I LOVE BEING ONE OF THOSE

And what is One of Those? One who loves the Lord.

West Point grad Jeffrey Adams' grandmother babysat for both of our children while my wife and I worked. For over 12 years we were blessed by her coming to our house to watch the kids. And they loved her like another grandmother.

When Jeffrey was in Basic Training, his Drill Sergeant had a conversation with him that went something like this.

"So you read the Bible, Adams?"

"Yessir."

"So you believe in God and that He will take care of you?"

"Yessir, I do."

"Adams, I'd like to have a devotion with you sometime."

"I'd be honored, Sir."

I haven't had an experience like that. I would hope I would be brave enough to put my faith on the line like Jeffrey. It's great to be known as One of Those, even if it's in a pejorative sense. Even if it's in the presence of others.

We are told many times in scripture that we will be persecuted for our faith in Jesus. It may be as insignificant as friends saying we've gone overboard on religion. But if we're not being persecuted, then we're not being visible enough as "salt and light " to the world. We're not taking a stand for Jesus.

And when "the saints go marchin' in," and "when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2:10-11 ), the worst thing I can ever imagine would be to hear from Our Lord and Savior, "I never knew him."(Matt 7:23)

SO EASY TO SAY, SO HARD TO DO

Trust in the Lord, that is. Let go, Let God. Again, it's all so easy. Seemingly. But that's before ego, self reliance, independence comes in. And it's all on our part.

"All we can do now is pray," is said in dire situations. It's one of my spiritual pet peeves. "No," I want to scream, "That's what you should have done in the first place." God wants to be a part of our lives. He doesn't shut us out. He's available 24/7 and we've been told to pray continuously (2 Thes 1:11). What a blessing! That we have access to the Father. To punctuate it more, Jesus is at His right hand and He prays for us, too. (John 17). So we don't need to wait until times of trouble to pray. If we do, we've missed the blessing.

John 16:33 tells us "in this world you will have troubles..." But we need not try to go it alone. "Oh what needless pain we bear/when we do not carry everything to God in prayer". Trusting in God, or In God we trust--it's a good motto.

"I FEEL CONVICTED"

Some would add "by the Holy Spirit". But what does convicted mean? Convinced, revealed, or exposed. Taking it one more step, if the accent is changed to the second syllable, the convict is exposed for his crime(s).

For awhile now, I have felt this conviction, and yes, I believe it comes from the Holy Spirit, about wealthy people coming to know the Lord. Maybe it's a knee jerk reaction to all the good work done for the poor by missionaries and missions and shepherds who serve and love the Lord--it's certainly nothing to take away from their good works. It's just that there's a whole mission field out there that seems to be neglected.

There are just a whole lot of people with wealth that are somewhat like the Munchkin mayor pictured above: with their arms spread wide in a what-me-worry state. Unfortunately, it's not the Jesus-loved-me-this-much state with arms spread straight out like He was positioned on the cross.

Matthew 16:26 tells us "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Of course, there's the danger. And everybody has deep valleys in their lives. And everybody needs a comforter. And everybody has to make the most important decision in their lives--follow Jesus or choose not to.

It's been said that one has to be lost before he finds the Lord. Please pray with me that the affluent in material things, like the Mayor, find behind the torn curtain in the tabernacle the real Wizard of Ahhs--our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

EASTER IN THE VALLEY OF THE SON
This is a picture of God's church. Oh, He has many to be sure. This is Scottsdale Baptist Church, 2500 Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona. We have active youth programs, Awana, youth praise band, women's ministry, several outreach programs, Sunday School and/or Adult Bible Fellowship, choir, youth music (Tunetown), a great young lead pastor and a great worship arts pastor, and some of the greatest people who love the Lord that I've ever been around. Come visit anytime--we'd sincerely love to have you.
But why do we emphasize corporate worship( defined as meeting collectively in a group as followers of Jesus for the purpose of worship)? Because the Bible does. Hopefully my blog will be based solely on scripture and not opinion. Why did my title 1 Way along with a picture and scripture--John 14:6 stating that Jesus is the One Way to get to Heaven? Again, because in the most radical verse of scripture, Jesus tells us that. It doesn't matter how good we are in this life, it doessn't matter that we worship another God, because if we don't believe in Jesus, accept Him as our savior, admit that we are sinners in need of a savior, and repent of our sins, then we won't be in Heaven when we die. And that's what scripture tells us. It doesn't matter if that's what I believe or your preacher believes or any other religious leader believes--it's God's Word that He gave us. Quite simply, that's why they call it the gospel. It's good news and it's true--the only truth, the only way.
Bob Schultz was a former teacher of mine who ended every Friday with these words:"Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll see you on Monday. Attend the church of your choice this weekend." We could count on that every Friday. God bless Bob for saying that. To top it off, it's scriptural, too.

WELCOME TO 1-WAY

I began 1-Way to fill in. Let me back up. I finished my Bible Study Fellowship class this year last Monday night. This, my fifth year, was a concentrated, intense study of the book of Romans. And what a great study it was!

If you live in a community of at least 250,000 people, then there's probably a class for you.

In the Phoenix area there is one men's class which meets Monday nights from 6:55 PM to 8:45. We begin with meeting in the church sanctuary for introductions, announcements, and two traditional hymns. Then we break into our small groups with our discussion leaders. We go over our answers for the week's study. For Romans, it was generally half a chapter per week plus additional readings from other books of the Bible. For 38 minutes we share our answers and our ideas about the lesson. At the end, there is a short session for prayer requests and praises for other group members.

After that we return to the sanctuary where we sing one more hymn and listen to a 40 minute lecture on our reading for the week. It's a great reinforcement and in depth look at scripture.

So when I said my 1-WAY blog was a fill-in, I meant it was a way that I could stay in the Word through our summer break before we begin the study of Matthew in September.

Bible Study Fellowship is a seven year program that focuses on Genesis, Exodus, Israel and the Minor Prophets, John, Matthew, Romans, and Acts. It is designed to study 80% of the Bible in seven years. If you can't tell, I'm really sold on it.

It is my wish that everyone could experience BSF. If not, then make a plan to read through the Bible this year, even this summer. I have a book that focuses on reading the Bible in 90-days. You can do it! And it is so rewarding.

If not, if that's too big a chunk, then pray and ask God to work in your life; ask Him to show you what you should be doing in your daily life to strengthen your faith. Try to do it daily. And, of course, you are welcomed to read my blog 1-Way. I'll end this entry the way Red Skelton used to end his tv show--"and may God bless".