March 2013 – Page 2 – Old Paths Journal

Daily Exercise for Christian Leaders

DAILY EXERCISE FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS
by: Lonnie Mattingly

When I exercise consistently I feel better, I think better and I seem to have a better frame of reference. When I fail to exercise regularly, I find myself becoming sluggish, lazy and and not focused.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

As you personally review your daily walk with God, use the check list below to help you stay on track. Occasionally evaluate your practice of each of the items and think of ways you can improve. Be aware of the fact that you will fall behind… Don’t let the Devil discourage you or defeat you. Get up and try again and again and again. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Your daily time with God will be a great source of renewal.

1. Daily bear your cross. Luke 9:23 says, “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

2. Daily reading of the word of God. Nehemiah 8:18 says, “Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.”

3. Daily prayer to the Lord. Psalm 86:3 says, “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.”

4. Daily praising of the Lord. Psalm 72:15 says, “And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.”

5. Daily exhortation of one another. Hebrews 3:13 says, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

When I teach, preach or write, I always try to put a handle on the thoughts so that folks can take something with them. I challenge you to meditate on each point above and make your personal applications as to how you can be more consistent. May the dear Lord Jesus Christ bless you in your daily exercise. May there be a measurable growth in your availability to God and your soul-winning outreach for Him.

Lonnie Mattingly
http://lonniemattingly.com

Kicking the Can Down the Road

KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD
by: Allen Domelle

By the time this article is published, the automatic budget cuts called the sequester will either have gone into affect or Congress and the President will have reached a late-night agreement. The dirty little secret about the sequester is not that they will be spending less money, but that they won’t be able to spend as much money as they wanted. In my opinion that wouldn’t be bad. Instead of laying people off, they should simply tell each department to cut spending in areas where it isn’t necessary, but that is not what this government is interested in.

However, there is another deadline looming that the news hasn’t even began to cover, and that is the continuing resolution that funds the government happens at the end of March. This is a far greater problem than the sequester because that is when the government completely runs out of money. In other words, they will have to shut the government down. You would think this would be a priority, but apparently it is not. As far we know there have been no talks yet about settling this budget crisis.

The handling of these problems has been a travesty. Instead of being solution oriented and settling the financial crisis by coming up with a budget that cuts spending and ends needless entitlements, the Congress and the President have chosen to continually kick the can down the road. The lack of leadership is atrocious. You can only kick the can down the road for so long until it finally comes back to bite you.

There is a great lesson we can all learn from the mishandling of these problems. The lesson is that you should be a solutions oriented person who handles your problems at hand instead of kicking the can down the road. James 4:15-16 says, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” God’s command is to take care of situations now because you don’t know what tomorrow holds. You can kick the can down the road, but you still have the problem and will have to deal with it eventually. Our government officials have foolishly kicked the can down the road, and one day they will have kicked the can one too many times. Leadership shouldn’t put off until tomorrow, but leadership should be solutions oriented and settle today’s problems today.

Let me take this thought into the personal realm. You can kick the can down the road with your marital problems, or you can become solution oriented and settle them today. Marital problems will not get better by ignoring them. In fact, they will only get worse if you kick them down the road. Whenever you have marital problems, decide to find the solution to your problems.

Moreover, pastors must be careful about continually kicking the can down the road. I have seen many pastors make the mistake of thinking a problem will go away. In my experience, the problem may go away for the present, but it will come back. The bad part is that when it comes back it will be bigger. A pastor should be a person who is solution oriented and find the solution to the problem instead of kicking the can down the road.

Furthermore, be careful that you don’t kick the can down the road with your finances. Friend, the best thing you can do is find the solution to your financial problems today. Putting off financial woes will not make them better. You are going to have to face your financial problems someday, so now is the best time to find the solution to your financial problems.

You always have a choice when problems come. You can either kick the can down the road, or you can become solution oriented and solve the problem. Yes, most of the time facing the problem is very uncomfortable and places much pressure on you, but in the end it is better to face your problems now than to face them when you are in dire straights. I challenge you not to be like our government officials who kick the can down the road, but to become a solutions oriented person who handles problems head on when they come. You will find this is the best way to keep your life from becoming continually stressful.

Allen Domelle is the editor of the Old Paths Journal which is more than just a Christian’s publication. It is an excellent place to learn how today’s headlines will forge tomorrow’s laws and statutes. Keep yourself in tune with what is happening around the world, as well as in your own backyard with our daily updates and devotionals.

A Burden Doesn’t Constitute a Call

A BURDEN DOESN’T CONSTITUTE A CALL
by: Allen Domelle

Several times in my life I have had the privilege of traveling to the foreign field to preach. In fact, just a few weeks ago I had the privilege of traveling to Mexico City to preach for Missionary Kevin Wynne. His work is an amazing work. I was with him for a Thursday evening service, and there were a few thousand people in attendance. That night there were over thirty people who accepted Christ as Saviour and followed Him in believer’s baptism. The next day I asked Bro. Wynne how many people are in the Mexico City area. He told me there were over 30 million people in the city. I asked him how many independent Baptist churches were in the city. He told me he only knew of 7 or 8 independent Baptist churches in the whole city (That was all that he knew about). It was not hard to get a burden for that city. With all the people in the city who need to be saved, and how responsive they were to the preaching of the Word of God, I could have easily come home and told people I felt called to Mexico, but just because I had a burden didn’t mean that God called me to that city.

One of the most misunderstood things in Christianity is the calling of God on a person’s life. Many times people get the calling of God mixed up with a burden. We have this idea that if a person has a burden for people, then they must be called to that area. That is the furthest thing from the truth, for a burden has nothing to do with the calling of God on one’s life. Look at the Scriptures and see how many times someone had a burden for doing what God called them to do.

When God called Moses, he didn’t have a burden for Israel. In fact, he was trying to get out of the call by using physical weaknesses. Jonah had no burden for Nineveh when God called him. Actually, Jonah ran from God’s calling before God grabbed his attention in the belly of the whale. When God called Gideon, he was afraid and thought He was talking to the wrong person. When God called Saul, he hid from the people because he had no burden to be king of Israel.

None of these men had a burden for what God called them to do. Instead, all of these men tried to talk God out of the call, but God had already called them and God does not go back on His calling. One of the things that disturbs me about this generation in which we live in is the way people back out of the calling of God on their lives. Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Once God calls a person, it doesn’t matter whether or not they have a burden, they are to obey God’s calling and go.

I have watched men jump in and out of evangelism, the pastorate and being a missionary, and the truth is I wonder if they were even called. There is no doubt in my mind what God has called me to do. When you are called of God, you don’t have a doubt about His calling. God’s calling is a very sure thing that is not based on the emotion of a burden, but on the fact of what God has called you to do. Many people say they are called to do something because they have a burden for something, but when the burden leaves, guess what, they leave. Why?Because hard times will cause a burden to leave; however, hard times will never change the call of God on your life. You must always realize that just because you have a burden to do something or to go somewhere does not mean God called you to do it. You should only do things because God has called you. Let me give you several thoughts about this subject.

1. The call of God is not based on a burden.

Nowhere in the Scriptures do you find that God called someone because of a burden. It’s not hard to get a burden where thousands of people are getting saved. Have you ever noticed that it is not hard to get a burden for a field where there are thousands of people. It’s not hard to get a burden for the Philippines, New York City, Chicago, Mexico, Africa, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Detroit or Philadelphia. When you go to these places you see people everywhere. If you can go to these cities or countries and do not get a burden, then something is very wrong with your Christianity.

On the other hand, why is it that you don’t get a burden for places where people don’t get saved in abundance, or where there is not many people to reach? Why is it that you don’t have a burden for North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, Sweden, France, Italy, Holland, Iraq, Iran, or some remote part of the United States? What we call a burden is not a burden, but it’s sympathy for the masses. Let me ask you, if God bases a call upon a burden, then does that mean that God doesn’t want to save the people in the harder areas where you don’t have a burden? Absolutely not! God wants people everywhere to be saved. We must not get the call of God confused with sympathy.

You must alway remember that God’s call comes first, then the burden will follow. A true burden only comes after you obey God’s call. For instance, Jesus had compassion on the multitudes after He obeyed the call and went. Again, Jesus had compassion on Lazarus’ family after He obeyed the call and went. Your burden for people should come because you spend time with them and not because of their physical plight. When you start working among the people, you will find that a true burden from God will be placed in your heart.

2. Hard times won’t change the call of God.

Hard times will come, and if you went because of a burden then you will leave when your burden leaves. Hard times will cause a burden to leave, but they will never change the call of God. On the other hand, if you went because of a call, then when hard times come and take away your burden, you will stay because your call does not change.

There have been so many hard times in my life. If I went into evangelism because of a burden, then I would have quit evangelism. Because I was called to be an evangelist, when the hard times came my call kept me in evangelism. When I faced my mother’s death, I stayed in evangelism. When I’ve faced battles from those who have tried to destroy me, I stayed in evangelism. When meetings cancel and I’m not sure from where the next love offering will come, I’ve stayed in evangelism. I’ve stayed in evangelism through these difficult times because I was called. The difficult times may have temporarily lessened my burden, but they didn’t lessen the call.

The call of God is the one thing that does not change even in hard times. When hard times come, you have one constant in your life and that is your call. If you follow the call of God on your life and not a burden, then you won’t have to worry about the call changing when the burden is gone.

3. If God calls you, then man cannot destroy you.

You must always remember that if man calls you, then man can destroy you. On the other hand, if God is the one Who set you up, all the gates of Hell will never take you down. Years ago a preacher vowed to destroy my ministry. He physically threatened me, and also told me that if it was the last thing he did he would destroy my ministry. Well, I’m still in the ministry because God is the One Who set me up in the ministry. Because I followed God’s call, man could not take me down.

Stop listening to man’s call and get on your knees and find out what God wants you to become. What you need to do more than anything else is find the mind of Christ for your life. Christian, when you find the call of God and follow it, it doesn’t matter what anyone else will try to do to you, God will keep you in your calling.

4. The call of God is never based on convenience.

Stop trying to figure out what would be convenient and do God’s will. You don’t go somewhere because it’s close to home, you go somewhere because it’s God’s will. If you go somewhere because of your family being near, then what are you going to do when God takes them to Heaven? Never base God’s call on convenience. Don’t go to a place because the conditions are easy, but go to a place because God called you. Don’t go and see if you are compatible for a place, but go to a place because God called you.

For most of my ministry I have lived thousands of miles away from family. The reason I have been able to keep on going is because I followed God’s call and not convenience. It hasn’t always been convenient to be away from my wife and daughter, but I’ve chosen to follow the call of God which has kept me going. If you base what you do for God on convenience, then you will soon find that it will be inconvenient to follow God’s call for your life. God never bases His will for your life on how convenient it is for you.

5. If God has called you, then do what God has called you to do and nothing else.

Stop waiting to do God’s calling till you’re older and more mature. Do it now! I’m tired of hearing young people say they will wait until they are older to do what God has called them to do. If God has called you to pastor, then go pastor a church. If God has called you to work a bus route for the rest of your life, then jump in and work a bus route. God knew when He called you what your age and shortcomings were, so go do what God wants you to do. If God has called you to pastor, then don’t be an assistant. Go pastor! If God has called you to be a missionary, then go be a missionary! If God has called you to be an evangelist, then go be an evangelist!

This world is dying for people who will do God’s will immediately. There are many people who have gone to Hell because someone waited until a later date. It’s about time you listen to God’s call and stop waiting for a burden. You will find that those who stay in the ministry did not go into the ministry because of a burden, but they went into the ministry because they were called. You will find that their burden was placed in their heart after they surrendered to God’s call. Let me challenge you today to start following God’s call on your life. Don’t wait for a burden to move you because the Devil will do His best to make sure you never have a burden for the area God called you. Learn to follow the call of God, so when the burden has temporarily left, you will continue doing what God has called you to do.