Hurricane!

It is never a dull moment when you live near the coast of North Carolina. I have lived through several hurricanes in my time. I can remember when Hugo hit when I was a child. I can even better remember Bertha and Fran two weeks apart, Bonnie the next year and Floyd two years later. So when we learned that Irene was on the way, it was just another storm. One of the observations that I made with this latest hurricane, is the number of people in the area that seemed to be so frightened by the thought of a hurricane hitting the coast. People felt that there was emminant danger ahead and feared for the worst. Now don't get me wrong, a hurricane is a serious affair, and not to be triffled with. But, it seems that all of the people that I noticed this way, have not had much experience with hurricanes. Either it be that they have not been a resident for long, or they are just too young to remember some of the storms in the past. This got me to thinking about Paul being shipwrecked on his way to Rome, and all that he went through for his faith. In a letter to the church at Corinth, he summed up what he had gone through.

2 Corinthians 11:23-29
"Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?"

Paul had gone through more than any other apostle. Yet he still continued. He took it in his stride. You see, the more we are exposed to the storms of this life, and persevere through them, the stronger we become. The less the storms have an affect on us. One of my favorite verses sums this up.

Romans 5:3-5
"And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."


We face these battles daily over our faith. When these storms do come, we need to keep our eyes on God. He knows what is going on. He understands everything that is happening to us better than we do. By keeping our faith and trust in the Lord, we will survive these storms, and become strengthen by them. If Paul can do it, so can we. So I encourage you today, if you are going through a trial, if the storm seems too great to overcome, turn to God and put your faith in Him. And He will see you through.

Thanks, and God bless you all this week!

Stand for what is right

In this day and time it seems harder and harder to find people that are truly devoted to God. Now many people will jump on the bandwagon of saying that they believe in God, but there is nothing in their life to give supporting evidence. Luke 6:46 "Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" James 2:26 "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." Some of the people you ask will say that it does not matter if you believe or not. It just matters that you are a good person. Some that we come in to contact with have a hatred for anything to do with God. It seems like they are always willing to pick a fight. Then, you have the many different religions in the world that all teach different things. So, which is right? Are we willing to stand up for what we believe against all odds? How strong is our faith in the fact that God is there and that He will do all that He has promised us? We need to be willing to stand alone on what we believe. No matter what people may say to us, do to us, or think of us. A perfect example of this is Elijah of the old testament. In 1 Kings chapter 18 we see that Elijah was willing to stand alone on the promises of God against 450 other men who believed in Baal. He offered a test to prove who the real God was. Many of us have heard the story, and I encourage you all to go and read it again. Because the message is so clear. Elijah did not go to prove who he was, but who God was. He was willing to stand alone on what he believed. And God answered his prayer. Are we standing in the face of adversity? Are we prepared to defend the Gospel, even if no one else is there to support us? Or do we tuck it in and wait for someone to go with us? 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." If we are truly His, we will witness. We will defend the Gospel. We will stand up for what is right, whether we are with others who share our belief, or we are alone.

Thanks and God Bless You all this week!

Constants

I love being a teacher. I love the opportunity to have a part in helping young people to figure out what they want to do with their lives, and to be a positive influence for them. In my science classes we have to learn about constants. Constants are things in an experiment that do not change. Something that we can control in order to measure whatever it is that we want to figure out. They can be things like temperature, the amount of light, and pH. By having a constant in an experiment, the data that is collected is more accurate. Meaning, the facts that we learn have more accuracy and are more reliable. This makes me think about Christ. Christ is a constant in our lives. He never changes. And because He never changes, we can rely on and have more faith in Him than anything else. Sadly, there is a growing movement that believe that the bible and Christ change with the times. They believe that the scripture has a different meaning today than it did when it was actually written. As far as I am concerned this is a falacy. The Word does not change. No where in the bible can you find a verse that explains that scripture will have a different meaning for other people in different times. It was not meant to. If you think about the scriptures themselves, they were written over thousands of years, by all sorts of people with different backgrounds. There where shepards, kings, fishermen, doctors, tentmakers, travellers, and taxcollectors that all had a part in producing the God inspired teachings that is our bible. Over all of that time, the bible remains perfectly cohesive with no contridictions. How could this be possible if it were meant to change over time. When Christ died, He died for all of our sins; past, present, and future. Christ was there in the beginning. Christ will return in the end. And how He judges who will be raptured with Him before the tribulation, and how He judges who will enter His kingdom afterwards will be based on the Word. We learn that Chirst and the Word are the same. John chapter 1 verse 1reads "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And verse 14 in the same chapter reads "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." We must look at the bible as a constant. It does not change. By doing this, we ensure that how we are measured is accurate. We will ensure that our final result is approved and acceptable by our God. Just think, if He were not a constant, how would we know if what we were doing was going to provide good results. I honestly believe that the teaching that the meaning of scripture must change with the times is spoken of in 2 Timothy Chapter 4 verses 1-4. "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Be wary of those who try to make the bible fit their desires, not their desires to fit what the bible teaches. My hope is that by using the right constant, I can recieve a passing grade and enter the Kingdom with Him.

Thanks, and God Bless You all this week!