Mother’s day should always be very special. After all, mothers have been around a long time. Eve, the first mother, was called the mother of all living. Mothers never go out of style; as long as there is life there will be mothers! Preachers, on Mother’s Day, you should make a fuss over them. The Bible does (Proverbs 31)! Set your regular sermon series aside and fuss over the mothers! You had one, too, you know.

In one church I pastored, Mother’s Day always brought the largest attendance of the year, even larger than Christmas and Easter. Children and grandchildren, even many who were spiritually wayward, would always honor their mother and grandmother on Mother’s Day by coming to church with them. It was a great opportunity to preach the Gospel and the importance of walking with Christ. That same church always provided carnations for everyone present, white ones if your mother was still living and red ones if they had passed away. It was always a very special day of the year and we always tried to make it that way.

It is still my conviction that mothers of all ages should be fussed over on Mother’s Day. Older mothers need to know that they are appreciated (Proverbs 23:22b) and younger mothers need to be encouraged (Proverbs 31:28-29). Husbands and fathers also need to be reminded that the “wives of their youth” are very special and must be treated as such (Proverbs 5:18). Reared in a non-Christian home, though a loving home, I did not have much exposure as to how mothers ought to be honored. After becoming a Christian, and especially a Christian husband, I learned much through observation on emphasis in the local church on wives and mothers, as well as through the many messages I had to prepare on such special occasions. Reaching back in time just a little bit, here is a story that I always enjoyed sharing about mothers:

A mother appears to be a normal human being. She has all the physical features that all people have – two eyes, two hands, two arms, two feet – all connected to one body. Now, that is what you see if you just look at the exterior of a mother. If you were ever a child, you will know that she has at least three sets of eyes – two in front, two in back, so that she can see all those things she must see but that are hidden from her, and one on each side of her head so she can protect the cookie jar, no matter where she stands in the kitchen. All are capable of seeing through wood and plaster so she can tell what is going on behind closed doors.

She has bionic ears. She can hear a dirty word whispered a block away. She can hear a complaint that is only thought when unpleasant tasks are assigned to her kids. With her many arms and hands she can prepare a meal, find a Dad’s shirt, change a diaper, run the vacuum and spank two kids, all at the same time! With strong, fast legs, she can move about the house like a speeding bullet. She patrols the streets, stops a fight in the backyard, catches a tennis ball before it is flushed down the toilet, prevents a child from falling out of a tree, and moves all the toys out of the driveway before Dad gets home – all at the same time.

Her endless supply of energy can only be a God-given attribute. She is first to rise in the morning, has breakfast ready for the “brood” as they get up, gets each children ready for school, is both a barber and a beautician, fashion consultant, chairman, budget director, purchasing agent, paramedic, mechanic, veterinarian, interpreter, travel agent, interior decorator, and is the last to bed at night. With a tender kiss, she can heal everything from a cut finger to a broken heart. With her kiss, she can convince a balding fifty-year old man that he is just as handsome as he ever was! Her ability to love is exceeded only by God’s love itself. Her love grows with her children and it is impossible to tell the success or failure of her children by her love.

There are no depths to which a child can fall that will diminish here love and no heights of success a child can achieve that will increase it. Her love is protective, tender, consistent, understand, forgiving, unchanging, unselfish, giving, contagious, comfortable, everlasting. The nearest thing we can see in this world to God’s love is a mother’s love.

Mother’s Day is a special opportunity to give tribute where tribute is due, even as Jesus, while on the cross, was sure to care for His mother by committing her into the care of the Apostle John. Our dear mothers need to be encouraged that their labor is not in vain, even as Abraham Lincoln said, “No man is poor who has had a godly mother.” Someone else said, “You never get over being a child, as long as you have a mother to go to.” If you still have a living mother, again smother her with love. If your mother is gone, I am sure that you think of her often. I know my sweet wife, Ann, and I sure do. Don’t forget our mothers!

“…for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, to be content.” Philippians 4:11

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” Psalm 119:71

“Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths….teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:4-5

I am writing to leaders. I don’t know about you but I never sought or chose to be a leader. It was not on my “bucket list” of things to do as a child, as a youth, or even when I began ministry. I would say that I was chosen by default. In checking the word “default” in my handy dictionary, one of the meanings listed states: “a selection automatically used by a computer program in the absence of a choice made by the user.” It might sound facetious, but from my perspective, I was absent in the “choice decision” made by God in calling me to be a leader (Ephesians 3:7). I think Moses was also. He definitely came sputtering and dragging his feet into the position that God had for him in leading Israel.

A confession: leading has never been easy for me. I have made so many mistakes in attempting to be what God wants me to be. Maybe you are what some call a “natural leader.” I have said that of some great men of God I have known over the years, although I don’t know if they would say that of themselves. What I have observed is that the class room of life is a learning lab for leading. Several years ago I received a letter from a program committee chairman of a national fellowship of churches asking if I might teach a workshop on failure “because of my experience in that area.” I kid you not, those where the exact words. Within a fellowship of some fifteen hundred plus pastors, I was the one chosen to teach a workshop on failure. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I think that you would agree that most of what we have learned through life has come through affliction. Affliction takes on many forms; it has many faces. “Affliction” in both the Hebrew and Greek speaks of hardships, tribulations, sickness, poverty, distress, pressure and often oppression. I once had a little plaque over my office door which read, “Wit’s End!” My text was Psalm 107:27, “They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.” One thing for sure in our lives, and the lives of all leaders listed in Scripture, affliction makes us more acquainted with God and with His Word.

I so admire the Apostle Paul. Other than Job, where might such a man of affliction be found? A second century writer described him as “a man little of stature, partly bald, with crooked legs, of vigorous physique, with eyes set close together and nose somewhat hooked.” But it wasn’t his stature and all the physical calamities he went through for the cause of Christ that attracts me to him, it was his attitude towards life in the class room of learning. Paul was a great leader made by God because he had learned to be content in whatsoever state (physical illness, heartaches, distresses and disappointments) he had to endure. How sad when we come out of affliction the same as when we entered. Affliction may attack the body, but it is attitude that affects the soul. Paul’s attitude towards the hard times of life teaches us that how we respond tells much about our theology. God does not call us to things we are equal to, but often that which only through His strength and wisdom we can accomplish and then use in leadership roles that He entrusts to us. There is no question that ministry is leading by example.

Leading is an awesome responsibility. The class room of life is a learning lab for leading. As we continue to learn we will be better equipped to lead. When we lead, or counsel, or attempt to encourage, it is from what we have learned in the class room of life. We have all lost ground spiritually at one time or another due to affliction in our lives. But that ground is re-gained when through affliction we have learned more of God and His Word (Psalm 119:71).

As leaders chosen of God to lead, may we continue to wait upon Him all the day (Psalm 25:4-5). J. Oswald Sanders in his valuable book, “Spiritual Leadership,” lists some lessons he had discovered in life’s learning lab for leading. I close by sharing them with you and ask that we pray for each other so that we may lead well for His honor and His glory.

• Treasure people who will pray for you every day.
• Keep up your spiritual reading and trust the sovereignty of God in your life.
• Be an early riser and a time miser. Use little gaps to best advantage.
• Be willing to step out and do something for which you feel inadequate.
• Never lose the desire to grow. On retirement, the Lord has something better.
• Watch your attitude to failure.
• Accept the disciplines of God. Suffering tempers us all.
• Don’t let finance play a big part in your decisions.
• Minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. The secret of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is a yielded life.

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” I Corinthians 15:3-4

For several years I pastored in the Detroit area where within one mile of each other there were three Baptist Churches. On I-75 south at the 10 mile exit was Calvary Baptist Church; at 9½ mile was First Baptist Church; and at the 9 mile exit was Tabernacle Baptist Church. The Calvary Baptist Church for 35 years was pastored by Dr. David Allen, noted pastor and Bible conference speaker; the First Baptist Church was pastored for 30 years by Rev. Bill Bach; and I was the new kid on the block, just having come to the Tabernacle as a rather young pastor. When we would get together they would call me the “Rookie Rector!”

Each of the churches would have summer daily vacation Bible schools and many children of the community would go to all of them, including mine. Calvary Baptist Church had an active bus ministry so they would reach out into surrounding communities to pick children up. At the very front of their auditorium was a large sign that read, “Christ Died for our Sins!” On one particular day, sitting in front of our children, were some kids, who upon arriving and seeing the sign, shouted, “We been here before – Christ died for our sins!” Our family still chuckles about that when we reminisce the past. [Read more…]

”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.”Ephesians 1:3

I am convinced that the Devil delights in detouring the Lord’s servants from spending more time reflecting upon the manifold blessings of God. Someone once said that, ”The Lord Jesus spreads a large table every day!” There have been some days in ministry that I didn’t even see the table let alone the blessings! Oh, my friend, we have been so blessed! Even through the treacherous times of turbulent turmoil ‑ among family, friends and flock ‑ we are so blessed. And how do we know? Well, the answer is found in that simple chorus that we teach our little children, ”Because the Bible tells me so!”Ephesians 1:3 is just one verification. More often than not, the physical facets of life have clouded the spiritual heritage that I have in the Lord. They have caused me, all too many times, to withdraw and reflect more upon what is happening in the present than pondering upon all that I have in Christ. [Read more…]

Luke Chapter 24

Every word of God is inspired.  Every sentence of God’s Word is inspired.  Every paragraph of God’s Word is inspired. And every chapter of God’s Word is inspired.  I have always enjoyed the study of the great chapters of the Bible: Hebrews 11 – Followers of Faith; Psalm 23 – the Shepherd’s Psalm; Deuteronomy 33 – Happiness through Obedience; I Corinthians 13 – Love; Luke 15 – Lost and Found Department; I Corinthians 15 – the Resurrection;  I Thessalonians 1 – the Model Church; and the list goes on.  But the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, has become one of my favorites.  Here we have the Easter Chapter of the Bible. For your personal reading and study, I am sharing a simple outline with key verses following the resurrection of our Lord.
[Read more…]