Month: July 2017

OK, I admit it. I love America’s Got Talent. Yes, there are some really, really strange acts but there is some real talent out there too. It is a fun competition and can help make a career for many talented people out there. I enjoy the stories behind the acts and the interaction between the judges as well. The producers have made it far more than a talent show. Yet, that is what it is at its simplest terms.

My one problem with the show is the investment many people have put into making it into the next round. There is no problem with striving to do one’s best or be one’s best. But many acts seem to place so much hope into getting into the next round that if they don’t, they are beyond crushed. No talent show is that important that you put your entire life in the balance. There are many, many ho do well in life and do not need the celebrity of winning America’s Got Talent. No, our hope is to be in the Lord, no other place.

Sovereign Lord, I put my hope in you;
I have trusted in you since I was young.
(Psalm 71:5)

My encouragement, is do not place your hope in one test or competition or degree. God has your best interests at heart and He will not lead you astray. Trust in Him instead of manmade inventions. Hope in Jesus Christ is sure and you can count on it. Hope in man-made things is temporary and fleeting, at best.

The news is filled with both sides of the political battle between two ideologies. But, that is not what has interested me lately. Remember the big controversy over the gender free bathrooms at a school in North Carolina? Those that seek to make cultural change are at it again.

A week ago, I was introduced to the term “gender fluidity” speaking of people dressing, acting, or being any gender they want. Then there as the report of a Canadian family who decided to leave their child’s gender blank on the birth certificate because they wanted their child to make that decision. Finally, today I heard a report from England that the world of advertising is changing their ads getting rid of gender stereotypes. That means instead of a little girl wanting to be a ballerina or a boy wanting to be a doctor, those stereotypes will be removed. I do believe that a boy or girl can be anything they want to be in this life. If a girl wants to be a firefighter….great. No gender bias should be an influencing determinant.
Yet, this is a big slippery slope.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Romans 1:18-19

 The truth is, God gave us a gender. It is obvious because you are given the parts of your gender in the womb. And when a child is born, the doctor says, “Congratulations, you’ve got a baby boy/girl.” Just like Merry Christmas has changed to Happy Holidays, soon the doctor will say, “You have a healthy child.” Then soon, in Kindergarten or Primary School there will be gender orientation classes. It is a slippery slope and we are beginning to suppress the truth of God’s creation. Later in that chapter God says, because of our foolishness He will give us over to our own lusts. The slippery slope will mean that God will begin to withdraw His hand of protection.

My encouragement is, don’t just focus on the political news, the Russia investigation, Obamacare or the other things that at at the forefront of today’s news. Instead see where cultural change is progressing against God. That’s where our focus should be and that is where we need to focus our prayers.

A couple of times a year, Chick Fil A gives away free food to those who go the extra mile and put on cow costumes. Because that event just happened, I thought it appropriate to give this devotional on The Golden Cow.
QUESTION: Let’s play a game, WHICH IS WORSE:
1. A guy goes out with a girl. He likes her, but next week asks another girl out. OR A man marries a woman then right after their honeymoon, asks out another girl. Which is worse? (Let them explain) (Hopefully they will say that there is no commitment involved with the first situation, but the second you’ve taken vows.)
2. You tell a friend that you are busy but will try to make their recital. OR You make a promise to attend that same recital. Which is worse? (Why?)
3. It’s the first day of school. There are signups for various groups. A girl looks at the signup for chorus then for debate team. She talks with both groups but chooses the debate team. OR The girl joins the gymnastics team, goes to a month of practices and one week before a gymnastics meet, drops out of the team. Which is worse and why?

Let’s start with a question. The people of Israel did something so bad that God wanted to destroy them What do you think it was?
Today is the story of the cow….not the Chick Fil A cow, but one that is made of gold. You remember the story of Moses? Remember the ten plagues and finally Pharaoh let the Israelites go to the promised land? Now, that seems kind of harsh….I mean the people had been in Egypt as slaves for 400 years and barely knew about God. Why would God get so angry?
Let me give you a kind of timeline for everything that happened around this cow event. It is good to study this since it is cow day….
On the first day of the third month of the people leaving the slavery of Egypt, the Israelites made it to a place called Mt. Sinai. This is an important place because this is where several promises are made. Let’s look at Exodus 19:3-6
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
A promise is just another name for a covenant. They are serious. You remember in Harry Potter where Severus Snape made the unbreakable vow to protect Draco Malfoy? Why was it called the unbreakable vow? Right, because if you broke it you would die. That’s how important promises and covenants are in the world.
Because God remembered His promises to Abraham to make them a great nation. And because these Jewish people did not really know about their God, God decided to renew His contract with the people. The scripture is clear that the people did not have to accept God’s chosen nation status. So, Moses came to the people and said, “Here are God’s terms. Do you accept?”
The leaders said, sure, we will follow God. The people made a promise to follow God and God alone. So, up the mountain Moses goes to basically finish signing the covenant and receiving the stone tablets to bring down to the people. Moses was up there for a long time, 40 days and 40 nights to be exact. The people were wondering by then, “Is this thing going to happen or not? Because it sure looks like the groom is leaving me at the altar.”
Now at the top of the mountain, some awesome things are happening. God is excited about this covenant: God tells how the tabernacle is to be built so He could reside there among His chosen people. God gives Moses all these laws that are in the Old Testament called the Law of Moses. And finally, God gives the final contract signed by God Himself…the TEN COMMANDMENTS.
God made a promise and the people made a promise. Everything looked good until God told Moses….Hey, Mo….the people are sinning. Moses heads down the mountain and sees the people worshipping a golden cow and partying way too hard. Remember what Moses did?…Moses broke the tablets.
It took less than 40 days for the people to break their promise. How do you treat a promise breaker? Do you trust them anymore? Or is it difficult to restore that trust? Absolutely.
Who here has never broken a promise? OK who has broken a promise? And what’s worse is Moses’ #2 guy Aaron went along with it. In fact the scripture is almost funny. In Exodus 32 Aaron says,
22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Like Aaron took the gold threw it in the fire and out popped this cow. Really? That’s the best excuse you can come up with? He shifts blame…you notice he blames the people since they are prone to sin.
Now, why spend so much time on keeping promises and the Israelites cheating on God? If you are a Christian, we have made a covenant to God. We have made a solemn promise to follow Jesus and Him alone. This promise is as strong as a marriage contract.
How do we break our promise to God? Name any sin and we have broken our promise to be true to Him.
We need to reaffirm our promise to God. You are either a promise keeper or a promise breaker. Breaking your promise to God is just as bad as the people building a golden cow. Let’s keep the cow where it belongs, in a costume out there in Chick Fil A.
GAME: COW OR CHICKEN
A small stack of playing cards for each pair of persons. An inner circle and an outer circle of people. A short stack of cards in between each pair. You have at least 12 cards in each stack. (Can take multiple decks) Each player draws one card and places it face up on table. Aces are 1, numbers are their value, all face cards are 10. Add the two cards together. If it adds up to an even number it is a COW if it is an odd number it is a CHICKEN. The winning player is the one who slaps the table on the cards. They keep the two cards and rotates the outer circle. When the cards are gone count up and see who is the winners.