Take time to check your spiritual inventory

by Barrett Vanlandingham

April 4, 2017

          There is a little red plastic toolbox in my office marked “Camp First Aid.” It is full of items I would need to treat someone for minor scrapes, headaches, stomach aches and such while we’re on the road to various youth activities and camps. Every spring, I open it up and sort through all the items. I check expiration dates and see if I’m running low on anything.

          It is also good to conduct an occasional inventory of our spiritual toolbox.  It is important to know if we are missing any of the tools necessary for success in spiritual warfare, and we always need to make sure we are well stocked with spiritual first aid supplies. After all, Satan has many darts, traps, devices, and lies in his arsenal to deceive and injure us spiritually.

          In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God so we can stand our ground when temptation comes our way. The belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit (God’s word), and prayer are necessary when it comes to both defending yourself and taking the offense in spiritual warfare.

          It is also important to grow and cultivate the Holy Spirit’s fruit in our lives. Those qualities include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  We know from 2 Peter 1:8 that we as Christians are supposed to increase our supply of Godly qualities so our faith does not become useless, just like those expired supplies in my first aid kit.

          Unless we continue to grow spiritually, we make ourselves vulnerable to Satan’s schemes. Even when we are fully stocked, that doesn’t mean the devil will stop bothering us. But commitment to God, consistent fellowship with our church family, regular Bible study, and a life of prayer does mean we have resources in place to help us get back on track as soon as possible. Spiritual injuries are sure to happen in life. We can either go through it with God, or without.  Have a blessed week!

The devil is in the detail

by Barrett Vanlandingham

March 28, 2017

            Fortunately, wisdom comes with experience. So, when I received an email Friday with more than a few suspicious clues, I knew not to click on the link unless I wanted a computer virus. There were just too many grammatical errors and misuses of the English language.

            The subject line read: “Important Notice From Yahoo.” The heading stated: “Your Mailbox Statements.”  Then came the body of the email: “Your incoming messages were placed on hold due to our recent upgrade. Kindly UPDATE your mail-box to receive new mails that are pending.  Mail configuration – CUSTOMER CARE.

I clicked reply so I could see who had sent the email.  Their address was “elsuida.kondo@unimelb.edu.au”.  Not exactly the address I would expect from Yahoo. So, I escaped, and inspected the body of the email a little more. 

First of all, the word “From” in the subject line should not have been capitalized. Second, the heading made no sense whatsoever. Third, the only link provided was the underlined word “UPDATE” in all caps. Suspicious, as is the reference to “mails”.  Also, my emails had not been placed on hold, otherwise I would not have received this one! No credible email would use the word “kindly” when giving instructions. Also, the word mailbox was misspelled (there is no hyphen).

As Christians, it is important to increase our Bible knowledge and keep our wits about us. The apostle Peter made a lot of errors in judgment during his time on earth. So, he could definitely speak with authority when he said, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Peter knew that when we take a little more time to examine the evidence, we can tell when someone does not have our best interest at heart.

Jesus agreed. He said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:15-17, ESV).

Let’s all take time to pray before acting on our decisions. Have a great week!

Cherry picking scripture is dangerous

by Barrett Vanlandingham

March 21, 2017

          In one of Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth, he warns Christians concerning how they treat each other, and reminds them to not lose their salvation. Paul’s letters were specific to the audiences to which he was writing, as he addressed their spiritual struggles.

          “Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.” (1 Cor. 6:8-11).

          Recently, Disney has come under fire for portraying LeFou as a homosexual character in its new children’s movie, Beauty and the Beast. But we as Christians should not only be concerned about the entertainment industry’s glamorization of this sin, a closer look at scripture reveals there are many things the world promotes that are against God’s will.

          You see, just because one particular sin is more of a hot button issue in our culture than another, the other sins listed in God’s word are still sin, and can still send us to hell if we willfully choose sin over obedience to God’s righteousness.

          Paul told Christians in Ephesus that “No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5). He even says, “Therefore do not be partners with them” (5:7).

          Paul explained to the church at Rome how so many people had found themselves at odds with God: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;“ (Romans 1:29-30). 

          Paul not only lists those things as deserving of spiritual death, but also warns Christians to not give their approval to those who practice such things (Romans 1:32).

          Let’s be alert and avoid all the devil’s schemes. Have a blessed week!

Spend time with God on your spring break

by Barrett Vanlandingham

March 14, 2017

          Taking a few days off for spring break during a busy and challenging school year provides a much needed rest for families.

          It’s nice to get a break. Jesus thought so, too. But finding time alone, even to pray, often proved difficult for Him, though it didn’t stop Him from trying. In Luke 5, the writer tells about the miracles of Jesus, and the resulting crowds of people who came to Jesus in hopes He would also heal their sicknesses.  Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

          In Matthew 14, we read about the beheading of Jesus’ cousin, John. Herod had John thrown in jail because John was persistent in trying to explain to Herod that it was wrong for him to have an affair with Herod’s brother’s wife, who eventually told her daughter to ask for John’s head on a platter.

          “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat to a solitary place” (Matt 14:13).

          But as you can imagine, this did not deter the crowds. They still tracked Him down in hopes He would heal their sick, and He did. In fact, at the end of the day Jesus would not allow his disciples to send the crowds away, but instead, chose to feed all five-thousand of the men plus women and children. With full bellies, Jesus dismissed the crowd. “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside to pray” (Matt 14:23).

          His alone time didn’t last long. He got up early, walked on the water out to where His disciple’s boat was being tossed around on the lake, convinced Peter it was okay to get out of the boat and walk to Him, and finally pulled Peter out of the water after he began to sink for lack of faith.

          As Christians, our lives are filled with opportunities to serve as Jesus served. But we must pace ourselves. Breaks can improve our quality of life, especially when we use them to spend time alone with God to re-energize us, and get us ready for challenges that lie ahead.

          Remember Peter’s words: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  Have a great week!

Salvation is available for all people

by Barrett Vanlandingham

March 7, 2017

          We all know of a few cantankerous people, you know, those who are bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative. But in spite of the conflict and disunity we see in the news and even in our own communities, it is nice to know that the Creator of our universe calls each of us to a higher standard.

          You see, God is not from a particular nation, and He wants to save all people.  It doesn’t matter to God that one person has more social status, money, or physical beauty than someone else, or that he or she is from America or somewhere else.

          One day the apostle Peter had a vision in which God made it clear to him. So, Peter (a Jewish convert to Christianity) took this message to the house of Cornelius (a Gentile Centurion - officer in the Italian army stationed in Caesarea) where there was a large gathering of Gentiles.

          Peter said, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

          Cornelius welcomed the news, and told Peter about a special messenger from God who had appeared to him a few days earlier while he was praying. The messenger had told Cornelius where to find Peter, and so he sent for him so that Cornelius and his guests could “listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (10:33).

          “Then Peter began to speak: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (10:34-35).

          God had already communicated this message to Peter, but He also wanted to convince everyone else. So after Peter told the Gentiles about Jesus, God poured out His Holy Spirit on them so they could miraculously speak and praise God in other languages. Peter baptized them in the name of Jesus, and then spread this wonderful news to the other apostles and believers in Jerusalem.

          The story of Jesus and salvation for all people is a unifying message that still changes lives today. Have a great week!