When Patty and I had our 50th wedding anniversary, we had a celebration designed by our kids to honor us; it was a special time for us, and our family. What would you do if you were in charge of a celebration event to honor someone very important in your life, in fact, the most important person in your life? What would you include? How would you orchestrate details and events so that it was the best celebration ever?

Today, at Jefferson Baptist Church, we had such a celebration. Its purpose was to honor Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself of all that He was as God, became human, lived a perfect life, died on a cross to pay for our sins, and rose from the dead, all for us, so that we could live with Him forever. How do you design a celebration worthy of such a person, of such an accomplishment.?

The perfect celebration will be when we all are in heaven with Jesus, worshiping Him in our glorified bodies. But today was an amazing celebration as well, and I am confident that Jesus felt honored and pleased with it all: the special music, the Congregational singing, the testimonies, the baptisms, the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of the kids, and the fellowship before and after.

It is interesting how, when you are part of such an event, you get caught up in the joy of it all and are incredibly blessed. A Biblical principle is that when we honor God, He honors us, and when we give Him joy, He gives us joy. What a grand celebration it was, a unique and beautiful day.

The event was a wonderful display of the church functioning as the “Body of Christ.” Last week, hundreds of people gave time to pray for our Easter celebration for five days; we had over 2,000 hours of corporate prayer. This week, people cleaned, mowed lawns, spread bark dust, practiced songs, wrote testimonies and sermons, tested sound equipment, typed and folded bulletins, and invited family and friends to attend. Today, people directed parking, greeted and welcomed, ushered, did puppets for kids, taught kids, sang, ran the sound, shared, and preached. It was all done with energy, joy, and enthusiasm because of the one we were honoring. The entire display of unity, love, and sacrifice was incredible, and I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

I saw a buzzard today. My Dad used to say that the day you saw the first buzzard was the first day of Spring. My Mom would say when the daffodils bloomed. Patty saw her first garage sale today, making it officially Spring.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:32-33 When the fig tree has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that Jesus is near, right at the door.

It seems that world events are accelerating towards the day Jesus returns. I anxiously await that day, and every morning, I pray, “Please come today, Lord, today!”

Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

Those eagerly looking for the Lord Jesus live with anticipation, faith, joy, and hope. They are people who don’t fret much about problems in life; they are quick to share the gospel with others; they forgive easily and quickly, laugh a lot, and enjoy life, though they are anxious for it to be over.

Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory,

I can’t wait!

We all go through stages in life. I was in the first grade once. I graduated from the Eighth grade, then I graduated from High School, then I graduated from college, then I graduated from Graduate School, and then I got a Doctorate. I once was a single guy, then I got married, then we had kids, and now we have grandkids, and one of these days, I will be a great-grandpa.

I have been a pastor for 48 years, all in one church. We started with 20 people meeting in a public school gym. Now, we have 1,500 people who call JBC their home church and 50,000 square feet of buildings worth millions of dollars. My role is changing. I don’t preach much; Pastor Mike Dedera does most of that now.

I was in the audience tonight at our “Good Friday” service, listening to pastor Mike preaching and thinking that I used to be up there teaching God’s Word to people, but now here I sit.

As I change and graduate in life, as it were, I want to do more, not less, at least to have more impact for God. I am trying to make writing my new ministry. It is a noble method of communicating the truth of God’s Word; the entire Bible is a testament to that. I aim to write ten books in the next ten years of my life. But I think that this blog has incredible potential to be the most significant ministry of my life. I would like it to expand all over the world. I am praying every time I write that God will anoint my writing and that He will cause the number of people who read it to grow. It is just like when I started pastoring; I prayed fervently that God would anoint my preaching and that Jefferson Baptist Church would grow and grow. I prayed hard, trusted and followed the Lord, and I worked like a dog.

Now, I am a tired old man, but it doesn’t take much energy to write, at least not physical energy. My mind is still sharp, and I can move my fingers. When I was the preacher at JBC, every year on the Sunday after my birthday, I would preach the same sermon, year after year after year. The sermon’s message was to pray for me, and I will become a good preacher, and you will grow spiritually as a result. I believe, looking back over the last 48 years, that preaching that sermon over and over was the most critical thing I did.

It isn’t close to my birthday, but as I pursue this new chapter in my life, I would like to ask you to help me by praying for me every time you read one of my blogs that God would anoint my writing, that His Word would be magnified and spread through my writing and that it would spread to many new readers. You can help that by sharing my blog with your friends.

Every person needs to be saved from their sins. Every person has sinned, and all it takes is one sin to be disqualified from heaven, and then your eternal destination is hell. Many good people will be in hell because they thought they were good enough. No one is good enough; everyone needs to have their sins forgiven. The gospel is what saves us, and it is what allows God to forgive us of all our sins.

We had our “Good Friday” service tonight. We were celebrating the death of Jesus on the cross. The death of Jesus is part of the gospel, an important part, but only a part. While Jesus was on the cross, God the Father reached into the past and the future and took every person’s sins, and put them on Jesus. I explaine it to kids that it was like picking apples from trees. God the Father is infinite, omniscient, and omnipresent; He could do such a thing. He took all my sins and put them on Jesus, meaning that the Father looked at Jesus as if He committed all of those sins. Jesus felt the guilt, shame, and remorse for my sins, and then He felt the Father’s rejection as the Father turned His back on Jesus as He became our sin; their “oneness and unity” was broken for the first time in all eternity. Jesus paid for our sins. He took our sins on Himself and was punished by the Father for our sins.

But the rest of the gospel. Jesus had to become like us to be our substitute. Jesus, as infinite God, equal with the Father, emptied Himself of all He was as God and became human, flesh, and blood, just like us in every way. We celebrate that part of the gospel at Christmas. He then lived a perfect, sinless life, though He was tempted in every way we are. If Jesus had committed even the tiniest of sins, He would have been disqualified from being our substitute, our savior.

After Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and then three days later, He rose from the dead and is alive today. We will celebrate that part of the gospel on Sunday. Because He rose from the dead, all those who have admitted that they are far from perfect, believe that what Jesus did was for them and trust in Him as their savior; they also will rise from the dead and live with Him for all eternity.

The gospel is simple, free, and universal, but many people reject it. There are many reasons given, but the main one is pride; I can do it myself. Hell is hot, and it is forever. Letting our pride keep us from God’s free gift of heaven seems silly.

I have read and studied the Bible extensively over the last 50 years of ministry. I have listened to many sermons online and read many books on every book in the Bible, and I think probably on every doctrine in the Bible. There are many different views on every topic and doctrine in the Bible. Over the years of studying, I have formed a strong personal opinion on all those doctrines, what I believe is true and accurate, and what is false.

Now, the problems arise when I am around people with different opinions and views than mine. Sometimes, it is in person and sometimes online. I read stuff daily on Facebook and other places that make me shudder. Sometimes, the other person will initiate a conversation about our differences when they hear or read mine. That discussion can be gracious or combative. Over the years, I have changed considerably in responding to these differences. I have written out some personal rules and guidelines for how I will respond and talk to people with different views and beliefs than mine.

1. Follow the Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy, his protege, closely.
   2 Timothy 2:23-25 “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.”
2. Is this a topic or doctrine that is essential for salvation? If it isn’t, don’t get too excited.
3. Remember, a healthy relationship is more important than winning a debate.
4. Remember, you are inclined to debate not so much for the benefit of the other person or in defense of essential truth as much as in the fleshly desire to be right; check your motives carefully.
5. Is there a possibility that I may convince the other person, and they will change their views? If not, it isn’t worth the risk of alienating them.
6. Discussions on politics, Christian doctrine, and practice can get emotional quickly. Remember, you usually regret emotional conversations afterward, so switch quickly to fishing or hunting.
7. Remember, some of your views and beliefs have changed several times over the years; there is a possibility they might change again. Be a listener and a learner as well as a defender of the truth.

I went fishing last week out in the ocean with friends. It was a sunny day, and the ocean was relatively flat, and no one got seasick. We all caught sea bass and ling cod. It was a very enjoyable day. The guy standing next to me was catching way more fish than anyone else on the boat, so I paid attention to what he was doing and what he was using. It was the strangest lure I had ever seen, but it worked. So this week, I bought all the components of his weird lure and built eight of them. We are going out again this next week, and I expect to catch fish like crazy with my homemade weird lures.

I have done that a lot in my life, seeing somebody excelling at something I would like to excel at and mimicking them, either by doing precisely what they are doing or asking them for counsel on how to do what they are doing. I am not very subtle about my copycatting of their methods. I don’t care if they know that I am mimicking their process, and I try to thank them for the information.

About 40 years ago, I went to a men’s retreat with a group of guys from our church, and the speaker for the event was outstanding, the best teacher/preacher I had ever heard. During our break, I asked him if he had time to visit me for 30 minutes, and he made an appointment with me for the next day. I asked him if he could share with me how I could learn to preach as well as he did. He laughed and said, “You want me to do that in 30 minutes?” I said, “I will listen as long as you want to talk.” He talked to me for almost three hours, and I took pages of notes, writing as fast as I could.

For the last 40 years of preaching and teaching, I have followed the counsel I got that day very closely and passed it on to many other pastors as well. One of the interesting things he said to me after our crash course on preaching was that he traveled and spoke a lot, and I was the only one who had ever asked him for advice on preaching. It seemed so strange to me that someone as gifted as he was didn’t have a long line of people who wanted to learn from him.

Choosing to be a learner from another person outside the formal classroom setting is very pleasing to the Lord because He admonishes us to do that dozens of times in the book of Proverbs. I believe God blesses us in those situations by giving us a clearer understanding and working in and through the person we seek wisdom from. We all should constantly seek knowledge, understanding, and wisdom like gold, silver, and precious jewels. We might catch more fish if we did.

When I was 12 to 16 years old we lived on a farm out of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. We were the second to last house on our road before everything was BLM forest land. We were 13 miles out of town and the nearest neighbors were a mile in either direction. The family that was the last house on the road had seven kids about the same ages as us five kids in our family. The dad’s name was Hank and he owned and ran the feed store in town. Because he was the last house on our road he would deliver animal feed and supplies to people all along the road on his trip home in the evening. He often delivered supplies to us, and when he did my Dad would always invite Hank in. He wore rubber boots because he was often in barns as he made his deliveries, and he would take them off on the porch before he came into the house. Feet that are in rubber boots sweat a lot, Hank’s feet sweat a lot, and his feet had a very strong aroma. He would not sit on the furniture, but always sat cross-legged on the living room floor. Mom would bring him a cup of coffee and he would stay and visit. He often told stories and he was the best storyteller of anybody I have ever known. We would all sit around him enthralled by his stories, most of which were about hunting or fishing. It is kind of funny, but the smell of Hank’s feet became one of my favorite smells, and even after all these years the smell of someone’s sweaty feet will bring back many good memories of Hank. Hank was my hero, I wanted to be just like him, I would imitate his walk, and his laugh. More than anything I wanted to be able to hunt like he hunted. It seemed like he knew all the deer in the woods by their first name.

One of the Biblical principles in the Bible is that we all need good examples, models of how a Christian ought to live.

Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

I often hear well-meaning Christians say that we ought not to have any models in our lives except Jesus, but it is impossible to use Jesus as a model because we can’t see Him or hear Him. We can follow His teaching, but we need real flesh and blood people to have as examples to follow.

All around us are people who are ahead of us in character growth. We need to imitate their way of treating people, talking, and dealing with trials. People often are strong in certain areas so we can follow their example in those areas. My wife is the most gracious and gentle person I know so I often ask myself, “what would Patty do or say in this situation?” I have a long list of friends and acquaintances who I admire greatly for certain character traits and I ask the same question about them. Wise people pick good people to model their lives after.

One of the scariest, but also one of the most motivating verses in the Bible for me over the years is Peter’s admonition to Pastors in 1 Peter chapter 5 to be an example to the people in their church on how to live the Christian life, though my strongest motivation in my life was to be a good example for my kids on how to live righteous lives for Jesus, and now for my grandkids.

In Matthew chapters 5 through 7, Jesus is teaching what is often called the “Sermon on the Mount.” He begins the sermon with what is called the “Beatitudes,” nine qualities that God blesses. The third is “blessed are the meek.” A better word for meek would be the word gentle. Gentleness is a character trait that is valued and highlighted in the Bible in many different places and many different ways, the most impactful probably being in Matthew 11:28-30 when Jesus invites us to serve with Him, ”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
During the time of Jesus, farmers would train a young ox to pull a plow or wagon by yoking them up with an older experienced ox. The older one would do most of the work, but the younger one soon learned how to pull and work by walking with and working with the older and more experienced ox.
”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Wow, that is such an attractive invitation. Almost everyone is ”weary and heavy-laden,” and the promise is that Jesus will give rest to those who come to Him. The invitation to ”come to Jesus” is an invitation to be yoked up with Him, to walk with Him, to work with Him, and to learn from Him; then, we will find rest for our souls. What do we learn when we spend time with Jesus? We learn to be gentle. Not many people make ”learning to be more gentle” a personal goal, especially not many men. Still, acquiring gentleness appears to result in a life free of weariness.
There are many counter-intuitive principles in the Bible that God declares to be normal when He said, ”My ways are not your ways, nor is your wisdom My wisdom.”
The more we grow in the character trait of gentleness, the more restful our souls will be. ”Rest for our souls,” what exactly does that mean? I like to take ”rests” periodically during the day, and the harder I work, the more frequent the rests are. The purpose of a rest is to get re-energized. Jesus said, ”I will give you rest”, or another way of saying it, ” I will give you energy, strength, passion, vision, drive.” When?
Gentleness is a relational character trait; you do gentleness with people. Gentleness is being quick to forgive, not answering rudeness with rudeness, not paying back hurt for hurt, and working at making people feel unique, appreciated, and valued.
So, the simple, counter-intuitive principle is this; ”When we choose to be gentle with another person, God who sees and hears everything rewards us with strength, but if we act grumpy, irritable, return rudeness for rudeness, and are insensitive to those around us we become weary.”

I enjoy very much the NCAA basketball championships called “March Madness.” Many basketball enthusiasts fill out their “bracket,” that is, their predictions for every game played in the tournament. I have never done very well on my card and forgot to fill one out this year. There are 68 teams at the start of the tournament, and on April 8th, the two teams that have survived that rigorous tournament will play for the National Championship. The teams that play in the championship game will have played in 6 games, all against the best teams in the nation. It isn’t just a physical marathon for those final two teams. It is an incredible display of managing pressure. These games are all on national television, and there are possible multi-million dollar contracts with NBA teams in the balance.

When the tournament ends, all the experts will try to figure out why specific teams won and others lost. There are always several significant upsets in the tournament. Why did certain players do well while others flopped? There is already all kinds of discussion on why third-seeded mega basketball powerhouse Kentucky lost to 14th-seeded, no-name, dinky college Oakland, who won an NCAA tournament game for the first time in the school’s history.

I wonder that all the time when I see certain people grow like weeds in their Christian walk, others in the same environment plateau and backslide. What is the difference, and what factors made the difference? The apostle Paul used athletics often in his epistles, describing our life as Christians and our service to Jesus as His disciples.

2 Timothy 2:5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Some key principles gleaned from the above verses on growing rapidly as a Christian and being hot, not lukewarm is;

discipline is essential as is self-control.
The desire to win makes a huge difference.
Endurance is the key factor in finishing well.
Those who have goals do exceptionally well.
There are many non-essentials we need to get rid of if we are going to run fast.
There are many other verses and principles; see if you can find them, and then live them.

Psalms 67:1-2 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us—
That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
Psalms 67:7 God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may know Him.

What does it mean to be blessed by God? It primarily means to be filled with His joy in spite of circumstances. The more we pray the more God blesses us with joy. God blesses us with joy so that we will attract other people to Him. God blesses us with joy so all the ends of the earth may know Him, so that Your salvation will be spread to all the nations.

That purpose seems more than strong enough to motivate people to come and pray at our “Five Days of Prayer.” Seems like it.