August 2013 – Page 5 – Old Paths Journal

Self-Destructive Progress

Why Churches Are Losing Ground
by: Allen Domelle

A preacher asked me, “Bro. Domelle, how do you see the independent, fundamental Baptist movement?” He asked, “Are we losing ground in America?” My immediate response to this question is always that we are doing fine. I told him there are many young preachers who are not yet recognized, who are doing a great work in their area.

Just a few days later, I had a preacher call me about an issue where a pastor justified compromise by saying that each generation has their own morality standard. This pastor said, what was wrong in the past may not be wrong today, for each generation has to define morality for themselves.

Immediately, Judges 17:6 came to mind as it says, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” That was exactly what this preacher was doing. He was doing what was right in his own eyes. Another thought I had was that truth is not defined by a person, but by the source of truth, Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus Christ is truth, and truth is unchangeable according to Hebrews 13:8 when it says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” If Jesus never changes, then certainly truth never changes.

The very next day after that conversation, I had another person call me for advice on how to handle supporting ministries that wouldn’t adhere to the holiness standards of the Scriptures. This person told me that they were dealing with people who just didn’t want to make holiness an issue. They determined that the end justified the means.

To top that week off, I had breakfast with a preacher friend of mine who had been contacted by some men who wanted him to join their group. They called themselves, The Ecumentalist Fundamental Group. He told me of the men who were involved in this group, and two of the three men I knew fairly well. When I got back to my room, I went to their church websites to see what these men were like. The first man I looked at has a father who has pastored a well-respected independent, fundamental Baptist church in the Midwest. I watched this man start his services out with contemporary “Christian” music, that sounded more like a wannabe Country and Western group than a Christian group. With their drums in the background, and their music on the screen, they stood up and sang their sensual music. Each member of the group was dressed down, and the lady in the group had clothing so tight that it left nothing for the imagination.

I then went to the second pastor whom I’ve casually known for years. I went to his website, and the first picture I saw was this pastor dressed more like a Country and Western singer than a preacher. To be honest with you, Joel Osteen and Rick Warren dress with more class than this preacher. With his emergent church style philosophy well portrayed, I watched a portion of his service that was modeled more after Rick Warren than it was of Jack Hyles or Lee Roberson.

Finally, I went to the third pastor’s website. At first, I was pleasantly surprised that this pastor seemingly was trying to look like an independent Baptist. He was not dressed down in his appearance. Every portrayal of the church on the website seemed to be what you would want. Then, I clicked on the associations tab of his website and noticed that he was affiliated with the Southern Baptists.

Within a few days time, all of this came across my plate. I then recalled the question the pastor asked me, “Bro. Domelle, how do you see the independent, fundamental Baptist movement?” To be honest with you, I try to be an eternal optimist, but I don’t allow my optimism to negate reality. The reality is that the independent, fundamental Baptists are losing ground. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s all over. I still believe there is hope as I travel across this country, but to deny that we are losing ground is to bury my head in the sand. Whenever you bury your head in the sand, you are going to get kicked where you don’t want to be kicked. We are losing ground because we have adapted to a self-destructive philosophy of progress. Let me show you why independent Baptists are self-destructing and are regressing instead of progressing.

1. We are focusing on spreadsheets instead of people.

One of the biggest problems with pastors today is they are studying the growth patterns of their church instead of getting out and doing what God commanded them to do. I have more preachers ask me how to grow their church than I do any other question. God did not send us to grow churches, God sent us to reach the lost. According to 1 Corinthians 3:6, God is in charge of the increase when it says, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

Our job is described in Matthew 28:19-20 when it says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” I’m not saying that a pastor shouldn’t keep track of the growth, but we have focused so much on the spreadsheets that we have neglected to win souls and disciple Christians. If we will do our part by winning souls and discipling Christians, then God will take care of the spreadsheets.

2. We have lowered the standard of expectation for young people.

Another reason we are losing ground is because we have lowered our standard of expectations for the youth. It used to be years ago that most preachers had no problem with telling the youth that they wanted the young men to be preachers and the young ladies to be a preacher’s wife. With that philosophy, we had young people leaving home for Bible college to become full-time servants of God. They graduated and went out and started independent Baptist churches worldwide. That is why many of the largest churches in the 70’s and 80’s were independent Baptist churches. We had no problems filling pulpits or full-time positions in churches, because there was a plethora of young people given a higher standard to shoot for with their lives, and they rose to the occasion.

Today, we have preachers who have lowered the standard of their expectations for youth. They now say that you must be “called” to be a preacher or to serve God full-time. Of course, if you ask these same preachers how you will know if you are called of God, they simply say, “You’ll just know.” If you’re going to tell people you need to be called, then you better define it.

How about let’s go to the Scriptures and define the calling of God. Romans 12:1 defines the call of God when it says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Friend, God accepts volunteers as a calling. When a person volunteers to serve God full-time, then that is their calling. If the independent, fundamental Baptists are going to progress, the we had better stop lowering the standard of expectations for our youth.

3. We are producing results with no fruit.

We have focused so much on numbers that we have produced no fruit. The reason we have no fruit is because you must have disciples to produce fruit. If you are going to disciple people, then you are going to have to push holiness and separation from the world. God says in 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” You will never have fruit until you separate from the world. The disciples of Christ had to separate themselves from the world to be His disciple. Just because you have numbers does not mean you are successful. We had better stop focusing so much on having weekly numerical results, and we better start focusing on producing fruit that remains.

4. We have focused on inclusion.

Another reason we are losing ground is because we have tried to be so inclusive with man that we have pushed God right out. I’m not saying that we have to be jerks to be a Christian, but I am saying that we must contend for the faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 says, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” We have so desperately tried to include everyone that we have watered down who we are. God commands us to withdraw ourselves from those who do not follow the tradition of the Scriptures. We are more concerned with “unity among the brethren,” than we are with the truth of the Scriptures. When truth is not our focus, then we will try to build our Tower of Babels to show we have the power of God upon us. Just because you can include everyone does not mean you have God’s power. We must only allow inclusion when they come the way of the Scriptures. If they don’t want to follow God’s methods, then we should separate from them.

5. We are studying the wrong standard.

I’m afraid one of the biggest reasons we are losing ground is because we have studied church growth guru’s who have never built an independent Baptist Church. It amazes me how many preachers study the church growth methods of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen. They have thrown out the standard of the old-time independent, fundamental Baptist like, J. Frank Norris, Jack Hyles, Lee Roberson and Tom Malone. Jeremiah 5:5 says, “I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord,…” Instead of studying men who build evangelical, emergent churches, you need to get yourself unto the great men who built independent Baptist churches without compromise.

6. We are sabotaging our own cause.

Finally, we are sabotaging our own cause by criticizing and fighting. Let me remind you of Jude 1:3 that says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” If you are going to stand for truth, then you are going to have to fight. We have a generation of preachers who intentionally avoid fighting because they can’t stomach it and they are tired of it.

I’m not saying that we should look for a battle, but we shouldn’t run from the battle. You shouldn’t be afraid to fight for truth when you see it’s under attack. Don’t try to say the battle is over semantics when you know it’s not. Semantics is a word compromisers use to avoid battles.

On the other hand, we are sabotaging our own cause because we are criticizing the proven entities. Don’t fight the “Generals” of the cause. You may not like how they do it, but they are fighting the battle for the next generation. You should not use your criticism to tear down, but you should use criticism to build up. Don’t joy in the discovery of a leader’s weakness. Instead of getting into the internet forums to find the “dirt” on every preacher, you should be on the streets winning the lost to Christ. Don’t destroy those who are fighting for your cause just because you can’t stomach the fight. Instead of destroying them, you need to get tougher skin and learn to contend for the faith yourself.

Let’s be careful about participating in these self-destructive ways. Let’s not lose ground, but let’s gain ground for the next generation. There is a generation that follows us, and it is our responsibility to hand the independent Baptist movement to them in as good or better condition than when it was handed to us.

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.

Save the Best for Last

John 2:10
“And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

When I ran track in high school, one of the things we learned in the longer events was to save some energy for the last lap. We were warned that if you use up all your energy in the beginning of the race that you wouldn’t have anything left for the home stretch. If you watch track, you will always see that the runners will save their best for the last stretch.

One of the characteristics of Jesus is that He always saves the best for last. Everything always gets better the longer you are with Jesus. In the verse above, He was at a wedding where they ran out of something to drink. This had to be embarrassing for the parents. Either they didn’t plan well enough, or more people showed up than what they expected. Mary, the mother of Jesus, told the people that whatever Jesus told them to do that they should do it. When they approached Jesus about this problem, He told them to fill the water pots with water and then serve it to the people. As they served the water, it became wine (a fruit juice). When the people tasted the wine, they were amazed that the ruler of the feast saved the best wine for last.

One of the things you can learn from this miracle is that you should always save the best for last. This is one of the differences between Satan and God. Satan gives you his best at first, and it gets worse the longer you’re with him; whereas, the longer you are with Jesus, the better it gets. God always saves the best for last. Salvation is good, but spending an eternity in Heaven is better. When you read God’s Word, you find that His Word gets better the longer you read It. God wants His children to learn to save the best for last. Let me give you a couple of thoughts that will help you in this area of your life.

First, saving the best keeps people wanting what you have. If you use up your best at the first, then you lose your marketing ability. One of the keys to people wanting you around is that they know they will always get something better the longer they are with you. You would be wise to not give everything at one time.

Second, improve yourself so you always have something better to give. In other words, don’t ever stop learning. The day you stop learning is the day you stop becoming useful to others. No matter what your position may be, you need to constantly work at learning more so you can improve what you can give to people.

Third, don’t despair when others initially do better. There are many people in life who are sprinters, and they have something good at the beginning, but they have not saved their best for last. If you are consistently better with what you give out, you will find that people will come back. I have learned as an evangelist not to be too concerned with the new evangelist on the block. If I keep working at improving what I can give, then they will continue to have me back. Likewise, you must not let the temporary loss discourage you. You will find that there will always be a new kid on the block, but they will eventually wear out their newness, and if you keep putting out good, then you will win back those who are looking for better.

Simply put, don’t be a person who always gives out your best at first. Always learn to save the best for last. In your life, don’t spend money on things when you’re young, but save the best for last. As a ministry leader, save the best for last so they will keep coming back. Saving the best for last will only happen if you keep working on improving your capability to give better the next time.

Making a Bid

Luke 14:16
“Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:”

Bidding is simply putting an offer on something so you can own it. When you go to buy a used car, you will put in a bid hoping they will accept the offer. When purchasing a house, you will make a bid to the owner in hopes that he will accept the amount of your bid. The amount of a bid will show your motivation to possess that item. If you are not willing to go high on your bid, then you want it, but not that much. On the other hand, when you make a bid that goes above the value of the item, you are showing that you’re willing to pay any price to obtain it.

God said that a man made a bid for people to come to a supper. When the bid was made, there were three types of excuses given as to why they couldn’t come. The first excuse was possessions. The man who bought a piece of property used it as an excuse for not coming to the supper. The second excuse was employment. A man bought some oxen and wouldn’t come because he wanted to test them out. The third excuse was relationships. A man got married and he wanted to spend time with his wife. We could discuss the seriousness of these excuses, but I believe God was showing us the excuses we will encounter when making a bid for souls.

Let me first warn that you must be careful not to allow excuses to stop you from bidding for the the souls of people. Excuses are going to come, but you can’t stop bidding for their soul. Their soul will either go to Heaven or Hell. As a Christian, we should be so concerned for their soul that we will continue to bid for their soul. If that soul were your family member, you would want someone to discard their excuses and continue making a bid for their soul. When possessions are their excuse, come back when they are not with their possessions. When employment is their excuse, then find a way around their employment schedule to witness to them. When relationships are their excuse, then find a time when they are not spending time with family to witness to them. Don’t let excuses stop your bidding for the souls of men.

Let me take this another direction. Don’t ever stop bidding for your family. The world is after the heart of your children, and you must not let them win the bid for your child’s heart. On a daily basis you need to bid for the heart of your child. Likewise, don’t ever stop making a bid for the success of your marriage. When your marriage is struggling, keep making a bid for it to succeed.

Moreover, don’t ever stop bidding on your nation. When you think your nation is lost, keep making a bid for the soul of your nation. Many of the prophets of old kept making a bid for their nation even when they knew God was going to judge it. Until the judgment of God falls on your nation, you need to continue to bid for the soul of your nation. Make a bid through preaching, soul winning, prayer and training Christians to live right. Don’t let the excuses your nation gives cause you to stop bidding for it.

Yes, excuses are always going to be a part of people turning down your bids, but you cannot take it personally. When the excuses come, find a way around the excuses and keep trying to win over their soul. Always remember that the soul you are bidding for is someone’s relative, and they don’t want you to give up.

Adding to Sin

Luke 3:19-20
“But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.”

Scandals are often revealed, not because of the original wrongdoing, but because of the cover-up that happened afterwards. Probably, one of the most famous scandals in recent decades is Watergate. President Nixon hurt himself when he lied to the American people about his involvement in bugging the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate building. It wasn’t the crime that forced him to resign, but it was adding to the crime by trying to cover up his involvement. If he had been honest from the beginning, he might have been able to salvage his presidency.

I think of a recent scandal in the sports world when Ohio State coach, Jim Tressel, lied to the NCAA about his knowledge of players breaking NCAA rules. Coach Tressel could have easily kept his coaching position if he had not added a cover-up to the NCAA violations. It was not the original violations that hurt him, but it was the cover-up that brought him down.

Herod made the same mistake these men made. John the Baptist approached Herod about his adulterous affair with his brother Philip’s wife. Herod, trying to cover up the potential scandal, threw John the Baptist into prison thinking this would silence him. He thought if he put John in prison that it would keep the affair from becoming public knowledge. The problem is that God knew about it. God said that Herod “Added yet this above all,…” The thing that finally brought God’s judgment upon Herod was adding a cover-up to his sin.

God says in Luke 12:2, “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” God is teaching us that cover-up’s never work. Eventually, they will be revealed. You may think you can cover your tracks of sin, but God sees what is going on, and it will eventually come back to get you. David thought he could cover his sin, but the cover-up was revealed by God. Saul thought he could cover his sin, but God revealed the cover-up. God despises cover-up’s because a cover-up is adding dishonesty to the committed sin.

Friend, there is nobody who is above sin. Everyone has committed a sin at some time. What will get you in trouble with God quicker than anything else is when you try to cover it up. It is always better to come clean with your sin than to try and cover it up. God says in Psalm 34:18, “The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” If a person will come clean with God and man, God promises to be near them and help them recover from their sin.

I caution you about adding to your sin. You must always remember that it is not the original sin that will destroy a person, but it is normally adding the sin of a cover-up that destroys them. Please don’t think you can get away with it. Learn from those in history that sin will eventually catch up to you. When you sin, come clean with God and don’t add to your sin. Remember, when you add to your sin, you are also adding God’s wrath to your judgment.

Hindering Miracles

Mark 3:5
“And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”

Put yourself in the shoes of the man whose hand was withered. Most likely his whole life he was handicapped because of his hand. If you are not handicapped, you can only imagine how this man so badly wanted his hand to be whole. If it were whole, he would be able to help his wife carry the groceries. If it were whole, he would be able to do the activities that other men regularly did around the house. If it were whole, he would be able to hold his children in both arms and play ball with them like every other dad. If it were whole, the quality of his life would seem to be so much better.

Then, the chance of a lifetime came his way. That chance was that Jesus came to town. He was now in the presence of Jesus, and he knew that Jesus could heal his withered hand. The only problem, it was the Sabbath. Though he was in the presence of Jesus, he was also in the presence of the Pharisees who were so judgmental that Jesus asked them whether He should heal this man’s hand. Thankfully, Jesus was not intimidated by their blindness and hard hearts and He healed this man’s hand.

Could you imagine if Jesus were like the average Christian who was afraid of the religious leaders of His day? If He were intimidated by this crowd, the miracle would have not been performed. The opportunity for the miracle to be hindered was determined by whether or not Jesus handled the situation properly.

Let me remind you that God still has the power to perform miracles today. Yet, just like Jesus faced hindrances to miracles, we also face hindrances to miracles. Let me show you these hindrances to miracles.

The first hindrance to miracles are hard hearts. Jesus specifically pointed out that the hardness of their hearts would’ve hindered his miracles. We must be careful that our hearts are not so hardened by routine and methodology that we don’t let God do the work He wants to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about going against the Word of God, but I am talking about being so tied to a spiritual ritual or schedule that we hinder God from working in our lives or church services. I wonder how many church services have been hindered because someone wouldn’t let God do the work He wants to do.

The second hindrance was the attitude of the Pharisees. I talk to many preachers who tell me of people who hinder their church services because of a bad attitude. They sit in judgment of what is going on, only to hinder the miracles of God. Don’t let your bad attitude hinder God working in someone’s heart.

The third hindrance is peer pressure. Jesus could have succumbed to the pressure of the Pharisees, but He didn’t. You must be careful that you are not so worried what the “Brethren” think that you won’t step out and let God do something in your life. The only one you should be concerned with is God. If God wants you to do something, then don’t let your peers hinder you from doing God’s work.

Are you part of the crowd who is hindering the miracles of God? If you were the one who needed the miracle, you certainly wouldn’t want these hindrances around. You never know when someone needs a miracle. This is why you need to be sure that those things that hinder miracles are never a part of your life. Let God always do the work He desires to do. Ask God to help you have a tender heart and open ears to see and hear the times when He wants to do something special through you in someone’s life.

Just Dig Another Well

by: William Wallace

Genesis 26:18-23

You want to talk about being in a bad situation, Isaac was certainly in one. Isaac was dealing with many things in his life. Abraham, his dad had just passed away. It is bad when you lose family, but when you lose those whom you have loved dearly it’s hard to get past it. This is probably one of the last times Isaac and Ishmael will be in union because even in our time the Arab and Jewish nations are at war.

His son, Esau, had despised his Birthright. There was a famine in the land, and God wouldn’t let him run from it. Let me stop here and say this is the problem for many people, both Christians and lost people, as soon as things get a little hard they want to run. He had trouble from his neighbors. They filled his father’s wells with dirt. So, he moved further away into the valley and began uncovering wells that had been filled by his neighbors. He dug another well in the valley, and his neighbors still fought him. To show how frustrated he was, He called that well Esek which means, “contention.” Every time he drank from this well, he had to watch his back. Isaac said to himself, “I can’t live like this.” So, what did he do? He dug another well and his neighbors strove over that one. He called it Sitnah, which means, “enmity, a state of opposition.” Every time he drank from this well he had to have one eye open. Isaac said, “I cant live like this.” So, again he dug another well and called it Rehoboth. He said now the Lord has made room for us. Rehoboth means “room.”

These are some of the troubles Isaac faced in a matter of a short period of time. Usually when people face the pressure of a father passing, trouble with their children, and neighbors fighting over water rights they are uptight, easily agitated and aggressive.

It is also clear that Isaac was the biggest cattle man in the area. Isaac had the Lord’s blessings on his life. He didn’t have to do any fighting, because He knew God was on his side. He had the weight of his dad passing on his shoulders. He had a child involved with wrong girls. He had a famine in the land and God wouldn’t let him move. He had neighbors who stopped up his well and wouldn’t let him keep the new ones he dug. The same neighbors came and lied straight to his face. These were the same folks who made a covenant with his dad. He had the ability to destroy all his enemies, and they acknowledged that; however, he knew God was on his side and that God could do a better job with his enemies than he could. So, instead of getting involved in areas he couldn’t control, he just dug another well.

I know Abraham went after Lot and rescued him and his family. David went after his wives and children and rescued them. God’s people fought against Philistines. There is a time for war and a time to fight, but sometimes it’s just best to dig another well. A well is not worth the lives of people if more wells can be dug.

A well is a very necessary part of life. In certain places there is only well water to sustain a people. But again, sometimes it’s just best to dig another well. Let me give you some thoughts about moving on and digging another well.

1. Digging another well is not a sign of cowardice, but a sign of compliance.

Romans 12:18-21, God tells the individual to do everything in their power to prevent strife. You are to do everything but compromise to try and get along with those who want to fight against you.

2. Digging another well is not a sign of compromise.

Isaac didn’t lose any ground by digging another well. He knew God, in His time, was going to give it all to him anyway. You have more things to do for God than to involve yourself in battles that you can’t control. It’s not a sign of compromise not to involve yourself in battles that belong to God. Too many Christians want to fight God’s battles, when they need to move on and let God give them what they need in His timing.

3. Digging another well is a sign of compassion.

In the great Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said, “Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Never mistake peacemaking only without the shedding of blood. Sometimes peacemaking only comes from shedding blood. We make peace with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. America enjoys a certain level of peace because of the shed blood of American patriots. When you decide to move on from your disagreements with people, you are only revealing your compassion for people knowing that God deals with people better than we do.

4. Digging another well shows Christian maturity.

Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Romans 12:17-21 says, “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

When challenged with difficult times, God’s people have the opportunity to exemplify their Lord. If your girlfriend or boyfriend turns their back on you, don’t hurt yourself or them, just move on and dig another well. If you get fired from work and you know it’s not your fault, just move on and dig another well. If you are falsely accused, God knows you are innocent, so just move on and dig another well. If you had your car repossessed, if it is your fault just ask God’s forgiveness, and move on and dig another well. If you will move on and dig another well, eventually you will find Rehoboth. You will find that if you will learn to move on through your adversities and disagreements in life, God will eventually find room for you to make peace and do great works for Him.

William Wallace
Pastor
Central Coast Baptist Church
Marina, CA

Facing Mountains

Matthew 21:21
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”

I have lived around mountains for a good portion of my life. I’ve lived around the Rockies, Sierra’s and Shenandoah Mountains. Every mountain is different. I’ve hiked the Sierra and Rocky Mountains, and each mountain has different challenges. The one thing they all have in common is that they are hard to overcome.

The hardest mountains I’ve ever climbed were the Rockies. I have climbed Mount Sopris, which is a 13,000 foot mountain that has twin peaks. I climbed another mountain in Colorado which was 14,100 feet. Needless to say, I was worn out after both hikes. After hiking those mountains, if someone were to say to me that they were going to remove them, I would say that they were crazy.

Though these mountains were physically challenging, I have faced greater mountains that I’ve had to overcome in life. Everyone will have mountains they need to face in life. Overcoming those mountains will be no easy task. In fact, some mountains that we face will only be overcome through a miracle. The good news for the saved is that God says we can remove the mountains in our life, but there are some steps we need to take to remove our mountains.

First, you need to identify your mountain. God said, “…if ye shall say unto this mountain,…” You will notice that this was a specific mountain that God was pointing out. You cannot remove the mountains in your life if you don’t identify them. Maybe your mountain is an addiction or a sin that you seemingly have no power to overcome. Maybe your mountain is a marital problem or a family problem. Maybe your mountain is a financial problem or a health problem. Whatever your mountain is, you need to be specific with God.

Second, only be concerned with one mountain at a time. Again, God said, “this mountain.” I’m sure there were more mountains, but God was concerned with taking care of one mountain at a time. You can’t be concerned with the whole mountain range in your life, but you must take on one mountain at a time. Too many times we try to take on the whole mountain range when we really only need to focus on the mountain we are facing at the moment. Don’t let the mountain range discourage or distract you, but look at the mountain you face today.

Third, you must realize the source to remove your mountain is God. God is the only One Who can help you remove your mountains. You can try them on your own to no avail, or you can run to God and ask for His power to remove your mountains.

Fourth, you must step out by faith and act upon what the mountain is hindering you from doing. Friend, don’t wait for the mountain to be removed to do what God wants you to do. Set your doubt aside, act by faith and start doing what God wants you to do believing that when you get to the foot of that mountain God will remove it for you.

I don’t know what the mountain is that you face today, but it can be removed if you will act by faith and obey God’s Word. Don’t let the mountains stop you from living by faith. Step out by faith and trust God; you will find that when you act by faith God will remove your mountains.