God gives the command, “do not fear,” over a hundred times in the Bible. There are another hundred commands given that are synonymous with “do not fear,” such as “be strong,” “do not tremble,” “do not be dismayed,” and “be courageous.” If a command is given that many times it must be important to God, and He must really want us to be strong and unintimidated by life.

Our courage and confidence while living life in scary times is probably the greatest indicator of our faith in God that there is. We believe that He exists, we believe that He is infinitely powerful, we believe that He is all-wise and knows precisely what He is doing all the time, we believe that He loves us with great love and will only do what is best for us. If we believe all that we will have no fear of anything.

Positive self-talk affirming what we believe over and over is a key to growing our faith.

Romans 4:20-21 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Genesis 26:24 The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you.

Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today;

Deuteronomy 1:21 the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’

Deuteronomy 3:22 Do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you.’

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Joshua 8:1 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed.

Joshua 10:25 Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous,

1 Chronicles 28:20 Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you

Some people think that the devil, Satan was an oops in God’plan, that as a result of the devil’s success in tempting Adam and Eve, God was forced to make changes in His plan. No, the devil did exactly what God created him to do. He is called our adversary, the one we fight against as we live life. Everything that God has done is doing, and will do is designed to cause us to grow into the image of God, the character of Jesus. He knew that we needed an adversary to make us strong and wise. The word that God uses in Revelation 2 and 3 as He addresses the winners in the churches is “overcomers,” those who have overcome the devil.

I am watching “Thursday Night Football” while I ride my stationary bike and write this blog. On the field is satan and his demons on one side, and the church on the other side. Some think that our battle with the kingdom of darkness is one-on-one combat. Still, almost every reference in the Bible to resisting, standing firm, and battling the devil is plural; even in Ephesians 6, the description of putting on the armor of God to fight successfully against the devil is all plural. We fight and win against our adversary when we fight together in unity as the church, like a good football team.

The Apostle Paul says that the devil has schemes, plays, and we ought not to be ignorant of them. His goal is to create fear in us. When we are afraid we will lose. He does that through lies, the Bible calls him the father of lies. The primary tool that the devil uses to spread his lies is government leaders, religious leaders, and false prophets and teachers. If they would have had newscasters in the Old Testament they would have had first place. If he can create disunity in the church through fear and lies he wins and we lose.

He knows he has only a short time left so he is in overdrive. Jesus said, “know the truth,” don’t be naive, don’t be gullible, be wise and discerning. If you are in the middle of any disunity in your church, family, or among friends, do some honest self-examination and see if you are believing a lie.

One of the attitudes that I try very hard to guard against is thinking that I am pretty smart, and that there isn’t much that I don’t know. When you get to be an old guy like me, and have read as many books as I have read, listened to as many sermons, lectures, and podcasts as I have listened to, and studied for and preached as many sermons as I have preached, it is easy to drift over into the arena of being an arrogant know-it-all.

My Dad used to say, “If you think you are pretty smart you are probably dumber than a fence post.” A characteristic of smart people is they know how much information and knowledge is out there that they still don’t know.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.

One of the most important truths in the Bible is that God gives wisdom, and He doesn’t give it to those who think they already have it.

Proverbs 2:6
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

There are five essentials to becoming wiser every day you live.

1. Acknowledge how little you really do know and how much is out there still to learn.

2. Ask God to give you wisdom every day. God loves to give wisdom to those who ask and ask a lot.

3. Seek wisdom like gold, silver, and precious jewels, be a lifelong learner. Read good books, listen to good sermons and podcasts, write what you learn so you don’t forget it.

4. A practice that pleases God very much is to ask people around you to give you advice and counsel. The humility factor is a huge deal to God. He will sovereignly funnel information and wisdom through them because of your humility of seeking knowledge from another person.

Proverbs 1:5
A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

5. Read the Bible every day, and memorize two verses a week until you die.

From May 1st until June 30th, I am going to be riding my bicycle with a few others across the country, ocean to ocean. We are going to drive back to the East coast with our support vehicle which is a 25 foot motorhome, and start at Yorktown, Virginia and in 60 days ride back to Jefferson and then to Newport, Oregon. It is about 4,000 miles and we will need to average 67 miles each day to make it.

I just finished mapping out each day of the trip. I even have each campsite picked out with phone numbers, and in a couple of months, we will start calling making reservations. I have checked out the entire trip via google earth. I didn’t travel it all with the Google earth camera, but I did check about every 20 miles to see what the roads were like, and the terrain. I did quite a bit of research on each of the campsites checking the recommendations and critiques left by former bicyclists. Some places are definitely bicycle-friendly, and other sites regard bicycle riders as crazy and the enemy.

I will have my little tent, a little camp chair that is short so I can sit on it in my tent if the mosquitos are bad, a jet one burner cookstove that I heat water with for my freeze-dried meals, coffee, and oatmeal. I have a very comfortable air mattress, a lightweight but warm sleeping bag, a blow-up pillow, and a bag of a few extra clothes. I also have a bag of tools that will work to fix anything on the bicycle, spare tires, tubes, spare cables, and a repair manual. I will also have a bag with toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, soap, sunscreen, Parkinson’s medicine, vitamins, ibuprofen, and lots and lots of butt butter. I will also have my iPad and cell phone so that I can read and write on the entire trip. My goal is to write at least 40 sermons on the trip. I have come close to that on all previous bicycle Trips except last year because it got cut short because of the severe heat. I usually listen to about four sermons each day while riding as well.

Way back when I was a Freshman in college I used to watch Perry Mason every day at noon in the “Student Union” building right after I ate lunch at 11:30 am. There were about 20 of us crammed into the TV room watching every day. About half way through the program we would start debating who the real killer was, those were real mysteries.

The Bible talks about mysteries, things or information hidden from us, or things just too difficult for us to grasp fully. One of the mysteries is God in the person of Jesus Christ becoming man, 100% flesh, exactly like us in every way. He even experienced conception, growing as an embryo, being born as a helpless baby, helpless in every way as we all were. As a child, he grew in stature; he grew in wisdom, he learned skills, the verses that he quoted to the devil he had to memorize. Jesus got tired, he got discouraged, he got angry, and he got hungry.

Philippians 2:6-7 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

The only way that anyone can understand the mysteries of God is for God to make them clear to us, and He does that for those who want to know the answers. If we seek Him and His truth, He will make it clear to us.

I am restoring a 1969 mustang with my grandson Isaac. When we get it done, it will be his car. The engine in it is a 250 cubic inch inline-six-cylinder. We bought a rebuild kit with bearings, new valves, camshaft, gaskets, and an oil pump. I purchased a Holley Snyper EFI and a distributor, coil, and computer together as a plug-and-play kit. We worked very carefully on the engine and mounted it on a wooden, home-built engine stand with a radiator and all gauges when we finished the rebuild. Yesterday we held our breath and flipped the toggle switch to start, and it started and runs like a top. Whoooooeeeeee that was a tense moment, but hallelujah it started! Check it out. You may hear a metallic clicking sound when I move to the back of the engine. I put another bolt in the plate behind the fly wheel and the noise went away! Whhhooooeeee

You know God is rebuilding each one of us into the image of Jesus Christ so that we will be like Him in character, but unlike an engine we have to cooperate with God or all His efforts on us won’t work. We need to seek him through Bible reading and prayer, and always rejoice, never complaining or grumbling.

I have been thinking about what old car or pick-up project I would start n when Isaac and I get this 1969 Mustang finished. I have enjoyed this so much I decided I would do another project for me. I have been checking Craig’s list, Hemming’s Motor news, classic car digest, and eBay for good deals on decent in shape classic vehicles. The other day eBay had an online auction on a 1950 Ford Coupe with a flathead V8 in it. The car was located in Mololla so I wouldn’t have to truck it home so I put in the minimum bid and I was the first bidder so it was pretty low. I expected to get overbid and I kept checking back but no one else bid and I got the car. I wasn’t really planning on buying a car yet, just checking and looking. I had a 1950 Ford coupe in high school, so I have always been partial to them. If you ever watched the old black and white movie, “Thunder Road” with Robert Mitchum you would have seen a 1950 Ford coupe out running all the revenouers as they chased him trying to get the illegal whiskey he was hauling. The 1950 was a very popular hot rod after the war, and now it is a very popular classic car for restoration. When I get this one finished I may keep it, flat head’s are great engines to do all kinds of modifications on to increase horsepower significantly.

As a pastor, I teach the Bible, counsel people, and organize and lead ministry projects and events. I work hard at managing my time well so I can accomplish as much work for God as possible. Ministry is emotionally draining, so I do various things to restore and fill up my emotional gas tank. Fishing is my favorite, but working on old beater cars is a close second. We all are finite, frail beings that need to take care of ourselves well and steward the body God has given to us until we get our new body in heaven. I am thankful for all of God’s opportunities to make a difference in many people’s lives, and I am grateful that He has given me many activities that I enjoy that make life fun to live despite the craziness of the times.

After getting up at 4:15 am for five days in a row, and getting to bed at midnight, I am pretty tired tonight, and I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. Even though I am glad the week of getting four hours of sleep a night is over I am always a little sad when the eight hours a day of praying is over.

There is something very supernatural about spending that much time in prayer. The sense of God’s presence is very real and is incredibly renewing. If I ever have a bout of depression I think I will go to corporate prayer for ten hours each day until I am over it, and I don’t think I would have to go very many days until I was cured.

Usually the first day my mind wanders a lot as I listen to the prayers of different people all day, but by the second day I am listening carefully and attentively as I agree with their prayers and join in with them talking to God.

Even though I can’t see God when I spend that much time talking to Him and listening to my thoughts trying to discern which ones are from God my faith grows significantly. My belief in God’s presence around me grows very strong to the point that all anxiety is replaced with joy and peace.

Jefferson Baptist Church has been doing a five-day prayer event for probably around 25 years now. We have one four times a year. The one we are in the middle of now is our Christmas prayer event, and we pray for many people to attend our Christmas outreach event and that God will use JBC and all the people in it to reach many people with gospel. T

he next one coming up in February is for our Missions ministry. We pray for each of the missionaries that we support and the ministries that they lead and are involved in. We take a special offering for our missions ministry the week after the prayer time so we also pray about that, asking God to supply extra funds for people so that they can give more.

The next five day prayer event in June we pray about another special offering that is used for the expansion of our facilities. All of our facilities have been paid for in cash as we build from these offerings.

The last five days of prayer is in September and we pray for all of the various ministries that we have at the church, that God will bless them and use each one to reach people and make disciples.

We pray ten hours each of the five days, 5:00 to 10:00 am and 5:00 to 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and we average about 40 people praying every hour. Some people pray one hour during the five days and there are a few who pray all 50 hours. Breakfast is served in the morning and dinner in the evening with lots of snacks in between. There are about 300 different people that pray during the five days, and it is a fantastic time of fellowship as we pray together, talk, and eat.

During these prayer times there is a very real sense of God’s presence that has a definite impact on the spiritual life of each person who attends. These five day prayer events are the foundation of our church, and have more impact on the corporate and individual spiritual health than anything else that we do.

If you can imagine five circles, each one bigger than the other, and inside of each other, like a target. This group of circles represent what a church looks like and each circle represents a group in the church. The inner circle is the core group, the next circle represents the committed, next would be the congregation, then the crowd, and last would be the curious. Each group has a level of love for the Lord and His church, and a level of willingness and desire to serve and be involved in the church. Nothing is as effective in moving people from the outside to the center as corporate prayer. I love it.

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

There are things we can ask God for and He will give us because He promised He would. James 1:5 is one of those promises that is very clear. If I pray for wisdom, believing God will give it to me because He promised He would, I will be given some. How much? I don’t know, so I ask God for wisdom every morning! I believe that the volume of my praying determines the amount I will receive, much prayer, much blessing.

Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

Have you ever seen one of your kids acting like a fool, I am sure you have. How about your spouse, have you witnessed major stupid choices from them. Do you have some friends that you care about that are totally messing up their lives with some very unwise decisions? How do you help? I believe that what is promised for myself is also a promise in my praying for others. I think even more so because of the strong emphasis on intercessory praying and in meeting the needs of others before our own needs.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

In the story that Jesus told about the prodigal son who was destroying his life because of bad choices, it says that “he came to his senses.” I wonder why. People in our life will come to their senses if we pray for them and ask God to give them wisdom. The more that we pray for wisdom for others the more God will give to them. As you witness those you pray for improving in the wisdom of their choices your faith will grow stronger and as it does your power in praying grows as well.

There are other promises like James 1:5 in the Bible; do you know what they are? We tend to pray about circumstances, but the emphasis in the Bible is to pray for people.