Jesus talked a great deal about the eternal fates of mankind: both the good and the bad. In Luke 16, as he told the story of two men—one in heaven and the other in torment—he gave the impression that those in torment suffer from a peculiar kind of clarity regarding life on earth. The rich man in that story requested: “I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” (Luke 16:27-28) He knew truly who was to blame for his bleak status, and he knew exactly how bad it would be for his brothers were they to come there too.

One preacher recently said to me, "I think a big part of hell will be just the burden of KNOWING what you did wrong and what you missed out on.” The torment of regret probably rings a faintly familiar tone for many of us.

How many times have you laid awake at night regretting something you did that you should have known better? How often have you found yourself trying to quell a stomach that churns with regret? Do you ever catch yourself sighing out loud as a regret-filled memory flits through your mind?

If we understand those feelings on that level, can we even imagine how deep the pain of regret will be where the punishment is so severe and when we have eternity to ponder it? Let’s make a determination to live every day with no need for shame about the way that we have walked with God. Believe in his forgiveness, live with integrity, and be free from the fear of death and hell’s regret-filled darkness.

- Dan Lankford, minister

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
(1 Cor. 13:12)  

"...for we walk by faith, not by sight."
(2 Cor. 5:7)  

"And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight."
(Horatio Spafford, from the hymn It Is Well With My Soul)

In this life, we must believe in things that we have not seen. We have not seen Jesus (1 Pet. 4:8), but we believe in him and we love him. And Jesus said that we are very blessed indeed when we believe in him without seeing him (John 20:29).

But won't it truly be a wonderful thing when we will see the things that we have previously only had faith in? Won't it be wonderful to see heaven—the great city that he has told us about and we have believed in? Won't it be wonderful to see the host of those whom God promised to save and we believed that he would?  Won't it be wonderful to see God in all of his glory? The God whom we have believed in through this life in spite of the fact that our eyes have not and will not behold him?

As our hearts long for eternity, we gladly echo Mr. Spafford's prayer: "Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight."

- Dan Lankford, minister

"For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, `Do not be afraid'" (Acts 27:23-24a)

Paul was a prisoner on his way to Rome for trial. The ship he was traveling on had been tossed by a hurricane force wind for several days. God sent comfort to Paul so that he would not despair. As He passes the good news on to the others that they would not die, Paul mentions God - "to whom I belong and whom I serve."  

To Whom I Belong

Christians belong to God. We have been purchased by the blood of Christ. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  

Some are unwilling to belong to the Lord. They belong to their jobs, their spouse, their children, their hobbies, etc. Most simply belong to themselves. They do what they want, not what GOD wants. Many are controlled by sin. " ...do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts" (Romans 6:12).  

And Whom I Serve  

Never forget that, because children of God belong to God, we have a duty to do all that He asks us to do. Paul served God because he belonged to Him. "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey? Whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.” (Rom. 6:16) When we understand that we have given control of our lives to God, we will obey and serve Him in ALL things.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1).

To whom do YOU belong?

- Roger Hillis, evangelist

There is a pervasive belief in Western society that life should be lived on two levels: the personal arena and the public arena. It is as though we live in a two-story house where we can go from floor to floor, but we can’t be in both places at the same time. And so the belief is that some things are—and should remain—only in the private sector of our lives. Chief among them: religion and all of its accompanying convictions.

Of course, Biblically-minded Christians have a problem with this world-view. Because the life teachings of the Bible are not just meant to be a matter of private conviction. They are meant to be sum total of our existence, including the way that our friends—and even the enemies of our faith—know us.

When the Holy Spirit speaks of religion, we don’t get the sense that he wants it to be a private affair. He warns us not to make a show of ourselves (Mt. 23:5), but we must also be impressed by the number of times that Christians are just noticed for living differently. Paul, Peter, and others suffered persecution simply because they were living good Christian lives and others saw that. The “two levels” of their lives both belonged to Jesus Christ.

Now, there may be times when Christian’s faith is justifiably kept secret (see John 19:38), but they are extreme circumstances. Until such a time as that comes in your life, be a Christian all the time. Let Christ be king in your private life and public interactions, “so that others may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.” (Matt. 5:16)

- Dan Lankford, minister

I recently read in an article where a Tennessee minister concluded: “The Bible is the best-selling, least-read, and least-understood book in the world.” In his view and experience, “Biblical illiteracy is rampant.” I am not a pollster on religious matters, but I would have to agree with this preacher. “We revere the Bible,” he says, “but we don’t read it.”

In a recent survey, 64 percent of those questioned said they were “too busy” to read the Bible. The average household has three Bibles, but less than half the people in the United States can name the first book in the Old Testament. One survey found that 12 percent of Christians identified Noah’s wife as Joan of Arc!

So, what is the solution to biblical illiteracy? The simple answer is to read the Bible! We all have busy lives but failing to include God in our business can ultimately lead to sin. The Noble Bereans studied daily.  “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) All of us could take 15 to 30 minutes to follow a daily reading regimen of God’s Word. The same amount of exercise time that many doctors say could extend your life span. Well what about our eternal life span? 

We all need to be growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). If we have not been studying God’s word, let us make a commitment today to put Him first so that we can grow in the truth and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

- Kristopher Sanders, minister

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

For Kris & myself, it is our job to talk about the things of God and how that affects our lives. And as the above quote from the apostle Paul clearly indicates, that commission is anything but inconsequential.

But while it's our job to talk about those things, it's everybody's job to live them. What we preach is supposed to be so aligned with God's will that it is like the words of God himself (1 Peter 4:10-11), and those words have eternal implications for all of our lives.

Kris and I do our best to speak about God's will accurately and clearly so that it can be easily understood by our hearers. Let's make sure that all of us are doing out best to live God's will accurately and humbly so that it be easily seen by others.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Have you ever wondered why God put so much emphasis on the church assembling together? It’s because He knew we needed one another. When we stay in closer relationship with one another, we are sharpened and stirred by one another in our walk with Christ. The scriptures place a lot emphasis on “one another” statements: “exhort or encourage, love and bear with, admonish and greet, accept, and serve one another.”

Worship is a privilege reserved only for the children of God and there are many benefits and blessings received from faithfully attending worship. God has commanded us to assemble weekly to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Hebrews 10:23-27 records, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation.”

When we forsake the assembly of the church except for circumstances beyond our control, we not only disobey God, but we rob ourselves of the benefits that worship affords us. For the Christian, assembling together is a sacred duty, an act of obedience and a blessed privilege. I saw a quote that asked this question: “If the church were your job would you still be employed”?

- Kristopher Sanders, minister

The Thanksgiving holiday is a special one for Christians. Historically, it looks back to a time when a group of believers who were making serious efforts to follow only the teachings of Scripture gave thanks to God for the help he had given them in finding a new land in which to practice Christianity as they understood it. But theologically, it looks back way further than that.

When God created the first humans in his image and placed them in the Garden of Eden, God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." (Gen. 2:29) So why did Adam and Eve eat the one kind of fruit that God had forbidden when they had every other kind of fruit available to them? The simple answer: ingratitude.

While it is certainly true that the underlying cause of every willful sin is pride (when we think our own way is a better choice than God's way), a case can be made that another underlying cause of every sin is ingratitude—a dissatisfaction with the rightful & wonderful blessings God has given us. Ingratitude leads to discontentment, discontentment leads to entitlement, and entitlement leads to arrogance, which gets us right back to the problem of pride that causes us to sin.

What do we do about this? We remember that Paul's encouragement to the Thessalonians is more than a cheap platitude—it is a divine command with the potential to increase our faithfulness and bring us eternal joy. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

For Christian parents, one of the happiest days of the whole parenting experience must surely be when our children decide to commit their lives to Christ. Several years ago, before I had kids of my own, I was with a close Christian friend when his son was baptized. I said to him, "This must be a good day for a dad." And without missing a beat, he said, "This is the best day for a dad."

Here's something to think about in that situation: as a parent, what do you say to your kids after that momentous, eternity-shaping event? What should our first conversation with them be like?

I don't feel like I have a very complete answer to that question, but I've got a couple of ideas as I think ahead to what I will say to my own kids. It will probably involve a long and serious conversation early on. (More likely, it will involve several serious conversations when we sit in our house, and when we walk by the way, and when we lie down, and when we rise.) So as I'm thinking about that now, here are some of the things I will want them to hear from me:

• First, I want them to know that I am overjoyed at the choice they've made! I am thrilled that they have believed in Jesus enough to do something with that faith.
• Second, I want them to start thinking about the power & importance of prayer right away. It's hard to think of anything as powerful for fighting temptation, for overcoming doubt, and for truly enjoying the gift of salvation.
• Third, I want to warn them about the serious and unrelenting nature of temptation. It doesn't go away after you're baptized; in fact, your temptations will almost certainly get stronger. And you don't get to take them less seriously after you're baptized. It can become easy to downplay sin by thinking, "Now, if I sin, all I have to do is pray for forgiveness," but it's not okay to presume upon God's grace like that (Rom. 6:1).
• Fourth, I want to ask them some questions about their friends. Will those friendships help you walk with Christ? What will you be doing to light the way to Jesus for them?
• And finally (for now, anyway), I want to hear that my kids have some actionable plans for spending time with God. A commitment to Bible reading, a prayer time and journaling habit, a devotional study they're having with their Christian friends, or a tangible way to do some good works for others... something to ensure that their faith will be active.

There's probably plenty more that would be good to include in those first days of shepherding our children toward God when they become Christians. But I hope that even this helps us as parents to start thinking ahead and planning to help our kids as much as possible when they make their own choice to walk thru life & eternity with Jesus Christ.

- Dan Lankford, minster

In Ephesians 5:15-17 the Bible reads, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” The King James Version reads in verse 16: “Redeeming the time, because the day are evil.” Paul here is cautioning Christians to use their time wisely because God expects the time He has given us not to be wasted.

The word for ‘redeeming’ in the Greek can mean to buy up, ransom, or rescue from loss. I heard it put this way: we need to rescue from loss the time that remains in our lives. 

James tells us in James 4:14, “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Once time has slipped away we no longer have it and yet many are foolishly making plans without God in their future.  What happened yesterday is gone and cannot be redeemed, and tomorrow is not promised. The time given to us should be spent glorifying God in every area of our lives. It should be manifested in our worship to God, our treatment of one another, our speech and in everything we do. When we rescue or redeem the time that God has given us, we are saying to Him, “Father your grace has not been wasted.” I personally know there are areas in my life where I could do a better job as it relates to my time. What about you? How are you redeeming the time God has given to you?

- Kristopher Sanders, minister