A gospel meeting week or a VBS week or a week spent at camp all leave us with a high level of spiritual enthusiasm. People are tired, but still somehow energized. Special spiritual events leave us with a renewed sense of dedication and zeal about spiritual things. We often walk away thinking, either consciously or subconsciously, “I had forgotten how good we have it as Christians; I’m going to tell my neighbors and invite them to a Bible study.” Or we think, “I love this Bible-learning stuff! I’m going to re-double my efforts in daily reading so I can always be learning like I was this week.” Or maybe you walk away from a special event thinking, “I wish we could have events like this more often. They do so much for my spiritual walk.” I genuinely hope all of us can relate to this kind of spiritual excitement at some point of life.

I want to encourage a couple of thoughts about these spiritual high points. Firstly, there is nothing wrong with them. In fact, God created us so that our emotions and our wills would work in tandem. It is a good thing when our emotions help us to be more spiritually minded, and there is no reason to fight against its happening. There is no need to believe these emotional times are harmful to our faith. In Nehemiah, as the people were rebuilding the decimated city of God, we read that, “They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away” (Neh. 12:43).

Often, when we experience a spiritual high point like that, we assume that “This is how Christianity is supposed to feel.” And so we expect that when we renovate our spiritual practices like Bible reading and prayer, we will receive the same feelings. Let me exhort us to be very careful when chasing after what Christianity should feel like. The reality is that God talks very, very little about how we should feel as his people. He spends the vast majority of words on how what should be as his people. And this should give us great comfort in knowing that even when we feel sick, tired, depressed and when we feel exuberant, healthy, and excited… God can be praised and pleased in all those times.

Let me encourage you not to evaluate your spiritual life by the feelings it produces. Evaluate it by the teachings in the word of God. Are you living and making choices that would please him? Even if it doesn't feel like a high point, you may still find that your faith is acting at a high level.

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

In Colossians 4, we find two short verses about a man named Epaphras. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God…” (Col. 4:12-13). A few ideas stand out to me about the Bible’s short note on this man’s life.

Epaphras was a man of prayer. When we read that he “struggled” in his prayers, we can see a similarity to the way that Jacob struggled with God’s angel through an entire night because Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26). Jacob’s struggle with God and Epaphras’s struggle in prayer both remind us that a relationship with God takes work. It takes focus to truly devote ourselves to prayer in the way that these two men demonstrate. How can you devote yourself to prayer in some similar ways?

Epaphras was a servant of Jesus. His life embodied the kind of selfless, continual sacrifice that true faith demands. He gave himself for Jesus, and he gave himself for other people. Our lives ought to be modeled on the same pattern—a pattern of serving Christ and then others with our entire lives. It is a pattern that mirrors the life of Jesus—a man who took it upon himself to do the job of the lowliest slave in the house. A man who took it upon himself to experience capital punishment for my selfish decisions. Epaphras was a servant like Jesus was a servant. How can you serve like them?

Epaphras was a teacher. In Colossians 1, we learn that he had been the initial one to teach the gospel to the people of Colossae (Col. 1:7). The fact that the Colossians were saved, the fact that they were maturing in faith, and the fact that they were continuing in service to God all began with one man’s efforts to teach the gospel to those who needed it. Are we doing the same? Are we sharing the words of Jesus? Are we sharing the simple message that all sinners need a Savior and we know who that Savior is? Are we teaching people about God’s answers to life’s greatest problems? Are we living the kind of lives that would be noted as people of prayer, people who serve, and people who teach?

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

"The truth is most great men in history have become great because they aggressively pursued knowledge. They overcame gaps in their early education... They took responsibility for their education and did not wait for the knowledge they needed to come to them." (from Mansfield's Book of Manly Men, by Stephen Mansfield)

I read that this morning, and I was struck by how well it applies to the need for Bible learning. And I thought about it especially in terms of Paul's life.

Mansfield: "...they aggressively pursued knowledge."
Paul: Educated under the best rabbis, a Pharisee who considered himself blameless in respect to the law (Phil. 3:6).

Mansfield: "...overcame gaps in their early education."
Paul:  Met Jesus on the way to Damascus, learned the new and better way to serve God with zeal.

Mansfield: "...did not wait for the knowledge they needed to come to them." 
Paul:  Upon his conversion, immediately sought to be part of the church—an environment where people who knew Jesus would be.

My prayer for you today is that you will recognize what a great source of education—of the highest learning—is available to you in the pages of God's word. Don't wait for a Sunday or Wednesday night to roll around so someone else can be responsible for your education. Pursue the knowledge of God! Make Bible reading a priority today! Get into God's word so that God's word can get into your life!

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

There was another shooting on a college campus this past week. At a community college in Oregon, a man came onto the campus with multiple guns and sinister plans to kill. He killed nine people before he turned the gun on himself.

Perhaps the most harrowing part of the story is the account relayed by one student of how the gunman made people stand, then asked them if they were Christians, and then proceeded to shoot them if they answered “yes.” This story—shared by several major news outlets—got me thinking about my confession.

When I was a child, teachers in my Bible classes and devos would often ask me, “If someone held a gun to your head and asked if you were a Christian, would you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” And in a moment of pure transparency, I admit that I hated the question because I thought that sort of thing would never actually happen. That’s the kind of thing that happened in ancient times or in countries where Christianity is against the law. And since the only country I knew of where that was true was China, I just planned to never visit China.

But that view was never correct. Even when I felt that way, there was still a chance that I would be asked to die for my faith. An Oregon community college is not the place one would expect these things to happen, but they did happen. And our lives are not where we expect that kind of thing to happen, but they may yet happen.

The solution to this is not that we would start looking over our shoulders and being suspicious of everyone as a possible threat. The solution is rather that we must put our faith in Jesus Christ when things are going well. The solution is to trust that even if someone wanted to take our lives for our faith in him, we would still be safe. The solution is that we must “not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” But rather, we must “fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

This kind of ultimate trust takes a serious focus on the things we cannot see. It takes a serious determination every day to be true to him no matter the threats it may bring. And it takes a serious conviction that no matter what we face here, God is actually able to deliver us to something so far greater!
 

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

The pope's very recent visit to America was covered by multiple news outlets. One that caught my attention was the email headline I received from USA Today on Saturday. It read, "Pope Francis urges church to break down walls in Philly Mass; The city is the final stop in a pontifical happening that has lured millions of exhilerated fans." The last line is the most intriguing to me as it talks about the pope's millions of fans.

I thought it was an interesting and revealing choice of words. Because the Catholic religion considers the pope to be the cornerstone of the church, and his words are to be considered as carrying the authority of God. And yet his followers are not called "disciples" — they are called "fans."

I want to just encourage you to think about that difference today. Because while the pope can have "fans" (he is, after all, just a man), it is not okay for us to just be "fans" of Jesus. One writer asked the question, "Have you made a decision for Jesus or have you committed to Jesus?" There is a difference.

We are not called to just be fans of our favorite ancient teacher, but disciples of our Lord and Savior. Devoted. Driven. And defined by Christ in our hearts. How are you doing with that?

"...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy..."  (1 Pet. 3:15)

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

In my prayer and meditation time this morning, there's just a lot on my mind. For example:

Today is September 11. When I heard the bad news 14 years ago, I was in English class at Dickson Middle School in Dickson, TN. My teacher said, "You all will remember today like your grandparents remember where they were when President Kennedy was shot." She was right. And I remember thinking, "How many people died this morning?!" Today, I'm praying for the people who experienced close personal loss and will be hurting today, and I'm praying for the people who are so misled by the false god of Islam.  "God, I'm so thankful for Jesus. I'm so thankful for salvation and comfort I have in him. And I pray others can find those same things—that you'll use me to help more people know Jesus."

This week, I spoke at the funeral of a friend. He wasn't a long-time friend, but he was a loyal and devoted friend. He was one of our church members, and I only started getting to know him in April of this year, but I did not expect to be losing him so soon. The whole week has reminded—and/or taught—me of a few of really heavy things. 1) That faith in Christ and integrity really are THAT important, because death is real, Jesus is real, and that means judgment is real.  2) That it's important for me to enjoy the friendships and examples I have in my life right now, because they are blessings from God for TODAY.  3) I have a wonderful church family. Seriously, if you don't know the Eastland church of Christ, you need to get here and get to know them soon. I've never seen a church respond to the loss of one of their own like these people have. The overwhelming outpouring of support to the family, the amount of time spent in memorial, the depth of sadness and sincerity of hope in conversations, and the amount of time so much of the church has spent together this week just to support and love each other... It's been an amazing week, and it's made me so, SO thankful for them.  "God, thank you for my friend, Jerry. I loved him, and I will miss him, but I'm thankful for him. And thank you for all that you've taught me this week. I know I am among your disciples because they love each other. Thank you."

This coming Sunday, if God wills, our worship will be packed with members and guests. Our members are working hard to bring in people with whom they want to share their faith in Jesus. And so... knowing that, I'm trying to come up with a lesson that won't use any gimics or false appeals... but will just show people the true nature of Jesus. We're going to talk about forgiveness, and the more I work on the lesson, the more and more and more I want to say... because forgiveness is SUCH a powerful blessing!  "God, help me bring you to the forefront and me to the background. Let me be just the channel for your power to do the real work in people's hearts."

Did you see that video about "Christians" released by BuzzFeed this week? It was targeted to people who dislike or even hate Christians (a growing number in this country), and it's message was basically, "I'm a Christian, but I'm not what you think about me." I could write A LOT about the video makers' mistakes (and maybe I will next week), but the thing that bothers me the most is... it isn't about Christ. In fact, he isn't mentioned a single time. In fairness, God is mentioned... once. But the omission was so glaring that one of the first comments on the video was this: "I may be Jewish, but I still expected something about Christ in a video about Christianity. You could've replaced the word Christian with 'buzzfeed contributor' and it would have made no difference." This hasn't just bothered me because a worldly company made a video that misses the point of the gospel... I expected that. It has bothered me because of how many self-proclaimed believers only believe in a version of Christianity that lacks Christ. As the Jewish commenter points out, when you define yourself as a Christian, that means you have to define yourself by Christ. We (believers) are missing the point when we miss the theology (the nature of God) in Christianity. If it isn't about God first, it isn't going to last. BuzzFeed's watered-down, humanistic, self-centered version of religion won't last. Because it doesn't have Jesus, and it's therefore missing the single most crucial component of its uniqueness. And I wonder... is your faith mostly about Jesus? Is mine?  "God, make me all about you. Define me by my salvation in you, my total dependence on you, and my complete submission to you. I need you, God. And I couldn't be more thankful that you love me."

That's the stuff that's on my mind today. We'll see how it all plays out when Sunday comes.

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

In the history of the Middle Ages, one can find a number of accounts of people who were sentenced to capital punishment in some sinister ways. The sentencer: the Catholic church leaders. The crime: translating the Bible into a language which could be understood by the general public. William Tyndale’s is the most memorable story of the type. He was hanged and then his body was burned for his translation of the bible into English in 1536.

I imagine most of us would look at the stories of Tyndale and others and think, “Of course the Bible should be translated! Everyone needs to know what it says! Why would anyone ever think it should be kept from people?”

Part of the reason for prohibiting Bible translation was to keep control of the things that would be taught. It is not difficult to see in the histories of that time that the man-made political system of the Catholic church did its due diligence to keep people from studying the Bible and seeing the true nature of salvation and Christ’s kingdom. This standing in the way of truth is certainly not to be commended. It was ungodly, impious, and sinful.

But another reason for keeping the Bible out of the hands of common man was the belief that the common man could not correctly handle the great truths of the Bible. And while we might look back on that line of reasoning and sneer at it, we would do well to ask ourselves if we are, in fact, correctly handling the word of God. When it cost Jesus his life to make the plan available, and when it cost the lives of others to make it available in our language; are we going to waste the beautiful blessing that it is? Are we familiar with the word of God as it truly speaks, or just as we would like it to speak? Are we lackadaisical in our approach to study and reading? Are we intellectually dishonest with the Bible? Are we reading it with humility and submission to the power of Christ, or not?
I would never advocate the idea that the Scriptures should only belong to a select, small group of people. But I do want us to all make sure that if the word of God is within our grasp, that we take hold and make the most of it.

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

In the Bible, when good things happened, people blessed the name of the Lord! For example, when Ruth had married Boaz and had delivered their first son, the women who knew her said, "Blessed be the Lord... and may his name be renowned in Israel!" (Ruth 4:14)

Also in the Bible, when bad things happened, people of faith still blessed the name of the Lord! So when Job had lost his children and his fortune in a single day, he said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

The thing to learn from this is that God is good all the time. He is just as much God in our good times and in our bad times. And he is just as blessed, no matter the situation we're in. And although there are times when his goodness is seen more evidently, we need to make a special effort to know Him well enough that we can acknowledge and appreciate his goodness ALWAYS.

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

Some people are best motivated by caution. Public service announcements work very well to scare some people away from smoking, texting & driving, or other things like that. Warnings that make us afraid of dangerous, hurtful, or sad consequences stick with us and drive us to live safely, cautiously, and deliberately. We don’t think so much about doing more, but we do think about not doing things badly.

Some people are best motivated by reward. The possibility of a pay raise or a promotion drives us to excel, progress, or push forward. When someone shows a better way to accomplish something, we immediately gravitate toward the new opportunity to be better than ever before. We don’t think so much about playing it safe or heeding warnings, but we do think about doing things better than we’ve done them in the past.

In both cases, we tend to look at those who are motivated differently and think their outlook is flawed. So a caution-motivated person wonders, “Why aren’t more people taking these warnings seriously?” And a reward-motivated person wonders, “Why are people so bent on NOT doing stuff when there’s so much to be done?”

The Scriptures present us with the unique method of using BOTH types of motivation. And so we are warned to “look carefully then how you walk” (Eph. 5:15), and we are also encouraged that “we are not of those who shrink back” (Heb. 10:39). We are sternly admonished to “note then... the severity of God” (Rom. 11:22), and on the other side of the coin, one disciple talked about his reward when he said, “I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:8).

The Lord’s wisdom is shown in his appeal to all different kinds of hearts. This is why our teaching must follow his word so closely—so that it is not just up to us to decide how everyone should think, it’s his guidance that matters. And that’s why the Bible should be so important to each of us individually. Whatever it is in God's word that motivates you, hang onto it!
 

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

The lawyer asked Jesus a question. The question was, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus simply told the lawyer, “Do this, and you will live.” The next phrase in the conversation intrigues, astounds, and humbles me. The text says, “And he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”

I’m humbled by that description of the lawyer’s motivation, because I have done and said quite a few shameful things when seeking to justify my sinful attitudes or actions. And I suspect you have too. See if any of these could apply to you.

• “And he, desiring to justify himself,” ignored the sin in his life—swept it under the rug in an effort to alleviate his guilt.
• “And he, desiring to justify himself,” attacked the person who brought sin to his attention in an effort to deflect blame and hide his shame.
• “And he, desiring to justify himself,” laughed about his sin and made everyone else laugh so that it didn’t seem so bad.
• “And he, desiring to justify himself,” looked for others—especially highly decorated or well-known people who practiced the same sin in hopes it would soften his guilt.
• “And he, desiring to justify himself,” stopped reading his Bible because it challenged his lifestyle, stopped attending church because it challenged his attitudes, stopped sharing his life with God’s people because they challenged his choices.

My grandfather preached a sermon whose title line said, “You can smash the barometer, but you can’t stop the storm.” He was right. We can remove all the indicators that we are living in sin. But we cannot change the realities of right and wrong. And we cannot change the reality of God’s will. We can look for all sorts of ways to justify our actions and attitudes, but only one thing truly justifies us: the blood of Jesus Christ.
 

- Dan Lankford, evangeslist