Daily Devotions - Entries written by Phil Nelson

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 December 3: Against All Odds

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 10 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

2 Kings 7:2 (NIV)
²The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" "You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"

God loves to show up at the time when everything looks completely hopeless. He loves it when his children are confident in His Word regardless of what the circumstances look like. Consider these following examples of hopeless situations;. Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, Feeding 20,000 with five loaves and two fish, . Feeding 7,000 with seven loaves and three fish, Being stoned and left for dead in Acts 14, Being dead and buried for four days in John 11.

God is always for the underdog. He does not work much with those who are self sufficient, he works among those who have no other place to go. As for this soldier in our text he was the support for the King of Aram. How much better could it get than to be known as the one who supports the King. He must have thought of himself as some sort of protector and deliverer and it went to his head.

Listen carefully to his boasting. "Even if God opened the windows of heaven, could this happen?" Basically he was calling Elisha, the representative of God a liar, or at least a dreamer with no substance.

I wonder if you are in the place of those who were living in Samaria. Do you feel like your life is under siege of the enemy? DO you find your resources completely dried up? Are you beginning to think about taking things into your own hands and giving up on trusting in God's promises? All of these things were happening in Samaria. There was no food, they were under siege by a pagan king and things had been this way for quite some time. There was no visible evidence that God or anyone else for that matter was going to come to their rescue.

Let's face it, those living in Samaria had no reason to even think that God would provide for them again, look at their lives? There was open cannibalism being practiced. Pagan idols were plenteous in the land and a powerful pagan King was laying siege to them and he was winning.

Into this situation Elisha enters and proclaims that tomorrow everything will be better than anyone could possibly dream. It would all happen in less than twenty four hours. By every possible indication what Elisha proclaimed was impossible. This is just the situation that God loves to work in.

Awakenings and revivals are born out of such situations. When God's people are desperate God finds a way to show up. I wonder how he might show himself to you today. BE of good cheer God is at work even right this very moment even though you cannot see him. We will see tomorrow just how he is at work in our midst.

Finding Hope under Siege,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 December 2: Unbelief in the Day of Good News

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 10 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

2 Kings 7:1-3 (NIV)
¹Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria."
²The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" "You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"

So the situation looked real bad. The news media were all in agreement that things would never get better. Everyone allowed the media to convince them that they spoke the truth so no one believed that anything good could actually happen anymore.

Enter one man of God, named Elisha. Listen carefully to this media person sent from Heaven to give the correct news for all to hear. "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria."

Now Elisha was speaking something that was completely contrary to what the modern news media and intellectual elites were saying in his day. (Not much has changed in 3000 years huh?) His word was the economy was going to turn around so fast that it would make your head spin. What Elisha predicted was equal to some one being interviewed on our national media today and predicting that gasoline will sell for less than ten cents a gallon beginning at noon tomorrow.

Now consider what the news media pundits would say bout such predictions. I am sure the reports would go something like this, "Some crazy preacher that dresses poorly has gone off his rocker yet again. He is predicting that gas will be selling for ten cents a gallon by noon tomorrow. Katie, what do you think about this?

"I think he is crazy and should be locked up. His fanciful predictions do not help us in this situation. We do not need someone to come in to tell us that God desires to bless us, what we really need is someone to tell us how bad things are and how they will never be good again. What we need is the truth, not some crazy preacher telling us some fancy fairytale."

Ok let me get you back to reality before you go thinking I have lost my marbles too. To be sure we are in difficult times. The economy is not looking very good and our politicians do not look like they will be our deliverance, even after this election. Surprise surprise!.

So what can we glean from this text for our lives during this time of year when churches are calling on us to give more money and make more commitments to missions than ever before? Surely those who ask for such things are somewhat like that crazy half baked prophet, Elisha.

Not so fast. What is our reality. Is it what we see with our eyes or is it what we believe about God without seeing? I hope you chose the second answer. So just how does this all help me live in this present situation? Trust me this story has much to say to all of us who will keep on reading. But since I have already taken up a lot of your time today you will have to come back tomorrow to see what message there might be in this text for you, or you could just keep on reading II Kings 7 and see if you can discover it on your own.

See you tomorrow,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 December 1: The Sequel to a Dark and Stormy Night

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 10 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Philippians 4:4 (NIV)
⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

It was a long and boring basketball game. The stands were half empty; the crowd was not even in the game for the most part. I had planned to spend the evening with my daughter Hannah and thought that going to a basketball game would be fun, was I ever wrong.

Hannah and I had great seats due to some free tickets that had been given to us so we settled down to enjoy a very boring game. The Salukis were ahead of their opponent by almost thirty points at one time so no one was even interested in the game.

At half time we stood in the Dippin Dots line for the entire half time only to get to the counter to discover that they had run out of all of the favorite kinds, so we made our way back to our seats for another uneventful half of slow moving basketball.

After the game we went to our favorite restaurant and enjoyed some good food and played some rather silly games on the table. I am sure we looked rather childish as we played different games and cheered for our successes as we sought to trash each other in a contest of quarter foo0tball. (Don't ask me to explain it, it is just something that Hannah I d when we are at restaurants.)

As we were on our way home, Hannah turned to me and said, "Dad, this was a great night!"

Rather confused, I replied, "How can you say that. We went to a boring game and stood in a long line only to be disappointed and found our joy in playing quarter football on a table at Steak and Shake?"

Her quick and honest response was, "Dad, we were together and that is what made it great."

Often life is just routine, nothing spectacular happening, just going through the motions of life. Some will say they need some chemical to excite them, to raise their pleasure level. Others may turn to all sorts of other things for pleasure, but for those who know the Risen Christ we can rejoice because God is with us even in the boring times and that changes everything.

So how about a little more rejoicing Church. Go ahead and throw your head back and laugh a little, it is ok. In fact we are commanded to rejoice. Paul has to remind us twice in one verse. I guess it is hard for us to hear that coming from God. Perhaps our concept of God needs a little reworking as well. Rejoice, what a nice concept, all because of God's presence.

Taking time out to Rejoice a little,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 24: It Was A Dark And Stormy Night!

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 10 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)
⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

It was a dark and stormy night. The sky was covered with storm clouds and the wind was howling across the field. You could hear the crunch of the harvested corn stalks under your feet with every step. It was just a few days ago that coyotes had been heard howling in this very field. The wind made an eerie, almost ghostly sound as it descended on the forest. The trees became animated wild beasts as they groaned and creaked under the rush of the wind.

This was no place for a nine year-old little girl to be in the middle of the night. Fear would certainly be the most dominate force in a little girl's heart in such a situation, but there was none of it to be felt that night, when all self respecting little girls would be safely tucked in their beds, fast asleep.

So just how does a nine year-old little girl face such fearsome circumstances and find a great deal of joy in such foreboding situations?

I had promised Lydia, our nine year-old, that I would take her for a walk in the woods after I returned from the SIU game and my time with Hannah, our fifteen year-old daughter. Since there was no school tomorrow Lydia could stay up until I got home and we went on our walk in the woods.

Hannah and I returned home after 10 p.m. to find Lydia waiting with great anticipation for our late night trek through the woods. We set out about 10:30 and walked out across an open field for about half a mile.

As we began our trek out across the forest we heard an eerie sound coming from some animal. I looked back and saw a streak of black rushing toward us. Our flashlights caught the animal but all we could see was the sharp piercing eyes reflect the light of our flashlights.

Anyone else would have run for cover but not our Lydia, she was actually quite thrilled to see this black animal with piercing eyes running towards us. After all it was only our black cat, Chloe, coming out to walk with us through the woods.

As we continued our walk, the moon came out and shone upon our path so we decided to turn out our flashlights and walk in the quiet blackness in the midnight forest.

After walking for a few minutes, Lydia grabbed my hand and said, "Daddy, this is really fun being with you and I am not even scared."

I could hear the coyotes howl in the distance and see the eerie shapes the trees were making as the wind blew and I felt the beat of my heart grow faster, but I wasn't going to let on, not if my daughter wasn't scared.

It was then I saw my opportunity and I took it. "Lydia, can you tell me why you are not scared?"

Her instant reply was, "Well Dad, it is because I am with you. Why should I be scared, when I am with you?"

Ok, now I got it. She was not scared because she was with her dad. So why should I be scared if I am walking with my Father.

No matter what you will face, you have no reason for fear for the God who made you and called you by His name is right there with you. Yes David got it right, "I will fear no evil for you are with me . . ."

I think I will go for another walk in the woods at midnight tonight. More to come after I get back from the late night walk.

Fearing No Evil,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 22: I Love it When the Church is the Church!

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Psalm 133:1-3 (NIV)
¹How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
²It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
³It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Ok so today will not be a devotion, I have to brag on God for a moment and I hope he will allow me. I was involved in a real live church service where God was very much a part yesterday.

I woke up at four o'clock in the morning very worried about how everything would work out. There were so many things to make work I was already tired just thinking about it. There was the Sunday morning Bible study to finish, the Morning message to put the final touches on, concerns about how we were going to be able to pull off worship when I found out just a few days previously that we had no one to lead, so it was going to fall in my lap to do what I am not qualified to do.

On top of all this we had our Thanksgiving dinner immediately following the morning service. Then to put the icing on the cake we had several visitors that each had special needs that required close attention. The text I had chosen for this morning was I Thessalonians 5:16-18. Little did I know how timely this text would serve for my own life. I will leave it to you to read this passage or you can listen to my podcast.

When I arrived at the worship center I discovered several of the women and men of our church had already had everything already set up for the dinner and we already had more than enough food even if we had several visitors that came without any. One problem taken care of.

Just before worship we had a homeless man, named Lonnie, that entered our worship center and looked to be very disturbed. I thought to myself, "What a time for someone like this to show up. I wonder how the church will respond?" But to be honest I was not surprised to see five of our men go over and seek to minister to this stranger in our midst. No one looked down on this man, they went out of their way to serve him and invite him to join in the worship celebration.

I thought to myself, "Way to go God and way to go men of Lakeland." I then saw another of our members befriend a visiting student from another country and go out of their way to make them welcome. This international student even stayed for the meal afterwards.

During our time of thanksgiving testimonies I heard countless statements like the following, "I thank God for the way that so and so ministered to me this past year" or "I thank God for the way God is at work in our midst." There truly was a celebration of God's activity in our midst. This all took place after I led in worship with my wife leading us on the piano. (Yes no one even walked out during my leading the singing, another miracle)

During lunch afterwards I continued to hear testimonies of how one member has been sharing Christ with someone in their family,another member asking for prayer because they had several co workers who needed Christ, another member praised God for helping her to see a ministry she needed to be involved in, others shared humorous stories of walking with God or just some good clean humor.

As the afternoon drew to a close I continued to see every member working together for the glory of God and they all were happy. I even saw some of our youth in the kitchen helping to wash the dishes and help with the clean up, mind you they did this with great joy. I know this because there was not a parent even around and I watched them work together with joy around the sink.

As I got ready to leave I saw one of our members take the homeless visitor to a local hotel and give them a room to sleep in for the night and make sure they had plenty of our left over food for the evening. Once again done with great joy. On my way out of the building I had several members say what a joy it was to serve the Lord in this day. And I thought to myself, "What a true joy it is to serve alongside of those who care not for their own personal glory but that the glory of God is seen in our midst as we serve alongside each other for the sake of the gospel.. I truly am blessed to serve a church where so many have this as their leading concern.

For all of you who question if the Church can ever really be the church, yesterday was a very clear example of one group of believers that made it happen. Now I know in a personal way that Psalms 133 really is true. What a blessing God gives when His people live for the sake of God's glory. When this happens the presence of the Lord is present and those who serve in this way get to see and experience His presence. Thanks Lakeland for letting one pastor have this vision. May God be glorified.

A Grateful pastor of Lakeland Baptist,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 19: Is the Church a Hindrance to Missions or a Help?

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Acts 21:10-14 (NIV)
¹⁰After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"
¹²When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.¹³Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
¹⁴When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."

Paul was on his way back to Jerusalem to bring an offering to the poor in the Jewish church. This offering had been collected from all the Gentile churches on his last missionary trip. He was obeying God in going to Jerusalem. In this text we find him among the church in Tyre. He had been staying at Philip's house along with Philip's four daughters who were prophetesses. He had enjoyed almost a week of leisurely fellowship and spent much time with the disciples there in worship.

In the midst of this great time God sends a prophet to remind Paul of the hardships that await him in Jerusalem. The church at Tyre hears the hardships and they immediately began to try to persuade him not to go. The language in fact indicates that they pleaded with him on several occasions during the week.

I wonder what their arguments must have sounded like. Let us use our redeemed imagination for a moment and see. "Paul, you have suffered so much already, surely God would not want you to suffer any more. God must have sent Agabus to you to say you have suffered enough."

Perhaps another chimed in and said something like, "Paul if you die in Jerusalem all those who have trusted in Christ through your life will probably lose heart and walk away from the faith. They need you to teach them still. Surely God would want you to stay alive so they could learn more from you about Christ."

Maybe another voice spoke up in the fray and said, "Paul you are getting along in years and you have paid your dues, it is time for someone else to take the reigns and it is time for you to retire and take it easy. After all God does want us to enjoy ourselves while we are alive, right?"

All of these voices sound so right. The logic is sensible and practical. After all things are weighed on the scales of human wisdom it makes sense for Paul to stay in Tyre and not go to Jerusalem, but there is one thing that has not been considered, what does the voice of the Lord say?

O how often the voice of the Lord runs counter to our own thinking and wisdom. Now listen to Paul as he responds to the words of his brothers and sisters in Tyre. "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart. I am ready not only to be bound in Jerusalem but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus."

So it is even today that what God often asks us to do is opposed by those who are in the Church. We must be on our guard from the voices that would seek to encourage us to take the easier road. Let us follow our Lord as he bids us to take our stand with him no matter what!

Seeking to Follow His Voice Alone,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 11: Your mission, should you decide to accept it!

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Acts 20:22-24 (NIV)
²²"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Several years ago a movie entitled, Mission Impossible, hit the screens. The opening scene usually had Tom Cruse obtaining some recording of the IMF agency giving him his next mission. In the recording he would be told exactly what the mission was and the dangers that it would entail. The beginning part of the recording was, "Your mission should you decide to accept it . . .the concluding part of the recording said, "As usual if any of your IM force are caught, or killed the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions."

There was never a mission the IM Force did not accept. It was assumed that being part of the IM Force automatically meant you would accept any mission assigned regardless of the danger.

This IM force would be made up of the best intelligence experts in the world. They would be chosen for their high tech skills, ability to speak multiple languages, their ability to think on the fly, outside the box, etc. They would give themselves to the success of the mission knowing that their names would never be recognized for anything they would ever accomplish, it was the thrill of the mission that held them.

Every time I watched this movie I found myself wanting to be part of something that would be that engaging, that thrilling, that demanding. I would take a look at the church and see her passionless ministries where people just went through the motions of doing church but no real thrill, no real joy, no real passion. Then I would read the book of Acts and discover that Paul escaped one city by being let down in a basket over the wall at night. In another place he was hidden away, still another he stood before hostile audiences not knowing what would happen. This resonated with my desire for, on the edge of your seat kind of life. You cannot read Acts and see a passionless, dull worship service ever being part of the routine. It really was dangerous to be part of the New Testament church, you just never knew what was going to happen from one day to the next, but there was one thing you did know, God was going to show up and do something really powerful.

I submit we have lost many of the next generation precisely because we have tried to build a "safe" church. I submit God has made us to live lives of total abandonment to the cause of Christ. We are made for something that will captivate our every waking moment. We are made to live with a passion that the world knows little of.

I submit to you that the church ought to be the most dangerous place to belong. We are called on to engage the worst enemy of humanity, who is bent on our destruction. He is set against us on every possible level and he will never rest until he has us for good. We are called to be engaged in the battle of the ages for the souls of men and women all over the globe. We must have mission strategies designed by the Spirit of God and we must engage the Church of Christ to train and send mission agents into the entire world to rescue those behind enemy lines. We are to raise up mission agents who care not for their own reputation but care for the mission of the gospel and are willing to stake their entire lives on the fact that this gospel is the most important thing in the world.

When one of the greatest minds in history was captured by the grace of God he at once was compelled to live the rest of his life for the sake of the gospel. His every breath was about the gospel. Where ever he travelled the gospel was always his topic of conversation. Where ever he slept he talked about Christ, even if it was in a prison cell.

Paul knew he was running a race, he knew he had a limited time to make as much of an impact for the gospel as he could with the years he had on this earth. He also knew that his life was going to be filled with incredible obstacles and gut wrenching opposition. There would be times he would be in prison or floating on a piece of driftwood in the Mediterranean, but all of this would not stop him from proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

Today let me encourage you to consider Paul's purpose in life and to make it your own. "I count my life worth nothing if only I may finish the race and complete the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace.

Now where to start in this race? Let me suggest you begin with your family and those closest to you. Begin today to pray that God will give you an opportunity to share your faith with your family. Perhaps you just need to call them up on the phone and speak to them very honestly about your concern for their soul.

Take the next few days to pray for each member of your family and friends who do not possess a relationship with Christ. Ask God for boldness and then step through the door he opens.

Hear God met you today with these words, "Good morning ____________, your mission should you decide to accept it is to take the Gospel into the most difficult places in the world. You are to invade the enemy's territory and rescue those held in bondage to sin. The forces arrayed against you are more formidable than you can possibly imagine. This mission, should you decide to accept it will cost you your very life. It will take every ounce of strength and courage you can muster and then some.

There will be times when the pressure on you will drive you to the edge of complete and utter exhaustion. You will face periods of isolation and abandonment by those closest to you, you will be called all sorts of names and many will not even understand why you are doing what you are doing. Be assured of this that your labors will not go unnoticed by the Father. He will acknowledge your labors for Him and you will be richly rewarded as you follow Him into the hard and the difficult places for the Gospel.

Accepting His Mission,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 10: At His Appointed Season

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Titus 1:1-4 (NIV)
¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness-- ²a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
³and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, ⁴To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Over the past several weeks I have been taking two days a week to be on campus sharing Christ with students at SIU. I have had several students work with me during these days in engaging college students with the gospel. We have had many very good conversations with students. In our conversations we found students who were brought to an awareness of their danger in the approaching judgment to come. Most recognized that they were headed for judgment, but at the same time, they were unmoved by such knowledge, they simply had too may other things to concern themselves with for the moment.

I have found myself asking the question more and more as the semester progresses, "What do we need to do in order to bring them to repentance?" I have read up on more evangelistic methods and programs that might help move them towards repentance but have been concerned that this would only produce a repentance founded on some human instrument instead of God's work.

This morning as I was reading in Titus the answer was right in front of me. It came in this manner, "at his appointed season he brought his word to light . . ." True repentance comes only through the work of the Holy Spirit in God's time, not ours.

But then I had another question, "If this is true, then what must be our ministry posture until God grants repentance?" The answer came immediately in the rest of the text. "He brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior."

So what is to be our posture and ministry method during the times when we do not see any repentance or move toward God in our culture? Precisely this, we are to keep preaching the Word of God no matter what, whether we see conversions or not, because as we preach the Word we are laying the ground work for God to move when he decides to bring awakening to our nation again. It is through the Word of God that God brings light to all men about their spiritual need for Christ. So for the time being we will preach the Word, even though it is out of season and we see little true conversions. We do not do this in a state of hopelessness, on the contrary, we do this in the state of utter confidence that as the Word of God is preached and as people are brought into the direct proximity of God's truth we are laying the ground work for real conversions when God deems it best to bring them alive.

If we say to ourselves that we are not having any real success in preaching and stop, then we will short circuit the work of God when he desires to send awakening because the culture will not have the Word of God sown into their culture and they will lack the power of the Gospel that will bring them to repentance. Let us not be weary in sowing the seed of God's Word for this is the means by which men and women are made alive in God's appointed time. In due time we will reap if we faint not.

Preaching the Word, setting the stage for God's appointed season,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 5: A Picture Brings Great Comfort

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Colossians 1:15-16 (NIV)
¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

I did not know how much a trip to Gonky's house (Gonky is a compound name for Grandpa from Hong Kong, it is a long story) would benefit my youngest daughter Lydia. For Veteran's Day my nine year old daughter Lydia has to bring a picture of someone in her family that served in the armed forces.

Yesterday Lydia went to spend time with her Gonky and Grammy while my wife attended a conference in Springfield. Lydia was thrilled with the prospect of seeing her Gonky. ON the trip up to Springfield she was busy counting down the minutes until she would see her Gonky. About every ten minutes or so she would ask my wife how much longer. Little did we know that her Gonky in Springfield was also doing the very same thing. About every thirty minutes he would ask his wife how much longer until Lydia arrived.

The time finally came when they were together and the sheer delight that both of them had when they saw each other was noticeable both in their voices and on their faces. As bedtime drew near that evening, Lydia asked Gonky if he had a picture of him when he was in the service. Gonky quickly found one and handed it to Lydia. She took it and looked at it for the longest time. You need to know that Gonky is now fifty plus years past the time in which this picture was taken.

Lydia just stared at the picture and then up at Gonky. "Gonky, it does not look much like you, but it is you." She just stared at the picture of her Gonky in his younger days in his dress uniform..

As bed time drew nearer Lydia clutched the picture of her Gonky tightly to herself and she fell asleep on her mom's lap. It would be several minutes later when my wife would take her to bed. As she put Lydia to sleep Melanie tried to pry the picture of Gonky from her grasp only to find that Lydia would not let it go. Trying not to crumple the picture, Melanie said to Lydia, "If you sleep with the picture you will crumple it and it won't be good anymore." Lydia quickly released her grasp and put the picture on the desk near where she was sleeping and fell fast asleep.

The next morning Gonky went out and had two copies of this picture made. One for Lydia to take to class and one for Lydia to have in her room. She is proud of her Gonky and loves him like no other, and that is how it should be.

When she returned to our home last night she had her picture of her Gonky with her. Even though he was not physically present with her she found comfort in the picture she had of him.

So it is with us. We ache to be with our Lord once and for all but for now we have to live in this fallen world. How can we find comfort and rest while we are apart from our Lord? We have a Savior who, like Lydia's Gonky, has not left us without a picture of himself. Some of you may be wondering just where we get this picture of our Lord. The answer is right here in this text. The Bible was given to us to give us the picture of Christ so that we would find comfort and encouragement while we wait for His appearing.

I suggest you might want to go to sleep reading the Word tonight so that you will have visions of your Savior as you sleep.

Sweet dreams,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 4: The Day to Dance Will Finally Come

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

2 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

(This is rather lengthy but I think it is worth your time to read. Taken from my sermon from this past Sunday)

My daughter Rebekah has always loved to dance. Several years ago when I travelled to speak in different conferences and churches I would often take one of my children with me. On several of those trips Rebekah would accompany me and she would choreograph a dance routine that would illustrate my talk. It was great fun and most of those who attended said that the dance was the best part of my talk.

She was made to dance and she took ballet classes for almost ten years. Then the dreadful day came when her dance instructor told her that she would never be on pointe due to her bone structure and the position of her hips. Her advice to her was that she should probably take up something else because she would never be able to go on pointe.

When my Rebekah heard those words her world caved in because she had one serious problem with the instructor, she was made to dance and she knew it deep in her heart that she had to dance. But the evidence weighed in against her and some dance instructor, who claimed to be an expert in her field, told her it would never happen.

I remember the disappointment, my wife remembers it even more than I do. The next several years Rebekah was forced to face a reality that dance would just not be something she could do. On many days Rebekah would question why she should even go on because she was made to dance, but the experts told her it was not possible.

During the next several years she would watch a dance routine on television or see some ballet poster and her heart would just sink. Her dream was never to be realized and all the evidence from the experts said so. But even with all the expert opinions she couldn't help but dance. She faced it as good as any young girl, who only wanted to dance all her life, could. She busied herself with other things to hide the pain inside. She took nineteen hours in college each semester, worked three jobs filling her schedule with as much activity as she could hoping to find something that would take the pain away and the longing to dance with it.

After we moved to Carbondale, Rebekah, now to be known as Becki, met up with her first dance instructor, Susan Barnes. Susan had a place for her in her dance classes. So Becki began to dance again, all the while knowing she would never be on pointe. She took up hip hop, classical, modern, jazz. She made the dance team at her high school and they went to state and won fifth place. This should have been sufficient but it wasn't because she was made to dance but she was told she would never make the final jump to being on pointe.

She took up kick boxing, as a way to train herself physically and found a Christian Martial arts instructor that helped her gain much needed strength in her legs and back. Now fast forward to just a few weeks ago when she made the local dance company and her teacher said to her that she should consider going on pointe.

This was too much to hope for but she allowed herself to think it was possible. The appointment was made and this past Friday my wife, Melanie, Becki and I drove three hours to St. Louis to the Dance Bag Dance shop. It was here we would meet two very gifted Ballet instructors that had fifty years of instruction and dance between them. They worked for ninety minutes trying to fit Becki with the correct pointe shoes. I did not know that were over 1700 possibilities for arranging the fit for a person on pointe.

At first there was much difficulty trying to make everything fit. There was a tense moment when the instructor, shoe fitter person hesitated and said, "Well . . ." Then she paused and there was what seemed like an eternity of waiting. We were all thinking that the next words would be, "I am sorry you just are not made to be on pointe."

As a father, I was sitting close by and I could see it in my Becki's eyes. Her world was about to be crashed in on again. After what seemed like a thousand years we heard the words from this most excellent shoe fitter, dance instructor ever. "Releve" which in ballet language means to go up on your toes on pointe. I watched as my daughter, who was told for years she would never do this, pushed up on her toes and did it so flawlessly that the instructor said with great confidence, "You are going to be great on pointe, I do not know what that other instructor was thinking."

The shoes were a perfect fit. My wife cried, Becki smiled and I will not admit to anything from my life at that moment.

She as going to dance and she is going to be on pointe in the Nutcracker this coming Christmas on the biggest stage in southern Illinois.

Do you see the picture here? Let's go back to our text for a moment. Paul was nearing the end of his life and he says for all to hear, there is a crown of righteousness laid up for me and not for me only but for all those who love his appearing.

For those of us who have trusted in Christ we find another law at work within us that seems to drag us down the longer we live in this body. Our struggle with sin is intense, but our longing to live a life of purity before God is more intense. We long to live lives that are pleasing to God but at the same time we keep hearing the voice of our enemy saying, "You will never be righteous, you will never win in this battle over sin. Just give up and quit so you don't have to fight any longer."

All the evidence seems to point out that the voice of our enemy is right. But there is something that is going on inside of us that is far more powerful, there is the growing longing to dance, to live lives perfectly pleasing to God. We constantly face ridicule and scorn from the world and voices of condemnation from the enemy but we do not give up.

All the while Becki could not dance she did not even know it, but all the exercises she went through and all the other things that she did only served to position her so that she would be strong enough to dance when the time came.

You see, even though we have all the evidence that is against us everyone has forgotten one voice in the midst, this is none other than the son of God as he speaks and says, "One day, for all those who long to live lives pleasing to God, the Lord Himself will come for them and call them to come in for a fitting. But it will not be for pointe shoes, it will be for a fitting of everlasting righteousness that will be given to them. From this moment on we will be able to dance and fully rejoice in our absolute righteousness before God never to sin again.

Now we will struggle and hear the voices of our enemy telling us we will never be what we want to be. Now we wage war against the flesh and the world and the devil but then we will rise never to fight again only to dance and fly and soar.

O church, are you tired of sinning against the God that you love? Is the war growing too hard for you? Then I ask you to look up, He is coming for you and will soon complete that which he began in you.

I think I am about to dance, how about you?

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 November 3: Compelled by the Spirit

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

How often have you asked the following question, "God, please show me where you want me to go and what you want me to do?" I know many who have asked this question thinking that God's will would be something that would be a perfect fit. They thought if they could only find the will of God then everything would be ok.

Consider how this thinking may have been received by the apostle Paul. A perfect fit, what are you talking about? Everything ok, not on your life. No, if you find the will of God it will most probably be in the way of hardships and difficulties and imprisonments. The church in America is far too weak to even think that they would have to endure hardships and sufferings and afflictions. We have even invented an escapist mentality called the rapture to keep us from having to endure anything that would approach suffering.

We have made the Christian faith far too palatable to our easy lifestyles. Perhaps this is why we are so weak in our own spiritual lives. We have assumed the Christian life was about us feeling good, not obeying God.

We need a little more dose of Biblical reality injected into our lives. God has designed us for far more difficult tasks, but we are not in the shape we need to be in order to endure the hardships he has ordained for us.

Why did God call Paul to endure hardships? Because he had a marathon to run for the glory of God. He was going to reach as far as Rome and Spain with the gospel before he would die and he needed to be in top spiritual shape for that task.

Church, God has the same task for you, you are commissioned by God to declare his glories to the farthest reaches of the planet through prayer and proclamation, so expect hardships and difficulties to come your way for they are the means that God will use to strengthen you for the battle that lies ahead.

Be reminded that the Will of God lies on the road that leads to many hardships and difficulties and imprisonments. As you follow God in this way you will come to know as David knew, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me."

May you come to know the presence of God as you follow him into hardships and trials.

Embracing the road of difficulty for the sake of hte4 Gospel,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 October 28: What to do when you cannot pray?

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Romans 8:31-34 (NIV)
³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³²He 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?
³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

How often I have heard the following, "I just cannot pray any more. It seems that all my prayers are empty of any power. All that I pray for never happens, things only get worse."

If your prayer life is anything like mine I am sure you have more than once said something like this. Perhaps you have prayed and prayed and prayed for something that you were truly concerned about and instead of things becoming better they grew worse. Then the circumstances convinced you that prayer was of no effect so you stopped, or at least prayed only because you knew good Christians should.

Does the Word of God have anything to say to those of us who have felt like this before or perhaps even now? Yes it does I can assure you of this. Let us consider the text before us. What happens when we do not know how to pray? The Holy Spirit takes up our prayers and intercedes for us. He prays for the will of God to be accomplished in us. He is at work even now directing our thoughts and our prayers.

To be empowered in our prayer life we must depend on the Holy Spirit to pray through us. When we come to prayer we should immediately agree with God that unless his Holy Spirit works in us our prayers will be empty and powerless. It makes sense to spend time to listen to God's Word as we prepare our hearts for prayer.

A saint I know said it best, "I read the Bible until I can believe God again and then I find that I can pray with great confidence. Prayer is only taking God at His Word and staking your claim to his promises."

What confidence can we have in our prayers because of the promises of God? We can take our stand on these passages to start with, "Jesus and the Holy Spirit are both interceding for us so how can we lose in this exercise of prayer?

Let us take our stand in prayer that the power and promises of God will be made available yo us as we seek the Father in prayer.

Holding tightly to the Word of God and His Promises,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 October 23: A time for a Talk with Bow Hunters

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Genesis 9:12-17 (NIV)
¹²And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
¹⁷So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

I do not know much about bow hunting, as many in my congregation already know, but what I know about bow hunting has definitely caused me to rejoice in the gospel even more. Ok, I know some of you are thinking that perhaps I have been hit with one too many arrows in the head already but follow with me on this journey.

A friend of mine shared this insight with me several months ago and I have often thought about it and found great comfort. Just what was it about the rainbow in the sky that would cause man to rejoice? Did God really want us to see the beautiful colors and just be amazed by the array of the colors of the light spectrum? Is that all that he wanted us to see in the rain bow in the sky? I think there was much more to it than just the sight of the colors.

Remember that God told Noah that whenever he, God, saw the rainbow he would not send another flood of judgment again. All because of a rainbow in the sky? There has to be more to it than just this. Enter my bow hunting friend.

"Pastor when you hear of a bow what else do you need besides the bow to complete the set?" I was asked.

In my great storehouse of hunting knowledge I thought to myself, "What else do you need to go bow hunting? After much prompting I said, "You need some arrows."

"You have answered correctly," came the reply.

"Take a look at the rainbow in the sky, where would the arrow be pointing if you were to arm the bow?"

"I thought more quickly this time and said, "The arrow would be pointing up towards the sky."

"You are correct once again pastor. Do you see it now why God placed such a bow in the sky to remind us of his promise to not destroy the world by a flood again?"

The picture began to gain clarity and I saw that the arrow of God's wrath was no longer pointed at earth, instead it was pointing at the heavens. Could it be that God was painting the picture for all who would look to the heavens so they would see that God himself would absorb the wrath due us because of our rebellion?

The arrow of God's wrath would be absorbed by the death of his son on the cross for our sins. If we would only trust in Christ, the wrath of God that is due us would be absorbed by him so that we would never face the judgment of a just God because of our sins.

In the same way God promised that he would never destroy the earth by a flood again we can know the same peace if we will only look to Christ, who took the arrows of God's wrath and had them pointed directly at his own body on the tree. It is because of Him that we are free from the wrath to come.

So next time you see a rainbow in the sky let it remind you of the Savior who bore our sins in his body on the tree. And may you be reminded as well that God has promised to all those who have trusted in Christ that there will never be any fear of any judgment all because of the arrows of God's wrath are no longer directed at you.

Hallelujah what a Savior!

Rejoicing that the arrows are no longer pointing at me,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayDecDecember8th2010 October 22: The Dangerous desire for Self Sufficiency

Posted Wednesday, December 08 2010 @ 9 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Genesis 11:1-4 (NIV)
¹Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
²As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
³They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
⁴Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

It happens at the end of every semester, after every graduation, at every job fair, during every political campaign season, people work over time trying to make a name for themselves. Resumes are dressed up, new clothes are purchased, imperfections are covered over, personal contacts are made so some one can make a good impression, make themselves look good and hopefully stand out among the field of those looking for work, to get elected. chosen, etc.

Now I am not bashing all of this, but it seems to be that perhaps we have this whole thing backwards. We work really hard at making a name for ourselves and often times it causes us to embellish the truth, use deceptive words, make false promises which all leads to confusion and a disintegration of our real identity.

Those at the tower of Babel thought it most wise to concern themselves with their own reputation instead of God's. Take a look around at the result of such self oriented lifestyles, confusion has reigned ever since. Nations cannot understand each other, husbands and wives cannot seem to connect too often and even best friends misunderstand each other. Oftentimes lasting friendships are lost over the use of words where something else was meant, but confusion reigned instead of communication.

Instead of thinking of how they could make God's name famous those at the tower of Babel were focused only on self. I want you to take a real good look at what happened at the tower of Babel. When self ruled the day families were split apart, lives were shattered, confusion became the rule of the day. There was much division.

So is there an answer for this division brought about by the tower of Babel? The Scriptures give us the answer very clearly in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

If we will make the kingdom of God our first concern and seek to make much of God we will regain the joy lost at Babel. We will find joy where confusion reigned, we will find harmony where there once was only discord.

Just a thought for today, "Why not ask God to help you make much of Him and see what might happen along the way today."

Now go out and say a good word for Jesus

Seeking to Make Much of Him,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 19, 2010: How do you explain the Grand Canyon?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 19: How do you explain the Grand Canyon?

Psalms 104:5-8 (NIV)
⁵He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
⁶You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
⁸they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.

For over one hundred and fifty years we have been told that the Grand Canyon was formed by millions of years of water slowly eroding the canyon to its present depth. Almost no one questions the findings of modern science. It is almost as if modern science has become the God that no one doubts.

We are commanded to take all thoughts captive and make them obey the gospel of Christ in II Cor 10:3-6. Let us assume that Modern Science just may be wrong on some things like, the age of the universe, the way canyons were made, etc. Let us test our hypothesis by some observations.

When you place sharp edged rocks into a fast flowing streams for just a few months what do you observe happening to the sharp edges of the rocks? They slowly become smooth, the rough edges disappear do to the pressure of the water running over them. If you doubt my observations you can go down Wal-Mart and purchase a rock tumbler and put a sharp rock in the tumbler and turn on the machine and wait for several hours and you will discover after just a few hours in the tumbler, what was once a very sharp edged rock is now a beautiful, smooth polished rock.

Let's now consider the Grand Canyon and ask some questions. Take a good look at the following picture and make some notes about your observations.

This picture is the top rim of the Grand Canyon. Do you notice any smoothed rounded edges at the top? If this canyon was formed over millions of years by the slow process of gradual erosion you would not expect to find such sharp edges, but rather very smooth rounded edges. Notice how deep the very clean cut is in the rim of the Canyon.

If slow erosion over millions of years is what happened this is not the picture we would have before us. Rather we would find a picture that would point to gentle sloping hills that eventually ended up at the bottom of the canyon. There would be no sharp edges, since what we observe in erosion that is ongoing is that we seldom if ever find any sharp edges produced by slow erosion over time.

What might be a better picture of how the Grand Canyon was formed? I believe that Genesis and Psalms give us a much better picture of what happened. Psalms 104:6-8 says, "You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.⁷But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; ⁸they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them."

If the water of Noah's flood covered the whole earth by the possible depth of 1.7 miles, the sheer weight of the water on the crust of the earth could have produced canyons almost instantly when the waters were commanded to recede and the earth opened up and the mountains burst forth from the level ground.

We have on record canyons much like the Grand Canyon, but on a smaller scale, being formed in less than a day by the explosions of volcanoes and the subsequent lava flow that literally cut out large canyons in less than one day.

Now when all the evidence is weighed I think the Biblical record of the flood actually answers what happened to create the Grand Canyon. When you look at any picture of the Grand Canyon or when you walk through any other park where the are large outcroppings of rocks you are not looking back millions of years, you are actually viewing the remains of the flood of Noah's day.

We have right before us evidence that God really did destroy the world by a global flood and if this is true then we also must accept the coming judgment is just as certain. What a great reminder that points us once again to the trustworthiness of the Word of God.

Grateful for the volumes of evidence our God has left for us,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 15, 2010: The Friday Happening on Campus

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 15: The Friday Happening on Campus

I thought you might like to know what we are doing on the campus of SIU every Friday from 11-1 p.m. The following is a tract the we wrote and distributed today to about 100 students while we were out on campus. Besides distributing tracts, we also present the gospel through holding conversations with students who stop. The students have been very receptive to our literature.

It never fails that we find some students who want to talk about Christ every Friday. I have made the commitment to be present at the free forum every Friday, rain or shine through the semester, so I can talk with students who may be thinking about, or considering Christ. Pray for those who work with me as we seek to make the gospel known to as many students as we can in this semester.Pray for two students we are seeking to see grow in their walk with Christ that we have recently engaged with, Nathan, a freshman from the Chicago area, and a freshman named Melanie also from the Chicago area.

The following is the piece we wrote and distributed to over 100 students today.

What Kind of People Aught We to Be at SIU?

This is certainly a very good question for all of us to consider. Some would answer, "Be true to your self, this is the highest form of morality." Others may say, "Give your self in the service of others; this is the highest form of morality." Still others may say, "Live for the moment for you have no confidence that you have another moment."
So what are we to make of this question for us on October 15, 2010? Is this question even important to our studies here at SIU? As a graduate of SIU May 1980, I submit to you that this is an entirely relevant question. How you answer this question will guide you the rest of your life.
It was over thirty-five years ago that I discovered the answer to this question in a well written ancient historical document. Let me share its words with you for you to consider.

"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives."

Since judgment is certain and we will all stand before God to give an account of how we have lived, the writer of this part of the Bible provides us with the answer we all need to heed. We are to live holy and godly lives. As a living, breathing human I know how hard that may seem, but God has provided some very clear principles to empower us to live as He intends. Oh and by the way this way really does lead you to a greater degree of lasting fulfillment and satisfaction.

If you are interested in pursuing a life in relationship with God, who will enable you to live a holy and godly life, we invite you to check us out at www.lakelandchurch.org or come by and visit us this Sunday at 719 South Giant City Road at 10:40 a.m. This Sunday we wil present the historical account of Noah's flood and answer many of the questions that have been raised by the academic community about the historicity of this global flood of Noah and its implications for us today.

We hope to see you soon.

Philip Nelson, SIU Graduate, May, 1980

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 14, 2010: Is Life really scary without Christ?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 14: Is Life really scary without Christ?

Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV)
¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The other night I walked home from my office. For those of you who do not know what that means, I walked along a small rural road after dark that winds around several corners. All in all it is a 3.5 mile hike. There is usually wildlife of many sorts that roam in the forests; deer, foxes, snakes, coyotes, skunks, raccoons, wild turkeys, etc. on this road.

On this particular night the sky was overcast and lightning and thunder was lighting up the night sky. Every now and then the wind would pick up and the leaves would fall in mass on the road. As I walked further into the country I would hear the howls of the coyotes, or the steps of some animal walking in the woods next to the road where I was walking.

To fill my mind as I walk I usually listen to the Bible on my mp3 player. The Scripture that was up next was the book of Revelation. So as I began my walk into the country on this small rural road the skies lit up with lightning and the thunder began to rumble and the wind began to pick up and the leaves began to fall and the animals began to howl the Scripture I heard was the book of Revelation.

About mid way through my 3.5 mile hike I heard the howl of several coyotes that I know were walking next to me in the woods trying to decide when they would jump on their next meal, me. I found my heart rate increasing and my pace was quickening hoping to get home before the storm broke loose or the coyotes got me.

I was about to call my wife and have her come and get me but I said to myself, "Self, you are a man, not a mouse, you can make this." I wanted to agree with my self but my heart rate and my breathing said otherwise.

It was then that I began to listen to the Scripture from Revelation. I thought to myself, "I have the presence of God with me in this long walk home, why should I be afraid? Yes though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me." My heart rate slowed and my breathing returned to somewhat normal respirations. I still wanted to get home as soon as I could.

To make a long story longer I did make it home and the rain never happened. When I got in the door of my home I completely relaxed because now I was safe. It felt really good to be home out of the storm.

But then it hit me, "What shall those without Christ do when the severe storms of life visit them? How shall they fare without Christ? What will happen to those who begin to walk that long dark road toward death without Christ?"

Should we not speak up to tell them of Christ so their walk toward death will not be something to fear. May the Lord cause you to speak to someone this week to warn them and remind them that they do not have to travel this road of life and death alone if they will trust in Christ.

Speaking up to Those who are without Christ,

Pastor Phil

P.S. I don't advise long walks home after dark in the country on a stormy night if you have heart problems

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 13, 2010: Is it ok to look for signs in order to better follow Christ?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 13: Is it ok to look for signs in order to better follow Christ?

Matthew 16:1-4 (NIV)
¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
²He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,'
³and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
⁴A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.

Luke 16:27-31 (NIV)
²⁷"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,
²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
²⁹"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
³⁰"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
³¹"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

"I just cannot believe without some help,." was the reply one student made as the reason he rejected Christ. He continued, "If God wants me to believe in Him then he will have to perform some miracle in order to get me to believe."

This conversation sounds so honest on the surface. It sounds as if the student really desires to believe, he only lacks one thing and that is just one more sign, one more miracle. Surely God would accommodate such a request in order to bring this person to true repentance.

So the church does her best to bring in one more sign and miracle worker, one more program designed to appease the multitudes who really desire to believe. But the question must be asked, "Do they really desire to believe in God as he reveals himself?"

Take for instance the two different groups of people in the texts for today. First there was the group of the Pharisees. They had already witnessed several signs and miracles that Jesus performed but apparently they were not convincing enough so they asked for just one more.

Jesus replied rather harshly to this group by calling them a "Wicked and perverse generation." Why so harsh with a group who appear to be truly wanting to believe?

Who is it that is making the demands and issuing the commands? It is not Jesus, God in the Flesh, it is fallen, sinful humans making demands of God to fit into their own fallen and cursed conceptions of just what God should look like and act like.

Why did Jesus speak so harshly to this group? Because they really did not want to believe in Jesus, they already had their god that they had created in their own minds. This is why Jesus called them adulterous. Their true husband and come to their home and caught them in the act of committing adultery with some false god they had made.

They were attempting to manipulate Jesus to fit into their own concept of God and he refused as he will always. It is not your view of God that will rescue you, it is God's self revelation in Christ that rescues us from our sin.

So the question must be asked, "How shall we believe in Jesus. In what way has he chosen to reveal himself to us today?

The answer is in the next text that we have in front of us. The rich man was asking for some one to go back from the dead to convince his five brothers so they would not come to the place of eternal torment. Hear the words of Abraham well, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them read them. If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets they will not believe even if one rises from the dead."

Those who are waiting for signs in the skies, or audible voices in the night to tell them what to do, will either wait in vain, or be deceived by some miracle, or sign. Let us be among those who hold fast to the truth of Scripture as it has already been revealed to us.

Holding fast to the Word of Truth,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 10, 2010: Is God really Good?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 10: Is God really Good?

Deuteronomy 30:9 (KJV)
⁹And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

From the very beginning of creation the enemy has been at work to deceive us. He does not want us to experience the goodness of God. He had the opportunity to savor the goodness of God but he refused it by his rebellion. He knows what he lost and he is bent on causing as many as possible to not ever taste the goodness of God.

So how does he deceive us into thinking that God is not good? He raises doubt in our minds by pointing out all the problems in this world. Perhaps you have heard his voice lately, it may have sounded much like this, "If God is so good why is there so much evil and suffering? If God is so good why do innocent babies starve to death? If God is so good why do you have to hurt so much? If God is so good, why so much pain?"

And on and on the indictments of God go. If you listen to them you will find yourself believing the lie that God is not good and you have no reason to believe in him. It was this way from the very beginning. He planted doubt in Eve's mind about the goodness of God. His method was to cause her to doubt the goodness of God because he was holding out on her. If he really was good then he should let her eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but since he commanded her not to eat from it he was keeping something from her that would be for her good.

You have had those thoughts haven't you? Perhaps you are having them even now as read this article. "If God was good why am I hurting so much? If he really was good I would not have to hurt at all. Since I am hurting then God must not be good so I will not believe in him. If God was really here my life would be much better. Since I believed in God things have not improved, in fact they have become even more difficult."

The voices have done their work and you perhaps have reached the conclusion that God is either, not good, or the God of the Bible does not exist. What do you do with all of these thoughts? How do you discover the goodness of God? There is only one way you can discover the goodness of God again, that is to go to the cross and see his goodness displayed openly for you. Hear these words ring out over your life once again.

: Romans 5:6-10 (KJV)
⁶For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Do you see it now? Can you hear the goodness of God sounding out over your sea of doubt? "God commends his love towards you, while you were yet a sinner Christ died for you." You who had become the very example of evil by your rebellion and should have been executed swiftly under the wrath of God have been saved from his wrath and made a partaker of his grace forever by the sheer unmerited favor of God in Christ.

The enemy has done his best work in raising the doubt about the goodness of God but our God has done his best work through the cross and destroyed the work of the devil by sending his son to die for us. John says it best in this way, 1 John 3:8 (KJV)
⁸He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

The revelation of Christ on the cross dying in our place is designed by God to once and for all destroy any thoughts that would cause us to think that God was not good.

So cheer up saints of God our God has come to do us good forever. We know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Rejoicing in the Goodness of God today,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 8, 2010: Just what does the Bible teach about God's Activity in our lives?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Daily Devotions by Pastor Phil

October 8: Just what does the Bible teach about God's Activity in our lives?

John 1:1-5 (NIV)
¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²He was with God in the beginning.
³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV)
¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Go take a good look in the mirror> What do you see? Do you see a work of art that surpasses the Mona Lisa? Do you see a design that surpasses any design team ever put together? Do you see the second wonder of the world?

If you don't see this then you need to have your eyes checked. You are the product of the omnipotent Sovereign God who carefully crafted your body to be just so. When you woke up this morning you had all one hundred trillion cells agree with each other that they would move in symphony together so you could get out of bed.

Well maybe some of them struck a minor chord, but nonetheless your body got out of bed and made its way to work or whatever else you decided to do. What you pulled off this morning was nothing short of miraculous. Tell me anyone else who can get even one million individuals to agree to work together to accomplish a task.

So how is it that your body accomplished this task this morning? Did you give every one of your cells a pep talk about cooperation? Did you teach them the power of positive thinking so that they would agree to work together? How is it that each one of your specific individually active cells paid attention so that your body actually got out of bed?

The Sovereign Creator who put your body together in your mother's womb directed each and every cell to work together so you would get out of bed. He was present at the cellular level in your body causing all cells to work together for your good.

Paul says it this way, "He is before all things and in him all things hold together."

Think of it God is intricately involved in your life keeping your cells together, working for your good even now. He knows how to put things together and how to keep things together so why not take a moment and trust him to hold your life together right now. You may be on the edge of giving up because you do not see how you can hold your life together one more moment. Take a moment and give your life into the hands of your Creator. Tell him you need him to take over once more.

Perhaps God has allowed you to take charge of your life and now you see that you can no longer do that. That is as it should be he has designed your life so that it works best when He is in charge, not you. So cast your cares on him once more and see what he will do with them.

Trusting My Creator to hold me together,

Pastor Phil

WedWednesdayOctOctober20th2010 October 7, 2010: Can God use me with my disability?

Posted Wednesday, October 20 2010 @ 11 AM byPhil Nelson Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment