Manuscript Monday, Tuesday Edition–“Give Me a Reason”

Since yesterday was Memorial Day, I decided to forego MM in favor of something a little more appropriate for the day. But today, we are back on track.

Today’s manuscript deals with doubt. Or more correctly, I wrote the lesson to help others gain a little insight into how they can deal with their doubts.

We all have doubts about different things at different times. The doubts themselves aren’t wrong (initially), as we all wonder about certain things from time to time. But if not dealt with correctly, doubt will lead to sin (cf. Hebrews 11:6). Thomas the prime example of a doubter. But Jesus dealt with Thomas’s doubt, and we learn that he helps us deal  with ours as well.

Hope you find it helpful!

~Daniel Howell

“Give Me a Reason” (PDF)

A Soldier

I’ll be honest: I probably only spent a total of one hour with the man. But that was long enough to make a lifelong impression. He was a part of the “greatest generation,” and when you look at the lives of men like him, you have to wonder how it could have gotten any greater.

I was blessed to know Jack Gattis, Sr. for just a few short weeks after moving to Hardin, KY. The first time I met him was in the hospital, right after he had surgery on his foot due to circulation problems. He was the father of one of our members, so I felt compelled to visit him. When I walked into the room I couldn’t tell that anything was wrong with the man. I’ve seen perfectly healthy people live daily in worse spirits than this man was in after having had a rather significant operation.

Unfortunately, he would continue to have problems with his leg and foot, and would pass away in early May 2011.

I’d never been part of a funeral with full military honors. Certainly such a memorial was fitting for this man. But there was something that struck me about what the chaplain said whenever it was time for the army to do its part of the graveside service.

After having placed a bayonet equipped rifle barrel down into the ground, and topping it off with dog tags and helmet, creating the Battlefield Cross, he explained the significance of the symbol. He said that anywhere you found such a display on a battlefield, it marked the place where a warrior had fallen. While Bro. Gattis hadn’t fallen in combat, he was willing to give his life for his country, and thus, they honored him in that way now.

Indeed, he was a fallen warrior, but maybe not just in the way you would think.

I had been paying close attention to the way the family remembered him over the course of that day. During the service itself, he was described as being a man who lived his life for God. In essence, he had given his life for the cause of Christ. He had died a warrior on the spiritual battlefield.

One of the pall bearers later told me a story which, I think, sums it up. He asked me, “Do you remember FDR, and how he didn’t want anyone to know that he was sick?” I acknowledged to the affirmative. He said, “That’s just how Mr. Jack was. He would drag his leg behind him, all the way into church, but try to hide it so you didn’t think anything was wrong with him.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve known people to complain and stay home for far less than that. He was a fighter.

Indeed, his life was about more than just “going to church,” and I’m sure that I could spend countless paragraphs describing this great man to you. But here’s the point I’m trying to make: I have a feeling that while he would be greatly honored by the display of the military in appreciation of his service to his country, he would probably count the recognition of his service to God as a higher honor.

He would want you to serve God and feel the same way.

As you remember those who paid the ultimate price on Memorial Day, thank the Lord for men like Jack Gattis, who served his country, and above all, his Lord.

“¹⁰ Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹ Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. ¹³ For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, ¹⁶ and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. ” (Ephesians 6:10–18, NET)

~Daniel Howell

I Never Saw Them Run That Fast

The following is my devotional from last night (5/25/11).

While I don’t think anyone would think of Memorial Day as being a particularly exciting kind of holiday, I can remember one from my childhood that certainly was. The reason I can remember it is because it was the day where I saw my parents run the fastest that I had ever seen them run, and likely the fastest they’ve ever run since.

We had wanted to do something special on this particular day, and one of the few attractions open in our area was Casey Jones Village, in Jackson, TN. They had a “putt-putt” golf course that we had every intention of playing on. The problem was that the weather was supposed to get pretty bad sometime later in the afternoon. Well, we ignored that.

We made the trip to Jackson (about a half hour drive) and pulled into the parking lot for the golf course. After paying the fees, and picking up our putters and golf balls, we set out onto the course. The first few holes were uneventful. Then terror struck.

A gigantic blast of wind blew across the course and torrential downpour of rain started all at once. We looked up, and we were shocked to see a tornado just right across the road! My parents grabbed my sister and me, and we took off across the golf course, seeking shelter. I had never realized that my parents were quite as quick on their feet as they were! In the blur, I remember looking across the course and seeing another family with children doing the same thing. I clearly remember being terrified.

After a few seconds, though, the wind died down, and the tornado went away. Or at least that’s what we thought it was. You see, across the interstate from where we were located, there was an area where heavy construction was taking place. They were building a huge shopping center, and because of that, had graded all of the grass off of a big field. Evidently, the wind blew in just the right way so as to pick up a lot of that dust and shape it to where it looked just like a tornado. It was a sigh of relief to realize what had happened, but it still took a few moments for the shaking to stop.

Never had I felt so exposed, and in danger. Even though what at first seemed threatening turned out to be nothing, I still couldn’t shake the feelings of “what if.” What if it had been real? What would we have done? We had no real shelter.

Sadly, that’s the same progression of feelings that people often have spiritually when it comes to problems they face, those spiritual storms, if you will. They ignore the clear warning signs around them that danger is on the horizon, and to seek shelter. In other words, they think they can make it on their own without God.

Maybe its temptation. Maybe it’s relationship problems. Whatever it may be, they ignore the problems, and thus, ignore the solution. Then the storm strikes and they wonder where it came from. How could it be so bad? Since they didn’t prepare to find shelter in the first place, they run around aimlessly, terrified, often seeking help in all the wrong places. They become spiritually confused, and sadly, fall.

But God wants us to know that He is the shelter for the storms of life. He provides that shelter at all times. When life gets hard, he wants us to come to him (cf. 1 Peter 5:6-7). It makes a huge difference to find Him before you even think you need Him, instead of waiting until it’s too late.

We know that God always takes care of His people. We find an interesting passage in Isaiah which is written to this effect. In Chapter 25, we see what is a song of praise. It’s a song of praise about deliverance. What’s strange about it is that it is written before the events song is praising ever even happen.

“¹ O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth…⁴ For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall ” (Isaiah 25:1, 4, NKJV)

Oh what a wonderful thing to be so sure of God’s deliverance that Isaiah could sing a song of praise about it before it even happened. Just as God eventually delivered them, He promises to see us through whatever we may face in this life, storms and all (1 Corinthians 10:13), and to give us a way to safety.

Do you have that same surety of God’s deliverance? How fast can you run to Him?

“¹⁸ That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. ¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, ²⁰ where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. ” (Hebrews 6:18–20, NKJV)

~Daniel Howell

Manuscript Monday?–“Looking Outside Yourself”

I think I want to try something new this week. Well, actually, I know I do want to try something new this week.

When I look at my schedule, I realize that I do a LOT of writing. Or at least, when I’m on my normal schedule, I do a significant amount of writing. Between sermons, Bible classes, blog posts, bulletin articles, podcast scripts, and a handful of other odds and ends, I spend quite a bit of time at my keyboard.

This week, I want to take one of those projects, my Sunday morning sermon, and share it with you.

Now, I don’t normally write manuscripts for my sermons. I only take an outline with me into the pulpit, and I even try not to look at that. For a change, though, I decided to write a manuscript for this Sunday’s AM sermon for a couple reasons:

1. Writing complete sentences always forces me to fully develop my thoughts. It keeps me honest, and helps the development of the point I’m trying to make.


2. I’m planning on adding some book writing to the pile of writing that I already do. I think this can be some good practice.

I hope that you can benefit from this manuscript. I know it’s a little on the long side (6.5 pages of paragraphs), but it shouldn’t take too long to read. For preachers, I added an outline to the end of the manuscript to help you out if you’d like to use it. Yes, feel free to use it (that is, if you find it useful).

Also, I’d love to know what you think about this idea. Leave your thoughts in the comments section of this blog (please put them here instead of Facebook).

Hope it blesses you in some way!

~Daniel Howell

“Looking Outside Myself” (PDF)

Right Answer; Wrong Reasoning

When I was in high school, I had a friend who was really good at math. He prided himself in being able to solve problems “in his head.” I’ll admit, I’m not sure how he did it, but most of the time, he was right.

The problem was our math teacher, Rutha Williams. Well, not her as a person, but that she was not thrilled with my friend’s abilities.

I can remember the two of them getting into a heated argument one day in class. You see, he solved a problem without “showing his work,” and she had taken her fill of this particular practice.

“That’s not the way you are supposed to do it,” she insisted.

“But I got the right answer,” he replied.

Well, yes he got the right answer. But she was right. What she knew (in her decades of teaching wisdom) is that while he would get the right answer through his method most of the time, he was not a savant. His reasoning wouldn’t hold up to solving every problem.

Do you have a reasoning problem? Do you walk around using inadequate or even faulty reasons to defend your faith? Are you doing what’s right, but for the wrong reasons?

Just as he argued, “but I got the right answer,” you might substitute it with, “but I’m doing what’s right!” You try to comfort yourself through the idea that you are doing right, even if you don’t know why. This is not enough.

The problem is that you may do what’s right most of the time, even with very basic or even faulty reasoning. But there will be a time when faulty reasoning will let you down. That day comes when you have to defend your beliefs against the faulty logic of others. Feeble logic can tie your hands together and leave you unable to defend against what may be obvious false doctrine!

Why can’t we use musical instruments on Wednesday nights? Can a couple partake of communion during their wedding? Do I only have to be here on Sunday morning?

If you base your beliefs about worship on faulty reasoning, you’re not going to be able to answer the hard questions properly. You will be left with no apologia. That’s the word translated as “defense” or “answer” in 1 Peter 3:15. It means being able to give a formal justification. It’s giving the real reason. It’s the same word Paul used in Acts 22:1 when he began to defend himself in front of a mob of Jews. Obviously, not just any answer was going to do in that case, and when we are faced with hard questions about our faith, not just any reason will suffice.

Tradition, intuition, and philosophy will all at some point fail us in finding the right answers to difficult questions about religion. But we can be assured that if we use the right reasons, we’ll always get the right answers! “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NET)

~Daniel Howell

Women’s Wednesday–“A Little Chocolate Milk?”

“Chocolate milk has long been seen as the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down…”¹

As a child, I remember walking through lunch lines and eyeing the drink selection. Chocolate milk cost 25 cents extra in elementary school, so I’d have to choose between orange juice and regular milk if I was out of pocket change. Orange juice won hands down. I despised white milk. GROSS! But, there were days when OJ wasn’t available and the only choice I had was plain white milk. I’d put it on my plate, but not drink it. I’d rather go thirsty rather than drink that stuff…

Apparently, I wasn’t alone. Some kids just don’t like milk in its plain form and the only way they consume it is if it’s flavored with chocolate or strawberry. In fact, when some school districts banned flavored milk, milk consumption dropped by 35%!¹ So, it seems like a no-brainer to keep flavored milks in school, right? After all, who cares if we have to add sugar to get our kids to drink milk? At least they’re drinking it, right? WRONG.

Did you know that 8 ounces of strawberry milk has a total of 27 grams of sugar, the same as a Coke?¹ This means that while giving our kids the calcium and nutrients that they need, we’re also giving them what they don’t need – extra sugar. A little bit of bad with the good.

I’ve heard it said this way. Imagine you received a pan of yummy looking brownies from a neighbor. You ask what’s in the brownies and she replies with the following: “Eggs, Cocoa, Flour, Milk and a just a tiny tiny drop of dog poop.” Well, the other ingredients might be wonderful, but doesn’t that little extra “surprise” negate the goodness of everything else? Of course it does!

A little bad with the good, makes the good … BAD! For example:

- In Worship: Sneaking in little “extras” that God did not ask for taints the whole worship. Even one little “bad thing” (note: many are not inherently bad, just not what God deemed acceptable for our worship of Him) can cause our entire worship to be in vain, pleasing US instead of pleasing Him. Please make sure that when you enter into worship of Him, you are examining everything that you are doing and that is being done. For more information on what is acceptable and unacceptable check out your Bible – God’s inspired Word (for a starting place of study, visit http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/290-the-divine-pattern-of-acceptable-worship-part-2)

- In Our Entertainment Choices: Do you accept just a few inappropriate scenes in an otherwise “good movie”? How many times have I heard the following statement: “The language is rough, but it’s a great movie”? Does that mean because there’s just a little bad, that it’s okay?

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things (Philippians 4:8)

Notice that the inspired Paul did NOT write, “Meditate on these things most of the time, but if you have to let a few curse words in or view a few sex scenes, that’s okay, it’s just part of life.”

- In Our Social Activities: “Well, most of what goes on at Prom is okay… There are only a few kids that are ‘bumping and grinding’ on the dance floor; and only a handful of girls are wearing low-cut and backless dresses; and only 2 or 3 show up drunk.” Are you consciously choosing to be at an event/location where the works of the flesh are, even if they’re just “a little bit” present? (Galatians 5:19-21) Whether it is prom, the beach, a club, or even a friend’s house – remember that a little bit of bad taints the whole lot.

Think on this as it pertains to your spiritual life: Do you want to consume the strawberry milk (a whole lot of good with just a tiny bit of bad to make it more palatable) or the plain white milk (pure and good)?

¹ 2011, May 09. “Schools may ban chocolate milk over added sugar.” http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us_food_and_farm_chocolate_milk. Accessed May 11, 2011.

I Think I’m Pretty Smart

(Today’s post was written with teens in mind… pass it along!)

I think I’m a pretty smart guy.

Now, I don’t mean that in a haughty sort of way. I know as you read the first line of this post, you probably think I’m being a bit proud. But then again, don’t you think you’re pretty smart, too?

As a matter of fact, I bet you think you are smart enough to make the best decisions in your life. You know what’s right. You know what’s wrong. You know the limits, right?

I bet you’re even smart enough to know just how far you can push the limits. You know just how close you can get to that line (i.e., sin) without actually crossing over. You know how to live life to the fullest.

You’re probably smarter than I am.

You know how to avoid the “big” stuff. You know not to cuss. You don’t drink (oh what self control you have to have to go to those parties where your friends are, and resist the pressure). You are NOT about to have pre-marital sex (you know how to “stop” things if it’s just you and him/her). Ladies, you know exactly how short your skirt can be, how much skin you can get away with revealing, while still seeming sexy. After all, you wore the most “modest” prom dress to this year’s prom. Guys, you know exactly how long you can look at that skin without seeming like you are an animal. You resist, right?

You’re so smart, you can ride real close to that line.

You still live life. You’re too smart to be fooled into sin.

That’s smart, right?

Please make note of my sarcasm, but then again, you’re smart enough to catch it, right!

I’m sure you’re also smart enough to understand the following:

“Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, NET)

I’m also sure that you are smart enough to not be fooled, and to figure out the principle of these verses, too:

“Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (Galatians 6:7–8, NET)

Now I know that you are smart, but I have this feeling (well, actually, I’m sure, see 1 Corinthians 1:20) that neither you nor I are smarter than God. When you continue to sow to the flesh, meaning, do things that gratify your physical wants, while thinking that since you know where “the line”is, you’re okay, someday you will reap the consequences.

Now you may not seem to be directly “sinning”, but you can’t live with a mindset of “let me see how close” or “let me be a little like my ‘friends’” and please Jesus. You can’t mix a little darkness in with light. It’s a physical and spiritual impossibility (2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesian 5:8). Take a flashlight into a dark room, and you’ll know what I mean.

You might think you are smart enough to “ride the line,” but that’s not following Christ. God wants you to “flee” (2 Timothy 2:22), in other words, run away. Stay away from it (1 Thessalonians 5:22)! You see, dabbling around close to the line, i.e., sin, is like playing close to a cliff. Some day you WILL fall over the edge. That’s the meaning behind the whole idea of reaping corruption (Galatians 6:8).

You can’t fall off a cliff when you are nowhere near the edge.

I don’t think you want to try to make God a fool, either.

But when you live your life, trying to be just like all of your “friends,” compromising your Christianity for fun’s sake, and thinking you are “winning,” you are trying to make God seem foolish.

You’re telling God, “You’re wrong, I can __________ and not sin.”

I’d like to think you are smart enough not to do that.

“ Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ” (1 Corinthians 3:18–20, NET)

~Daniel Howell

You Have to Want It

[I apologize for no posts in the past couple days. The following is of a personal nature, and I sincerely hope you can find some value and insight in it. – D.H.]

I want to be a dad.

I often sit and dream about what my daughter is going to be like. As I’m driving down the road, I sometimes imagine what conversations we might have, and what we might do during daddy/daughter time. I want to be a dad.

Why?

Why, when I know what kind of world she’s coming into? Why, when I think about the difficulties that lie ahead of her mother and me, and even her? Why, when I know that some day she’s going to belong to someone else?

Why? Here’s why:

1. Children are a blessing. I admit, this is probably a semi-selfish reason, but nonetheless, Biblically backed. In Psalm 127, the idea is of letting the Lord build the house. Well, how does he build it? Children are one way. Children are pictured as a gift or inheritance (vs. 3), a reward (vs. 3b), also [practically] as security in old age (vs. 4). “How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (vs. 5, NET)


2. I want to see God’s Kingdom continue. I won’t always be on this earth, but my children (and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) can continue my influence, just as I continue my father’s Christian influence on me. Now this is not to say that I’m going to be solely responsible for populating the Lord’s Church in the future, and that if I don’t it has a danger of disappearing (see 2 Peter 1:11, underline “everlasting”). Rather, I’m excited about the ways that my bringing up this child (and children) in “the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) can have a positive, lasting effect in God’s Church in the future. Actually, it’s quite humbling if you think of it that way, and the responsibility that fathers have becomes even more obvious.


3. I want to start a procession of souls toward Heaven. Not just of my own children, but of their spouses, children, friends, children’s friends, spouses, children (see Deuteronomy 11:18-21 as well as 2 Timothy 1:5)… I think you get the point.

Why would I not be excited? It’s just something you have to want.

~Daniel Howell