Life is full of choices, some made for us and others made by us. And while we can’t always decide what happens to us, we always can decide how we react to what happens to us. Someone once said, Life is 5% what happens and 95% how we respond to what happens. I concur.

This past Sunday at Harvest I talked to our people about choices. Using perhaps the most famous illustrative passage in all of the Word of God on the subject of choices, we explored just the kind of choice God expects for His people to make in serving Him.

Joshua was at the end of his life, and having led God’s people in the conquest of the Promised Land, he affirmed before his people the choice he had made to serve God in sincerity and truth. You might have the words of his choice prominently displayed on a plaque in your home. In all likelihood you have them memorized:

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15b)

Think about the magnitude of this great choice! In just one pithy statement, Joshua crystallized the essence of one submitting himself to the will of God. Let’s consider the depth of this timeless affirmation of General Joshua.

As for me

The choice Joshua made was demonstrably personal. Those who follow God–truly follow God– are those who choose to follow Him of their own volition. Like Paul, they say, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. The aged Joshua made a personal choice that affirmed the decision he had made as a youth years before. The aging leader of Canaan was simply reiterating the faith he had exhibited years before as the youthful spy of Kadesh. Moreover, he announced his personal choice. Only as we publicize our commitments to others do we invite the necessary accountability to keep those choices. And it is quite clear that his choice was adamant. He did not await the crowd’s decision or check the current worship trends. With individual resolve Joshua displayed a contentment to live in the minority if need be. Read more…

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What a joy it is the serve the Lord! My favorite day of the week is Sunday, and this particular Sunday proved to be no exception to that rule. During the Sunday school hour we combined adult Bible classes in order to hear the testimony of State Representative Sam Rohrer. Sam is making a bid to be the governor of Pennsylvania, and it was our privilege to host this fine Christian man in our services.

What a remarkable testimony he shared, and what a passion for our state he articulated! I know that I will be praying for God to bless him and his campaign for our Commonwealth’s highest office. For more information about his record and vision, please visit www.samrohrer.org for yourself.

Sunday night’s service focused primarily on ministry involvement. In a job fair type format, we highlighted the many ministries of our church. Each ministry set up its own display and presented its needs for workers. From what I saw, the night was a smashing success with numerous new members embarking down exciting paths of ministry in the local church.

To set the tone for the evening, I preached a simple message entitled, “Ministry Mindedness” from Ephesians 6:5-8. I suggested four components of the life of one who is genuinely ministry minded. A ministry-minded person is (1) servant-minded. We learned that servant-minded people are they who understand the value of serving. Did not Jesus testify that the servant is the greatest of all? (Matthew 23:11) Our society tends denigrate servanthood, relegating it to “entry level” status. Jesus elevated servanthood and underscored that elevation by becoming the quintessential servant Himself. But serving–if it is to be truly serving–is voluntary. From a heart of love a person decides to serve God and others. Such voluntarism requires the submission of the will and the filling of the spirit (see the larger context in Eph. 5:18-22). Paul declared that he had made himself a servant to all men (1 Corinthians 9:19). May our lives humbly mirror his. Read more…

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Quite amazingly, we received no snow last night or this morning before church! It seems as if the norm lately has been a deluge of the fluffy stuff just in time to decimate our Sunday morning attendance. We enjoyed an outstanding Sunday school class (I lead the young couples class) in which Missionary Jacques Van Rooyen spoke. Jacques reminded us all that life is not pleasures, accomplishments, or possessions; it is a stewardship, a vapor, and an awesome responsibility. It was just the kind of message I like: based upon and saturated with Scripture; and appropriately illustrated.

Every three months we host a baby dedication service here at Harvest Baptist Church. This quarter we were honored to dedicate five babies to the Lord. Lord, bless them indeed and help them to know nothing but the joy of being in the center of Your will all of their lives.

I preached this morning on the topic, “He restrained them not.” Using the tragic life of Eli (1 Samuel chapters 1-4), I stressed the urgency of prioritizing the proper rearing of our children. Read more…

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Side entrance to the church

Every pastor who serves in the North asks the same question: “Why does it always seem to snow on the weekend!?” This past Sunday was the third Sunday in the last eight on which a winter storm deposited its messy precipitation just before Sunday morning. Although the snow actually stopped falling about midday on Saturday, the sheer volume of snow made clean-up a daunting task before Sunday. Actually the real problem is not even cleaning up our own parking lot – an army of volunteers took care of that – but rather the painfully slow plowing efforts of the city and state trucks. Even today school was canceled due to the 27 inches of snow that accumulated over this past weekend. (That’s over 2 feet of snow with another 10 inches expected today!) But enough whining!

Now don’t get me wrong, I really do love the snow. Growing up we spent countless hours skiing, sledding, building snow forts, and pelting one another with snowballs. Although we didn’t engage in any of those activities on Sunday, we did have church. Come to think of it, I’ve never quite understood the idea of canceling services because of inclement weather. My thought is that some will be able to make it, so we’ll just have church with whoever shows up. This past Sunday, about 1/3 of our folks were able to dig out and navigate the treacherous roads and we had church!

I preached from Luke 15 about the prodigal son, but emphasized the heart of the father throughout the message. Although the father cherished the relationship with his son, he was nonetheless willing to allow him to exercise his free will. What the father’s instruction obviously initially failed to do, the unpalatable circumstances which befell the rebel caused him to consider his father’s character and humble himself. With a love that had never changed, and a forgiveness that was poised to be extended, the father readily restored the son. Hmmm. Unconditional love. Ready forgiveness. Full restoration. Ministry essentials, wouldn’t you agree?

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What a remarkable life’s story the Apostle Paul had! Just imagine the experience of the Damascus road. In one day his life was completely upended, rerouted, and utterly transformed by the wonder-working power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul never got over it. Never.

It seems he captured every opportunity to tell and retell it. Such was the case in Acts 26:1-23 as Paul awaited transport to Rome for an appellate decision on his previous arrest in Jerusalem. A visit from Agrippa afforded Paul yet another opportunity to share his wonderful story with a ready listener.

Could it be that the local church has so “systematized” and “methodized” her evangelism efforts that the gospel presentation has become dry and dusty to its recipient? It seems that the average church member has been exposed to the “Romans Road” approach and the “Four Spiritual Laws” method, but he has forgotten the power of sharing such vital truth within the context of his own compelling life’s story.

As we wrap the gospel message in the unique package of our own testimony, it tends to become more attractive – and relevant – to those with whom we share it. Everybody loves to hear a good story, and the best story we can tell him is the story of when we met the Lord. Consider Paul’s story: Read more…

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