Noah In 2008.

We are learning lessons from Noah on Sunday Moring, so in order to help you prepare think about what if Noah had to build the ark today.

Noah in 2008

If Noah had lived in the United States today the story may have gone something like this:

And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed. But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark." In a flash of lightning, God delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the ark. "Remember," said the Lord, "you must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year."

Exactly one year later, fierce storm clouds covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard weeping. "Noah!" He shouted. "Where is the Ark?"

"Lord, please forgive me," cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems.

First, I had to get a permit for construction, and your plans did not meet the building codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans.
Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a sprinkler system and approved floatation devices.
Then, my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.

Then, I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the U.S. Forest

The carpenters formed a union and went on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or hammer. Now, I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls.

When I started rounding up the other animals, an animal rights group sued me. They objected to me taking only two of each kind aboard. This suit is pending.

Meanwhile, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the Universe.

Then, the Army Corps of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed flood plain. I sent them a globe.

Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking atheists aboard.

The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a 'recreational water craft'.

And finally, the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since God is flooding the earth, it's a religious event, and, therefore unconstitutional.
I really don't think I can finish the Ark for another five or six years."

Noah waited. The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky.

Noah looked up hopefully. "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth, Lord?"

"No," He said sadly. "I don't have to. The government already has."

Pleasing God And Not Men...

Alright, I am going to be transparent today. I got slapped in the face this morning by a little phrase of a little verse in the Bible from 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “Our purpose is to please God, not people.” As a pastor one of the hurdles that each day (wrongly and sinfully) I face is seeking to try and please people. If you have never been a pastor you don’t really know it feels to 250 people who all know how to do your job and spend your time better than you and many of them have no problem telling you this often. So, my desire to please takes shape in visits to the sick I make, visits to seniors in the church, did I go to enough ball games for this child or that child, did I get to speak to so and so Sunday morning, was my sermon good..

I try so hard to please people, because if a person is not pleased with their Pastor they gripe “He only saw me once” or “He did not speak to me.” They tend to tell their friends all about what I did not do for them; I just wish they told people the good their pastors did do for them. So, in my head you get to believing that keeping people happy is what grows the church, but this wrong dead wrong. I now it, thankfully I have not had to compromise my integrity or God’s Word over it, but I don’t want to live like this. But, anyway, I thought when I read this verse “Our purpose is to please God, not people” that is the way life and pastoral ministry should be done. Not, worrying over what someone will say or think about something I do, but getting excited and being liberated to serve God, strive to please Him, and let people say what they will.

I want to be free to do this; I am going to work on this. It will take courage and faith in God, because I know that pleasing God first may mean that some people may not be as pleased with me. I am encouraged by the Apostle Paul who said in Galatians 1:10 “Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant.” I also think that if I make striving to honor God my first priority, then people who also have God as their first priority will be pleased as well. So, then those who may be bothered, maybe they need to see who they are trying to please most: themselves or God. I want to live out the old song that George Beverly Shea would sing

I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause,
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I'd rather be true to His holy name
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

So, pray for me that I will be liberated from the shackles of trying to please man and be free and happy to my God and Savior! Pastor Phillip

Don't gripe! Don't Complain!

Stop the griping and start praying! You head me, stop the griping and start praying! Am I happy the most pro-abortion candidate ever has been elected president? Am I happy at the direction in which our country seems to be heading? No and No, but we have to refuse to gripe and moan about the situation. Put your negative emotions into positive prayer. We have no idea what God can yet do in our nation. Put these scriptures in your heart and mind today.

Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, (15) so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.

1Ti 2:1-8 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, (2) for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (3) This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, (4) who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (5) For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, a man, Christ Jesus, (6) who gave Himself--a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time. (7) For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (8) Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

1Pe 2:13-17 Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, (14) or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. (15) For it is God's will that you, by doing good, silence the ignorance of foolish people. (16) As God's slaves, live as free people, but don't use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. (17) Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.

Rom 13:1-7 Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. (2) So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. (3) For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do good and you will have its approval. (4) For government is God's servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God's servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. (5) Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. (6) And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God's public servants, continually attending to these tasks. (7) Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

Obey God’s Word Today! Pastor Phillip

Hey, you guys better be sharing your faith! Check this out! Pastor Phillip

Learning From Prostitutes...

"Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious (materialistic), the self-righteous, are in that danger."

C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain

When I read this I was reminded of a similar event in the life of Jesus after He had entered Jerusalem during the last week of his life and cleared the temple of the Money Changers. After this the leaders demanded that Jesus tell them by what authority He did this and by what authority he taught. He somewhat refused and gave them this story.

Matthew 21:28-31 "But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'My son, go, work in the vineyard today.' (29) "He answered, 'I don't want to!' Yet later he changed his mind and went. (30) Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. "'I will, sir,' he answered. But he didn't go. (31) "Which of the two did his father's will?" "The first," they said. Jesus said to them, "I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you!

The point of this parable is clear :what matters is living for God, not lip service. The religious leaders were good at talking a righteous walk, but their stubbornly unrepentant hearts show the worst of society will accept Jesus, while those most comfortable in the world will not. These religious leaders stood condemned. They must have been stunned by Jesus’ words that despised, immoral people such as tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom and they, the religious leaders, were not!

We (white middle class folks) are very at home in the world. We talk a lot of about religion and most of us have a little of it. But, sadly many people have been inoculated from the Gospel. The more at home a man is in this world, the less he is going to prepare and care about the next. So, don’t talk religion and don’t assume because your middle-class and moral you have the market on God cornered. Jesus says that we could learn how to repent and see our need better from a prostitute.

Jesus makes this point again in Luke 7:36-50 Then one of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. (37) And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil (38) and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil. (39) When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him--she's a sinner!" (40) Jesus replied to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he said, "say it." (41) "A creditor had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. (42) Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?" (43) Simon answered, "I suppose the one he forgave more." "You have judged correctly," He told him. (44) Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair. (45) You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn't stopped kissing My feet since I came in. (46) You didn't anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. (47) Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that's why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little." (48) Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (49) Those who were at the table with Him began to say among themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" (50) And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Let us be people today who are sinners and know it and be people who have been forgiven much! Pastor Phillip