Reminders!

A string around the finger; A note left in a conspicuous place; A single word written in the square of a date on a calendar—reminders. Let’s face it, we all need them. Our memories are not perfect. We may have been told, we may have known, but sometimes the gray matter needs jogged so we can remember what we know.

Christians need reminders, Peter wrote, “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.” (2 Peter 3:1).

We need to be reminded of the great grace by which we have been saved and the commitment we made to the Lord the day we gave our lives over in obedient submission to Him (Eph. 2:8; Gal. 2:20). We need to be reminded we are no longer our own but have been bought with a price.

We need to be reminded that while the church is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23) it is comprised of sanctified sinners. These are people who struggle and toil, who try to do good and right but don’t always succeed. They are people in need of compassion and forgiveness and encouragement and that we are numbered among them.

We need to remember that as we are constantly being pressured and pushed to fit into a certain way of thinking, that we are instead to be transformed and not conformed. This comes with a renewed mind and a renewed mind is one filled with the mind of Christ.

We need to be reminded that the world is LOST in sin, a world for whom Christ did and sin which His blood is able to cleanse. As one who wears His name I must remember that God’s saving power, the gospel, has been given to me as a great treasure. I need to be reminded that as I have been blessed I also now have a responsibility.

“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” (2 Peter 1:12 NIV)

Remind Me, Dear Lord
Chorus
Roll back the curtain of memory now and then
Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been
Remember I'm human and humans forget
So remind me, remind me dear Lord

Robert

Much ado about nothing - The Tebow ad

Fairly predictable lefty outrage was made by feminists groups such as NOW and pro-choice groups over the Tim Tebow Super Bowl commercial ad sponsored by Focus on the Family.

A 30-second Super Bowl ad, which pro-abortion and feminist groups had feared would offer a strong pro-life, anti-abortion message, instead did what the its sponsor said it would: celebrate family and life. The ad, in keeping with the comic tone of the majority of the advertisements running during the game, featured Pam Tebow, the mother of college football standout Tim Tebow, reminiscing about the struggles she faced in seeing her future Heisman Trophy-winning son come into the world.

The ad finishes with the invitation for viewers to visit the Focus on the Family website to hear more about Pam’s story.

While Focus on the Family reportedly paid an estimated $2.5 million for the 30-second spot, the publicity the group received because of attacks from its critics was priceless. Nearly every day, feminist and pro-abortion groups introduced a new tactic in an effort to smear Focus on the Family and pressure CBS officials to change their minds on running the ad.

Amazingly, without having even previewed the ad, leaders of the Women’s Media Center urged women to sign a petition to CBS, arguing that the ad was “surrealistic” in its pro-life message. Wrongly assuming that Focus on the Family would give the abortion issue center stage, the National Organization for Women demanded that CBS pull the plug on the spot, saying that the abortion issue “has no place in the Super Bowl.”

Each year, the Super Bowl broadcast is almost as anticipated for its ads as for the game itself. Many of them tastelessly use sex and the objectification of the female body to attract attention. You'd think "women's groups" might have something to say about that. But they reserve their censorship calls for what they really care about. Again, I think the truth about what these groups are really about, were exposed.

Although they claim to be more "tolerant" than those who might not agree with them, their view is not so much "pro-choice," but "no life."

Pam Tebow decided not to have an abortion, after a doctor urged her to, when in 1987 she was pregnant and had been diagnosed with dysentery. She called Tim her miracle baby, and said that she still worries about his health. No matter what your views are on abortion, Pam Tebow had a story to share; she was advised to have an abortion, didn’t, and her son has gone on to college football record fame. The commercial was not an attempt to force someone’s views upon another, but rather the testimony of one football hero’s journey into the world.

Congratulations to CBS and the Super Bowl for the brief time-out from the game to celebrate Tebows' focus on their family.

Robert Prater

Suffering

The presence of suffering and evil in the world undoubtedly presents the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith. Henri Blocher, commenting on this challenge, writes, “While it is suffering and evil that tortures human bodies, it is the problem of suffering and evil that torments the human mind.” Even the prophets in the Bible raise the question in various forms. For example, the prophet Habakkuk asked God, ―How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‗Violence!‘ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? (Habakkuk 1:2-3) Jeremiah challenged God by saying, “I would speak with you about your justice: why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1) The issue of suffering is taken up in the Book of Job where God’s character and moral trustworthiness that are called into question. If scripture is reliable, we may trust the goodness of God, but we will not have explanations. There apparently was never a more faithful and good man than Job, but he suffered without ever knowing why

Dr. Earl West tells of J. W. McGarvey, the greatly admired preacher and teacher of the Restoration Movement, counseling a grieving lady who lost her only son in the Civil War. She was seeking advice from the scholarly McGarvey when she asked, “Where was God when my son was dying?” Like Job’s wife, her grief and doubt led her to blame God for her sorrow. Immediately McGarvey replied, “The same place He was when His Son died.”

Ultimately, the answer to the problem of evil and suffering is not a philosophy, but a Person; not words, but the Word. The value of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is often overlooked at just this point. “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:14 New Living Translation) God “tabernacle” among us, or came to earth in a “tent” of flesh and blood, in the person of Jesus Christ. (John 1:14) Most often, in the midst of our pain, we want comfort, not explanations. This is where the presence of Christ in the lives of those who hurt is critical.

John Stott in his classic book, “The Cross of Christ,” addresses the centrality of the cross when it comes to suffering in our world. He writes:

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. . . . In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? The God of the cross is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. “The cross of Christ..…is God’s only self justification in such a world as ours.”

God is not indifferent to suffering. God so loved the world that He gave his only Son to experience unimaginable suffering and to die as a victim of evil and cruelty. He endured this to overcome sin, so that we might be reconciled to God and enjoy heaven where there is no suffering and death. (cf. Rev. 21:4) Also, we read all the stories of how compassionate Jesus was when encountering suffering people. He was not aloof. He cared about and shared their pain, just like He cares about your pain and problems now.

That is the God for me! I do not want to give trite or easy answers to these tough questions regarding human suffering. But in the end, when all is said, the answer to all suffering is the cross. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

And for the Christian, despite how difficult life gets, Romans 8:28 promises us that God can bring something good out of even the worst of circumstances, if we turn it over to Him. The promise doesn't say the good will outweigh the bad, or that the purpose of the bad is so there can be good - just that good can come from all situations if our lives are given to the Lord.

As long as there is life on earth, there will be pain and suffering. As long as there is life on earth, there will be injustices. We have no promise of a fair life. What we do have is a promise that God will never leave us or forsake us, that He will always be with us, even to the end of the age (Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20). And in our finite understanding, although we cannot fully understand why He does not step in and stop our suffering, we can see that what seems to matter in these few years we spend on earth is the relationship we develop with Him.

God bless,

Robert Prater

You Might Be A Preacher If...

A good fellow preacher friend of mine emailed me a list of You Might Be A Preacher If... and had a lot of good "inside" humor that really only preachers would enjoy.

You Might Be A Preacher If...• You hesitate to tell people what you do for a living.
• You've ever dreamed you were preaching only to awake and discover you were.
• A church picnic is no picnic.
• You ever spoken for free and were worth every penny of it.
• People sleep while you’re talking.
• You jiggle all the commode handles at the church building before you leave.
• You've been told to get a real job.
• You've been asked, "What's so hard about preaching?"
• Others wished they only had to work one day a week for a weeks pay.
• You have said, "I'm NEVER going to be a preacher."
• You wear your new shoes to church and someone comments, "We are paying you way too much money."
• Your children want to be paid for any stories, references, or examples you gave about them in your sermons.
• Your nightmares involve forgetting the deceased name at a funeral or walking into the sanctuary Sunday morning and realizing you forgotten to prepare a sermon.
• If you close your eyes and sing along with the congregation while really preparing the sermon in your mind.
• You keep relating movies you've seen to sermon topics.
• Your children are the worst behaving kids at church.
• Your vacation time revolves around church conferences or workshops.

Here are some other ones I've herad:

* You've ever wanted to fire the church and form a congregation search committee.
* You've ever wanted to give the soundman some feedback of your own.
* You've ever wanted to lay hands on a deacon, and you weren't thinking of praying for him.
* You often feel like you're herding mules rather than shepherding sheep.
* Your sermons have a happy ending; everyone's happy when it ends!
* You've never preached on TV, but your wife made you get down before you break something.
* You’ve ever asked for a clergy discount at a golf course.
* You’ve ever been asked to lead the prayer at a High School football game.
* Taking a nap on Sunday afternoon is a spiritual experience.
* It’s Sunday, but MONDAY is coming.
** It's your job to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

What have you heard?

Robert Prater

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A new year always presents a challenge. There is something about the New Year period that makes most of us want to start something over again in our lives. I wonder how many people have started off in life then got messed up and failed? Most of them never start over again.

Maybe today, you are sort of down and out, then you need to start over again. I am going to list four areas that are most common and that need a new beginning this coming year. If any of these speak to you or seem to challenge you, then let God make a new beginning in that area of your life.

I. SOME OF YOU NEED A NEW BEGINNING IN BIBLE READING AND STUDY

When I was younger I thought only preachers read The Bible rhrough. I remember thinking how impossible it would be in my life to accomplish that. But over time and practice, I learned that it really isn't very hard. The 1189 chapters can be read in one year by reading a little more than three chapters a day.

II. SOME OF YOU NEED A NEW BEGINNING IN YOUR MARRIAGE

There are many marriages that are just holding on. Reconstruct your marriage around the Bible, the Church, the people Of God. Most couples won’t argue and fight when they are around other Christians. Keep yourself involved with Christian fellowship.

III. SOME OF YOU NEED A NEW BEGINNING IS HELPING OTHERS

Each of us should be involved in a ministry of helping others.
A ministry of giving to others. Of giving self, money, time, kindness and our talents to God. Our congregations will never go on to the next level of growth until we each begin to giving ourselves to others.

IV. SOME OF YOU NEED A NEW BEGINNING IN YOUR LIFE

“"3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-4)

"If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creature.” (2 Cor. 5:17) Your live has been made over again. A new life exists.

Some Are Saying, “If only I could start over again." You can. Trust Christ.

Now is your opportunity. You can start over again today. Forgiveness is not rationed. Forgiveness is not short supply. Forgiveness is not limited. You can be forgiven of any and all sin. If you're a Christian who has fallen, confess and repent and come back to God. (1 John 1:9) If your not a Christian, give your life to Christ through faith, repentance and baptism. (Acts 2:37-28; Gal. 3:26-27)

Don’t let this year end and you still be in the same place you are right now. Do something about it. Start over again today.

Let me say finally, that you are all dear to me. I appreciate yoru reading, your comments, your emails, your encouragement more than I can say and if you will - keep coming back in 2010!!

God bless,

Robert Prater

The present Christmas season is surrounded with controversy. The question kept ever before us is: Do we dare say Merry Christmas for fear of offending someone? Well, heaven literally and truly came down and the Divine literally and truly became flesh when Jesus was born in a stable and placed in that manger in the little town of Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.

While it is true that we do not know exactly when Jesus was born, December 25 is the date that our culture long ago began to honor our Lord and Savior for His birth. For that reason, this is the time of year that the vast majority of Americans give thought to Him. Now the secular forces of our culture want to take even that away from the people.

As Christians, we are to remember the Lord every first day of the week as we participate in the Lord's Supper. (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-32) There we commemorate His death for our sins, we proclaim our faith in Him as we wait for His return, and we examine our hearts in relationship to His body, the church. Yet, long before there was a cross, there was a manger. Though we are not commanded to formally celebrate His birth, that does not mean that we should forget it, even at Christmas time. The cross would not have taken place apart from the so-called "first Christmas."

So, if indeed you remember Christ this Christmas, remember that He was not born to remain a child wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in a manger. He was born to become our Savior by dying on a cross and to be the Lord of our lives (Luke 2:11). The message of the manger must always point people to the cross – the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The important thing is that He was born and that He died for our sins. We’re not worshiping a helpless infant lying in a manger. We’re worshiping a risen and exalted Christ who has all power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

May we never forget that no matter how the world may treat us, we know who is Lord.

Merry Christmas to all of you and God bless.

Robert Prater

Too often the tendency of some modern Christians is like that of our ancient brothers who received the epistle known as “Hebrews” in our New Testaments. These folks had not grown in their relationship with Christ (5:12-14); they were weak (12:12-13), were beginning to forsake the assembly (10:25); had become sluggish in their religious activities (6:12); and were on the verge of falling completely away from the Lord (2:1; 3:12; 6:1-8).

Does this describe you? Perhaps you should ask yourself a few questions to see if you are in danger of falling from grace. First, are you as active in the Lord’s work as you once were? Second, do you read the Scriptures and pray to God as much as you did in the past? Third, do you attend less than you did in previous years? Fourth, do you feel closer to the Lord today than you did in the past?

Now keep in mind the overall purpose of Hebrews is described as a “word of exhortation.” (Hebrews 13:22) The writer of Hebrews was encouraging them like a coach, pressing them to press on. Yes they needed to be warned about the danger of falling away, but they also needed to be encouraged. Because these Jewish Christians had been very faithful and zealous at one point in the past (6:10; 10:32-34). He was confident they could do better spiritually than they were doing (6:9).
Their perseverance is one of the things that accompany salvation.

Friend, if you are not where you once were.... then you have moved in the wrong direction like the ancient Hebrew Christians. The warning of the Hebrew’s writer still holds true. When we are discouraged as the Hebrew Christians were discouraged we can easily become sluggish. Yet don’t be discouraged into giving up on Jesus! Remain in faithful service to the Lord. God hasn’t forgotten about you! Be passionate about hanging on to your faith.

Robert