Tag Archives: pastoring

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 113

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Success can be a dangerous thing. We humans get going and winning, winning and going and suddenly we are forgetting the God who gave us the wins in the first place. We start thinking we are “about something” instead of embracing the truth that we are “channels only”. Any true success we have is only won through the grace of God! Our chapters today speak to this a bit. Here’s what I see!

Judges chapter 8 sermon topics/titles:

1.Earning Desert Thorns: Judges 8:1-17

2. Pride Bringing Prostitution: Judges 8:22-27

3. Idolatry and Ingratitude: Judges 8:33-35

Judges chapter 9 sermon topics/titles:

1. The Prophecy Of the Trees: Judges 9: 1-56

2. Big Talking Leads To Big Mistakes: Judges 9:26-49

3. The Little Lady and the Would-Be Wolf: Judges9: 50-57

Now tell me what you see! 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: Hey Jude Pt. 9

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“So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus [fn] first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.” Jude 1:5 NLT

We have been talking over the last several days about learning to contend for the faith against “secret slipper-inners”. Our first step to contending…defending the faith is to recognize someone who is a “slipper-inner” when we meet them.

Jude tells us the first sign is that such men “do not remain faithful”. They are mē pisteuō … That is they are NOT BEING TRUE TO, GIVING CREDIT TO, OR TRUSTING IN JESUS, GOD OR HIS PROMISES.

The example  given is the Israelites who came out of Egypt by God’s mighty hand. They saw the miracles of God on their behalf. They experienced God at Mount Sinai. Yet when it came to trusting God to take them into the land He had promised, they backed down. Instead of looking to God’s strength to fulfill His promises they measured the promise against their strength to bring it about. Unbelief for them was defined as relying on what they were able to accomplish without God’s help and forgetting God’s wonders.

the church has always been called to operate in the supernatural… that is beyond what can be accomplished by normal means. To walk in faith means to always be in the place of “It’s not possible but we are doing it!”

There is an aspect of being faithful to God which causes us always to challenge ourselves to something further. Now, whether that challenge  is being truly joyful for a full twenty-four hour period or building a 3,000 seat church in Africa, the devil is always trying to crush the over-comer in us. Jude says that the enemy of our souls will raise up people to help him accomplish that task.

Christian, beware of people who encourage you to give up the God-dream whatever that is in your life. True brothers and sisters in Christ may encourage you to tailor or redirect your God-dream. They may even point out that there are many steps to be fulfilled before you reach it. They may call you to change and growth; But brothers and sisters in Christ are not God- dream-killers. God-dream killing is the territory of the “secret-slipper-inner”, the man or woman who has forgotten what it is to operate by real faith and who now chooses to walk by natural strength alone.

Remember that, discern it and walk in faith!

Pastor Wrinkles: Hey Jude Pt. 8

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“So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus  first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.” Jude 1:5 NLT

Jude warned the Christians of his day that they had to contend for the faith because evil men had secretly slipped into their congregations. Jude wasn’t the only biblical writer to warn the fledgling church. For instance these words of Paul the apostle were recorded by the writer Luke.

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” Acts 20:29-31 

The biblical warning is as relevant to us today as it was to the first century Christians.  Now, Jude helps us to identify the “secret slipper-inners” by using three examples, the first of which is found in our Scripture for today, Jude 1:5.

As an aside I think it interesting the NLT asserts that it was Jesus who rescued the nation of Israel out of Egypt. You will notice that the other translations say it was “The Lord”. The actual word used in the work  is “kyrios”-

he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord

a) the possessor and disposer of a thing

1) the owner; one who has control of the person, the master

2) in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor

b) is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master

c) this title is given to: God, the Messiah BLB Lexicon

Just thought it worth mentioning… now let’s move on!

Jude references the fact that though all the Israelites were liberated out of Egypt they were later kept from the promised land by unbelief…lack of faith (or faithfulness more on that in Jude Pt. 9). The “secret-slipper-inners” are first of all men (or women) who operate from the principle of sight rather than from the principle of faith. In short they are “believers” who have never believed the Word of God!

We used to sing a song “If Jesus said it I believe it it’s His word He cannot lie. If its written in the Bible I’ll believe it till I die. Though the mountains be removed and be cast into the sea if Jesus said it I believe it and that’s good enough for me.”

While I was singing this in youth group years ago another group of “church men” were dissecting the Bible trying to decide if Jesus actually said anything that was recorded in the Gospels and if Isaiah and Daniel were actually prophecies or just rabbinical forgeries.

You will first of all know a “slipper-inner” by their refusal to believe the Bible as fact.

More on faithfulness in Pt. 9

Pastor Wrinkles: Hey Jude Pt. 7

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“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4

Jude tells us here that the church is in a battle because evil men have secretly crept into the church. How does that happen?

It happens when men in the pulpit begin to water down the Word of God.

It happens when people in the pew forget the Word of God.

It happens when the church becomes more interested in pleasing people than in pleasing God.

AND

It happens when people condone the sins of others because they like them rather than confronting the sins of others because they love them.

It’s important to note here that we don’t know if these men were in the pulpit or in the pew. Jude is writing to the whole church and where ever these men happened to land in the social ladder of the church they were to be met with the hope of Christ and the call to repent.

May our hearts today be filled with a passion for God and His Word like never before. May we love God and others enough to confront sin in love when we see it, that the hearts of sinners may be turned to Jesus!

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 112

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Gideon Testing His Men

Today we are going to chapter chart the life of Gideon the judge of Israel. One of the things I love about the Bible is that it presents true to life complex characters. the Bible doesn’t hide the warts and wrinkles. God shows us over and over again how He works in and through imperfect people both to accomplish His purposes in the world and to save the individual He is using.

Here is what I see in today’s chapters:

Judges chapter 6 sermon topics/titles:

1. Are You a Crying Caveman? Judges 6: 1-6

2. The Prophet, the Angel and the Mighty Warrior: Judges 6: 7-12

3. If the Lord IS With Us Then Why…? Judges 6:13

Judges chapter 7 sermon topics/titles:

1. Making Little of Much: Judges 7: 1-6

2.  Leading the Lappers: Judges 7:7-25

3. Blow! Smash! Shout! A Three Point Sermon: Judges 7:19,20

Now tell me what you see! 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 110

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During the life of Joshua the people of Israel lived lives of almost constant victory because Joshua kept pushing them to trust the Lord and obey God in His directives. But   obedience was never really in their hearts. It was all just part of following the leadership. When the leader was gone so was the passion for God…so was the victory.

Here’s what I see in today’s chapters:

Judges Chapter 2 sermon topics/ titles:

1. When God Stops Driving: Judges 2: 1-5

2. Letting the Memory Of God Die: Judges 2: 10-15

3. Do You Need a Judge? Judges 2: 16-23

Judges chapter 3 sermon topics/titles:

1.Teaching Us to War: Judges 3: 1,2

2. Is Your Sword Secret: Judges 3:12-16

3. God Will Use What’s In Your Hand: Judges 3: 31

Now tell me what you see in these chapters. 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 109

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Today with our chapter charting exercise we leave the book of Joshua and move onto a very dark time in Israel’s history when “every man did what was right in HIS OWN EYES.”  How many times I have stumbled because I went my way thinking it was better than God’s way!

Here is what I see in today’s chapters:

Joshua chapter 24 sermon topics/titles:

1. Presenting Yourself Before God: Joshua 24: 1

2. When Prophecy Is A Memory: Joshua 24: 2- 13

3. Now Fear This! Joshua 24: 14

Judges Chapter 1 sermon topics/ titles:

1. God’s Payback: Judges 1: 1-7

2. Ask For the Springs: Judges 1: 11-15

3. The Promise Of God Involves Giants: Judges 1: 20

Now you come up with three sermon topics or titles you see in these chapters! 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 108

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With today’s chapter charts we are nearing the end of the book of Joshua and the end of the hero’s life. There is so much to be learned from a farewell don’t you think? Here is what I see.

Joshua chapter 22 sermon topics/titles:

1. Don’t let your God down after a victory! Josh 22: 1-5

2. The Threat of the Altar: Josh 22:6-34

3. It affects Everyone: Josh 22: 18-20

Joshua chapter 23 sermon topics/titles:

1. Giving Credit To God: Josh 23:1-3

2. The Importance Of the Pass: Josh 23:4-16

3. There Is More To the Lord Than Good Promises: Josh. 23: 14-16

Now tell me what you see. 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 107

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In today’s chapters we study the Cities of Refuge and the towns of the Levites. I love the concept that God always provides a place of protection from judgment if we will only go to it. Here is what I see in these verses.

Joshua chapter 20 sermon topics/titles:

1. Protection From the Avenger of Blood: Josh 20:1-3

2. The Death That Brings Release: Josh 20:6

3. A Refuge Nearby: Josh 20:7-9

Joshua chapter 21 sermon topics/titles:

1. Provision For the Servants Of God:Josh 21:1-45

2. Refuge Among the Servants of God: Josh. 21:11-42

3. FULL fillment: Josh 21: 45

Now tell me what see! 🙂