Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Mar 24th Teach Us

Today’s Passage – Judges 11-13; Proverbs 24

(Second Milers also read – 1 John 1 – 5; Memorize Hebrews 1:8)

“Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.” – (Judges 13:8)

In Judges chapter 13, we see the story surrounding the birth of Samson. Samson’s birth came at a time when Israel was once again away from God, and was suffering at the hands of the Philistines. An angel appeared to Samson’s mother, and told her that she was going to have a son, and that this son was to be a Nazarite from the womb. You may recall that God gave instructions regarding the vow of the Nazarite in Numbers 6; but this child, Samson, is the first example of a Nazarite in the Bible. We do not know all everything about this vow, but we do know that it was a vow of separation; and we also know that the person who had taken the vow was not to drink wine, cut his hair, or touch a dead body. The interesting point about this particular case is that Samson was to be a Nazarite from birth. He never makes a vow. His separation was chosen for him by the Lord. Anyway, the angel did not appear to her husband, yet Manoah believed what the angel had told his wife. Manoah then “intreats” the Lord and asks Him to send the angel back, not to prove that it really happened, but to instruct them as to what they were supposed to do. Interestingly, the angel comes back, but only tells Manoah exactly what he had already told his wife.

I like the petition made by Manoah in Judges 13:8. He wants God to “teach” them regarding what to do with the child. Manoah acknowledged that he didn’t know what to do. He was demonstrating a dependence upon the Lord. I find myself often not knowing what to do. I often pray the prayer that Solomon prayed:

“And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” – (1 Kings 3:7-9)

And sometimes I pray the prayer that Hezekiah prayed:

“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” – (2 Chronicles 20:12)

The funny thing about Manoah’s prayer is that God never did give him any more information than He already gave His wife; but He did talk to him, and somehow assured him that He was going to be with him as he raised this special child for the Lord. Manoah was just going to have to continue walking by faith. It it is often frustrationg for me to walk by faith. I want God to reveal every step of the plan to me ahead of time, but He never does. He tells me what I need to know for today, and expects me to just keep walking, and keep trusting Him. But I do not think that He is upset with me for asking Him. Those prayers are my declaration of dependence upon Him.

Mar 23rd Bad Things Happen When Good Men Do Nothing

Today’s Passage – Judges 9, 10; Proverbs 23

(Second Milers also read 2 Peter 1 – 3; memorize Hebrews 1:8)

“And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” – (Judges 9:15)

This is a very strange passage of Scripture, but I think it contains a very valuable lesson for us. In chapter 8, we have Gideon who was mightily used of the Lord to rid the land of Israel from the hand of the Mideonites. After the battle was over, the people of Israel ask Gideon to be their leader, but he refuses, saying that the Lord is their ruler. However, without a good man leading them, the people once again begin to stray away from the Lord, forcing God to bring about judgment. Now when we get to todays passage, we see that one of the sons of Gideon does desire to reign over the people, and goes to all of his brothers asking them to support him, and they do. The problem is that this man, Abimelech, is a very wicked man. Once he gets his power, the first thing he does is have all of his brothers (70 of them) put to death. One of the brothers escapes, and stands upon a mountain and delivers this parable unto the people of the city of Shechem:

“The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” – (Judges 9:8-15)

The olive tree refused to act; the fig tree refused to act; the vine refused to act; so there was nobody left but the bramble, a sticker bush.

What he was saying through this parable was that oftentime good men will refuse to take ther place of leadership, perhaps because they are already busy doing good things. However, when good men refuse to act, there will always be an evil person that will sieze the opportunity to gain power, and use it for his own purposes. This is what happens to the people of Shechem. Gideon refused to lead, and then his sons willingly turn over control of the city to this one brother. Eventually, as a result of all of this, just about everybody is put to death.

Bad things happen when good men do nothing. By refusing to get involved, we sometimes create a scenario where the wrong kind of people start calling the shots. Let’s apply this to the local church. Often times there are carnal people within the church that are hungry for power, and they are always looking for opportunities to advance themselves. And there are others within the body, who are good men, who just sit back and let it happen: perhaps because they have a lot of things going on in their lives, or maybe because they are just trusting men, who are willing to yield to others. By the way, it is never a good sign when an individual is seeking position. Truly spiritual people will often be reluctant to take positions because they either feel unworthy, or doubt their own ability. However, we need to not neglect the opportunities and responsibilities that God places in front of us, because when we refuse, it opens up the door to someone else who may not be God’s choice.

We can also see this in government. Good people often refuse to get involved, leaving the door wide open to men who may not have the best interests of the people at hand. The end result of all of this is that things begin to change for the worse for everybody. Good people need to stay in the process, so that we all can keep the good things that God has entrusted to us. How involved are you in the process? Do you get involved in the local church, and in your community and local government? Do you even vote? We need good people to do their part. The devil never stops trying to advance his agenda. We need to stay in the game in order to keep him from taking from us the wonderful blessings that God has given us.

Mar 21st Third Time’s A Charm

Today’s Passage – Judges 4-6; Proverbs 21

(Second Milers also read – James 1 – 5; memorize Hebrews 1:8)

“And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.” – (Judges 6:36-37)

Three times in Judges 6 Gideon asks the Lord for a sign of some sort in order to assure him that it was, in fact, God that was speaking to him. The first time occurs when the angel of the Lord first appears to him in verse 17. Here he wants to be sure that it is the Lord. Maybe he was afraid that he was hallucinating, or perhaps being tricked. The Lord proves Himself to Gideon by consuming the kid and the bread upon the rock with fire.

The second and third time was regarding the fleece. He puts out the fleece twice: two nights in a row. The first night, he asked that the fleece would be wet with dew, and the ground dry. The second night, just to be sure, he asked that the ground be wet and the fleece be dry. God graciously proved Himself to Gideon on all of these occasions.

I have often heard people say that Gideon was not acting in faith because he kept asking for some sort of a sign. However, we must remember that God had not recorded in His word at this point anything about Gideon’s situation. Had God written through Moses or a prophet that there would be a man named Gideon that would deliver the children of Israel from the hand of the Mideonites, there might be a reason to accuse Gideon of lacking faith; but this was totally unpredicted, and unprecedented. I don’t blame Gideon for wanting to be sure that He was doing the will of God.

Today, we certainly are to walk by faith and not by sight. Most of what God calls us to do is clearly revealed in His Bible; but every once in a while, He reveals His will to us personally through extraordinary means. This does not happen very often, but it does happen. I have been saved for twenty years, and I can point to a few examples of times when I put forth a “fleece” in order to determine God’s will. I will share one of these incidents with you. When I was in my senior year of Bible college, I was very burdened about what I was going to do after I graduated. There were a few opportunities offered to me in various places and capacities; but I wanted to be sure that I was completely following the will of God. In my heart, I wanted to come back home to New Jersey; but I was not sure that my heart was lining up with God’s will. I began to pray. I decided one day to call up Pastor Charlie Clark, who pastored in south Jersey, in order to get some advice from him. I told him that I was praying about coming back to New Jersey to start a church, or work for a church. He recommended that I head back to New Jersey upon graduation, and we would begin to pray and work toward the planting of a church. I was very excited about that prospect, but God had a slightly different plan. You see, as God was working in my heart about coming to New Jersey, unknown to me, He was also working in another pastor’s heart about moving away from New Jersey. Just a few minutes after I got off the phone with Pastor Clark, He received another phone call from Pastor Dan Owens. Brother Owens was the man who started Jersey Shore Baptist Church. The Lord was leading him to go back into the military as a chaplain, but he wanted to make sure that he left his church in good hands. So Brother Owens called Pastor Clark in order to see if He knew of any pastor that was praying about coming to New Jersey. “Coincidentally”, Pastor Clark did know of someone. Pastor Clark has since shared with me that he has had very few phone calls through the years regarding people either looking for a church, or looking to leave a church; and to get two such calls within minutes of each other was definitely a “sign” that this was of God.

I am not saying that we should be tempting God, or asking God to prove Himself to us. If we are His children we have already placed our faith in Him, and in His revealed will through the Word of God. I am saying, though, that it is OK to ask God to clearly reveal His perfect will for your life. If your like me, you want to be sure that you are doing exactly what God wants you to do. There are a lot of big decisions to make in life, and they are not all completely covered in the Bible. For instance: Who are you going to marry? Where you are going to live? What will be your life’s vocation? Where will you go to college?  These are all important questions, and you want to be sure you are in the perfect will of God. I don’t think you are wrong to ask God to miraculously reveal His will to you personally, as He did to Gideon in our reading today.

Mar 20th Third Week of “Are You Happy?” Campaign

Today’s Passage – Judges 1-3; Proverbs 20

(Second Milers also read – Hebrews 9 – 13; memorize Hebrew 1:8)

Pray for our church today as we strive to glorify God in everything that we do today. Pray for souls to be saved, and saints to be challenged to reach others with the gospel.

Mar 13th 2nd Week of “Are You Happy Campaign?”

Today’s Passage – Joshua 5-7; Proverbs 13

(Second Milers also read – 1 Thessalonians 1 – 5; memorize 1 John 5:7)

Last week was one of the greatest weeks in the history of our church. We saw several saved, one baptized, dozens of visitors, and record attendance. Please pray for us that God would do it again this week!

Mar 6th Today is the Big Day! Preliminary Results Are In

Please pray for our Big Day today at Jersey Shore Baptist Church. We want God to work in our community, as well as in the lives of the people of the church. I will put up a new post in the afternoon with some results of the day.

Today’s Passage is Deuteronomy 15-18; Proverbs 6

(Second Milers also read 2 Corinthians 1 – 4; memorize John 1:1)

I promised that I would post some of the results from the Big Day this morning, but first may I say that God deserves all of the glory for all that happened today. Praise His Matchless and Magnificent Name!!!

Pray that we will be able to get all of these new folks saved, baptized, and serving the Lord.

1  Over 2100 invitations were distributed.

2  18 first time visitors last Sunday morning (1 week before the actual Big Day)

3  Over 30 first time visitors this week – many returning visitors from last week.

4  185 in attendance this morning (160 in the auditorium – our Bus mnistry and Junior church were actualy down today)

5  At least nine people that I know of made professions of faith.

6  Several lined up for baptism tonight.

Mar 5th The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: Deut. 12-14, 1Cor. 13-16, and Prov. 5

Memorize: John 1:1

Today’s Passage: 1Corinthians 14

Good morning. I know it’s still early, but have you edified anyone yet today? Paul said in verse 12: “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”

One thing that I took with me to Texas Baptist College was the understanding that someone was watching me. Would I cause them to quit because I quit? Would our pastor have still gone there if I dropped out in my first year? Would I cause someone to stumble because I stumbled. For the sake of others I had to keep going, and still do. If I quit, what will happen to others? The same principle of caring about others extends throughout the Bible. We are to build people up, edify them, edify the church.

If I gossip, or say something bad about someone, will the person I’m talking to think it’s okay to gossip? By the way, if someone tells you something bad about another, what are they saying about you when you’re not around? If I don’t tithe, will others risk the devourer from Malachi 3:11 by not tithing also? What affect will my sin have on others? If I then tell others not to do it either, I become a hypocrite. Lets start going in the direction we should be going; let’s start edifying those around us. Let’s start being the kind of Christian that God wants us to be.

Peace. (2Theselonians 3:16)

Feb 26th The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: Numbers 30-31, Romans 3-5, and Proverbs 26.

Today’s Passage: Romans 3:20

What is your perceived definition of legalism? Some may think that it would be keeping the law instead of faith alone for salvation. On the other extreme it is something to avoid: I can do anything I want because I am under grace, and not the law. The first group looks down their Pharisaical noses at the second group. The second group looks back and cries out, “Legalist!” whenever they are criticized for doing their liberal thing. Me? I like what the Bible says…

To both groups: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20).

You cannot work your way to heaven. Going to church, eating a cookie, being baptized, being good, will not get you into heaven. Faith alone, in Christ will. The ‘good works’ will follow. Once you receive Jesus, and you are no longer under the law, but grace, does that give you license to sin? No. You need the law to show you when you’re sinning.

Let’s say you are over in Germany driving on the Autobahn. You’re cruising along nice at 70mph. All of a sudden someone blasts past you doing 95mph. Who is speeding? Neither of you: there is no speed limit on the Autobahn. Now you come home to New Jersey. You’re driving on the Garden State Parkway. All of a sudden someone blasts past you doing 95mph. Who is speeding? Both of you. The GSP has a 65mph speed limit. “Yeah, but at least I’m not going as fat as he was.” It doesn’t matter, you need the law to show you what you should be doing. One law, 65 mph. One law to show you when you are breaking that law (sinning), and the same law to set the standard (our teacher).

Right here in chapter 3 are the two verses we start the Romans Road with…

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10).

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)

Everybody has broken the law: we all have sinned. And because of the sin nature that is still in us, there is no way we can keep the law. But Jesus died for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the world. That’s what really matters.

Peace (Romans 5:1)

Feb 24th Our God Is A Jealous God

Today’s Passage – Numbers 25 – 26; Proverbs 24

(Second Milers also read – Acts 25 – 27; memorize Romans 10:9 – 10; 13)

In Numbers 25, we have a very strange story. It seems that as the people of Israel were sojourning in the land of Moab on their way to the Promised Land, some of the men began to get cozy with the women of Moab. God had a big problem with this for several reasons; but the main reason is that these women were not Jews by birth or by conversion. They were an idolatrous people, having entirely different standards of morality as well as an idolatrous system of worship. It wasn’t long before the people of God began to participate in the sacrifices to these false gods. This was a violation of God’s sternest warning to the people when they left Egypt. The Israelites were to be a separated people. God didn’t want them to fellowship with any other people because He knew that they would eventually turn the Jews away from Him.

God was furious with the people; and He wanted Moses to do something in order to purge this idolatry out of the camp of Israel. Eventually, a strange thing happens. A man took a Midianitish woman into his tent in the sight of Moses. I do not think they were going in there to have a Bible study. Anyway, this was also witnessed by one of the priests: a man named Phinehas; and he, in his zeal for the Lord, went into the tent and thrust a spear through both the man and the woman at the same time. At first glance, we might think that God would not support this kind of action; bit on the contrary, He is very pleased with it; and He rewards Phinehas, and his family for doing it. Why? Because what Phinehas did served two purposes. First, it appeased the wrath of God; and secondly, it sent a strong message to the people of Israel to stay away from the inhabitants of the land. God is a jealous God.

By the way, these people were from the land of Moab. Remember yesterday’s blog about Balaam. Balak, the king of Moab wanted Balaam to curse the children of Israel. Balaam was unable to do this because God would not allow it, but it appears that the people of Moab were able to as much damage to Israel by fellowshipping with them as they could have done by fighting them. We really need to be careful who we fellowship with. My preacher used to say: “we are now, or we soon will be, who we hang around.” I believe that is a true statement more often than not.