All references are from Proverbs 21

We all think we are right. But check your thoughts by God’s Word for real wisdom. Helpful hint: Ask “what’s right about this?” before you post it.

2     Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the LORD ponders the hearts.

Want to get rich online? If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

Should you assume that strangers who contact you are “probably o.k.”? Think again. Or should you give everyone the ability to post things on your personal pages?

8  The way of man is forward [crooked] and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are a few random thoughts about the use of social networking.  In Ecclesiastes, Solomon reminds us that “there is nothing new under the sun,” so consider these thoughts from Proverbs 20 as they relate to social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Enjoying conflict? Fools meddle to keep strife alive.

3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

Purity in posting. What are you known for?

11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

Who is reading your posts? The One who made eyes and ears. Read the rest of this entry »

Jesus began His parable with the words “A certain man had two sons…” It has been said that this is the greatest parable of all, and for good reason.

Here we find a remarkable puzzle.

What did these sons really want?

Were they really all that different?

Down the long hall of human history, human beings have been reacting to each other — and calling this reaction “righteousness.” Is this really the case? In this fascinating parable, Jesus Christ pulls away the mask from humanity, to reveal what we really are.

The highway to heaven is hidden in humility, but the path to punishment is paved with pride.

Click the player here to listen to part one

For part two of this message, click here.

In our special Tuesday evening mid-week service this week, we will be singing an adaptation of Psalm 124. We encourage you to read this wonderful Psalm which is a great comfort in these days. Then, sing this adaptation to the tune of the well known “Thanksgiving hymn.”

Without God on our Side

Psalm 124

to the tune of “Now Thank We All Our God”

Without God on our side, (say all the people with us)

Without God on our side, the floods would have engulfed us.

For angry men rose up and like a swelling tide

They would have swallowed us, but God was on our side.

. . . . .

We praise and bless the Lord, our Wonderful Defender

Who kept us from the snare from being torn asunder

For they would tear our flesh and swallow us alive

But God protected us in Him we live and thrive.

. . . . .

Now thank we all our God, the Lord Christ, our Creator

Who made the heav’n and earth and came as our Redeemer

He still defends today, our blessed Lord and Guide

Now let the people say, “The Lord is on our side.”

Adapted from Psalm 124 by Gordon Dickson

by Pastor Gordon  Dickson

Moses wrote in Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Here’s an idea – plan your life like you plan your year.

All of us prepare for the seasons of the year.  (If you don’t believe me, check the mall parking lots at certain times of the year.) All of us know how to plan for New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We understand the “rhythms of the seasons.” Now let’s see if we can look at our passing years the way we look at the passing seasons. If my math is right, every five days would represent one year (using Moses’ average life span in Psalm 90:10).

So, what if your lifetime were like one year?

The day you were born – Happy New Year! It’s the start of a brand new life and a brand new year. What a wonderful season! Your whole life and your whole year are before you!

At nine years of age, you would find yourself at Valentine’s Day. It’s still too early for spring, but things are beginning to change. Valentine’s Day introduces you to love – and not just the mom and dad kind. When you discover this kind of love, everything begins to change!

You would be “sweet 16″ on St. Patrick’s Day … and not a moment too soon either! This “green” day reminds you of the greening of spring. In this season of “spring cleaning,” you must sort out the treasure from the trash. At 16, you are choosing between good and garbage – constantly. Your choices in “spring cleaning” stay with you all year long, and that’s just like life.

You need the Lord’s help to know trash from treasure.

At 18, you’re late in March and ready to march. Congratulations! High school is behind you; the world lies at your feet. Spring is in full swing! It’s a time to plan your planting. So much of the rest of your “life year” will be formed by the choices you make here. It’s time to ask the Lord for wisdom.

Age 22? You’re in the Easter season and already making some very adult decisions. As the flowers bloom and the weather warms, you see bright new horizons ahead of you. Already you have seen the results of some of those trash/treasure decisions and those “sowing and reaping” choices. As you plan out vacations and holidays, you begin to realize that the course of your “life year” is pretty well set. How you “applied your heart to wisdom” has made all the difference.

When you’re 27, you would be celebrating Mother’s Day, and, by Memorial Day, you would be “over the hill” at 30! The weather is warm and the plans are many. Now you are making decisions, not only for yourself, but for others. You have more responsibilities and more opportunities. Sometimes wisdom comes knocking – with some very hard knocks! It becomes more and more obvious what kind of life and what kind of year you’ve made for yourself.

If you are in your mid-thirties, it’s time to celebrate July 4th. Isn’t independence great? But how did time pass so quickly? Valentine’s Day was just yesterday, right? These are warm days, sweltering “years,” hot with the activity of many well laid plans. The real fruit of your choices is starting to show and grow.

It’s time to “number your days” and “apply your heart to wisdom!”

By the time you’re fifty, it’s Labor Day, and the summer is over. It’s harvest time! So many choices you made earlier in the year, and earlier in life, are now ready for harvest. You begin to understand the phrase “too soon old; too late smart.” Fall is on the way. Is that snow on the roof already?

It seems a stretch, but if you’re 65 you would be at Thanksgiving. (Whew! let’s stop and catch our breath!) In this season of the year, you want to gather all your loved ones together. The word “family” is very important during this part of your “life year.” It’s time to gather together to enjoy the fruit of your labors. It’s time to bless and be blessed.

At 70, it’s Christmas … who would have believed it? Reminiscing in this season brings back the memories of a lifetime. The treasure of those beautiful memories must push aside the trash of the bad memories. It’s time to bless others with the fruit of your year and the fruit of your life.

In which season of the “life year” are you now living?

Wisdom teaches us to use each season of life the right way. It’s never too late for “course adjustments.” As most of this new year lies before us, I hope you will treasure every moment that you have, and remember “time waits for no man.” None of us is guaranteed three score and ten years.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

. . . . . .

Failures aren’t finished!

The Peter Series: Biographical messages

This series of 22 radio broadcasts reminds us that  failures aren’t finished. Let’s study the life of the Apostle Peter to discover how the Lord can still work through us today.

The first weigh-in for the Be Healthy Now campaign is today at Calvary Baptist Church, 4-8 p.m. We want to encourage you to exercise good stewardship of your physical body by participating in this excellent program. Last year, a few thousand people in Hancock county participated in Be Healthy Now. The fact is that bodily exercise is profitable but exercising yourself to Godliness is the highest goal. Let’s be good stewards of these bodies that God has given us and use them for His Glory!

As you know, there are three necessary steps to implement lasting change in the life of a believer. You can listen to a discussion of these three steps here.

Many of the posts in the “Food for Thought” category are also designed to help you exercise good stewardship of your physical body.

For many people, the passing of an old year, and preparing for a New Year is like passing a milestone on the highway of life. This becomes the time of “pre-planning” your life. Which projects should we take on? What hazards exist? How can I escape my old, worn out problems and turn them into projects? How can I be different? In the Scriptures, Ephesians 4:22-24 provides essential help for pre-planning your New Year. I want to encourage you to listen to the audio file here:

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Where is the warmth in my Christian life?

What is missing? Why don’t I feel very close to the Lord?

Isn’t there supposed to be more to this “Christian life?”

Perhaps, like many others, you have longed for “something more” in your Christianity. You are not alone. As I noted in this message, Martin Lloyd Jones pointed out that many of the dearest saints of God came to this place. By understanding what it means for “Christ to dwell in your hearts by faith,” we can learn how to deepen our relationship with the Lord.

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If you know that you are a Christian, but you are tired of a “nominal” Christian life, I invite you to listen to this message from the Ephesians 3:17-18. This is part of our recent series from the Book of Ephesians. In these recent messages, it has been fascinating to learn more about the prayer of the Apostle Paul. Paul prayed this prayer for the same people that he would later exhort about practical matters such as lying, stealing and bitterness. This shows us that these amazing requests (such as “that you might be filled with all the fullness of God!”) are for every Christian who learns the power of this Scripture passage.

Many of you can quote what is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer” or the Lord’s model prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13,

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

How To Use Prayer to “Be Healthy Now”

The Lord’s instruction to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” is a reflection of a passage recorded earlier in the Scriptures: Proverbs 30:7-9. Since this passage is also directed to the Lord, it may be viewed as a prayer. But what is especially intriguing about this passage is that it tells you why to pray about your “daily bread.”

Look carefully at verse 9 and think about these questions:

• How can “being full” affect my view of God?
• Another way of asking the same question is to ask, “How does my feeling of fullness affect my faith?“

As I noted in an earlier post, food may be the object of our faith — and we call that idolatry. Anything that we substitute for God is an idol.
So Proverbs 30:9 “connects the dots” for us in this respect. The Message of the Scriptures helps us to see our motives clearly: abundance and overeating can produce feelings that cause us to deny the Lord and question His Message.There are some simple, personal applications to test yourself here.

• Which one means more to you, prayer or pizza?
• Meat or God’s Message?
• Snacks or the Scripture?
• Being full or being faithful?

When you put it in this frame of reference, you can see your life more clearly. But a simple choice here can help you in the “Be Healthy Now” challenge. If you see yourself clearly in the mirror of God’s message — understanding that good food means far more to you than faith in God — then you can have a powerful Ally in God Himself. You see, the One who said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” understands exactly how to overturn idolatry. The Old Testament is full of stories of how He did this. If you and I would tell the truth about our overeating and humble ourselves under the Lord’s Hand, He can become our Ally in winning this battle. Why not pray “The Provision Prayer” of Proverbs 30:7-9 to see how the Lord can help you in your dieting battles?

Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio

www.cbcfindlay.org

Sufficient Sweetness

That’s right. This is a sermon about “sufficient sweetness.” What do you do when your body sends you the “full” signal? Keep right on eating or call a halt? Part of the problem is that we have come to think of eating as a way to be entertained. Now it is clear in Scripture that good food is a wonderful way to have great fellowship with others. The problem is that we allow ourselves to think of eating primarily as entertainment rather than nourishment. When you view it this way, munching becomes a way to change your moods; cooking becomes your source of comfort.

Those Basic Assumptions

When our most basic assumptions about eating are out of whack, we can’t really expect to draw the right conclusions.

For instance, one summer evening several years ago, my family was enjoying a wonderful campout near Cincinnati. The children were asleep and my wife and I were reading under the dining canopy we had set up. In a short while, I read 50 pages of 1776 by David McCullough, and almost the entire time, I was munching away on pistachios. Those wonderful, salty nuts added real zest to the occasion and I thoughtlessly downed them while I was reading. Suddenly, in a start, I sat up and looked wide-eyed at my wife.

She asked, “what is wrong?”

I replied, “the Lord just spoke to me!”

She responded, “Well, what did He say?”

I answered by quoting Proverbs 25:16! “Have you found honey? Eat only so much as is sufficient for you, lest you be filled therewith and vomit it up.”

You see, I was just reading a terrific book about the American Revolution, and suddenly the Lord spoke to me through the Scriptures. That kind of thing has happened to me frequently. On this occasion, it brought me up short and I pushed away the bag of pistachios.

What stopped my snacking?

So what was it about Proverbs 25:16 that stopped my snacking?

I was crunching away for contentment. I felt as if pistachios were giving me peace! And in a moment’s time, the Word of God helped me to arrest my impulses. My faith interrupted my feelings. Proverbs 25:16 emphasizes “sufficiency” instead of saturation. When I reach “full,” there is no need to go farther. Now if you begin to think in these terms, you will begin to re-interpret the signals your body sends you. You can begin to discern the difference between “hunger pings” and “hunger pangs.” But, as the verse warns, if you snack right on past sufficiency, be prepared to feel sick. I recommend that you memorize this proverb to see if the Lord doesn’t bring it to your mind as well. God’s Word has a marvelous ability to reign in our feelings and impulses.

In this proverb, honey can represent any and all food. (Have you found pizza??) We were created by God to live for His Glory and enjoy His Creation. We were not created to sicken ourselves with a saturation of sweetness.

So ends this sermon on “sufficient sweetness.” Hope you enjoyed this “Honey Homily.”

–Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio

www.cbcfindlay.org