i need to go slow...

james gave us another solution in dealing with our tongue back in 1.19 (niv), everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

there's a designation here. they go in order. first be quick to listen and then slow to speak. and if you're quick to listen you will be slow to speak. and if you're slow to speak, then you will be slow to become angry. if you have a problem with anger you need to work on being quick to listen and slow to speak. the result will be you'll be slow to anger.

what does your tongue say about you? what does it reveal about you? if we were to play back a tape of every conversation you've had in this past week, what would we learn about you? GOD hears it all. our tongue displays who we are. so what direction is your tongue leading you?

some people say, "i'm sick all the time" or "i can never do anything right", "things are just getting tougher and tougher". so what direction are you headed? our tongue controls the direction of our lives like a rudder, a bit.

and a bit and a rudder must be under the hand of a strong arm and the only way to get control of your tongue is to let JESUS CHRIST have control of your heart. what's in your heart is going to come out in your mouth. you let CHRIST's hand be on your bit, your rudder and let him direct your life.

maybe you need to ask forgiveness. maybe you need to go to your kids and say, "i'm sorry. i'm inconsistent in the way i talk to you. sometimes i'm loving and sometimes i'm harsh. that shows i'm like everybody else. i'm human."

listen, we all stumble in many ways – all of us. maybe you need to apologize to your wife or your husband. "i'm not as loving to you in my speech as i ought to be. i tend to be apathetic, cold, indifferent. i talk to you harshly. i boss everybody around. i'm inconsistent and inconsiderate." ezekiel says, "get rid of all your offenses you've committed and get a new heart and a new spirit."

just some thoughts up here on the front porch…

we can't manage it alone...

there was a note in today's usa today sports section about mark cuban, the owner of the dallas mavericks pro basketball team and of how he was fined $25,000 by the nba for a tweet criticizing nba officials on friday. on sunday cuban posted, "can't say no one makes money off twitter now."

what we say may not cost us $25,000 but in this matter of the tongue we have to understand that we can’t control or manage it on our own. you need supernatural power to control your tongue. you can't do it on your own. your life is a living proof of that. we cannot control it on our own. we need supernatural power so we ask GOD to help us.

psalm 141.3 (ms), post a guard at my mouth, GOD, set a watch at the door of my lips.

great verse to put up on your bathroom mirror, to read every morning, to memorize. "GOD put a muzzle on my mouth. guard my lips. don't let me be critical today. don't let me be judgmental. don't let me say things off the cuff and then i regret it." you need to ask GOD for help daily because you need his power in your life.

sidlow baxter: "the proof that GOD's spirit is in your life is not that you speak in an unknown tongue but you control the tongue you know." you watch your words and GOD gives you the power to not slander, not lie, not exaggerate.

getting into GOD's word is a part of asking GOD for help. as you ask HIM for help you need to read his word. computer statement: garbage in, garbage out. what goes into your mind, goes into your heart. what goes into your heart, comes out of your mouth. fill your mind with the word of GOD – with positive things, whatsoever things that are true, etc. – think on these things.

just some thoughts up here on the front porch…

so here is our dilemma,,,

so here is our dilemma? we speak lovingly in one breath and then lash out in the next. why do we do that?

look at what JESUS said in matthew 12:34 (niv), for out…of the heart the mouth speaks.

JESUS explained the freudian slip years before freud even existed. HE said, what's inside of you is what's coming out. what I say just displays what i am. it directs where i go. it can destroy what i have. but most of all, it simply displays what i am. it reveals my character.

listen if you've got a problem with your tongue, it's much more serious than you think. you have a heart problem. a person with a harsh tongue has an unsettled heart. a person with a boasting tongue has an insecure heart. a person with a filthy tongue has an impure heart and a person who is critical all of the time has a bitter heart.

but on the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a happy heart. a person who speaks gently has a loving heart and a person who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

so the solution to this dilemma is first of all get a new heart. you've got to get a new heart, that's the answer. ezekial 18:31 (ms), turn around!.. clean house…get a new heart! get a new spirit!

you see painting the outside of the pump doesn't make any difference if there is poison in the well. i can change the outside externals, i can turn over a new leaf, but what i really need is a new life. what i need is a fresh start, i need to let go of all the past and be born again and start over. i need a new heart.

so how do i get a new heart? 2 corinthians 5:17 (niv), therefore if anyone is in CHRIST, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

new life, new heart, new spirit. when you come to JESUS CHRIST, HE wipes out everything you've done in the past. HE says, you're starting over. it's like being born again. you need a new heart.

we need to pray like david prayed in psalm 51.10 (nlt), create in me a clean heart, oh GOD because what's in my heart is going to come out in my mouth.

just some thoughts up here on the front porch…

it really tells it like it is...

james 3.7&8 (ms), this is scary: you can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. the tongue runs wild, a wanton killer.

it really is scary. the potential in our tongues. of all the animals we've tamed, no man can tame the tongue, humanly speaking (only GOD can). he says it's restless. that means it's always liable to break out at any moment.

it's like poison. the word in greek is literally "snake venom". just a few drops can kill. you can assassinate somebody with your words. assassinate their character. the tongue is a deadly weapon.

if you saw the movie atonement you understand the power of the tongue.

it also is important to understand that what i say tells what i am. james 3.9&10 (ms), with our tongues we bless GOD our FATHER; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women HE made in his image. curses and blessings out of the same mouth!

we say these things out of the same mouth. we come to church on sunday. the highest use of your mouth is to use it to praise GOD. we sing praises to the LORD, then we walk out, get in our car and on the way home we argue about where we are going for lunch.

isn't it amazing how quickly your attitude changes? in one minute you're saying, "praise the LORD," the next you're saying, "shut up!" the tongue is a strange contradiction. it's so inconsistent. one minute we're praising GOD and the next cursing other people.

now cursing here doesn't necessarily mean profanity. it means any kind of put down, label. ("you're good for nothing…you'll never amount to anything…you're just like…") any kind of put down is a curse. he says, "why curse men? they're made in GOD’s image."

now this bothers me immensely. i think how it is possible that we can be loving to people we love – our kids, wives, husbands – and the next moment be harsh, cold, mean to them? how is it possible? how is it possible in one minute to be talking to my kids in gentle, loving tones and the next minute i'm being mean to them? i hurt them. i am saying things that damage their self-esteem.

do you struggle with an inconsistent tongue? james says we all have it. we speak lovingly in one breath and then lash out in the next. what gives? what's the problem? why do we do that? why can we genuinely mean something in love and kindness one minute and then genuinely mean something in hate the next minute?

the bible tells it like it is. we really do need GOD don’t we?

just some thoughts up here on the front porch…

words are like a fire...

what i say can destroy what i have. james 3.5 & 6 (ms), it only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. a careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. by our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

yesterday congress sent to president obama a bill that would conserve and protect a wide swath of the west. but there is nothing that the government or anyone else can do when a spark sets off a forest fire. we have seen on tv fires that destroy.

in 1983 in australia, one fire overnight destroyed 600 miles of land, villages, livestock, all from a single match. james says, your tongue can destroy like that. you can lose it all. a careless camper can destroy a life overnight, thousands of lives. gossip is like fire. it spreads quickly and it wrecks havoc. it's like a fire.

proverbs 18:20 (tev), you have to live with the consequences of everything you say.

verse 6b (niv), it sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

he's saying here that words can create a chain reaction. you can say something that you didn't mean to have any harm, but it can have devastating effects that are beyond your control.

let’s say you come home from work and you're tired and grumpy and cranky. you walk in and yell at your wife and she yells at the oldest kid and the oldest kid yells at the baby sister and the baby sister goes out and kicks the dog and the dog goes and bites the cat and the cat comes in and scratches the baby and the baby bites the head off her barbie doll. wouldn't it be a whole lot simpler if the husband just bit the head off of the barbie doll himself? chain reaction, the course of hell.

set on fire by hell itself. a couple comes in for counseling. "i said this and then she said that, then i said this…" then what happened? "all hell broke loose." our words can cause "all hell to break loose."

james says you've got to learn to manage your mouth, not only because it can direct you where you go but it can destroy what you have. you can lose your family, your kids, your career simply by what you say. it's like a fire.

proverbs 21:23 (ms), watch your words and hold your tongue; you'll save yourself a lot of grief.

just some thoughts up here on the front porch…

my words direct where i go...

what i say directs where i go…james 3.4b (ms), a word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything.

i hurt for so many people who don’t understand this. the right word at the right time can make all the difference.

i had lunch with my son, brett yesterday after he had had coffee in the city with his mentor. erwin had come in from la to ny on business and brett was able to get together with him for coffee. after two hours of being together erwin said something to brett just as they getting ready to leave that was exactly what brett needed to hear. brett then told him that he had said something to him during the time they were together on a trip to ireland a few years back that was the reason brett is now pastoring here on long island. those words changed the direction of his life. and brett and i had lunch to contemplate what these new words meant and what we were going to do with them.

we don’t understand the impact of our words, we really don’t.

listen, i said something to brett yesterday that i believe and i am holding on to and i am living. i said, i believe that the best days of my life are ahead of me. i believe that i am living in the most exciting days of my life and that i don’t even realize how GOD is going to use me. and i am retired. a word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything…but then the verse says something else.. —or destroy it!

and that is where so many people are living today.

listen, you can talk yourself into believing anything. you can talk yourself into sickness, you can talk yourself into health. you can talk yourself into hope or you can talk yourself into despair.

you have the power to make today a great day or a horrible day and a lot of it comes from the first words that you hear in the morning. that's why it is so important to start the day in GOD's word where you will be encouraged, your faith strengthened, and not the front page or business page of the newspaper or watching the today show which tells all the negative news and where you will get discouraged.

what you say in the morning determines a lot at how you live your day.

a word out of your mouth...can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

the power of my words...

now james continues in chapter 3 verse 1(ms), don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends.

now some want so much to be teachers. they want that feeling of people honoring them and placing them in such high esteem. but here is the problem teaching is highly responsible work. and teachers are held to the strictest standards. it is because of the power of words.

verse 2 (ms), and none of us is perfectly qualified. we get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. if you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.

have you ever gone to the doctor and the first thing he asks you is to stick out your tongue? your tongue reveals what's going on inside of you, not just physically but spiritually. we all have the natural ability to say the wrong thing it seems all the time. our mouths get us into trouble and james says, if you can control your mouth, you're perfect. now he's not talking about sinless. the word "perfect" here in the greek literally means "mature, healthy."

now james talks more about the tongue than anybody else in the new testament. and he says it is very important for us to watch what we say. now why is it so important to watch what i say?

well for one because what i say directs where i go.

let me ask you, where are you headed in life? where are you going to be in ten years? your conversation answers those questions. what do you like to talk about? what do you talk about the most? we shape our words and then our words shape us.

james says, the tongue is small, it's tiny and because it is tiny we think it is insignificant but it has tremendous power.

verse 3 (ms), a bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. here is a huge 2,000-3,000 pound stallion, and a 95 pound jockey on his back but the 95 pound jockey can control that powerful animal by a little piece of metal stuck purposefully over his tongue. and your tongue controls the direction of your life wherever you want to go. a little bit of a word or a phrase can influence the total direction of your life.

then verse 4 (ms), a small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. the queen mary has three acres of recreational space. the anchor is equal to the weight of ten cars yet a relatively small rudder directs the huge ocean liner out in the middle of the waves and winds and seas. a little rudder keeps it on course.

and just like that bit and rudder, 4b (ms), a word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything.

if you don't like the way you're headed right now, change the way you talk. james says my tongue directs where i go, so i've got to learn to control it.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

talk is cheap...

james 2.25 – 26 (ms), the same with rahab, the jericho harlot. wasn't her action in hiding GOD's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with GOD? the very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

here he uses another example from the ot. go to joshua 2 and you will read the story of rahab who was a prostitute who helped a couple of spies when they were coming into jericho. rahab ends up in the family line of JESUS. she risks her life to save a spy.

now she could have said, "i'm a believer but no way am i going to risk my life for these spies. i know that GOD would never ask me to do something that would hurt me" but he did. "there is no way he would ask me to risk it all." but he did.

our faith is not determined by what we do, it is demonstrated by what we do.

erwin mcmanus tells the story in his book the unstoppable force of his sitting in the home of a pastor and his wife just after they had finished seminary. he says "they were tremendously gifted and had chosen to serve in a small community of a few thousand residents. we began to talk about their future, and i suggested they move to a major metropolitan center, such as los angeles. i was stunned not so much about their response, but by the rationale behind it. with great passion, they told me that GOD would never expect them to do that. GOD would never subject their children to the danger and corruption of the city."

and erwin continued and said, "i remember leaving that night wondering what was happening in the church. if those who prepare for leadership are looking for the safe place, who will lead the church into the dangerous places."

i remember when we as a family of four were in the process of moving to start a church in las vegas. brett was a sophomore in high school and stefanie was just going into sixth grade and a person close to us said that there is no way that i would move my family to vegas because of my fear of what would happen to my kids.

i understand that fear but i also understand that anything that is used to come between me and GOD as an excuse to my disobeying GOD becomes a god to me and he will have no other GODs.

now did we lose our family? no way. i sit every sunday and listen to stef as she is a part of a team that leads us in worship and i listen to my son brett who is my pastor challenge me to risk it all for GOD.

was the risk worth it? without a doubt. we got two calls yesterday from people in vegas who might not have made it into the kingdom if we hadn't risked it all and gone to vegas. there are stories after stories of people who will read this blog today who are CHRISTians today because we risked it all and there will be people in ny who will make it because we risked it all again.

i believe that GOD is saying to us that talk is cheap. put your money where your mouth is. "i believe in JESUS." then prove it. our faith is demonstrated by our actions. actions speak louder than words. our behavior shows what we really believe.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

it is something you do...

james says in 2.21 – 24 (ms), wasn't our ancestor abraham "made right with GOD by works" when he placed his son isaac on the sacrificial altar? isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? that the works are "works of faith"? the full meaning of "believe" in the scripture sentence, "abraham believed GOD and was set right with GOD," includes his action. it's that mesh of believing and acting that got abraham named "GOD's friend." is it not evident that a person is made right with GOD not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

here it is, living a life of real, authentic faith means something that i do. it is a life of action. it is not passive, it is a commitment. and abraham is an example of this.

james 2, 23 (niv) abraham believed GOD and it was accredited to him as righteousness and he was called GOD's friend.

do you know the story? it's the ultimate test where GOD asked abraham to give his own son. this has nothing to do with salvation. abraham was already a believer, twenty-five years earlier GOD has said, you're righteous.

he's not talking about being saved by his works. he is saying, this shows how much you believe. abraham obeyed GOD, he was immediate. he followed him. he took his son up. he did all of those five steps. he cut the wood, built the altar and was ready to sacrifice his own son.

abraham says to his son while walking up the mountain, we (not i) will return. he knew that GOD would provide somehow even if it meant raising him from the dead. the fact is GOD did raise him from the dead figuratively speaking.

abraham was about to sacrifice him and GOD says, i was just testing you to see what's most important in your life. it was an action. his works proved his faith. he held nothing back from GOD.

we as a church just voted almost unanimously to buy a $5,000,000 building. oh we’re buying it for nearly $3,000,000. but some would say, what in the world are you doing in this economy? are you out of your mind? and the answer from a world view is yes. we are out of our earthly mind but not our heavenly mind.

i cannot believe how many so called CHRISTians are having such major fears and anxieties, staying awake at night, fighting with family members, etc., all because we are going through a bump in the economy. listen, this is just a testing of where we are putting our faith and it is showing that so many CHRISTians are putting their faith in other things besides GOD.

some would say, "but bill you don’t understand. i have worked my whole life and all my retirement is going down the drain." but i do understand. i just moved clear across the country to do what i believe GOD has called me to do and i don’t have a paycheck and my pension is nothing, three of us didn’t have jobs and the one who did took a pay cut. but as the song that we sang yesterday in church said, "i am a friend of GOD" and that means i am not afraid and i sleep all night with no worry because of that fact. a real CHRISTians lives by faith and real faith is something you do.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

i believe...

james says in 2.10 (ms), do i hear you professing to believe in the one and only GOD, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? that's just great. demons do that, but what good does it do them?

there are a lot of people who have strong beliefs in GOD, the bible, about CHRIST. they can recite creeds to you and catechisms and talk about doctrines of the trinity, quote bible verses but james says, "big deal!" just saying i believe in GOD is not enough to get into heaven. even the devil believes that.

the bible says in proverbs, the fool has said in his heart, there is no GOD. it's foolish to be an atheist and the devil is no fool. the devil believes in GOD. the devil is a great theologian. he knows a lot more bible than you do. he believes. his demons believe and shudder.

the word believe in greek means "to trust in, to cling to, to rely on, to commit yourself completely." folks, i believe in hitler but i'm no nazi. i'm a CHRISTian i believe in JESUS but it's more than just a head knowledge.

a lot of people are going to miss heaven by 18 inches. they've got it in their heads but not their heart. they say, "i believe in GOD." james says, "big deal. everybody believes in GOD." how do you have a creation without a creator but that's not enough.

being a real CHRISTian means not just saying "i believe." there is so much easy believeism in america. there was a newspaper in the west that did a survey and asked people all over their area about their belief and they found a high degree of belief. "sure i'm a believer. i'm a CHRISTian." do you attend church? no. do you donate your time? no, do you tithe? no. james says that's a phony belief. you're just conning yourself. a lot of people are doing that.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

i am changed...

james says in 2.18 (ms), i can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "sounds good. you take care of the faith department, i'll handle the works department.

some people in dealing with their CHRISTian life say, ok what you’re talking about is great for you but i think it is this way. you’re into works, i’m into faith. let’s debate it. you have your way, i have mine. stimulate me mentally but don't ask me to make any commitment.

for some people it is all intellectual. there is no action behind it but being a real CHRISTian is more than what you think.

continuing in verse 18 (ms), not so fast. you can no more show me your works apart from your faith than i can show you my faith apart from my works. faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

real faith is visible. you can see it. it's apparent. if you claim to be a CHRISTian, people will be able to see it. it's visible.

faith is odorless, weightless, invisible so anybody can claim to have it.

so how do you know for sure? james says, "show me". if you claim to be a CHRISTian i have a right to ask you to prove it by looking at your lifestyle. somebody said, "faith is like calories. you can't see them but you can see the results." you can't see faith but you can see the results.

if i say, "i believe my health is very important. personal health is a high priority in my life. i believe that health is one of the most important things we ought to have."

you say to me, "do you eat right?" "no." "do you exercise? do you get your proper rest? do you take vitamins? do you ever go for a checkup?" "no." you see, it doesn't matter what i say; it doesn't matter what i think. what counts are my actions.

2 corinthians 5:17 (nlt), …those who become CHRISTians become new persons. they are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. a new life has begun! not over night but they start becoming new.

if you grab onto a 220 wire you're going to know it. i don't see how somebody as big as GOD can enter your life and it not change you. james says, flat out, if it doesn't change you there's a question whether HE's really in your life. what can i see in my life that proves it?

how do you know you're a believer? you'll see some changes in your life. real CHRISTians have been changed.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

i want to be alive...

i love the emotional time we have as we worship at church but what does it really mean?

in looking at what an authentic CHRISTian does, james says in 2.15 & 16 (ms), for instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "good morning, friend! be clothed in CHRIST! be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you?

in this peanuts cartoon, charlie brown and linus are inside all bundled up and snoopy is out in the cold shivering in front of his dog food bowl. and charlie and linus are having a discussion on how sad it is that snoopy is hungry and cold. "he's cold and hungry. we ought to do something about it." so they walk outside and say to snoopy, "be of good cheer, snoopy."

charles schultz got that idea from this verse. what good is it if you see someone in need and you say, "i feel for you!" he is saying it's more than words. it's more than just feelings.

if after church, i walk outside and you're getting in your car and you happen to slam eight fingers in your car door and you're standing there in agony with blood on your fingers. if i walk up and say, "i feel for you!" is that any help?

real faith is more than just sympathy and feeling emotions. you give assistance. you do something about it. you act on it. real faith takes the initiative. a real believer has real faith and it's practical. it gets involved with people.

1 john 3:17 (ms), this is how we've come to understand and experience love: CHRIST sacrificed his life for us. this is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. if you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to GOD's love? it disappears. and you made it disappear.

a real CHRISTian is generous. they want to give. who can count on you in a crisis? how many CHRISTians have the freedom to call you up in the middle of the night if they are in an emergency? not just talking the talk. not just feeling for people.

we are better at verbalizing our faith than practicing it. JESUS couldn't meet everybody's needs but i can meet somebody's. james is saying that if my faith doesn't lead me to share with others it's wrong.

verse 17 (niv), …faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

if i don't feel like helping other CHRISTians i don't have a sick faith, i have a dead faith. james is laying it on the line. he says, do you want to be a real CHRISTian? it's more than just something you say and it's more than just something you feel.

GOD is giving us as HIS followers a tremendous opportunity in the tough times that we are living to reach out to hurting fellow believers and make a difference in their lives. if we do it means we are alive.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

they are faking...

james 2:14 (ms) says, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? being a real CHRISTian isn’t just knowing, it is doing. and there are a lot of phony CHRISTians out there who don’t do anything.

there was a time in my life that i call my 3-year-jerk-time. i would tell my wife that i love her, oh at least once a week or month. everybody at church believed i was the perfect husband. i would say all of those right words that you say but i was never home. i never held her. for sure i never put her needs and interests before mine. i was a phony married person. i was a fake. i said one thing but did another and for a time in our marriage i lost margaret emotionally and i almost lost her all together.

so many marriages are like that. they both say the right things when everyone else is around but at home it’s a different story. their love for each other isn’t real, it is fake.

now i’ll be honest with you, as i look back on that guy that i was, i don’t like him. and for sure with what i know about him. there is no way that i would trust him or want what he had. he was a fake. he said one thing and lived another.

dan kimball in his book, they like jesus but not the church, told of a couple of youth pastors from a mega church who said that they would guess that three-fourths of graduating high school seniors leave their church as soon as they are free from their parents making them go. it seems like if what their parents had was real, they would want it too. oh i understand that isn’t always the case but for the most part it is.

i wonder why the younger generation doesn’t want to get married or become a CHRISTian. maybe they grew up with a lot of fakes.

a lot CHRISTians today say one thing but do another.

there are a lot of people who claim to be CHRISTians. george gallup says that 50 million americans say, "i'm born again." but you don't see anything in their lifestyle.

today we tend to label people as CHRISTians if they have the slightest sound of being a believer. folks, it's more than just talk that is involved in real faith.

JESUS said, "not everyone who says to me, 'LORD, LORD' is going to enter into the kingdom of heaven." not everyone with a CHRISTian bumper sticker is a believer. not everyone who is a professor of CHRISTianity is a possessor of CHRISTianity.

james says, can such faith save him? what value is this kind of faith? nothing. talk is cheap.

remember when larry flint, the publisher of hustler, said he was born again? but you never saw any change in his life. he kept right on printing pornography, no difference. no change.

james is saying that real faith is not just something you say. do you know anybody that claims to be a CHRISTian but you don't see any evidence in their life? that's a phony faith. real faith is not just something you say.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

so what is real? ....

what is real? that is a good question. what is a real CHRISTian? another good one. one of the things about the generation of my kids is that they can see a phony a mile away and that is the reason why so many today don’t want anything to do with CHRISTians. so what is a real CHRISTian is a good question for us to look at.

now james in chapter 2 deals with this. this is the most controversial and misunderstood passage in the book of james. every cult misunderstands it and they try to use this passage to prove you have to work your way to heaven and it's important that you get this so that when those guys come to your door, you'll know what to say to them.

in ephesians 2:8-10 (tev) paul writes, for it is by GOD's grace you have been saved, through faith, for a life of good works that GOD has already prepared for us to do. but then james comes along and says, in verse 17 (niv) faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

what is real? well they had different purposes and different people groups they were addressing.

paul in the first one was fighting the problem of legalism – the problem of "i've got to keep all the jewish laws and regulations to be a CHRISTian." we still have that problem today.

james in the second one is not fighting legalism but laxity, those who say "it doesn't matter what you do as long as you believe." another problem today.

paul is talking about, how to know you're a CHRISTian. james is talking about, how to show you're a CHRISTian. paul is talking about, how to become a believer. james talks about, how to behave like a believer. it is not a contradiction.

again ephesians 2:8-10 (tev), for it is by GOD's grace you have been saved, through faith, for a life of good works that GOD has already prepared for us to do.

there are three prepositions in the passage – "by grace", "through faith", "for good works." if you get those out of order, you're in trouble. if you think you're saved by works, before faith you're in trouble. he's saying we're saved by grace though faith. we're saved just by accepting GOD's gift.

so what does this have to do with real? james 2:14 (ms) says, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? being a real CHRISTian isn’t just knowing, it is doing. and there are a lot of phony CHRISTians out there who don’t do anything.

just some thoughts here on my front porch…

i just trust HIM...

here is one of the great verses on temptation…1 corinthians 10:13 (ms), no test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. all you need to remember is that GOD will never let you down; HE'll never let you be pushed past your limit; HE'll always be there to help you come through it.

what a great promise. GOD never puts more on you – HE never allows more on you – than HE puts in you to bear it up.

you say, "i just can't help myself!" wanna bet? "it was too strong a temptation, i just couldn't help myself!" GOD says that is not true. you're just depending on yourself instead of depending on HIM.

GOD says, "I will make a way out if you trust ME." the fact is there is hope and you can change if you want to and if you'll let CHRIST change you from the inside out. there is a way out if you trust in HIM.

you can't pray, "LORD lead us not into temptation" if at the same time, you're flirting with temptation. you've got to co-operate. some of you are flirting with temptation in many different areas. satan is baiting your trap.

what is it that you want in your life that you're willing to compromise in order to get it? a promotion? a thrill? confess it to GOD. the time to deal with temptation is right at the start. when it starts in the desire stage, nip it in the bud.

martin luther said, "we cannot keep the birds from flying over us, but we can keep them from making a nest in our hair." you cannot live in a temptation free world. it's all around you. it's not a sin to be tempted. so don't be intimidated by it. but it’s a sin when you begin to dwell on that temptation and think about it so that it eventually begins to form in your life and heart.

let’s not give in but rely on the ONE who is greater than that you are facing. always remember, GOD will never let you down; HE'll never let you be pushed past your limit; HE'll always be there to help you come through it.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i can't do it alone...

we all are different. that means that where i am tempted may be different from where you are tempted but the purpose of it is the same. satan wants to bring us down so he can get back at GOD. i don’t know about you but i don’t want to do anything that satan can use against GOD so i want to do whatever i can to repel the temptations of satan. look at james 1:16-18 (niv), HE chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all HE created.

here is the most awesome thing. i don’t have to do it on my own. this is not the old western movie high noon where i have to face my enemy alone but i do have to ask. and having HIM in my life gives me a new capacity at facing the temptations that come into my life.

i’m sorry to tell you this, but you don't have enough power in your own will power. you need supernatural power. you need JESUS CHRIST in your life. that's what it means to be born again. it means you get a fresh start on life. ask CHRIST in. ask HIM to make the changes and give you the power you need to do what you know is right to do anyway.

listen, you will not be able to say no to temptation until you first learn to say yes to GOD. you need HIS power in your life. you need to be reborn. that's the starting point. then you'll have more than just your own power.

what is your most vulnerable area? what is your weak spot? GOD knows it. have you ever figured it out? if you haven't, you need to because once you've figured out where you are weak you will then know when and where you're most likely to fall and you can avoid it.

it is stupid to put yourself in situations that will automatically tempt your weakest area. where are you vulnerable? be realistic about the problem. where do i have a lack of self control?

is it my temper? is it my appetite? that is my weak area. is it my spending? is it my words – i'm continually talking all the time and say things i later regret. is it drinking? is it cocaine? drugs? is it lustful thoughts?

what is the area that satan knows is my hot button and he's always baiting me in that area? figure it out and then admit it to GOD? say, "GOD, you know the areas i've fallen in. i've stumbled. i want a clean slate. i want to start over. get free from my past. get forgiveness." that's available. this is the first step in victory over temptation. ask CHRIST to come into your life and give you the power.

GOD is only a prayer away. just in the quietness of your own heart say, "JESUS, I admit that I can’t do it on my own. i need help. would YOU forgive me of the mess that I have made doing it on my own and would YOU clean it all up and give me a clean slate? would YOU come into my life and give me the power to live the way i was created to live? thank YOU for hearing my prayer and forgiving me of my sins and coming into my life."

if you prayed that prayer, it is the best decision that you have ever made in your life. share that you prayed that prayer with another person. let me know so i can pray with you. i’m so glad that you came up on my front porch today. this could be a life changing day for you.

change your focus...

now james shows us what we should do next in our temptation, he changes direction. james 1:17 (cev), every good and perfect gift comes down from the FATHER who created all the lights in the heavens. HE is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. he refocuses.

if temptation begins with our inner thoughts then changing what we think about is the key to overcoming it. don’t fight temptation just simply refocus your thoughts. change your attention. shift your thoughts. change your mind. refocus.

philippians 4:8 (ms), i'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst. focus your mind on the goodness of GOD.

why? because the more you fight the feeling the more it will grab you. don't focus on what you don't want, focus on what you do want. turn your attention, be refocused. get your eyes off of the negative and get your eyes on the goodness of GOD.

are you a chronic worrier? it's because you're doubting the goodness of GOD. whatever gets your attention, gets you. whatever you resist, persists. stop fighting it, just refocus. turn your back on it.

how do you get out of depression? not by looking at what you are and telling yourself what you are. that never changes you but focus on what you want.

this is the day that the LORD has made, i will rejoice and be glad. it's a choice. i will bless the LORD at all times…his praise will continually be in my mouth…i can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me.

get GOD's word in your mind and refocus. quit fighting the feeling. what you resist, persists. you can't fight a feeling but if you ignore it, you weaken it.

listen, don't try to argue with the devil. he's a lot better at it than you are. he's had thousands of years of experience. when temptation calls, drop the receiver and forget it.

now when you refocus it may mean physically removing yourself from the situation. if you don't want to get stung, get away from the bees.

maybe you need to change the channel on the tv. maybe you need to walk out of that movie. maybe you need to get out of that chat room. maybe you need to change jobs. maybe you need to change a car pool.

joseph was in a tempting situation and he left his coat and ran. if you have to leave your coat, leave your coat. walk out. 1 corinthians 15:33 (niv), bad company corrupts good character. you know your weakness and GOD does too.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

but there are consequences...

temptation begins in your mind which then results in action. it starts in your imagination. the battle starts with your thoughts. it then moves from your thoughts into actions

james 1.14 & 15 (nlt), temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. these desires give birth to sinful actions…

the devil gets your attention then he gets you to have an attitude then he gets you to commit the action. people say, "what the danger in a harmless fantasy?" what starts in your mind eventually comes out in your life. it always begins in the imagination.

what you flirt with, you will fall for. that's the whole purpose behind television advertising. they try to get you to imagine something. they know if they get it in your imagination, they've got you. if that didn't work nobody would advertise. you think you haven't done anything but you have.

and when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

that's the tragic consequences of giving in – devastating results.

what's death? the exact opposite of living. if you overcome temptation you get the crown of life but the wages of sin is death – spiritual separation from GOD.

james says we are free to choose any way we want to live. i can choose any way i want to live but i am not free to choose the consequences of the choice. i am free to have my kicks but i am not free to eliminate the kickbacks. i am free to make choices but i am not free to choose the consequences.

now this is a very important principle in life. if i eat my dunkin donuts i will not lose weight. but i’m a good person. i pet dogs. i play with my granddaughter. i go to church, i pay tithe but if i eat too many donuts i will not lose weight. there is a consequence to my actions.

if i worry all the time there are so many consequences. there are sicknesses that are attached to worry. no sleep at night. it hurts my relationships because it makes people feel depressed when they are around me and discouraged about their life and they don’t want to be around me.

it is so important to understand this principle of cause and effect. if i don’t teach it to my kids and if i keep bailing them out all of the time, just like the government is doing right now, then they will do what they want to and not learn that there are consequences to their actions and then they will have major problems in life.

husband, you may love to spend all of your time in front of the tv watching what you want to watch but there will be consequences in the relationships around you, your wife and kids, and you may wake up one day and find yourself all alone and not understand why.

this is a very important principle we need to understand and learn and live. just some thoughts here on the front porch…

have i got a deal for you...

james 1:14 (nrsv), each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

there was a cartoon on the editorial page of the li newsday paper today that had 2 guys in a prison cell. one guys was saying, "lemme get this straight – i give you one cigarette and next week you guarantee me ten?" and the other guy says, "it’s that simple" and the caption is madoff behind bars - day one.

for those of you who don’t watch the news or who don’t live in ny, madoff is a major swindler and he had his day in court yesterday and all that was played up on the tv & paper news was the horrible plight of all those poor people who lost their savings to this man’s scheme. you just wanted to cry.

now here is the problem. those poor innocent people where lured and enticed at making more money without doing any kind of work. they were deceived by their desire for more. and that is what james is warning us about here. if it is too good to be true it probably is.

if you are a fisherman you understand what lure and entice means. the secret of fishing is in the bait, the right kind of bait for the right kind of fish.

now, how many fish will you catch with a bare hook? you've got to put bait on it and the right kind of bait for the right kind of fish.

what kind of bait does the devil use on you? he's got your hot button. he knows your weakness. he knows you inside and out. he knows what turns you on. he knows what you will fall for. he hides the hook in his bait and the bait appeals to your weakness.

now the crazy thing is that often we see the hook and we know it's a temptation but we keep right on nibbling. some people will say to me, "bill, back off. i know what i am doing. i'm an adult. i'm not going to get hurt. i know how far to go." and that person is deceived. they've gone from desire to deception.

it always starts with desire. then satan moves to deception. temptation always looks better than it really is. desire turns to deception and deception turns to disobedience.

it helps me to understand what he is doing. how about you? just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i have my desires...

temptation is real. it is a part of everyone of our lives. so we need to be ready for it.

james 1:14 (nrsv), but one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it. desire. it's an inside job.

now most desires are ok. you couldn't live without desires: a desire to eat, drink, sleep, the sexual desire, to accomplish. GOD gives us these desires. those are good desires. they are good gifts.

but any desire out of control becomes destructive. satan loves to take routine desires and turn them into runaway desires. you are consumed, obsessed by it: food, work, having fun, sex, money. legitimate desires but when they are out of control they become a problem.

now temptation is like a steel magnet. there's an inward and outward part. there's a outward circumstance but there's an inward drive, desire. if it weren't for the inward desire you wouldn't be tempted. it starts on the inside and it's often the fulfillment of a legitimate desire in the wrong way at the wrong time. it always starts with a desire.

think about your desire for security. if this deep desire to be secure becomes an obsession out of control then it could potentially kill your faith.

now we as a family have had to deal with that in our move. if we were totally fixated on security, there is no way that margaret and i and andrew and stef would have moved from vegas to long island. i mean we gave up 4 secure jobs, we gave up a huge house, we moved from a group of people who loved us, who accepted us, who needed us to a place where only 2 of us have jobs and one isn’t full time yet, to a smaller house that costs more, to a place where nobody really knows us, to do what we believe is what GOD has led us to do, living out what GOD has built us to do.

our security said no way but our faith said, GOD has called, so let’s risk it.

we in the CHRISTian world have gotten sucked up into this consumerism world, wanting more, needing more when GOD has called us to a missional world of reaching out to hurting, lost people. and our desires for getting our needs met through stuff have taken the place of getting our needs met through the mission that GOD built us to do, which is to continue what JESUS began.

let’s not be unaware of how satan works but be ready. just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i am not going to be lame...

responsibility…a great word. i like what will rogers said, "you could summarize american history into two great movements: the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck." and we are so good at it.

but look at james 1.13, when tempted, no one should say, "GOD is tempting me." for GOD cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

we live in a world of irresponsibility. we blame society, we blame the government, we blame the environment, we blame heredity, we blame our parents, we blame the devil, and we even blame GOD.

i hear so many people who have a mistaken idea that when something bad happens, "it must be GOD's will or HE wouldn't have let it happen." i hear that all the time with what is happening in our world today. the reason we pray in the LORD’s prayer THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven is because GOD’s will is not done on earth. that's called blaming GOD.

there was this guy who said, "GOD told me to leave my wife and go marry someone else that i met at church." that's called blaming GOD. don't make your bad choices and then blame them on GOD.

i can’t believe that GOD allowed me to have lung cancer. i have smoked cigarettes since I was in high school but why did GOD give me cancer.

you bought that house that you couldn’t afford. it wasn’t GOD. you wanted it and you said that GOD always wants to give me my wants so it must be HIS will for me to have it because I got such a good deal and now you’re having trouble. you didn’t seek GOD’s wisdom. it wasn’t GOD it was you. you married that guy without asking GOD. but he changed.

GOD does not tempt. HE never contradicts HIS word. GOD is not going to tell you one thing and have the bible say something different. if the bible says something and you say something different, you're wrong. be responsible. don't blame GOD and don't blame other people. it's a sign of immaturity.

the truth is we bring most of our problems onto ourselves. we do and if i'm ever going to break those bad habits i want to get rid of, i have got to be responsible; i must quit passing the buck and making excuses.

listen to blame is lame so don’t be lame. just some thoughts here on the front porch…

what was i thinking....

now there is another form of testing in the bible. one is trial and the other is temptation. trials are situations designed by GOD in order to help us grow and temptations are designed by the devil in order to cause us to sin and sometimes a situation can be both a trial and a temptation.

james 1:12 (niv) says that blessed is the man who endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the LORD has promised to them that love him.

there is a prize, a reward for enduring temptation. you will be "blessed" – happy. happiness comes from having your life under control so that there is no bad habit that is overpowering you.

it also says there is a "crown of life." in the greek this literally means "life itself" or when you overcome it, when you learn to say "no" then you really live as you were created to live.

james in the next verse says, when tempted. it is inevitable. it is not if, it is when.

now i may have retired as a paid pastor but i haven’t retired from being tempted. it is a reality in everyone of our lives.

there is a misconception that says, once you're born again, you've got it all together. you've arrived so you wear a mask and fake it and pretend like, how could anybody do something like that? we all are tempted.

1 corinthians 10:13 (ms) says that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. we all have the same temptations, the same problems and don't be surprised, shocked and don't try to hide it.

some of you are possibly caught in a compromising situation right now but it is liberating to know that other people feel the same way. we all have the same struggles and problems.

hebrews 4:15 (cev), JESUS understands every weakness of ours, because HE was tempted in every way that we are. but HE did not sin! HE was tempted but HE never gave in.

listen it is not sin to be tempted. it is a sin to give in to temptation. there are a lot of CHRISTians who are intimidated by temptation. they think, "how could i have such a thought?

the devil put it in your mind; it's not your fault. you are human. temptation proves you're human, not that you're evil. it's not a sin to be tempted; it's a sin to give in to temptation. the more committed you are the more you're going to be tempted.

maybe that will encourage you today. just some thoughts here on the front porch…

my view goes a long way...

expectation…what are your expectations today? what are you expecting to happen in your life today?

what you have your eyes on goes a long way toward your answer.

what are your expectations today? james 1:6, (nlt), when you ask HIM, (the HIM is GOD) be sure that you really expect HIM to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

remember peter? peter is in the boat one day and JESUS comes walking on the water and peter jumps out and starts walking toward the LORD. (listen if you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat. it doesn't require faith to stay in the boat. you've got to risk in faith and GOD will take care of you.)

so he starts walking on the water. he's got his eyes on the LORD but all of the sudden he looks down and thinks, "i'm not suppose to be able to do this." and instantly he started to sink. the moment you get your eyes off the LORD and onto your circumstance, you're dead.

some of you will have a major decision to make this week. the reason you don't have wisdom is because you are looking at the problem and not the LORD. "this giant problem. how will i solve it? i'm backed into a corner. it's impossible!"

listen, GOD specializes in impossible. get your eyes off of the problem, the circumstance and get your eyes on the LORD. if you have your eyes on the problem, you're going to sink! you must believe and not doubt.

(niv), he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. a lot of CHRISTians are like corks in the ocean, blown around, back and forth. they are victims of their circumstance. some of you are blown away right now because you haven't been asking for wisdom. eventually you pray but it's as the last resort. that ought to be your first option.

we must get our eyes off the problem and go to the ONE who will give you the answer to the problem. do that first then see what happens.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

just ask...

now how are we going to take care of this problem of indecision? james 1:5 (ms), if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the FATHER. HE loves to help. well it says here we are to pray to the FATHER. just ask HIM.

proverbs 2:6 (niv), it is the LORD who gives wisdom, from HIM comes knowledge and understanding.

if GOD was to come to you and say, "i'm going to give you one wish. you can ask for anything in the whole world. you can have one wish." what would that wish be?

there was a guy in the old testament that GOD came to and asked him that question. GOD came to solomon and HE said, "you're the king of israel and i'm going to grant you one wish. what do you want more than anything else in life?

solomon thought about it and said, "i'm so inadequate as a leader. i don't know what to do with these people. more than anything else i want wisdom. i want to be able to think the way YOU think, to see things from YOUR point of view, be able to make decisions the way YOU would make them. i don't want to make mistakes. i don't want to have any regret when i look back on my life. i want wisdom.

and the bible said that pleased GOD and HE granted it to him, just like HE gives to us when we ask for it. HE then said, "solomon, because you asked for wisdom, i'm going to give you the other three: wealth, fame, a long life." solomon not only became the wisest man but the wealthiest man, a famous person, and he lived a long life.

if GOD came to you with the same question, what would you ask for? would you ask for wisdom? proverbs says, if you don't get anything else, get wisdom. that is how important it is to GOD and the reason we don't have it is because we don't ask for it.

well, I’m going to go to church and hear what GOD says to me through my pastor.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i need help...

now how are we going to take care of this problem of indecision? james 1:5 (ms), if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the father. he loves to help.

but there is a major problem there especially for us men. and that is, we have to admit we need help. we've got to acknowledge that we don’t know what to do. and we would rather not do anything even though it hurts us emotionally and it hurts our relationships with others and with GOD than to admit that i don’t have the answer. you see, i’ve got my pride.

there is no way that i am going to admit that i don’t have the answer. i’m not being indecisive i’m just waiting for the right time. or i like the way it is, we don’t need to do anything else. or don’t you trust me? or my dad or my mom never had to ask for help. or whatever excuse you use when you don’t know what to do and you are afraid to admit it.

now if i don’t have a relationship with someone who i believe has wisdom then i believe that it is all on me. that is one of the reasons why many people go to pieces when their parents die, they now have no one to go to. they can admit they need help to their mom or dad because they are their mom and dad but they can’t admit they need help to anyone else. that is not the way it is done.

somehow we have gotten the idea somewhere that to admit we need help is a disgrace but the opposite is true. proverbs 11:2 (nlt), pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

listen, you can't learn anything if you think you know it all. one of the reasons why we never learn wisdom is we think we have it all together.

james 1: 5 (niv), if any of you lacks wisdom…

he's saying, "admission of the lack of wisdom is the beginning of wisdom, 'i don't have it all together.'"

for some of you it may be hard for you to say to your wife, "i was wrong." when was the last time you said, "i was wrong." that shows how wise you are. the admission is the beginning of wisdom.

folks i'll be honest i have problems with knowing what the questions are, let alone the answers but the key to wisdom is to start by saying, "i don't know, GOD. what do you want me to do?" admit that you don't have all the answers. admit your need.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i'm not really sure...

james 1:8 (niv), he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

this indecisiveness makes us unstable in our relationships. some of you are having problems in your marriage? do i want in or do i want out? i can't get on with it, i can't get out of it, i can't get with it. what am i going to do? instability in relationships. that is a horrible way to live. make a decision.

when you're a parent and say one thing then you say another thing. we give double messages to our kids. it causes instability. no wonder they're insecure. you can't decide in a relationship. am i going to get out of it or am i going to get on with it?

have you found that it takes more energy deciding than it does to do it? and once you do it, it's a snap, but the key is deciding.

this not make up your mind mentality also makes us unstable spiritually. today’s english version, but when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. if you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the LORD. it blocks your prayers. indecision keeps GOD from giving you and keeps you from receiving what HE wants to give you.

have you ever wondered why doesn't GOD answer your prayers? maybe it’s because you're not specific enough. maybe you've never decided what it is you want and you don't have a clear-cut goal.

indecisiveness can also lead to a double life. a spiritual schizophrenia, dr jekyll/mr. hyde.

in the book pilgrim's progress it talks about a man named mr. face-both-ways. that's when you want to do your will and GOD's will at the same time. when you know what's right but you go the wrong way. when you're trying to live for two people. on sunday you sing onward christian soldiers and on monday you're awol. double-mindedness produces instability in all of your ways. it produces an unstable lifestyle.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

but i'm not sure...

james 1:7 & 8 (new century version), such doubters are thinking two different things at the same time, and they cannot decide about anything they do. they should not think they will receive anything from the LORD.

there are phrases that my dad used to say that have stayed with me and there are some phrases that i know i say that i know my family are sick of. one is “indecision weakens character.” and these verses in james reiterates that fact.

sometimes you've got to make a decision. thinking two different things at the same time is devastating, debilitating. the new international version says it this way, a doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways. in the greek, the word "double minded" literally means "two souled" – pulled in different directions, divided loyalties, divided priorities. james makes up the word, but we've all felt that way – when you're trying to do two things at the same time. you're not really sure what you want. it makes you unstable. he's saying, "if you can't make up your mind it produces an unstable lifestyle. all your ways will be unstable, in constant turmoil.

one way is in your emotions. it is a strain when you can't decide. you worry and strain, you're confused. you can't sleep and can't eat. you wonder, "did i do the right thing?" it creates emotional instability in your life when you can't make up your mind.

this guy goes to a psychiatrist. the psychiatrist says, "are you indecisive?" guy says, "yes and no." "what do you mean by that?" "well, i used to be but now i'm not sure."

williams james said, "the most miserable person in the world is the person who is habitually indecisive." it causes emotions.

do you have that problem? you are not going to get anywhere being indecisive.

back last year when i was striving to make a decision whether i was to retire or not, when to leave or not, i was in a time of great emotional turmoil. back and forth, back and forth until that monday i made the decision through GOD's prompting that the time was now to retire and i never have looked back and i am at peace emotionally. it was the indecision that caused the turmoil.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

i will survive, please...

james 1:5-8 (ms), if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the FATHER. HE loves to help. you'll get HIS help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. people who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. don't think you're going to get anything from the MASTER that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

here we are in the middle of this trouble, this crisis, whatever it is, and we have a positive attitude, we have prayed and now we believe that he is going to take care of the situation. and we just relax.

can you relax on our own? can you sleep in the middle of a crisis on your own? did you know that GOD can help you relax in the middle of a crisis, a problem? HE will give us wisdom to understand and HE will give us faith to endure the crisis in the middle of the crisis but you need to ask. you ask for wisdom to understand and you ask for faith to endure. and HE loves to help. and you'll get HIS help. you can believe that.

james says you need wisdom to know what's going on and faith to hang in there and never, never give up. you're never a failure until you quit.

GOD says the devil wants to use problems to defeat you but GOD wants to use problems to develop you. which will it be? here is this matter of choice again.

some of you are going through some tough times right now. it's pretty hard. GOD cares. HE cares about you very much. GOD sees everything you're going through. HE's got your number! the very hairs of your head are numbered. HE knows exactly where you are. HE hasn't lost your number! HE cares.

now GOD has the power to do something about that problem. HE could change it in a snap. HE's a miracle working GOD. so why doesn't HE? good honest question. because HE has a greater purpose.

and the greater purpose is what HE wants to do in you. you see, GOD is more interested in building your character than in making life comfortable for you and once you've learned those qualities, whatever they are, HE may be free then to remove that situation. but there are some things in life we're never going to be free from on this side of heaven. they are thorns of the flesh. we will deal with them and carry them. nothing comes into your life without the FATHER's permission.

so don't forget, if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the FATHER. HE loves to help. you'll get HIS help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. people who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. don't think you're going to get anything from the MASTER that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

a little too long...

i thought i was getting too long winded on the front porch so i've tried to shorten them up a little this week. hope it is better for you. i know you are busy...

i want to understand...

through this testing time, this growing your faith time, it seems to be a good thing to choose to see our problems as our friend not our enemy, so we choose to rejoice. then comes prayer. now most of the time i want to know how to get out of the problem or for GOD to take it away but james 1. 5 says to ask for something else. ask for wisdom in the problem, (niv), if any of you lack wisdom, you should ask GOD, who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.

why should i pray for wisdom or understanding? so we won't waste the opportunity to grow. if we don't learn it this time there will be one more lap around the desert! learn what GOD is striving to teach you the first time so HE won’t have to do it again and GOD will do it again if we don’t learn it the first time. i don’t know about you but i get overwhelmed when i don't really understand what GOD's doing. so pray for wisdom to understand the reason for the problem.

there is no situation of life that we can't learn from if we have the right attitude. i have found it better to not ask "why?" but to ask "what?" the why is to test, to stretch, to strengthen my faith. but ask, "what do YOU want to teach me in this problem, LORD? what do YOU want me to learn? what characteristics can i develop?"

just some thoughts here on the front porch…

the power of choice...

well there is a lot of snow on my front porch this morning. now for some that is a real problem. they have to get up go out and shovel it so they can get to work and it is a pain. and they hate it. for others it is real opportunity, they get up and shovel it to show someone they care. my son-in-law got up this morning and shoveled it so i could get out to my car. a problem…an opportunity, the power of choice.

how you are viewing your difficulties goes a long way in how you handle them. are they enemies or are they friends? that is your choice.

are these problems a way for a GOD who hates me to get back at me because of all that i have done wrong or an opportunity for a GOD who loves me to strengthen me or to get me back on the right path? the power of choice.

james 1.2 (nlt), whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.

the power of choice. i can choose joy or frustration. and a lot of it depends on my view of GOD and HIS view of me. does HE love me or does HE hate me.

what is your choice today? mine is love.

just some thoughts from inside the house. it is too cold out on the front porch…

i'm going to church...

i meet a lot of different people in my starbucks’ times. i met 2 very interesting people this morning. the lady asked me to come to her church sometime. the man is an older italian gentleman that i really enjoyed talking with. he is a very interesting man who cares about people. he is a catholic man but who helps the vineyard church just around the block pass out food to needy people every saturday. but i have another friend who comes in during the week who is a retired port authority cop who has no interest in spiritual things. he sees no value whatsoever in going to church.

i understand the negatives about church. we have gotten away from why GOD started the church and somehow we need to get back to it. and i glad that i am a part of a church that wants to be what GOD intended it to be. it is exciting.

now psalm 73:16-17 deals with one of the main reasons for the church and why we go to church, why i go to church. the new international version says it this way, i tried to think this problem through but it was too difficult for me until i went into your temple.

the message, still, when i tried to figure it out, all i got was a splitting headache (could this be why so many people have headaches today? they are trying to figure it all out on their own)…until i entered the sanctuary of GOD. then i saw the whole picture.

when you worship, GOD uses getting together with other believers to help you clarify things that are going on in your life.

that's why i hate to miss church. even when margaret and i go on vacation, we go to church and GOD always speaks to us.

listen, i don't go to church out of guilt, habit, because somebody forces me to, because of a ritual. i go to find out if GOD has anything to say to me. almost every one of the major decisions in my life, many of the major turning points in my life, happen when i was in a church service. before i went that day i had no idea what was going to happen. but because i went, i heard something from the bible and it made a change in me, a major decision.

i don't know when those are going to happen so i go to church whenever i can. what if GOD had that speaker or that message just for me, what if i didn't show up? so, on the possibility that he might want to speak to me any particular week, i show up.

as a minister when i got up to speak, i would give a general word from the LORD. i would share something that GOD would give to me to share but then as i shared it the HOLY SPIRIT would then give a specific word for each individual there that was just for them but if they weren’t there they would miss it.

i want to know what GOD has to say to me about the life that i am living today so i am not going to miss church. this is one way that GOD uses to let me see how to handle the specific problems that i am going through.

so i am getting off my front porch and i’m going to go get ready to go hear what GOD wants to say to me today…