Right or Wrong?

Psalm 11:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain"? 2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? 4 The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.

You would think people would value being ‘right’ about things encountered in their lives. We certainly want to be on the right side of the road, we want to be right about the foods we eat, and we want to be right about the marriage partner we choose.

Obviously, there are some things we cannot choose. We cannot choose our parents, and we cannot choose our children. We cannot choose our country of origin, and we cannot choose the time in which we live, among many other things.

But even in the areas affecting our lives which we cannot choose, we still need to make right choices regarding how we respond to those things in our lives we cannot change.

The most important thing to be right about is the god or gods you choose to serve.

That may be a startling statement to some, but the reality is your god is whatever or whoever you choose to serve. We live in a dangerous world with dangerous enticements, and we are constantly being tempted to serve new gods. It has always been this way, and the example of the Israelites demonstrates how “prone to wander” we are. We are certainly no different than they, and our flesh is always belligerently seeking to abandon the God of the universe for a new god. The latest god. The more fashionable god. The more palatable god. The more “reasonable” god. How foolish to be wrong about God, by focusing on and serving another god.

Fear is one of those gods. So is the god of ‘relationships.’ So is the god of Ferrari, and house, and fame, and finance, and even politics. Whatever may capture your whole heart in a given life situation has become your god. Oh, how willingly we sacrifice before these gods!

Being wrong about the god you willingly choose to serve is the greatest mistake anyone (including Christians,) could ever make. The Lord God of Heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the Only One Who is Right! In Christ alone you cannot go wrong. He alone is righteous, and He alone is the Truth.

-  Pastor Bill

Consider the Source

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Somebody tells you something. It sounds really juicy. It’s a hot story. It fires your imagination. But - and here’s the really important part - is it true?

It really doesn’t matter how good the story is unless it’s true. (Unless you’re seeking to merely be entertained.) But in the case of useful information, we have to consider the source of the information equally important to the information received. Without the viability of the story related, the story is just vanity - even if it is really big news. Especially if it is very big news.

Consider the case of supermarket tabloids. You glide by in the checkout lane and the headlines scream out all sorts of fanciful stories. Large typeface screams out. Doctored photos seem to purport the truth of various celebrity lives. (Why we seem to care about celebrity lives is another story.)

But it doesn’t matter how big the news is, or how fantastic the story, because we know those tabloid rags are unreliable sources of the truth, and we understand in most cases those stories are lies – doctored news pretending to be true. We scan for evidence of computer enhancement in the photos. (We know there is some.)

This stuff is junk. Of no use to anyone except the rare individual, (and I guess there must be a lot of them,) who find some brief entertainment in reading made-up news about famous people. To me this is trash, and I would never invest in it.

How amazing it is we live our lives based on ungodly advice we receive from friends, TV personalities, websites, and family members. We are told to “get a divorce,” or “quit that job,” or, “take that medication,” at the drop of a hat. We value the advice based on how sincere the people are, or how much they seem to care for us, or perhaps how famous the person offering the advice is. But ungodly advice is just that: ungodly. Why would anyone receive and act on advice contrary to God’s perfect will for their lives as declared by His Word?

-  Pastor Bill

‘Changing’ Time

1 Cor 15:47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

‘Potential’ is a word often employed in life. We have great hope for certain things or individuals based upon their ‘potential.’

‘Potential’ indicates the best something or someone can possibly be. This is the basis for the hope that rests in the potential of something or someone – they are at their best. Absolute best. The bestest best. Better than you can imagine.

The “change” Paul speaks of here is like that. A change that comes to the life of a follower of Jesus Christ that makes them the best they can possibly be. A full realization of the potential anyone may have as God rearranges them to conform to the environment of heaven. (Whether through physical death, or through the rapture of the church.)

What an awesome thought for us: At some point in time we will literally undergo a metamorphosis from earth-bound to heaven-bound. The earth-bound body is corruptible. It is enticed by sin and the desire for the things of the world which bring corruption. The heaven-bound body is enticed by the Spirit of our Holy God in Christ, perfect in desire as holiness replaces corruption, and eternality replaces aging and death. Thusly our potential is fully realized.

For the follower of Christ, perfection in this life is not the issue. Following Christ IS. Jesus is the Author of salvation, and His demonstration to us is that He has the power to raise the dead. This is metamorphosizing power. The same power which raised Christ from the dead. The power to raise all of us in His Image. The power to erase the past in every way. The power to bring about the fullest and greatest ‘potential’ any life can experience. The only issue is: Will you receive this potential? (You must seek it.)

-  Pastor Bill

Death to Death

1 Cor 15:21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

How cool would it be to put death to death? To put a complete end to it? To no longer think of it?


Death. The greatest enemy to man. The single endpoint to every life – be it plant, animal, man, or you, or me…Death makes us lie awake at night…Death makes us contemplate the scope of the universe…Death makes us consider God…Death makes us consider what may save us from it.


Death. It is every bit of that. And the only way to escape any of this thinking about death, (and we all KNOW this,) is to simply think of other things – for as long as we can…But then death always returns to confront us. Death. That’s what death is…


By contrast we have life. Life as we know it. Life as we cherish it. Life appears to be everything death is not. It is animation, movement, independence, love…


How we desire long life. It is in every fiber of our being. We look at those whose life is perceived to have been cut short as being the most unfortunate among us. We pity them. We wish that never to happen to us. We wish to die peacefully in bed at 100 years old. But somehow death always seems to contravene that wish except for those precious few we regard as having very charmed lives.


In reality, living is dying. The philosophical among us say, “Dying is a part of living.” The aging process makes us aware this is going on bit-by-bit all the time. Wrinkled skin. Hip replacements. Disease. Baldness. They all come to call on us as reminders…We are literally dying from the time we are born.


Why is it then along with death we also consider eternity? How would a finite human being come to such a notion? Is it merely escapism from the thought of death that prompts us to imagine eternity – or is eternity a reality wired into our hearts as evidence we are created by an Eternal Being? What if it had been demonstrated and witnessed by many men that one man had died in your place – and then been raised from the dead to demonstrate you would never have to die? A fascinating thought, isn’t it? What if by merely believing this neither you nor your loved ones would ever die? Jesus came as the Author of eternal life. Never forget it.


- Pastor Bill