Did you hear about the fella who was discussing his recent visit to a church service? Someone asked him, ‘What did the preacher preach about?” To which he replied, “I don’t know. He didn’t say!” There could be at least a couple of reasons why a person could attend a religious meeting and come away without having received a meaningful message.

First, it might be that the listener didn’t do his job well. Perhaps he was distracted by other thoughts, and he daydreamed away the time while the preacher was trying to make his points. If this is the case, then more effort needs to be made to listen carefully, and to follow along with the sermon. It sometimes helps to take notes, and it certainly is helpful to look up Scripture references in your own Bible. Concentration is the key—and this is up to each individual hearer. Try to emulate the noble Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of mind” (Acts 17:11).

More often than not, the problem of a person not understanding the message lies with the speaker. It is the task of every preacher to work hard, prepare, plan, practice, and perform his duty in such a way to make his lesson plain and understandable. Paul, though discussing the miraculous manifestation of tongue speaking, made a point that is applicable here. He asked: “If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8). If the preacher doesn’t make his points clearly, and if people leave the assembly with doubts as to what was said or meant, then he has failed in his work.

The Jews who were returning from the captivity provide a great example for all of us (Neh. 8:1-8). “Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding . . . and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law . . . (Ezra) read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”
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We all must do our part in the important process of teaching and learning the Word of God.

“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Responsibility means that the buck stops here or the cause lies with me. Every man must accept accountability for his own actions, and men must make sure that their actions don’t cause trouble for others. Last week a woman sleeping in her bed, was shot by a bullet coming in from the street, and several days later that woman died. Someone fired the fatal shot, and the action of this person brought grief to the family of the deceased. The shooter got up that morning the same as we all do. The shooter went though his day performing actions the same as we all do. But the firing of guns in the streets was an action which was not done in the best interest of fellow human beings. The shooter was not looking on the things of others, but was looking after his personal interest.

We must be careful with our actions, we need to ask ourselves, will my actions harm or help? Let us resolve to be the kind of person who does nothing to destroy another, and let us use our actions to help make other people better.
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Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

Being politically correct is something that people who stand for truth do not need. Standing for the truth will be hard at times because man has the tendency to lean toward things that are contrary to truth. Now all of us should want to be loved by our fellow citizens, but none of us should sacrifice truth to appease wrong-doing. And just in case we may have forgotten, our nation has Bibles and it claims to be the word of God. If a person believes that the Bible is the word of God, he must stand for what it teaches and not be swayed by the campaigns of men.

Political correctness is telling us to accept the doctrine of Islam, gay marriage, abortion rights, Hollywood influences, etc. And with the recent shooting at Fort Hood, we see an example of how political correctness can blind men’s eyes because this guy was raising all kinds of red flags and the military never caught on to him. Political correctness belongs in the trash can, and those following the Bible cannot accept it. As for the supporters of political correctness, they need to understand that some of us have reasons for rejecting what they are promoting (Numbers 22:18, 38).
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Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

The late Michael Jackson had a statement that he would say when fans spoke of their love toward him. Jackson would reply, “I love you more.” And if we think seriously about the power of that statement, we can see just how awesome it is. For men to return more love than they experience is what the writer in 1 John 4:7-12 had in mind.

For the scripture said, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”

Jesus also said, “this is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you, no greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”John 15:12-13.

So let us “love others more” (Matthew 5:46-48; John 3:16).

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.