THE POWER OF A SINGLE CHOICE

The time was depression days, 1930's. The setting was a poor area in "hillbilly" country in south Missouri near a little town named Corry. The young woman was already a mother  having married at 16 years of age. Life was hard, making a living was difficult. Then, the preacher came. He preached a message of salvation and repentance from sin. She went to the meetings and heard the glorious possibility of sins forgiven and eternal life through Christ. She responded and became a child of the King of Kings! In that moment, not only was her destiny changed, but so was that of her children, as well as numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and many more. The young woman was Maye Wright, my paternal grandmother. I never knew her as she passed away shortly before I was born. But, having grown up hearing her spoken of so highly, I wish I could've known her.
In time the family moved to Fort Scott, KS in order to have a better life and to be a part of the Church of God (Holiness) there. Sensing a need for Christian education, Maye became one of the founding members of the Fort Scott Bible School and then her children received schooling in that institution. Several of them also attended Kansas City College and Bible School located in Overland Park, KS or lived in the area. There, several of them met their spouses and the family fanned out. Through the years, from among the 11 surviving children and their families have come Christian school teachers, pastors’ wives and a youth pastor. Three have served as employees at the Herald and Banner print shop. One serves as the secretary of the World Missions Department for the Church of God (Holiness) and many have served faithfully in various churches as lay persons assisting in many ways great and small.
So, while my grandmother did not live to witness all of this, the results of her decision continue s to live on in the lives of her descendants. I am grateful for the choice that she made. I hope to sit down with her some day by the River of Life and tell her so.
Never underestimate the power of the choices that you make each and every day!

(The preacher was W. L. Gates)

Some Thoughts on Music...

Recently I spoke at a church in this area on the issue of music. I chose to center my thoughts to start with on the "New Song" Principle. I hope you enjoy these thoughts extracted my talk that day...

MUSIC! Does it really matter?

There is so much which could be said along this subject. Where is one to start? I am drawn to Psalms 40:1-3. Here, the psalmist says

“I waited patiently for the Lord;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

³ He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

This is part of the basis for the “New Song Principle.” If we believe what II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new,” then, how can we believe that everything changes except our music? Instead of changing our music, these days, we are bringing in more and more of the world when it comes to this matter. A little bit of rock beat here, a little of jazz and blues there, and before you know it, there is little difference in the music of the world and the music of the church and those who profess Christ.

One argument used these day is that “we must use the music of the world in order to reach them.” Really? Where does that come from in the Bible? How can being like the world, result in them seeing any reason to change? II Corinthians 6:17 says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (KJV) Clearly, anyone who knows Christ will begin to move away from the world and closer to the Lord as he walks the Christian life.

Ray Comfort of www.livingwaters.com preached a powerful message several years ago on the need to present Christ and the gospel in such a way as to cause people to see their eternal, desperate need of Christ!!! Sinners are not in need of “life enhancement” as Comfort described the modern, watered-down gospel we hear. But instead, we need a clear presentation of the gospel that will cause men and women, boys and girls to see that, “yes, I am a sinner, without Christ, condemned to hell without Him.” Seeing one’s need for Christ will result in salvation. We can never “sneak” Christ in through worldly music that has the sinful words swapped out with supposed good words.. We must clearly present Him in our music and preaching. We cannot take worldly styles of music, change the words and convince people that they need a Savior. Therefore, it is important that we present Christ through music which is God-glorifying, and points towards Christ as the Savior of this world.

Some worry that people will feel “uncomfortable” with “church music” if all we sing is hymns and conservative styles of music. But, really, should the sinner “feel comfortable” in the house of God? He should feel VERY uncomfortable if presented with a clear gospel message. God is holy. We are sinners with no way in ourselves to be made holy. Through Christ, this gulf can be spanned. There is no other way. Only by seeing ourselves as destined for eternity without Christ can we have any hope of salvation.

Mr. Garen Wolf, in his book, Church Music Matters, gives us some tests for determining what is appropriate in the church.

Summary of “tests” from Garen Wolf.

1. Does a particular style of music lend itself to the awesomeness and solemnity of worshiping God?

2. Does the style of music we are using in our church remind the people of the music they listen to in a bar or at a dance club?

3. Will this music cause the hearer to think on the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh?

4. What will be the end result of this style of music being performed? Will it cause one to think on Christ?

Rest Beside the Weary Road...

Have you ever felt like you wanted to shout “stop world, let me off!?” Most likely you have, yet it seems like a very difficult thing to do. We are rushing and hurrying everywhere, running to and fro, and for what? Do we need to work all of those hours? Is it necessary to run ourselves ragged so we can have all of the latest trinkets of this earth? There is nothing wrong with hard work, having money and things in and of itself, but what has happened that so many of us are always so tired, harried and frustrated?

Could it be that this is one way that the enemy of our souls attacks us? Maybe he sees that he cannot get us to commit some mortal sin; he knows we won’t murder or rob a bank. But, could his strategy be to get us so busy with the mundane tasks of life, with the ever pressing reality of modern America to have more and more money to buy more and more things so that we will slowly die spiritually?

Perhaps, this Christmas, it is time to remind ourselves, that the reason we are on this earth, is not to possess more things, it is not to be so busy that we have no time for thought and meditation, but, instead, that we might know, love, enjoy and glorify Jesus Christ, our Savior. He said in John 10:10 that He came that we might have life and that it would be abundant life! This abundant life comes only by resting in Him, and leaving our sins, cares and burdens at the cross.

We may find it necessary to leave off some things…perhaps we won’t be able to have a decorated home that looks like it came out of Better Homes and Gardens. Perhaps we will find it necessary to forgo some of our other Christmas "traditions" in order to have more time to move in the rest that Christ came to bring.

But, if we can enjoy a Christmas basking in His presence, what could possibly be better? After all, isn’t HE the reason we celebrate? He came to provide rest for our souls; rest from our sins, rest from the cares of this life, rest from fear and doubt. Perhaps we should try and fill our Christmas season with more meaningful activities which start, first and foremost with just spending time with Him.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 that we should come unto Him and find rest for our souls. We can never find rest in the material things of this world. We can never find rest in anything which takes His place. What can we do, in order to experience the fullness of resting in Him?

“And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose form is bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful step and slow. Look up, for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. Oh rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing!”

I Believe...(part 2)...Before the foundations...

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...

I believe that God planned and ordained a way of salvation before He laid one brick, so to speak, of this world in His creation. Salvation was not a last minute plan as a lot of nail biting went on in the heavenly regions during the events of Genesis 3. No, I believe that salvation was always a part of God's plan. 1 Peter 1:20 in talking about Christ states..."who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of times for your sake..." (ASV) Adam Clarke comments on this scripture, "...it shows that God, foreseeing the fall and ruin of man, appointed the remedy that was to cure the disease."

Consider the implications of this foreplanning. Did God plan for His creation to sin? No. But, God is sovereign, all knowing and knew what would happen if He created humankind with a free will. He knew all of the events of what would happen if He created us.

Now this is hard for us to understand. Why would God create humans if He knew they would rebel against Him? That is a question I can't answer. But, I can say that God wanted a relationship with us, the crown of His creation. He wants me to choose to love Him. He wants me to desire Him more than anything. But, He always leaves the choice up to me...and you. He is a gentleman...He will not force Himself on us.

In Genesis 3, the Savior is foretold as soon as the first sin occurred! Genesis 3:14-15..."And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (ASV) This is an amazing prophecy concerning Christ! Praise the Lord that the remedy was already in place!

I Believe...

Today, I want to begin a series of entries which state what I believe and why I believe it. I have been challenged in a couple of different ways recently to think about this. My basis will be the Bible. Without this "bottom line," I have nothing that is any different from anybody else. Without the Bible, it's just "my view." In this day in which we live, there is a spirit of tolerance to the degree, that "each does what is right in his own eyes," as they did in the time of the Judges. (See Judges 21:25) And, each believes "what is right for him/her." There IS absolute truth. There IS a true "bottom line." The buck DOES stop somewhere. We are not left to drift aimlessly. We have a place to cast our anchor.

Everything and everyone has a beginning...that is such an important place to start when defining a belief system. I'm going to start with the One who created this universe, who created this world, and the One who created me. Since He, (God) created all of this, He must have a plan and a purpose. He must have a "right" to decide what is truth and how I should live my life.

I believe in a very literal view of Genesis 1-11. Here we find the basis for everything else. Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis has been calling the church to return to this literal view of beginnings. Without this basis, everything else stands or falls. Is it any wonder that the church is so anemic here in America? We have surrendered to science as the ultimate authority. But, scientists are humans, too. They have not lived forever, they were not there when the foundations of the earth was laid. God challenged Job with the reality that he was not present when God created the earth in Job 38:4. Neither were we or any scientist present as well. Why should we trust in them as opposed to the God of the Bible who WAS there? Yes, we must have faith, but our faith will always be shown to be in the right place, if that faith is in God.

I believe that God created the world. We read about this in Genesis 1-2. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
There is nothing said here about any big bang, evolution or any thing like that. Nothing is said here about amoebas transforming to tadpoles, and eventually to apes, and finally to people. No, we were created intentionally. We were created intentionally as the crowning jewel, so to speak of God's creation. Man was created last, at the summit. We were made in God's image as it states in Genesis 1:21 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." A clear understanding of this will result in a proper estimate of ourselves. I will see that I am created by God for great purpose, but still as subordinate to Him. I will see that I am created to show who God is to this world. Does my life show anything of His great holiness, love and mercy?

There is much ado about whether or not God created the world in six literal days or whether these "days" were actually much longer periods. The way that the words are used, "evening and morning," show us that these were literal days. When these words are used together in this way, we see that they are describing literal days.

In the context, the word day in Genesis 1 refers to six 24-hour days. Every time it appears with “evening and morning” or with a number like “sixth day,” it refers to a 24-hour day.

Terry Mortenson-To read more on this subject, read the whole article here.


This is an "evolution vs. creation" issue. If the world is young, say 6,000 years old as I believe, then there is no evidence of evolution involving millions of years. You can read more about that here.

All of our doctrines of the faith have an origin in Genesis 1-11. I will cover more on that in future posts. I believe that in our day of drift from a Biblical worldview, establishing our beginning is the only place to start.

To summarize...1)I believe that God created the world
2)I believe that God created the world in six literal days
3)I believe that since God created the world, He gets to decide what is moral and what is not
4)I believe that the world is "young," around 6,000 years old

I Cannot Do This Alone...

I Cannot Do This Alone

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised…Amen

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I love this prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a German pastor during World War II. He bravely laid his life on the line to try and rid Germany and the world of Adolph Hitler. However, he was hanged just prior to the ending of the war. Some would say his life was wasted. Not so. He left a wealth of writings and an example of selflessness which can only testify to one thing...he really WAS a man of God, and he lived out what he preached, taught and wrote.

For my own life, there have been some really sad things which have happened in the past 16 months, not the least of which is my brother Michael being diagnosed with cancer. With the cancer now growing in his lungs, things are not real positive. Except for God. He is still in control. I do not understand what all God is up to, but I know that He has never one time shaken His head and tried to figure out what He Himself is doing. No, everything is working out a glorious purpose which will only be fully revealed in heaven.

In the meantime, we on earth are left needing to feel His presence and reassurance. This beautiful prayer by Bonhoeffer gives us a road map to bring us back to the One who can help.
He begins his poem where I need to begin...early in the morning...if I could learn this lesson once and for all, what a difference it would make in my life. Seeking the Lord first thing in the morning is such a help in being "stayed upon Jehovah" as the song writer put it.

"I cannot do this alone..." Bonhoeffer writes. Recognition that I, Sharmen, cannot do this alone. In myself I am nothing. Paul stated, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." It is only through Jesus that I can make it through the trials and valleys which lie ahead. I need to lay down my feeble efforts to cope and trust completely in Jesus alone.

Bonhoeffer makes several pleas in this prayer as he recognizes his limitations. They include, "In me there is darkness...I am lonely...I am feeble...I am restless...In me there is darkness...I do not understand your ways..." He is so honest. We need to be completely honest with ourselves and with the Lord. If we admit and confess our weaknesses, then, and only then, can we begin to receive the help that Christ died to bring us.

After each of these honest admissions, Bonhoeffer turns immediately to the help we can have in Jesus. "...with You there is light...You do not leave me...with You there is help...with You there is peace...with You there is patience..."

Psalms 121:1-2 says, "

¹ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

² My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth."

Here we are reminded of where our help comes from...it comes from the Lord ALONE! He made heaven and earth as well as each one of us, He knows how to help me!!!! But, I have to admit I need His help and ask for it. He will never force Himself upon me.

He closes his prayer with praise, regardless of the outcome. We can and must always praise the Lord, no matter what. Psalms 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times..." Yes, no matter what, He is worthy of all of our praise. We can be honest with Him, ask for His help, and relax, knowing that the outcome will be for the best. Then, we can praise...

Where Do You Get Your Identity?

...Does it comes from the things you own? The things you do? Your career? Your spouse? Your children? Or, does it come from your Creator? In Genesis 1:26, we read (God speaking) "Let us make man in Our own image, according to Our likeness..." Here we see that God created us, does that not mean that He would have something to say about what His creation does? The fact that we know who created us, means we can start to understand what we were created for. This is very freeing, I believe.

The word "identity" has several definitions. I have included two of them here which illustrate the point I am endeavoring to make in this blog post.

1. the condition or fact of being a specific person or thing; individuality
2. the characteristics and qualities of a person, considered collectively and regarded as essential to that person's self-awareness (from yourdictionary.com)

The first question asked in the Westminster Confession is:
1. What is the chief end of man?

Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.


Romans 11:35 says "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Whom be glory forever. Amen."
I Corinthians 6:20 "For you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
I Corinthians 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Psalms 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

We are expected, by God, to glorify Him and to find joy in Him. This, should be our chief assignment for each day, and where we start in our identity. This sort of reason for living, goes across economic lines, and goes across every boundary, no matter where we may be. If you are a single person, you can glorify God by living a pure life invested in others, and you can enjoy God by finding fulfillment in Him alone. If you are a married person, you can glorify God by living out God's plan for marriage found in Ephesians 5:22-33, and you can enjoy God by finding your ultimate fulfillment in Him at all times and when your spouse lets you down (and he/she will). If you are rich, you can glorify God by using your money to further His causes and not your own, and you can enjoy God by remembering that He is the source of your happiness, not your money. If you are poor, you can glorify God by doing the best you can with what you have, and enjoy Him by knowing that He will supply all of your needs.

When we began to live for the glory of God, any circumstance which we may find ourselves, suddenly becomes a "gateway to joy" as Elisabeth Elliot has stated many times. Living for God's glory and not our own, gives life lasting purpose, and a pure, real identity! When we can see ourselves as placed on this earth for God's eternal purpose, not our own selfish fulfillment, our lives can be transformed. It will then be a natural stepping stone to find joy in the One who created us!

In Colossians 2:9-10 we read, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. ¹⁰And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power..." Complete in Christ! Yes, there is wholeness to be found by immersing oneself in the One who made me! By finding the identity He created for me, there is peace, joy and purpose to be found.

In Ephesians 2:10, we read that we are God's "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works., which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." We are created for good works! Here, we see another aspect of our identity and purpose. We are to do good works which bring glory to God. When those things are done for the glory of God, we can find fulfillment and a sense of purpose.

So, based on the above scriptures, (and others), we can conclude that...

1. We are created by God.

2. We are created for God.

3. We are created to fulfill the purpose for which God created us, which boils down to glorifying Him in whatever situation we find ourselves.

4. We can trust God with the plans and details of our lives.

5. We can find our "identity" in God alone! How freeing is that?

May you find blessing and peace as you lay down the identities which are fleeting and earthly, and pick up, as your chief identity, that of glorifying God and enjoying Him!