Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

These all died in faith. (Hebrews 11:13)

It is a great grace from God to have been raised from death to life so that we can live by faith. But it is an even greater grace from God to be preserved throughout the entirety of our lives and to die in faith. For that is indeed a divine death that brings to those who experience it unspeakable blessings. 

The epitaph of the faithful from the pen of the writer of Hebrews echoes in eternity. It matters not how they died. For some, they died in their ripe old age after many years of fruitful service to their God. For others, it was the spring time of their lives. And still for others, they died a martyrs’ death. But, regardless of their exit, they went through the veil in faith and that is all that truly matters. 

What starts in faith will end in faith because the Faithful One has promised to preserve us to the end. The saints of God who die in faith trusted not in their own merits nor rested in the glory of their own good works. They looked only to Him who has given them the faith they lived by and died in. Living by faith looks both to the past and to the present. Dying in faith looks to the promised future which they do not presently possess, when they will enter in to the unbroken and unaltering presence of their Lord and Savior and every spiritual blessing.

Here indeed is cosmic comfort. Whether we live or we die . . . in faith . . . we are trusting in the Lord’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. And God is not a man that He should ever lie. The promises of God are as secure as they are satisfying and each one finds its ‘YES’ and ‘AMEN’ in Christ. We all die. The question is how? Either we die in faith or we die in sin. To die in sin is to live separated from the love of God and surrounded by His eternal wrath and judgment. But to die in faith is to live submerged in the sea of the Savior’s eternal light and love. 

So, how will your epitaph read when you breathe your last? If you are trusting in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, it will read as it does for all those in the “Hall of Faith” – “These all died in faith!” A divine death indeed.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

If we did not have this truth set forth for us in sacred Scripture, it would very hard for us to believe. Yet, the Word of God reminds us to remember our Redeemer because we, by even our renewed nature, are apt to forget. To be sure, there would have been no need of our Savior reminding us to remember Him if our minds would not prove to be forgetful.

• We forget Him who took our beating
• We forget Him who took our nails
• We forget Him who took our cross
• We forget Him who took our crown of thorns
• We forget Him who took our death
• We forget Him who took our grave clothes
• We forget Him who took our tomb

Forgetfulness should be an unknown intruder into the minds of the faithful of God. But with countless voices vying for our attention, we often forget the One who never forgets us, having bought us with His precious blood. The One who said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” is often pushed to the periphery of our lives, when He should be both the center and the circumference. Just a moment or two of prayerful consideration and we are all convicted of our cosmic treason.     

So, how do the faithful forget Him not? Only by seeking Him first in all things. Remember, the Bible never tells us to seek the King and His kingdom . . . it tells us to seek it first (Matthew 6:33)!  If we seek Jesus first as we begin a new day, we will not forget Him. If we seek Jesus first at the office, we will not forget Him. If we seek Jesus first at school, we will not forget Him. If we seek Jesus first as the day is ending, we will not forget Him. Yet, with all of these “forget-me-nots” we will still find times when we do indeed forget Him. Then what? Then we are to remember the One who forgives us completely, which will set us back on the pathway of remembering. 

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:38)

Just a cursory glance around us and we can see that there is great need in this fallen and broken world. And I think you would agree, there are far more needs than we could ever meet in any meaningful way. Brokenness abounds and if we are not sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can head off in a direction of service motivated by sentiment – and when we do, it is not long before our humanitarian hunger descends into doubt, disillusionment, and utter despair. That is why NEED NEVER DETERMINES THE CALL!

Now a word of caution before we go on. We also must be careful not to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the needs around us. We must always be compassionate and Christ-like as we encounter needs as we go through life. But we must not let anything derail us from the “CALL” God has placed in our lives. And that can only happen when we are clear on our call from God.   

Of course, Jesus models this perfectly for us in Scripture. Our verse today is the response of our Lord to His disciples who said, “Everyone is looking for you!” (Mark 1:37). And why was everyone looking for Jesus? Because He was healing countless people who had a myriad of diseases, including driving out many demons. He was meeting need after need, but never did He let it derail Him from His call. The sense of purpose Jesus demonstrates here is as profound as it is predictable. Jesus knew who He was and what He was here to do, and He was able to stay the course because of His constant communication with His Father in heaven. Going back to our passage in Mark, we read that Jesus went off to a solitary place to pray. Seasons of prayer kept Jesus on purpose. And it will do the same for us.

So, how is your prayer life right now? How much time are you spending with God on your knees? The more time we are in communion with our Lord, the more certain we become about His call in our lives. Without consistent communion with Christ, we can be led astray by the myriads of voices vying for our attention. Only when we model the prayer life of our Lord will we sense our purpose, hear our call, and respond with these words of the prophet of Isaiah – “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). Remember, NEED NEVER DETERMINES THE CALL . . . Christ does!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

But avoid foolish controversies. (Titus 3:9)

Oh, what wonderful and wise counsel we have before us today. Avoid foolish controversies.  Why? The passage goes on to tell us, “because these are unprofitable and useless.” I call this – Majoring in the Minors, and sadly, the church is full of those who do just that. 

To be sure, there are some major things that we hold on to with all our might, things that matter most as it relates to our salvation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, and was raised supernaturally from the grave on the third day. He ascended into heaven and even now, sits at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for us. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him . . . by trusting in Christ alone for eternal life. This is keeping the main thing the main thing, and to these truths we must hold fast. 

Yet, there are so many minor things that we make major and when we do, we find ourselves sowing in so barren a field. Think about all the controversies that Christians attend to where the Scriptures are silent. Some have made their life study as to the return of Christ, even making predictions as to the day He would return. However, even Jesus said only the Father knows when the Son will return (Matthew 24:36). It is foolish to focus on when Jesus returns. Rather, we are to live our lives in a posture of being prepared for His return at any moment. 

Think of all the foolish controversies that have hurt the witness of the church when it comes to human ceremonies and religious traditions. How foolish to sow in so barren a field. But the adversary, the devil, loves to see the saints of God muddling around on the mud-flats of man-made rites and rituals, arguing over matters that matter not, instead of advancing the cause of the kingdom of Christ. In the end, the final result can be summed up as “high heat” and “low light” and no one involved is the wiser.

So how do we keep from sowing in so barren a field? We remember that our time here is brief and we must invest what little we have in the work Jesus has set before us. When Jesus said to the man He healed of demon possession, “Go and tell how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39), He was telling him to keep the main thing the main thing. His call was clear – to spend his life telling others about Jesus, which would keep him from foolish controversies. You see, when we are advancing the kingdom of Christ, we are at the same time, avoiding foolish controversies, and sowing in a field that will return 30, 60, 100-fold. May that be the confession of our lives.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

What a word of encouragement we have before us today. Much is impossible with man, but with God all things are possible. In other words, the believer is to look at life through the lenses of our Lord and live a life that rises above IMPOSSIBLE to HIM-POSSIBLE!

In my years in the personal development field, I was a student of all things positive. I was a fan of the 1952 book, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, which, by the way, stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 186 consecutive weeks. Basically, the thrust of the book was rooted in a positive mental attitude. Believe and succeed with the power of positive thinking to overcome any obstacle that stands in your way. Not bad advice and we should all strive to live out each day with a positive mental attitude. Yet, in our passage of Scripture today, we have something far more powerful than a positive mental attitude. We have the very power of God at our disposal, which allows us to go from IMPOSSIBLE to HIM-POSSIBLE.

• Troubles at the office
• Difficulties in your marriage
• Prodigal child
• Broken friendship
• Financial shortfall
• Mounting debt
• Sickness and disease

Perhaps you have something to add to this list? Regardless of what it is that you are currently facing that seems absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for you to overcome, it only seems that way because you are trying to overcome in your strength rather than His. To go from IMPOSSIBLE to HIM-POSSIBLE is to go from living in the natural to the supernatural. It is walking by faith and not by sight. It is trusting God even when we cannot trace Him. It is looking at something that seems utterly hopeless and yet still having hope. Why? Because with God all things are possible. 

Listen, God did not bring you this far just to leave you here. He has promised to get you to the other side, but He did not promise to get you there trouble-free. In fact, He promised that you would experience trials and tribulations on your way to the Celestial City. But what must be remembered is this – trials and tribulations are simply tests to see in whom we will trust. Will we trust in the self or will we trust in our Savior? You can indeed go from IMPOSSIBLE to HIM-POSSIBLE but you can only do this by going to HIM. At a time when many disciples turned their backs on Jesus, He asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” To which Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And that is how we go from IMPOSSIBLE to HIM-POSSIBLE. 

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Most people have a Bible somewhere in their homes. Sadly, for far too many, it is gathering dust on some table top or book shelve. The Bible is the number one, best-selling book in the history of the world and has had a profound impact on Western civilization from its beginning. The question is, has the Word of God had a profound impact on you and the life you are currently living?

God gave us His Word so we would read it. He could have left it up to the Holy Spirit to encourage, motivate, and inspire us to do His will in this world. But He did not. He gave us His Holy Word so that we would read it and respond to it and therefore, be changed by it. When Jesus was being assaulted in the desert by the devil in His wilderness experience, He responded with, “It is written!” Jesus knew the Word of God and was able to use that word to resist and ultimately defeat the attacks of the devil. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Think about going a day or two without eating. You will not only grow hungry you will grow weaker and weaker. Now multiply that by a week or even a month. Just as our physical bodies need nourishment to sustain life, our souls need nourishment to sustain spiritual life. We need to come into God’s presence each day and marinate in and meditate on His Word. When we do, we will be able, like Jesus, to fight against everything that comes up against us in this life, achieve victory, and give God all the glory.

Remember, God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We live in a spiritually dark world and need the light of our Lord’s love that is found on the pages of sacred Scripture to guide our steps into God’s will for our lives. Along the way into glory, the Word of God will give us both direction and correction to live a life for the glory of God and the good of others – all others – including ourselves.     

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“Let my people go, so that they may serve me.” (Exodus 8:1)

These words came from God through Moses to Pharaoh when God was getting ready to free His people from bondage in Egypt. God was setting His people free from slavery in order that they would worship and serve Him. What was true thousands of years ago is still true today – we have been saved to serve.

Now many in the church today have messed up this biblical truth. Instead of understanding we have been saved for service, they believe they are saved by service. This, of course, is a false gospel rooted in our merit, not God’s mercy. Salvation is all of God. There is nothing we do to get saved. But after God saves us, we are not called to serve the One who has set us free from the bondage to sin, Satan, and death. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God through service. And in the most practical sense of understanding the truth that we have been saved to serve, we are to live lives of sacrificial service to others – all others – regardless of cost or circumstance.

We have blessed to be a blessing. We have been healed to help. We have been saved to serve. This is the call for every child of God, not just those who are in vocational ministry like pastors and missionaries. Every Christian is in “full-time” Christian service, regardless of what profession they have chosen. The butcher, baker, and candle-stick maker all are called to serve their Savior. A “non-serving” Christian is a contradiction in terms of gargantuan proportions.

Remember, as you continue growing and maturing in your faith, keep in mind that your maturity is always for ministry. As Jesus said, “He came to serve, not be served,” and the same must be said about those who are His disciples. Is your life reflective of the truth that you have been saved to serve? Where are you serving right now? Where might God be calling you to serve today?

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. (1 John 2:1)

An advocate is someone who supports, strengthens and stands in the gap for another. Inasmuch as the Bible identifies the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, it also identifies Jesus in the same capacity. Today I want to encourage you with a word about Jesus, your Almighty Advocate.

First, Jesus is your Advocate at the moment of your salvation when God the Father accepts you as His own, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Here is what the conversation might sound like between Jesus and His Father:

Father, this one is mine. Yes, he was guilty as charged. Yes, he was dead in trespasses and sins. But you said my death would pay the penalty for his sins and now my blood has cleansed him from all unrighteousness. You put your stamp of approval on my work being totally sufficient for his salvation when you raised me from the dead. Not only now, but forever more, there is no condemnation because I was condemned in his place.

Second, this imaginary last statement tells us that Jesus remains our Almighty Advocate forever and ever. We were not only sinners in need of a Savior when we got saved. But we are sinners in need of a Savior every moment of every day thereafter. We still sin and when we confess our sin, Jesus is faithful to forgive us, over and over again. And don’t forget this. Because Jesus was fully man as well as fully God, He knows exactly what you have gone through, what you are currently going through, and what you will go through in the future. He knows your suffering and your sorrow. He lived it Himself, yet without sin, and can sympathize with you every step of the way into glory.

Remember, regardless of where this finds you today, your Almighty Advocate is not only for you, He is with you, and He is in you. Pray that God would open the eyes of your heart today, as he did for Stephen when the religious leaders were stoning him to death, when he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His right hand (Acts 7:55) . . .  AND HE WILL . . . because Jesus is your Almighty Advocate.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:24-25)

The simplicity in this proverb is simply supernatural in its impact. Read on and be greatly refreshed today.

So, what does it mean to refresh? The dictionary uses a variety of words to describe what the word refresh means:

• Restore
• Revive
• Renovate
• Replenish

Perhaps the best way I can explain the biblical meaning of what it means to be a refresher would be – making the lives of others better! A refresher is being the kind of person other people want to be around. Here is one of the best ways to sharpen your understanding of being a refresher: who in your life right now would you describe as a refresher . . . someone who lifts you up whenever they get around you . . .  someone who shoulders your burdens with you . . .  someone who’s glass is always have full rather than half empty.

Refreshers shine their light into the darkness and help you see the way forward. They are quick to listen, slow to speak, and always ready to serve. They have a tendency to make your world not only brighter, but better and even bigger. They help to enlarge your vision of yourself and the call God has placed in your life. Their encouragement empowers you to get up every time you fall down and to keep going even when you would rather not. So, does this describe the kind of person you are in the lives of others?

Oh, don’t forget the promise in this proverb. All those you have identified in your life as refreshers, are themselves refreshed everything they refresh others. And the same will be true for you. You simply cannot refresh others without being refreshed yourself. Remember, the greatest Refresher the world has ever seen is Jesus, “He makes me line down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters and refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:2-3). The more we refresh others, the more we are like our Lord. Today is a great day for a “refresher course” wouldn’t you agree?

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)

Here is a great question that every Christian should be able to answer: Is Christianity a “reasonable” faith? Or is it a “blind” faith? What is your answer? Let’s take a brief look and be both comforted and challenged. As Francis Bacon once said, “God has given us two books as sources of truth: the book of God’s works (creation) and the book of God’s word (the Bible).

Within the pages of the Bible, we see the inspired importance of the pathway to reason as we pursue truth, for ourselves and for others. For the person who is willing to look through clear lenses, God has revealed Himself in every aspect of creation. And for the person who is willing to look through clear lenses, God has revealed Himself on every page of the Bible. And within the pages of sacred Scripture, we find God driving us to study both of these books:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correc5tly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

In our verse today, we are reminded to be thinking Christians. We are to love God with every fiber of our being, including our mind. Sadly, for many who profess the name of Christ, their minds have not been transformed through consistent and diligent study. They have the same basic worldview they had before becoming Christians. But this is not for you. Make no mistake, the proper use of reason is essential if we are going to share the truths of the gospel in ways that connect deeply with audience and this will only happen when the mind is renewed.

Here is the single most important key to renewing the mind: KNOWLEDGE – “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16). A. W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Our love for God grows as our knowledge of Him grows. The more we grow in our understanding of God, the more our heart beats for Him.

Remember, the Bible makes it clear that faith in God is built upon substance rooted in real evidence, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Our faith is indeed a “reasonable” faith that, while renewing the mind, also the recalibrates heart, and realigns the will. Let that truth comfort and challenge you to pursue God’s call in your life regardless of the cost or circumstance.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!