If the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil was going to be forbidden for Adam & Even, why did God put it in the middle of their world? Why not confine it to an obscure corner of the Garden where they were unlikely to find it, much less see it every day? If it had so much potential to cause their moral failure, why was it so eminent to their existence?

That tree shows us just how close we are to temptation in every part of our lives. It’s a sobering reminder that it is always possible for each of us to make a choice that will ruin us. And if you take stock of your daily habits and daily life, you have surely noticed that the urge to sin doesn’t ever fully go away. Even as time and faith make one sin’s allure begin to fade, another one begins subtly drawing us in. The tree is always in the middle of the Garden, and its fruit always looks at least a little bit appealing.

But let me be quick to add a preemptive correction that may prove helpful for some: the Bible does not teach that Christians perpetually live a hair’s breadth away from accidentally losing our salvation. In fact, in the Garden, while Adam & Eve were only one fruit away from death, the fact is that they did not eat the fruit by accident. God had told them what was right to do, and they chose to do otherwise. It was their choice to give in to temptation. And it is our choice too.

The tree was in the middle of the Garden, and it’s in the middle of our lives too. The choice between life and death is always before us. But God has told us how to choose life. Are you making the right choice?

- Dan Lankford, minister

In a popular book from the 1990’s, one Christian author imagined the scenario as a saint enters Heaven. He said, “You'll see faces that are waiting for you. You'll hear your name spoken by those who love you. And, maybe, just maybe--in the back, behind the crowds--the One who would rather die than live without you will remove his heavenly robe and… applaud.” And isn’t that a nice vision of entering Heaven? That the divine council of spiritual beings, the saints who’ve gone before, and even Jesus will welcome you with applause and congratulations?

However… for people who truly get what the Bible is all about, I don’t think that’s what we should be looking forward to.

It’s true that the apostle Paul said that the Lord would give him a crown on the day he finished the course of this life (2 Tim. 4:8). And Jesus said that the Lord will welcome his servants with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Mt. 25:21-23) However, neither of those really points to the glory of the recipient. Both are about the glory of the giver.

Brother Kelley’s Monday-night lesson on pride helped me remember that even when the twenty-four elders—the apostles and the tribes of Israel—stand before the throne of God in Heaven, “They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God!’” (Rev. 4:10) And for those whose greatest ambition is to love the Lord with all of our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength; our hope is not that the heavenly hosts will applaud us in glory. We know that they will be praising God.

That’s what we look forward to. On the day that God brings you into his glory, don’t expect the praise of heavenly realm to be directed at you. Let’s humbly realize that when we step into the light of glory, all things will praise God. Because it was his power and his grace and his love that got us there.
 
“Let the treasures of the trial form within me as I go. And at the end of this long passage, let me leave them at Your throne.”

- Dan Lankford, minister

Last week, Good Morning America ran a segment on protecting your kids from the influence profane language, from predators, and from various other immoralities that they should not be exposed to. Their focus was the digital realm—the internet and video games. And a good bit of the advice they gave was the kind of thing that Christian parents ought to take special note of.

They talked about getting filters set up on your home internet and your devices, about making sure that kids do not have access to the entire digital world from their own devices, and about specific services you can use to keep that kind of thing under control (link below). Two pieces of advice rose above the rest:

1) Even as you protect your kids from bad influences and temptations, teach them how to avoid and overcome the temptations that will inevitably present themselves.
2) More than anything else, parents must be involved. It takes some extra work for dad and mom to navigate these waters, and it's worth the diligence required of us to do it rightly.

Admittedly, it seems a little bit hypocritical to hear this advice from a left-leaning media network… one that occasionally promotes the spectrum of the LGBTQ+ agenda and other unwholesome ideas to kids in other segments and on some of its other channels. But in spite of the inconsistency, Christian parents ought to realize that if those folks can see the value in protecting children from unwholesome and dangerous influences while they are young, how much more should we be diligent in doing that?

*they recommend www.parentalcontrols.org for filtering/guardian options on video games*

Last year, we talked about having the word of God ingrained in our hearts, our minds, and our lives. It has been awhile, so I wanted to remind all of us to continue pursuing and practicing these simple and powerful routines in our lives. Here are the spiritual disciplines that are highly effectual for ingraining Christ’s way into our lives.

• Prayer. When we talk to God, we build our relationship with him. We cast our anxieties on him because he cares for us.
• Self-examination and confession. It’s easy to go through daily life without ever taking stock of our own hearts. Time spent in honest reflection leads to several healthy realizations—some that spark gratitude and others that lead us to confess our failures to God.
• Fasting. Have you ever eaten so much that you felt sluggish? Sometimes, our hearts feel the same. Fasting helps us to put away the indulgences of our souls and focus on what we need most: God.
• Solitude & meditation. There is great soul-restoring value in quality time spent alone with God in deep thought about his things.
• Sacrifice & giving. Make a way to give in some way that blesses others. They benefit, for sure. But the greater benefit is for you, the giver.
• Study. Take your mind deep into God’s word. Ask questions and find your answers. Grapple with tough concepts. Challenge your personal thought processes against the truth of his word. As your mind grows in knowledge, your heart will grow in faithfulness.

All of these help us to pursue what we seek most: God’s righteousness. And when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will be filled.

- Dan Lankford, minister

When a couple is expecting a baby (my wife is due to deliver our third son tomorrow, so you can guess what’s on my mind), they live their lives with a different outlook as the delivery gets closer and closer. They still go to work or classes or the gym, they still spend time with their friends, and they maintain most of the same routines as usual. But there is a constant awareness that their whole modus operandi may be dropped at a moment’s notice when it’s time for the baby to come. They spend their waking and working hours knowing that it all might be interrupted soon for them to meet someone they’ve been looking forward to meeting for awhile.

In that outlook, there is a healthy example for how we think about the Lord’s return at the judgment day. It helps to understand the continuation of daily life (Jesus prayed: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world” [John 17:15]), and it helps us think rightly about that final day, when God’s people—even those who are asleep—will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). Just like a couple anxiously looks forward to the day when they happily drop everything and go be meet the person they have longed to meet for awhile, Christians anxiously look forward to dropping everything and meeting the Lord, whom we and our fellow saints have looked forward to seeing face-to-face for centuries.

Does that mean we are living in limbo? Yes, to some extent. And we are doing so deliberately. Our feet are firmly planted on the soil of the earth, but our hope is anchored in Heaven, from which we await the return of our Savior and King, Jesus of Nazareth.

- Dan Lankford, minister

The mirror is considered to be one of the greatest inventions ever. While its uses are many, the primary use or function is to aid a person in seeing their physical reflection. Whatever stands before it is reflected, nothing more or less. In the physical sense it’s the ultimate revealer. I was out and about the other day and noticed mirrors everywhere. I then began to realize how convenient it is for people to stop and make immediate fixes to their appearance by simply taking the time to review their reflection in a mirror.  While the mirror’s convenience is great, the one function that has eluded it, is its ability to reveal the inner workings of a person’s heart.

The bible records in Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account”. For the Christian our mirror is the word of God, and while a physical mirror reveals what the outward man looks like, the spiritual mirror, the word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of every heart.

 In God’s mirror we can see a true reflection of who we are because we are completely exposed. One mirror feeds the outer man while the other feeds the inner man. Church family let us continue to stay in the word of God and be doers of his word by making corrections or adjustments when needed. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23-24). Amen

- Kristopher Sanders, minister

Integrity does not need to fear transparency. It’s true that a righteous person does not need to toot his own horn (cf. Mt. 6:1), but he will also never need to be afraid of people seeing behind the curtain of his life. That fear only comes when we try to foster some sort of secret sin.

We deceive ourselves when we think that sin may be secret or that we will be able to hide it in the long run. Several Bible passages remind us that God sees all things—our thoughts and our actions. In one such passage, Moses said to God, “our secret sins [are] in the light of your presence.” (Psa. 90:8) And it is not just God who will know about sins which we attempt to keep secret: other people will too. Paul told Timothy, “The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.” (1 Tim. 5:24-25)

So what do we do about that? The answer is simple, even if it isn’t always easy: do the right thing all the time. If your life is truly pure and holy, there is no need to fear discovery of anything nefarious. For instance, a financially responsible business manager has no fear of an audit because his books are clean. An honest and diligent student has no fear of being caught plagiarizing. A faithful husband has no fear of being caught with pornography or in an affair. A fair judge has no concern about bribes being discovered, because he hasn’t taken them.

In all these areas and plenty more, the lesson is that if we want to live with peace of mind and without a fear of exposure, then we should simply determine that we will have nothing to hide from God or from man. Integrity does not need to fear transparency.

- Dan Lankford, minister

In just about every sporting arena there are rules that govern the games. No matter the sport, in order to maintain discipline and keep order, rules must established and adhered to. In most sporting events there are physical areas designated as out of bounds. This typically means, the boundaries have been set and you can’t go beyond those established areas. If or when one does, it results in penalties and those penalties can sometimes be very costly. We saw this happen recently at one of the world’s largest sporting events. 

God has set boundaries for his followers when it comes to his word. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, it reads, “I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” “Do not go beyond what is written.” This means we cannot add to or change that which is already clearly stated in the word of God. To do so means we have violated the boundary line, and this assuredly will result in penalties that could cost us our soul.

John wrote in 2 John 9, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” What we believe or practice religiously must line up with the word of God. If it doesn’t, we don’t have God and risk losing it all. Let us not gamble on losing our soul by stepping out of bounds and doing what feels good to us religiously. God has set the rules; he will call the fouls and issue the penalties for going outside the boundaries of his word. May we who love the Lord keep his word completely.

- Kristopher Sanders, minister

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
(Prov. 4:23)

"What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
(Mark 7:20-23)

In the Bible, we are whole people—soul and body. And from ancient times, the Lord has talked about our hearts as the center of both of those. The heart is the hub: what you do with your body, what you say with your mouth, what you think in your mind, and what you desire in your soul... all of them center in the heart. It is the place where decisions are made and where our deepest desires abide.

It's no wonder, then, that the Spirit talks about how important it is for us to have pure hearts. The passages referenced above could be supplemented by a myriad of others that emphasize pure thoughts, righteous desires, and clean consciences.

Work toward that today. Pray for a pure heart (cf. Psa. 51:7-12). Control your thoughts. Don't just strive for purity in actions & words; see if there is some wickedness hiding in the corners of your heart where only you and God know about it, and let him cleanse it (cf. Psa. 139:23-24). Let your heart be pure in every way, and let that bring the freedom and joy that God intends to give you.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
(Matt. 5:8)

- Dan Lankford, minister

Webster’s describes a Christian as, “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ or one who is a disciple or follower of Christ.” It goes on to describe the word integrity as, “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles of moral uprightness, and the state of being undivided.” To sum up both words collectively, we might say that a Christian is an unwavering follower of Christ who has strong moral principles of uprightness.

 As followers of Christ, integrity should be front and center in every area of our lives. The Bible reads in Proverbs 10:9, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” The moral compass of a child of God should not go off-course just because their situation changes. And let’s face it: we live in an imperfect world where there are imperfect people. So then, how can Christian in-tegrity be found in an imperfect world? Answer: it can be found in Christ.

When we walk securely in the ways of the Lord we can stay on course and not waver. I like the word integrity because of two small words within it. The word in and the word grit. The word “in” means expressing the situation of something that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else.  The word “grit” means, strength of character.  When we enclose and surround ourselves in the ways of the Lord, our strength of character will be renewed daily. And in being renewed daily, a Christian can walk securely in integrity without wavering.

- Kristopher Sanders, minister