Dogs Will Be Dogs

I love my old dog.  We got her as a pup almost 11 years ago.  Now she has arthritis, is overweight, has battled cancer, and is almost deaf.  She still enjoys going for rides and barking at squirrels, but now she does it at a much slower pace.  She has basically raised our children and thinks of herself as one of the family.  She loves to go pick the kids up from school, loves to sleep by my bed (or under my desk during the day), she knows when it is time for the kids to come home, and she gets upset when one of them spends the night away.  We think of her as part of the family, too.

Sometimes we forget, but she is still a dog.  The other day I let her go to the dumpster with me (another of her favorite past times).  Usually she trots alongside, sniffing constantly to see who has been around.  But not that day.  That day she took off out of the gate like a shot and ran straight to the neighbors.  She stopped just outside the chain of the neighbor's Rottweiler, turned, and marked her spot.  Then as the other dog was sniffing that spot, she ran inside the chain and did it again, right in the middle of the other dog's territory.  I ran over there yelling for her to come.  I would like to think she did not hear me but I am afraid she chose not to in this instance.  Finally, brazen as can be with head held high, she trotted back over to me with a smug look of satisfaction on her little doggy face.

All I can say is, dogs will be dogs.

Jeremiah uses the example of a leopard's inability to change its spots to illustrate the inability of the Jews to change their ways (Jeremiah 13:23).  Peter uses the illustration of a dog turning to its vomit and a clean pig rolling in the mud to show how some will turn from the truth and go back to their old sinful ways (2 Peter 2:20-22).  It is very frustrating when people take these passages and try to justify sinfulness, rebellion, or worldliness.  They try to make you think that they just can't help it, that they were born that way, or even that they weren't ever saved to begin with!

Here's the problem with that.  You aren't a dog.  If you are a Christian, you are not even that old person any longer.  Paul speaks of putting to death those old things (Colossians 3:5).  He speaks of rising to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).  The old man is gone.  Long live the new man (Colossians 3:10)!  You have been given the choice.  Too many today want to hang on to or in some cases to even resurrect that old man. However, you have got to move on and leave that old man behind.

A dog will always be a dog.  You must always be you.

If you could build a god....

If you could build a god….

If you could build a god, when would you build it?  Would you wait until you were in trouble?  Would it be done in a panic?

If you could build a god, what would you have your god feel?  Would it be insensitive or would you rather it be caring?  Would you build a god that listened to you anytime, anywhere?

If you could build a god, what would you have your god do?  Would you have a god of randomness or purpose?  Would you have a god of action or of inaction?

If you could build a god, what would you call it?  Would you choose a name that inspires terror?  Would you call it by what it was capable of doing?

If you could build a god, where would you keep it?  Would you keep it close to you or out of sight?  Would you lock it away somewhere safe?  Would you make it accessible to others or keep it to yourself?

If you could build a god, would you build the one you already have?

Jehovah God doesn’t have to be created.  As a matter of fact, He is eternal in His nature.  He is the God of creation (Genesis 1:1), the God of the fathers (Exodus 3:6), and the God of all flesh (Acts 17:25).  There has never been a time when He did not exist, nor will His existence ever cease.  Abraham at Beersheba “called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33).  Moses wrote, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2).  Who needs to create a God when One already exists?

One of the traits that people look for most in others is listening.  People like people who will hear them when they speak.  That same characteristic is one of Jehovah God’s greatest attributes.  “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).  Jehovah God is already listening and already cares (1 Peter 5:7)!

Too often we find ourselves reacting to situations.  All too frequently we are looking for solutions to problems that crop up from day to day.  Let’s face it: it is difficult to address problems that we don’t even know exist.  How many times through history has God been on top of things while man was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong?  For example, God heard the cries of the Israelites in Egypt and sent Moses as a deliver.  The biggest problem of all however is sin, and God has been working on that from the beginning (Genesis 3:15).  Isaiah prophesied of the deliverance that God would provide (Isaiah 9:1-2).  The whole scheme of redemption was a result of God’s action when man was still trying to figure out what the problem was (Romans 5:8).  How much more proactive could God be than to send His only begotten Son to die for us?

As you look at the Bible you come will come to realize that the names of God within the Scriptures are actually a collection of His attributes.  One of those names, however, stands out more than any other.  “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).  At this point we begin to realize that we did not name God: He did.  Because of that, His name is to be honored and revered (Psalm 111:9).  In the Ten Commandments God said, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).  Jehovah God already has a name and He cherishes it dearly.  It is not a name to be taken or used lightly.

You don’t have to worry about where to keep Jehovah God.  “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:23-24).  This characteristic of God is often called “omnipresence,” describing His ability to be not just anywhere at any time, but everywhere all the time.  We don’t have to worry about losing Jehovah God or having Him stolen away.  On the contrary our greatest concern should be going away from Him.  “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).

If you could build a god, would you build the one you already have?  Jehovah God cannot be replaced or surpassed.  He can, however, be ignored, misused, and blasphemed.  You will never be able to make a god whose love is greater, whose forgiveness is wider, or whose care is as deep.  Don’t try to improve on perfection!  Keep the God you have!

The day I almost quit preaching

I know it has been quite a while since I have blogged, but I have decided to get back into it.

This is the true story of the day I almost quit preaching.  I know it was on a Wednesday afternoon in July, but I can't tell you what year.  I think it was 2007, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, I had been to South Georgia Medical Center to visit one of our members.  This Christian lady was both, through and through: a Christian and quite a lady.  As a matter of fact, I don't think she ever knew this side of eternity just how much she meant to me.  I had spent about 2 hours that day in her hospital room just talking to her.  Even though she was in the hospital and was suffering from a variety of ailments, I left her room so encouraged.  We hadn't talked about anything special. She had not said or done anything special.  She was just being herself: a Christian lady.

As I left the hospital and was walking through the parking lot I was overwhelmed emotionally.  There I was, "the preacher."  I was supposed to be doing the encouraging, yet I was the one leaving encouraged and consoled.  I finally decided that the emotion I was experiencing was guilt.  The reason for the guilt was not that I had done anything wrong, quite the contrary.  All that I had done as "the preacher" was what I could have-would have-SHOULD have done as a Christian.  Why should I, "the preacher," be special, feel special, or be viewed any differently from any other Christian?  Half the members at Airport made (and make) hospital visits, send cards, bring food, and do any number of little things that no one ever sees.  Just who did I think I was?  I walked away that day with the realization that I did not have to be "the preacher" because I was not doing anything that I would not have been doing otherwise.

That day helped to emphasize to me that being a Christian is as much or more about the little things we do.  Being a Christian isn't about recognition, but it is about being recognized.  A true Christian is going to act like one just as much on Monday as they do on Sunday.  A true Christian is going to act like one whether they are the one in the hospital bed or they are the one sitting in the chair by the bed.  A true Christian isn't going to have to tell anyone with their mouth, because their actions are going to show it.

Well, obviously I didn't quit preaching.  But in this age of budgets, resumes, and committee meetings, I have come to change my "job description," at least in my mind.  I am not "the preacher," just honored to try to be a full-time Christian who happens to stand in the pulpit.