Ask An Expert

Experience can be a wonderful instructor provided a man is willing to learn from his mistakes. You should have a pretty good guess, after their experiences with disobedience, how the following would encourage you to live obediently: 

  • Adam
  • Abraham
  • Lot
  • Saul
  • Moses
  • Dathan, Abiram, and their families
  • Achan and his family
  • Samson
  • Saul
  • Jonah
  • The million men (approx.) who died in the desert on their way to the Promised Land

Obedience is far more than just avoiding consequences. Obedience to the Lord and His Word is where freedom is. “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalms 119:45). 

Walking with the Lord obediently, with the desire to please Him, is where sweetness of fellowship with Christ is. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalms 16:11).

Posted in: General

Not Motivated?

For followers of Jesus, the question is: Who will we obey—self or the Lord? “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14).

Do we always feel like obeying the Lord? If we don’t feel like it, does that mean we shouldn’t obey? Consider this. What if your child doesn’t want to obey you? You would love for him to have a cheerful desire to obey, but wouldn’t you still want him to obey even if his heart isn’t in it? Scripture shows us the Lord requires obedience regardless of how a person feels about it. The command is to obey. Interesting how when we obey, over time, the will follows. 

Isn’t it hypocritical to do something that we don’t agree with (John 12:43)? If we do something because God’s Word says to do it, we can never go wrong if we are seeking to please God. 

Whatever it is, obey the Spirit: 
– Read your Bible and pray when you first get up every day (1 Peter 2:2, Psalm 5:3)
– Have family Bible time each day (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
– Be kind and loving (Ephesians 4:32, 5:25)
– Attend and be involved with your church (Heb. 10:25)

Harmless or Fun?

We do our children serious harm when we accept things of Satan’s realm. All parents will flee from someone who seeks to do their children harm. Considering that Satan wants you and your children to spend eternity in hell, shouldn’t you put as much “distance” as possible between his influence and the hearts of your children? We are once again nearing his high holy day. As such we would expect born again Christians to flee anything having to do with Halloween.

I know/have known well-meaning believers who either see nothing wrong with some degree of participation in Halloween or want to redeem the time as an outreach. If you are one of those, I would plead with you to reconsider. Some things simply aren’t redeemable.

  • Psalm 97:10 “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil.”
  • Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world.”
  • Romans 12:9b “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”
  • Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

If we parents don’t abhor Halloween as evil, don’t be surprised to watch your children over time embrace other things that God hates. Parents, do you love your children’s souls?

Posted in: General

Halloween

As this time of year rolls around and evil is exalted in every neighborhood, it brings back memories of the journey the Lord has led Steve and I on concerning Halloween. I thought it might be appropriate to tell you this story. Hopefully, it will encourage those of you facing decisions in this area, and bless those who have already made them.

As young parents, we wanted our children to enjoy the same positive Halloween experiences and memories that we treasured from my past. However, since accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior toward the end of our college days, some doubts crept into our minds as we viewed Halloween decorations with a new perspective. We discounted those doubts, though, being sure we could keep our children dressed appropriately and apply our own values to this particular night.

The first Halloween our little ones were of an age to trick-or-treat (back in the early 1980s) I had made them very cute costumes. Out we trooped on Halloween night to the “safe” close neighbors, determined to make memories as we went. It wasn’t long until I had one child in my arms and two more clinging to my leg begging to return home. The lure of free candy did not overpower the fear in their hearts as they looked at the other trick-or-treaters.

Steve and I began to wonder if childhood Halloween memories were worth what was beginning, in our hearts, to feel like compromise. What kind of memories were we building anyway? The Lord used the children’s fears, as well as much discussion and prayer between Steve and me, to convict us. We decided that it wasn’t right for our children to be out trick-or-treating–participating in a “holiday” that focuses on evil. Verses such as the following would stand out to us as we were praying about this decision. Romans 12:9, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Romans 16:19, “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

Once we made the “no trick-or-treating” decision, we still had to deal with children who would come to the door on Halloween. Surely, this would be an opportunity to witness to them by handing out tracts along with the candy. We could involve our children in choosing tracts. Plus, we would still be building warm, childhood memories by letting them hand out the goodies and tracts.

Halloween once again rolled around. The doorbell rang. Excitedly, I asked our oldest son (who was six years old at the time) if he would like to open the door and give the children outside each a piece of candy and a tract. After opening the door, he quickly handed the container back to me and ran to his Daddy. It didn’t take long to figure out why. The “characters” facing me were frightful looking at best.

Perhaps the Lord is taking you along a similar path concerning Halloween as He has our family. I want to encourage you not to feel strange or alone if you decide to spend that night in your house making it look from the outside like no one is at home. Stand firm on being separate from the world’s pursuit of glorifying wickedness and don’t bow down to the evil of Halloween. Take that time to spend together as a family, praising and worshipping your holy, righteous, almighty God.

No Sacrifice But Blessing

This week continues on the subject of a believer using alcohol. Here is what brought me to a no alcohol decision. The Old Testament priests were not to have any strong drink or wine before entering the tabernacle. “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean” (Lev 10:8-11). 

What a beautiful picture this gives us that God’s servants were not to partake when coming into His presence and that not having alcohol was important in good judgement. Likely, there could be more that isn’t overtly clear from the passage. If the Lord said it wasn’t for His priests, I wanted to learn from that admonition, since we, as believers, are a holy priesthood. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). 

My Lord gave His life on the cross to purchase me. It is no sacrifice to give up alcohol and follow Him.