Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Apr 16th The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: 1Kings 1-2, Mark 3-4, Proverbs 16

Today’s Passage: Mark 4:35-40

After reading the last part of Mark chapter 4, I was reminded of a song from a cassette given to me to listen to. The passage I’m referring to is Mark 4:35-39. Jesus and His disciples are in a ship, crossing over to the other side of the sea. All of a sudden, a storm hits. The winds sent waves of water which filled the ship threatening to sink it. Where was Jesus? He was asleep on a pillow in the rear of the ship. Well, preaching takes a lot out of you. He must have been exhausted. Besides that, He is God: what did He have to fear? Nothing, of course. Just remember, as the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2, God the Son humbled Himself and was obedient to God the Father’s will, even the death of the cross (see Phil 2:5-8). So, here is Jesus, asleep in the back of the ship, while all His disciples are in a panic because they think the ship is going to sink. I would guess they did not understand just how powerful their God really is. They did not understand that they were in the same boat as the Creator of the universe. And they woke up Jesus saying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Of course He cares, He was on His way to die on a cross so we would not perish…

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:39-40).

Do you see the world in turmoil? It’s just a sign that we are getting close to the Lord’s return. All the prophecy that needed to be fulfilled has been fulfilled. We are just waiting because the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Peter 3:9). That brings me to the song I heard. It was from the album, ‘My Favorite Hymns’ by Roy Clark, and called ‘Safely In The Arms Of Jesus’. The first verse and chorus go like this…

I said, old time preacher man

Help me understand

What you’ve got that’s always got you smiling

I’m afraid to die

And I don’t know how to live

He raised his worn out Bible and he said

I’m safely in the arms of Jesus

Held like a mother holds her babe

And safely in the arms of Jesus

I will be when he calls me away

You see, even though the world around us is in turmoil, the winds of change are blowing, and the worldly waters could wash us all away, we are all in the same boat with Jesus. We are safely in His arms from our second birth to our appointed time. Jesus said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:37-40).

How about John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”

Let me paint a picture, and please don’t be offended because this is for every Christian…

Jesus is taking a nap, while He waits for you wake Him. Instead we run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, in a panic from whatever tumult is attacking our lives. Isn’t that a sight for the unbelievers eyes. Is it any wonder that Jesus would ask, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

Before we get overwhelmed by life, let’s run to Jesus first. Allow Him to demonstrate in your life just how powerful of a God He is.

Peace. (Mark 4:39)

Apr 14th God Doesn’t Forget

Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 20-22; Proverbs 14

(Second Milers also read Matthew 27 – 28; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)

“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.” (2 Samuel 21:1)

Remember back in 1 Samuel when King Saul was mad at the priests because they had helped David. (See 1 Samuel 21 & 22) Saul ended up killing all of the priests (85 of them) and then proceeded to wipe out Nob, the city that the priests lived in.  What Saul did to the priests and to their families was bad enough; but there was also a group of people who lived in Nob as servants to the priests who were not Israelites:  they were Gibeonites.  Now you may also remember from the book of Joshua that the Gibeonites were the people who tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them.  Joshua promised these people with an oath that Israel would let them live, and in return the Gibeonites would be Israel’s servants.  God never forgot that covenant, so when Saul (acting on behalf of Israel) broke the covenant and slew the Gibeonites living in Nob; God held them (Israel – not just Saul) accountable.  God doesn’t forget, even when we want to.  Here an entire nation is suffering for the decision of one man.

We should be admonished when we read passages like this.  First of all, we should realize that our actions affect more people than we think; and we should carefully consider the outcome on others around us from the decisions we make  today as well as the impact they will have on future generations.  Secondly, we need to think about any unfinished business we may have with God or other people.  We are so quick to promise things; but so slow to deliver the things that we promise.  God never forgot the promise that Israel made with the Gibeonites.

Note – A separate thought from this passage of Scripture.  Notice in 21:8 that five of  the “sons of Saul” (actually grandsons) that were to be killed were the sons of Michal, David’s first wife.  Michal had lived a troubled life due to men who have used her for their own gain.  Saul promised her to David and reluctantly gives her to be his wife; later Saul took her back and gave her to another man; After Sauls death when David is in power he takes her back, away from a man that loves her;  and now here she is losing  her sons.

Apr 13th Bittersweet

Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 18 – 19; Proverbs 13

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 25 – 26; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)

“And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.” – (2 Samuel 19:2)

This was a “no win” situation for David. David won the nation back, but lost his son. After his son Absalom rebelled against David, and forced him to flee from Jerusalem with all of his men, David had to do something. Absalom certainly wanted to see his father dead; but David, however, wanted somehow to undo the damage that Absalom had done to the nation, and still keep him as a son. He asked his men in the final battle to “deal gently… with the young man”, which they did not do. The men were right. Absalom had to die. David should have realized that. I can understand, though, how David felt. He did not blame Absalom for the way he turned out. I think David blamed himself. And even though David and his men won the victory and got the kingdom back, he still wished that he could go back and re-do some things  with his son Absalom.

I can relate to that. I wish that I could go back and re-do some things with my family as well. I know one thing that I would change is  that I would give each one of them a little more of my time. Instead of consuming my life with my goals and ambitions, I would give a little more of myself to helping them reach theirs. David ignored his son Absalom for a long time, and now he wished that he had the opportunity to give him his attention. The rebellion of Absalom grew with every passing day that his father neglected him. Most of my children are grown now, but I am trying to spend more time with them even now. I cannot re-claim what I missed, but I can make the most of what I have left. I do have one daughter, Hannah, who is young and still at home. I am doing things differently with her. If you still have children to influence, I encourage you to take every opportunity to do it. I bet you if David was to do it all over again, he would trade some of his successes as king for a good relationship with his children.

Apr 11th The Consequences of Sin

Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 12-14; Proverbs 11

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 21 – 22; Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 17)

“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” – (2 Samuel 12:10-11)

“And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.” – (2 Samuel 12:15)

I have to admit, that I wish passages like this were not in the Bible. In a perfect world, there would be no sin, and none of the pain and misery that come as a result of  sin. Passages like this remind us of God’s passionate hatred for sin. In chapter 11, we heard nothing from God until the very last verse of the chapter:

“…But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”

Of course, the “thing” that David had done was actually more than one individual thing. It began with David’s not being where he was supposed to be. He was the king, and it was the time for king’s to go forth to war, but David was home taking it easy. Next thing he knows, he finds himself lusting after a woman (Bathsheba) that was another man’s wife. Soon he takes her, and she becomes pregnant. When he cannot conveniently cover that situation up, he eventually goes so low as to have the woman’s husband killed in battle so that he can take his wife for his own. As I said at the beginning, God does not say a word to David until he thought it was all over. But once God starts speaking, He doesn’t stop for a very long time. David would suffer much at the hand of God as a result of this “thing” that he did that displeased the Lord.

1  The baby that was born to Bathsheba dies.

2  His son Amnon rapes his sister Tamar. (Notice – another sin of lust)

3  His other son Absalom kills Amnon because of what he did to Tamar.

4  David alienates himself from Absalom.

5  Absalom rebels against David, causing David to have to flee Jerusalem.

6  Absalom sleeps with David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

7  Absalom is killed.

All of these sins can be traced back to the sin with Bathsheba. Don’t believe me? Look at verses 10 and 11 above again. Does God not say, “I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house”? I am not saying that God caused these people to do what they did. They did what they did because they are sinners, but I am saying, that God did not do anything to prevent all of this tragedy either. Why? Because God wants us to know how much He hates sin, and how much He wants us to stay away from it. We live in a time when sin seems to no longer be sin, but let me warn you that God has  never changed his mind on the subject. What are the consequences of sin? A lot of unnecessary pain and suffering for a lot of people. It’s just not worth it.

Apr 9th The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: 2Samuel 4-7; Matthew 17-18; Proverbs 9

Today’s Passage: 2Samuel 4:4: And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

Good morning. Aren’t you glad to be an IFB? I’ll get to that in a minute, but let’s take a look at 2Samuel 4:4. Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son, Saul’s grandson. He was lame in his feet. It wasn’t his fault that he was lame. When he was 5 years old, his nurse picked him up to flee the city. As they were fleeing, she dropped him, and he became lame.

Many people are lame in some way or another. They could be mentally, or physically lame. Did you know that 75% of adults in America use some kind of devise to correct their vision? Seventy-five percent. I guess not everyone has “20/20” vision. If you did not watch the Phillies loose last night, then you probably know where I’m going with this. This expose’ presented a lot of eye-opening items. I found it hard to believe that there is a “preacher” out there who is advocating spanking your child as young as 2-weeks old! Can I ask you something? Does a 2-week old child know what he or she is doing wrong that they deserve a spanking? No. If they are crying, there is something wrong. This is their only way to communicate: you need to check out what is wrong.

And my heart goes out to the rape victims. It was good to see that the rapist did finally get jail time. I know of pastors who have called the police on rapists or even made the rapist call.

But to lump all Fundamental Independent Baptist churches together as one, and then label us as cults: 20/20 – you need glasses.

Peace. (John 16:33)