We now have a new church website.
It can be viewed by visiting bancroftbaptist.com
It also has a blog page where you will be able to find these same blog posts.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Giving Thanksgiving to God
I think back to some of the Thanksgiving meals that I have had through the years and the word feast does not do them justice. Just think of some of the things you have eaten on that special day. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green bean casserole, candied carrots, cranberries, fresh baked dinner rolls, lefsa, and your choice of pecan, apple, cherry, lemon meringue, or pumpkin pie. Oh and did I mention that you could have ice cream on your pie? Of course there is no need to complain over having to eat the leftovers for it is just as good warmed up. Yes, we have had much to be thankful for, but as we step back and get the bigger picture, our focus will be taken off of the food to something much better.
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As you bite into that turkey, did you stop to think where it came from? Did you thank the grocer and the check out clerk as you purchased it at the store? How about being thankful for the farmer who raised that turkey, or the farmer who raised the corn that he fed to the turkey? How about being thankful to the God who allowed that corn and that turkey to grow?
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Let us not forget that without God sending the rain and right weather conditions, nothing would grow. Consider Psalm 65:9-11, "Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness."
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The last couple of years have been good crop years for the area farmers. Sure, many of them did the right things at the right time, but notice that according to the passage in Psalms, their ground wouldn't even be soft in the spring, if God hadn't sent the rains to loosen up those dirt clods as they were wetted and dried out again.
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On an even larger scale, consider how God makes sure that we have the right amount of oxygen in the air we breath. Too much oxygen is toxic and too little we would suffocate. Consider as well that we have the sun to make the crops grow and to keep us warn without burning us up. If our earth was much farther from the sun, we would all freeze to death, yet if it were much closer, we would burn up. It is God, the creator of the universe, the creator of all, who holds it all together.
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Colossians 2:16:17 reminds us of God's role in all this. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." A similar reminder is found in the first part of Acts 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being."
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If it were not for God, we would not even be alive and if not for Christ's death on the cross, we would have no hope for eternal life. Therefore we should give thanks through Him continually, not just at thanksgiving. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15)
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As you bite into that turkey, did you stop to think where it came from? Did you thank the grocer and the check out clerk as you purchased it at the store? How about being thankful for the farmer who raised that turkey, or the farmer who raised the corn that he fed to the turkey? How about being thankful to the God who allowed that corn and that turkey to grow?
-
Let us not forget that without God sending the rain and right weather conditions, nothing would grow. Consider Psalm 65:9-11, "Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness."
-
The last couple of years have been good crop years for the area farmers. Sure, many of them did the right things at the right time, but notice that according to the passage in Psalms, their ground wouldn't even be soft in the spring, if God hadn't sent the rains to loosen up those dirt clods as they were wetted and dried out again.
-
On an even larger scale, consider how God makes sure that we have the right amount of oxygen in the air we breath. Too much oxygen is toxic and too little we would suffocate. Consider as well that we have the sun to make the crops grow and to keep us warn without burning us up. If our earth was much farther from the sun, we would all freeze to death, yet if it were much closer, we would burn up. It is God, the creator of the universe, the creator of all, who holds it all together.
-
Colossians 2:16:17 reminds us of God's role in all this. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." A similar reminder is found in the first part of Acts 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being."
-
If it were not for God, we would not even be alive and if not for Christ's death on the cross, we would have no hope for eternal life. Therefore we should give thanks through Him continually, not just at thanksgiving. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15)
Friday, November 5, 2010
Hating, Hateful Hypocrisy
I hate it when I hit my thumb with a hammer. My wife hates bugs in the house. My little boy hates it when his big brother takes a toy away from him. I think most of us could come up with some things we hate.
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Even God has a list of things that He hates. “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)
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I must admit that there are a number of things that I hate. I hate child abuse. I hate that women are raped. I hate that drug cartels are killing police officers and innocent citizens.
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Now what would you say if a drug cartel thug put a gun to your head and asked you why you hated what he was doing? He likely would try to justify his actions, even using force to do so, but that would not make it right. If you were in such a position it would be difficult not to hate what he was doing no matter how tolerant you are.
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The prophet Amos brought this challenge: “Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate:” (5:15a). Not only is it allowed that we hate certain things, it is commanded. “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 97:10) “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13)
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So based on these verses, what should be the standard for the things that we hate? The standard must be our fear and love for God and what He classifies as evil. I wasn’t the one who decided that it was wrong for drug cartels to go around killing whoever they wanted to kill, it was God who determined that.
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As I look at God’s standards for right and wrong, I hate the fact that innocent babies are killed. I hate the fact that pornography and sexual perversion are running rampant in our culture. For that I am called intolerant when the truth is that what is not being tolerated is God and His standards. Thus we have hatred on both sides. The one side hates what God calls evil and the other side hates God’s values. It is sad that those who fear God have been bullied into silence by those who hate what He stands for.
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“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
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Romans 12:9 tells us to let our love be without hypocrisy and to abhor evil and to cling to what is good. Christians need to stop letting others define right and wrong. They need to love and fear God and let Him define the standard. Sure they may be called hateful, but it is good and loving to hate evil. Let us not be fearful to call evil what it is and to call sin “sin.”
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Even God has a list of things that He hates. “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)
-
I must admit that there are a number of things that I hate. I hate child abuse. I hate that women are raped. I hate that drug cartels are killing police officers and innocent citizens.
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Now what would you say if a drug cartel thug put a gun to your head and asked you why you hated what he was doing? He likely would try to justify his actions, even using force to do so, but that would not make it right. If you were in such a position it would be difficult not to hate what he was doing no matter how tolerant you are.
-
The prophet Amos brought this challenge: “Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate:” (5:15a). Not only is it allowed that we hate certain things, it is commanded. “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 97:10) “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13)
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So based on these verses, what should be the standard for the things that we hate? The standard must be our fear and love for God and what He classifies as evil. I wasn’t the one who decided that it was wrong for drug cartels to go around killing whoever they wanted to kill, it was God who determined that.
-
As I look at God’s standards for right and wrong, I hate the fact that innocent babies are killed. I hate the fact that pornography and sexual perversion are running rampant in our culture. For that I am called intolerant when the truth is that what is not being tolerated is God and His standards. Thus we have hatred on both sides. The one side hates what God calls evil and the other side hates God’s values. It is sad that those who fear God have been bullied into silence by those who hate what He stands for.
-
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
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Romans 12:9 tells us to let our love be without hypocrisy and to abhor evil and to cling to what is good. Christians need to stop letting others define right and wrong. They need to love and fear God and let Him define the standard. Sure they may be called hateful, but it is good and loving to hate evil. Let us not be fearful to call evil what it is and to call sin “sin.”
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