Integrity Building is Church Work

Daniel 6.4 observes, he was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.

Integrity Torn Paper Concept

Daniel was a trusted official in the Babylonian government. Often he was made the second highest official in the land after the king. He obtained this lofty position because of the three defining character qualities listed in today’s verse.

These qualities were not uncommon at our founding. They were the norm among most of our founding fathers. They were values held in high honor among most people of this country until fairly recently. (more…)

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Keeping God’s Reputation

Ezekiel 39.25 observes that God jealously guards His holy reputation!image

All of us want to guard our reputation. This desire reflects our being made in the image of God.

Like God, we care what people think about us and why they think the way they do. Frankly, God’s marketing isn’t very good. God has chosen to limit His brand to the purveyors of His product. (more…)

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What Is True Christianity?

Galatians 5.24 observes, those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their imagesinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.

What do Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump all have in common? They would all claim to be Christians. Do they look like Christians? Do we look like Christians? What is a Christian supposed to look like? (more…)

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Jesus is God’s Ultimate ‘Yes’

2 Corinthians 1.19 proclaims, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” imageHe is….God’s ultimate “Yes,” He always does what He says.

Don’t we all want a God Who is the ultimate ‘Yes?’ That’s actually our problem with God, He doesn’t always say ‘yes’ to us. How many of our prayers have not been answered the way we wanted?

Of course, what we fail to acknowledge, is that when we demand God be our ultimate ‘yes’ He is no longer God but we have become god – at least in our own minds. (more…)

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Reading the Bible is Essential for Passing Life’s Final Exam

Ezekiel 3.10 commands, son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen tobible-1425029 them carefully for yourself.

I am always amazed by the disregard people have for the Bible. In our arrogance we believe that what we think about God defines God.

That logic has never made sense to me because its untrue in every other realm of life. What I think about a person doesn’t define that person. My experience defines that person but even then, without more experience, I could still be wrong about the nature and character of a person despite what I think. (more…)

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Measuring our Work

Romans 12.11 commands us to never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.image

Most men over 40 are pretty committed to working hard. We were raised that way. We remember buying our own school clothes, buying our first car and paying for college. Our parents didn’t have a lot and even if they did they required us to work for what we wanted as well.

Overall I would say we are the better for it. (more…)

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What God Wants From Us

Acts 26.20 simplifies the gospel to the Gentiles: that they should repent and turn to God, performingimage deeds consistent with repentance. So what does God want from us?

The Apostle Paul says three things are expected: repent, turn to God and perform good deeds. This is a much better message than we have heard from the televangelist or the people who knock on our doors with religious information.

The message from the Church to the Gentile over the past 50 or so years has been that God wants people to believe in Him and by believing in Him they will be saved. (more…)

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Defining God

Jeremiah 30.21 records, I will invite him to approach Me, says the LORD, for who would dare to come imageunless invited?

I am increasingly amazed at the belief we practice about God. We take God for granted and hold Him in very little esteem. We believe that what we think He is defines Who He really is rather than getting our definition directly from Him.

Everyone seems quite comfortable with everyone else’s interpretation of Who God is as though He were all things to all people. What kind of a person is that? (more…)

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