Numbering Your Days

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It is hard to believe that the summer of 2018 is almost ended.  How quickly the days have passed.  It won’t be long until we see the leaves changing color and the temperatures starting to cool.  The days are already getting shorter and many schools are beginning the new year.  As I contemplated that this morning in my Bible time, the Lord brought a verse to my mind.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”         Psalm 90:12

Some years ago, my wife and I had the privilege of accompanying our daughters and their graduating classmates on their senior class trip to the west coast.  One day we had a devotion time in which I brought this verse to their attention.  I reminded them that their lives will begin to pass by very quickly.  As kids, it seems like it takes forever to grow up! We finally get to high school and eventually get our drivers’ licenses.  Before we know it we are graduating and ready to begin new chapters in our lives.  And from there adulthood seems to accelerate!  In just a few weeks one of those twin girls, now graduated from college, will begin a whole new chapter as she takes her husband’s hand in marriage.  And once again, I see myself and my wife pressing on as each year of our lives is spent as a tale that has been told.

Moses, in this Psalm, has a special request of the Lord, and that is that He would teach us to number our days!  The older we get, the more precious our time becomes.  I want to spend every day of my life serving the Lord Jesus Christ and helping others to know Him and be the best they can be for Him.  We all find ourselves at times wasting our days doing things that probably will not count for eternity.  And so my prayer today is the same one as Moses:  “Lord, teach me to number my days and to use each one wisely.”

Don’t Be Dismayed

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Let’s face it.  There are times in our lives when the path ahead seems too hard to trod.  The circumstances we face seem insurmountable.  We are tempted to give up on our hopes, our dreams, our goals.  We say to ourselves, “That is it!  I cannot make it!  I quit!  I can’t go on!”  As I was reading in the Book of Joshua during my daily Bible reading time, I came across a couple of verses in Chapter 1 that really spoke to my heart and encouraged me to press on in the difficult times.

Joshua is now the leader of the children of Israel.  Moses had died, and God is now ready to use Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.  There would be difficult days ahead, and the Lord is now preparing him to move forward.  Forty years earlier, they were at this very crossroad of going into the land, but the children of Israel saw the giants of the land and all the obstacles that they would face and they lost the courage to go in.  Isn’t life like that?  We have hopes and dreams, goals that lie before us and challenges to be conquered, but the obstacles we face seem to be too big to overcome.  Well, God is at work here with Joshua to prevent a repeat of the past and to give him what he needs to press on towards the goal.  Joshua 1:5 says,

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

We have here a great picture of the eternal God.  He was with Moses in the past, He is with Joshua now, and He will be with Joshua in the future–all the days of his life.  The Bible says of Jesus in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  He is the eternal God.  He always was, He is, and He always will be!  Moses may be dead, and Joshua today is dead as well, but Jesus Christ is still alive and risen from the dead.  He is still the same God today as He was then, and He is available with the same promises to us today! What an encouragement!  So what do we have in Joshua 1:5?  The promises of God!

  1. “I will be with thee.”– He has promised you His presence.  He is with you!
  2. “I will not fail thee.”– You may feel like you are failing, but God is not failing.  He always wins!  Stay in the game!
  3. “I will not forsake thee.”– You can rest assured that God will not turn His back on you.  He is for you.  He is on your team!

So you are facing big problems in your life?  Remember, there is a God in heaven that loves you and is for you.  He offers you His promises.  Don’t quit and don’t turn away from God.  Turn to Him.  If you are winging it on your own, isn’t it time to accept God into your life and get His help?  Why face the obstacles alone?  Find your strength in Him today!  Now to the second verse that touched my heart.  Joshua 1:9 says,

Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage;  be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed;  for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.

We have a commandment from God.  Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed.  Dismayed means “to break down the courage of completely, as by sudden danger or trouble.”  When trouble arises and obstacles seem big, they tend to cause us to be afraid and lose courage.  How do you get your courage back?  How do you press on?  Get your focus off of yourself and your inabilities and weaknesses, and get your eyes off of the obstacles.  Put your eyes squarely on Jesus!  He is with you.  He is able.  He will not forsake you and He will not fail you.  You may be weak, but that is when you can turn to Him and find out just how great He is!  By remembering this great truth, you can keep going.  You don’t have to quit.  You can be a conqueror with Jesus Christ!

Christmas in New York City

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Macy’s in New York City, December 2016.

I had the opportunity to visit New York City with my family this Christmas.  I have always heard that it was a great place to visit to see the sights and sounds of Christmas during the holidays.  I must say we had a great time trying to see as much as possible.  We started at the Statue of Liberty, went to Ground Zero to see the memorial and the new Freedom Tower, and eventually made our way to Times Square.  Walking through Central Park was amazing.  Trump Tower was cool.  Times Square was crowded, but the lights around the area were terrific!

What intrigued me, though, was going to Macy’s.  It was seven floors of expensive shopping, or should I say, looking!  In that building they had amazing wooden escalators that date way back. But it was the sign on the front of the building that really caught my attention.  The sign said, “Believe.”  It was written and lit in such as way as to be magical and whimsical.  I think the obvious implication of it was the magic of the North Pole, and of Santa and of gifting for Christmas.  In the movie, The Miracle on 34th Street, a mom who worked for Macy’s, along with her little girl, were challenged to believe–not in Jesus Christ, but in Santa.  I suppose that is the way the world is going these days when it comes to Christmas. Sadly, most people in this world are missing the greatest message that the sign really points to!  It is the true message of Christmas!  Here are some of the verses that come to mind which the Bible encourages us to “believe,”  or to have faith in.

…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved…

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me….I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

It is my hope that more and more people would come to know that Jesus is truly the reason for the season and that putting your faith in Him is life changing and awesome.  I got to see first hand what the hustle and bustle of Christmas has become. Shopping and fantasy has replaced the most important thing of all.  Jesus, born of a virgin,  came to this earth and lived a sinless life.  He was crucified on the cross of Calvary to pay for our sins, the just for the unjust.  He was buried in a tomb, but three days later arose victorious over death.  He sits at the right hand of God the Father now, offering the gift of salvation, forgiveness of sins, to all that BELIEVE!

Now that is what Christmas is all about!

As the deer…

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Last summer my family and I took a wonderful vacation to the Moosehead Lake region of Maine.  I spent much time there as a teenager at my parents’ camp, especially during the summer months.  On this vacation, we rented a rustic cabin right on the lake at Beaver Cove.  The road to the cabin was a long dirt road that may have seemed a bit annoying to have to travel were it not for the opportunities to see beautiful deer grazing just feet from our vehicle.  I could not help but take pictures of them as they were more than willing to pose for the camera!

deer 2One of my favorite places to read in the Bible is the book of Psalms.  Recently in my devotion time I read Psalm 42:1-2.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:  When shall I come and appear before God?”

My mind wanders back to those moments when we could all but reach out and touch those deer.  I find myself asking if I truly thirst after knowing God.  The Bible, the precious Word of God, is likened to water.  If anyone truly is thirsty to know God, they need not run to the fridge for a bottle of water!  The place to run if we are thirsty for God is His Word.  I am reminded of a great verse in Hebrews 11.  Verse 6 reads, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must first believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”    If you are thirsty for God, I encourage you to diligently seek Him!  Open the Bible and read about Jesus.  God has given us this wonderful book so that we can know Him.  Determine to visit a good, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church and do all you can to “panteth” after Him;  diligently seek Him!

John 4 tells us of the time Jesus met a woman by Jacob’s well.  He said to her in verse 10, “…If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”  Jesus is the one who can quench that spiritual thirst in our souls.  If you “panteth after the water brooks,”  look no further than unto Jesus.  He is the source of living water.

There is a song we love to sing at Cornerstone Baptist Church.  It is called, “As The Deer” written by Martin J. Nystrom.   The first verse reads

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.
You alone are my strength, my shield;  to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.

 

Independence Day 2016

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Old North Church

The Old North Church in Boston

My family and I had a wonderful time celebrating the independence of our great nation.  This past spring we were able to visit the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, when we attended my daughters college graduation from West Coast Baptist College.  By getting memberships to the Reagan Library, we were entitled to visit other presidential libraries around the country.  The JFK Library is only an hour or so away from us in Boston, so we decided to take the day to go.  It was a beautiful summer day and the library is right on the harbor overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It was an interesting day that brought back many memories of my childhood growing up.  I was just a little boy less than five years old when I was playing on the front steps of my house.  My grandfather and grandmother lived right across the street from us.  My father came out of the house shouting to my grandfather across the street, “Kennedy has been shot!”  It was a devastating time for our nation.  My family mourned for the loss of President Kennedy.  I remember watching the funeral procession on the black and white television and seeing little John saluting the casket of his father as it went by him.  How my family cried.  My grandmother and grandfather had a picture of JFK on the wall in the kitchen in their house, right next to a picture of the pope and a picture of the sacred heart of Jesus.
They were very religious people.  It is amazing how the times changed.  Fast forward some sixteen years later after the presidency of Jimmy Carter and the new beloved president of my family was Ronald Reagan.  It was amazing to contrast the two leaders as I walk through both libraries.

 

We topped the day off with pizza at a famous pizzeria in the Boston’s North End.  It was probably the best pizza I ever had!!  Just a few short blocks away was the Copp’s Hill burial ground and the Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung signaling “one if by land, two if by sea.”  Such history!Robert Newman gravemarker
Robert Newman was the sexton of Christ’s Church, which is now the Old North Church.  He is buried in the graveyard.  And then there is the statue and the home of Paul Revere.
What the Sons of Liberty endured for the cost of our freedom!  I am reminded of the cost Jesus paid for our freedom!  He gave His life on an old rugged cross that we might be free from the bondage of sin.  What a great God He is!

Come apart and rest awhile…

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The Lord is good to give us a time of vacation to get away from the stresses of life, and even of the ministry.  This year I was able to take my family up to Moosehead Lake in the great state of Maine.  I spent many a summer there as a young teenager as my father and mother had a camp there.  I have so many great memories  of my time there.  It was an awesome opportunity to get away.  Even the Lord told His disciples there were times that they needed to separate from the ministry and get away to rest.  In Mark 6:31 the Bible tells us this,  ” And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” 

We rented a cabin right on the lake for five days.  No tents, no set-up, just time to rest, fish, canoe, go out on the boat around a 20 by 40 mile lake, and take in all the sites.  It truly was a refreshing time!  One night we decided to take a drive up beyond the Lily Bay State Park where there are great opportunities to see moose.  They don’t call it MooseMoosehead Lake for nothing!  As we drove we came across a momma moose and her calf.  We must have sat there for twenty or thirty minutes just watching the sight!  I can only imagine what it must have been like to be Adam as the Lord brought to him the animals of creation to be named.

Genesis 2:19   “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”

I am sure Adam was as amazed as I was at the sight of such a magnificent creature.  What an amazing God we serve!

Celebrating Our Independence

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Fourth of July fireworks over the Merrimack River in Manchester, NH.

Once again my family and I had the privilege of celebrating the Fourth of July together. We added a twist to watching the fireworks over the Merrimack River by running down to the local Market Basket and getting a couple of quarts of Moose Tracks and Caramel Chip ice cream and some waffle cones.  Nothing like celebrating by watching the fireworks and licking an ice cream cone on a pleasant summer evening!

As you look at the picture I took amidst the crackling and boom of the fireworks, you can’t help but notice the cloud from the smoke in the midst of the brightness of light.  It is symbolic of the year we find ourselves in as we celebrate our independence.  Though the brightness of America lives on, we are warned that we are at great risk of a terrorist attack this holiday weekend.  We are a country that is on edge as we are encouraged to exercise due diligence while we celebrate.  How things have changed in the land that I love!

We not only find ourselves in danger from without, but we also sense a danger from within.  It seems that our world is being turned upside down.  Our morals are decaying and it is apparent that there is a great turning away from God in America today.  I remember studying Alexis de Tocqueville, a French statesmen of the 1800s, back in my college days. I found a quote of his from a trip he made to America:

“Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.  In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.  Religion in America…must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief.  I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion — for who can search the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.  In the United States, the sovereign authority is religious…there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.  In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people…  Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent…  I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.  Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.  The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom.  The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.  Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts — the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.”

Americans need to turn back to the faith that our country and its freedom were founded on.  Our country has been a great country all these years because we have been good, God-fearing, Christ-honoring people.  Our freedoms emanate from a God whose truth makes us free.  The Declaration of Independence still states:

  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This Fourth of July I am praying for our nation.  Real freedom comes from faith in Jesus Christ.  Sin has us bound, but He is able to make us free.  To turn from Him and deny Him is to truly lose the freedom of our souls.  Let’s get back to our faith and turn back so that we once again can spiritually be “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Spring Revival 2014

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We are looking forward to a great week of revival from May 18, 2014 through May 21, 2014.  The Lord spoke to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3 about being lukewarm as Christians.  God wants us to be on fire for Jesus.  Thus, our theme this year is “Desire the Fire.”  Revival services are designed to help us reignite our passion for Jesus.  I am praying that everyone who attends will allow the Lord to work on their hearts.  King David wrote in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me , O God, and know my heart:  try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

This year we have four different preachers coming in to minister to the church.  Pastor Cal Fuller will be with us all day Sunday.  Pastor Fuller pastored Victory Baptist Church in Londonderry, New Hampshire, for over twenty five years.  His current ministry is Winning New England For Eternity.  He has helped many small and struggling churches by becoming their interim pastor as he helped them find new pastors.  He is also an evangelist who has traveled around the country with his wife, Melba, preaching the Word of God.  I surrendered to preach under his ministry and leadership.  Pastor Dave Carlson of Gospel Baptist Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, will preach Monday evening.  Pastor Tom Faulk, who pastors First Baptist Church of Groton, Massachusettes, will be our guest preacher Tuesday night, and Pastor Peter Chamberland of Granite State Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire, will close out our revival Wednesday night.

All are welcome to attend our services.  Sunday services are at our normal times.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night meetings begin at 7:oo pm.  There will be refreshments and fellowship after the evening services.

“If my people, which are called by my name,

shall humble themselves and pray,

and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;

then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,

and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

 

So much to be thankful for

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I love Thanksgiving!  It is an awesome time to reflect on all the blessing of the Lord!  Every year the President of the United States gives an honorary pardon to some lucky turkey who will spend the rest of his entire life in retirement on a farm, forever safe from harm.  The other day we had two wild turkeys in our back yard.  Rather than putting them on the Thanksgiving table, I, too,  extended a pardon.  They soon wandered off into the woods, free and safe from harm.  I don’t think the turkeys ever knew the potential danger they were in, never mind being thankful to be allowed to go free.  This year, as I consider these turkeys, I am reminded of the pardon God extended to me!  It is not because I am lucky, but because I am loved of God, so much so that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for me.  That alone is enough to be thankful this Thanksgiving!

2012: The End of Insanity!

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Happy New Year to everyone!  It is hard to believe that 2011 has already passed.  It seems like yesterday when we were ready to usher in a new millenium, and fears abounded that everything was going to crash when 1999 rolled over to 2000!  That fear never did materialize, as most of our fears don’t.  But the truth of the matter is that eleven years have passed already since that time.  I remember years ago hearing my pastor preach a message from James 4:14.  “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”  We are here on this earth but for a short time.  I have been asking myself how I have been spending my years.  As a pastor, am I doing everything I can to serve the Lord the way He wants me to serve Him?  Am I being the husband and father I ought to be?  I don’t want to be satisfied with just trying…I want to be successful.  I want results.

Before us lies a brand new year with no mistakes.  I have determined to break away from insanity.  You have heard that great definition of insanity, haven’t you?  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!  I have resolved this year not to be insane!  I preached a message to the church from Psalm 90:12.  “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”  We must number our days.  In light of 11 years going by in what seems to be “over night,” I want to grasp that my time on this earth is getting shorter with each passing day, and soon I will give an account to God of my life.  I want each day to count.  I don’t want a whole day to go by where I must say when I lay my head on the pillow that I got nothing accomplished for the Lord.  The only way for that to happen is to set goals for what God wants us to do, and then come up with tasks each day that will work us toward achieving those goals.  Perhaps a goal for your life this year is to be a better father.  What will you do TODAY to further that goal?  Maybe you could listen to a preaching message on fatherhood, or maybe take your child out to lunch.  Maybe it will be to begin family devotions.  Will you start tonight, or will another day go by where you wish you had done something?  We have to set goals, then do things each day to make that goal a reality.

This is what the Lord put on my heart for 2012.  I want to stop wishing I had done more, and actually start working to do more.  May He give us the victory!!!