Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Rain and Rainbows Are Great Reminders
by Barrett Vanlandingham

April 27, 2011

At age 500, Noah spent the next 100 years building the ark when finally God told him the rain would begin after seven more days. Imagine Noah’s relief (and probably terror) when God finally followed through with what He said He’d do, putting an end to what must have seemed like an eternity of jeers and sneers from skeptical neighbors.
On the Jewish calendar, it was seventeenth day of the second month of the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life. On our calendar that would be somewhere between late April and mid-May.
Drop… drop… drop. Panic must have flowed through every unbeliever as the memory of Noah’s words began to soak-in like a deluge of regret and sorrow. They were likely feeling, seeing, smelling and even tasting rain for the very first time in their life (since the Bible leaves the impression that it had not rained previously). This would also be a very good reason why the people were so resistant to Noah’s preaching if they felt the consequences were unlikely. But Noah was telling the truth all along.
Genesis 7:11-12 tells us, “--On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”
When the water receded, Noah left the ark and sacrificed some of the animals on an altar. God was pleased. So, He placed a rainbow in the sky as an agreement between Himself and all life on earth (ref: Gen. 9:18) that He would never again destroy the earth by flood (v.21). A rainbow must have been quite an impressive sight since it may also have been the first time one had ever appeared.
This wonder of nature is still an incredible sight today. The message it has brought for over four-thousand years now continues to paint a beautiful picture of hope for believers, and should strike fear in the hearts of non-believers. The colors that arch through the clouds remind us that God keeps His promises.
So, what does this mean to us today? The message of Jesus Christ is true! But sadly, scripture says that most people will not choose the righteous path that leads to salvation (Matthew 7:13-14). Yes, this fact poses a challenge for Christians who spend their lives telling their friends and family the Gospel story of salvation through Jesus Christ.
But, it will be a bigger problem for non-believers who, just like in Noah’s days, refuse to listen until it is too late. May God bless your efforts to win souls this week.

Friday, April 22, 2011

God’s power is available for every Christian
by Barrett Vanlandingham
April 26, 2011

As I sit down to write my Fort Faith column on a late Friday night, I think about the power displayed in the thunder, lightning, hail and tornados just a couple of hours before.
Who could possibly put together such wonders of nature but God? Just read Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:18-20. In this passage, Paul is thankful for the faith demonstrated by the church in Ephesus. He goes on to pray that these Christians would come to a full knowledge of God’s incredible power!.
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” (NIV)
Did you catch that? Paul said that we as Christians possess the same power that God used to help Jesus burst from the tomb on the third day! Yes, I realize that we just do not see the same kinds of miracles today that people experienced in the first century. After all, scripture points out that those supernatural actions on the part of Jesus, the apostles, and other disciples were allowed in order to confirm the truth of the Gospel message they were teaching.
Mark 16:20 says, “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”
In fact, John 20:30-31 says that Jesus did many other miracles that were not recorded, but that these were written so “…that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
There are many opinions on miracles. But most Christians would likely agree that we all have work to do regarding our trust in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to help guide (Philippians 2:12-13), comfort (John 14:15-18), and assure us (Romans 8:16), as well as give us understanding of God’s word as we study earnestly (1 Cor. 2).
The world we live in today requires a call to arms for all Christians (Eph. 6:10-18). Let us never be guilty of quenching the Spirit’s fire (1 Thes. 5:19) as we do battle against satan’s dark forces. God has given us every instruction necessary for us to achieve victory through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the only way to heaven (John 14:6). May God bless you richly as you allow His power to work in your life this week and always.

Friday, April 15, 2011

We all have God-given talents that need to be used by Barrett Vanlandingham April 19, 2011 Have you ever been asked to do church work and it just didn’t do anything for you? In fact, it may have even been a task that just made you dread coming to church services? That’s exactly what Paul was trying to prevent from happening to the church in Ephesus. So, he wrote a letter in hopes of helping them to become mature and unified as a church body. He also wanted the church to understand the blessings of being in Christ, who made plans to save us even before creation (Ephesians 1:3-8). Christ wants us to use our God-given talents to his glory. A talent is something that you’re good at, something that sparks interest inside you, something you do with passion even when no one is watching or there to give you a pat on the back for a job well done. The apostle Paul noted this in Ephesians 4:11-13. He said that Christ gave some to be apostles, and others to be prophets (preachers), evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers. These are people who have specific gifts to help other members of the Lord’s body use their talents to serve. When I was a TV news reporter/anchor, before I ever went into full-time ministry, I could clearly pinpoint the times I felt the most joy, fulfillment, and spiritual effectiveness. It was when I was teaching teen classes or taking a group of young people to a youth event or leading songs during worship. Those were the times that all my puzzle pieces fit. At some point, I had to stop saying no to what God was calling me to do. So, would you believe that as soon as I said yes to letting God lead me, the door to full-time ministry swung wide open so that there was no mistaking his intentions for me? I should have known from the stories of Moses and Jonah that when God calls, you better listen. We may not all be called to preach or teach as a vocation. But every one of us is called to minister in some way to this lost and dying world. God gave each of us at least one talent. When we use the Biblical model of doing “church work”, it is not a hassle. In fact, Paul says the result is that the body of Christ will be built up “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” When we use our God-given talents to serve in his kingdom (the church), Paul says, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph. 4:14) Paul goes on to say that equipping Christians to use their talents results in spiritual growth. He says we will learn to speak the truth in love as Christians encourage one another, each part of the body doing their share with Christ as our Head. Pray this week that God will help each of us know our talent, and have faith to let God use it the way he sees fit.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Spring is a great time to see God by Barrett Vanlandingham April 12, 2011 “What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding, the birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming, that’s how it is with God’s love, once you experience it, you want to sing, it’s fresh like spring, you want to pass it on.” Those beautiful lyrics come from a song I learned years ago as a camper at Burnt Cabin Christian Camp on Lake Tenkiller. And even though camp was always hot as blazes, we still sang that song. So, the following year when spring rolled back around, I would always be excited for camp because the beauty of spring reminded me that summer camp would be coming soon. We as Christians look forward to the day Christ returns to take his faithful home to heaven. The Bible tells us no one knows when that day will be. In fact, judgment day will come like a “thief in the night” according to scripture. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about that day as we admire God’s handiwork all around us. Last Wednesday night, I hauled a vanload of teens to the gazebo in downtown Fort Gibson where we had Bible class. I had each of the kids point at something random such as an evergreen tree and the soil around it, a brick in a wall, a light pole, a wasp, a traffic light. Then they had to tell the rest of us how that object relates to the Christian life. You should try it. The apostle Paul says we can learn a lot about God just by looking around us. But even in the first century, those who were unrighteous refused to acknowledge the presence of God all around them. In Romans 1:19-20 Paul wrote, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” As I walked out on my back porch Friday morning, I couldn’t help but see God in everything! Even the gray skies could not dim the fresh beauty of the green leaves sprouting from the wisteria on our pergola. The snowball tree in the corner of our yard is suddenly filled with blooms. The helicopter seeds from our maple tree were everywhere. The temperature was perfect. And yes, the birds were singing! We truly have a God of wonders! He is with us all the time, not just in the spring, but always. We may not get to walk with God in the Garden of Eden the way Adam and Eve did. But God is with us, and we get to be amazed with his creation as we look forward to the day we see him face to face.