I mis-placed my grandson last week! I was coming out of Best Buy with Will, my five year old grandson, and when I turned around to say something to him, he was gone. I knew he was not far, but I could not see him. I walked back into the store but did not see him there, but when I walked back into the parking lot he was walking toward me with tears in his eyes. He had followed the wrong man out of the store and did not realize it until he ended up at the wrong pickup.
This is one of the ways we lose sight of God as Christians, we follow the wrong leader. Dr. John Allen calls this The Deadly Danger of Drifting - not rejecting salvation, but neglecting our salvation. It becomes easy to drift away from the things of God when we become distracted by the worldly culture around us. We drift away from God when we ignore the Bible, prayer, worship, and fellowship. We drift when we don’t take seriously the commands and warnings of God.
After Will’s little scare, he held tightly to my hand every time we were out of the truck: thus assuring he was not going to drift away again. Dr. Allen says, “you are as close to God right now as you want to be.” Are you holding tightly to God’s hand? Or are you dawdling along a few steps behind the Lord, watching all the things of a depraved society and not paying attention to God’s lead? Somewhere in life we all look up and realize that we are not standing next to our Lord, and we run crying to him for forgiveness - just read Psalm 51 for King David’s version of this concept.
This thought was inspired by Dr. David Allen who is teaching this week on the theme, "Engaging Our Culture." Dr. Allen is a dean at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Punishment Follows Disobedience
When our girls were in elementary school we went to Holdenville Lake (eastern Oklahoma) for a family picnic with my parents. While we prepared to eat I told the girls to stay away from the water until I could be with them. Of course as soon as my back was turned the girls started to wade around in the lake and got their clothes wet.
After lunch, in spite of the girl’s tears and my mother’s plea for mercy, we went home - no swimming, no sitting by the lake, no enjoying the day. It was a long trip home.
Who paid the price for the girl’s disobedience? Everyone! The day was spoiled for the family because I made a rule, the girls broke the rule, and I applied the punishment. It was an important lesson for the girls at the time, though they don’t remember the experience today, I have never forgotten it.
The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus made “purification for sin” (Heb 1:3). Since someone had to be punished for the sin of mankind, Christ died. That punishment came at a horrific cost to the Father - because it was at his command that Jesus was crucified. Punishment must follow disobedience: in families, in society, and in eternity.
This thought was inspired by Dr. David Allen who is teaching this week on the theme, “Engaging Our Culture.” Dr. Allen is a dean at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.
To comment go to bill@fbcburk.com
After lunch, in spite of the girl’s tears and my mother’s plea for mercy, we went home - no swimming, no sitting by the lake, no enjoying the day. It was a long trip home.
Who paid the price for the girl’s disobedience? Everyone! The day was spoiled for the family because I made a rule, the girls broke the rule, and I applied the punishment. It was an important lesson for the girls at the time, though they don’t remember the experience today, I have never forgotten it.
The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus made “purification for sin” (Heb 1:3). Since someone had to be punished for the sin of mankind, Christ died. That punishment came at a horrific cost to the Father - because it was at his command that Jesus was crucified. Punishment must follow disobedience: in families, in society, and in eternity.
This thought was inspired by Dr. David Allen who is teaching this week on the theme, “Engaging Our Culture.” Dr. Allen is a dean at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.
To comment go to bill@fbcburk.com
Monday, June 1, 2009
"Is That Valuable?"
On the back of my shop door is a piece of butcher paper with random scribbles in multi-colored ink. To anyone who would notice the door-size sheet they would wonder what it is and why it is there. It is the artwork of my two oldest grandchildren, Will & Hadley (work they did in my shop while I attempted to finish a project). The artwork is special, not because of its monetary value, but because of the value of my grandkids.
As my dad and I attended to the estate sale of my late Aunt Fannie, I noticed a small piece of color in the trash we had accumulated from my great-aunt's house. It turned out to be a small oil painting that my aunt had done many years ago. That small oil painting, about the size of a deck of cards, is now framed, matted, and is proudly displayed in our home - not because of the famous artist, but because of our love for Aunt Fannie.
Isaiah stated, "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Is. 64:8). We are uniquely formed by God. The pattern of our life may not make much sense to our way of thinking, but to the Lord, we are beautiful. We are his artwork - flawed, broken, misshapen, but still his very own. We are created in the image of God. We are important to HIM.
To comment go to bill@fbcburk.com
As my dad and I attended to the estate sale of my late Aunt Fannie, I noticed a small piece of color in the trash we had accumulated from my great-aunt's house. It turned out to be a small oil painting that my aunt had done many years ago. That small oil painting, about the size of a deck of cards, is now framed, matted, and is proudly displayed in our home - not because of the famous artist, but because of our love for Aunt Fannie.
Isaiah stated, "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Is. 64:8). We are uniquely formed by God. The pattern of our life may not make much sense to our way of thinking, but to the Lord, we are beautiful. We are his artwork - flawed, broken, misshapen, but still his very own. We are created in the image of God. We are important to HIM.
To comment go to bill@fbcburk.com
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