An Open Door

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." - John 10:9

So many times you hear people talking about open doors or praying for God to open doors for them as a means of God revealing His will to them.  Have ever stopped and considered that we might be looking at this thing of "open doors" all wrong?

Here is what Henry Blackaby said about this: "What we are asking God to do is engineer our circumstances to match what we think would be best.  The problem is that we misunderstand what the door is."  That is so true, Jesus said He is the door!  Blackaby goes on to say, "If you have substituted activity for your relationship with Christ, then circumstances can disrupt your activity.  When the activity is hindered, you may assume the door has been closed.  Yet, if Christ is the door in your life, He will guide you into every experience of Him that He wants, and there will be nothing that people can do to stop Him."

I know that I have been completely guilty of this in the past.  I did not have a proper understanding of what the door was.  The door is not opportunities or circumstances, the door is Jesus Christ Himself!  I'm afraid that there are many today in our churches who do not have the proper understanding of what the door is and Who the door is.  So many times from a human perspective we look around us at the circumstances and think that the door is closed for us; however, from God's perspective, we are exactly where God wants us to be.

So many times when people oppose us we become discouraged or we worry about what others are doing to us.  We are also guilty, many times, of trying to take matters into our own hands and accomplish what we think is the will of God.  Notice what Blackaby says about taking matters into our own hands: "This reveals that we do not really believe Jesus is the door for our lives.  If we did, we would be assured that through Christ we have access to everything He wants us to do in and through us."

Are you guilty of asking God to engineer circumstances in your life to match what you think is best?  We all have been guilty of this at some point, especially me.  Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is the door for your life?  If He is, then you can be assured that Christ will guide you into every experience of Him that He wants.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times when I have asked you to engineer circumstances in my life to match what I want or what I think is best.  Help me to realize that Christ is the door for my life and that You will lead me into every experience of You and put me exactly where I need to be at the exact time I need to be there.  In Jesus name, Amen!

What's That?

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." - Acts 17:11



I apologize that I have not been blogging over the last several days.  I am trying to get back into my normal morning routine, so here we go!

Today, I want to do something that is a little different than normal.  Have you ever heard the words exegesis and eisegesis?  If you are like most of people, you are probably saying to your self right now, "What's that?"

Exegesis - an attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively, starting with the text and moving out from there.

Eisegesis - to import a subjective, preconceived meaning into the text.

I am afraid that most of us have been taught to interpret the Bible through eisegesis, by bringing our own preconceived ideas and beliefs of what we have been told the text says.  However, that is absolutely unscriptural to do so.  Notice above in Acts 17:11 that the Bereans received the Word with all readiness of mind and that they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was accurate.  What a huge difference we see in how they received and studied the Word than what you see in our modern day church culture!

When we interpret the Bible through eisegesis we start with an idea or conviction, then we search for Bible verses to prove our point.  This is very dangerous because we can take verses out of context to support just about any point of view.  We see this so much in many of our Evangelical and especially in our Fundamental churches.  When we interpret the Bible through eisegesis alone, we are going to have a twisted view of Scripture.

We must learn to interpret the Bible through exegesis, where we attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively, without bringing any of our preconceived ideas about the text.  I want you to notice what Francis Chan has to say about exegesis: "I was taught to interpret the Scriptures through exegesis alone.  Start with God's Word; pray that the Spirit gives you clarity; then study to see what the text actually says.  The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible, so who better to help us as we seek to understand it!  Scripture tells us that the Spirit not only inspired the Bible, but also illumines it for us today."  If you will honestly and sincerely study the Bible through exegesis alone, it will surprise you how much of the Bible that you were actually misinterpreting before and taking totally out of context.

You and I can easily pursue just about any lifestyle we desire and then find Scripture to show everyone that it is alright to live that way.  We see this being done by many Christians in our churches today, and we also see it being done by many pastors from behind the pulpit.  Here is the question that I have for you, what would it look like for you and I to live exegetically?  If you and I were to start with Scripture and allow it to dictate our actions, how would you and I live?

The bottom line is that we have so many Christians and even pastors today that are interpreting the Bible through eisegesis and not exegesis.  As we approach God's Holy Word, we must lose all of our preconceived notions and beliefs about what we have been told that it means, and we must search the Scriptures for ourselves through exegesis alone.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, as I read Your Word, help me to lose all of my preconceived ideas about the text and allow Your Spirit to guide me in understanding.  I pray that as I read through Your Word that the Holy Spirit would open my eyes to what the passage is actually saying and help me to apply that truth to my life.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Do We Really Trust Him?

"And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.  And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece." - Luke 9:2-3



Most of us at some time or another have made the statement "I am trusting the Lord."  It seems to me that we make that statement flippantly, without giving it a whole lot of thought as to the gravity of what it actually means to trust the Lord.  My question for us is, do we really trust Him?

Notice that as Jesus sends out His twelve disciples He tells them to take nothing with them - no staff, no bread, no money, and no extra coat.  How many of us would be willing to take a trip like that?  Do you trust Christ enough to do that?  Modern day "American Christianity" would say that it is ridiculous to take the words of Christ so literally, but is it really?

We are left with the question of why Jesus would require this of His disciples, why would He not simply let them go home first and pick up a few things to take with them?  The answer is simple, Jesus was forcing His disciples to trust Him.  Christ would have to come through for them because they had nothing else to fall back on.  Unfortunately, "American Christianity" knows nothing of this kind of trust.  We have it burned into our minds from the time we are children that we need to have something to fall back on in case it doesn't work out. Now please don't misunderstand me, there is a fine line between faith and stupidity.

I want to share with you a quote from Francis Chan's book Crazy Love:  "This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning.  We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than in what we hope God will provide.  But when Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything.  It means being willing to go without an extra tunic or a place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going."

Again, modern day "American Christianity" knows nothing of that kind of trust.  We all have way too much in the way of material possessions and we all spend way too much money on things that have no eternal significance.  How many of us are willing to downsize our incomes and our lifestyles to get to the point where we have nothing to fall back on except Christ Himself?  Would you be willing to give up some of your luxuries and conveniences so that you might give more money to missions or so that you might be able to help the poor in your community?  One of the things that our family gave up was our satellite television.  We were spending about $90 per month on satellite.  We decided that it was more important to take that money and invest it in eternity by using it to support missionaries financially each month.  Now I am not saying that you have to do exactly what we did, but I would ask you to pray and ask God what you could surrender to Him so that you might invest in eternity.

I pray that you will allow God to speak to your heart about surrendering ALL to Him and coming to the place where you have nothing else to fall back on but Jesus Christ.  Are you willing to come to the place of total trust in Christ?  Do you really trust Him?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to come to the place of complete and total dependence on You for my needs.  May I not trust in my abundance or what I have to fall back on, but may I come to the place where You are the only One I have to fall back on!  Help me to be willing to surrender everything to you!  In Jesus name, Amen!

What Happened To Our Tears?

"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" - Jeremiah 9:1



I have a question that I would like to ask churches, pastor, and all Christians.  What happened to our tears?  What happened to our brokenness?  What happened to our burden for the lost and the backslidden?  This is something that I have been burdened and bothered about for a while now.  It seems that our churches and the Christians that occupy them have lost their tears and their brokenness for the world around them.  Compare that in contrast to the words of Jeremiah in the above verse.  He was known as the weeping prophet.  God help us today to be weeping Christians!

If you were to attend the typical midweek prayer service in most churches today you would find much of the prayer time occupied by shallow self-centered prayer requests.  Please don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to be rude or ugly, but rather be completely honest about the state of our churches.  If we are to honestly examine ourselves and what we pray for, it should trouble us.  Most of the time we spend more time praying to keeps saints out of Heaven than we do sinners out of Hell.

What happened to Christians specifically calling the names of people who are lost, on their way to Hell, and desperately need to be saved?  What happened to Christians coming forward to the altar and weeping for lost people to be saved?  I'm afraid that we have become to concerned with upsetting or offending someone by saying that they are lost an headed for Hell without the blood of Christ applied to their hearts and lives.  What happened to Christians weeping and shedding tears for those in the church who have fallen into sin and thus are not right with God?  What happened to us calling out there names, begging God for them to repent of their sin and get their hearts right?  Again, I'm afraid that we are so worried about upsetting or offending them that we keep quiet.

Is it any wonder why we are not seeing people saved like we used to or why we do not see the power of God upon our churches as we did 60 or 70 years ago?  When will we wake up and realize that we must get our tears back?  We must allow Christ to break our hearts for those around us that are hurting, lost, and desperately in need of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Instead of showing anger, hostility, arrogance, or a condescending attitude toward those who are lost, may God completely and totally break our hearts for their souls!  May we be willing to shed some tears and weep over their sin and their need for Christ!

I know that I am at the front of the line when it comes to failing to weep and shed tears over the sins of the lost and their need for Christ.  I pray that God will totally, completely, and utterly break my heart for those that are lost around me!  I pray that God will break the heart of our church for the lost in our community!

Will we allow God to break our hearts for the lost around us?  Are we willing to shed some tears over the lost in our community?  Like Jeremiah, are we willing to weep day and night for others to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for losing my tears!  Forgive me for my lack of weeping over those that are lost and on their way to Hell without Christ!  Lord, please break my heart for the lost around me and give me a burden and a passion for their souls!  Help me to be willing to weep day and night for those lost in my community to be saved!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Are You Thirsty?

"O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." - Psalm 63:1-8



Have you ever been thirsty?  If so, do you remember how good it felt to quench your thirst with that drink of water?  Most all of us can relate to being thirsty for a drink of water, but what about being thirsty for God Himself?  Do you have a thirst and a longing for God's presence, His power, His glory, and a thirst for God Himself?

In the Psalm 63 David gives a glimpse into his thirst and desire for God.  David uses some powerful language to describe the depths of his thirst and desire for the Lord.  David is in the wilderness, fleeing from Absalom, and we see his cry for God.  Could you imagine being in a land where there is no water?  How much would you desire to have just a drop of water?  Think about how much more we should thirst after God and desire just to be with Him.

David had a deep longing to experience God's presence.  What about you?  Do you have a deep longing to experience God's presence in your life?  David longs for communion with God, he longs to have fellowship with God.  What about you?  Do you long for communion with God? David says that God's lovingkindness is better than life, essentially saying that without God life would be nothing.  Would your life be nothing without God, or could you go on living like nothing had changed?  In verse 6 of this Psalm, David becomes so engrossed with the thought of God's love, he mediates on it all night long.  Have you ever become so engrossed and captured by God's love that you meditated on it all night long?

Are you thirsty for God?  Do you have a deep longing to experience God's presence in a way like never before?  It is my prayer that you will have a burning desire to experience God's presence and a passion for Christ like you have never had before.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, may I have a thirst and a deep longing for Your presence in my life.  Help me to be like David in this Psalm.  May I become so engrossed with Your love that I meditate on it day and night!  Burn within my heart a passion for You like never before!  In Jesus name, Amen!

How Is It Possible?

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number." - Jeremiah 2:32



Over the last several days, I have begun to read through the book of Jeremiah.  I have read through it before, but this time Jeremiah has come alive to me in a way like never before.  As I was reading yesterday, I came across this verse in chapter 2 that really stood out to me and spoke to my heart.

Could you imagine a bride forgetting her dress on the day of her wedding?  She shows up at the church ready to marry her soon to be husband, but there is one small detail that was overlooked, she forgot her dress.  Even though it has probably happened to someone somewhere (I don't put anything past people today), we would say that it would insane for a woman to forget her dress on the day of her wedding.  With that in mind, think about God is saying to His people here in this verse.  The idea that we would forget God should be as preposterous to us as a woman forgetting her dress on the day of her wedding, but God says His people had forgotten Him so long that the days could not be numbered.  To be quite honest, it is hard to wrap your mind around the reality of what the Lord is saying.

Let us bring this verse into our world where you and I live.  Considering all that Christ has done for us when He suffered the agony of the Cross, shedding His blood for our sins, how is it possible that we should forget Him?  Considering how Christ has been with us every step of the way, how He has wrought such mighty works in our lives, how is it possible that we should forget Him?

The sad reality of this is that, even though it sounds ludicrous that we would forget Christ, we do forget Him.  I am so guilty of this in my own spiritual life.  We are so busy with our lives and living for us that we totally leave Christ out of it and forget about Him.  I know that as a pastor, there are many days when I get so bogged down with administrative things in the ministry, that I forget to spend time with Christ in prayer and His Word.  It is so easy to start your day with all the hustle and bustle, thinking that you will find or make time for Christ later, but later never comes.

Maybe you do not struggle with this, but I know that I do.  According to God's Word, forgetting Him is as preposterous and ludicrous as a bride forgetting her dress on the day of her wedding, but yet we do forget the Lord.  Just like the verse says, I have lost count of the number of times that I have forgotten Christ in some way or another.  What about you?

How is it possible that we can forget about Jesus Christ, considering who He is and what He did?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for all the times that I have forgotten You.  Lord, forgive me for times when I put other things ahead of You, thus forgetting You.  Father, help me by Your power to always remember who You are and what You have done for me.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Serving God Leftovers

"And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts." - Malachi 1:8



Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  The book has been amazing, unbelievable, and very convicting!  I have been challenged like never before when it comes to my relationship with Jesus Christ.  The chapter that I am currently reading is titled "Serving Leftovers To A Holy God."  If were to honestly and sincerely examine our hearts, we would find that we all are guilty of doing this very thing when it comes to our worship of Christ and our service to Him.

As you read through Malachi chapter 1, you find that is exactly what the nation of Israel was doing when it came to the sacrifices they offered to the Lord.  Instead of offering a sacrifice without spot or blemish, they were offering sacrifices that were lacking; they were blind. crippled, or sick.  The prophet Malachi, speaking for God, asks Israel if they offered a sacrifice like that to their governor if he would accept it or be pleased.  The truth of the matter is that they were offering better to those around them than they were offering to God Almighty, the Creator of all things.

Let's bring this to where we live today.  The majority of professing Christians are no different than the nation of Israel when it comes to this.  We go all out when it comes to something for ourselves, family, or friends; so why can we not do the same for Christ?  I don't want to come off sounding to harsh, but let's be honest with ourselves.  We offer up our best to our employers, to our family, to our friends, and most importantly to ourselves, but we seem to be content to give Christ was is leftover.  As I examined my own life and heart, I came to the realization that I am absolutely and completely guilty of this very thing.  Here are some questions that we should ask ourselves: "How long would I keep my job if I gave my employer the same as I give to Christ?" or "How would my marriage look if I put into it what I put into my relationship with Christ?"

Examine your life, examine your worship, and examine your service to Him.  Are you giving Christ your leftovers?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to examine my life and my heart to see if I am just simply giving You my leftovers.  Forgive me for the times I have simply given You my leftovers.  Help me, by Your power, to give You my all.  In Jesus name, Amen!

In My Place

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." - 1 Peter 2:24



Since today is Good Friday, I want to take a few moments to reflect on what Jesus did for me and you on the Cross over 2,000 years ago.  I know most all of us understand and know what Jesus did on the cross, how that He took our place and died for our sins.  However, I do think that far too many Christians don't fully grasp the reality and the true implications of the Cross.  It has become too familiar to us.

‎"The Cross is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way to life is opened—but the crash is on the heart of God." - Oswald Chambers

‎"Never tolerate the idea of martyrdom about the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of Hell were shaken." - Oswald Chambers

When Jesus went to the Cross, He was literally taking our place.  You and I are the ones that deserved to be crucified and suffer like that because our sin and iniquity.  We deserved the brutality of the Cross that Christ endured.  While He was on the Cross, every sin that had ever been committed or that was to be committed, was poured upon Jesus.  God the Father turned His back on His only begotten Son because of your sin and mine.  Mere words cannot even begin to describe the reality of what Christ did for us or how much love He has for us.

I would like for you to read the words to this song "In My Place" by Michael Bleecker.

In my place, He stood condemned

He Who knew no sin became sin for us

That we might become His righteousness

Bearing all my sin and shame

The punishment and blame

He conquered the grave

That we might become the heirs of grace

In my place, Jesus died

The spotless Lamb laid down His life

The wrath of God was satisfied

In my place, Jesus died

Nail pierced hands, bleeding side

His body bruised; my God crucified

A crown of thorns, dying cries

His flesh was torn; my God crucified

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Today, I want to encourage you to spend time reflecting on what Christ did for you on the Cross.  Just have a quiet or silent time where you worship Christ.  Just stand in awe of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross!  He took our sin, our iniquity, our wickedness, and the punishment that we deserved.  In return, He gave us forgiveness, righteousness, redemption, sanctification, and most of all what we did not deserve: mercy and grace!

Thank You Jesus for taking my place!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your mercy and grace!  Thank You for coming to this world in the Person of Jesus Christ and taking my place on the Cross!  Thank You for taking the punishment that I deserved and giving me what I did not deserve: mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Who Are You Living For?

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15



Most of us are very familiar with this chapter of 2 Corinthians, especially verse 17.  It is one those verses that most every Born Again Christian can quote, but have you paid much attention to the verses that precede it?  As I was reading one of my devotions this morning, there was something in these verses that stood out to me and really spoke to my heart.  Who am I living for?  Am I living my life for me or am I living my life for Christ?

The implications of these two verses could not be any clearer.  Since we all are spiritually dead and that Christ died for all, then we are no longer to live for us, but rather we are to live for Christ.  Sounds pretty simple, pretty cut and dry, right?  It may sound simple and easy, but it is a hard thing to do many times.  Our flesh still wants to have it's way and have it's lusts and desires fulfilled.  That is why we must daily deny ourselves and crucify our flesh that we might surrender all to Christ and live for Him.  I am so amazed at how many people will profess Christ as their Savior, but yet they still live for themselves.  Jesus Christ purchased our pardon on Calvary and freed us from the penalty of sin, so He has every right to demand that we live for Him and not for ourselves.

If you and I are living for Christ, then it doesn't matter what the church down the road is doing, it doesn't matter what another person says about us, the only thing that matters is that we are living for Jesus Christ and pleasing Him!  In the last couple of days I have seen this played out in our community, people so worried and concerned with others are saying and doing.  Quite frankly, I am not concerned with what others are doing, I have a hard enough time just trying to live my life for Christ.  In the end, it isn't going to matter what someone else did or some other church did, the only thing that is going to matter is whether or not you lived your life for Christ.

So the question is this child of God: are you living your life for you, or are you living your life for Jesus Christ, the One who died for you?  When I examine my life, unfortunately, I am forced to conclude that so many times I am living for me and not for Christ.  What about you?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to examine my heart today and see whether I am truly living my life for You.  Help me to die daily, to crucify my flesh, surrender all to Christ, and live for Him with my whole heart.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Questioning God

"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.  Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." - Psalm 115:1-3



Colossians 1:16 says "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him."  However, we live as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and take care of those we love.

Psalm 115:3 says "...our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he pleased."  Even in light of that, we constantly are questioning God.  "Why did you make me this way?"  "Why did You allow this to happen?"  "Why are there so many starving children in the world?"  "Why is my family so messed up?"  The answer to all of these questions is simply: because He is God.  Have you ever stopped to consider that God should be asking us why so many people are starving?  Our culture has the attitude that God owes us, His creation, an explanation for why He does what He does.  However, we are in no place to demand that God gives an account of Himself to us.  What is so sad about this is that this attitude has crept into the Body of Christ.  We are constantly questioning God as to why He does this or that.

Look at what the Bible says in Daniel 4:35, "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"  Wow!  That is a pretty sobering statement!

Listen to what Francis Chan says concerning this: "Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you?  Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?"  Ouch!!!  This is so true though, it is only our arrogance that causes us to think God owes us anything!

I want to challenge you today not to question why God is or isn't doing something in your life, but rather to simply trust Him and obey Him.  You and I should worship Jesus Christ simply because of Who He is, not because of what He can do for us or even what we want Him to do for us.  When David's baby, he had with Bathsheba, died because of David's sin, he did not question God why, he simply worshiped.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me not to question You or to demand that You do things the way I think they should be done.  Help me to trust You, obey, You, and simply worship You because of Who You are.  You are worthy of my obedience and my worship no matter what!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Church Bulletin Bloopers

I wanted to do something a little different today.  Since it is Monday, I thought it might be a good idea to get the week started off with a little humor.  Here are some announcements that actually appeared in various church bulletins or were announced during church services.  ENJOY!

"The Fasting & Prayer Conference included meals."

"Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.  It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.  Bring your husbands."

"Don't let worry kill you off - let the church help."

"For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs." (one of my favorites)

"Next Thursday will be tryouts for the choir.  They need all the help they can get."

"A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall.  Music will follow."

"The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility."

"This evening at 7PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the church.  Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin."

"Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7PM.  Please use the back door."

"Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled.  Proceeds will will be used to cripple children."

I hope that this helps to get your Monday and your week off to a great start!

Pastor Clint