Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Apr 13th Bad Advice

Todays Reading – 2 Samuel 10 – 12

I will resist the temptation this morning to discuss chapters 11 and 12 regarding David, Bathsheeba, and Urriah.  I have spoken much about these passages in times past; and I am sure that most of the people reading this are well familiar with that tragic period in David’s life.  Instead, I would like to focus on chapter 10.  David sincerely wants to shew a kindness to his neighbor to the east, Hanun, the King of the Ammonites.  Apparently Hanun’s father was a friend to David, and David wanted to continue the friendship through Hanun. 

When David sends some of his servants into Ammon to see Hanun, no doubt bearing gifts and sending a message of comfort from David regarding the death of Hanun’s father, the advisors of Hanun are distrustful of David’s intentions; and convince the king that David is their enemy.  The Ammonites then do a stupid thing: they humiliate David’s men by shaving off half of their beards and making them go back to Israel naked.  Remember, at this time Israel is the big kid on the block.  Now because of his stupidity; and because of the bad advice he receives, Hanun is facing an all out war with David.

None of this had to happen.  Hanun acted impulsively because he had counselors around him feeding him with bad information.  We need to be careful about the people we allow in our lives.  We need to be careful about the influences in our lives.  Bad counsel leads to bad decisions.   Let’s surround ourself with balanced, godly people who will be careful to offer only biblically based and prayerful advice to us.

PS – One thought on chapter 11 (I couldn’t resist.)  Among all of the other things that helped cause David’s sin with Bathsheeba, I thought about his lack of accountability.  David had nobody close to him that could stand up and say, “David, what you are about to do is wrong, and I won’t let you do it, or get away with it.”  There were obviously people (servants, etc.) that knew what David was doing, yet nobody challenged him.  We need people around us who will stand for the truth even at the expense of going against us. 

Apr 12th You’d Better Check With Your Father First

Be sure to check daily the new Praises and Prayer for any prayer requests. 

Today’s Reading – 2 Samuel 7 – 9

Have you ever told someone as a child that you were going to do something, and have them reply, “You’d better check with your dad first.”  The story that is told in 2 Samuel 7 reminds me of this.  David wants to build a house for God, which is a good thing.  And David also does the right thing by checking with the prophet Nathan before he breaks ground. 

Nathan did what many preachers do, including myself.  He said, “Go ahead David.  That sounds like a good idea.  Do what you want.”  But Nathan quickly finds out the the Father has other plans for David and for the house that David wants to build.  Nathan should have checked with God first before he gave a reply to David. 

Preachers and Laymen that are asked for counsel about some decision in another person’s life should say first, “Let me pray about it, and ask God what His will is” or “Let me search the Scriptures to see what God says about it”.  But we should be careful to never just tell people what we think or what sounds good.

Apr 12th Rejoicing Over The Lord’s Blessing Yesterday

Praise the Lord for his goodness to us yesterday here at the church.  At first, I was a little bit discouraged: the crowd looked a little light, but I quickly dismissed the thought and determined to focus on what God was doing.  Here are some of the highlights:

1  We had a young lady saved after the morning service.

2  The chapel had another great Sunday morning service with 45 in attendance and several first time visitors.  God has his hand on Pastor Barber and the chapel!

3  We had a combined evening service with the Jersey Shore Baptist Chapel of Little Egg Harbor.  The house was full and Pastor Barber preached a powerful message, and after the preaching we baptized 2 converts: Corey Herring from the chapel; and Paul Pretino from the church. 

4  After the service several more people came forward from the church and from the chapel desiring believer’s baptism.  We will be baptizing again this Sunday night.

Looking back, it was one of the best Sundays of the year.  Praise the Lord!!! Let’s pray that God will continue to bless in these coming weeks as we head into the Spring campaign.

PS – After checking the stats, it turned out that Sunday morning was the fourth best attendance so far this year.

Apr 11th God Spotted Him First

Today’s Reading 2 Samuel 4 – 6

So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.  (2Samuel 5:3)

 The Men of Israel recognized the hand of God on David here in 2 Samuel after the death of Saul and his son Ishbosheth.  The men of Judah saw it seven years earlier when they anointed him to be king in Hebron.  But God spotted him first.  Way back when he was faithfully serving his father as a lowly shepherd boy, God saw the heart of a king when others could only see a young kid.

 I wonder how many potential kings that we have living in our midst.   They may not look like much today; but with a little encouragement, a little training, and a lot of love, the young people in our midst can become all that God knows that they can be.  Let’s not be guilty of looking on the outward appearance of our young people as they are today.  Instead, let’s see their hearts and view them as the kings that they could be tomorrow.  Let’s try to see what God already sees. 

 And for you old timers.  If you are the child of the King, there is a little royal blood in you as well.  Start acting like a king’s son or daughter.  Forget about all of the failures of your past and start conquering the world around you for the Kingdom of God.

Your thoughts on this are welcome.  Post a comment.

Apr 10th Stay in the City

Before we look at the text, let’s remember that today is our preparation day for Sunday.  We need to pray hard today, and work hard today so that we can have the breath of God on our services tomorrow.  Pray that God will speak through the preaching, teaching, and singing tomorrow; pray that souls will be saved and lives will be changed; pray that the gospel will have free course; and pray especially for protection against the attacks of the wicked one.  Then, after you have prayed, why not go out into the highways and hedges; the streets and lanes of the city; and compel someone to come tomorrow.

Reading for Today – 2 Samuel 1 – 3

Every time I read this passage of Scripture I find myself shouting to Abner, “Don’t leave the city!!! Stay inside where it is safe!  Don’t trust Joab.  He is a deceiver!”  But you know the story, Abner does allow Joab to bring him outside the city of protection; and once outside, Joab and his brother Abishai kill him.

The background of this story is needed for understanding about the point I am trying to make.  You see, in a past battle Joab’s army and Abner’s army fought against each other.  Joab’s other brother, Asahel, found himself one on one with the great general, Abner, and was slain in the battle.  Joab and Abishai never forgave Abner for what he did to his brother even though it was in a time of war.

When peacetime came Joab found an opportunity to exact his revenge; but the only problem was that Abner was inside the city of Hebron, which was a city of refuge.  (See Numbers 35 and Joshua 20 re: the cities of refuge)  As long as Abner remained in the city, Joab could not touch him; but the second Abner left, he was fair game for Joab and his brother.

Christian, our city of refuge is the will of God; it’s being in Christ.  The devil is hovering around us trying to lure us out of God’s will of protection.  Stay in the city!

I encourage any thoughts regarding this post or anything ele from our Scripture reading for today.

Apr 9th Have You Ever Been There?

Todays Reading – 1 Samuel 29 – 31

1 Samuel 30:6

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems that everything is going against you.  Imagine how David must have felt:  he was recently banished from his home, Israel; now his new country, the land of the Philistines, does not want him; and when he arrives at Ziglag where his family and the families of his 600 men were, he finds it burned to the ground and all the people gone.  Have you ever been there?  Have you ever been in a situation where nothing is working right; and everything and everybody seems to be turning against you?  Even David’s loyal men were talking about stoning him!

What did David do? And what should we do when we find ourselves in a seemingly hopeless situation? 

1  Be encouraged!  “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”  There is always hope, even if you can’t see it yet.  Pick yourself up from the valley of discouragement and believe that things can and will get better.

2  Go to God.  “And David enquired at the Lord” (v 8)  Things won’t necessarily get better on their own; but God can make your situation better, no matter how bad it is.  David picked himself up and realized that there was hope; and that hope was in God.  God showed him what to do to gain the victory.

Notice now what takes place in the next few days.  David recovers his family.  He sends gifts from the spoil of the battle to many of the cities in Judah.  He discovers that his old enemy in Judah, Saul, has been slain in battle with the Philistines, which will open up the door for David’s reign as king.  I bet David was glad that he didn’t let his discouragement keep him down.  He got up and moved forward in the Lord; and the Lord turned the situation around.

Apr 8th Rejoicing in a Great Week in the Lord!

Before we examine the Scripture passage for today, let me just share with you how excited I am about serving the Lord here at Jersey Shore.  We have seen God do many wonderful things here this week with great attendances and many people saved.  Praise the Lord!!!  Thanks to all of the faithful workers who sacrificially serve the Lord and minister to the people here.

The Reading for Today is 1 Samuel 26 – 28

My thought this morning involves Saul and David.   Saul was a man consumed with envy over David.  As we study the scriptures, we find that David did nothing to deserve the treatment he was getting from Saul.  David faithfully served Saul and Israel.  As a young man, he played the harp for Saul him; he fought and killed the giant of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath; he fought many battles for Saul, bringing great victory for Israel.  David loved Saul; married his daughter; and was Saul’s son, Jonathan’s, best friend.  David did nothing but good for Saul and his family; but it seems that the more good David did, the more Saul despised him.  Saul became consumed with hating David; and seeking David’s life. 

How did David react to all of this.  He did nothing to react to Saul’s unkindness.  David could have justifiably killed Saul twice but refused to touch God’s anointed.  Finally, no doubt exasperated, David leaves Israel and moves into the land of the Philistines (Israel’s enemy).  However, even then he does not become Saul’s enemy.  He secretly takes his men and fights against the enemies of Israel.  So even after being banished from the country he loved and served: the country that he was anointed by God to be the king over; he continues to be a friend to it and to Saul.

How about you?  How do you react to people who are attacking you; people who are being your enemy.  Do you attack back with vengence; or do you continue to be a friend to them, even if they don’t deserve your friendship.  God will take care of the Saul’s in your life.  You just keep doing what you know God wants you to do.

Any thoughts?  Please feel free to leave a comment.