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“Behind every tragedy in human character is a process of wicked thinking.” No one topples suddenly from the pinnacle of gifted leadership. The seeds of disaster are sown little by little over days, weeks, months or years. Recently a well known minister who fell from grace said that the reason why he became deeply involved in sin was attributed to two elements: pride and self reliance. 1 Sam 12:26 “how are the mighty fallen.” So reads the epitaph engraved over many of the lives of a father, mother, preacher, or missionary. Too many of us know or have heard of such casualties. The fall of many great and gifted men and women should shock us out of our complacency and our secret tolerance of sin tucked away in our hearts. I Cor. 10:12 “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed least he fall.” It is unlikely that no other Bible character had as much going for him as did Saul. Attitudinally he was humble and thought of his father’s feelings. Spiritually he started out with the power of the Holy Spirit upon him. What went wrong? What caused this talented man to become a hopeless suicide? Saul’s disaster resulted from his failure to learn that (a) sin is serious. He treated sin causally. He made excuses for his sin. And he followed public opinion. He never really evidenced any genuine any sense of sorrow for his sin. (b) He never learned that spiritual decline is gradual. Falling away is never an overnight process. Backsliding doesn't start flagrantly. We need to remember the scriptural warnings, “behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (c) He never learned that integrity is essential. The Hebrew word for integrity means “innocence, uprightness, simplicity, perfection.” Saul did not possess such character traits. He was a double minded man. He started out serving God, but would up trying to use God to serve himself. 1 Sam. 28. (d) He never learned the lesson that obedience is paramount. An obedient servant acknowledges Christ’s lordship. “To obey Christ is better then to sacrifice.” Sacrifice is no substitute for obedience and is no bargaining tool with God. Obedience carries its own rewards, just as disobedience carries its own expensive price tag.

There are five priorities that every leader must understand: praying is more important then preaching, preaching is more important then administration, family is more important then ministry, faithfulness is more important then success, love is more important then ability.

Life is the classroom where you learn the imperative lessons. Are you listening to your teacher? How you listen results in either triumph of tragedy.

“A Life that Lost Its Focus” - Luke 12:13-23; Prov. 11:1

Recently on a flight from Washington to Alaska a man shared his salvation testimony. He explained how he sat in his very large home surrounded by everything his heart could desire. Then he realized his life was still empty and filled with meaninglessness. The next morning, still feeling empty, he drove his car to the nearest church he could find. It was by God’s appointment that the church was having a revival meeting and there he found Christ.

In our search for meaning to life we are easily drawn to the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Our life is totally out of focus and without meaning when it is without God. Meaninglessness does not come from the weariness of pain, but meaninglessness comes from the weariness of pleasure. When you has exhausted that last dream or tasted the greatest of pleasures, your like will still be without meaning when it is without God. We are bomb barded by pleasure from every direction telling us that we deserve a beak today. A wise man knows that even the greatest of pleasures has a shelf life. Unless your heart is regenerated you will never find the true meaning to life. You will attempt to fill you life with substitutes that will have eternal consequences when it is without God. You must keep God as the center focus of your life if it is to have any meaning. How you deal with the seduction of pleasure, the power of pride, and the desire to direct your own will and path in life, has everything to do with the difference you will make for eternity. In a rather fatalistic way, Eugene O’Neil in a Long Days Journey wrote: “None of us can help the things life has done to us. They are all done to us before we realize it. Once they are done, they make you do other things, until everything else is come between what you would like to be and you know what God wants you to do.” Finally you will have lost your true focus and purpose of life itself. There is a kind of an uncontrollable sovereignty to life. You can make your choices but you cannot choose your consequences. When our focus in life is without God, we are simply on a meaningless journey. The man in Luke 12 had so lost his focus in life that his possessions possessed him; his goals became his gods, and his desires finally destroyed him. Most people fail in catastrophic proportions not when they are in the valley of struggles, but when they are riding the crest of success. Success has destroyed more lives than failure ever has. Most of us know how to handle meager situations, but fail to handle glorious ones. If you stare at the halos of your success long enough you will eventually will turn it into a noose that you will begin to systematically tighten. We are all in danger as the man in this passage.

Keep God the focus of your life!! Anything less is idolatry. Fully submit yourself to God’s purpose for your life. Your greatest need is Spiritual, not Material. This man played the fools harp because he wanted to go his own way. God cries out: “Give Me Thine Heart!!” Does God have your heart? There is an eternal difference between a changed person and a regenerated person. There is an eternal difference between a moral person and a spiritual individual. There is an eternal difference between a person who knows what a moral law demands and a person who has a regenerated heart that will help him keep that moral law. God told Nichodemes, “Ye must be born again!” Until you have a regenerated heart, at best you will only deal with the symptoms of your problems, not the root of your problem – SIN!! Your life will always be out of focus and without meaning without God.

First Love

Rev. 2:1-5

The Church at Ephesus was full of good works. “I know thy works... vs. 2". It was neither hot nor cold. Does God know that you are in love with him by your works born out your first love for Him? No one goes very far for God when they have lost their first love for God. In many churches as well as many marriages, we still believe we love God, but it is not with our first love. Its gone!! One does not have to look very far to see that in our churches we have replaced expository preaching with pop psychology. We have replaced evangelism with entertainment. We have replaced old fashion Holy Ghost conviction with, “something good is going to happen to you.” We can sing, “Oh how I love Jesus,” but not with our first love. My Dad would often say, “Just because you can toot your horn does not mean there is gas in the tank. We are losing our first love for God in our churches and it is indicative with how we show our love for our mate. If you do not have a right relationship with your mate or parents, you probable do not have a right relationship with God as well. We often wonder why we do not power with God.. It may be that our love and comfort zone with the world

is in spiritual free fall. Are we getting to much like the world? God says Repent!!

What are the evidences that you are really in love with God. 1.) You will have an all consuming passion to think about the one you love. It is a selfless love that desires to do only that which pleases God. When I was in college I invited a young lady to our house for Christmas. My Dad observed me and said, “son you are in orbit.” If you start to fantasize about loving anyone more than God or your spouse you have already lost your first love. How you treat your mate is probable how your will treat God. Young person, if your will argue with your parents your will probable argue with God. Where your mind is on the inside is probable where you are on the outside. Too many people are up right on the outside, but are bent up on the inside. 62% of Christians under age 30 will divorce.

2.) You know that you are in love when you have an all consuming passion to be with the one you love. When was the last time you cried out, “Oh God I just want to be with you?” I have met elderly widows who have lost their spouse years ago, but are still so much in love that they talk to the walls as if their spouse was still there. You really never get over that first love. Before you will wreck your life you will have already begun to get over that first love for God.

3.) You are in love when you have an all consuming passion to give gifts to the one you love. When you loose your first love you will only give gifts and serve God out of duty. Doing something for God is 1000 billions more rewarding than doing something for yourself. Is your service for God in coast?

Thought: By your works, does God know that your are in love with him?

The end thereof

Prov.14:12

Many years ago former president Ronald Reagan made a statement on a Saturday radio addresses that: “America is a nation of thinkers and doers, but when we allow ourselves to watch to much televison we are turning ourselves from a nation of thinkers to a nation of responders.” Modern media, (TV, radio, internet, cell phones, computer games) has crippled our ability to have inductive thinking. Most modern media majors on seductive thinking and ignores the end thereof. Most modern thinking in the last sixty years since the advent of television has eliminated the end results thereof. As a people we are finding that our modern media is shaping our moral code of ethics. We are becoming a nation of responders to seductive media, not the spirit of God. Is it any wonder that in our lack of inductive thinking that we don’t know what to revere anymore or that we are gasping at materialism for our sense of value. The key element in making any wise decisions is the process of reasoning what the end result thereof will be. It is so important for us to understand where the seductive reasoning of modern media will lead you in the end thereof. Before taking a trip a man must consider the end thereof before starting a trip. The destination determines the route. The goal determines the plan. Our destination for eternity ought to determine our route we take in this life. God’s purpose for this life is for us to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. God knew the end before He knew the beginning. You must always consider the end thereof if things are going to turn out right. (Dt.32:29 “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.”) Before you choose any path of disobedience you should always consider the end consequences thereof. Like baking brownies, you better consider the ingredients that you are throwing into your life if you want your life to come out with full of purpose and happiness. I once tried to make some brownies, but somehow I put in two cups of water and one egg instead of two eggs and one cup of water. You must follow directions. There are people who don’t want to follow God’s plan and still expecting great results. There is always a heavy penalty for getting what you want outside of God’s will. There is always a heavy penalty for sin. The end thereof is never desirable. Contrary there is always great blessings when we follow God’s plan for our life. Psalm1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” God is always looking where you will end up before he allows anything to come into your life. Don’t allow yourself to become impatient with God’s timing. Stick to the purpose that God has planned for you. Always consider the end thereof before the beginning.

Thought: Seek the end purposes of God and your mind will not be seduced by modern media.

Duty, Honor, Country

Phil. 2:7

Several years ago I was give a copy of General Douglas MacArthur’s famous speech that he gave at West Point more than a half century ago entitled, “Duty, Honor, Country.” Those famous words have almost faded into meaninglessness today from the English language. About the only place we see those words is on a bumper sticker, “My son is on the honor roll at ____ elementary school.” What do those three words mean?

Duty is used by lexicographers to define one’s responsibility. In Gal.6:10 Paul wrote: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” It is our duty to treat other people with dignity and respect because they are created in the image of God. We are not to murder or hurt other people. Yet there are many of us who would not think twice to let harsh and hurtful words roll off our tongues. When we do this, we sin because we have violated the image of God in that person. It is our duty, especially for those who name the name of Christ, to have the highest standard of moral and ethical integrity no matter who it costs. We must be consistently be upright in heart to the moral and ethical principles of God. That is no simple duty when we consider that kind of ethical integrity can cost us our career or the loss of a friend. We can not just be idle and watch someone who is untruthful lead another along to a costly or hurtful ending. As an employee I can not tolerate dishonesty in the work place. As a parent I can not allow dishonesty in the heart of my child. We are God’s people and our duty is to have a standard of ethical integrity that will far surpass even the highest standards of normal human ethics.

Honor is defined by Webster’s dictionary as the synonym of the word integrity. Integrity is also defined as “uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles,” “a soundness of character,” Honor is also defined as “unimpaired in one’s character.” A man may be said to be an honorable man, that is he’s man who is unimpaired in character, or a person of principle that never compromises with respect to morals and ethics to get ahead for personal gain. People of honorable character can be trusted on the basis of what they say they will do. Such a man is rare today. We are living in a culture in America where lying has become the norm. Is it any wonder when TV shapes our moral codes that only 13% of Americans believe in the 10 commandments.

Country is our native land of our birth. I was not born an American, but because I chose to become an American I intend to perform my duty to my God to the highest standards of moral and ethical integrity; thereby, honoring my God and my country.

Thought: Always perform your duty to the highest honor for your God and Country.

“Integrity-the most basic level of your Soul”

Prov. 22:1

Recently someone called me to ask me a tax question. They had discovered that they had taken a large deduction for “their automobile” when in reality the automobile was really owned by the church and they only paid for the gas. Their immediate focus was on how much it was going to cost them if they filed their taxes again with the correct amount. My thought was, “is their integrity for sale?” At what price do people sell their integrity? For many the higher the financial cost the more likely they are going to sell out their integrity. In the book, The Day America told the Truth, some shocking statistics were revealed about integrity in America. 1.) “Americans have no goals of moral leadership.” 2.) We are making up our own moral codes. Only 13% believe in the 10 commandments. 3.) Our government institutions are fast losing all moral respect. 4.) Lying has become the norm in our culture. 5.) The number one cause our business declines is low ethics by business executives. 6.) 68% do not believe we have any nationally moral hero’s.

There is much pain in our culture because we have refused to allow integrity, the most basic level of our soul, to reign in our lives. The answer for many seems to be in political correctness, not the moral laws of God. With a current approval rating of the US Congress at 10% it seems that the very institutions that we have the least faith in has now become our hope for a moral compass. The distinction between politician and statesman was brought to light when former President Reagan said the difference between a politician and a statesman is, “A politician is a person who looks to the next election, while a statesman is a person who looks to the next generation.” There is a kind of cynicism that politicians are people who will compromise virtue or compromise principle in order to be elected or stay in office. The same can be said about many Christians who have sacrificed principle on the alter of the immediate. Like the false prophets in the Old Testament, in many churches across America we have replaced expository preaching with pop psychology. We have replaced evangelism with entertainment and we have replaced old fashion Holy Ghost conviction with “something good is going to happen to you today.” Is it any surprise that we do not know what to revere anymore and that we are grasping at materialism to make us happy.

As a Christian we are called to be person of principle. We are to be uncompromising with respect to ethics. The moral standards of a Christian should surpass the highest of ethics. The Christian is called to be a person whose honor and word can be trusted. We are to reflect the character of God.

Thought: “Is your honor and integrity for sale?”

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