1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

One night recently sleep would not come, so I made my way into my study. I turned on a computer that I had not used for a year. When it finally came on, I started searching the files. I was pleasantly surprised to find pictures of our family there that I had forgotten were ever taken – or still existed. Some of those shots were OK, but others were rejects best forgotten. I thought about deleting them but changed my mind. After all, they are good records of the past, warts and all.

It made me remember that God has on his eternal computer the lives of us all. Some of those memories are quite grim. I think, for example, about the Apostle Paul. He had the death of the martyr Stephen on his files. But after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, those files were permanently deleted. God’s record of the Apostle begins not at Jerusalem but Damascus! Small wonder that Paul testified that all the old things of life pass away when we come to Christ and all things become new. The powerful and cleansing blood of Jesus not only blots out the old records of our lives but totally eradicates them – to the point where God says that by an act of His sovereign will He cannot remember those stains on our record at all. I tell you, that’s a marvel of the new birth!

Recently I heard someone on TV say, “I’m a Christian, but not one of the born-again ones.” Well, thank God I am one of them! Truth is, I don’t know of any other kind of Christian. So – that old computer the other night made me very thankful for my memories of the new birth experience. Now I think I’ll just go ahead and delete those awful pictures. I think all my family members will feel better about it.

Prayer: O God, I am so thankful that my past is covered by the blood of Jesus! What a relief to know that there is nothing in our lives that cannot be eradicated because of His death on the cross. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of our Savior! To Him be all glory for such victory over sin! Amen.

Matthew 25:43
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

From my driveway to the Florida Death Row is 284 miles. Every other month, I make the trip on a Friday night, staying in a tiny hotel in Starke. By 7:30 Saturday morning, I am at the prison gate going through the prescribed rigmarole that finally gets me past six sliding, locked doors into the death house an hour later. I never get used to it – the electrified fences that will kill you instantly should you touch one and the coiled razor wire atop them, the sliding locked doors behind me, the vacant stares of the guys who have been on the row for as many as 30 years, and the fear in the faces of the new inmates. Across the roadway is the small building where inmates spend their last nights before being strapped to a gurney and having the lethal needle inserted into a waiting arm.

There are nearly 350 guys currently on Florida’s death row. The justice system is so convoluted that some of them have languished there for thirty years. The average time between pronouncement of the death sentence to the actual execution is usually about 11 to 12 years. Yet some men have died after as few as five years. Makes no sense, does it? The wait depends upon the attorneys, the judges, the prosecutors….the money.

For Christmas one year, our church wanted to do something special for all the inmates. The warden said, “No.” All we were allowed to do was put a dozen cookies and a can of coke in each cell. But you would have thought we gave them something of terrific value. Such mundane offers are treasures in this house of extinguished dreams and hopeless days.

So why do I make that long and truly harrowing trip? Simple. It’s a task put upon me by the Holy Spirit Himself. Jesus said, “In as much as you do this to these my brethren, you do it unto me.” That’s really all I need to know.

Prayer: O God, don’t let my heart ever become so hardened that I forget those behind bars. Some deserve to be there, I know; others do not. All of them deserve to know the love of Christ. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me to these men waiting to die. May I make at least some kind of hopeful difference in their lives. Amen.

2 Tim. 4:2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

These words from Paul, scratched on parchment by the light of a flickering candle, deep within Nero’s death dungeon, remain vital to everyone in Christian leadership today. There are many accolades you can ascribe to the Apostle’s ministry, and one of those is relevance. Relevancy doesn’t have as much to do with methods as it does with principles. Methods can be like Saul’s armor; the suit may fit the king but it’s excess baggage on the shepherd boy. Principles are transferable. Such as this one: What is the stated, printed, well-known philosophy of your ministry? Is it clearly understood by one and all what you are trying to do?

When I was a young pastor, decades ago, this concept of fully understanding what I was trying to do was drilled into my mind by a highly successful and caring pastor. I learned quickly that if I did not have a God-given plan for almost anything in my life, my activities for the Lord quickly meandered into meaninglessness. A well-known pastor helped me the most when he said, “Dan, you have to be able to answer three basic questions about your work for God: 1) What are you trying to do? 2) How do you plan to go about it? 3) What motivates you to stay on course?

The first of those questions (the “what”) is your philosophy of service to God. The second question (the “how”) is your vision. The Bible warns flatly that without vision people die. Most Christians will tell you most sincerely that they are trying to reach their area for Christ. Fine. But HOW do they plan to do that? Such success in evangelism doesn’t just “happen.” And the third question puts in place very firmly your reason for ministry unto God (and yes, we are ALL ministers unto God!). If our motivation is not to exalt Christ and give Him the glory, then we are wasting our time as far as the Judgment Seat of Christ is concerned. Read very carefully I Corinthians chapter 3.

Prayer: O God, help me to understand my mission in life. Teach me how to accomplish it. And help me examine my motivation for everything I do. If it’s for my own pride, forgive me. If what I do is truly for You, help me! Amen.

Exodus 25:3 4
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, [4] And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair…

When 80-year-old Moses ascended Mount Sinai, God gave him the Ten Commandments and the plans for the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Moses was to challenge the people of Israel to bring supplies for the construction of the Tabernacle. Those supplies included “fine linen.”

As a pastor for nearly four decades, I am extremely concerned about Christians doing their best for the Church. I am not addressing “style” of worship here, because that is open to all kinds of likes, backgrounds and needs. But I certainly am addressing quality in God’s house. God requested “fine linen” for the Tabernacle, not throw-away junk. The very least we can offer God is our best. All-too-often I have personally witnessed far, far less than fine linen offered in church. For example: church services that have not been prayed-through and thought-out. Just kind of “winging it,” you know? I speak in scores of churches every year, primarily in missions conventions. Many of those churches are dirty or unkempt. The bathrooms would not pass any health code requirements. The lobbies are less than clean and pleasant and the church grounds are untended. The church neighbors must find it embarrassing to have the building there as it downgrades everyone’s property values. What kind of testimony is this?

The way we keep God’s house is a reflection of our deepest inner thoughts of Him. If our concepts of God are noble, lofty and majestic, as they well should be, then His house will reflect those values. No, the church does not have to be some multi-million dollar facility. The singers do not have to be from the Metropolitan Opera House. But our offerings to God should be fine linen, that is, the very best we can offer our precious Lord.

Prayer: O God, forgive me if I ever think in less-than-noble thoughts about You or Your house of worship. As David and Solomon, let my first thoughts be about Your temple and thoughts about my dwelling place be subsequent to that. May I want and pursue the acquisition of fine linen in all my dealings with Your Church. Amen.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

I take second place to no one in my love for sports, especially those games I can still play in this my 8th decade of life. But I also have a great love for football and baseball. I used to do chapel services for my beloved Cleveland Browns before they were unceremoniously hied away to Baltimore. To sit in old Lakefront Stadium in December, with the winds howling outrageously off Lake Erie, indicates that one truly is a supporter of the team.

But some fans cross the line of sanity! Take for example the fellow who follows a professional football team (whose name I shall not indicate here) who decided to have his bald head tattooed to match the helmets worn by the players. He had his hairless pate painstakingly (underline “pain”) turned into a facsimile of his team’s helmets, including the quarterback’s jersey number stenciled onto the back of his neck. Little children, upon seeing this apparition, will run for their mothers! So why did he do this? In his own words “I’m a fan!”

Not long ago, 72,000 fans sat in an outdoor, uncovered football stadium where the temperature at kickoff time was -4 degrees with winds at 20 mph! Now if people came to church in that kind of weather, critics would say, “Those people are crazy!” Depends upon where your heart is, doesn’t it? Why, I know some professing believers who are ashamed to say grace before meals in restaurants.

Isn’t it sad that some folks don’t seem to love Jesus as much as some fans love football? I wonder if that doesn’t break His heart.

Prayer: O God, may I never – never! – give any indication of being ashamed of You or the Good News bought at such dreadful price! May I ever be a true “fan” – a follower of Him Who redeemed me! Amen.