I haven’t written a blog on the topic of bitterness for a few years, which is surprising because I see so much of it in the world, inside the church and outside, and I see all the damage it does, especially in families.

A man and a woman get married, buy a house, have children, raise them, take them to school, watch their volleyball games, take them to Disneyland, buy them shoes, help them pay for college, pay for weddings, and then something happens and no one speaks to each other ever again. It is incredibly sad, but it happens a lot. I have come to the conclusion after nearly 50 years pastoring that bitterness is the number one problem in the church and in our society.

Colossians 3:12-13 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

That is a pretty clear command from God, “forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone.” I point out to people periodically that they are living in bitterness and that they need to forgive the person that they are tied up in knots over if they want God’s blessing in their life. That rarely goes well, you would think that I was asking them to forgive the devil himself. It is amazing how bitterness blinds people to the seriousness of what they are feeling, thinking, and doing, and how easily they justify what God has clearly condemned.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The consequences of failing to forgive anybody and everybody of anything and everything are huge. How can we function without God’s continual forgiveness of our sins and mess ups? To forgive someone doesn’t mean that I condone what they did, but it does mean that I get rid of the resentment and anger that swirls around in my head for days, weeks, and months.

People often say to me, “well, you might forgive them, but you never forget!” All it takes for me to forget is every time my mind goes into resentment mode replaying the mean, awful, disgusting, despicable, selfish, inconsiderate, hurtful thing they did to me I set my mind on the verses above, reciting them, thinking about them, and meditating on them. It is amazing how powerful God’s Word is to heal us from the inside out, that is, if we want to be healed.

We have a thriving “Seniors Ministry” at JBC. They have a Bible study on Tuesdays and a “Friend Day” on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. I have never gotten involved, mostly because I am so busy with ministry and fishing. But I went today and had a great time. It started out with a mini-concert and then went to discussions at each table on a preassigned topic. The topic today was “What in your past do you regret.” I thought most would be reluctant to share, but we had a great time sharing at the table I was at. Then many played “Bingo” and the rest visited with each other. There were lots of snacks and coffee. Tomorrow there are about 20 from the group going to the coast together in two 12-passenger vans. I had a very good time, and look forward to going again.

Seniors, as a whole, are great people to fellowship with. Even though a few have memory problems and some senility, most are sharp and have wisdom accumulated from years of living. Also most through years of dealing with cranky people have developed a strong character of graciousness, patience, and kindness.

One of the strong emphases in the Bible is to honor people and one of the key groups is seniors. When our kids were young we would visit some relatives in “Rest Homes” and they all learned how to honor seniors by listening attentively when they talked, smiling, and being gracious and kind to them. If we were starting over raising our kids I would do more of that, not because they don’t do well at that now, but just because I see the huge blessing it is for everyone when we honor the aged.

I have never been overly concerned about my appearance, in the sense of being handsome or homely, as a kid or an adult. I have never thought of myself as being good-looking or ugly. But I did have a terrible acne problem when I was in High School and would spend hours in front of the mirror playing “search and destroy,” covering the mirror with white goop and then using my Neutrogena cover-up to try and look normal before I went to school. One of my friends in High School started calling me “Dee Zit Duke,” lovely friend, huh?

Now, I do spend some time trimming my beard so it looks nice. I go to the barber regularly to get a haircut. When he asks me how I want my hair cut, I tell him, “just make me look pretty.” I polish my boots when they start looking dull, and I try to wear a tee shirt that isn’t all frayed at the neck if it shows above my shirt. I brush my teeth every day gargle with mouth freshener, and change my underwear every day.

When I got my new glasses a couple of years ago they looked just like the pair I had before them and the pair before them and the pair before them. I picked frames that were on the small side with thin rims on the top and no rims on the bottom so they were as inconspicuous as possible. When I got my last glasses they said that I got a second set of lenses free but that I had to pay for the frames. I said, “Just give me the cheapest frames that you have.” My intent was to wear them when I worked in the shop so I didn’t scratch my regular glasses, but I never did because I always forgot. So they ended up in my junk drawer where I put stuff that got left in my pockets during the day. Last week the little screw that holds my glasses frame together fell out and one of my lenses fell out. I tried to superglue it all back together and got super glue all over the lens. So, I dug around in my drawer and found my extra pair of glasses. When I saw them, I thought, “These are the ugliest glasses I have ever seen! Way oversized, with big, black frames. I didn’t have much choice, wear them or be blind.

I have been wearing them for several days now and I have had dozens of people say, “nice glasses, makes you look handsome.” Really! OK, I guess these are my new glasses, I like looking handsome!

Because of Television and movies and all that goes with it our culture idolizes attractiveness and physical appearance. It has infected our schools, workplaces and even our churches. As I get older my hair falls out, my belly gets big, my skin sags, my ears get bigger, and I get these brown spots.

But one of the cool things about getting older is that how handsome I am doesn’t matter much anymore. Patty tells me that I am a “handsome dog,” and I am happy with that.

Proverbs 8:10-11
“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
“For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

Proverbs 8:17
“I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Proverbs 8:19
“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.

Proverbs 8:33-35
“Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
“Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
“For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.

Every morning in my prayer to God, among other things I always ask for wisdom. God gives wisdom to those who humbly ask for it and seek for it diligently.

Asking other people for advice and for wisdom is very pleasing to the Lord. He loves humility and always rewards it. The problem that old guys like me have is that they are to proud to ask guys younger than they are so that leaves a very small group of people to seek advice from. I have made a goal to ask advice and counsel from at least three different people every week. First I have to think about what I need advice on. There are about a dozen different areas in my life that I am struggling with a bit trying to figure out exactly what to do. Then I need to think of the people that I know who have knowledge and experience in the areas that I need wisdom on. It is often difficult to get an audience with different people because of conflicting schedules. I sometimes take guys out for lunch, other times I am able to catch them in the foyer, but most often my most successful approach is to write, email, or text them. Only about half the time do I get a response in writing so I usually send six notes to six different people so that I get three responses. I usually learn something from every person who gives me advice or counsel.

Some people might think that setting a goal to ask people advice is silly, but if I don’t I seldom ask anybody about anything, and Proverbs says that person is a fool. So I would rather be thought silly than God labeling me as a fool.

Most of the Jewish holidays are in remembrance of an event, an anniversary celebration of what God did in the past. The reason is so that the Jewish people wouldn’t forget what God had done for them. Each of those annual celebrations was established at God’s command and by His direction. I attended a Jewish celebration of the Feast of Purim way back when I was 25 years old and a student at Western Baptist Bible College, now called Corbin. It was a crazy and fun celebration of the survival of the Jewish people in the book of Esther.

Esther 9:27-28
the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually. So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.

We celebrate birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other meaningful events. Patty and I had a big celebration for our 50th wedding anniversary and all of our kids came, it was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to our 60th in 6 more years, maybe by then we will have some great-grandkids.

Jefferson Baptist Church started way back in 1973, on October 7th, this coming October 8th will be our 50th anniversary as a church. So, it is only appropriate that we have a party to celebrate all that God has done for JBC over the years. Put October 7th and 8th on your calendars and don’t miss this cool event. It will be during and after the regular worship services.

Peter was the hottest of Jesus’s disciples. He made the faith statements, got out of the boat, and used the sword to defend Jesus. But Peter denied that he knew Jesus at His trial; in fact, he denied Him three times. So he is done, finished, washed up, good for nothing, fallen away, But then Jesus appeared to Peter after His resurrection and asked him, “Do you love me?” Three times, He asked him, and Peter reaffirmed his love and devotion to Jesus as a result of that breakfast.

As people who have a sinful nature, live in a fallen, sinful world, and are constantly tempted by the evil one, we all tend to cool off, drift away from our faith, get entangled in the world, and become ineffective servants for Jesus. We need to have a fresh encounter with Jesus like Peter had.

The “Lord’s Supper,“ often called “Communion,” is an event, a practice, initiated by Jesus and reaffirmed by the Apostle Paul that the Lord intended to be a time of personal reflection on where we are in our walk with Jesus and a recommitment to follow Jesus as His disciple and bear much fruit for Him.

The Communion service has become, for many Christians, a meaningless ritual that is “nice” but changes nothing.

We are having a “Communion Service” at JBC tonight after our “Five Days of Prayer” at 7:00 p.m. in the “Old Sanctuary.” The five days have been a fantastic time of experiencing the resurrected Lord, so this communion service is a perfect time to say, “I love You, Jesus!”

Deuteronomy 4:29
But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

1 Chronicles 22:19
Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God;

James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Matthew 18:19-20 Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

An intimate and growing relationship with God is what I desire more than anything else in life. I am convinced that the times of corporate prayer that we have as a church are the most powerful times to grow in my relationship with Jesus. I seek Him diligently so I go where He says He will be, and that is at a gathering of two or more people who have gathered for prayer.

There is a lot of phoniness by people who claim to have a close walk with Jesus but don’t. There are a lot of self-deceived people who think they have an intimate relationship with Jesus but don’t.

There was a pride factor on the part of many Jews in the Old Testament when it came to seeking the Lord. God said, “You will seek me where I say,” but they said, “We will seek you wherever we want.”

Deuteronomy 12:5 But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose

But the people disobeyed doing things their own way.

2 Kings 14:4 Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

In the New Testament the Lord says He will reveal Himself, manifest His presence, to the church gathered. But many have a pride problem, they don’t think they need the church, and they can seek God on their own, by themselves. We can experience the Lord in our own private prayer times , but only as a corollary to corporate times with the “Body of Christ.”

JBC’s “Five Days of Prayer” is just about over. Ten hours a day of praying with the “Body of Christ” for five days is amazing.

One of the things that happens to many people as they get older is that they become increasingly more senile, which is defined as the loss of mental faculties. The loss of mental faculties! That sounds terrible!

One of the things that also happens with age is the loss of muscle strength, but you can reverse that with exercise. Another loss is balance, but you can also change that by jumping rope. So what can I do to reverse becoming increasingly more senile? Memorize Bible verses, lots of them. And besides keeping your mind strong, you also grow in wisdom as the Word of God fills your mind and heart.

I spend 30 minutes every day memorizing new Bible versesand reviewing ones that I have already memorized. I also spend time meditating on those passages of the Bible that I have memorized well.

Psalms 1:2-3
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Very few people will systematically do this discipline because it is too hard, it takes too much self-control, as they would say, “I just can’t do it!” If you get into some kind of accountability group where you would mutually encourage each other to memorize the Bible, you will not only keep your mind sharp, and grow in the wisdom of God, but you will also grow spiritually and become more and more like Jesus Christ in character, guaranteed.

This morning I participated in the third annual “Farmers Prayer Breakfast” just South East of Albany, Oregon. I am guessing that there was about 1,000 there at the event. There was a free breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon with lots of coffee at 7:00 am. At 8:00 until 9:00 there was a series of farmers who prayed on the stage with a microphone for different subjects related to farming. I got to be one of the prayers because I am an ex-farmer. It was a great experience, and a great picture of unity in that there were dozens of churches represented at the event. It was tremendously encouraging to me in that I have such a high view of the power of prayer, especially unified, corporate prayer. It was great to see that many people gathered together to pray for our country and for their own livelihood. The motto of the event this year was “You can complain or you can pray.”

It is interesting to me that so many people give lip service to prayer, but so few people really pray with any degree of sacrifice, diligence, or importunity. Token praying is when we give God a little leftover time, convenient time, a time that costs us nothing, and expect that God is going to honor and answer that prayer.

God is a great, all-powerful God who honors those who make sacrifices for Him, who are diligent, and lay their lives down for Him. He uses them, He blesses them, He listens to them, and He gives them power. They are the Daniels, the Davids, the Joshuas, and the Moseses.

Jesus put it this way, “There is the narrow way and the broad way, the hard way and the easy way, few choose the hard way, and it ends with success, many choose the easy way, but it ends in failure.”

This coming Sunday morning at JBC I am starting a class at 10:20 am in the main sanctuary between the two Sunday morning services. The class is about demons and angels and the part they play in our life. Angels are supernatural beings that serve God, they do for Him whatever He tells them to do.

Psalms 103:19-20 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!

Hebrews 1:14
Angels, are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Most of what God commands His angels to do revolves around taking care of us. They are ministering spirits sent out by God to serve us. The classic passage concerning this care and protection is in Daniel 6:22,

“My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me”

One of the key principles in the Bible is that when we pray God sends His angels, and the more we pray the more He sends.

Daniel 10:12
Then he said to me, (the angel) “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.

When we pray God also gives His angels more strength, and the more we pray the more strength and power He gives them.

Prayer is not merely making a simple request of God, but prayer is a force in that when we pray God commissions angels and the more we pray the more He commissions. When we pray God gives power and strength to His angels and the more we pray the more power they get.

The “Five Days of Prayer” started Monday and will go until Friday. We pray from 5:00 to 10:00 am and 5:00 to 10:00 pm.