Priority

At Praise team practice last night one of our choruses led me into singing the following old hymn. It has been rolling through my spirit ever since. Praise God for the words of Rhea Miller and the music written by George Beverly Shea.

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.

Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway,
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.



Matthew 16:24-26 says: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

I recommend that you become overwhelmed often with the importance of Jesus Christ in your life.

Thanksgiving Basis

It is Thanksgiving week. We are seemingly on the downhill roller coaster to the end of the year. A year ago I wrote a blog entitled “Always Thankful”. Gratitude needs to be ongoing in our lives. If you are a person of faith in Jesus Christ, you have the following list of things to place as priority one on your list of things to remember. These are worth repeating every year especially at Thanksgiving time:

A Four Point Scriptural basis for your Thanksgiving Prayer

1. We have been forgiven of our sins
(Matthew 26:28)
“This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

2. We have right standing before God through His grace
2 Corinthians 5:21
“God made him who had no sin to be sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

3. We have been adopted as children of God.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but
you received the Spirit of Sonship.”
(Romans 8:15).

4. We are unconditionally loved by the Father, the Maker of heaven and earth
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8).

The Main Thing

I was visiting with a friend yesterday about key statements that define us. Statements that people have heard from us regularly or were able to see emulated by our lives. I asked the question, “What statement would I like to have people think of when they think of me?” If what I would like that statement to be and what that statement actually is, differs, then it is time to adjust one or the other. One of the ways people will come up with that life statement is by hearing it on a regular basis. For example, I have said hundreds of times that “We need to keep the main thing, the main thing”. I am honored when someone says that and prefaces it with, “As Pastor Al always says…”. It certainly is not original with me but I want it to happen in my life. I believe that if the church keeps the main thing the main thing, the Gospel will be reaching out to every corner of the world. Reaching people for Christ is at the heart of the will of God. We cannot afford to lose it as a priority. I pray that every relationship in my life would somehow be impacted with that priority goal. Yes, it is possible to keep the main thing the main thing even when we are building the float for the Harvest Fest parade tomorrow where we will enter the land of nursery rhymes and be in the company of Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Mary, with her little lamb and Mother Goose. By the way, Mary did have a little lamb and in a couple months we are going to celebrate His birth and note that He became the lamb that took away the sin of the world. Jesus is the main thing!!