Today was our “Spiritual Gifts” seminar. We started at noon, and I taught for over an hour. Then we took a break and discovered that our water pump had quit working, so we had no water at the church. No one was available to fix it until Monday. We called to get eight porta-potties delivered, and we got them at 2:00 p.m. We started with 150 people, then dropped to 125 after the water loss. I assessed that the devil was terrified of the results of the seminar, so he wanted to break it up. He had a little success but not a lot. The Bible calls the devil our adversary. He fights against us and against what we try to do for God. But the Bible says greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. The main thing we have to do to win and overcome our adversary is persevere, pray, and rejoice. We did that today. It was a very good day, and many are motivated to serve the Lord more with their life and use the gift that God has given them. Today was my first time doing the seminar. I learned a lot, and the next time we do this, it will be much better. I bet the water won’t go out at the next one. I hope you can make the next one. 

A classic television ad from the 1970s and 1980s said, “When EF Hutton talks, everybody listens.” The ads were always in a room full of people talking, and someone would say, “EF Hutton,” and then everybody froze with their hand behind their ear. That reminds me of Jesus speaking in Luke 4:32, “and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.” The authority of Jesus was not because of the volume that He spoke, the tone, or even the content, but it was supernatural; when He spoke, people listened. I believe that God gives that same authority to some people; if they talk, people listen. As a teacher and preacher of God’s Word, I want that authority that comes from God. My motive is not to control people but to influence them to believe in the Bible and Jesus Christ, and they will live their lives in a way that pleases God. When I am in the midst of a difficult situation with people, I want to speak with authority so that the result is unity, love, and peace. God’s authority is earned from God. God’s authority is given to people who have years of faithfulness to Him and to the basic disciplines of the Christian life. It is lost in a few minutes of unfaithfulness, rudeness, careless speaking, and pride. A person who oozed God’s authority was Billy Graham; when he spoke, people listened. Over the years, I have been influenced by people with God’s authority; they gripped my soul when they spoke. God’s authority is probably on a sliding scale, some have a little and a few have a lot. Whenever I speak I ask for God to speak through me and to give me His authority afresh. I trust by faith that He has given it to me as I speak, and I am cautious not to do or say anything that would cause me to lose it. This is a fourth principle for me as I tackle challenging relational situations. Most people can’t rely on this principle in ther life because they have not yet earned it from God or they have lost it because of undisciplined living. It is worth pursuing. If you find yourself not being listened to much, don’t try and make it happen by volume, anger or other worldly methods, but instead pursue faithfulness to God, godly living, and faithfulness to the basic disciplines of the Christian life. He gives His authority to those who have earned it. 

I watch YouTube videos of sporting events and sporting news. I also have several sites that I watch for news revolving around Israel. I also watch U.S. news sites. As I watch debates, discussions, and arguments between politicians and various leaders, I see a lot of anger, insults, threats, and intimidation. They are like watching a boxing match. They remind me of Jesus’s words in Mark 10:42-45

Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus was not a bully.

In the previous two days of blogs, I have given you two of my personal guidelines for attempting to resolve conflict. My third guideline is never to shame but always to honor those who I am talking to. I am ashamed of how often I have failed at this goal, especially with family and friends, because of pride, haughtiness, irritation, anger, and the world’s influence. God works through graciousness, not haughtiness.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

Colossians 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

The key thing to remember is that God works through us in the lives of other people if we do things His way, not the devil’s, the world’s or our flesh’s way.

My 2011 Ford F150 was totaled in the accident I was in last week. While I am looking for another rig to drive, someone in the church loaned me a Dodge diesel pickup truck. Several people have commented that I finally came to my senses and quit driving a Ford. That is irritating and very offensive to a long-time faithful Ford guy. So what should I do about that? I can’t let them get away with saying something so rude without retaliation! Most of you know that I am kidding about the Ford thing, but over the years, I have seen and heard of many serious conflicts that were more silly than that. As I have been involved in trying to help people resolve conflicts over the years, I realized that issues, information, views, and beliefs get blown way out of proportion by people’s repetitious thinking and retelling of events. Most conflicts are rarely as serious or consequential as they seem. I gave you my first rule of dealing with conflicts I am involved with in yesterday’s Blog, and here is number two. 

2. I give people the benefit of the doubt. They probably see things differently. They may not have gotten all the information. They forgot some information. I do everything I can to reduce the seriousness of the problem and even make light of it. Most issues are gone in a year if someone doesn’t stir things up again, and they are gone because they weren’t that big a deal in the first place. Our imaginations working in a negative direction can always make a mountain from a molehill. One of my thought processes is,” If I knew without a doubt that Jesus was coming back to take us to heaven in one year, how much would I fuss about? Not much, if anything. The key for me is to forgive anything and everything and forget about it. But what if it happens again? It rarely does. Make that assumption rather than, “Maybe it will.” Tomorrow, I will write about my third guiding principle, “It is much more essential to maintain healthy relationships than to be right or the winner. “ 

Today, we live in a world with many conflicts and read about them in the news daily. There are lots of political conflicts, both in our country and in and with other countries. World history is mainly made up of conflicts and wars between nations. These conflicts are inevitable, and much of the prophecy in the Bible is about these conflicts and their winners. The leaders and rulers in our world have methods and tools that they use to try and win their disputes. It may be tanks, bombs, economic sanctions, debating, protests, or tariffs. We each have various conflicts and disagreements with other people and have methods and ways of winning. The people might be our family, work associates, bosses, employees, neighbors, or friends. The average person uses methods much like the world: intimidation, threats, anger, ignoring, arguing, or debates. I sometimes find myself getting sucked into using those methods in my relationships with others. It is easy to do because my flesh is very much inclined that way; the devil and his demons are constantly tempting and urging us into conflicts, and that is the model we see every day all around us. I have made up a list of guidelines that I read when things get tense between me and others to remind myself of God’s way to be at peace with everyone around us. 

1. God is in control, and He causes or allows most of the events that cause tension in my life. I need to trust Him with my life constantly, pray, and ask Him to give me the wisdom to navigate life well, to pray and ask Him to work in and to change the people in my life and to change me. God works powerfully through much prayer. Tension and conflict tend to tie us all into knots. When I pray much, God gives me a peace that passes all comprehension. That is my test to see if I have prayed enough, inner peace. One of my personal rules is, “I can’t have peace with others until I have peace in myself,” work on first things first. 

I have four more guidelines, and I will write about them tomorrow. 

I have just finished memorizing 1 John. In the book, John writes a lot about being deceived. The devil can deceive us, false teachers can deceive us, and we can deceive ourselves. To be self-deceived is to have a gap between what we believe and perceive about ourselves to be accurate and who we really are. The bigger that gap, the more deceived we are. The opposite of being deceived would be to be mentally and spiritually healthy. To be deceived would be like looking in a mirror and seeing a horse head and thinking that it is you, or looking in the mirror and seeing John Wayne and thinking that it is you. People can’t grow in character or spiritually if they are deceived because they have no idea what to change. Everyone is deceived to some degree; we don’t really know who we are, why we do what we do, or even what we actually do and say. That is a scary thought. I spend a lot of time thinking about who I am, why I do what I do, and what I said and did in reality. Thoughtful Bible reading will help us a lot toward being spiritually and mentally healthy. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Patty and I are at Seaside for the annual meetings of the Conservative Baptist churches in the Northwest, now called Church Venture instead of Conservative Baptists. Our association of churches includes about 300 churches. For three days, we have meetings, good preaching, and marvelous worship times. In addition, we are staying in a nice motel and eating great seafood. Today, I was awarded a book for being the pastor here who has been in ministry for the longest time, 50 years. The guest speakers are chosen to preach to Pastors and are outstanding. It feels good to learn and be challenged when I am supposed to do that to others every week. One of my personal purpose statements is to be a lifelong learner and never to become a know-it-all. It is very easy to let happen, and I see so many who have let it happen. When I see professional pride in others, I am very nervous that it could be in me, and I don’t see it. At these kinds of events, I do a lot of reflecting on the past as a pastor in ministry, and I thank the Lord for the incredible privilege that He has given me. I want Him to keep using me and blessing me, and I remind myself of 1 Peter 5:5, “God gives grace to the humble, but is opposed to the proud.”

A funny thing happened yesterday. The day before yesterday, someone in our church came to my office and gave me a very nice but old single-shot 22 rifle. I told them I wanted to give it to one of my grandsons. It is exactly like the one I had when I first learned to shoot a rifle. While my truck was being fixed in the shop, I rented a car to drive, and it was outside my office. I took the gun out and put it on the floor in the back of the rented car. Someone loaned me their pickup the next day, so I returned the rental car. I forgot about the 22 rifle on the floor in the back. They asked if I had gotten all my things out of the car, and I responded yes. Patty picked me up, and on the drive home, I got a call from the car rental place asking me if I was sure I had taken everything that was mine out of the car. The fellow on the phone had a serious sound to his voice as if I had left a million dollars in the car. I thought for a minute and then remembered the gun. I started laughing and said you probably have never had a vehicle returned to you with a gun in it before. I said we will be right there. We got there, and there was a sticker on the vehicle warning anybody from opening the door; it sounded like it was booby-trapped. He opened the door, I retrieved the gun, and off we went. Today, my grandson is the proud owner of a single-shot 22 rifle. Now I need to take him sage rat shooting.

Forgetting is becoming more and more of a regular occurrence in my life. Patty and I continually look for our cell phones, glasses, and car keys because we have forgotten where we put them. I forget about taking medication; I forget to put my hearing aids in, and a whole host of other things. The worst thing is when I forget the names of people I am talking to. I really hate it when I forget the punch line of a story I am telling in a sermon.
When I get to heaven and get my new glorified body, I will have a perfect mind and never forget anything again. I am looking forward to that day.

Today, I filled out accident reports, called our insurance company, had my pickup towed to a repair shop, and rented a car. The fellow who hit me didn’t have insurance, so I was worried that I would have to pay for the pickup’s repairs. When I called my insurance company, they said I had uninsured motorist coverage, and all I would have to pay was a $250 deductible. Thank You, Lord! I needed to have a car while my pickup was getting fixed, so I went down and rented one. I didn’t know how long it would take, but knowing what others have gone through, I expected a month, so I rented it for a month, costing $1,000. A little later, I got a call from someone in our church who said they would let me drive their pickup while mine was getting fixed; hallelujah, I will take that car back tomorrow. The stiffness from the accident that I was feeling in my neck, shoulders, and back is nearly gone. I know that all accidents don’t turn out this good, but I am thankful that this one did. I am thanking the Lord tonight for His care and provision in our lives. Philippians 4:19 is a verse that I have memorized and believe by faith is true, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Thank You, Lord, for dying for me and giving me eternal life in heaven forever, and thank You for taking care of me and my family before we get to heaven; you are wonderful.

I was in an accident this evening. A young guy ran into the back of me when I was turning into the church driveway. He was going very fast. I was going slow, turning into the driveway, and he hit the left back of my pickup truck. He went by me, rolling over several times and into the far ditch upside down. Initially, I was a bit dazed, but I got my wits about myself and pulled the pickup into the driveway off the road. I got out and called 911. While I was talking on the phone, several cars stopped, and several guys pulled the fellow out of the car; he seemed fine. It was just a few minutes, and there were three ambulances and about four police cars, all with lights going, with many vehicles coming into our driveway for AWANA and the Wednesday night service. I was supposed to preach tonight, but I was feeling a little disoriented and decided to go home. I am now sitting in my recliner, taking some ibuprofen, and getting stiff and sore in my shoulders and neck. I am glad that I was in my pickup. His little car didn’t push it too far, but he was going so fast. Had I been in my Kia Rio, I am unsure how I would have fared. It is so nice being a Christian and having a high level of trust in God’s sovereignty and protection over my life. It wasn’t my time yet. Well, I would write some more but I am getting sleepy so talk to you tomorrow.