The Pastor's Page

Don't Leave Fleshly Debris on Someone's Road to Faith

2012-01-11T12:00:00.001-08:00

It is estimated that road debris causes 25,000 accidents per year, as well as nearly 100 deaths. Road debris can be caused by various factors, including natural disasters and weather, specifically wind, storms, tornados, hurricanes etc., or objects falling off vehicles.

On November 8, 1994, Ricardo Guzman, a Mexican native, was driving a truck on I-94 near Milwaukee. A bracket over a mud flap assembly dangled from the rear of his truck. Other truckers tried to warn him over their CB radios, but Guzman understood no English. Next the metal assembly fell. Reverend Duane "Scott" Willis, his wife, and six of their nine children were behind him. Debris from Guzman's truck punctured Willis' gas tank causing an explosion that killed the children and seriously burned Willis and his wife.

As this story so sadly illustrates, obstacles in our path can be deadly. Imagine the horror of being responsible for such a disaster. May that never happen.

As Christians, we need to beware of leaving any obstacles in the path of those who may be on the road to faith.

Recently I was in one of my local convenient stores and I overheard what sounded like a disagreement between a customer and a young lady behind the counter. I wasn't paying much attention till I actually came to the counter to pay for my item. The patron, a man, had already left when I heard the young lady say to her co-worker, "You know, he's a preacher." To which the co-worker responded, "He sure has a dirty mouth for a preacher!"

My heart sank. Fleshly debris had been left in their path. I grieved because of what had been left in their way, and shuddered at the thought that I would ever be responsible for such a disaster. O Father, may that never happen.

Pastor Van

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

2011-12-11T12:03:00.001-08:00

During our last period of heavy rain I made a disappointing discovery. While making my way across the parking lot at church I felt a damp sensation inside my shoe. On inspection I found a hole about the size of a dime in the sole of my black dress shoes.

For some reason or another dress shoes don't seem to last me a long time. It could be that I am somewhat of a fiscal conservative (another way of stating that is to say that I often by cheap shoes). You see, I find dress shoes at less than $50 quite tempting. Of course the down side is they seem to wear out entirely too soon.

As soon as I discovered the hole I thought: That's it! I'm tired of these cheap shoes that don't even last me a year.

A few days later I was standing in Dillards - in the men's shoe department. I must say, Dillards has some of the finest looking men's shoes I have ever seen. However, they cost a bit more than $50. The pair that I spotted certainly did. They were black slip-on's - brand name Brass Boot. On the sole was a sale price of $99.99, certainly not the most expensive shoe but more than what I usually spend.

I thought: It's time I get some good shoes; dependable shoes; shoes that will last me longer. So I bought them.

When I got home, I took one last look at my old shoes. I turned them over to inspect the hole one last time, and to my utter amazement I saw the words Brass Boot. Yes! The shoes I had been wearing ( and complaining about!) were the very brand of shoes that I was craving.

It was then that I remembered the words of Solomon:

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.( Eccl 1:8,ESV)

I had been blessed to be wearing a quality pair of shoes - shoes that still developed a hole in them - and I had failed to appreciate it, nor be satisfied.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take my old black shoes to the cobbler (shoe repair) and see about getting a new sole put on. Then I will take the new shoes back and exchange them for a brown pair. And then and only then will I be perfectly satisfied.

Yeah, right!

Pastor Van

Inequality - A Fact of Life In a Fallen World

2011-12-08T05:52:00.001-08:00

With all the protest in our society concerning economic inequality, I thought that perhaps some thoughts from over one hundred years ago might help us as we think this issue through. Enjoy!

Inescapable Inequality?J. C. Ryle (1816 1900)

J. C. Ryle was an evangelical Bishop who knew how to apply the teaching of the Scriptures to the society in which people lived. In this extract from his work Practical Religion he challenges the developing ideology which claimed that all men should be equal in wealth. Ryle countered such arguments by demonstrating that inequality is a fact of life in a fallen world and can be an instruction toward challenging character development in the poor and the rich.

Many in every age have disturbed society by stirring up the poor against the rich, and by preaching the popular doctrine that all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is under the present order of things this universal equality cannot be attained. Those who speak against the vast inequality of men's fates will doubtless never lack an audience; but so long as human nature is what it is, this inequality cannot be prevented.

So long as some are wise and some are foolish-some strong and some weak-some healthy and some diseasedsome lazy and some diligent-some prudent and some careless; so long as children reap the fruit of their parent's bad behavior; so long as sun, and rain, and heat, and cold, and wind, and waves, and drought, and plague, and storms are beyond man's controlso there will always be some rich and some poor. All the political order in the world will never erase the fact that, "There will always be poor people in the land." [Deuteronomy 15:11]

Take all the property in our country by force this very day, and divide it equally among the inhabitants. Give every man above the age of twenty an equal portion. Let everyone share and share alike, and begin the world over again. Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty years. You would have just come back around to the point where you began. You would find things just as unequal as before. Some would have worked, and some would have been lazy. Some would have always been careless, and some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others would have bought. Some would have wasted, and others would have saved. And the end would be that some would be rich and others poor.

Let no one listen to those vain and foolish talkers who say that all men were meant to be equal. They might as well tell you that all men ought to be of the same height, weight, strength, and skillor that all oak trees ought to be of the same shape and sizeor that all blades of grass ought to always be the same length.

Settle it in your mind that the main cause of all the suffering you see around you is sin. Sin is the great cause of the enormous luxury of the rich, and the painful degradation of the poorof the heartless selfishness of the highest classes, and the helpless poverty of the lowest class. Sin must first be cast out of the world. The hearts of all men must be renewed and sanctified. The devil must be locked away. The Prince of Peace must come down and take His great power and reign. All this must be done before there can ever be universal happiness, or the gulf filled up that now divides the rich and the poor.

Beware of expecting a millennium to be brought about by any method of government, by any system of education, or by any political party. Work hard to do good to all men. Pity the poor, and help in every reasonable endeavor to raise them from their life of poverty. Seek to help to increase knowledge, to promote morality, and to improve the earthly condition of the poor. But never, never forget that you live in a fallen world, that sin is all around you, and that the devil and the demons are everywhere. And be very sure that the rich man and Lazarus are emblems of two classes, which will always be in the world until the Lord returns.

(Cited from Kairos Journal)

Pastor Van

Four Reasons to be Thankful

2011-11-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

A Christian brother in another part of the country sent me Four Reasons to be Thankful. I wanted to pass them along that others my benefit as I did.

First, you can be thankful for what God had done for you through Jesus Christ! "For God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Thank you, God!

Next, you can be thankful for what God is doing for you now! "I am come that they might have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 Thank you, God!

Third, be thankful for what you know God will do because of His promises! "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 Thank you, God!

Finally, you can always be thankful for what He is doing that you are not even aware of!" ^"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" Ephesians 3: 20-21 Thank you, God!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Pastor Van

I Believe!

2011-11-19T13:46:00.001-08:00

"In order to have faith, we must know certain facts about ourselves and about Jesus, who he is what he has done for us. Thus the Apostle Paul asks rhetorically, 'How are they to believe in him whom they have never heard?' (Romans 10:14). You cannot believe in something you know nothing about. Saving faith must have an object. You don't just believe, you believe something. And throughout Scriptures we find essential truths that must be believed. Paul writes that we are saved through 'belief in the truth'(2 Thessalonians 2:13). There are certain doctrines people must hear, understand, and affirm if they want to become true Christians."

Citation: Am I Really a Christian? (By; Mike McKinley; Crossway, 2011)

It's not just I believe! What do you believe and whom do you believe in?

Pastor Van