It is 
so easy for me to want to look down at people or even accuse people of things. We all I think have this trait inside us. We see people who maybe down on their luck and instantly want to make harsh judgements about how or why they are that way. Maybe you see someone in a store that has tattoos all over or piercings and we tend to drift away from that person because of some preconceived fear. How in the world can we get better at this? I didn’t say how do we get to where we won’t ever do that. We can begin to fix our tendencies when we begin to look at people as what they really are……. God’s creation in a fallen state of sin. You see the way we do that is we actually spend time looking in the mirror. When we realize that we are exactly the same as that homeless person or the gothic that was in the store our view of them will change. I am careful to say that we can begin to work on changing that behavior not rid ourselves of it forever. We all have a tendency to do the things we don’t want to. Jesus hung out with the people in his day that would be just like the ones we tend to quickly judge or stay away from. You see Jesus has the ability to see their hearts where we don’t have the same ability. For us it has to be that we realize that we are exactly the same as they are, and the difference in our lives now is the Grace of God. I want us all to know that we have a chance to watch people transformed from the inside out. You have a special gift that can be shared…….the gift of Jesus, the gift of Hope, the gift of Love. Let us all this day begin to look at people through the glasses of the Gospel and take the worldly glasses off.
I want to be like ………
I can remember growing up and hearing the phrase “Be Like Mike”. We all wanted to grow up to be like somebody. I remember adults asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I think they were trying to get ideas for themselves. Today my kids do the same thing. Some want to grow up and be a cop, others want to grow up and be like dad. Stop for a minute and think about what your dream was. Did you achieve it? Are you sure you missed it? You see God created us to be us, not somebody else. If God wanted more than one Mike, He could have created another one and then neither would be near as special. God says that He knew us in our mother’s womb, that He knit us together in the womb. Don’t you think that He could have done something else if He desired. As a pastor sometimes I get caught up in wanting to be like another pastor somewhere and then God reminds me that He called me because who knows me. Our desire to be like anyone should be to be like Jesus. Allow me to be frank, no really let me be straight here with you, just be you. It works for Popeye when he says “I am who I am and that is all that I am.”
It’s all my fault
It’s all my fault, is not a phrase that you expect to hear all the time. My three year old daughter will tell me this when she gets in trouble. Most of the time we hear people say it’s not my fault. They begin to blame everyone from parents, grandparents, teachers, preachers, even society in general. No body wants to accept the guilt for their own actions much less the actions of others. With society falling to pieces and the family falling right behind it, we need to start finding out who is really responsible for it. Well allow me to be the first to say I accept responsibility for what is going on in the United States. You might want to argue but allow me to continue before you turn me off. The world does exactly what it has been taught to do. They don’t know any better. We the church need to begin to take the responsibility that is ours to bare. You see we have the manual on how to live life amongst everyone. Nehemiah said it best when he was broken over the state of Jerusalem. We find these words is chapter one starting in verse six. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel which we have sinned against you. Even I and my fathers house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly again you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.(Nehemiah 1: 6-7 ESV) Did you see that. He said he sinned. Why because he didn’t do what was expected of him. We are expected to share Jesus with a lost and dying world. We should be going and making disciples. Will that fix everything that is wrong in our country? Probably not, but it sure would help. We have generations who have no clue who Jesus is. Why??? Because we the church, I as a pastor have sinned and not done what the Master has called me to do. You see it is my fault as well as yours.
Journeys are all different
I have been thinking about the journey we make to the saving knowledge of Christ. For some it is almost like they have always been saved. That is a nice thought, but not at all true. You see regardless of the amount of time you spent in the church house growing up doesn’t mean that you automatically got saved. It had to be a time in your life that you realized your lost condition and accept the payment Jesus paid for you. We don’t get saved by osmosis. Then for some of us we had a radical life changing experience. The difference in your life was noticeable to you as well as all the people around you. These transformations seem to get more glory as the story is told. We read about Paul and how he had the Damascus Road experience and it radically changed him. Those are awesome stories to hear. My point in this short post is to say that it doesn’t matter how your journey happened to Christ, the important thing is that it happened. For some it happens as a child, like for three of my boys, some not until adulthood sometime, like for myself, yet there are some that don’t make the completion of the journey until they are knocking on deaths door. However it happens doesn’t matter the important thing is that it happens. Don’t be like so many that think they have something because mom, dad, or grandma had it. Or because they walked the isle shook a preachers hand got dunked and then lived anyway the jolly well please. You see when you really get saved there is a change, you won’t want to do the same things that you have always done. You won’t want to live in a lifestyle of sin. So today before you get up from where you are make sure that Heaven is your home.
Not the way I would plan it
Well, my life has certainly not turned out to be anything I thought it would be. I used to always think that the perfect life would be two kids a good job and a suburban house. Working in some type of law enforcement position is what I thought I would do. Well none of that has ever been true of my life. I now have seven kids, yes I said seven and I don’t live in a suburba
n type house. I do however have the perfect job, not one might I add that I thought I would ever do. I am a pastor of a local new testament SBC church. You see I figured out one thing a long time ago, you have to play the cards your dealt, and you never know what the dealer is going to give you the next hand. The dealer is God mind you. You have to understand that God really does know what is best for you. Trust me I know how hard it is to be able to wait on God. We as humans want everything now and want what we think we need. My seventh child was born on Saturday. It seems like everything was going fine for the first few hours and then the dreaded news that Rainen would have to go to the NICU. Is this a blessing or something else that seems to be going wrong. You see we only have a Ford Expedition that seats eight people. He makes nine. I want to stress out and try and figure out something. Talking to my wife she says remember the many times God has provided. My friend called me earlier and shared the same thing with me. I would like to say to those who read this that God is always on time even if it is not our time. If we can trust Him for our salvation let us trust Him for our needs.
Fight Fight Fight
Our en
emy has decided to try and destroy the very framework of what God has established. We find parents and children at odds with each other. You now have the same sex marriages, and then you have the people who don’t even get married figuring it is less to have to deal with if things go bad. God created marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. People now days get to the point sometimes that they don’t even want to fight for once they believed they couldn’t live without. I am not saying that our children are not important. But your spouse has to be the second thing in your life. After all who is going to be around when the kids grown up. I can only imagine how hard it is to live in a blended family. You have people pushing and pulling from all sides. Please understand me when I say that if our enemy can destroy the marriage the home will also fall. You see kids tend to fall into the same cycle that their parents went through. Not all kids follow those steps but it does happen. People please hear my plea when I say that your marriage is worth fighting for. I have been down the road when I or my wife were prepared to walk and God put people around us that wouldn’t let that happen. If our marriages fail our houses will fall and then our society will crumble after that. It is time that we the people of God stand up and fight for our marriages and partner to fight for others.
Sin sent the Shooter
The world co
ntinues to have tragic things take place. I often hear why would your loving God allow things like this to happen. I would like to take a minute to talk about that in two different ways. First, God allows things to happen, He doesn’t cause them. Second, you and I are both free to make good choices just as we can make bad choices. Let’s tackle the first why would God allow tragic events to take place. This is going to be hard for all of us to stomach, but the Bible says that there is good to come out of everything Romans 8:28. You see God is sovereign and everything that takes place He knows about and will use to benefit those who love Him or draw people to his Son. I know that you are probably struggling with this right now. We have so called churches such as Westboro baptist saying that God sent the shooters to that nightclub in Orlando to kill those people. That is the furthest thing from the truth. You see why would a loving God want people to die in their sin and die and go to hell. Yes I said that. I can’t condemn people nor can I say what was in their heart toward Jesus. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:9 God sent His only Son that no one would perish and go to hell. If God wanted something done He could do it much like Sodom. You see so to say that God would send shooters to kill people in the craziest thing that I have heard. Maybe those of you saying that should sue your brain for non support. So let’s talk about the free will that you and I posses. You see it is due to the first that you have free will. Because God is sovereign that you are not some mindless robot. You get to decide good or bad. Yes each choice carries with it consequences and rewards. What I want you to realize is that if you were a mindless robot God would have never sent Jesus to show His love for you and I. Don’t get caught up with the small picture. People are prone to evil. We are born with that tendency. It is easier to do that then the right thing. It doesn’t help when we are filled with other people feelings or attitudes. To briefly talk about the shooter and who sent him. This man was filled with hate from a religion that is all about hatred. He was taught and entrenched with false doctrines and false beliefs. He was sincere in his thoughts no doubt that he was doing god a favor and the public too. After all one of his cults main leaders said that you are doing them a favor by killing them. Now we have a so called baptist church spreading the same hate doctrine. I am not saying that God is ok with this lifestyle, what I am saying is that God would have wasted His time in sending Jesus if He was just going to send shooters to kill people who are lost in their sins. Sin sent the shooter.
Here is the Real Truth
I have watched
the videos and see all the posts about the gorilla and the boy incident. We all know what we believe to be the facts and different opinions have formed. I came in this afternoon and my son was repeating how sad it was that the gorilla was shot. He said the four year old made his choice and that was that. Obviously he was repeating what was heard at school from the adults or children there. The whole situation is sad I agree. We have a boy who was curious and fell into a life threatening situation, a mom who will forever blame herself (although accidents happen) and zoo officials who no doubt made a hard call. The right call might I add. Let me say to all of those out there that are outraged over the shooting of the gorilla, Your not related to it get over it. Why don’t we get mad about the unborn babies, or the children that are abused in this country. There are over 150,000 abortions worldwide daily or if you can’t wrap your mind around that just the 3,000 abortions in America daily. There were 1,520 kids that died last year to child abuse, but I haven’t seen the protests over that. Instead we get mad over an animal and act like they shot your uncle. The Bible says in the Book of Genesis that you were formed in God’s image.(not a monkey or gorilla) I have heard it said that you might of had relatives hang from their necks but never one from their tale. When did we as a country begin to value an animal more than a human life (even an endangered one).Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7 ESV.
Tell your face your heart has Joy
2Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. James 1: 2-3 HCSB
You should tell your face that you have the Joy of the Lord in your heart. Does that statement make you wonder? It does me when I see people who say they are saved. As I interact with people on a daily basis I wonder if they have told their faces they are saved. You see our facial expressions tell a lot about our lives. Now I understand that you may not always be happy. Since happiness is based upon your surroundings and what is currently happening in your life. We all go through those stages. Joyfulness is based upon what is in your heart. When you are saved the Lord places His Joy in your heart. You see you have passed from death to life, so you are no longer a walking dead person, but now have life. The Bible goes on to tell us that we should consider trials of this life a matter of Joy, because it will increase our faith. I know all of this sounds impossible, but when if you are truly saved then you know I am right. You see we as children of God are strange people according to the Bible. People do not understand how we are to have this joy going through tough times of life. But when our face doesn’t show the joy in our hearts, then why in the world would a lost person want what we claim to have? So I suggest that either you send missionaries to your face and let it know that you have accepted the good news in your heart, or maybe you really need to accept the Good news.
Why won’t you tell somebody?????
There are several objections why we don’t share our Faith. They are as follows; there are many ways to God, I do not believe or have always believed in God, how can a loving God condemn someone to hell, and why does God allow evil and pain to take place? All of these raise valid concern in an unbelievers mind and I a will attempt to answer these with both practical answers and biblical references.
First let us address the comment there are many ways to God. I will often agree with this statement and then clarify what I mean. I will say there are many ways to God, because at some point everyone will stand before Him for judgment. But John 14:6 says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. In this verse we see that God is referred to, as Father and that will show the loving aspect of God. He has given us the chance to be one of His children through accepting the work of Christ on the cross. John 1:12-13 says But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. You see thinking there are many ways to God and Believing in the One true way to the Father are completely different things.
Second we will address whether or not you believe in God. Let us tackle when someone says I don’t believe in God. I sometimes will say you can stand out in the middle of the road and say I don’t believe in big trucks, but if one hits you that doesn’t change the fact that it really existed. Or if you say I don’t believe in gravity and jump out of a plane without a parachute, it won’t change the fact that you will be picked up in pieces will it. See God doesn’t exist because we believe in Him or not, He has always existed as shown in Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”* says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Next let us deal with the person who says I have always believed in God. Often times I say that is awesome so it should not be a stretch for you to believe in His son Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. I will even goes as far as giving them James 2:19-20 that says you say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. * Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Third let us talk about if you face the question how can a loving God condemn someone to hell? I will often times just say off the cuff the it is not God that condemns people to hell, we take care of that all by ourselves. Then I will share John 3:16-18 that says 16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
Fourth let us deal with the question of why does God allow evil and pain to take place? I will instantly say that is not Gods fault that evil or hurt takes place. I will often times try and take them all the way back to the garden and walk through what sin has done to the world. Therefore explaining that it is not really allowing bad things to happen, but sin causing bad things to happen. Make sense?
Now to attempt to provide some comfort and assurance to people who have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We have all heard the parable of the farmer and the seeds, just in case here is a small part to illustrate what could happen “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. I believe personally that after decisions to follow our sin nature automatically tries to make us believe that we really didn’t do what we thought. People will always doubt if you make Salvation out to be something it was not intended to be. I first want people to realize that Jesus simply says to follow Him first, He knows that you still have hang ups and your not perfect. He will change you from the inside out, just give Him time to work. I am also quick to share with them stories of the disciples Peter mostly and even Paul had struggles after he got saved. The most important thing I believe you can tell somebody is that Salvation is a one and done, you can’t lose it couldn’t give it back if you wanted to. Whom Jesus saves He seals and holds in His hands where nothing can ever remove you. You might have times that you need to check your salvation that is good that means the Holy Spirit is working in you to remove some impurities. Just stop and pray for guidance and trust in the finished work of the cross. If none of the above stuff seems to comfort them at all, I sometimes ask if they are sure they got saved or were they just following the crowd at the time. I then share my story of just following the crowd in third grade and show how dangerous that really is. People it is ok to pray with somebody again so that they know for sure they are saved. You would want somebody to do that for you.
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 