If you believe in Jesus Christ, post it in your status message...or be exposed as a "poser"...

The following message has been circulating among my Facebook friends "status messages" this morning:

"I believe in Jesus Christ. One face booker has challenged all believers to put this on their wall.....In the Bible it says, if you deny me in front of your peers, I will deny you in front of my Father, at The Gates of Heaven. This is a simple test. If you love God and you are not ...afraid to show it, repost this."

The unspoken accusation in that message is: "if you don't repost this message, you either 'don't love God' or 'you do love God but are too ashamed or too afraid to say so publicly.'" I absolutely reject this kind of statement.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I do not need anyone to "dare" me or to "shame" me into saying so. Neither will I "dare" or try to "shame" my friends, family, or total strangers into saying so. Jesus ALSO said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27). The FB status going around that tells me to post it in my status is reminiscent of the chain letter that threatens 7 years of bad luck to the person who breaks the chain. I do not criticize those who do post that status message--I commend you for stating where you stand on the issue. Even so, we are called to ENCOURAGE one another, not to try to coerce one another using shame, or even greed, as motivators.

If you need to test your faith and or courage, there is a better "test" than your Facebook status:

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

If you are still in doubt, pay attention to this:  "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of Godso that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:12

Making your Facebook status the litmus test of your faith seems kind of silly, doesn't it? If you want to testify about your faith in Jesus Christ, by all means, do so. If you want to honor Jesus in your Facebook status, do so. But please, don't do so in order to impress or appease someone else who might be wondering about you. That sounds an awful lot like what Jesus said to His followers about those who love to pray out in the open:

 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:5-6).

Doing what we do as Christians in order to be noticed by men, Jesus says, is one of the things that "the hypocrites" do. 

There is a higher motive:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Colossians 3:23-24)

By all means: do bear witness of your faith in God our Heavenly Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth. And surely do bear witness of the Only Begotten Son of God, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all humankind. Please do not, however, seek to please God apart from Faith, and, insofar as other people are concerned, "... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16.

God KNOWS whether you believe in Him or whether you don't. Don't testify to others to PROVE anything to yourself or to your friends. Testify to others because you truly have compassion on them and have love for them, and earnestly desire that he or she "should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16b).

I DO believe in Jesus Christ. More than that, I have repented of my sin and received His forgiveness. He has given me a "new birth", I am "born again." (John 3).  I am "in Christ" and therefore, I am a "new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

I don't ALWAYS say so publicly. I have missed many opportunities to bear witness of my faith in my Savior. I regret those missed chances, and I have asked Jesus to forgive me many times for my failure to speak. (He has always forgiven me and cleansed me from my unrighteousness -1 John 1:9. He's good like that.) Think about those times when you were confronted or challenged or dared to do something, and you hesitated, looking to the left and right to see whether anyone was watching you. When the Holy Spirit of God nudges you to speak or act as He directs, then DO IT PROMPTLY and don't bother to look around to see if anyone else is noticing. Just look at Jesus--meet His gaze, and do as He asks. 

May God bless you all today.

"Jesus Laughing" -one of my favorite imaginings of the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, King and Master.

The Practice of Christianity, Part 16: Hospitality

The Practice of Christianity, Part 16: Hospitality

The latest message in the series "The Practice of Christianity" is now ready for your listening online. Click on the link above or on the icon at the right to listen now!

Ministering: The Practice of Christianity, Part 15

Ministering: The Practice of Christianity, Part 15

This message was delivered to the congregation at First Baptist Church in Newburgh, New York on Sunday, September 19, 2010. It is Part 15 in the series "The Practice of Christianity."

A Fresh Start

A Fresh Start [click on the link to the left or on the picture to the right to hear this message]

This message was first delivered to the people at the First Baptist Church in Newburgh on Sunday, September 5, 2010. I invite you to listen, and, once you've listened, to invite others to listen as well.

The Practice of Christianity, Part 14: Giving

The Practice of Christianity, Part 14: Giving
(Click the link above or on the picture of our church to the right to listen to the podcast)

This message, first delivered to the congregation at First Baptist Church in Newburgh on Sunday, September 12, 2010, is the 14th installment in the current series of messages on "The Practice of Christianity." I will be publishing these messages weekly from here on out (or at least that is my intention!). I will post a few of the previous messages, but storage space for the audio files is limited until I raise sponsors and supporters to help pay for the extra storage space necessary to post sermons from the past 3 years. If you would like to sponsor this blog or the podcast, please comment here or email me at pastor@fbcnewburgh.com. Thank you!

Six Simple Words...

The sermon I love to preach...Since I first developed it more than 17 years ago, I have delivered it several times (always to a different audience!). I like the simple outline; I use what I believe are effective, memorable illustrations and apply the Biblical truth of Titus 2:11-14 to the listener in an easy-to-understand way. At least, that's what I tell myself in my critique! This recording was made on July 13, 2008, when I delivered the sermon at Immanuel Baptist Church in Maple Shade, NJ, as a guest of my college friend, Pastor Vince McDonald. I loved preaching at this church--the pastor, the worship team, the entire congregation were terrific people.

Coming soon...audio files of sermons preached!

Now, maybe this doesn't excite you the way that it excites me, but I have been longing for years to be able to make copies of my messages available to those who have asked about them. Others have been doing this for some time now, and I have known that it was possible. I am very close...maybe just hours away...from posting a blog entry with a link to an audio file. The first one I post will be a recording of my favorite sermon (at least, my favorite sermon of those I've delivered, for I can think of many sermons others have preached that I would put higher on my list!). Next step: podcasting! Yes, that's right. You will be able to subscribe to my podcast from your iTunes program, and even download to your iPod or other mp3 player! You'll be able to take my voice with you wherever you go. You'll even be able to replace that white noise machine you use to help you fall asleep at night! Now you'll be able to sleep through sermons from the comfort of your own bed!

Watch here for an update soon...

Remembering 9-11

It has been nine years since that terrible day when we began to see reports of what at first was described as a horrible accident, then an intentional attack, on the Twin Towers of World Trade Center, and then also the Pentagon. Eventually we learned of yet another attempted suicide attack that had been averted by the heroic actions of the passengers of United Flight 93. As the day dragged on, we watched, transfixed, as the twin towers collapsed. I well remember images of the dense cloud of smoke, dust and debris. The heroic actions of New York City firefighters, police officers, Port Authority police, rescue workers, government workers and volunteers have been well-documented. We should never forget nor falter in our appreciation for their efforts and their example.

Today, however, I am thinking about how people instinctively, reactively responded to this terrible tragedy by going to churches and other places of worship. My older brother recently told me that when he was filled with anxiety about the possibility of needing surgery to insert pins and plates in his broken foot, he "went to God's house, because I knew that God is always home." Americans filled with shock, grief, rage, anxiety and any number of other emotions reached out to God for help, for hope, for comfort. I am confident that they found what they were looking for in God's house when they needed it. I know that I did.

Why, then, are many of those same people who went to God's house in those days not still returning frequently to God's house? He is still at home, just where He was when they wanted Him. Perhaps that is the reason. God is always there when we need Him, or when we want Him. It's just that we don't always want Him, or we think that, when everything is going "alright" in our lives, we don't really need Him. Maybe we have the idea that God is a busy God, and we don't want to disturb Him with trivialities. We will look for God when we need Him, but otherwise, we won't bother Him. For some of us, we regard God the way we regard our dentist, attorney, or even a bail-bondsman. He's on my call list in case I'm in pain or in trouble, but otherwise, I avoid Him.

I wonder how God feels about that. I think I know how I feel about that. I have three children, now grown to adulthood. I love them—always have. Even when they were or are disobedient, disrespectful, indifferent, or distant to me, I still love them. Nothing will change that situation. From time to time, they still ask me for help—help that I am glad to offer when it is within my means to provide. But I look forward to the times when I can enjoy their company when they don't need anything from me except some of my time, attention and affection. It is at those times that I can enjoy my relationship with my sons the most.

God is my Tower of Strength, an ever-present Help in trouble. He is my Rock, my Refuge, my Deliverer. He is my Heavenly Father, and He is my Friend. God wants to be the God of my every day, not only the God of my troubled day.

Heelmarks in the Sand

NEW! Now you can listen to the author read this essay HERE


Most of us are familiar with the poem "Footprints in the Sand." It's been printed on plaques, plates, and cards. It's been laminated, lacquered, printed, published and painted. It is a great work of writing and has brought hope, comfort and encouragement, no doubt, to many, many thousands of people.

Here's the original version of the poem: "Footprints in the Sand," by Carolyn Joyce Carty

Tonight I was standing outside a school building, talking with parents, students, teachers and board members as we gathered to reach out for one another one more time to reconnect. The school was closed, temporarily, and classes combined with another school one town over.

As I talked to one of the parents, he mentioned something about following the will of God and His leading. At that moment, it hit me. Very, very little of my life could be described in painting or in poetry as two sets of footprints walking side by side down the beach. Those times when there was only a single set of tracks, it is true, mark the parts where God carried me along. Okay, I get that.

However, the image of God carrying me is often imagined as God cradling me in His strong arms like a parent carries an infant child. Beautiful!

I have an idea that sometimes, God has had to knock me once over the head to stun me, and then pick me up and throw me over one strong shoulder in a classic Fireman's Carry.

Back to the two sets of tracks. Two sets of footprints, walking together side by side? Rarely. Yes, God's footprints are steady, evenly measured, straight and true. When they change direction, it is a clear, purposeful turn. Of course. God knows where He's going, and He knows what He is doing. I know that I want to go along with God, but I frequently become distracted by things along the way and I want to go over and take a closer look, much the way my dog wanted to go for a walk in his own way, very different from the pace and path that I had in mind.

And occasionally, those tracks in the sand become really crazy. There's one set of footprints, but they've turned around and they are going backward. Between them, and sometimes over the top of the tracks, are two roughly parallel grooves carved into the sand.

I asked the Lord to explain those curious tracks.

He turned toward me, cupped His strong hand under my chin and turned my face directly toward Him, and said,

"My child, it was there that I dragged you."

Turning a Page...

This morning I turned the page on the calendar in our kitchen. August is over, and September is just beginning. One more reminder that time continues to march on, despite our efforts to slow it, stop it, or turn it back. I'm going to miss August 2010--it was a very good month!

Even so, I love the month of September. I always have. There are many reasons why, including the fact that September contains my birthday. Also, it contained my father's birthday, and it harbors my firstborn son's birthday, too. In fact, there are 7 September birthdays in my extended family, if you include my new daughter-in-law's (which, of course, I do.)

September is "back to school" month--something I always looked forward to (yes, I will now finally admit it, after the statute of limitations on students confessing that they actually like school has passed.) September is the time when summer gives way to autumn, and the nights are chilly while the days can still be pleasantly warm. The fresh smells of autumn are breaking on the breeze. Football season begins in earnest. Apples are ripe and ready for harvest--can fresh apple cider be far behind?

When it comes right down to it, September carries the promise of new beginnings much the way the first signs of spring bring relief and hope that the cold grip of winter is loosening.

Farewell, August 2010. You were mostly kind to me. Rest well wherever it is that past months go in retirement. Greetings, September! I welcome you with anticipation and hope!