In my part of the country, it doesn’t take long for the yellow flower of dandelions to spread across an entire lawn. The puffy white seeds are blown easily across the yard, where they catch root and sprout another plant. 

I wish to live in a world where God’s love and good deeds spread just as quickly. 

Sure, not everything will take root, but if we spread enough gospel seed, it won’t take long until we change the whole look of the landscape.

All positive change starts with a decision. 

We can slide into bad situations. It is a slow fade into poor choices. One compromise leads to another and another until we are a long way from where you want to be. No one decides they want to be fat. It just happens one meal and one snack at a time. 

Now sometimes, our decisions do not translate into actions. We have a goal or a dream, but we are unwilling to pay the price to make it happen. 

Still, all positive change starts with a decision. There comes a time when we set our mind to go in a new direction, start behaving differently or accept a truth, and everything flows from that point. A choice should lead to one action and then another, and you can move anywhere. 

What choice do you need to make today? 

It is time to stop wavering and move in the direction God wants you to go and become the person he desires. 

The first piece of information you hear about something becomes the most formative in your mind. A child is told something, and the blank slate of their mind will judge everything against that information for the rest of their life. 

This can be as simple as don’t hit girls to something more complex like how the earth was created. We make up our minds, and then, whether we admit it or not, we judge every new piece of information against the original teaching. 

Once you understand this concept, it will help to explain so many things to you. This is why dysfunctional families continually repeat the cycle of dysfunction. It is because this is how ordinary people behave in their minds. It also explains why changing someone’s mind about almost any topic is difficult. Their views are set, and they have years of experience that informs them they are correct.

The application of this idea is significant for parents in two ways. First, this is why every parent needs to be teaching their children, along with all the children they encounter, about God and his word. They need to give the information first. And if parents do not know enough, they need their children involved in numerous activities and ministries at the Church to teach them.

Second, parents and church members must discuss deep and complex topics with young Christian people. Otherwise, they will go to college, and someone will talk to them about these subjects and capture their mind with unchristian teaching. 

The old saying is “first in wins.” That means the first person to get information from someone will always be the most significant influence. They have won the battle for the mind. So as a Christian, we need to ensure that we are working to be first in everything possible. 

I believe that most humans are good people. They want the best for themselves and others without hurting anyone. And here, in a small midwestern town, this is evident everywhere.

People work hard, try to have a loving marriage, raise their kids to be nice, and are kind to their neighbors. Most of the people in my town are good people or “the salt of the earth,” as some will say. 

The next natural step is to attend Church occasionally and add a little Jesus to your life. That makes your in-laws, wife, kids, and preacher happy. And when you die, you can go to heaven.

Unfortunately, reading through the gospels about the life and teachings of Jesus makes it hard to maintain this concept. Jesus never wants to be a part of our lives. Instead, he wants us to follow him completely. We are to take up their cross daily and do things that will go against our natural inclinations.

Being a Christian is never about adding a little Jesus to an already good life. 

So let me ask you this simple question as a test. How would your life be different if you did not follow Jesus? How would things change if you were not a Christian? Would there be any difference beyond not being in Church occasionally? If not, maybe you have just added a little Jesus to make a few people happier with you. 

Singing is an expression of emotion. 

When you are in love, suddenly love songs not only make sense, but you also find yourself singing right along with the lyrics. Suppose you are feeling angry; that is when the thrash of a heavy metal guitar and hostile words seem to fit. If you are feeling loss and grief, there is a song for that. There is also a song for joy and happiness. All music touches on emotions with lines and phrases explaining what we feel.

How do you sing when it comes to worship?

The best singing when the Church worships together is always from people who have been serving the Lord throughout the week. The joy, heartache, love, pain, and strength we find in living for Jesus bubbles to the surface, and the music gives expression to our faith. 

Worship never sounds right when sung by people trying to force feelings toward God that have not existed before the leader begins to play and the words appear on the screen. Praise and worship are the words of people who are living for Jesus. 

Being a local church leader is not passing trays for communion. It is not about opening offering boxes or passing offering baskets. It is not about counting people, so our attendance records are correct. It is not about sitting on a committee or a board, discussing topics, and making decisions. 

Jesus gives us a picture of a Godly leader in Mark 10:42-45 (NIV 2011). Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Leaders in the Church are people who selflessly serve other congregational members. It is not about position but a willingness to help others on behalf of God. Sometimes, it might involve passing trays or sitting in on a ministry team meeting. But those things are an extension of your serving as a leader, not an indicator that you are one. 

A man and I were discussing some issues in his life when he paused and said, “I am not worried; God’s got this.” 

I have heard the phrase used several times by believers, which always perplexes me. What do they mean by it? 

His application seemed to be, “I am not going to do anything because God will do all the work.” If that is what he was thinking, then there is an error being made. 

God does not work independently from our actions. So, for example, I cannot ignore my wife and expect God to build a deeply connected relationship for us. I cannot spend money frivolously my whole life and expect God to have a significant retirement secured for me. I cannot drink and smoke for forty years and then want God to make no side effects on my body. 

The world God created is not set up that way. Sure, God can break in and do a miracle at any time. I firmly believe that. But it is called a miracle because it is outside the realm of ordinary interaction. Most of the time, God works with and through our actions. 

I do agree God has got this. If you put in your maximum effort, He will give you the best results imaginable. But saying “God’s got this” while your efforts produce a contrary result is not faith. Faith is doing what God desires to the best of our ability and trusting Him for a positive outcome. 

King David ordered a census of Israel and Judah, which made God angry. He did this to enroll men into the army. The problem was that the advantage of the Hebrews was never the size of their army but the size of their God.

David eventually sees the error of his ways and cries out to God for forgiveness. God responds in a fascinating way. He tells David to pick one of three options. The first choice is three years of famine, the second is three months of fleeing from their enemy, and finally, three weeks of plague from the hand of God.

In the following verse, David tells the prophet, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” (2 Samuel 24:14 – NIV 2011)

God sends an angel to bring a plague on the land. For three days, something awful comes over the people of Israel and Judah, and 70,000 people die. But as the angel turns toward Jerusalem, the Lord says “Enough,” and he withdraws his hand of punishment.

This story is interesting in several ways, but I find David’s decision to be the most amazing. He chooses God’s wrath over the armies of his enemies because God is great in mercy. He understands that people are not very gracious. They can be mean and cruel. But God is far more gracious than any human can imagine. And David is correct in his decision; God relents from destroying Jerusalem and his people entirely in his overwhelming mercy.

One of the overarching themes of the Bible is that people who obey God have a tough life to live, but we also have a gracious God. One far more gracious and kind than you and I will ever be.

I read a book about preaching as a college student that still impacts my sermons today. The book is called “Preaching the Connects” by Mark Galli, and while I do not remember much of the book, there is one section that inspired me. He wrote that one of the maxims in newspaper writing is “show, don’t tell.” And the concept was that a good writer would use word pictures, anecdotes, and illustrations to explain what they are trying to communicate. So out of that, I developed a simple question I ask myself when preaching, “What does that look like?

Reading a Biblical passage, developing a thesis, and a few points supporting it is relatively easy as a preacher. You can take a text and clearly outline what it says, but that is only half the work. The next question must always be, “But what does that look like?

What does it look like today if someone were to take this passage seriously? How would someone’s life look if they truly loved God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength? How might a person love their neighbor as themselves on social media? What actions would come from a person trying to encourage other believers? There are a thousand ways this plays out in our minds.   

This question is essential because aphorisms are easy to affirm and complicated to apply. People don’t just need more Christian teaching and advice. They need to know how to implement it into their lives. What does it look like to live that way? Show me, don’t simply tell me. 

Since most of you are not preachers, I would ask you to apply this concept in two ways. One, whenever you read your Bible and see a lesson being taught, stop and ask yourself where you have seen this idea implemented. What stories and people have embodied this truth? Use it as a bridge to application in your life. 

Second, take the question with you whenever you hear someone preach or teach. Listen closely and write down the main concepts and then ask it for yourself?

The Bible is not only for learning about God and the work of Jesus. It is for transforming our lives into the people of God. With the proper study and questions, you can become the kind of person who embodies what it means to follow Jesus. You can look like what you are learning. 

Over the last several years, Churches have been focusing on community service. The goal has been to shine the light of Jesus into the local neighborhoods that surround the Church. There is additional hope that it will open doors for people to attend Church and hear the gospel message.

There are several reasons people have gotten into this type of serving, most of which are positive. However, occasionally its popularity is produced by something negative. Some people like to serve outside of their local Church because the people are always an arm’s length away. And people at a distance are always easier to love. 

Within the Church community, there are often those few people we do not get along with, or we disapprove of their life choices. We don’t talk to them and always move in different circles. We sit on the other side of the auditorium and generally avoid conversation. Whenever the situation arises, we will fake smile and try to be nice, but we definitely would not go out of our way to serve them.

In Luke chapter 6, Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” (Luke 6:32-33 – NIV 2011)

Being kind to people who you like is easy. I would say that serving people you do not know is easy too. Even non-Christian sinners can do that. But loving, serving, and being kind to that person in the Church who annoys or aggravates you is tough. 

One measure of our spiritual maturity is serving others. A second level is our willingness to serve that one Christian we don’t like. Believers do good to others, no matter how we feel about them.