance for change just might be seeing the love of Christ in you. God loved us “while we were yet sinners“(Rom. 5:8), let us do the same. I’m not saying that you should just ignore his sins, pass them off with the wave of your hand. I’m saying that you shouldn’t let his failure cause your fall.

— Consider his good points.

Isn’t that what you want from others? As I said, there are exceptions but chances are there are some good qualities about your father –perhaps more than you know or want to admit. You can blot out the sun with a penny if you hold it close enough to your eye, and some of you have lost sight of the nine good things about your father because you are focused on the one bad thing about him. Stop tormenting yourself, and look for something to be thankful for–it can change your life. Your bitterness will not make you better. Think about it!

Note: None of this is intended to minimize or excuse the failure of fathers. As Christians there is no excuse for us not being the best fathers possible. Hopefully this article will help folks understand how difficult it is and encourage us to pray for one another. We all need it! HDS, 6/17/17

A 93-MILLION-MILE LOVE

June 3, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

NOTE: Having had the experience of starting churches I know from experience what a blessing it is to have other churches rally to your needs. It is for that reason that I was so impressed by this article from Tim Challies. I have revised the article to use the KJV where the Bible is quoted.—HDS

Christians are called to love. We know this. We’ve been loved by God so we can love in return. We display proof of our salvation when we stop living self-focused lives and begin living others-focused lives. We show our love and appreciation for God in the way we turn our love outward to become “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). We are accustomed to thinking about this as individuals, and we know our local churches are meant to be communities of people who love one another. But there is also something to be said for entire congregations loving other congregations.

We see this modeled in the New Testament, such as when the churches of Macedonia begged for the opportunity to help out another needy congregation: “How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. ” (2 Corinthians 8:2). We see it another time in one of those same Macedonian churches—the church at Thessalonica. When Paul writes to them, he says, “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10).

Paul seems to be saying something like this: “I’ve been in touch with other churches in your region, and they’ve told me about your generosity. You have been extending love to them. You have been ensuring they know that your congregation loves their congregation.” The love of Christian to Christian within that one congregation had overflowed into love for other congregations. In fact, Paul can gauge the intensity of the love of the believers in Thessalonica by the manifestations of their love in cities across the region.

It’s like the sun on a hot summer day. You stand outside and feel the heat of the sun on your face and think something like this: “If the sun is this hot here on earth, I can only imagine how hot it is 93 million miles away on the surface of the sun.” And Paul is saying, “If your love reaches all the way to Berea and Ephesus and other churches across your region, I can only imagine how strong that love is right there in your church.” They had a 93-million-mile love that radiated far beyond themselves.

So perhaps we should be thinking about how our congregations can express love to other congregations. This may be through supporting them financially, setting aside some money to support a church that is badly missing its budget or a church that is attempting to build a new building. This may be through inviting those other congregations to shared events or to prayer meetings meant to pray for the entire city or region. This may be through asking those other churches how you can be praying for them in particular. There are a hundred ways that one congregation can express love to another.

As whole congregations love other whole congregations, we will be proving that the love within our churches is too strong to contain, too intense to remain within its four walls. We will, like the church of Thessalonica, be proving that we “are taught of God to love one another. …” and our challenge will be “that ye increase more and more;” —Think about it!

WAR OF THE WILLS

March 29, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

In my message last Sunday I pointed out a problem area by saying, “Some people decide what they want to do rather than discover what God wants them to do. They make their plans and then ask and expect God to bless them. They call it “serving the Lord”, but it isn’t. If I said, “We all should serve God” everyone would agree. If they believe the Bible they must agree. But some are confused about what it means to “serve God”. They might talk about how much they love serving God, yet not actually be serving God at all. Here’s why. When you make “serving God” about you, you have stopped serving God and started serving self. You are seeking self satisfaction by way of religious activity. Motive matters. Why you do what you do determines whether or not you are truly serving God or self. The best actions are of no eternal value if done for the wrong reason. Doing something just because you love to do it doesn’t make it acceptable to God. What we do must be done for His glory, according to His will, and in the name of Jesus.

The fact is, serving God will sometimes require you to do things you would rather not do. That’s the way it was with Jonah. Nineveh was the last place that he wanted to be, but the only place on earth that he could be in God’s will. Preaching to those people was the last thing he wanted to do, but the only thing he could do to please the Lord. God would not settle for anything else.

Have you ever noticed how little concern people have for the will of God when it clashes with their will? Some would climb the highest mountain, risking their life to do God’s will, if they loved mountain climbing. They love the view and enjoy the experience so they are elated to do God’s will in a case like that. But suppose they are fearful of heights and peaceful in the valley, and God bids them to leave their comfort and climb. What then? Or, to look at it another way, suppose you love the thrill of climbing mountains and God tells you to stay in the valley. Now what? Does your delight turn to drugery and depression when your desire is denied? Can you be at peace in the valley when your desire is to climb the mountain? Maybe you’re not as concerned about God’s will as you would like people to think. You need to think about that.

I know– I’ve taken a long time trying to make my point, but I’ve done so because I don’t want you to miss the point. It is crucial that we know we are actually serving God rather than striving to please ourselves. It is for your own good that I have raised this issue. This is not something you can afford to be wrong about. I simply want you to be certain that you focus is on God’s will, not personal gratification.

The greatest feeling in the world is knowing you are where God wants you to be and doing what He wants you to do. There is no peace without it. I can honestly say that there is no amount of money that could lure me away from where I am. Money isn’t worth that much to me. The richest man in the world doesn’t have enough money to persuade me to resign as the pastor of this church. On the other hand there is nothing that could stop me from resigning if I knew without a doubt that God wanted me to leave. And I wouldn’t move an inch if I had any doubt–“For God is not the author of confusion”-(1 Cor. 14:33).

Over and over I’ve said “Success is simply discovering the will of God and doing it”. If you know of a better way to describe it I would like to hear it. And if you know of anything more important than this I would like to know what it is. The will of God is not only the secret to service and success, it is the secret of safety–our safe place. The safest place on earth is the center of God’s will and the most dangerous place on the planet is a fraction of an inch out of God’s will. There is no wiggle room, no middle ground, no neutral territory, no degree of disobedience. You are either in or out. And tragedy of some sort always results from being out of God’s will. It’s like a star out of orbit. There is no promise of provision, no safe place outside of God’s will.

God’s will is the secret of service, success, safety, and serenity (Col. 3:15). Duties never conflict. Many of our burdens come from personal ambition, and as long as we are striving to get our way we will never have peace. Peace comes from surrender. And it is in this that we find the source of satisfaction that we yearn for. There is no doubt about it, when it comes to the matter of us surrendering ourselves to the will of God, there is a war of the wills. Paul spoke about it in Rom. 7 & and Gal. 4:16-18.

Although we can’t win this war of the wills without God’s help we must remember that He doesn’t force us against our will. Do you have the will to win? If you’re willing God will make you able. Being willing to do God’s will is the wisest decision you ever make. Think about it!

HOW TO BE HAPPY

March 17, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

Considering the wretched condition of this wicked world one might wonder how it is possible to be truly happy, or to “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory“( 1 Pet. 1:8). There seems to be 1001 things working against us to hinder our happiness. But it’s not just the world that tends to get us down. Our biggest enemy is within. Our aging achy body, frail flesh, and propensity to sin works against us (Rom.7). So how can we hope for happiness? I could approach this in a lot of ways, but perhaps a story from Spurgeon’s experience will help.

Jordan Standridge wrote an article entitled “The Three Verses that Kept Spurgeon from Quitting the Ministry“. If you are really serious about how to be happy in this hellish world it will be worth your time to consider what he said. Here it is:

It was 1856 and things could not have been going better for Spurgeon.

Twenty-two years old, married for about a year, already with twin boys, Spurgeon was also experiencing great blessing in ministry. He was preaching to thousands. On October 19, 1856 some say almost 14,000 gathered to hear him preach, even though only 10,000 fit in the building. They were eager to hear this young pastor who preached the Bible. But there were many jealous people.

That night during the service at around 6 o’clock some people started shouting “fire!”

A stampede broke out, and in the midst of the panic, people trampled over each other causing the death of seven people.

There was no fire.

Because Spurgeon was so distraught over the events that occurred, he was unwilling to preach the next Sunday, he even thought about quitting the ministry altogether. And it wasn’t until the Sunday after that that he was willing to return to the pulpit. Here were his first words as he got up to preach that morning,

“I almost regret, this morning, that I have ventured to occupy this pulpit because I feel utterly unable to preach to you for your profit… I feel somewhat of those same painful emotions which well-nigh prostrated me before. You will, therefore, excuse me this morning if I make no allusion to that solemn event, or scarcely any. I could not preach to you upon a subject that should be in the least allied to it. I would be obliged to be silent if I should bring to my remembrance that terrible scene in the midst of which it was my solemn lot to stand. God shall doubtless overrule it. It may not have been so much by the malice of men, as some have asserted. It was, perhaps, simple wickedness— an intention to disturb a congregation—and certainly with no thought of committing so terrible a crime as that of the murder of those unhappy creatures. God forgive those who were the instigators of that horrid act! They have my forgiveness from the depths of my soul. It shall not stop us, however. We are not in the least degree daunted by it. I shall preach there, again, yes and God shall give us souls there and Satan’s empire shall tremble more than ever! “God is with us; who is he that shall be against us?” The text I have selected is one that has comforted me and, in a great measure, enabled me to come here today—the single reflection upon it had such a power of comfort on my depressed spirit. It is this—“Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in Heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”—Philippians 2:9-11 .”

Christ’s exaltation was what brought him peace. Knowing that Jesus Christ knew what had occurred two weeks earlier, and that he had a master plan for this event brought him great comfort.

As we think about tragedy, we must train our minds to think eternally.

A lot of people are broken and they want to live a better life. A life that doesn’t involve fear, racism, and war. The sad reality is that there will always be injustice. Human beings in over 6000 years of world history have not been able to stop injustice. And although we should all strive to make this world a better place, through selfless love for one another, we have to resist the urge to put our hope in this life, because that is what has caused this mess to begin with.

We must tell them that hope can only come when we value what Christ does. And Christ reminds us constantly to buy stock in eternity, because he is going to be forever exalted.

The only way that justice is possible is if every individual who has ever lived will face God one day. And even better, every human being will bow the knee to Christ one day. His exaltation truly begins on the day foreshadowed by Paul in Philippians 2.

Spurgeon rejoiced in knowing that the men who shouted “Fire!” would one day exalt Christ by bowing their knee to Him.

Micah Xavier Johnson will one day bow the knee to Jesus.

Every cop will one day bow the knee to Christ.

Every president and king will one day bow the knee to Christ.

Every human being will bow their knee to Christ. And unless they repent and give their life to Christ, they will be forced to do so and cast to hell. And instantly justice will be served.

There will never be perfect justice in this life, but one day soon Jesus Christ will reign and he will rule perfectly and we will all be free from sin and its consequences.

Sometimes we treat Spurgeon and other heroes of the faith as super-human. But they were as vulnerable to despair as me and you. They wisely chose to think eternally in the midst of suffering. Eternal thoughts are the only thoughts that will give us comfort. We cannot hope in politics and we cannot hope in morality. We must focus instead on the day that Jesus will be exalted and when we will enjoy Him forever.

THINK ABOUT IT!

PS: I would also suggest that you study 2 Cor. 4, starting with 2 Cor. 3:18.–HDS

WHAT’S WRONG WITH AMERICA?

THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHERS

A 93-MILLION-MILE LOVE

WAR OF THE WILLS

HOW TO BE HAPPY

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