Planting Guardrails

This past Sunday I taught at the church where my wife and I met when we were teens. The subject was on "Guardrails," and I talked about the importance of establishing solid boundaries in our lives to protect us from what the Bible calls sin.

A lot of times, we refer to these guardrails as personal convictions, and no matter the label you place on it, the Bible points out that it is important to safeguard our hearts and lives against the evil that is in the world.

Paul, in a round-about way, lists an example of a guardrail in Ephesians 5:18 when he talks about drunkeness leading to debauchery. The Bible tells us that drunkeness is a sin, and this verse essentially says that it leads to debauchery (aka, a lot of other sinful actions). So, the guardrail to protect against drunkenness must be placed in the safe area away from getting drunk.

For some people, this would mean only consuming a couple of alcholic beverages, but for others it would mean no alcohol at all.

You could actually insert any activity that leads to sin in the place of alcohol. In most places, there can be some gray area of activity before hitting sin. The only solid exceptions are in the area of sexual immorality and temptation. The Bible is very clear that we are to flee from these.

Additionally, guardrails are great to put in our relationships, since the people we associate with have a direct impact on who we become. Proverbs tells us that the wise hang around wise people, but that people of poor character will lead others toward danger.

What's cool about the verse I mentioned, Ephesians 5:18, is that Paul not only tells us where the danger area is, and what we need to avoid, he also suggests a substition. He says that instead of getting drunk with wine, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn't come to this world to end the fun that your heart desires. Instead, he came so his followers would have life abundantly.

Monday Ten

1. I preached yesterday for the first time in two years. I spoke at the 1st Free Will Baptist Church in Mountain Grove, Missouri. It was a wonderful experience.

2. My message was titled "Guardrails," and was designed to get people to set protective barriers in their lives in order to avoid making bad choices.

3. Passage that struck me as totally awesome, Proverbs 13:20 - Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

4. I gave some radical tips for married folks to safeguard their marriages and avoid the temptations that lead to sexual immorality.

5. One of the best tips is to not ride in a vehicle alone, have meetings alone, or eat alone with a member of the opposite sex if you aren't married to that person. To do that is to swing the door wide open, and to invite tempation to come into your life. By the way, our culture scoffs at this type of guardrail.

6. Personal guardrails (aka: personal convictions) don't make sense to the culture. The culture tries to lure us to the edge of the moral cliff, then mocks us if we step off.

7. I spent the weekend without a cell phone. Service issues. I won't say more, because I'd say something I would probably regret.

8. I'm playing golf today with a co-worker and friends from another radio station. It's media day for our local golf tournament, so all the media folks will be hitting the course.

9. Then, on Tuesday, I plan to take a college buddy to the driving range. Good times!

10. Finally, I am entertaining invitations to come speak/preach/teach for your church, organization or club. I'm trying to decide if this is really where God is calling me, and can use your prayers as my wife and I seek God's direction.

Something to Ponder

I read this last night, and couldn't contain myself. Many of us are familiar with Romans 3:23, but we rarely read beyond it.

Sinners, that's all of us, get back on good terms with God ONLY by believing in Jesus. Jesus was the sacrifice that closed the gap that existed between mankind and God since Adam & Eve introduced sin into the world.

That's amazing stuff.

Blog Read

Steven Furtick recently wrote about "The Easy Things Are Hard For Me." Check out what he says here.

Monday Ten

1. Today's Monday Ten has been delayed due to some issue with Blogger. But, it's back, and so am I. So, here's the remaining nine.

2. It was two years ago today that my middle son found salvation in Jesus Christ. We're going to celebrate that tonight.

3. We're also celebrating life, because my wife and my two youngest kids were in a violent, roll-over crash two years ago today. The boys walked away, but my wife had three tendons sliced on her right hand, and sustained numerous other injuries. She's mostly healed, but still deals with problems in her hand, and the after-effects of the concussion.

4. Our lives turned up-side-down that night, but the life changes that resulted have been positive. My wife has made sure of that.

5. She determined to accomplish something before the 2nd anniversary of that crash. She wanted to learn sign language or playing the piano, but those are difficult with out the use of the right hand. Instead, she learned how to swim. I'm proud of her.

6. Last night, my youngest son started asking how Jesus can live in your heart. That is very encouraging to know that we could soon all be headed to Heaven after our lives end on earth.

7. Our church is participating in the One Prayer campaign this month. This past weekend we watched a sermon from Lifechurch.tv's Craig Groeschel about Unstoppable Courage. Very good!

8. This past weekend was also promotion weekend at North Point Church, which meant that my oldest child left my class and entered the Middle School area. He got to join us for the 2nd service on Saturday nights. He was very excited to go to "big church."

9. Promotion weekend also meant I gained a lot of new kids moving into the 4th grade. It's time to show them who's boss.

10. Finally, I won't be teaching that class this weekend. I have been asked to preach at the First Free Will Baptist Church in Mountain Grove this Sunday. Looking forward to talking about personal convictions.

Bible Stories That Mess You Up: Part 4 of 4

Jesus gave the religious establishment plenty of reasons to conspire his demise. He constantly pointed out their hypocrisy. On a few occasions, they plotted to grab him, but because it wasn't time for him to die, God prevented it.

But, the Bible records for us a single event that became the tipping point in their hatred of the Messiah. We find it in John 11 in an event that showcases God's power like none other.

Jesus' friend Lazarus had died. His sisters had pleaded with Jesus to come heal their brother, but Jesus delayed. His reason for delaying? He told his disciples it was all happening so they would finally believe. If all the miracles and teaching hadn't convinced his followers, then this event would.

At the same time, it was also going to seal his fate.

The event was phenominal. Lazarus had been dead for four days. His body had begun to decay. And, with a prayer, Jesus spoke three words that changed Lazarus' life, "Lazarus, come out!"

And, he did.

This single event led the Pharisees to start plotting the death of Jesus. And, they didn't keep quiet their plans. With orders out (and wanted posters) that they wanted to arrest Jesus, he stopped his public ministry and stayed away from public areas until it was time to go to Passover.

This single event led many more to people to follow Jesus.

This single event fueled the jealousy of the religious leaders, because all the people flocked to Jesus.

As a result, this single event also led the religious leaders to plot the second death of Lazarus.

This event set the stage for the final act to be played out in God's plan to provide salvation to the world.