Jesus understands our labors

by Barrett Vanlandingham

September 2, 2014

            I would start by saying I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day weekend.  But ever since my days in the restaurant business, I know that’s probably not the best assumption.  I will never forget reading a company letter from the CEO of Sonic Drive-In stating that he hoped Sonic employees would enjoy a weekend of rest and relaxation. 

            I thought to myself.  Ha!  Yeah, right.  Labor Day weekend was our busiest weekend of the entire year!  It was the weekend we all worked overtime (and lots of it) so everyone else could enjoy a burger while resting and relaxing! There seemed to be a disconnect between the guy in charge of the restaurant chain and those who actually worked in one of the franchise’s 3000 kitchens.

            Candidly but respectfully speaking, there is a CEO who is connected very closely to those doing the work of His company.  His name is Jesus. He has an eternal kingdom, of which He is King!  He is the head of the church. He established it, and died for it. He has been where we are, he has walked in our shoes, and he understands everything about our trials and temptations.

            In Matthew 11:28-30 the writer quotes our Savior who said, ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  

            Jesus does not assume that everyone has a life of rest and relaxation.  He totally gets it.  He is not saying “if” you ever become weary and burdened.  He knows there’s nothing easy about day to day life in a broken world. He knows the challenges of the working man, and he is also not naïve about what it’s like to do spiritual battle with the devil.  Christ not only sympathizes, but he also empathizes because he’s been there.  That’s why he immediately follows up with a solution that he freely offers to each one of us! 

            That solution is Him!  You see, Jesus is the ONLY one who ever went toe to toe with satan and won every single time, even overcoming death.  I am not suggesting that any of us could be perfect in the sense that Jesus was perfect.  But when we walk with Jesus, and incorporate Him into all of our labors, He promises to help carry our burdens today, with the same commitment he demonstrated on the cross 2000 years ago.  Have a great week!

The evidence reveals eternal rewards

by Barrett Vanlandingham

August 26, 2014

            What a mess!   The news reports from Ferguson, Missouri are filled with some facts and lots of uninformed opinions about what the truth really is regarding the highly publicized shooting.  In the end, it will be a jury that has to weigh the evidence, and decide what is believable.
            As followers of Jesus Christ, God has called us to gather and weigh evidence regarding spiritual truths.  There are thousands of religions and Christian denominations in our world today in spite of Jesus’ plea that all His believers be one (John 17:20-23 and 1Corinthians 1:10). Our world is full of opinions on faith topics. Many of those opinions are either uninformed or ill-informed. Still others are very informed, and have chosen either to obey or disobey God’s word.  The outcome of each person’s investigation of faith-related evidence has much more riding on it than earthly guilt or innocence.  How we handle God's truths will decide our eternal destiny.
            Thankfully, God has given us all of the evidence we need to make good decisions about His will for our lives.  By using the Bible, we can know God's truths and understand how to apply them to our daily walk.       

            Some may say 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is over used, but I for one am grateful for the peace it gives me. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
            We as Christians don't even have to chase down the evidence, although, there is plenty to be had in ancient writings inside and outside of the Bible, evidence so convincing that Christians dating all the way back to the first century have been willing to die for. We can also learn much about our Creator by simply examining His creation (Romans 1:19-20).
            God has preserved His commands, truths, and examples in many ways so that we may know what God expects of His children today.   It all begins with belief in Jesus as God's Son, and being clothed with Christ through baptism (Galatians 3:26-27 and Romans 6:1-11).

            1 John 5:11-13 says, "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

            God has given each one of us free will.  This means we have the freedom to choose to obey Him or not, based on what we believe about the evidence God has provided in His word and in His creation.  On Judgment Day, that is one verdict I want to be on the right side of.   Have a great week!

Pray for our children

by Barrett Vanlandingham
August 19, 2014

            I would like to ask each of you a favor on behalf of the children in our communities.  Please take at a moment (right now if possible) to pray for them as they start back to school.

            God blessed my youth ministry with another wonderful summer of unity building activities and spiritual growth.  It was such an encouragement for all of us who took part in any of these trips, devotionals, or camps.  You may have had similar experiences with your church.

            There is just something about getting kids together in the summer, without the stresses of school and extra-curricular activities, to just be together to play, sing praises, pray, and study from God’s word. I am always amazed at what God can do with willing and undistracted hearts and minds no matter what age.

            Unfortunately, the busy-ness of the school year is upon us, and our children will once again be under spiritual attack in many ways from many directions.  Once again, peer pressure and fleeting fads will make an attempt to sway the hearts and minds of our children.  It is almost as if the devil and his loyal allies have been waiting all summer for this time of year when kids are looking for a connection to the popular crowd or hoping for acceptance with a group that seems to understand them.  The fact is kids are going to find acceptance somehow, somewhere. 

            There’s a battle between good and evil for any spare hour a student’s mind is not engaged in something constructive.  Extremes on either end of time management can be dangerous. The apostle Paul warns Christians about being idle because of how easy it is to become a busybody or a gossip (1 Timothy 5:13).  On the other hand, being too busy is also a tool of the devil.  You may know someone who is so busy trying to serve the Lord that they themselves (or maybe their families) are suffering spiritually. You probably also know parents who think that if they keep their kids tied up in sports or other activities, they won’t have time to get into trouble.  The devil loves that style of parenting because if carried to the extreme, that child will also be too busy for God, for church youth activities, for Bible study, and for prayer.

            Please pray that our children will overcome negative peer pressure, family problems, media influences, and being too busy for God.  Please pray that our children spend more time with God, and in His word, and that they choose to be a witness for Him at school, home, and everywhere else in all they say, do, and think.  Please pray that Christians everywhere will show our children how to “Be holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16).  Have a great week!

Reality is often skewed by beliefs

August 12, 2014

by Barrett Vanlandingham           

            In the final part of my series “The Way Home” I want to tell you how John the Baptist helped prepare the way for Jesus, how our path to heaven has become distorted, how we can find our way back onto God’s righteous path, and a little about the Christian’s responsibility to help others find the way home today.

            You may have heard the story of a high school science experiment in which hundreds of fleas were placed in a glass jar with a lid on it.  The fleas hit the lid when they jumped.  Strangely, when the lid was taken off, the fleas stayed in the jar, never jumping higher than the level of the removed lid. The fleas believed something about their lack of freedom that wasn’t true. So, they adjusted their behavior and tolerance based on what they believed to be true, even though in reality, their beliefs were false.

            A 2011 Gallup Poll shows that most Americans believe that 25 percent of the U.S. population is gay or lesbian.  That belief is up from about 22 percent in 2002.  Ironically, a 2013 survey by the Centers for Disease Control says only 2.3 (two-point-three) percent of Americans actually identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual.  96.6 percent of Americans identified themselves as straight.  

            In America, we have been told over and over by the powerful big city media and by some on social media, and other liberal organizations that the Bible’s ways are antiquated and out of touch with modern times. Seems to me it’s not the majority of the people who have their head in the sand. 

            Sad to say, but our false belief system we’ve bought into as a nation is affecting just about everything including our tolerance when it comes to the content (sex, violence, language) of TV shows, movies, and music.  Unfortunately, neither our lawmakers nor our court system are immune to the effects of such lies and culture changes based on the false perception that there is no such thing as an immoral lifestyle.

            What does this all mean to Christians?  It should be a wake-up call, and a motivation for Christians to simply teach and preach the truth in a spirit of love (Ephesians 4:15), understanding that all sin is sin, but that all sins are not the same (Matthew 12:31-32 and 1 Corinthians 6:18), and that any sin can keep us from God and disqualified from heaven if it’s not covered by Jesus’ blood.

            The fact is we all struggle with temptation of one kind or another.  We all sin.  We all have “planks in our own eye” (Matthew 7:3), even as we stare into our brother’s eye looking for a speck of sawdust.  Still, some of the last instructions Jesus gave his followers before returning to heaven were to teach all nations everything He commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). This includes issues of morality, even though it is sometimes politically incorrect to speak out about such.

            John the Baptist evidently struggled with tact.  This powerful preacher prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus and His teachings.  I can only imagine the look on the Sadducees and Pharisees faces when they came out to where he was baptizing, and he told them, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee the coming wrath (Matthew 3:7)?”  After all, they were perceived as the most religious and powerful among the Jewish community.  John preached to them and others with passion about the coming of Jesus the Christ, about the life of repentance the people should be living (Luke 3:10-14), and about baptism for the forgiveness of sins (ref: Mark 1:4).

            Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson (also not known for tact) summarized his feelings based on what the Bible (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Romans 1:18-28) says on the topic of homosexuality during an interview with a New York City based magazine.  Remember that controversy?

            Now back to John. He was a pioneer with a message about a lot of things including King Herod’s morals. John was beheaded for that.  And even though the people had wondered if he might actually be the Messiah, John told them, “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie (Mark 1:7).”    Today, Christians still have the responsibility of blazing the trail, and carrying on the message of Jesus Christ in a spirit of truth and love.  God bless you and have a great week!