I heard a good analogy about faith.  It seems a man had stretched a tightrope across a huge waterfall. 
He stood beside it with a wheelbarrow as a crowd gathered. When it had grown quite large, he asked
the people who believed he could push the wheelbarrow across the tightrope to the other side. A few
cautiously raided their hand, but the rest were doubting.  The man threw the wheelbarrow onto the
rope and got behind it.  Slowly, but surely made the long journey across and back.  The people cheered
and clapped upon his return.  He stood before them and asked who believed he could do it again. Every
person raised their hand. He fixed his eyes on a young boy and asked him if he truly believed…without a
doubt…that he could do it again and the boy grinned and shook his head up and down.  “Then get in the
wheelbarrow,” he said.
Needless to say, the boy changed his mind.  You see, true faith means we must climb into that
wheelbarrow from time to time.  But faith…strong, obedient faith will allow us to do that.  Yes, faith may
take us out of our comfort zone, and it may call for us to take a risk occasionally.  But that is the way
faith works. When the Lord speaks to us, especially through His word, we must have faith that He will do
what He says He will. If we truly believe that He can and will work…we will get into that metaphorical
wheelbarrow.
But think on this:  If the boy had enough faith in that man’s ability and he climbed into that wagon, what
a unique and exciting thing he would have experienced.  Would he be scared a little? You bet! But he
would have done something very few people had done…or would do.  I suppose he wouldn’t even know
how to describe what he felt.  It would be an event that would live with him a lifetime.
Do you really want to miss the things God has in store for you as you are obedient?  Don’t you want to
live in the excitement of serving God?  You can.  But it takes faith to get up in that wheelbarrow.

I received a call recently from someone who claimed to be with the “Illinois Gaming Commission” and
he told me I had won a large cash prize. I told him I wasn’t interested, and I hung up.  I knew it would
end up with going to buy gift cards from Walmart and telling him the numbers on the back of the card. 
It was a scam.
I really do not like people that steal.  Especially if they steal from me. They should be ashamed to do
what they do. Imagine lying and deceiving people to rob them of their hard-earned money.  It really
takes a rotten soul to do that, along with terrible character and extremely low morals.  It is even worse if
they try to do it to senior citizens who they hope have somewhat diminished capacity.  (Like me). My
disdain and lack of respect for that kind of person is doubled (at the least) for someone who does that in
the name of Jesus.
Imagine what kind of heart one must have to lie and steal in Jesus’ name.  There is one thing I know: 
Such a person is lost. In fact I’d say that person is an atheist.  There is no way someone could believe in
God and preach what he or she knows is a straight up lie. I believe that is one of the groups that Jesus
was referring to when he said: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to
anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a
millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (Luke‬ 17‬:1‬-2‬ NIV‬‬)
It is not only the shysters who tell you to send in “seed” money and the Lord will multiply back to you.  It
is also the prosperity preachers who tell people that if their faith is strong enough God will bless them
with material wealth. What God promises to believers is not material, it is spiritual. He promises us love,
joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. (Galatians‬ 5‬:22‬ NIV‬‬)
Have you ever thought about the hearts that are easily deceived by the immoral hucksters, though? 
What are their desires? What are they seeking?  I mean, really, are they looking for a relationship with
God or are they seeking the riches of man?  Don’t get me wrong, I believe God has blessed me with
everything I have…but I never asked for any of it specifically.  When there is a necessity (like when our
refrigerator died) I do ask the Lord to lead me to the right thing and to let me know which is the right
thing.  But I do not serve Him so that I can live a more extravagant life.
In the book of Job, the Devil asks God if Job would fear God if all riches were taken away. That’s a good
question for us to ask of ourselves. Would we still love and fear God if we had less than what we have
now? I’ve said it plenty of times: we do not worship God for what he gives us.  We worship Him because
of who He is…the one, true, living God.

I have always said there are certain things…feelings and attitudes…that only Christians can understand. 
Because we are blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have spiritual capabilities that are
unique.  Of course He enables us to understand the scriptures that, to the carnal mind…the lost…are
foolish.
But it spreads to more aspects of our lives and behavior. We are told to love our enemy and, because we
are commanded to do that, the Holy Spirit empowers us to love them. It is a spiritual thing.  The world is
not able to truly do that.  The biggest misunderstanding, the one that the devil uses very successfully in
the minds of unbelievers, is that they cannot understand the concept of “love the sinner but hate the
sin”.  It is beyond their comprehension.  Therefore, they equate disagreement with hate. And as a result,
they believe that Christians hate homosexuals, the transgendered, the migrant, and others.
Honestly, in 40 years, I have met only one Christian who expressed a hatred for homosexuals. Just one. 
The vast majority of Christians I am around certainly believe it is an un-Godly lifestyle and thus disagree
with it. Yes, we can get upset about “drag queen story hour” in schools, but it is not because we hate
that person, we simply do not want impressionable children exposed to such a degenerate mindset; a
mindset we want Jesus to heal.
Recently, I listened to a young man sing a song about what Jesus would do if He were here today. I was
astonished at how he insinuated Christians feel and what they do. This guy said that Jesus would not
mistreat and abuse migrants…I did not know that Christians do that, did you?  Yet that is what a fallen
world believes about Christian teachings. I learned, from listening to the song, that Christians have a lot
of hate in their heart, they do evil things, they want to take away rights from women, and Jesus (his
version of Jesus) would not like today’s Christians. 
I dare say that most organizations that exist to help with food, housing, medical needs, orphanages, and
the like are Christian founded and funded. Yes we believe that abortion takes a life, but that doesn’t
mean we hate women. We believe in legal immigration, but that doesn’t mean we mistreat migrants.
While most of us disagree with a system that rewards, and thus encourages, having babies out of
wedlock in homes without fathers present, we still minister to those in that situation.  
But hate? No! We don’t hate people. Do we hate sin?  Absolutely.  But, just as Jesus would have us do,
we sincerely love the sinner.
Say Good things about your Savior

I watched a video of a man standing on the sidewalk of a “gay pride” parade. He was holding a sign that
spoke of God’s opposition to homosexual lifestyle. A woman pastor, decked out in her official attire of
black shirt with the priestly collar, was literally screaming at him. She was furious. “Do you even know
what the Gospel is?” She yelled.  He said “Yes, God loves you, Jesus died for you and wants you to
repent of your sin and be saved.” It looked as though her head was about to explode, and she screamed,
clapping her hands in anger “No! No! No!  It is love! The Gospel is love!”
Please understand that God is all about love.  But the Gospel is not love. Love is the reason for the
Gospel.  Love is why He sent Jesus. Love is why Jesus died on that cross.  But the Gospel is simply what
that man said. It is terribly sad that some ministers, priests, and other religious leaders are leading
people astray, preaching such false doctrine. I’ve often wondered how and why they preach such
blasphemy.
I have concluded that, at least partially, they are living the lifestyle that is forbidden. They are preaching
and teaching false doctrine so that they can give in to the unholy desires of their own flesh. Some are
preaching it out of fear of not being accepted by some people.  Some do not want to hurt anyone’s
feelings.
I passionately believe that no one can read and study the Bible and conclude that homosexuality is an
acceptable lifestyle. Unless…they simply disregard all scripture that conflicts with their own desires. In
fact, I would not be surprised if someone made a LGBTQ+ Bible translation. It would simply leave out
any verses that called out their sin.  I suspect it would be a big seller in the “pride” community.
Say Good things about your Savior.

As I write this, Angie and I have spent a few days trying to see who would be the first one to cough up a
lung. It’s still a close race. However, in our down time we have tried to mitigate our misery by watching
some entertainment on TV. I wanted to watch some “shoot-em-up, sci-fi, spy movies” and she wanted
to watch some romantic comedies.  We compromised and watched some romantic comedies.
As the lead roles found the love of their lives, they spoke of fate, coincidence, and circumstances. No
one hypothesized that, perhaps, God put them together.  Have you considered God’s hand in your
marriage? Let me give you a quick synopsis of my life with Angie.  My family moved my senior year of
high school. I hated it. I rebelled. I didn’t like the school or the people (that was on me…Columbia is a
very nice town with fantastic people). I saw her a couple of times in the hallway and thought she was
the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.  On the last day of school (for us seniors) the girls’ gym class was playing
volleyball and I saw her and walked up to her and asked her out.  I don’t know why but she said yes but
on our third date (a week later) I gave her my class ring and we’ve been “going steady” for almost 55
years. 
Here’s the thing: not once did I ask God what He wanted or was this the right person for me. I was far
away from God in a dark place. In one of the movies we watched, an older gentleman, looking over his
past life, said this: “looking back on all the good things in my life, there were a lot of miracles”.  I
immediately thought “absolutely!!!”  Oh, things could have gone very differently than they did.  I could
have gone to Livingston College on a partial scholarship. I could have kept working at Sears instead of
taking a job at WTVY-TV.  I could have decided not to start attending church where my father was
preaching. 
But looking back…I see the Lord gently prodding, spiritually urging, and opening and closing doors, until I
am where I am. Is my life perfect? Oh, gracious no!  We are the parents of five rambunctious dogs who
are a “handful”, my three apple trees don’t seem to like each other, and my bees don’t know what
season we are in.  But…and this is crucial…I know God is working and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere
else, doing anything else.
Think about where you are…who you are with…and what you are doing. Do you see God’s gracious
hand?  I’d really like to hear how you met your spouse and how you see God in that!
Say good things about your Savior.

Did you know that without light, there is no color.  It’s not that you can’t see color in a darkened
room…there is no color to see.  Color is reflected light. The composition, characteristics, and additives of
an object cause it to absorb some colors of light and reflect others. That is why colors look a little
different under different types of light; they are reflecting different light. The perfect light … that which
produces true color … is the sun.  Most light bulbs are created and designed to be as close to the sun’s
color as possible.  The sun is the standard.

In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world”.  When we reflect His light, we are reflecting His
truth … the pure, absolute truth … in every sense. In John 3:19-21 we are told why people react as they do
to the teachings of Jesus.  “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come
into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the
light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

I often think of false doctrine and perverted teachings as “fake light”.  They allow people to believe they
are “enlightened” when in actuality they are reflecting impure light.  People can go into a church and be
told that homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion (and other things as well) are part of God’s plan
or His will. The preachers, pastors, and religious leaders who say those things are not shining the light of
Jesus on those teachings; they are shining an imperfect light rooted in the wants and desires of man.

Take care to reflect the light of Jesus on all teachings.  He is, indeed, the true and perfect light of the
world.

Someone asked me if I believed that Catholics were Christians.  It was a Catholic that asked me that
question (I think he just wanted to start an argument).  My reply was that if you have called on the name
of Jesus by confessing your sin, repenting of your sin, accepting Christ’s payment for your sin, and made
Him Lord of your life, you are saved and are a Christian.  Then I asked him if that described him.  He said
it did, and I told him that was his answer.
However, we did discuss some of the things that created a schism between Protestant and Catholic. 
Here are a few things I spoke of that were un-Biblical and unnecessary (in no particular order).  Their
devotion to Mary. Catholic doctrine teaches that Mary, herself, was also born of a virgin, gave birth as a
virgin, and remained a virgin until her “assumption” into Heaven (she didn’t die).  They also teach that
one should pray to Mary.  Nothing in Scripture indicates that or commands that we should do that.
Catholicism teaches that there are seven sacraments that are performed in order to receive grace. That
is, one receives God’s grace through baptism, or one receives His grace through marriage.  Grace is said
to be received through confession (to a priest) or taking communion.  I want to make one thing clear: I
received God’s amazing, wonderful, soul-saving, unmerited grace the moment I was saved and I don’t
need to receive it again, especially through physical acts.
They believe in the absolute authority of a pope, purgatory, praying to saints (who are mere men), and
the selling of indulgences … among others. Several others. So, no, I can’t worship and live as a Catholic as
I believe they have added unnecessary actions and burdensome doctrines, but I can’t tell you that a
Catholic isn’t a Christian.
Say Good things about your Savior

I read an article concerning a financial difficulty in the Southern Baptist Convention due to several
lawsuits regarding the Convention’s handling of sexual abuse claims.  The primary, and most expensive,
suit was bought by Johnny Hunt, a well known and respected SBC pastor, speaker, and personality.  I
mention that because his action wasn’t taken because he was a sexual abuse survivor but because he
was accused of sexual abuse and the Convention took certain actions because of that allegation. 
There are, indeed, several lawsuits on behalf of sexual abuse survivors alleging cover ups of their horrific
stories by leadership in the Convention and an SBC seminary.  Should that be proven true…and I’m
afraid it looks pretty bad for those accused…they should be dealt with seriously and the victims find
closure in the outcomes.
However, when the secular media reports on the series of events that led up to all this, they never fail to
blow it out of proportion and insinuate things that are just not true.  For instance, there is much talk
about a “secret list” of over 700 predators in local churches. They insinuate that the Convention had a
list of known offenders and tried to cover for them as they were moving amongst the churches.  Nothing
could be further from the truth! The list did exist, but it was a list of those who were credibly accused,
prosecuted, and convicted.  The list was gleaned from local, public sources and only a “handful” (as one
article put it) were still involved in churches and the majority of those were involved in other
denominations where their sexual history was not known.  
In addition to that, the incidents of 700 sexual abuse situations…again, that were known and
prosecuted, occurred over a period of 22 years in a group comprised of over 47,000 churches.  I can’t
see where that constitutes a “crisis”.  But it sure makes for great headlines, doesn’t it?  Added to that,
though, is the fact that the U.S. Justice Department just finished an in-depth investigation of the SBC
looking for sexual abuse charges and found none. Zero. Nada. Does that sound like a crisis to you?
The stories all suggest that, because we are a group of autonomous churches, cooperating, but with no
hierarchy to report to or to keep us in line, we are enabled to keep sexual predators on staff with no
accountability. One reporter spoke of our “wild, wild, west” system of inadequate information of
ordination and the manner in which we call pastors and other staff. Churches are called to be diligent
and smart when it comes to staff and volunteers.  At Church on the Bluff we do background checks on
anyone who works on staff…as well as every volunteer who works with kids. 
Here are some die-hard facts:  Southern Baptist churches are not harboring sex offenders.  We do not
knowingly transfer pastors or staff who are sexual predators to other churches or recommend them to
our affiliated entities. The so-called “secret list” was not meant to cover up anything or protect anyone.
And last, but not least, our structure of autonomy for individual churches who band together to
promote missions is an awesome, God-blessed method of cooperation.
Say good things about your Savior.

With the advent of social media, instant communication, access to information, and the like, scams have
become more frequent. I got a text from a group calling themselves a toll roads evasion team. The text
said I have an unpaid toll bill. The main problem with that is the fact that I haven’t been on a toll road in
over 20 years… probably longer. I just deleted it and went on with my day. But someone tried to steal
money from me. Honestly, I’m not surprised but I often wonder how people live with themselves with a
lifestyle like that.

But I still consider scammers to be of the lowest moral level of people. It’s stealing by deception, but it
is still stealing. And they tend to prey on older folks (like me). One level lower than normal scammers is
those who scam people in the name of God. When I think about them, I better understand Jesus turning
over those tables. Profiting on taking advantage of those who seek the Lord is a disgusting thing. Here’s
what Jesus said: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for
him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Matthew‬ 18:6.

Again, with the ability to communicate across the world, the religious scammers have grown in number.
They preach a “prosperity gospel” that has nothing to do with the true Gospel. The message that God
wants you to prosper materially (and if you don’t…it’s your lack of faith) is an affront to the entire Bible
and a stain on Christianity. These “pastors” live in multi-million-dollar homes and tell you that you can
too…if you send them enough money. Some can even heal you from various ailments…if you can afford
it.

He didn’t come so that a Christian can have a new car or a swimming pool. He didn’t come so that
those who love Him can have a life of ease and excess. He didn’t come so that His followers could claim
His power for personal riches. Make no mistake about it, Jesus came to seek and to save those who are
lost. That’s the Gospel. Shame on those who deceive people in the name of the Lord.