Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Sep 24th Doest Thou Well To Be Angry?

Today’s Reading – Jonah 1 – 4

“…and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” (Jonah 3:10b – 4:1)

I thoroughly enjoy reading the little book of Jonah. This was one of the first Bible passages that I ever read or learned about as a child; but it still helps me today. I got to thinking about how Jonah is not much different than me a lot of times. I get rather apathetic toward the things of God; and sometimes even get hardened toward His people, losing my compassion for them. As I read today, I thought about three ways that you can tell that you are a backslidden preacher. By the way, this does not just apply to preachers in the pulpit, any Christian can make these applications.

You know you are a backslidden preacher when:

1  You avoid and even run away from opportunities to serve God.

Jonah was given a unique opportunity to serve God by preaching to the Ninevites: a people that God loved, but Jonah despised. Millions of others were bypassed, and God chose Jonah; but he refused; he rebelled; he ran away from the will of God. Preachers and Christians today often do the same thing. It may be something as big as running from a ministry; or it may be something as small as not volunteering to serve in the nursery. Either way, an opportunity was there  to serve the God of Heaven, to make a difference in His Kingdom; but it was refused.

2  Your life ceases to be a blessing to those around you; but rather, you become a burden.

If Jonah was on board the ship on his way to fulfilling the will of God, the sailors would have been helped along the way by the blessings of God. Notice also, that it took the storm to get Jonah to even mention God to the sailors.

3  You fail to rejoice when God saves a soul. You even get angry in the midst of revival.

I remember when I was in college. We used to see literally hundreds of people saved and baptized every week. At first, I was excited as I saw the the people lining up for baptism, but after I had been there for a while it got old and I wondered to myself “when will the service be over. I want to go home.” The thought of people getting saved didn’t thrill me like it used to. Now I am here in New Jersey, and I don’t see nearly as many saved as I used to; but I got my excitement back. God gets excited over one sinner that repents. We have become hardened to the true spiritual victories that God gives us. We would be thrilled if somebody gave us something tangible, but we have lost our zeal over the spiritual blessings.

Have you found yourself becoming like Jonah? Do you get angry about the trivial, when God is doing great things in the eternal realm? Ask God to re-kindle the flame of revival in your heart; and re-ignite a passion for people.

Sep 23rd A Famine of Desire for the Word of God

Today’s Reading – Amos 6 – 9; Obadiah 1

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: (Amos 8:11)

Amos is writing concerning Israel about a time where there will be an absence of the Word of God among the people. But that famine of Bible instruction and principle comes as a result of the lack of desire among the people of Israel for hearing the Words of God. The people of Judah and Israel had their fill of God. They no longer desired to hear what He had to say; they no longer desired to live in by His precepts. They simply felt that they no longer needed God or His instruction.

I feel that America today is in the same boat. There is no famine here. There may be preachers out there who water down the Word of God; and there may be a lot of compromise out there; but there is certainly available to nearly every person in America a copy of the Word of God, and a church where the Bible is being preached and taught on a regular basis. The problem is not the availability of the Word of God. Rather, the problem is a lack of desire of most America for instruction from God. We have loosed from the moorings of our Biblical heritage and are floating in the sea of secular humanism. We are shouting to God from our culture, “Get Out!”. We don’t need you and we certainly don’t want you. I don’t think it is too far fetched to think about a day in the near future when our authorities try to stop the distribution of the Word of God altogether.

God will not stay where he is not wanted. In fact, the only thing holding back the judgment of God is a remnant of people in America who love the Word and the God who wrote it. So what is the solution? Can this tide of apathy and antagonism toward God be stopped, or even slowed? I am not sure. But my instructions are still to “preach the Word”, even when it is out of season. Christian, it matters not what the world thinks about our God and our Bible. We need to keep obeying God by sowing the seed of His word to the world around us. Some day soon, our job will be done; but for now it is still our responsibility to reach who we can with the glorious gospel of Christ. There are still people out there that hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Sep 22nd Are We On The Same Page?

Today’s Reading – Amos 1 – 5

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3)

The context of verse 3 above deals with both tribes of Israel and how they have chosen to live contrary to the principle of the Word of God. They have become immoral and idolatrous. They have become enamored with the cultures of the heathen nations around them. God tells them here that He cannot walk with these people because they are not in agreement.

I have often quoted this verse when preaching, particularly while speaking on matters of separation. How is it that the professing Christian today feels so comfortable walking alongside the people of the world, who do not know Christ. There must be agreement in order for their to be fellowship. Now, I can walk alongside anybody for a short distance. I will have to work with people who are not Christians at times; and hopefully, I will walk along with a lost man for a time trying to persuade him to trust Christ. Jesus walked and ate with some lost people at times in order to reach them. But, I do not think that this verse is talking about casual, purposeful, or limited contact with the lost world around us. It is talking about true communion. God cannot commune with people who have forsaken Him; and we should not be comfortable running with people who are not in fellowship with Him either.

Christian, be careful who you run with. Surround yourself with people who are going to influence you positively, encouraging your walk with God. Stay away from the gossips who have “the goods” on everybody else. Avoid those who are always negative: who desire to tear everything down, instead of building things up. Run with people who have the same doctrine and standards that you have. My preacher used to say, “You are, or soon will be, who you hang around.” I want to run with people who will cause me to do right and grow in the Lord. Just a thought!

Sep 21st Multitudes in the Valley of Decision

Today’s Reading – Joel 1 – 3

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. (Joel 3:14)

This Book of Joel, much like many of the other prophetic books which we have recently read, deals in the immediate context with the people of Judah being warned of impending judgment because of their falling completely away from God. This book, however, is unique in that it begins referring to the judgment as if in the past tense. At first glance, you might think that Joel was writing after the Babylonians had already come. It is possible that the judgement referred to in chapter 1 could be a reference to the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom; or perhaps to one of the first incursions into Judah by the Babylonians. You may remember they came in several times before the final destruction.

Another curious aspect of this book is that it transcends from the immediate future to the distant future, promising that the day will come when God’s people will once again be in a right relationship with Him; and all their enemies will be destroyed. In the second chapter God promises that if they will repent and turn to them, “rending their hearts”, that God will be merciful. We know from history that they never do this prior to the Babylonian captivity; and from what I can gather from Scripture, they never will until the time of Great Tribulation.

Which brings us to the above referenced verse. There will be multitudes in the valley of decision. The word “decision” there has to do with judgement. On the surface it almost sounds like God will give them the opportunity to decide; however, by this time, these Gentile enemies of God will have already decided against Him. This is the great Battle of Armageddon. As I read this, part of me wants to “jump for joy” because of the victory of God. However, I then begin to think about who makes up that multitude in the valley of decision. It is made up partially of people that I know: maybe family members, neighbors, co-workers: people I failed to reach with the gospel. Then I think about Jesus weeping over the multitude because they were as sheep having no shepherd. My previous joy is now turned to mourning. Many people will enter into a Christ-less eternity that day.

But that day is not yet. I still have a little time, though it is quickly running out. I still have an opportunity to help people decide for Christ before they get to that Valley of Decision: the time of final judgment. Lord, help me to love and care about people like you do. Help me to be the testimony that I need to be. Help me to have boldness to share the gospel of Christ with the people that you have surrounded me with.

Sep 20th It’s Always Time To Seek The Lord

Today’s Reading – Hosea 7 – 14

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)

Last year, the verse above was the theme verse for our church. Throughout the year, we would say to each other before services or soul winning, “It’s time”. In the context of Hosea’s book, Israel was at the end of their time for turning to God. God had warned them over and over again to come back to Him; but they were content to stay away. They had become comfortable, and content. They had been protected and prosperous, but they attributed their success to themselves rather than to the blessings of God. God had been patient; but His patience was running out. It was past tie to seek the Lord. Judgement was imminent.

As a preacher, I sometimes feel the same frustration that Hosea and the other prophets felt. I preach the best that I can, yet I get the feeling that for the most part, my words are going in one ear and out the other. I am not speaking here about people who are trying but struggling. I am in that category myself sometimes; but I am sensing that their is an indifference to spiritual things by many in our community and even in our church. I believe with all of my heart that we are in those “perilous times” that Paul spoke of where men will “heap to themselves teachers having itching ears”.

Those of you that are reading this blog most likely are not in this category. You are the “choir” that so often get preached at (or written to). You love God, and though you may have your weak moments and battles with the flesh, the world, and  the devil; you desire to live for Him. Keep seeking God. Don’t let the attitude and apathy of the world cause you to back up in your love and devotion for Him. Keep moving forward, keep growing. Hosea was writing to a bunch of lost Israelites about turning back to God; and we certainly want to encourage a lost America to turn to God. But, we also want to plead with those who may already have a relationship with God to keep seeking Him; keep drawing closer to Him.

Sep 19th “Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge”

Today’s Passage – Hosea 1 – 6

Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land… My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:1 & 6)

I remember recently looking at a textbook from back at the turn of the last century. I think it was called a “primer”; and it was used for teaching in public schools all over America. It is full of references to God, and direct quotes from the Bible. It didn’t matter what the subject was, the writers of the curriculum made sure that while the students learned academics, they also learned about God. When I was a child, we used to observe a “moment of silence” which was our opportunity to pray at the beginning of the school day. When my dad and mom were young, they actually prayed; and also recited the Ten Commandments, etc. in the public school. America was filled with the knowledge of God in years past. They say that the average lost man, 100 years ago, knew more Bible than a Bible college student does today. I don’t think that is far from being true. We have become a secular society with all of the humanistic principles and philosophies that go along with it. We no longer look to God for solutions: we look to the government or the prominent secular authority.

In Hosea’s day it was much the same way. The land of Israel was founded on Biblical principles, yet the people became increasingly enamored with the counsel and culture of the ungodly. God said that the people were destroyed because of this lack of knowledge. The question in my mind, though, is where to place the blame. Was it God’s fault? No. Was it the people’s fault? That is a good question. I mean, the people obviously had lost their appetite for spiritual things: they did not want to “hear it” anymore. It’s hard to deliver truth to people who don’t want to listen anymore. However, I would place the blame at the feet of God’s ministers. They seemed to have gotten tired of going against the popular trends of their day; and chose to acquiesce to it rather than preach against it. So, truth stop being delivered, and the people got worse.

This sure reminds me of the current religious climate in America. Preachers want to please the people. Who doesn’t want to be liked? The problem is that in pleasing the people they often compromise the truth. Most churches in America today are only delivering a small fraction of the truth that they once delivered. For example: how many churches have shut down their Sunday School programs; Sunday Evening services; and mid-week Prayer Meetings? How many messages have been cut back to a palatable 20 minutes; and how many of those 20 minute messages have more than a reference or two to Scripture. God commands His preachers to preach the Word “in season (when it’s popular) and out of season”. It really does not matter if the culture wants it or not, we are to flood our communities with the truth of God’s Word. Our nation is starving for the Word of God; and, unfortunately, so are many of our church members. We need to get back to preaching and teaching the truth in our schools and in our churches and in our homes. We need also to get back to flooding our communities with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that the people won’t be “destroyed for lack of knowledge”

Sep 18th The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Daniel 10-12 

When Will It All End?

 I love the Book of Daniel. I love all the end time prophecies. But did you ever get so frustrated about the things going on in your life that you cried out: “When will it all end!?”

Daniel 12:10 tells us that many shall be purified, made white, and tried. The wicked are still going to do wickedness. Isn’t that the way it is today? It just seems that the wicked out-number the purified. The gap grows larger every day. Paul gave us a perfect description of our times in 2Timothy 3…

2Ti 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Now I can’t tell you when it will all end. But I can give you a glimpse into the future. It’s not only for the future, it is for now. Thinking about everything going on at the church, people going through rough times, and even the problems of my own family; at 1:30 am, in the break room of the Cape May Home Depot, Friday morning, I opened my New Testament. My eyes fell on Psalm 150…

Psa 150 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

The Lord knows the right thing to say at the right time. Now instead of a frustrated cry of anguish, a cry of praise comes out: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Praise the Lord for whatever day you have today.

Sep 17th It’s Me, It’s Me, It’s Me Oh Lord.

Today’s Reading – Daniel 7 – 9

And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: (Daniel 9:4 & 5)

The three chapters that we have read today contain wonderful prophecies about what was going to lie ahead for the people of Israel; and partially they reveal what still lies ahead for us today. Daniel receives several visions in these chapters, and for the most part they are explained to him so that he (and we) can understand them. We basically learn about all of the kingdoms that would rule the earth from the time of Daniel up until the time of the return of Christ. We learn that the Kingdom of Babylon would be overtaken by the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. Following them will be the Greeks; and finally we conclude with the Roman Empire which was in power at the time of Christ. This kingdom will eventually be revived and ruled by Antichrist in the last days. These are fascinating and amazingly easy to understand passages of Scripture that leave us with the assurance of knowing that we already have the victory over any evil forces that may come our way.

However, in the midst of all of this prophecy that is given in these three chapters is a prayer to God by Daniel. The thing that captivated my attention about this prayer is that Daniel includes himself in his confession to God regarding all of the iniquity of the people of God. He doesn’t say “they”; he says “we”. Now from what we know about Daniel from what is recorded in Scripture is that he was a very good man. There is not a mark against him in the Word of God. However, we know that he was a man like every other man and was not sinless. Nevertheless, he includes himself in all of the corporate idolatry and immorality that the nation was guilty of. I don’t think that he had forsaken God as the nation had, yet he took the blame upon himself.

I have a couple of thoughts regarding this humble prayer of Daniel:

1  Daniel is a type of Christ here who, though innocent, takes the blame for the sin of others.

2  Daniel is not like most men, including myself at times, who are always trying to pass the blame on to others. Why are we so full of pride that we have to try to make ourselves look to be without flaw and without sin. We are sinners. Sinners sin: it’s what we do. When we sin, we ought to be able to admit it to the Lord, ourselves, and others. We are not God. God doesn’t sin. Remember the old saying, “to err is human”. It is. Humans err; humans make mistakes; humans get away from God. Let’s not be proud of our humanity, but let’s try to humble ourselves enough to recognize it.

Christian, let me encourage you to not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. You ought always to be willing to accept blame for your actions; and even accept some blame for the actions of those you may be associated with. Daniel took full responsibility for the actions of his nation. We ought to have enough humility to come before God the same way. It really is kind of strange the way we behave. We try to present ourselves as perfect: we want to be seen as some kind of God; but God, who is perfect, took upon Himself the blame of everyone else.

Sep 16th These Three Kings

Today’s Reading – Daniel 4 – 6

And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:34 & 35)

But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: (Daniel 5:23)

I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. (Daniel 6:26)

In the three chapters that we have read today, we have the accounts of three different kings: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; Belshazzar of Babylon; and Darius of Persia. Each of these kings came to know that the God of Heaven was the only God of the universe. Each of these kings came to know this under different circumstances. The first king we saw (Daniel 4) was Nebuchadnezzar. He had already seen the power and supremacy of our God in the events that are recorded in the first three chapters of Daniel. Somehow, however, he forgot that it was God who buttered his bread; and began to think that it was he who was the source of his own success. The last straw was in v 30, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”. God had to greatly humble him. It is a principle of God that he humbles those who exalt themselves. Praise God, though, that He gave Nebuchadnezzar another chance, and He allowed him to be restored. Nebuchadnezzar did not make the same mistake twice: he gave God the glory for all that he was able to accomplish in the kingdom.

The second king we saw (in chapter 5) was Nebuchadnezzar’s “son” who appears to have never come to the place where he voluntarily submitted himself to the God of Heaven. He actually got so bad that he drank from the cups that were taken from the Temple of God: cups that were reserved only for the priests in the service of God. God revealed Himself to Belshazzar by writing his doom upon the wall. Shortly thereafter the the prophecy from the writing was fulfilled when the Persian empire came in and conquered the city of Babylon.

The last king that we read about (in chapter 6) was Darius from Persia. It seems that Darius had a great respect at least for God, though it did not appear that he worshipped him. Because of a mistake that he made, Daniel ended up in the den of lions; but somehow Darius knew that God would deliver him. He actually ended up making it official in the kingdom that everyone was to worship God.

The common denominator for all of these kings, however, is Daniel. Daniel was a steady witness; a powerful, uncompromising voice in all three of these kingdoms. He never wavered and he never yielded to the worldly influences around him. Even though he was in captivity, he was always blessed of God, and favored by each of these kings. His story is similar to Joseph’s in many ways. Let’s learn from the example of Joseph, and live for God; even in times when the whole world is going in the wrong direction. There will be opportunities to demonstrate the love and power of God before a lost world. When they need God, though, they will look for someone who they know has consistently walked with Him, like Daniel.

Sep 15th Staying Cool in the Midst of the Fire

Today’s Reading – Daniel 1 – 3

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Dan. 3:17 & 18)

I enjoy reading every part of the Bible, but I have really been looking forward to getting into the Book of Daniel. These first three chapters, and the stories of Daniel (Belteshazzar), Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) were a great source of strength and encouragement to me today. I may not be facing trials and burdens that could be compared to what these young men faced, but I figure if they had faith enough to stay true to the Lord during their big ordeals, then I certainly should be able to muster enough faith to handle the little tests and problems that have come my way. These were great young men of faith, whose strength and trust in the Lord caused them to stay true to the Lord when all others compromised; and it also allowed them to stay cool when faced with the trials of their life.

In chapter one, we see the four men having a good attitude in a very bad situation. They were taken captive into the strange land of Babylon. We have no idea what happened to the rest of their families; but they may have been left behind, or possibly even put to death. These men were the cream of the crop from Israel: they were smart and well favored physically; but these gifts were not the traits that caused them to stand out from the crowd: it was their faith in God that distinguished them from everybody else. They were given a diet of the best meat and wine from the king, however the meat that the king gave them was most likely sacrificed to some pagan God. Daniel and his companions requested pulse (vegetables) and water as they did not want to compromise their faith in God by eating that which was sacrificed to an idol. The prince reluctantly agreed to accommodate them but only as long as they gave no appearance of being weak and thin. God prospered them with their vegetarian diet and they grew stronger than those that ate the meat.

In chapter two, we see them face an even greater test. The king had a dream and he wanted somebody to tell him what it meant. He made it really hard for the “wise men” in that he would not even reveal the dream: they not only had to give the meaning, but they also had to tell the king the events of the dream. This put most of the kings soothsayers out of business, and got the king mad enough to give all of the “wise men” including the four Hebrew boys a death sentence. Daniel did not panic; he prayed, and God gave him the answer to the king’s dilemma which saved his life and the lives of his three companions. It also gave them great favor in the sight of the king, and elevated them in position above all of the rest.

In chapter three, we see the stakes are raised even higher. The king has passed a new law that states everybody needs to bow to the new statue that he has made. Of course the boys refuse to bow to anything but their God. Once again the king is furious. (Kings don’t like it when the people listen to any other power but theirs) Their sentence this time is to be thrown into the fiery furnace. They trust that their God is well able to deliver them, so they continue refusing to bow to the image. The king throws them in, but miraculously God saves them, not from the fire, but in the fire. Sometimes God allows us to go through the trial: He doesn’t always deliver us from them; but His grace is always sufficient.

These are amazing, encouraging, motivating accounts of great faith. I want to have the strength of faith that these boys had. How about you? Is your faith strong or weak today? Well, did you spend time today in the Word of God? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17) There is a direct correlation between the time spent in the Word of God, and your strength in trials. Why not allow God to strengthen you today through His Word?