Categories
Christian Living Relationships

Too Much Change in Too Little Time

It is stressful to change. And yet sometimes we may feel that God is asking for us to engage in too much change in too short a time – causing us even greater stress than normal. 271009 change ahead 800x497 - Too Much Change in Too Little Time

While it is true that new beginnings are exciting, sometimes it can feel that God is giving us too many new beginnings; that He is bringing change faster than we can adapt. We’ve all had that experience. Paige and I definitely felt this was our story for the past 3.5 years. Here’s more of our story from these past few years that maybe you can relate to when you think about how God has asked you to adapt faster than you had wanted.

After serving our first two churches for 12 years (FBC Bay St. Louis) and 10.5 years (FBC Newton), we then had a new beginning with Lifeway in a Church Consulting role in late 2019. Unfortunately, due to COVID, that role was cut short after only six months. Then I faced the new beginning of being unemployed! (Something I’ll write more about in the future.) But in God’s timing, he opened up our next new beginning at Poplar Springs Drive Baptist Church in Meridian, where I was blessed to become their pastor in late 2020.

Though I had hoped and believed we would be at PSDBC much longer, in early 2023 God called us to another new beginning – serving as the Associational Mission Strategist for Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Baptist Association. So quick recap – I worked for FBC Newton in 2019, for Lifeway in 2020, unemployed in 2020, for PSDBC in 2020-22, and for GCBA in early 2023 – that ends up being 4 different jobs within the span of 4 years. Too much change way too fast. We felt pulled in so many different directions, and it was a real struggle to find our equilibrium.

I’m sure there have been seasons in your life where it felt God was asking you to deal with too much change too fast, and you struggled to find a sense of peace and balance.

But now we have been doing the work in Gulfport for 3.5 years. And looking back, I wouldn’t trade any of it – even the crazy four years. Without our experiences in each new place, we would have missed out on new friendships and life-lessons. FBC Newton, Lifeway, and PSDBC were all huge blessings in my life, and we found great friends within each that we love so much. Now we are back on the Coast where we already had great friends that we love, so we have enjoyed reconnecting with them, and we are also establishing new friendships through my new ministry role.

I tell you all this about where we’ve been just to point out this important truth:

God has a plan!

His plan isn’t always clear when you are in the midst of the changes. But just keep holding onto Him. He’ll bring you through the changes. He’s promised to be a good Father to you. He’s promised to be with you through it all. I love the opening line of the poem …
“God Knows” by Minnie Haskins. (I like the whole poem, but especially these opening lines)…

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

If you ever struggle with God placing you in a season where things are changing so fast that it is hard to adapt, if the path forward seems dark and scary, remember – put your hand into the Hand of God. Doing so is better than being on a brightly-lit path without Him.

Jesus said, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And Romans tells us, “…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen. God has a plan. Trust Him as He walks with you through it.

Categories
Christian Living Jesus Relationships

Agreeing with God about Bad Behavior

Agreeing with God can be dangerous.

Doing so changes the trajectory of our lives. Including changing our relationships with others – even people we care deeply about.

danger - Agreeing with God about Bad BehaviorAs I am getting back to posting a weekly devotional thought, I want to return to an idea that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. (Here’s the link to the previous post if you need a refresher.) In that post, I wrote about the priests being commanded to not mourn over the death of family members while on duty. That was from Leviticus 10.

I pointed out that this ties directly to some of Jesus’ words that we sometimes wonder about:

“He who does not love me more than father or mother or son or daughter is not worthy of me. And if anyone does not hate his father, mother, son, daughter and even his own life, he is not worthy of me.”

We know Jesus teaches us not to hate, but rather to love others, even our own enemies. So His words here aren’t commanding us to hate our family members, but rather that we are to love God above all our other loves. We are even to love God more than we love our own family. That is hard. But His point is that if we have to choose between God and our family, we are to choose Him. We are to be on His side. We are to find ourselves agreeing with God if His way is in opposition to our family’s way.

It can be hard to do with family and close friends.

And that is what this command in Leviticus is about. Throughout Scripture we find God telling us to agree with Him about those who are engaged in sin, including our own family members. He calls on us to know His Word and to hold our family members accountable for their knowledge of God’s Word. We are to agree with God, and if someone close to us confesses to be a follower of Jesus, we are to be the first ones to call out their ungodly behavior to try to win them back to the Lord.

Eli & Samuel both had evil sons who were placed into spiritual leadership positions. Neither of these dads seemed willing to call out their own children for ungodly behavior. Instead of removing their wayward sons from their leadership positions, they allowed their children to damage the spiritual conditions of others.

God asked Eli,“Why do you honor your sons above Me?”

Ouch! And the wickedness of Samuel’s sons was a key factor in the people asking for a king. This brings these questions to my mind:

  • Am I willing to call out family members and close friends regarding their sin?
  • Am I willing to engage in appropriate biblical consequences for their behavior?

Again, Ouch. These are tough questions for me.

We are to help each other walk like Jesus.

Let me say that if a family member does not claim to be a Christ-follower, then I can’t expect them to live for God. Too often we complain about the behavior of people who aren’t followers of Jesus. We want to hold them to a standard they have said they don’t agree with. So we want to avoid that. But if a person (including a family member) does consider himself or herself to be a Christian, then God calls me to action to try to win them back to God-honoring behavior.

If you are one of my family members or close friends who confess to be a Jesus-follower, please stay in step with the Lord (and I’ll strive to do the same!) so that we don’t have to test our obedience level in this area!

But these really are tough questions to struggle with. Are we willing to love God more than we love our own families? And are we willing to love our families enough to call out their ungodly behaviors so that they can be drawn back to God, since His will is what is best for them?

I pray that God will help me be faithful to hold my close family and friends accountable for godly behavior if they have declared allegiance to Jesus. And I also hope that I will be open to being held accountable by others when they see me engaging in ungodly behavior!

Let’s help each other live for Jesus!

Categories
God Ramblings

Surprise – I Made God Laugh. (Again!)

It’s been a L-O-O-O-NG time since I’ve posted a devotional thought on my website/blog, which I would then send out to your email inbox (that would actually happen automatically through some technology magic!). I thought I had a better plan than that, but it seems that my plan only made God laugh.

In fact, the last time I sent out a post to your email was WAY back in 2022. And so last week when I finally came back and created a new post, I had no idea if things would work regarding the email magic. I was totally (and pleasantly!) surprised when I discovered the post had been sent out and landed in my email inbox. Maybe it surprised you too.

Well, welcome back to my devotional thoughts delivered straight to your inbox. And thank you for patiently waiting!

Since I didn’t know if my post would be sent out automatically, I set up a test post to see what would happen. What I didn’t do was give you any kind of life-update as to why I have been missing for so long. But now that I know it’s working, you deserve an update!

So Where Have You Been?

Today will be a rehash of a couple of my recent Facebook posts to answer this question. So if you already read my stuff on FB, you might want to skip the rest of today’s post. But for those of you who don’t do FB, keep reading to learn a bit of our life update. (Going forward, the blog post won’t be a rehash of Facebook, but since I already gave an update there, I thought it would be good to post it again here to bring you up-to-speed!)

Have you heard the old quote: “If you want to make God laugh, then tell Him your plans!”092526 we plan God laughs 800x600 - Surprise – I Made God Laugh. (Again!)

My friend David Kolf told me that a lot! He was pointing out that though you can make your own plans, God might have something different in mind. So make your own plans, but realize that God may be laughing at what you think is going to take place. And I’ve learned that God laughs a lot because of me! (Maybe your planning makes him smile too?!)

I was posting regularly when I was pastor at FBC Newton thru 2019, but since then I have worked for Lifeway, lost that job due to Covid in 2020, spent some time unemployed, was then called to pastor Poplar Springs Drive Baptist in Meridian thru early 2023, and then became the Mission Strategist for the Gulf Coast Baptist Association.

(Here’s something extra I didn’t post on Facebook: Along with getting the new job in 2023, we sold our house in Newton, had a close friend pass away who Paige was executor of estate for and sold her house in 2024 as part of those duties, had Paige’s mom move to the coast and sold her house in 2025, and then we bought a new place here on the coast that we moved into in early 2026. We are currently trying to sell our house in Waveland. Moving, cleaning, and selling four houses in 3 years is something that I don’t recommend to anyone!)

That was a lot of movement and transition and busyness in our lives, and thus my plans for continuing to post just didn’t work out the way I had intended.

I made my plans, and God laughed!

I share this to give you a brief peek into our lives these past few years, which have been a bit of a whirlwind. But now we’ve gotten fairly settled into our new place (we moved closer to my office), and that has provided me with some new freedom with my time and energy. Therefore, I decided to get back to posting some thoughts and ideas to encourage us all to walk closer with Jesus.

Today’s brief devotional thought

And as I think about what my failed plans might teach us, remember – your day may not go like you planned. But as you walk in step with Jesus, you don’t have to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. Jesus said:

“Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself!”

Instead, remember to just walk faithfully with Him step-by-step today! He cares for you, and so even though the day doesn’t go the way you had planned, just keep following Him.

His plans are better than yours, anyway! As one Christian author said: “God is the only one big enough to control your life without destroying it.”

As I have walked with Him, even when life was tough, I have discovered that His plans were the best ones.

So no matter how the day goes – whatever step God points out for you to take next, do that. Because His plans for your life are way better than the ones you originally had in mind!

[I’m glad to be back! I’m currently planning to post one of these devotional thoughts each week, probably on Saturday. And my hope is to build up some additional content so I could post 2 a week. But that might just be another plan that makes God laugh! I look forward to interacting with you as we strive to walk more deeply with Jesus together!]

Categories
Bible

His Way Is Better Than My Way

My Way.
I want it my way.

And isn’t that what Burger King used to tell me? That I can have it my way!
And the old J. G. Wentworth ads used to encourage me to yell out the window: It’s my money. I want it now!
0918 Burger King 800x546 - His Way Is Better Than My Way
But focusing on having it “my way” can get me in real trouble with God.

Because my way isn’t always what’s best. Your way isn’t either.
In Leviticus, Aaron’s sons had been told how to properly light the fires in the Tabernacle. But they decided to do it their own way. The narrative points out that they “offered strange fire before the Lord.” Meaning that they chose to disobey God’s specific commands as priests, and they chose to do it their way. The result of their disobedience?
“…Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them.”

Then Moses told Aaron and his two remaining sons, all three who were still serving as priests, that they were not to mourn nor were they to leave the tabernacle.
Wait, Moses, are you serious?!?
That sure seems a bit tough.

Why this command to not grieve for their family members who had sinned in this way?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee expresses it this way:

They were not to show the outward signs of mourning which would contradict the action of God in judging their loved ones.

This simply means that the priests were to always agree with God instead of with men, with family, or even with their own feelings. They were to show that they agree with God’s judgment and believe that God is always right. That makes sense, but certainly had to be hard!

In fact, in giving rules to the priests, God indicated that the High Priest was not to mourn for the death of anyone while he was on duty, not even if it was his own family. Matthew Henry explains:

It was very much for the honor of God that their focus on Him as priests should take precedence over their paying of respects to their nearest relations. By this they would show that they had a greater value and affection for God than for the best friend they had in the world. This teaches us…to keep our minds focused on God… and not to allow them to be diverted by any worldly thoughts, or cares, or passions. Let us always focus on the Lord without distraction.

Regarding Aaron’s sons, Henry says:

These two sons were cut off for their transgression by the immediate hand of God, and therefore Aaron and his other two priest sons were not to mourn for them lest it seem they approved of the sin. They were not to indicate any displeasure regarding the justice of God in the punishment. Instead of lamenting their own loss at the time of their service, they must be wholly agreed with God’s justice and fairness.

These Old Testament commands sound similar to this truth from Jesus’s words in Matthew 10 – “The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.”

Aaron showed in this moment that his primary love was God. His love for God was higher than all his other loves.

May I also be faithful to love God and His Word above all other loves within me.
This isn’t the case every moment of every day, as sometimes I let the love of other idols take my focus off of God and His will.
But then I can repent and return to following Him. And that is important, because…

His way is ALWAYS better than my way.

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Categories
Christian Living

Needing a Redo. Does God allow us to start over?

There are times we all mess up and wish we could get a redo. A word we’ve spoken that we wish we could unsay. A decision we’ve made where we wish we could yell “Mulligan” and take a second shot. We wish an undo button existed.undo button 800x546 - Needing a Redo. Does God allow us to start over?

That’s one of the reasons that I like reading about the Nazarite Vow and how God allowed for starting over – getting a redo!

The Old Testament book of Numbers gives information about the Nazarite Vow. Typically, the Nazarite Vow was a voluntary vow that a person took for a limited amount of time. During the vow, the person could not drink wine and could not be in the presence of anything dead. After the vow was completed, the person was again able to drink wine and take part in funerals.

But what if you had made a Nazarite vow, and you ended up accidentally encountering something dead before you completed the vow? What if you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that caused your important vow to be broken unintentionally. What a waste! But maybe God gave a chance for a redo?

Numbers 6:9 indicates that if a person in your presence suddenly died, which would unintentionally break your Nazarite vow, that you were then to shave off your hair and start over. This new beginning allowed you another opportunity to fulfill the vow you had made to the Lord.

While we don’t still take Nazarite vows, the reason I point this out is that I am so glad God gives us the chance to start over – to get that redo! (In fact, with God we get multiple redos!)

Warren Wiersbe says it this way

“Believers today need to realize that no failure need be permanent!”

And Pastor Alexander Whyte from the 1800s said:

“The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

plant 259806 1920 800x533 - Needing a Redo. Does God allow us to start over?I’m so glad that our failures are not permanent and that God gives us new beginnings. Here’s a prayer for all of us who are grateful for redos today:

“Thank you Jesus for the chance to start over, for the truth that no failure needs to be permanent, and that each day with You is a new beginning!”

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