Have you ever missed something on TV or the radio? Perhaps you missed the best ball game of all time because you were preoccupied.
Maybe a new restaurant offered free meals on opening night but you declined to go with the in-laws. Continue reading
Preaching
Jesus everyday!
It’s Wednesday once again. I’ve prepared for the Bible study and prayer meeting for tonight.
I don’t know where or when the Wednesday evening church meeting came from. Continue reading
Born to preach and teach
Everyone has something they love to do – something they need to do. Something they were born to do.
You are born to do something and I hope you are doing it.
I have wanted to be a DJ on the radio since I was about 7 years old. Along the way I accepted Jesus as my Savior and then God called me into the ministry.
He also led me into radio broadcasting where I am a DJ.
I am also a pastor and have been for 15 years at my present church; preceded by 6 years at my former pastorate.
I have to talk. It’s what God has called me to do. It is what I love to do. I can take to heart the words of the Apostle Paul,
Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 1 Cor 9:16
He may have been saying that he had to preach the Gospel and would be reprimanded by God if he didn’t.
Or, like me, he may have been saying that it was his calling and he had to preach the Gospel – that it was a part of him. That it was his life!
For me, it is what I was born to do. To preach, teach, and talk about the Gospel.
Woe is me if I don’t.
Abba, I am blessed by the knowledge of Your word. I want to know more and share more with others. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN
You can’t escape the Word!
I remember one Sunday, not too long ago, I was preaching. Actually I was reading a lot of scripture and I had someone get up and walk out the door.
It happens. It happened to Jesus.
There was a time when some guys wanted to judge, convict, and execute someone that broke the Law of Moses.
Jesus said that if any of them were without sin they should go ahead and do it.
Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. John 8:9
The spoken word of God is powerful.
The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12
The word of God convicts and there are those that cannot stand or sit in its presence.
The reading of the word conflicts with their life and so they must get up and leave.
I fear the day will come for the unrepentant when they shall hear the word and not be able to get away from it.
The Bible says the day is coming when the books will be opened and the dead will be judged by what is written in those books. (Rev 20:12)
I believe the books that are opened are the 66 books of the Bible. Each word is read and there is no escape.
The Law is read along with the penalties for disobedience and there is no escape.
The Prophets are read and tell of the coming Messiah and the re is no escape.
The Gospels are read and there is no place to run.
The letters of Paul are read and there is no place to hide.
When it’s over each person is convicted by their own conscience and by God Himself.
I pray that no one ever walks out again on God’s word. It is the word to change lives if they will listen and heed it.
Abba, I know there was a time I, too, did not listen to Your word. I ignored it. I mocked it. I ridiculed it. But now I live for Your word. It is the very air that I breathe. It is life to me. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN
Who will profit?
Ask yourself who stand to profit from the message?
That’s easy when it’s a TV commercial.
A commercial about a Whopper will profit Burger King. When the new Tundra is in an ad then Toyota and the local dealership will profit.
The manufacturer of weight loss pills will profit when you buy them but will promise that you will profit by using them by loss of weight!
You are bombarded with hundreds of messages everyday and someone stands to profit from each of them.
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. 2 Cor 4:5
There are many preachers and evangelists out there – and I’m one of them.
But is the message you hear benefit the preacher or the Lord Jesus.
Like the weight loss pills, each of us will say, “If you listen to what I’m saying – you will benefit from it!”
And that’s true. The message of the cross has the power to transform your life.
But there are also the charlatan’s that seek worldly profit from preaching and evangelism.
Though the message may be Biblically based or contain bits of scripture, does the message continually point to Christ or someone else.
Does the message end with the way of salvation or does it end with an encouragement to buy my book or send your money.
Who stands to profit.
What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him… Phil 3:7-9
Abba, let the words from my mouth always be the message from Your heart! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN
Light in the Darkness
On Wednesday night at church camp a storm rolled in just as the preaching started. The lights flashed once and a few moments later went out completely.
It didn’t take long for 455 people to get noisy in the near pitch black room. Some were a little disconcerted about what to do. Others were a bit nervous because of the dark.
The speaker calmed everyone and gave many something to do – get out your cell phones and turn on the light.
A majority of the congregation had a cell phone and did just that. It was one of the most awesome services I have ever witnessed.
Alter call brought many forward to pray and seek God.
It is written let your light so shine before men, Matt 5:16
Each born-again believer has the Light inside them – a light that needs to shine in the darkness of this world.
Your Light drives away darkness and calms the fear of those that see it.
Share the Light of God’s word with someone today!
Abba, I will let my light shine today. In Jesus’ name, YES&AMEN
The Flaming Sword
Gen 3:24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Continue reading
Planting seed
Mark 4:3-4 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell…” Continue reading
Preach Jesus!
Our first meeting at CrossRoads was on a Thursday night. It was a small Bible study and I didn’t want to interfere with the Wednesday night meetings of the other churches around the area.
That was April/May 1999 but the inevitable was bound to happen. Continue reading
Preaching begins!
Linda and I met in the neighborhood of October 1975 and married in May 1979. During that time I attended college in Jacksonville, Texas – 80 miles away.
I would come home every weekend to see her and attend my home church.
Many things happened between those years. Continue reading
Morning Thought with Pastor Tim 