Eph. 5:6

Eph. 5:6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible anger of God comes upon all those who disobey him.

There is absolutely no excuse for sin.  There never has been and never will be justifiable reasons to sin.  All sin is an abomination to God.  He hates it and will judge all who live in it.  We live in a day in which sin is not looked upon as that big of a deal.  So often, we gloss over it and give it very little thought.  We seldom seek forgiveness because we justify ourselves in our own eyes.  This is especially true of those of us who live in grace.  We have convinced ourselves that since our sins are forgiven we no longer have a need to seek forgiveness when we sin against God.

I believe we have taken way too much liberty in this area.  I believe that we should be concerned about our sins.  We should have humble and repentant hearts before God.  God is holy and we should respect him as holy.  We should never get to the point where we do not see ourselves in need of cleansing and forgiveness.

It shows great disrespect for the holiness of God when we get careless about sin.  Jesus died because of sin.  He died to make us holy before God.  How can we say that His death on the cross is meaningful to us when we act as if it doesn’t matter?  We are all guilty of sinning against God.  We will struggle with sin until we get to heaven.  We will win and lose some battles.  No one can escape the need for repentance.  Our attitude should always be that of a needy soul before God.  We need Christ to purify our hearts.  We need to have genuine sorrow over sin.  We need to confess our sins to Him.  And when we do, He is faithful and just and will forgive us for ALL our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

Eph. 5:1-3

Eph. 5:1-3 Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

In a perfect world, children follow the example set before them by their father.  They do it because of their love and respect for him.  Their father lives a life worthy to be followed.  Their father daily shows his love for them by his protection of them and providing for their needs.  He interacts with them.  He gives his children no cause to doubt his faithfulness and dependability.

Unfortunately we live in sin and our fathers are not ideal.  Some are good men and some are bad.  All are imperfect and do and say things that are not to be imitated.  A good father will treat his children in a loving way and is humble enough to ask for forgiveness when he messes up.  There are many things children can emulate in a good father’s life, and some things they need to ignore or improve on in their own lives.

God is our perfect father.  There is nothing about God that we should not emulate.  He is our perfect example and we should always strive to be like him in love and character.  We should treat others the same way the Lord treats us in love.  He gave his all for us.  He gave us dignity and honor by considering us worthy to die for.  He stays with us through all the ups and downs of our lives and never abandons us when we act in an unlovely way towards him. 

When we love each other in the way Christ loves us, God is well-pleased with us.  Our lives become a sweet aroma before Him.  Are you a sweet aroma before God or, do you stink up the place?

I have been asked to participate in a blog tour with other Christian authors.  I must confess that I have failed miserably in holding up my end of the deal.  I apologize to my fellow authors for my failure.  I have been given some questions to address on this blog and then I have been asked to list the links to the blogs of other authors.  What I am doing instead is to list the links to a couple of authors that I have and to mention a few of the authors I am familar with.  I have been so blessed to get to know these and other authors and their works on a couple of sites I am on on facebook.  There are so many outstanding authors that I have become acquainted with over the past three years and their contributions to my ministry is invaluable.  I would encourage you to check out their works and get to know them as much as you can.  Facebook has many pages that are frequented often by great Christian authors that you probably have never heard of.  Good Christian books are still the best bang for your bucks.  Support Christian authors as much as you can for they are writing to honor Christ.

 

http://amygatliff.tateauthor.com/blog/

http://nansjourney.blogspot.com
http://darleneshortridge.blogspot.com/
Lynn Baber
Dolores Ayotte
Linda Robinson
Craig Gleerup
Janie Wilkins
Frances Copeland Lucas
Candy Little
Joy Bowser
Cindy Hansen
Lisa Tortorella
Laurence Stoll
etc.

 Questions:

What is the working title of your book?

         C Through Marriage

 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

           I really sensed the Lord’s hand in what I wrote.  It flowed from my desire to offer others some of the life lessons I have learned from my pastoral and life experiences.

What genre does your book fall under?

           Christian non-fiction.  It is practical advice on how to maintain a healthy, godly marriage.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

            None. My book is not adaptable to a movie format, and even if it was, marriage is far too complex of a subject to be accurately portrayed on screen.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

             There is room for improvement in any marriage but it will take a commitment to work at it.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

              It is published by a traditional publisher.  If there will be future books on the market, I will explore additional options.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

              When the writing process began it probably was completed over a span of maybe 5 months total.  I wrote in my spare time while working full-time.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

               There is no book out there that I know of that is quite like C Through Marriage.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

                Without any hesitation, the Lord brought this book into reality.  My wife has played such an integral part of bring it to life as well.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

               I offer 48 different subject matters all beginning with the letter “C” that every godly couple will deal with at some juncture in their marriage.  It is practical advice that can be used by any couple to help strengthen their marriage. 

 

Looking at the new year.

Each year at this time we are challenged to right the course of our lives.  Anyone who takes an honest inventory of his life knows that he/she has not lived a perfect life.  We see ourselves in a negative light in many ways, and rightly so.  It is only as we are honest about ourselves that we can make changes to improve ourselves. 

 

The frustration we often we run into is that most of our good intentions do not make it very far in the new year.  We try to be better and do better, but we fall victims to our weaknesses and often fail.  Resolutions are good, but they are not much good if they don’t stick and we revert back to our old ways.

 

One of the passages of Scripture that always encourages me as I take an inventory of how I am doing in my life is Philippians 3:7-14.  In this passage we are reminded that we need to let go of the past and pursue our future will great zeal and energy.  There is no value in reliving the past and bemoaning the fact that we are not perfect.  It is good for us to learn from past mistakes so that we don’t repeat them, but when we linger in the past, we keep ourselves from moving forward. 

 

Our future is brighter and will be better than our past only if we passionately pursue Christ and let him help us to change.  We don’t have the willpower or ability to make necessary changes in our lives without Him.  There is nothing we can’t do when Christ is in control.  If there is but one resolution that you make that you need to make stick, it is to let Jesus be your Lord.  Seek the Lord passionately, love him passionately, learn from him passionately and serve him passionately and you will have a great new year.

Why do I write?

Sometimes I have to pause and reflect on what I am doing and why I am doing it.  I find myself getting frustrated by the slowness of sales of my book and I have to ask myself, “Why?”.  Am I trying to market my book for personal gain or for the good that I believe it can do in people’s lives?  I strive to do what I do for the good that it may do, but if I am focused on the amount of books that are being sold, have I gotten off track?  Perhaps to some extent I have.

 

I am first and foremost a servant of Christ.  I seek to honor Him in all I do.  I write for the good that it may do.  I really don’t have a drive to sell a lot of books just for the sake of selling them.  The recognition from selling a “successful” book is not something I care about.  I don’t crave wealth from being a successful author.  If many books sell, then it means to me that potentially many people are being helped by the things I write about.

 

I have many things that I am hoping to get into the marketplace for people to read that I think will be helpful to those who read them.  If the Lord allows me to, I will strive to get them out there.  For me, my life has purpose in the good I do for Christ.  Writing for now has become my pulpit.  I will continue to write to make known the things the Lord has taught me and I will strive to not let the sales of what I write concern me.  It is enough to obediently do what the Lord has laid on my heart to do.  It is in His hands what he wants to do with it.  It is my prayer that He will be pleased with my efforts to honor him.

THE WISE MEN OF CHRISTMAS

 

WISE MEN LOOK FOR JESUS  1,2

A.       Look in the Scriptures and you will find Him.  Luke 24:25-32

B.      Look in the heavens and you will find Him.  Ps. 19:1-6; John 1:3; Col. 1:16

C.      Look at the cross and you will find Him. 

1.       Consider Isaiah’s prophecy  Is. 53

2.       Consider Matthew’s declaration.  Matt. 27:32-56

D.      Look at the redeemed and you will find Him.

 

WISE MEN OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN  3-9, 12

A.       Being in the presence of God troubles man.  3-6

1.        God causes us to see ourselves as we really are—sinners in need of a Savior.

2.       God causes us to realize we are responsible for our sins. 

3.       God causes us to admit we will answer to him for our sins. 

B.       Being in the presence of God transforms our thinking.  7-9, 12  (Ps. 46:10)

1.        It matters not who we think we are (wise men or otherwise).

2.       It matters not what our agenda may be.

3.       It matters not what others may think. 

4.        

WISE MEN WORSHIP JESUS  10,11

A.       We are humbled when we recognize we are in the presence of God. 

B.      We are moved to offer him our best when we are in the presence of God.

C.      We are moved to praise him when we are in the presence of God.

D.      We are awestruck when we are in the presence of God.  Wow!!!  God!!!

1.        God, you are awesome in your holiness.

2.        God, you are awesome in your glory.

3.        God, you are awesome in your majesty.

 

Wise are those who bow before Christ and worship him all the days of their lives.

What Christmas is not to me

The Christmas season means different thing to us.  I just want to share a few things that Christmas is not for me.

 

1.       It is not a time to pretend to be care about Jesus’ birth when you really don’t.

2.       It is not a time to party with people who are not your friends in order to make an impression on them.

3.       It is not a time to pretend to be happy and joyful, either you are or you’re not.

4.       It is not a time to proclaim to celebrate the birth of a Savior you don’t believe in or live for.

5.       It is not a time to persuade people to go into debt buying stuff they can’t afford for someone they love.

6.       It is not a time to ponder on the monetary value of gifts received instead of the love of the giver of the gift.

7.       It is not a time to pass on the opportunity to really get to know the Savior whose birth we celebrate.

8.       It is not a time to promote selfish interests over the interests of others.

9.       It is not a time to pretend that many people are suffering greatly over the Christmas season.

10.   It is not a time to pass on the opportunity you may have to reach out to someone in need.

11.   It is not a time to pass judgment on those who have no real reason to celebrate Christmas.

12.   It is not a time to ponder lightly the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth.

13.   It is not a time to pass on the opportunity to be reconciled with those you need to forgive or be forgiven by.

14.   It is not a time to proclaim peace on the earth when you have no peace in your heart.