Pastor Dan's Blog

The Importance of Unity

Pastor Dan Walker — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:18:15 +0000

Unity seems to be an elusive goal in our society. Marriages and families are disintegrating at an alarming rate. Infighting and division is common in many other groups, including businesses and churches. What is the cause of this breakdown in unity and harmonius relationships? The cause is simply selfishness, seeking to obtain the greatest advantage from the group and giving back as little as possible. When there is no unity, when there is division, what is the result?

Mark 3:25 (NIV) If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

When there is no unity in a group or relationship, that “house” is doomed to collapse. On the other hand, unity is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Psalm 133:1 (NIV) How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

There is blessing, there is peace and joy when people in a group work together in unity. Generally, groups and relationships begin with unity. However, over time, inevitable forces work to sow seeds of division into a group. Unity is something that must actively be maintained, whether in a relationship or in a group.

Ephesians 4:3 (NIV) Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

This verse is speaking specifially about the unity of the Spirit in a church family. Notice that every member must make every effort in order to keep the unity. Of course, unity and peace go hand in hand.

So, whatever church, group or relationship that you are a part of, ask yourself some questions.

Am I taking advantage of others in the group or relationship?
Am I doing less than my fair share in the work of the group?
Am I doing less than my fair share in contributing to the group?
If my behavior is not conducive to keeping the unity, what will I ask God to help me change in my behavior?

Listen to my July 5, 2009 message “Maintaining Unity” based on Nehemiah 5, to learn the principles of maintaining unity in your life.

Download audio file (090705-maintaining-unity.mp3)

Overcoming Opposition When Following Jesus

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:46:58 +0000

Whenever anyone makes a decision to follow Jesus and God’s plan for their life, there will be opposition. A lot of people are surprised and dismayed when following God turns out not to be the easy road they thought it was going to be. In fact, the Bible promises that when you follow Jesus, there is going to be opposition.

2 Timothy 3:12 (NIV) In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Notice that persecution or opposition happens to those who strive to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. Opposition is not the consequences of wrong things that you have done. If you run a red light and get a ticket, that is not persecution, it is simply reaping what you have sown. Most of the negative circumstances in believers lives in America are caused simply by failing to follow biblical principles. However, even if you are living a godly life, there will be opposition.

Who is behind the opposition? The being behind the opposition to believers carrying out God’s plan for their lives is Satan. Now, I realize that many people do not believe that Satan is a real being, but simply a symbol of evil. Nevertheless, the Bible clearly teaches that Satan is alive and well and out to destroy you and your family. Those who ignore or don’t believe in Satan’s reality or power are the ones who are most easily overtaken by him.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

So, if you’re a believer, you’ve got a prowling enemy looking to destroy you and your family. In fact, Satan is looking to destroy everyone, not just believers. However, believers are his special target, since not only are you not going to join him in hell, but as a believer you are committed to rescuing others from his clutches.

So, how to overcome Satan’s opposition in your life? Be self-controlled. To be self-controlled is to basically keep your life under God’s control. One essential part of self-control is seeking God’s protection in prayer. Secondly, you need to be alert to what Satan is trying to do to destroy you and your family. Don’t compromise in any area of your life. Stay away from bad influences, whether people or various media. Pour yourself in living 100% for Jesus Christ, not just on Sunday, but everyday of your life.

Listen to my June 28, 2009 message “Overcoming Opposition” based on Nehemiah 4, to learn principles on overcoming Satan’s attacks in your own life.

Download audio file (090628-overcoming-opposition.mp3)

God’s Plan for Fathers

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:52:46 +0000

Fathers are an incredibly important part of God’s plan. God has created fathers to be leaders and protectors in multiple spheres of responsibility. In the book of Nehemiah, the fathers helped to build the wall around Jerusalem. The wall provided protection and security. Today’s father must build three walls in order to be successful in God’s purpose for their lives.

1. Build your personal wall

The personal wall of a father involves your character. Your character is the kind of person you are when no one is looking. In order to build your personal wall of integrity, you must build your relationship with the Father, God Himself.

1 John 2:13a (NIV) I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.

Knowing God, your heavenly Father, is essential to becoming the father God created you to be. Your model of a father is God Himself. To grow in integrity, you must grow in prayer and understanding God’s Word. Your personal walls must be strong to withstand temptation in today’s world. Last week’s revelation of the extra-marital affair of Senator John Ensign of Nevada and today’s revelation of an affair by Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina show what can happen when your personal walls are in rubble. You’ll make no progress in the other areas of your life unless you are building your life on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.

2. Build your family wall

A strong personal wall lays the groundwork to build a strong wall of protection around your family. The essence of a biblical family is the marriage relationship between one man and one woman. So, a father’s first task in a family is to build his relationship with his wife.

1 Peter 3:7 (NIV) Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

This surprising verse reveals that if a husband has a poor relationship with his wife, his relationship with God and his prayers will be hindered. Also notice that for a strong family wall, both husband and wife must be believers and committed to the Lord.

The second aspect of building the family wall is to train his children in God’s way.

Ephesians 6:4 (NIV) Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

The father has the chief responsibility in the family to train and instruct his children walking with God. Children must come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and then grow in that relationship by learning from their father’s example. All too many fathers fall short in this, either through not having strong personal walls or pushing off the training responsibility to their wives and church only.

3. Build your church wall

The final wall of protection that a father needs to build for his family and others is the church wall. Contrary to popular belief that you can go to any or no church at your own pleasure, God has one church in your area that He has chosen you to be a part of. When you as a father faithfully participate in that church family, God will protect and bless your family greatly.

1 Peter 2:5 (NIV) you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

To build your church wall, you must not only have a vertical relationship with Jesus, you must have a horizontal relationship with other believers in God’s family in the church. You help build your church wall through participating in ministry, not just being a spectator. When you take responsibility as a member of the church family, your wife and children will follow. The church wall is a source of great protection in today’s world and no believer should be without it.

Unfortunately, many fathers give building their job their highest priority which leads to great problems. However, when a father builds these three walls, personal, family and church walls, the rest of his life, including his job will prosper.

Listen to my June 21, 2009 message “Fathers – Builders of the Wall.”

Download audio file (090621-fathers-builders-of-the-wall.mp3)

How To Ensure Your Plans Succeed

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:47:53 +0000

Planning is important. Those who do not plan, who put their emphasis in life on spontaneity, have problems. A wise person will take the time to make careful plans.

Proverbs 21:5 (NIV) The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

It takes time to plan, but planning leads to success. Doing things quickly, leads to failure and poverty. However, not just any type of planning leads to success. Some plans are doomed to failure because of bad motives. Other plans fail because the planner did not take all the necessary factors into consideration. Since none of us knows the future, how can we possibly plan for it?

In order to ensure that your plans succeed, you must align your plans with God’s purpose for your life.

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

God knows everything and He has determined a plan or course for your life. When you align your planning with God’s perfect plan, you will find success in life. Here’s the three-fold formula to ensuring your plan succeed.

Read the Bible, pray and ask God to show you His plans for your life.
Decide to overcome any fear and commit to following God’s plan.
Take action with God’s help to put the plan into operation.

In the book of Nehemiah, we see how one man changed the course of history by putting God’s plan into action against incredible odds. Nehemiah accomplished this through total commitment to God and His Word, prayer and action.

In my message, “Planning with God” from June 14, 2009, I look at the principles of how Nehemiah was able to obtain resources from the world-ruling Persian empire to succeed with God’s plan. If you follow these principles, your plans and life will succeed as well.

Download audio file (090614-planning-with-god.mp3)

The Misunderstanding of Church

Pastor Dan Walker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:24:45 +0000

The number of people who never or rarely attend church continues to increase. A George Barna poll shows 38% of adult Americans are in the category of being unchurched. Of the people who regularly attend church, a staggering 45% are willing to try a new church. So we have a large group of people who see little or no value in church and another even larger group who are dissatisfied with their current church. I believe that behind these statistics lies a great misunderstanding of church.

Based on my understanding of the Bible, here’s my definition of a local church.

A church is a group of believers in Jesus Christ who committed themselves together to extend the kingdom of God in a particular locality.

Just as many people who claim to be Christians, are not believers in a biblical sense, so many groups that claim to be churches, are not churches in a biblical sense. So, we have people who have left or are thinking of leaving “churches” that are not truly churches. That’s actually a good thing, as long as they are searching for a true biblical church. Unfortunately, many lump all “churches” together and think they are all the same. On the other hand, we have people who claim to be believers leaving or thinking about leaving biblical churches because of some perceived imperfection. That is not a good thing.

Is it possible for a true believer to exist outside of a church family? The surprising answer is that no, it is not possible.

1 John 3:14 (NIV) We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

Here the apostle John tells us that one of the proofs of being a believer is love for other brothers and sisters in the family of God. If someone claims to be a believer, but has no desire to be around other believers in a church family, it proves they are not a believer at all. So, for the true believer, a biblical church family is not optional, but a necessity and something to be cherished.

The importance of being part of the family of God is seen in the Old Testament. To be cut off from the people of God because of some sin, was considered a fate worse than death. In the New Testament, the concept of a believer who was not part of church family is almost unheard of. The only mention of it is when someone was put out of the church through church discipline because of sin. This process was called “being handed over to Satan” (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20). The whole idea was that being outside of the protection of the church would drive the sinner to repentance and back into the church family. Today, we also see terrible things happen to people who have placed themselves outside of the protection of the church.

In my message, “Depending on God” from June 7, 2009, I look at the story of Nehemiah’s passion and prayer for the people of God in Nehemiah 1, as an example of what our attitude should be toward our church family today.

Download audio file (090607-depending-on-god.mp3)

Waiting on a Big God

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:36:44 +0000

Waiting on a big God is a very important part of growing spiritually. Although none of us likes to wait, God seems to have a particular liking for making people wait for Him to act. The Bible is full of people who had to wait on the Lord. Moses waited 40 years before he led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Abraham waited 24 years until the son promised to him by God was born. The Bible has many verses that command us to wait on the Lord.

Psalm 27:14 (NIV) Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

It’s a strong person who learns to wait on the Lord. The bigger your perception of God, the more patient you will be in waiting for Him. If I pull up to the drive-though lane for a fast food restaurant, five minutes is too long to wait. However, if I have an appointment to meet with the President of the United States, I will wait until he shows up. God is far more important than the President.

Waiting on a big God has a lot to do with trusting God’s promises.

Hebrews 6:12 (NIV) We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Impatience is a form of laziness. In order for God’s promises to be fulfilled in your life, you need both faith and patience. It’s takes patience to keep on believing God until the answer to your prayer comes.

Why does God make us wait? There are a lot of reasons. First of all, the world does not revolve around one person. God’s purposes in the world are enormous and involve many people and interrelated events. Oftentimes, things that we want to happen yesterday, need to be waited on for God’s perfect timing. Probably, one of the most important reasons that God makes us wait, is that waiting changes us for the better. Waiting on God builds your faith, your patience and your strength.

Isaiah 40:31 (NASB95) Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

Waiting on the Lord, empowers you with God’s strength. Sometimes you have the strength to effortless wait on God like an eagle soaring in the sky. At other times, God gives you to strength to keep on running until you reach the end of the race. However, there are times when God will give you just enough strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other without becoming weary.

What are you waiting on God for today? What promise in God’s Word are you praying will be fulfilled in your life? When you wait on the Lord, you will be tempted to give up. You will be tempted to think that God is not big enough to come through. Resist those temptations. Be strong, take heart and continue waiting for the Lord until the answer comes.

Listen to my May 31, 2009 message “Waiting on a Big God.”

Download audio file (090531-waiting-on-a-big-god.mp3)

Bouncing Back From Failure

Pastor Dan Walker — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:53:24 +0000

Everybody fails in life from time to time. How can you bounce back from failure without it destroying your life? To answer that question, we need to look at what failure is all about. True failure is always caused by sin. The Greek word for sin is hamartia which means to miss the mark. The picture here is of an arrow missing the bull’s eye of the target. The Bible tells us in

Romans 3:23 (NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Here the picture of sin or failure is of falling short of what God created you to do, falling short of the glory God intended to receive from your life. So God is not happy when we fail to follow his plans for our lives, but He wants to help you escape from failure mode and get back on track with His purpose.

When people fail in life or face very adverse circumstances, they generally respond in one of two ways. Some people feel defeated, they lose hope, they feel paralyzed and depressed. Oftentimes, they look for someone else to blame for their problems, maybe even God Himself. They have a victim mentality and believe they are powerless to change their circumstances. People who lose hope and are full of fear have great difficulty in bouncing back from failure.

On the other hand, when other people fail in life, they have a hope for life beyond their failure. They look to learn from their failure and see it as an opportunity to grow and do better in the future. Failure actually energizes these kind of people to work harder, to try something new and rise to the challenge.

How can you have hope and bounce back from failure like this second kind of person? Only through God’s help and presence. In Matthew 14, the disciples were in a life threatening circumstance. They were stuck in a ferocious storm in the middle of a lake in the middle of the night. In their time of great need, Jesus came to them walking on the water. He spoke to them and said:

Matthew 14:27 (NIV) But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

In the midst of your difficulty, whether your fault or not, you need to fix your eyes on Jesus. Notice that He commands the disciples to both take courage and not be afraid. The only reason these commands made any sense was because Jesus was there with them. So, whatever you’re facing today, give it over to God. Ask Him to fill your heart with hope and courage. Ask Him to take away your fear and worry.

When Jesus is with you, He is always ready to forgive and give you a fresh start in life. As long as you’re breathing, God has a plan for your life. He has a next step to take you out of your failure. Seek Him and He will help you bounce back from failure.

Listen to my May 24, 2009 message “Bouncing Back From Failure.”

Download audio file (090524-bouncing-back-from-failure.mp3)

Hope For America’s Future

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:14:00 +0000

The Presidential election of 2008 was determined by a popular vote margin of 52% to 46%. The winner would have been different if just 3% of the voters had voted differently. So, today, on November 5, about half of the country is celebrating and the other half is not celebrating. I am not celebrating, but I am not despondent either. I believe there is great hope for America’s future if we put our hope in the right place.

Some have put their hope in a man who was not elected yesterday and their hope is gone. Others have put their hope in a man who was elected and they will be disappointed.

Psalm 146:3-6 (NIV) Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

Hope for your future, hope for America’s future can only be found in the Lord our God. He is the creator of all and He holds the lives of all men, from President to pauper in His hand.

Since our hope for the future is found in God, then that hope can only become a reality in America through the church of Jesus Christ. As the church grows in number and in understanding of a biblical worldview, her influence in America will increase. According to the Gallup poll, weekly church attenders voted overwhelmingly for the losing presidential candidate, whereas those who seldom or never attend church voted overwhelmingly for the winning presidential candidate in 2008. The implications are clear. A well informed Bible-believing church will always vote for the candidate whose decisions are most based on biblical principles. The blessing of a democracy is that in four years, we will have another opportunity to vote for president.

Finally, the Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders, whether we agree with their policies or not. God is perfectly capable of accomplishing good things through leaders who do not understand His ways.

Proverbs 21:1 (NIV) The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

The direction of the leader’s heart is dependent on the prayers of God’s people in the church.

So, on this day after the election, there is cause for great hope. Not in a man, but in a great God and the church that He leads. Be encouraged, follow God’s direction in your life and church and you will be blessed.

The Evil of Proposition A and Gambling

Pastor Dan Walker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:52:00 +0000

I just got a very large postcard in the mail yesterday encouraging me to vote for Proposition A. I’ve taken the liberty of changing the Yes to No on the front of the card, so no one will mistake my position. The first thing that struck me about the card was how deceptive it was. It encouraged people to vote for Proposition A to receive millions of dollars for schools, jobs and services. Only on the bottom of the backside of the postcard were the words “provided by casinos.”

The apple on the front reminded me of the original fruit in the garden of Eden that Adam and Eve were tempted to eat. It was so appealing and yet, in hindsight, disobeying God and eating the fruit led to dreadful consequences. Gambling is evil and the deeper Missouri imbibes of the forbidden fruit, the more hooked she becomes.

Gambling was legalized in Missouri in 1992, yet now, just 16 years later, many people cannot even remember when gambling was not allowed. Familiarity with evil sears the conscience. Rather than giving money to Missouri’s people, casinos remove billions of dollars from the economy that could have been put to much better use. On the way, the lives of thousands of people and their families are tragically affected by the addiction of gambling. The St Louis Post Dispatch recounts some of the ill effects of gambling in their editorial urging Missourians to defeat the multi-million dollar campaign by casinos to pass Proposition A. You can also find more reasons to vote No on Proposition A on www.NOonA.com.

As a pastor, why am I convinced that Proposition A is evil? Proposition A basically removes the $500 loss limit on gambling in Missouri. This makes a bad thing worse by taking away any limits from thousands people who cannot control their gambling habit. Passage of Proposition A will greatly increase the number of people that the evil of gambling will devastate in the future.

What does the Bible say about gambling? There are many passages that I could use, but let’s just look at one. 1 Timothy 6:9 (NIV) People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. Why do people gamble? People gamble because they want to get rich and the more they gamble, the more the desire to get rich grows. Let’s dispense with the silly excuse I hear from time to time, “it’s just entertainment.” If there was no money to be won, gambling wouldn’t exist. So gambling fuels this desire to get rich, whether gambling in a casino or through state-sponsored lotteries. The result is that people fall into temptation and a trap which ultimately plunges people into ruin and destruction.

So, I encourage you to vote NO on Proposition A. Defeating Proposition A will not stop the evil of gambling in Missouri, but it will slow it’s expansion and that is a worthy cause.

How To Decide Who To Vote For

Pastor Dan Walker — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:20:00 +0000

The general election of 2008 is just a few weeks away and the media of full of debates, polls and politics. How should a person decide who to vote for? Should you vote for John McCain or Barack Obama? Some people will vote for who they thought “won” the debates. Others will vote for who they think appears more presidential. Yet others will vote for a candidate because they want to see change. Still others will vote for a candidate because they do not want to see change. I think that the Bible gives a better way on how to decide who to vote for.

If we look at how God says a leader should be chosen, it will show us the characteristics to look for in a leader, whether a President, a Senator or some other official. The classic example is found in 1 Samuel 16, where God chooses a leader for Israel through the prophet Samuel. The instructions that God gave to Samuel are found in verse 7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Bottom line, pick a leader based on heart characteristics, like character and values, rather than external factors or charisma.

Let’s move right to 2008 and ask how we are to determine the character, the heart characteristics of a candidate. The character of a man will determine his future effectiveness as a leader, not his good intentions or promises. Character is best judged by past experiences. 1 Timothy 3:10 says that “They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.” I have taken courses on best practices for job interviews and they agree. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. Don’t ask the applicants about what they plan to do, ask them about what they have done in the past. And so, we should judge presidential candidates the same way. Their past record gives the best indication of what they will do in the future, it shows the direction of their hearts. Therefore, choose the candidate whose plans are simply an extension of their past experience. If the candidate makes promises, but does not root them in his past performance or voting record, he has no credibility.

Leadership is to be based on principle and values, not on simply doing what the poll of the day indicates. A leader leads, he molds public opinion, rather than simply following public opinion.

The Bible indicates that God has designed three major institutions in society: government, the church and the family. The best candidate will understand the balance between these three institutions and see how each has a role to play in society.

A candidate’s stand on the issues and past record must be analyzed with respect to biblical values and teaching. A claim to be a Christian or to have a relationship with God should not be deemed credible if the record does not indicate the candidate has a biblical worldview. The stand of national level candidates on many issues can be found on some news websites, as well as others like www.ivotevalues.org. You may also study a voter issue guide of where the presidential candidates stand on important issues.

Not all issues are of equal importance to those who desire to vote based on biblical values. As important as issues like the economy, taxes, health care or terrorism are, the way to assess the best candidate to deal with them is to look at a small set of non-negotiable issues. These issues have crystal clear answers in the Bible and most candidates have clear positions on them. If a candidate’s stand on these issues is correct, the rest of their positions will tend to reflect a biblical worldview. If the candidate’s view on these issues is incorrect, the rest of their positions will tend to reflect a non-biblical worldview.

Here are the non-negotiable issues, agreed on by every believer who knows and lives by the Bible: Protection of human life is a responsibility of government. The Bible teaches that life begins at conception and so abortion must be opposed in every way possible. The choice to kill one’s own child is barbaric. Life continues until God takes it and so euthanasia, the active termination of life must also be opposed in every way possible.

Marriage is held with high esteem in the Bible and provides the basic unit of society. From the beginning, marriage has been between one man and one woman. Society and government must encourage marriage and oppose anything destructive to it. Same-sex marriage must be opposed, in particular for the damage that it would do to future generations of children as well as society.

In the past, it may have been difficult to tell where candidates stood on these issues, but no more, especially at the national level. The major parties have taken stands on many of these issues and discussed them in their party platforms. Most candidates support their parties’ platforms on these issues, but there are exceptions, particularly at the state and local levels. Find out the candidates’ stances on these issues. Vote for the candidates who best support these non-negotiable values.

It doesn’t matter if your family has traditionally voted for one party for years, the times have changed, believers must do the right thing today. Don’t vote for the candidate that you think will put the most money in your pocket, vote for the candidate that follows godly values. When you do the right thing as a believer by voting according to biblical values, not your pocketbook, it will lead to blessing on your family and the nation. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, you and your family will be blessed if you vote your values as believers. NLT Proverbs 14:34 Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.