A Biblical subject so many face in today’s times, but is seldom talked about, foreclosure, or bad debt.

English: Foreclosure signs, Mortgage crisis, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My wife and I, like so many others, have become victims of a declining Real Estate Market and circumstances that were unavoidable. When we bought the house, it was an excellent deal, and I had a great job that enabled us to more than make our payments, but things changed. I lost my job, the housing market crashed, home prices dropped leaving us 80K under. We are trying like crazy to keep our house, but we’re not sure if we will be able to. We feel like failures and are struggling with the Biblical implications of a foreclosure. We will do anything to avoid it, but what does the Bible say about our situation we face along with millions of others in this situation?

“The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.”
                                                                                          Psalm 37:21

It is not a sin to borrow money for a home! God gives us many warnings against borrowing, but borrowing is not a sin. That is not what Scripture says and that is not what the verse above says. The verse only says it is evil if you borrow and don’t repay!!

I want you to read the following verse in the context it is intended: God gives us certain principles. These are instructions to help us live our daily lives. There is a difference between warnings God gives us and sin. So read the following, which I believe is an instruction (warning):

“Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth…The
Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”
Deuteronomy 28:1,12

OK, you say, so I shouldn’t borrow money? What if I have borrowed money? What if I now find myself facing the very real possibility of foreclosure. What do I do as a Christian and what does it say about me as a Christian facing foreclosure? I will start with the fact that it says nothing about you other than you are human. Like all of us, we fall short.

Going forward we should recognize that God tells us we should lend but not borrow. That is good to know going forward. You can not go back and change the past. The question still remains where do I go from here?

We know it was not a sin to borrow. God tells us we need to repay when we borrow. But………………..what happens if I borrowed and something happened and now I don’t think I can repay, or if I know I can‘t repay? What now?

Always remember, God is a God of grace. He will forgive us when we come to Him. So the first step would seem to be to take it to God. So start with this question:  Have you gotten on your knees and prayed to God? If not, just do it. Get down and give your worries to God. “God I pray for Your Wisdom. I find my self in this position. I somehow got myself here. Forgive me for not heading Your warnings. Forgive me for my mistakes. Lord, I can not get out of this place without You. I recognize that I can not do it. I am weak. You said that when I am weak, You are strong. Deliver me!

An interesting article on a pastor getting 2 years in jail for advocating Corporal Punishment. hat do you think?

I know this is asking for trouble, but what do you think about the article below?

Written on May 30, 2012 at 9:10 am by Tim Brown

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi sentenced a pastor to two years in prison. What was his crime? He taught the people of his church to discipline their children with a wooden spoon.

Philip Caminiti, 55, was pastor of Aleitheia Bible Church, which meets in the homes of its members.

Apparently in Wisconsin the Bible cannot be taught or acted upon. The society there now thinks it is child abuse to spank your children when they are acting up, in order to correct them.

The Scriptures teach,

Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

The Scriptures do not call men to abuse their children, but to lovingly administer corrective discipline. We teach with our mouths and then if necessary administer discipline.

I recall growing up. I would get spankings and I must say, I am thankful for receiving them now. I wasn’t at the time. At the time they hurt, but they curbed my desire to go and do what I got a spanking for. I’m sure there are many who are just as thankful today they had parents that loved them enough to discipline them when they were younger.

A father or mother who is unwilling to correct their children does not love them.

What is most interesting in this story is it is happening in America. This pastor’s First Amendment right to speech and to freedom of religion has been violated. Notice, he was not imprisoned for child abuse, nor was he imprisoned because he disciplined his children, but because he taught parents to discipline their children.

The out of line judge, and probably so because she never had parents that disciplined her, said, “What is important to me is there was and continues to this day no expression of remorse or repentance for the consequences of those actions, or what the whole chain of events has led the family and the community through.”

I certainly wouldn’t be repentant or remorseful either. I don’t know how Mr. Caminiti was teaching discipline, except that he was teaching to use a wooden spoon and that the children were between two months and five years old. I would think two months is awfully young, but I’m sure the issue was not that parents were just stringing their children up and spanking them severely at any of those ages. In fact, we are not told that any of the people of his congregation were arrested.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports,

The practice, intended to teach children to behave correctly, was stopped after police intervened in November 2010.

“The children were beaten for of all things doing what children do, and that is crying,” Sumi said.

Caminiti will be on extended supervision for six years after his release from prison. Despite objections on constitutional grounds by Caminiti’s lawyers, Sumi ordered that he not have any contact with the Aleitheia Bible Church and have no leadership role in any church.

While that barred Caminiti from having contact with members of his extended family who are church members, Sumi did allow him to be with his wife, their children and their grandchildren. She turned down a request to delay his prison sentence until after an appeal of his case.

Corporal punishment is allowed in the state I live in and many other states. While I realize there are people who abuse children, corporal discipline is vital in the life of a child growing up that will one day enter society on their own. I can tell you that if parents don’t discipline their children, then the law and the courts will, because there is no doubt the children will grow up to be even more foolish then they were.

Call from almighty God.

This story involves a pastor of a storefront church. The pastor’s church is called The Almighty God Tabernacle. On a Saturday night not long ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn’t answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn’t answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes.

When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn’t answered before, but she said that it hadn’t rang at their house. They brushed it off as a fluke and didn’t give it a second thought.

The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he’d used that Saturday night.

The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he’d called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn’t figure out what the guy was talking about. Then the guy said, “It rang and rang, but I didn’t answer. “The pastor then remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he intended to call his wife.

The man said, “That’s OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, ‘God if you’re there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now.’ At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, ‘Almighty God’. I was too afraid to answer!”

This is a must read about how you give to the Lord

This article about tithing and giving to the Lord is from Dogwood ministries, and I highly recommend checking them out.

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

If you’ve been a Christian any time at all, it’s very likely that you’ve heard it said that tithing is a requirement for Christians.  But is this true?  Brace yourself… the answer is… no, it’s not true.  Tithing was a part of the Old Testament law… the law that no longer controls our lives as Christians… the law that was nailed to the cross with Jesus.  (Colossians 2:14-17)  I know that probably goes against everything you’ve heard about tithing, but if we’re going to live according to God’s word, we have to live according to all of it.  While the tithe is commanded in the Old Testament, it’s only mentioned two times in the entire New Testament, and neither of those mentions is a commandment to tithe.

Does this mean that Christians aren’t supposed to give at all?  Again, the answer is no!  In fact, Christians should give just as much as the Old Testament 10% tithe, possibly even more!  The big difference is the motivation we have for our giving.  As a matter of fact, the concept of the tithe is still very evident in that our giving should be proportional to our income.  In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul tells us, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

The Hebrews were commanded to give a tenth (10%) of their income. This money served to keep the temple running and to provide an income for the priests.  Today, the decision on how much to give is left to each person.  In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

Now, if you’ve been tithing all your life, this may be a difficult concept to handle.  If so, and if you are comfortable with using 10% as a guideline for your giving, then keep using it!  There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that.  The difference will be why you’re giving.  The most important reason should be a desire to bring glory to God… and next, to be obedient.  God wants us to acknowledge that everything we have actually belongs to Him and is only “on loan” to us.

But does this mean we should give everything we have?  No, of course not!  God doesn’t intend for us to put ourselves into poverty.  It would be rather silly to give everything you have so others might have their needs met and leave yourself without a way to provide for your own needs and those of your family!

But what about the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-30?  Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (v.21)  Doesn’t this mean that we all have to go sell everything we have and give the money to the poor?  Isn’t that what the early Christians did?  Didn’t they sell everything, pool their resources and live in communes?  The answer to both of these questions is no, again!

In the case of the rich young man, Jesus gave him that commandment because the Lord knew that the young man’s “god” was his money and possessions.  For him, the only way to get his focus off of money and onto the Lord would be to get rid of his “god”.

As far as the early church is concerned, read this description in Acts 4:32-35, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.  With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.   There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”  So, those who had property and wealth didn’t claim their possessions as their own, but they did hold onto them until there was a need.  Then, “from time to time”, they would sell property as needed to make sure that everyone had his needs met. That’s a far cry from communal living.

Although this should not be our motivation for giving, the blessing associated with the tithe is still in effect.  Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

We’ve established that tithing isn’t in effect for Christians, but giving definitely is, and the blessing associated with the tithe is also.  So, to what or to whom should we give?  Obviously, our first thought is our churches.  Churches cost money to run.  There are buildings to buy or build and then maintain. There are supplies that are needed. There are salaries to be paid.  But our churches aren’t the only place we can choose for our giving…

For instance, in Galatians 6:6, Paul tells us, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.”  So, if we are being taught from God’s word by someone or through some ministry outside of our church, we “must” give to that person or ministry.   In fact, Paul gave quite a “dressing down” to the church at Corinth when they complained about being told to give him and Barnabas money!  (See 1 Corinthians 9:4-12)  Paul also explained this concept to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:18, saying, “For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.’”. 

Other places we can give include the poor, those in prison, various ministries, and any time we see a need that we can fill, like when a family loses everything in a house fire or storm.  So, as you can see, if we limit God to the 10% tithe, giving only to our local church, there are many, many needs that would not be met.  And this brings us back to the scripture we where we started, ““Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

Each of us knows how much money we have available… and we know what our monthly or weekly budget is.  We should allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our giving, letting Him show us how much to give and to whom or to what we should give.  There are only two other very important things to remember…

First, we should never become legalistic about giving.  That means, if you feel like you have to give, you’re being legalistic.  If you feel like you’re earning “points” with God by giving, you’re being legalistic.  If you’re giving in order to receive blessings from God, you’re being legalistic.  Your only motivation for giving should be your desire to bring glory to God… if you’re doing that, you’re not being legalistic!

Last, we should give cheerfully, as 2 Corinthians 9:7 says… That means that you get more excited about giving than the person or entity that you’re giving to will be upon receiving!  That means that you can hardly wait to give to that person or entity, and anticipate it like a kid waiting for Christmas!

Examine your giving in light of what God says.  Are you giving in accordance with God’s word?  If not, you should prayerfully consider beginning to give today… and be sure to get excited about it!

©2012 Dogwood Ministries, Inc.

A Memorial Day for the Army of Jesus.

Today here in the U.S., we are celebrating Memorial Day. It’s a day we set aside each year to honor those who lost their lives in the defense of this country. One of my annual rites of passage I do this time of year is to watch a show called the Band of Brothers. It’s the true story of an American Army Unit that lands at Normandy and fights it’s way across Europe, liberating towns and countries. It’s an amazing story that keeps me glued to the screen as I watch these brave men fight and die so the people of Europe would not have to live under the Nazi regime. But what I am reminded of daily as I watch the news is that many of these countries they died for and saved now hate the U.S.. It reminds me of  another group of brave soldiers who faced the same situation, the disciples of Jesus.

The story of martyrdom tells of the fate that each one of these loyal men suffered so that they could bring the news of Jesus to the world. They gave their lives so that people would know that although they were once sinners, they now have a second chance to be with God in Heaven because Jesus took our punishment so we could become clean again and have our sins forgiven. These men went throughout the area risking their lives, and ultimately dying so that everyone would be free from sin again, yet even though they had this great news, many people still hated them To me, this makes them the greatest soldiers of all. Soldiers for Jesus.

I ask that you reevaluate your life today and ask yourself if you’re a soldier, or a pacifist when it comes to the liberation of sinners. Do you let them know about Jesus so they can be saved, or do you let someone else do it. Are you willing to take the risk of being disliked so that others may live? If you are, then you are a true soldier for Christ, and I salute you. If you are not, Then I pray that someone else will step up and take your place. Happy memorial Day soldiers of Christ.

Will you brush his hair?

The opportunity to love someone is always around us, but do we take the time to show others the love that Jesus has shown us?

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Beth, is sitting at an airport terminal, waiting to board a plane. She was sitting there with several other people who were also waiting, whom she did not know.

As she waited, she pulled out her Bible and started reading. All of a sudden she felt as if the people sitting there around her, were looking at her. She looked up, but realized that they were looking just over her head, in the direction right behind her.

She turned around to see what everyone was looking at, and when she did, she saw a stewardess pushing a wheelchair, with the ugliest old man sitting in it, that she had ever seen before. She said he had this long white hair that was all tangled and such a mess. His face was really, really wrinkled, and he didn’t look friendly at all.

She said she didn’t know why, but she felt drawn to the man, and thought at first that God wanted her to witness to him. In her mind she said she was thinking, “Oh, God, please, not now, not here.”

No matter what she did, she couldn’t get the man off of her mind, and all of a sudden she knew what God wanted her to do. She was supposed to brush this old man’s hair.

She went and knelt down in front of the old man, and said “Sir may I have the honor of brushing your hair for you?”

He said “What?”

She thought, “Oh great, he’s hard of hearing.” Again, a little louder, she said, “Sir, may I have the honor of brushing your hair for you?”

He answered, “If you are going to talk to me, you are going to have to speak up, I am practically deaf.”

So this time, she was almost yelling, “Sir may I please have the honor of brushing your hair for you?”

Everyone was watching to see what his response would be. The old man just looked at her confused, and said “Well, I guess if you really want to.”

She said, “I don’t even have a brush, but I thought I would ask anyway.”

He said, “Look in the bag hanging on the back of my chair, there is a brush in there.”

So she got the brush out and started brushing his hair. (She has a little girl with long hair, so she has had lots of practice getting tangles out, and knew how to be gentle with him.) She worked for a long time, until every last tangle was out.

Just as she was finishing up, she heard the old man crying, and she went and put her hands on his knees, kneeling in front of him again looking directly into his eyes, and said “Sir, do you know Jesus?”

He answered, “Yes, of course I know Jesus. You see, my bride told me she couldn’t marry me unless I knew Jesus, so I learned all about Jesus, and asked Him to come into my heart many years ago, before I married my bride.”

He continued, “You know, I am on my way home to go and see my wife. I have been in the hospital for a long time, and had to have a special surgery in this town far from my home. My wife couldn’t come with me, because she is so frail herself.” He said, “I was so worried about how terrible my hair looked, and I didn’t want her to see me looking so awful, but I couldn’t brush my hair, all by myself.”

Tears were rolling down his cheeks, as he thanked Beth for brushing his hair. He thanked her over and over again.

She was crying, people all around witnessing this were crying, and as they were all boarding the plane, the stewardess, who was also crying, stopped her, and asked, “Why did you do that?”

And right there was the opportunity, the door that had been opened to share with someone else, the love of God. We don’t always understand God’s ways, but be ready, He may use us to meet the need of someone else, like He met the need of this old man, and in that moment, also calling out to a lost soul who needed to know about His love.

What happens now?

I am at a very unique crossroads with this blog! I recently added a new feature to my blog that allows me to see who is viewing the blog, and the results were beyond what I had expected. This blog has a tremendous following among Muslim nations and the people who are not saved. This was very shocking to me until recently when I started getting emails thanking me for helping several people come to know the Lord, and even one Muslim thanking me for teaching him about Jesus. So where is the delima here?

How do I reach more people now? I need your help! If there’s anyone who knows how I can get this blog to even more people that I am reaching (I’m currently have 38,000 hits), please feel free to email me at pastormikesays@gmail.com and let me know what I can do. I can see where this can be so much bigger than it is, I just need help with getting there. Anything anyone can do to help, please let me know so we can reach more people for the Kingdom.

 

 

Death…the one thing we cannot conquer, but don’t have to worry about.

Death…it strikes fear and hope into the hearts of many. People spend a lifetime trying to delay it, but few try to understand it.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death – 1 Corinthians 15:26

In this life we face many formidable enemies: temptation, grief, discouragement, fear (to name just a few). But none has proven so devastatingly indestructible as death itself.

As children of God, we have all known what it is to fight against sorrow, to war against lust, to battle with depression – and still come out victorious, through the power of Jesus Christ. But none of us has ever known anyone who has locked horns with that grim enemy Death successfully.

The last enemy, the one whom we all fear to face, is the very enemy that we cannot possibly defeat. But this is the very same enemy that Christ has promised to defea on our behalf! The last enemy will be His final victory.

Christ, Paul states, is mighty in the destruction, not only of His own enemies, but of yours as well! In fact, Christ was willing to feel death Himself, so that we might be forever delivered from the power that death had over us.

With death destroyed, what is left for the child of God, but everlasting life? With the last enemy finally conquered, no further adversary could ever be expected to raise its ugly head against us. People, the same almighty power that is used in overcoming the enemies of God has been used on your behalf, in order to bring death to its own demise!

Jesus Christ will one day bury death. And the amazing monument that He will raise over its grave will be the everlasting host of His redeemed children.

Are you angry? Here’s how to manage it.

You can count on feeling angry sometimes in our fallen world.  But if you allow anger to run wild through your mind, it will control your thoughts and behavior, filling your life with its destructive power and hurting people around you. Thanks to your relationship with Jesus, however, you can control your anger so it won’t control you.

When you understand your true identity in Christ – as a good man with access to God’s Spirit to help you overcome sin – you’ll be able to think and act more like Jesus when you get angry.

Here’s how you can learn to manage your anger like Jesus did while He was on earth:

Distinguish between good and bad forms of anger.  Anger is a natural emotion that arises whenever you encounter a situation you perceive to be wrong.  You can either process and express your anger in sinful ways – such as yelling at your wife or driving aggressively – or you can handle anger in ways that fuel a passion to advance God’s kingdom work.  Ask God to help you see situations that make you angry from His perspective, so you’ll learn to recognize the difference between good and bad anger.

Understand your true identity.  Your true identity is in Christ, but when you allow anger to take over your thoughts and behavior, you’re allowing your flesh to steal your identity and define who you are.  When you get angry, remind yourself of who you really are, and pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you to subdue your anger and direct it in the right ways.

Turn to God for the respect you need.  God has wired you as a man to need respect, but that need can become distorted so that any real or perceived act of disrespect can trigger inappropriate anger.  If you’ve got a deficit in your respect bank, you may try to use anger to force others to treat you respectfully, but that will only lead them to disrespect you more.  So whenever you feel anger due to disrespect, refuse to act on your initial impulse to explode in verbal or physical anger.  Instead, remind yourself of how much God loves and respects you (it would help to memorize Bible verses like John 3:16 and John 17:23) and quickly pray for God’s help to act like a man of infinite worth even when you feel otherwise.  Then determine whether the words and actions that have angered you are real or perceived acts of disrespect.  In either case, don’t just react to your anger.  Control your response as God leads you to do so.

Let go of attempts to control others.  People who don’t comply with your wishes can make you mad – from a child who doesn’t do chores to a fellow worker not following your instructions.  But you can’t control other people.  While it’s fine to give people advice, you can’t make them take it.  Since God doesn’t impose His will on others, neither should you.  Ask God to help you respect other people’s freedom to make their own decisions.  Decide to trust God to work in other people’s lives, changing from them from within in ways that you could never do yourself.  Have faith that God will work in other people’s lives when you pray for them rather than react angrily to them.

Trade pride for humility.  Pride can deceive you into thinking that you must be right on all topics, which leads to anger when others disagree with you.  But if you pray for humility, God will give you an accurate view of yourself as a person with weaknesses who needs God’s grace.  Read and meditate on Bible verses about humility, such as Philippians 2:3-8.  When you get angry, ask yourself whether or not your anger is justified, and consider how you can use your anger in the way God wants you to do s to serve others.  Don’t let pride prompt you to argue with others to try to set the record straight.  Pray for God to help you see other people’s points of view.  Wait until you can be calm before you talk to them about how they’ve treated you.  Control your thoughts, words, and actions in obedience to God.

The most important sneeze ever heard.

Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing … and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements – not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine … until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened.

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, “GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!” And he walked off stage …

The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God‘s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval.

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.