I recently watched a Dr. Phil show about “Catfish” and was floored by what I saw. A “Catfish” is someone who pretends to be someone they’re not. They create a false identity to extort money or goods from others. They find their victims by searching the internet for someone looking to find romance online. And evidently they are very successful– each year unsuspecting victims send millions of dollars to these people. I was astonished that anyone could be so stupid as to fall for such a scam, but they do. Some of the stories are unbelievable!

During the show they took a poll on Twitter seeing how many would ever send money to someone they’ve never met. 90% said “No” and 10% said “Yes”. Naturally it is those in that 10% group that these people are looking for, and with enough effort they find them! These “con-men” succeed by deceiving people and the “good” ones are very successful. They know that a large portion of the population is gullible and they keep searching until they find someone foolish enough to buy into their scam. They succeed for the same reason that the “Televangelist” bilk people out of millions, enabling them to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. As I’ve said many times, it is easy to get a following. You can go to any street corner in America and stand on a soap box preaching anything, and if you do it loud enough and long enough you will finally get some people to follow you. It happens all the time. Beware of “Christian catfish”

Anyone with a charming personality, the gift of gab, an emotional presentation and patience can get a following of loyal supporters if they say what the people want to hear. And such people exist all across America. We live in dangerous times and what we see is exactly what Paul describes in 2 Tim. 3, especially vs 13, ” But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” That makes it more important than ever that we search the scriptures and build our lives on the firm foundation of God’s Word. Guessing isn’t good enough, tradition can be a trap, and those with charismatic personalities can be purveyors of poison. It is one thing to be hood-winked by a “catfish” and lose all your money, it is another thing to lose your soul. The worse case of identity theft in the world is the person who claims to be a Christian who isn’t and uses his influence to lead people into a Christ-less eternity. That’s as bad as it gets.

I just finished reading an article entitled, “10 Ways to Reignite your Love for the Church”. The ten things are as follows:
1. Read 1 Cor.
2. Read the Gospel of Mark to see the Portrayal of Jesus’ disciples.
3. Check your heart.
4. Count your supporters.
5. Take a vacation.
6. Take some folks on a mission trip.
7. Hang out with a few members who want to grow.
8. Get a vision about something in the church.
9. Seek reconciliation with that person.
10. Keep doing ministry.

There are some good ideas on that list, but at the risk of sounding critical, I believe we can reduce the list to one thing— which isn’t even mentioned. The one thing of which I speak is this— renew your love for Christ! That will correct the problem. When we love Christ as we should we will love the church as we ought. This of course raises the “How?” question. Here’s the answer– “To renew your love for Christ review His love for you” and that will reignite your love for the church. If that doesn’t work nothing will. We love Him because He first loved us, and the more we focus on His love for us the greater our love will grow –for Him and His. Think about it!

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.“–John 17:15

The greatness of God’s love is seen in several ways– the communications we have received, the commandments He has given, the crucifixion of Christ, the compassion shown by Christ, etc. But there is another way, which generally gets overlooked, and that is the commission to the church. Jesus sent His followers to Jerusalem, knowing they would be persecuted, and then commanded them to continue on into the whole world, subjecting them to great hardships for the sake of winning the lost. The same One who sent His own dear Son, to give His life for us, also sends His children into the world like sheep among the wolves. That has to be love.

God’s children are not here by accident. Whatever times we live in is the time of which it can be said, we were born “for such a time as this”, and those times can be tough. Jesus knew the apostles would be hated and persecuted and that heaven would be a sweet relief, but He said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world”. Taking them out would mean that they could escape the trials and enter the joy of the Lord, yet Christ prays for them to remain, which meant suffering. Why would He do that?

We can only account for this by considering the importance of their mission. He left them here that He might send them to the world (John 17:18). Others would come to believe on Christ “through their word” (John 17:20) and that made their suffering worth the price they paid. After all, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lost. What right did they, or we, have to complain about the hardness of the way? Should our life be spared, considering that He spared not His life for us?

In times of desperation many pray to die, or for the Lord to come. Trying to sound spiritual, they might say they did so because they wanted to be with the Lord, but the real reason is that they want to be rid of their troubles and trials. While Paul said to die would be “far better” (Phil. 1:23) he also said it is “more needful” (Phil. 1:24) that we remain in this world until the time of God’s own choosing when He will call us home. To die is gain, to live is grief, but to stay and suffer for the good of others is glory, and that should be our desire. That’s something worth living for! And that should make us happy here.

Looking at the rest of our text, it’s obvious that Christ knew we would struggle with this, so He prays, “but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil”. You can rest assured that, whatever hardships you face in the pursuit of God’s will, the grace of God will keep you. It is sufficient for every need. Christ never said it would be easy, but He did promise that He would enable us. So, let us not complain about the hardness of the way, but rather focus on Christ, and busy ourselves in fulfilling our mission, so as to glorify God. God proved how much He loves the world by giving His Son and by allowing His children to suffer, let us prove how much we love God by being willing to suffer for His sake.

Christ loves lost sinners so much that He put His people in harms way in order to save them. As a parent I cannot imagine allowing my children to suffer horribly for the sake of helping someone who hates me, yet that is precisely what God has done. We can’t understand it because we can’t comprehend the wrath of God, nor fathom the greatness of His love. However, we can know that He isn’t asking us to do anything for Him that He wasn’t willing to do for us. May God help us to have the attitude of Esther. When Mordecai asked, “who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”, she responded by saying, “I go….and if I perish, I perish”(Est. 5:16). If you are afraid to make a commitment such as that, remember the words of  David, “My times are in thy hand”(Ps. 31:15). You couldn’t be in a better place than that! Never forget– we are here for Him. Whatever “here” might mean to you that’s exactly where you ought to be, and you ought to be happy here. Think about it!

Okay admit it–How many of you checked the news this morning to see if anything bad had happened yet? More than a few I suspect. Some will spend the day constantly checking to see what is happening.

While all of us are thinking about the awful tragedy that happened on 9/11/01, as we should, many are gripped with fear that something like that might happen again. That of course is exactly what the terrorists want us to do. They want us to live with a dark cloud hanging over our head, unable to enjoy what we have and they don’t. They want us to be as uncomfortable as possible. They want you to spend your time looking over your shoulder, fearful of what might happen, rather than enjoying the bounty God has blessed us with. Don’t do it! Rather than giving them the control we need to do as we’re told in Heb. 12:1-3, “ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”  If we are to endure our hardships and enjoy our blessings we must keep our eyes on Christ rather than the circumstances. As someone said, “Stay clam and carry on”. Something bad might indeed happen, but worrying about  things we can’t change or control does nobody any good. Keeping our focus on Christ will enable us to keep going regardless of what happens. Think about it!

Every preacher knows what I mean when I say, sometimes you just can’t get a message out of your head. Long after the benediction is over, the wheels in your mind are still turning. That’s what I’ve been going through all morning. Ever since my message yesterday morning I just keep thinking about the fault-finders and critics. I’m talking about people who had a glorious opportunity and blew it– men who were in the very presence of Christ, yet focused on the faults of a woman caught in the very act of adultery, rather than the perfections of Christ! While most of us would give just about anything to hear Christ preach, His preaching meant nothing to those men. They were so self-righteous that they saw no need of Christ. They were so full of hate they couldn’t love anybody else. They were so selfish that they cared nothing about their neighbor. They were so intent on justifying their views they would rather see a woman die rather than be delivered. It is sad to think that anyone could be in such a wretched condition, yet we see people like this all the time.

There are many instances where the worst people think they are the best people. They feel superior to others in the church and as a result they become hyper-critical. Unless things go their way they are going the wrong way, in their mind, and they are quick to voice their disapproval. Unless they are getting the attention they crave they are never happy. And if they can’t get it in one place they go to another. They create conflict in churches, ruin relationships, forsake friends, and make a mess of their marriage. While it is easy to get angry with these folks, due to the great harm they cause, they are to be pitied. In pursuit of their selfish desires they make themselves and everyone around them miserable. There is more hope for the guilty soul caught in the very act of sin, who dares not deny it, than the person who is so self-righteous that they see everyone’s sin but their own. Be wise and heed the warning given in Ex. 23:1-2 ” Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil—“. Such people are a danger to everyone around them. Rather than waste your energy fighting against them and becoming bitter, remain vigilant lest you believe their lies, succumb to their influence and become like them. It is better to be accused by them than to join in affinity with them.