I can point to several defining moments that happened in my life that have significantly shaped the rest of my life. Last night in our Wednesday service, I preached on the importance of reading our Bibles daily. While driving home from JBC, I thought about the events that made daily Bible reading a crucial part of my life. When I was 10 years old, I had a young guy who was my Sunday School teacher. One Sunday, he came into class and gave every person in our class a New Testament. He said that he was trying to quit smoking and that a package of cigarettes cost the same as a single New Testament. So, he bought another New Testament for every pack he didn’t buy and smoked. When he purchased the number in our class, he gave them to us. Each week after, he would assign a portion for all of us to read and then ask us next week if we had read it. That was my first accountability group. When I was 13, I had a cabin counselor named Mr Titus at summer Bible Camp. He was probably in his early 20s, single, and took time off from his job to come counsel junior high boys at camp. He had a big box of very nice, leather-bound Bibles. About a dozen boys were in our cabin, and in our first night’s devotions, he taught us how important reading our Bibles every day was to our spiritual growth. I was an impressionable young boy, and Mr Titus was a tough, buff college-age young man that I idolized, and I wanted to do everything he did. He said anyone who committed to him to read their Bible every day and read it through the next year he would give one of those very nice and expensive Bibles. I committed to it, and he gave me a Bible. I read it daily, made it through the Bible, and was very proud to announce my accomplishments the following year at camp when he was again my counselor. I have not missed a year since then of reading through the Bible; most years, I have read it several times.

(I shared this about seven years ago)

This is a picture of the aircraft carrier the Wasp before it sank in the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. This battle lasted over 6 months being fought on land by Marines and supported by numerous ships. My Dad was on this ship when it sank. The Yorktown sank in the Battle of Midway and my Dad was on it. The Hornet was in many battles and was the aircraft carrier that launched the “Doolittle Raid” when Tokyo was bombed for the first time in the war. It was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. My Dad was on it when it sank. He had four ships sunk under him in the war. When my Dad died in 1991 a friend of his who had served with him through the war sent us this letter and story about my Dad.

“We were sitting in a gun turret which is mounted on the side of the ship under the flight deck. We were letting our gun cool off from much rapid firing, if the gun is loaded while hot the powder will ignite before the projectile is loaded. We had loaded it successfully before we decided to let it cool. While waiting a Japanese kamikaze plane came in low around the ship headed right towards us, Duke stomped on the foot firing mechanism and blew that plane into little bitty pieces 200 feet from us. It was funny when it was over, but I can tell you for sure that both Duke and I thought we had bought it that day. We served together on the Hornet, the Wasp, the Yorktown, the Enterprise, the Saratoga, the North Carolina, the O’Brian and others. We spent many hours together sometimes 2 and 3 days straight in battle at our stations. Please allow me to say to you that Delbert Duke was a good man.”

Col. Tom Kirk spoke Saturday morning at JBC’s Men’s Breakfast. He told his story of being shot down as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and spending over five years as a prisoner of war being terribly tortured. What was amazing was to hear him say that he has no bitterness toward anyone about anything. He said that when he was released from the Hanoi Hilton and flown home, he was free from prison, and he was free from any resentment or hatred toward his captors. He said that a person who harbors bitterness in his heart towards anyone is in a prison as real as the Hanoi Hilton because that bitterness controls him as much as guards with clubs and guns do.

I was reading a Facebook entry by a psychologist who recommended that those who were disappointed by the election cut out from their life any family or friends who voted for Trump that they never speak to them again. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could do such a thing. Jesus’s words to the woman caught in adultery, “I do not condemn you,” are our standard for living in this world with people all around us who disagree with us and hate us because of that disagreement.

We often manage the big things against us but fail in the more minor things when people say things at work, community, church, friends, and family that hurt us. We hang on to that bitterness and resentment. We need to forgive anybody of anything quickly because God has forgiven us of everything as followers of Jesus Christ.

Col. Tom Kirk was an incredibly strong person, demonstrated by his ability to endure the torture that he went through. Today, an incredibly strong person is one who can navigate through life without picking up resentments and wounds from others who disagree with them, treat them poorly, and violate their rights. Strong people will run the race of life with endurance and will finish well with significant accomplishments as champions for God.

I have been preaching at the Jefferson Evangelical church for almost two months. I am having a great time. It was much like the early days at JBC when we were a church of fifty people. I have a notebook with everyone’s name and picture in it, and I go through it a couple of times a week, praying for everybody. People raise their hands during my sermon and ask questions. I am having a wonderful time. I love to preach and teach the Bible, and with a smaller group, it is easy to see if I am connecting and if people are understanding and motivated by what I am teaching. Seeing people’s eyes light up with understanding is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Tonight, I am on such an adrenaline high that I won’t be able to go to sleep for hours.

The church is the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ; Jesus loves the Church and gave His life for the church. We are one of God’s favorites when we invest our lives in building the church. Everybody can do something. Teach Sunday School, host a home Bible study, sign up to help with landscaping, help with cleaning, and volunteer to help with the Sportsman’s show. Everybody can do something. Keep moving around in what you do until you discover your spiritual gift; then, you will have an adrenaline high, as I do each week or whenever you serve.

There are so many opportunities. An extraordinary blessing is poured out on those involved in making the church beautiful.

This morning at JBC’s Men’Breakfast, we had a speaker named Col. Tom Kirk. He is 96 years old; he is a Vietnam veteran who was shot down and captured and was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was tortured terribly for years and earned the Air Force Cross, which is the second highest for valor, four Silver Stars, two distinguished Flying Crosses, Two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars, seven Air Medals, and a Purple Heart. For being 96, he was a very energetic and entertaining speaker. As I listened to him speak, I thought, there aren’t many guys around anymore who are that tough. Considering all the abuse his body and mind took in those years of being a prisoner of war, it is incredible that he has lived this long. He was a prisoner of war for five years and four months, and for over two years, he was in solitary confinement. He lived on two bowls of soup daily and lost 90 lbs while in prison.

To survive the long period alone, Kirk established a routine. “I walked 4.5 miles each day in my cell. I built houses stick by stick, nail by nail in my mind, and mentally calculated mortgage amortization schedules. I even simulated playing the flute using a stick I had found to practice my fingering exercises.”

Today, at 96, Kirk plays golf four times a week, practices his saxophone for an hour and a half daily, and works out five times a week. He regularly travels the country speaking at events like our Men’s Breakfast. He made me feel like a wimp.

One of the amazing things about his story is that, for all that he went through, he said he doesn’t have any bitterness in his heart toward anybody. His faith in God gave him strength and ability to endure. He said that in his tiny cell with no outside light or contact with anybody, it was him and God, and he talked to him all day.

If you google his name, you will find several videos on YouTube of him telling his story. If you get to a place where you feel sorry for yourself, watch one of those videos. It should cure you of self-pity and cause you to thank the Lord for your blessed life.

We just finished a national election for President of the United States, for Senators, Representatives, Initiatives, Governors, and Laws. During the last six months, we have heard and seen many advertisements, debates, text messages, e-mails, and other stuff in the mail, trying to persuade us to vote one way or the other. As we are bombarded with this information, there are many contradictory messages. How do we know what is true and what is a lie? The election is now over, and it is a relief not to be constantly surrounded by all this propaganda. But we are still continuously hearing information about life, God, what is right and wrong, and what is essential for success and happiness in life. Much of what we hear is contradictory; how do we know what is true and what is a lie? Lies have their origin in the devil. He speaks to people in their thoughts and they pass it on as they “speak their mind.” As time goes on, the number of lies and false teachings will increase exponentially. Those who fill their mind with the Word of God, the Bible will be able to discern truth from error.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:31-32 Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Hebrews 5:13-14 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

I was reminded again today how important how I think is. We can think angry thoughts, bitter thoughts, self-pity thoughts, greedy, covetous, discounted thoughts, immoral thoughts, prideful thoughts, critical, judgmental thoughts, and selfish thoughts. No one knows what I am thinking, so there is no external motivation; the strong desire to be pure, holy, and righteous in our thinking all day long must come from our hearts. In my morning prayer of commitment, part of my prayer is, “I will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

What motivates me is that I know that God knows every thought I think, and He rewards or disciplines me based on my thinking. I pray to God about everything that happens during the day. My praying is mostly in my head rather than out loud. My praying to God constantly reminds me that He knows what I think. So, as I mentally talk to God during the day, I reinforce my firm belief that He hears my thoughts.

Events and circumstances prompt thoughts in me. When things happen that I don’t like, my first thoughts will be negative, critical, judgmental, self-pity, or angry. But the trick is to capture those initial, fleshly thoughts and choose to think right. It sounds simple and easy, but it isn’t easy at all. If my darn brain would take a break and stop reacting to life negatively, I could catch my breath and have an easier time of it. But, no such blessing; my brain goes 24/7, even while I am sleeping, and some of my dreams are bad.

A fundamental law of life is that what we think about shapes our character, choices, and behavior. I am not 100% successful at taking my thoughts captive, especially when I am tired or when the event prompting my thoughts is very painful or disappointing. I try to confess wrong thinking to God as sin quickly when I catch it and immediately ask Him for strength to be holy and joyous in my thinking. I also mentally try to say, “Thank You, Lord,” all day long for everything good, positive, and enjoyable that happens to me.

Well, I mailed in my ballot, and Patty did as well. I hope the person I believe would make the best president for the USA wins. But I am old enough to have voted in many elections, and in a few of them, the person I voted for won. In the Elections that didn’t go my way, I didn’t wring my hands in despair, thinking the world was ending. I have read this Bible passage repeatedly, recognizing that God is in control, that someday Jesus will be King, and that things will be good then.

Psalms 2:1-5 Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed; he who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury.

Whoever wins, I am committed to praying for them, that God works in their hearts, and that many people become followers of Jesus despite or because of them. I have been in many countries where the government was ten times worse than ours, and thousands of people were coming to Jesus.

I have strong feelings and opinions about politics, political leaders, and laws passed and unpassed. I also recognize that many people around me have opinions and feelings that are equally as strong as mine. A few of those have chosen to be my enemy, not because they don’t like me but because they don’t like my views. I have some very close friends who are 180 degrees off from me on most of what separates people today, but we still fish together and enjoy each other’s company and friendship. That is a possibility for anyone who works at it.

I am a strong follower of Jesus Christ, and I have many friends who are not. I pray for their salvation often, and when I am with them, I work hard to be a bright light that will attract them to my beliefs and savior. I don’t convince them by being argumentative and obnoxious regarding their unbelief. That would not convince them that my faith is true, and it seldom works in the political arena, either.

I am not in a boxing match with an opponent, but I am in a courting relationship trying to convince someone to marry me. (I am sure you recognize that I am using that as an illustration; I have been happily married for 55 years.)

Tonight was JBC’s annual “Trunk or Treat” event. We had a bunch of kids and parents come to the back parking lot where there were about forty trunks, cars, or pickups, or, in my case, a boat decorated with some kind of theme with bags of candy to hand out to those who came. Parents and kids wander around through the “trunks,” “trick or treating,” and collecting candy. There are also free hot dogs, chips, and chocolate in the gym, a bouncy house, and several other activities. It didn’t rain during the main run between 6:00 and 8:00 pm, but it was cold. As I said, there were a lot of people who came through, and we handed out tons of candy. It was a lot of fun interacting with all the people and kids. The first “Trunk or Treat” was held in Center Point, Alabama, in 1994. Nobody I could find knows the motive behind the first one, but now thousands of churches all over the United States hold one of these events. There are also some schools holding them, both Christian and secular, and I read of a car dealership that had one, obviously as an advertising gimmick to get people to see their cars up close.

There are many Christians who think it is terrible for churches to associate with Halloween in any way. With the history of Halloween and its association with demons and witchcraft, I can certainly understand their concerns. But I think it is good to take what is terrible and convert it so that it is a tool of the Lord. I heard the testimony of a former drug Lord in Argentina who was extremely demon-possessed as a result of demon worship and drugs. He was wounded in a shootout with the police, and during his six-month recovery time, he became a disciple of Jesus Christ. What once belonged to satan now belonged to God.

As I passed out candy to kids tonight, I could not help but think that someday, many of these kids would end up in church because of the fun they had tonight. In evangelism, there are many good strategies, methods, and tools that we can invent and use to attract people to Jesus.