Stand.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! Revelation 3:15

There is nothing like a cold glass of water on a hot and steamy day. Similarly, nothing beats a steaming hot beverage or cup of soup on a cold, snowy morning. A warm glass of water or a cold cup of soup not only falls short of satisfying us, but also make us mad that it is not what it is intended to be and therefore doesn’t fulfill its purpose. Likewise, Christians who can’t make up their minds to serve the Lord with their whole hearts are displeasing to God.

The Church at Laodecia was suffering from lack of zeal. They were simply going through the motions. How often does that describe the modern church? How often does that describe us? We are slow to start and always ready to be finished. The doors of the church are opened and closed, but the mouth of the church seems to always be open. As Christians, we should constantly remind ourselves that God calls us to be fervent workers; working with purpose, determination and an understanding of the brevity of our existence. It is day now. But night comes quickly.

Pray for zeal and the desire to serve God today.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Wrong.

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Acts 8:3

New York City and the Atlanta airport are my favorite places to people-watch. From these two nexus of human interaction one can observe every shape and size of human being and an encyclopedia of behaviors. It is at such places that we are confronted by our nature to judge people and to draw conclusions from little more than appearance. We can’t really tell a sinner from a saint, a rich man from a poor one; but we believe we can. As Christians we must guard against bringing our tendencies to try and convict people in our minds into the church.

Saul believing he was right persecuted Christians with determination and dedication. He worked with local authorities to make sure he had free reign to pursue, catch and convict those guilty of following Christ. As Christians, we need to take some serious time to reflect how we interact with each other as the “Church”. Too often, we pursue each other and are quick to hurl harmful accusations, share negative half-truths and attempt to assassinate each others character. What we need to realize is that when we do these things we are often acting as enemies of the church. The good news of the gospel is that Christ calls for us to live together in harmony promising that when He comes he will separate the wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:30)

Be truthful today about the things you may be doing and saying that are hurting the household of faith. Pray for forgiveness and work to build rather than tear down.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Stop It.

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves Matthew 21:12

A company called LifeCall had a famous commercial in which a woman says, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”. When we are lost in sin, God has mercy on us. He does not want us to stay in this condition - - he wants to give us salvation. But once saved, we have to be careful we don’t keep others from seeing the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The Christian must guard against impeding the work of God with his creation. We sometimes inadvertently or on purpose find ourselves opposing or just getting in the way of the work of the Lord.

In our text, as the faithful went in to make their sacrifices, a group of money changers and merchants had set up in the church and made themselves obstacles to those attempting to be obedient to God’s commandments. Jesus, angered, physically drove them out of the temple. When Paul was on his way to persecute more Christians, God intervened, stopped him in his tracks and demanded to know why Paul was doing what he was doing. As Christians, we spend a lot of time focused on ourselves. We would be wise to consider that God is not pleased when we get in the way of His work and His purpose. We must remember Mark 9:42 “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” God loves us and wants us to enjoy his salvation, grace and mercy. But make no mistake about it; there is no wiggle room for those who are in the way of His desire for all men to be saved. You might not be in agreement with one of the church leaders. You might not like someone in the church or dislike one of the churches programs. You might just like to laugh at the expense of others. These are not harmless acts without consequences. If you have issues, you can deal with them directly and permanently, but you don’t want to find yourself pulling in the wrong direction.

If upon reflection you find you have been blocking the progress of the church or in the way of someone seeing the saving power of Jesus, I pray that you God give you the courage and the power to stop it today.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Free Lunch.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8

We have a serious problem with things that are free. We will, of course, accept them. We just don’t value them. My firm worked very hard a few years ago developing a marketing program for a national non-profit agency and we gave it to them at no charge. It cost us a significant amount of time and money to develop. They gratefully accepted and began to use it. A few months later, another, more prestigious firm offered to work with them and they abandoned our work and began using the work prepared by the new firm. We learned from that situation and now we send an invoice, showing the full value and marked “Paid in Full. As Christians, we must grasp the idea that we have been given a priceless gift. It was an expensive gift. A gift we could never afford. Nevertheless, it was given to us, for free.

In Ephesians, Paul outlines for the Christian an important reason. If we could be granted salvation for our works (our service), we could boast that we earned it. The fact is, mankind was hopelessly lost and the only chance we had at redemption was Jesus Christ. Now that we are followers of Christ, Paul continues, we are his workmanship and therefore will do good works because that is the way of and the nature of Christ.

So, in spite of our skepticism of free things, we must come to grips with the fact that the most valuable thing in the world, salvation, has been given to us free. Not free to God, put “Paid in Full” for us. And this priceless gift should govern the way we live everyday.

Let God’s free gift make you a grateful servant today.

Deacon Larry Woodard

The Right Time.

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. Luke: 5:5

One of life’s true pleasures is to hear a live musical performance. In person you witness firsthand the fact that some musicians produce beautiful tones out of their instruments and others have certain trademark riffs or phrasing but they all share the one thing that separates most great musicians from the rest of us – impeccable timing. As Christians, we all desire to do God’s will and to have our work bear fruit, but it is only when we are in step with the Master that our activity yields impressive results.

Simon and the other fishermen in the area had been fishing all night to no avail. Their livelihood was fishing. There is no doubt they knew the waters they were fishing in. Simon was successful enough to have his own boat. He was a confident fisherman. He and the others had made the assessment there were no fish to be had. They had brought their boats in and were washing their nets. Jesus asks Simon to return to the water and drop their nets. The catch was so great the others had to come and assist. Jesus tells us that the harvest is plentiful. He knows they are a great many in our community that are in need of salvation and will come. He asks us to be workers and also to pray for workers. As in the scripture, we must follow His lead to cast our nets where he leads us, so that men might be saved.

Pray today to be obedient to our Lord and be ready to cast your net.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Press On.

“For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” Matthew 9:21

There is a saying that goes “when the world says, Give up,” Hope whispers, “Try it one more time.” In our information rich world there is the temptation to believe there is a clear understanding of many of life’s problems. Conventional wisdom will bring pressure on us to come to the conclusion that it may be time to throw in the towel and give up on the prospect of success or healing or achievement. As Christians we must ignore the deafening roar of the crowd and trust in God through whom all things are possible.

In our scripture we visit the mind of a woman in a crowd. She has been suffering for years with a serious illness. She believes she can be healed if she just touches the hem of the garment Jesus is wearing. According to the text, this is what she is thinking as she presses through the crowd. In other words, her determination is based on her faith. We need to draw strength from this passage of scripture. As we face circumstances that cause us to carry around heavy burdens, we need to know that we need to press on with prayer and faith, believing there is relief at the feet of Jesus. There is no problem too great for God to completely resolve.

After you pray to increase your faith today, press on.

Deacon Larry Woodard

Double Trouble.

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

In one of his sermons, Martin Luther King, Jr. explains “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" Every day we are faced with situations that require us to choose between ourselves and our own interests or the needs of others. There is no debate, our own issues are weighty and it takes no effort at all to spend all of our time trying to take care of personal problems. But, as Christians we are summoned by the Bible to the service of others.

In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Cain kills his brother Abel and then when asked where his brother is responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The New Testament answers this question over and over again. We are to serve one another (Gal 5:13), forgive one another (Eph 4:32), exhort one another (Heb 3:12), be hospitable to one another (1 Pet 4:8-10); and even put others and their safety above our own as described in detail by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). As the Christian understands and begins to live a life of service to others, God’s blessings become a constant reminder that He is pleased with the way we give.

Today, consider someone else and make an effort to lighten their load. Instead of “double trouble” may you experience a double portion of God’s goodness.

Deacon Larry Woodard