Wisdom Cries...Rejoice with the wife of thy youth

Proverbs 5:18  Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Let me just say right there and right now that I am so happy to be married. And what's more, I am glad that I got married at 22 years old. I am convinced that there is no more enjoyable, fulfilling, exciting, and fun relationship in all the world than a scriptural marriage relationship between a husband and a wife, and that for a lifetime. The book of Proverbs is a, rather the, book of wisdom and the book was written from a father who was the wisest man to live, besides Christ himself, and also the richest. He had experienced all of the thrills and adventures that power and prominence could bring a guy. History and the Bible tell us that Solomon left the monogamous path and went after many women, culminating in a boatload of wives and concubines, 700 wives and 300 concubines. There wasn't anything to be had that wasn't had by Solomon and the words of wisdom he has been inspired to leave his son are these...rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

Notice...rejoice. Be happy. Be satisfied, actually mentioned in the next verse. Celebrate. Is your marriage still a celebration of the feelings and commitments made to one another? Sure, the shine may have worn off, but   that is no reason to throw it away. How about working to polishing it up? Solomon does his best to convince his son, it's worth the work. Put some time and effort into it. Make it shine.

How about the following thought, with the wife? Do you see the singularity in the text? The Bible is explicitly clear regarding God's plan, one man with one woman for one life. Please do not raise questions of polygamy in the Bible...God never suggested or sanctioned those relationships and they proved to be hardships. Since your wedding day, have you re-affirmed the promise that you would never leave this marriage? You should be more committed today than the day you made the vow. You have matured and invested so much into one another's life.

You have heard me say that the game is best enjoyed by playing by the rules. Sociologists and scientists have come to the same conclusion time after time that a monogamous relationship is the best, healthiest, most rewarding way to raise a family and live out your days. Maybe God knew what He was talking about, huh?

Your presence is requested before the King

I am having my oil changed right now so I figured I would practice my multi-tasking. I share a thought from my devotion by way of my phone. I read the book of Esther yesterday. You know, the book in the Old Testament that never mentions God, but it did not take long for me to stumble upon God in the book. In the first chapter, you read about a king who "enjoys a good time." He is hosting a grand feast with all the who's who of his kingdom and ultimately wants to show off his pretty wife. Quick lesson right there. Sir, your wife doesn't need the admiration of everyone else nearly as much as she needs yours, and parading her in public, showing all of her "attributes" is not complimenting her. It is making her an object for show and tell. Treat her the way she ought to be treated in private and she won't need to receive that attention from the public...and she probably doesn't want to, especially if it has to be in exchange for your attention. Anyway, the queen did not appreciate the opportunity to be made a public spectacle and so she refused. In so doing, she caused the king disappointment, as well as a bit of embarrassment in front of his buddies.  For her disobedience, Queen Vashti was given a punishment, "a royal commandment...that Vashti come no more before king Ahasueras." Now this is a powerful king, no doubt, ruling a kingdom from India to Ethiopia, and he has certainly flexed his muscle here. But I could not help looking at this from a different Perspective.

I serve a powerful King who reigns from Heaven to Hell. Of course, He does not require such things of me as this worldly king did. In fact, those things He desires from/for me are not just for His good pleasure, but for my benefit as well. Even so, I am sure I disobey my King. I fail Him in His desires for me. I fall incredibly short in my opportunities to bring attention and glory to Him in my life. But this is the good part. My King does not refuse entrance before Him. In fact, I have been invited to come into His presence to settle my failures. We read in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." How's that for flexing your muscle? Be encouraged today that the God of the universe is the God of salvation. He wants you to turn to Him, not in order to present Him with your assets, but to bring your liabilities. No matter where you are or what you find yourself in, God is for you. We have been encouraged by the word of God, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." That does not sound like a royal decree barring me from His presence unless I am fit or prepared. Actually, it is clear that I am to feel at ease, welcomed to go to God with my faults and imperfections to receive mercy and grace, and even forgiveness, I John 1:9. I have a royal invitation to appear before the King and in my place before His throne, I have a great Perspective.

A great investment tip, for real

  I have to say that maintaining a blog is a little harder than you may think. Try it and when you do, let me know so I can follow you. Anyway, the last two weeks have been crazy. I am an only child and my parents have moved yet again, so my family and I needed to provide packing and unpacking services. That was the week before this one. This week has been a totally different story. For the seventh consecutive year, I am at the Wilds, a Christian camp and conference center in North Carolina. No one does camp like they do and I have been blessed as a sponsor every year.

As I have sat in the services and seen the great responses to the preaching, I could not help but think of a conversation I had this week with another sponsor. Interestingly enough, I am nearly 600 miles from home and I was able to make a connection. Our conversation turned to a mutual "acquaintance", a church that we each had an attachment to. This church does not promote any type of youth ministry. That is odd in and of itself, but what astounded me is the fact that they run a Christian school from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. That would have to be labeled the extreme end of the discussion of youth ministry...none. Well, as many of you know, most of my years in ministry have been as a youth pastor, and even now I tell my folks, "I will always be a youth pastor to some extent." I love young people. I love being around them and working with them. I love their energy. I love their enthusiasm (if you can find it). I love their perspective. Why would you not want to have a ministry to and for young people? I am sure that the vast majority of parents have provided education, food, and clothing for their children at the child's learning/age level. I am also sure of the provision of specialized medical care for that age group in pediatricians and pediatric dentists. I surely hope that entertainment has been provided in an age-appropriate manner, as well. So why not ministry? There are so many options: Sunday school, children's church, youth group, Bible clubs, retreats, camps, fellowship meetings, seminars, and youth revivals. We have several families at Franklin that have joined our congregation by much prayer, but brought in by our emphasis on youth. Can I tell you that you can not go wrong investing your time, energy and resources, or your church's time, energy, and resources into the life of a young person. I am talking about the best of every world here. There is instant gratification as you look into the face of, not just a child, but a teenager too, and say, "I love you and I am so proud of you." There is a hope that you can not explain and a future that you'll never be able to predict, just from ministering to a young person. There is a dividend that only eternity will reveal as your effort is multiplied by its repetition in countless more lives.

If you attend a church without a vision for young people, you need to ask the Lord how you can change that. Churches are already drying and dying from lack of vision and attendance. If you are not infusing new life, young life, into your church, eventually it will go that way. I love being the Pastor of Franklin Baptist Church, but from my Perspective, I will always be part youth pastor, investing in their lives.

I thought it was ignorance...

I have learned something pretty profound I think, and so today I am sharing out of personal Perspective. I have been in pastoral leadership at Franklin Baptist Church for twelve years. I first moved to Franklin from my home church, Nottingham Missionary Baptist Church, to be the Youth Pastor in the year 2000. It's easy to remember because my wife was pregnant with my son. My first celebration of Graduates' Day at Franklin was in the summer of 2002. I had no graduates in 2001. However, in 2002, I had seven graduates from high school, and ever since then, I have carried a burden, a burden to see a ministry tailored to fit this new group of young people in Franklin. I carried on with my youth pastoring and even grew to ignore the burden, or push it away, which caused me to completely avoid interaction with this new group as some went to college and others went to work. Over the next several years, several more Graduates' Days came and went, as did several more graduates. I realized the trend, or rather the bleeding, of this important group. They were falling off of the church scene like flies and for a decent reason. They had no connection to the church. Youth group and Sunday school were things they did as "kids" because they were brought by their parents. Of course, upon graduating, you remember, all the kids stuff is put behind you and you move on to what has been important to you, but squelched by "church stuff". I began talking about it with my pastor and he would agree with the truth of the issue, but offer no real help or solution. "You're the Youth Pastor, handle it." So I tried to do the leadership thing and find (read delegate) someone to teach the college and career age young adults. Ever burdened by this need in our church, I would gladly engage anyone in conversation regarding how important it would be to get this started. I have lost count of how many times I have told someone, "I know. Our church is bleeding young people and we can't seem to stop it."

Fast forward to the here and now. I have since gone through one legitimate effort to get a class started with a willing vessel and it never got off of the ground and quickly dissolved. And recently, I tried again to coerce yet another unsuspecting vessel to pick up my burden and carry it, not with me, but for me. A week and a half ago, while in my study praying, actually about the next victim of my burden, my heart began to break. The tears started to flow as I realized that I had been going about this all wrong. Names and faces went through my mind as I realized how much time I had wasted trying to pawn this burden off to someone else who should have had the vision and decency to care for this wayward bunch. But then the tears that started as regret and sorrow began to turn into a deep relief in my heart. Problem solved. Prayer answered. There does need to be a college and career group and there is already someone with a burden for these young people. There is already someone with a vision to see them integrated back into the local church ministry and given a sense of home and belonging. It is me.

As soon as I opened my heart to what had been weighing on my mind for so long, the ideas came rushing in. I'll send out personal invitations. I'll serve breakfast and coffee. We'll call it "Connections" and we won't call it a Sunday school class because it will be so much more. I started a Facebook to connect them all. We'll have a social outing at least once a month. I'll enlist church families to host a movie night or game night. I found appropriate subject materials to use in our Sunday morning Bible study. It starts this coming Sunday and my materials came in this morning from Striving Together Publications and that prompted me to Tweet my excitement. That's when it came to me; the relief, the excitement, the vision. It's not ignorance that is bliss. It's obedience. Obedience is bliss. That unexplainable inner peace and joy that comes from being right in the center of God's will. I tell you, there is nothing like it. I can not imagine a more effective way to free yourself of discouragement and dissatisfaction, than to truly pray and seek God for His will and then obey it. Many of you already know His will and you are not doing it or not doing it yet. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Partial obedience is total disobedience. And you are missing out. I will tell you again, "Obedience is bliss." I am so thankful today for God's providential direction in my life. The center of God's will...what an awesome Perspective it gives.

America the Absurd

At this point, so many are saying so much that there may not be any room for someone else with some more, but here goes. Chick-Fil-A COO, Dan Cathy. granted an interview to the Baptist Press about a week and a half ago. In case there is a misunderstanding of what was taking place, I offer this. One Christian organization chose one successful Christian businessman to ask a few questions of and then report them. By what we have since been exposed to, one would think that Mr. Cathy hacked into network television satellites and piped his "hate" forcefully into the lives of every American. Then, two days ago, Mike Huckabee, in response to the media's pumped up outcry from the left, called for a public show of support for the social position that Mr. Curry, and thereby Chick-Fil-A, took.  In the last 18-36 hours, The Muppets ownership group, The Jim Henson Company pulled their promotional products from Chick-Fil-A kids' meals, Boston and Chicago have positioned themselves against Chick-Fil-A expansion, or even a presence in their city, and now there is a counter-promotion against the August 1, 2012, Chick-Fil-A support day called by Mike Huckabee. On August 3, 2012, a same-sex "kiss-in" has been called to make known the LGTB position, as if we didn't already know. What a ridiculous, or absurd, turn of events.For one thing, when did we as Americans lose our right to a personal position on issues? Without hype or fanfare, Mr. Cathy answered an interview question, simply answered a question. He took no pains to broadcast his "intolerant message of hate" to the rest of the world. It appears that we have the freedom to think or believe anything we wish, but not express it. I remember the debate over smoking in restaurants. The great equalizer in that discussion seemed to be "If you don't like cigarette smoke, don't go to a smoking-allowed establishment." Well here's an idea; if you don't like the way a restaurant is operated, don't go. The reaction to this stand for his own personal preference is total hypocrisy. While demanding "constitutional rights", the LGTB community is refusing Mr. Cathy's own expression. And why? Because they can. We stand for it. How can a group of people push around an entire nation when they only make up anywhere from 2-5% of our population, or maybe even less, depending on where you get your figures? As much as I would love to see Chick-Fil-A dining rooms packed out for the entire day on August 1, I would much rather see them filled to capacity and overflowing on August 3 with the same supporters, willing to stand and even push back against the tide of this undermining and sinful agenda. There is no justifiable reason for any retaliation against Mr. Cathy or Chick-Fil-A except the removal of one's patronage, and so I would love to see the restaurants so crowded that a same-sex kissing couple could not even get in the door and if they did, it would be great to see a bit of backbone from the male heads-of-household protecting their families from the sight and influence of such defiant behavior.

I guess the real point of all of this for me is not chicken, though theirs is good. It's not necessarily about supporting a Christian businessman, although I am glad to. I believe it is all about the preservation and propagation of the two most significant "documents" in the history of this great nation, the Holy Bible and the Constitution of the United States of America. How much longer will the silent majority stand by while these two icons of civilization and civility are not just neglected, but destroyed? I do not believe you have that much time to think of an answer, probably about three months. Who will stop standing by and decide to stand up? From my Perspective, I do not wish to live in the United States of Absurdity.

p.s. This is a late addition to the fray. It's very enlightening. Even the other side sees the problem here.
      

Camp Meeting...Old School

Yes it has been a week since my last post. Please accept my apologies. I do appreciate your interest and I hope I did not discourage anyone from checking back regularly. This past week was Camp Meeting at the Eastern Pennsylvania Baptist Fellowship campgrounds. It was a week of great preaching, singing, eating, and fellowshipping in a setting that is a bit of a throw-back to days gone by, including the main preacher for the week, Dr. Tolbert Moore, Pastor Emeritus of the Galilean Baptist Church of Lawrenceville, Georgia.  This is no disparaging comment made to disrespect the age of this esteemed man of God, but at 83 years old, he certainly is a different breed of preacher than that we are accustomed to in this day. And I am thankful for it. Our day lacks the spiritual and scriptural insight of anointed preachers who would not withhold the truth of God's word in an effort to build a name for them self and/or a following for their ministry. We have traded the no-nonsense exposition of the Bible with its practical application, for a warm, buttery, watered-down sample of self-help advise tainted with half of a Bible verse to add a religious spin. We have lost the desire for real improvement in our life, satisfied to feel good about us as we dress up, carry our Bible, and go off to church for Sunday morning service. Dr. Moore's kind of preaching is not only appropriate in this setting, reminding us of the days of Billy Sunday as he would challenge people to "hit the sawdust trail", but necessary in every setting where people are gathered to hear the word of God preached. It is certainly especially enjoyable under the old time tabernacle, but it truly belongs in our pulpits. I am challenged in my spirit to strive to keep the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as the central theme of my preaching, to keep the main thing the main thing, knowing that is where these great men of God received their power and influence. Romans 1:16 tells us that the gospel is the "power of God, unto salvation".

I am not paying lip service to a man or men. I am confessing the truth of the adage, "There's no school like the old school."  Sadly, these men are fewer and fewer. Born and raised in a day where life was simple and character mattered, they are fading from view regularly. There just aren't many left and I want to glean all that I can from those that remain because what they have to offer is not just valuable, it's priceless. So I thank God for, not just the blessings of His presence in our meetings this past week, and it was sweet, but also for the presence of the man of God, Dr. Tolbert Moore, with nearly 70 years of ministry behind him; years of study, prayer, service, and a lot of funny stories. When I grow up, I would be glad to be just like him. But that's just my Perspective.

Family Devotion

This morning I have a couple firsts. The first first you may pick up on quickly because the blog itself may look different. I am writing this on my phone through the Blogger app and having never used it before, I am not sure how it will turn out. For that reason, I will probably be brief. And please overlook any typos and autospell mistakes. I will come back later and fix any mistakes I missed.
The second first of the day was just wrapped up and I wanted to report it to you. The Wilson family has always had a devotion time. When the kids were younger, Bible reading and prayer as a family was more frequent but as they have grown we have stressed personal Bible reading and devotion. I am always looking for new and exciting ways to incorporate the Bible into our family living and that tends to be challenging as my family gets older. Maybe this new way of "devoting" together will encourage you and your family. Last week I asked Jen to pick up five small spiral bound notebooks. These are 5.5 x 4.25 with 200 sheets. I passed out the notebooks to each family member, along with a pen in the spiral. At the beginning of the week I suggested a scripture reference that we all wrote on the front of a page. For the last week we have been memorizing the verse if we didn't already know it and each of us were to write our personal impressions or thoughts about the verse in our notebooks. This morning we all came together after breakfast and shared what tidbits we wrote in our notebooks. This spurred a great conversation among all of us and allowed each to express their own understanding or what the verse said to them. I am totally excited over the content and participation in this new devotion method. Everyone had personal insights to share and we all gained a greater understanding of the verse because of it. The verse was Romans 3:23 which was a familiar verse to start with and here are some of the thoughts that were shared from my family.
- All of society's religions or rituals are an attempt to approach God or hit the mark of righteousness, and every one of us miss. We fall short.
- Not only do we all sin, but we all fall short in our effort.
- It is not just a matter of "messing up". We are all sinners, truly sinful. Let's not minimize that.
- No one is perfect. We all need healing.
- Although we are all unique creations of God, we are bound by the commonality of our sinfulness.
What a blessing to hear these truths come from the hearts, minds, and mouths of my family. By the way, the back side of each page is for recording the thoughts from every one else. We picked a new scripture for memorization and study this week and I am really looking forward to building on this new special time of family devotion. I encourage you to bring the Bible, its reading and teaching into your family. It certainly does not have to be this way, but I am sure that if you can incorporate the Bible into your family life, there is a much greater chance that your children will incorporate it into their personal life, at least, that's my Perspective.
Now I am heading into the pool with my family. Stay safe and cool today and be sure to check on someone you know could be in danger today because of the extreme weather.

Happy Independence Day

 

 "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."- John Adams to his wife, Abigail, referencing Independence Day, the day it was approved in Congress.

It is truly a day worth celebrating and I love to celebrate. My wife has made me quite the family tradition lover and there are several things that I relish about this day. I believe it is important to say that we should not lose this day in festivities. This last Memorial Day there were several pictures and posts on social media sites that reminded us that Memorial Day is not just another day to have a cook-out, and I would remind you of that same message for this great day. You have heard it said "Freedom is not free" and therefore can not be taken for granted. Aside from the opportunity that this day affords us to get together with dear friends and share a meal, there are a couple other things that always come to mind and I thought that I would share them. I could not go through this day without rehearsing in my mind The Star Spangled Banner. In my home, I have heard it several times today and it still gives me goose bumps. Another of my holiday favorites is certainly common to a lot of people, and that is the viewing of fireworks. Every year I try to get out to a couple displays, but it never seems to work out. By far, the best show I have seen personally is the "Illuminations" show at Disney's Epcot. One of the best televised/videoed displays, although not in America, would be New Year's in London, 2012.

My church has heard me say several times that a great patriot is a great christian and a great christian is a great patriot. Of course, that is not to say that national pride earns you a ticket to heaven, but to consider the heritage of this great nation and truly appreciate it must bring one to an appreciation of the one true Giver of Liberty. Despite revisionist history, I still believe in the Christian, not religious, not Judeo-Christian, but Christian foundation upon which this country was founded and built. If you struggle with this truth or wish to gain a deeper understanding of this truth, I highly recommend David Barton's website, Wall Builders.

And so on this great day of celebration, I encourage all Americans to stand up for liberty and against all who would threaten or take from us this liberty, but so much the more, I want to encourage God's people today, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free". As a Christian and an American, that has to be my Perspective.

The Power of One

Let me start with the background for this thought. In II Kings 17, the king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, removed the people of Israel from the cities of Samaria and replaced them with Babylonians and others of the surrounding lands. Because these new inhabitants did not fear the Lord, the Lord sent lions among them and slew some of the people. In verse 26, the explanation is offered to the king, "The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them because they know not the manner of the God of the land." The solution was then offered to the king, "Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence...and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land." And there it is...the challenge to be the one. One man was dispatched to Samaria to make a difference in the midst of all of the people living there. 

There is an old English proverb that says, "Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." When I read that proverb, immediately the portion of scripture from Matthew 5:14, "Ye are the light of the world" came to mind. Whether we choose to believe it or not, one person can make a difference. And before you say, "Sure, but not this person", let me remind you of what Helen Keller said. “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” I know not one person living with the difficulties or impairments of Helen Keller.  I'll put it this way, the inability to do everything should not keep you from doing something. Be that one. The Bible tells us that these new inhabitants feared the Lord after the priest moved in with them and taught them. Get involved. I would say even if it is with just one person, but that minimizes the effect you could have. Intentionally seek to be a difference maker in the life of someone and then move on to someone else and so on. Having had the opportunity to mentor a young man has brought me to a deeper dependence on the Lord. I realized that I really did not have what he needed so I was forced to seek God for help and direction. Through that time I adopted the words I still pray regularly, "Lord, grant me words and wisdom to make a difference."

And there is the beginning of being the one. If you desire to be a "one", someone who effects positive change in the lives of others, you must follow after the One who is the orchestrator of the greatest change ever, a changed heart. The One through whom "old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." We can pull from that scripture in II Kings that the best that one person can do is teach/exemplify the word/ways of God to people, not lion tame. Deal at the root and that will change the fruit. I will leave you with one last quote. It is a quote that is often mistakenly attributed to D.L. Moody, but it was actually a very intimate friend of his that said,"It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly unto Him." To which D.L. Moody replied, "Well I will be that man." There is power in one. Through a right relationship with God through His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be that one. God help us all to say and mean, "Well I will be that one." I hope you feel that way too, otherwise, it's just my perspective.