Some of the Best Things in Life Are Free

If you spend one cent on some things, you spent a penny too much.

One young guy spent months in college, but he didn’t get it. Nothing seemed to be soaking in. Finally, he dropped his parents the following note. “I’m flunking. I have discovered that I have a klinker in my thinker.” That note alone would make it clear that he had not mastered English and spelling, but I think I know what he meant by the word klinker. It is not in the dictionary, but it has been active in my mind many times.

I’m not a qualified psychologist, but I am quiet sure that many American’s are suffering from “a klinker in their thinker”. They might know little about quarterbacks or kickbacks or rollbacks but they are specialist in greenbacks.

Their motto is: you pay for what you get, and there are no free lunches in this world. Grace is a foreign language that they do not speak or understand. You earn what you get. Renata's grandfather was that way. He was never wealthy in worldly goods, but he had a strong conviction that nothing was free. It was natural for him to reach that conclusion. His mother and father died before he was 12, and he went to work in the fields for 50 cents a day to eek out enough money to live on. Nothing was free not even forgiveness of sin from his natural logic.

He lived 75 years of his life being unable to accept the fact that the grace of God was free to him. Jesus paid it all, and there was nothing that he could do to earn it. It was a gift of God. It was not until he was 75 that he could believe and accept the fact that some of the best things in life are free, and he became a child of God’s grace.

Settle it once and for all. Money is not the panacea to fix all, cure all and solve all of life’s problems. You may not love money but just lean on it rather than to lean on God. The Bible addresses this ever present problem in I Timothy 6:17. “Be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy…”

I found it exhilarating to re-discover some of the priceless things in life that are actually ours for free. Take a look for yourself.

Money can not buy peace of mind.

Your peace of mind was important to Jesus. He promised it as a part of His legacy. (John 14:27) He prayed that you might have it (John 17:11-12), and He personally paid for it (Ephesians 2:14-18).

You can buy pills and palaces and pilgrimages, but you can’t buy peace. It is a gift of God that comes special delivery to those who ask. This peace is not the absence of disturbing circumstances. It is rather the assurance of God’s presence. Money can not buy it and nothing can take it away.

Money can not buy behavior modification.

If behavior modification was determined by the amount of money a person possesses, only the wealthy would have a chance. But it’s not. Money has nothing to do with it. The Bible says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things pass away and behold all things are new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)

No amount of money can make a sot a saint, a hussy holy, and an exhibitionist an endearment to society. Behavior modification takes place through Christ not cash and it can take place now regardless of how much money you have in your pocket. You can change. Nothing can stop you once you make the decision. God will meet you more than half way.

Money can not buy cohesiveness in the family.

God said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall CLEAVE unto his wife…” (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 9:5) The word cleave comes from the Greek word “kollao” which means to join fast together, to glue or cement.

It’s God’s super glue which holds marriages together and the bold cohesive to avoid splits. We need some CLEAVE power to survive the squeeze power of marriage and family disruption, and it is free at God’s Home Improvement Center.

This reliable glue comes in a package called LOVE, and it looks like this. It is
• Slow to suspect----quick to trust
• Slow to condemn---quick to justify
• Slow to offend---quick to defend
• Slow to expose---quick to shield
• Slow to reprimand---quick to forebear
• Slow to belittle---quick to appreciate
• Slow to demand---quick to give
• Slow to provoke --- quick to conciliate
• Slow to hinder --- quick to help
• Slow to resent---quick to forgive.

You can’t buy it, but it is a free gift of God to all who will receive it.

Money can not buy hope beyond the grave.

No one likes to talk about death, the grave and the here after, but it is an absolute reality that every one of us is going to face. The Bible puts it like this. “It is appointed unto men once to die…” (Hebrews 9:27) I can’t avoid the appointment, but I can avoid being hopeless when that hour comes.

Hope is the free gift of God that we receive when we trust totally in Him. You can have that gift today if you will:

• Face up to your failures (sins). Admit your wrongs to the Heavenly Father.
• Repent of your sins and ask God for forgiveness.
• Express personal faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as the atonement for your sins.
• Entrust your future and eternity into the hands of God which includes hope beyond the grave.
  
• It’s free. Do it now. Jesus has already paid for the debt of sin in full.

Living Free

Pastor Jimmy & Bob

Is Anything Too Hard For God?

Two handed set shots was the way basketball was supposed to be played, and everybody knew that except Hank Luisetti who played basketball for Stanford University back during the days of the Great depression. For some unknown reason, he broke the mold and starting shooting with one hand and it became so successful that it changed the whole game of basketball. Now almost everybody shoots that way. Stanford was scheduled to play Long Island University to a packed out crowd in Madison Garden when Luisetti’s reputation was spreading across the continent, but no one expected the Stanford team to be much more than a good practice for the champs. Clair Bee was so confident that Long Island University would win the game that he blurted out his prediction in these words. “No one is going to beat us one-handed.” Luisetti and the Stanford team took the floor and walked off a couple of hours later with a 45-31 victory. Luisetti ended up scoring 15 points. In a post game interview, the coach of the Long Island University bemoaned, “I hate to think how badly they’d have beaten us if he’d used both hands.” I admit that this is a stretch of my imagination, but I am wondering if the Psalmist had the same sentiment in his mind when he wrote these words in Psalms 98:1. “Sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: HIS RIGHT HAND and his holy arm, has gotten him the victory.” Perhaps I could add a post script by asking, “I wonder what would have happened if He had used both hands?” The fact is: Jesus lived under a self imposed limit on the exercise of His power while living on this earth. On Calvary’s Road with beard plucked and suffering indignities and injustices without number, Jesus reminded the infuriated lynching mob that he could call more than 12 legions of angels to show up and make a quick end to this massacre that was taking place, but He didn’t. 12 legions of angels represents between 48,000 and 72,000 angels, but that is only a fraction of the angelic population of heaven. Revelation 5:11 calculated that number by calling them 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. In the cemetery where Lazarus had been buried, He specifically called the name of Lazarus to walk out of his grave or the entire population of that grave yard would have been vacated at the command of our Lord. But don’t forget that the day is coming WHEN ALL in their graves will hear his voice and come forth. He lived His life down here under a self imposed limitation. He healed only 1 crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, but I wonder what would have happened if He had used both hands so to speak. In one sense of the word, He tied one hand behind His back waiting for the day when He will use both hands and ALL of His resources to Demonstrate His ultimate power Liberate saints of all ages from the sting of death Mitigate the release of prisoners from the penalty of sin Separate the justified from the lost Allocate rewards for the redeemed Relocate the ransomed from this world to their home in the skies Recuperate everything that man lost in the fall and restore it to the rightful owners. Obliterate sickness and disease eternally Incarcerate the devil and his legions forever Coronate Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords~ His ultimate purpose for us will be made crystal clear when He turns our weakness into strength, turns our obstacles into stepping stones and our disasters into triumph. Nothing is too hard for Him to do. No ·Person is too hard for Him to save ·Sickness is too hard for Him to heal ·Problem is too hard for Him to solve ·Depraved cavity in the human heart is too hard for Him to fill ·Habit is too hard for Him to break ·Sin is too hard for Him to forgive ·Past is too vile for Him to forget. Nothing is too hard for Him to do. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and will not change. In fact the Bible declares, “Ah Lord God! Behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you…” (Jeremiah 32:17) Nothing is too difficult for God because … He creates. (to cause to come into existence) God in work clothes. That’s the first picture that we see of God, and you will find it in Genesis 1:1. It’s the primary, first instance of an introduction to God, and it reads like this. “In the beginning God CREATED the heaven and the earth.” The theme of God being Creator continues in the New Testament. “For by Him were all things CREATED, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…all things were CREATED by Him.” If He is Creator, then nothing is too hard for Him to do because He can make something out of nothing. You may be fretting because you have little to bring Him to work with, but He is Creator and can take that nothing and make something monumental out of it. He controls. (to exercise authority over) One big issue that most of us face at some point in our lives is that unnerving issue of seeing so many things in our lives spinning out of control. We get one situation under control but three break loose in its place. It’s a conspiracy to make life miserable, and you can’t change it or you would have already done it; but nothing is too hard for God to do because He is always in control. Nahum recognizes how completely God controls things with no exceptions. In chapter 1 and verse 3, he declares, “The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm…” GOD HAS HIS WAY. He is in control regardless of the circumstance, and you can be sure that there is nothing too hard for Him. He continues. (to last or endure; to go on in a specific course of action) The Bible records it like this. “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6) The world can disdain Him, disclaim Him and try to defame Him but they can not displace Him. He is the Ageless, Sinless and changeless God. As He was so He is and will ever be. Until we · Know that His omnipotence is overthrown, let us worship Him. · Hear that His almightiness is abolished, let us revere Him. · Find that His unchangeableness is undermined, let us trust Him. · Discern that His dominion is declining, let us depend on Him. He is ever the same, ever near, ever ready and willing to convince us that nothing is too hard for Him to do. My prayer for you is that you will find victory in every area of your life. Serving A Powerful God, Pastor Jimmy & Bob

Keepers Of The Flame

The lighting of the torch is an Olympic tradition that signals the beginning of this fantastic athletic phenomenon. The pageantry actually begins months before it unfolds before the eyes of the world. The Olympic torch for this years games was ignited on Mount Olympus, Greece on March 24, 2007 and has since been carried, driven and flown around the world without once being extinguished. According to tradition, the flame must never die until the giant Olympic cauldron is lighted in Beijing.

The torch is 29 inches tall and weighs 2.2 pounds and is fed constantly, day and night, by propane cartridges and can withstand winds of up to 40 miles per hour and will not be put out by the downpour of rain. After this around the world journey, the torch is scheduled to arrive in China on May 3, 2008 3 months before the opening ceremony in Beijing.

Although they will have little recognition and will not have a gold metal hung around their necks, they will forever be known as the KEEPERS OF THE FLAME. The Bible declares, “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” (Leviticus 6:13). It was their job, like the priest who kept the fire burning on the ancient altars, to make certain that the fire never went out!

It is the fire, the passion, the enthusiasm that is the propelling force necessary for climbing the ladder of success. It is the opposite of indifference and complacency.

Walt Frazier, a teammate of basketball Hall-of-Famer Willis Reed, who was captain of the champion New York Knicks teams of the early seventies, had this to say about Reed. “No one ever out hustled Willis---at practice, during a game, or even at a kids’ clinic. What did it for him was desire. As a player and a man, he was always on fire.”

Jeremiah had no better way to describe it than to say, “(He) had fire shut up in his bones…” (Jeremiah 20:9)

Paul urged Timothy to “stir up the gift of God, which is in you…” (II Timothy 1:6)

Get it ablaze again. Throw another log on the fire. Be a keeper of the flame. The fire must not go out.

1. We must be keepers of the flame in marriage.

Marriage was intended to be a play house not an ice house. God intended it to be witty, at times a little whacky but always wonderful.

The existence of divorce is a grim reminder that someone did not assume the role of being a keeper of the flame. We take on other roles and neglect this one. We become house keepers, ground keepers, job keepers, kid keepers, schedule keepers, maintenance keepers, book keepers and record keepers but refuse to accept the role of flame keeper in marriage. When the flame goes out, a person usually follows. No flames no fun. No flame no flirtation. No flame and the sizzle fizzles. For God’s sake, someone volunteer to keep the flame burning brightly.

Teilhard de Chardin added a beautiful twist to the power of love in this incredible statement that he made. “Someday after we have mastered the air, the winds, the tides and gravity, we will HARNESS FOR GOD THE ENERGIES OF LOVE. And then for the second time in the history of the world, MAN WILL HAVE DISCOVERED FIRE.”

Discover the fire again, and become a keeper of the flame in your marriage.

2. We must be keepers of the flame of worship.

Worship means different things to different people, and so it should because worship is so personal. It is an affair between me and God in which I become so pre-occupied with Him that I lose sight of all else. It is pure. It is personal. It is powerful. It transports the spirit of man into a rendezvous with the King of kings and Lord of lords and transforms the mundane into magnificence.

Many years ago, Thomas Jefferson went to France to represent the United States in an important meeting. In the course of duty, he went to pay his respects to the French minister for foreign affairs. “You replace Monsieur Franklin?” asked the minister. “I succeed him,” was Jefferson’s reply, “No one can replace him.”

Worship is the flame within us that acknowledges with no uncertainty that God is our God and that no one can replace him. Be a keeper of the flame and keep the fire of worship burning brightly.

3. We must be keepers of the flame of patriotism.

Admittedly, I am from the old school. The American flag means more to me than a piece of cheap cloth. It is a sacred symbol of our freedom. The National Anthem is like fueling the flame of gratitude for the privilege of living here. It is a tribute to the men and women who have paid the supreme sacrifice to make it possible for me to breath the air of freedom today. I am blessed. I am grateful. I am proud to be an American.

Keep the fire of patriotism burning. It must not go out, and you and I are keepers of the flame.
There are many, many other things that I could add, but you can make your own list. I may not be able to sing, and may not reach fame, but I can and will be a keeper of the flame. Amen.

Keeping The Flame

Pastor Jimmy & Bob

Burn Some Bridges Behind You

Winners find ways to win. They win because the mere thought of losing is intolerable.

To put it simply, winners think of ways to win. You won’t find winners wasting time and energy on concession speeches and whimpering with lame excuses. Caesar demonstrated the heart, mind and soul of a winner when he led his proud troops in a battle that statistically may have been un-winnable. The odds were stacked against him.

He ordered his ambitious troops to go ashore and hit the beaches courageously running toward a waiting army that was dug in poised to attack and defend their country. Caesar’s invaders were like defenseless ducks sitting on a pond ready to be picked off one at a time.

Losers would have tucked their tails and run. They would have sounded retreat, hurried back to the ships in defeat, but not this brigade. Caesar ordered the ships to be torched and burned. There were no avenues of retreat. The die was cast. There was only one way to go, and that was on to victory.

And victory only comes many times with a rather demanding price tag. With Caesar’s troops, the price tag was burning ships and cutting off the temptation to retreat from the battle. Perhaps that’s where some of us are today. We need to torch some bridges and keep our eyes steadily fixed on the future and not the past.

Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” The same verse reads like this in The Message. “Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward look….” Don’t look back. Take courage, and burn some bridges behind you.

1. Burn the bridges that connects you with past failures.

Failure is no longer an option. That’s on the other side of the bridge, and I refuse to have regular memorial services, place flowers on the tomb and recall all the morbid, distasteful details. Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” You may have failed, but you are not a failure. Burn the bridge, and go forward not backward.

2. Burn the bridge that allows you to return to the prison of fear.

Fear will not influence my decisions and dictate my destiny. Fear stinks. Fear shrinks the probability of my success. Fear supposes the worst will happen. Fear subjects it’s victims to the dread of being put to shame. Fear suppresses the entrepreneurial spirit. Fear supplants faith.

The Good Book declares, “Fear has torment…” (I John 4:18); and I say a hearty “amen” to that. Forsake your fears, and burn that bridge behind you.

3. Burn the bridge of fabricated falsehoods behind you.

You can’t control what people say about you, but you can so live that those who really know you will know the malicious gossip is nothing but lies.

Jesus would never have healed the sick, fed the multitude, exorcised demons, intervened for a woman who was morally corrupt nor inspired hope in the hopeless had he listened to baseless rumors and innuendos of town gossips and character assassins.

At times, He never so much as attempted to defend Himself. He stuck with His game plan, and let His life speak for itself.

From His childhood, He was assailed by hate mongers and castigated by members of His own family. They were dreams busters and party poopers, but He burned bridges behind Him and completed His mission.

Everybody may not be calling you the American Idol, but their slanderous, injurious words can never stop you. Blow them off, and burn the bridges.

4. Burn the bridge of forgiveness and don’t ever return to pick up an unforgiving spirit again.

Forgiveness is a funny thing, isn’t it? Now you have it. Now you don’t. You bury the hatchet, but you leave the handle sticking out so that it is easy to find and pull it out again.

Forgiveness does more for the forgiver than for the forgiven. Offer forgiveness and walk away burning the bridges behind you.

Clara Barton never harbored resentments. One time a friend recalled to her a cruel thing that had happened to her some years previously, but Clara seemed not to remember it.

“Don’t you remember the wrong that was done to you?’ asked the friend. “No,” answered Clara. “I distinctly remember forgetting that.” She burned the bridge never to return there again. You can do the same!

Burning Bridges

Pastor Jimmy & Bob