Clever Free Methodist

  The Apostle Paul wrote a very powerful statement from of all places, prison . His final word to the Church is Ephesus states in Ephesians 6:19 , “Pray for me also. Pray that I might open my mouth without fear. Pray that I will use the right words to preach that which is hard to understand in the Good News.” Wouldn’t that be a tremendous prayer for all of us to include daily? Perhaps it could be added as a doxology to our devotional time? It seems that today is begging more and more for Christians to tell them about the Good News of Jesus Christ. The more often we speak up and speak out, we’ll soon find it isn’t quite as scary as the first time. Each opportunity presented to us will become easier to “say something” and it will grow more natural and stronger the more often we respond.  If we stay prepared, continually study, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, it will be as Paul said that we will always be in a position to “use the right words.” Matthew 10:19 also t...

I find Luke 5:3 very interesting as it describes the boat that Jesus “got into.” It wasn’t a rental. It wasn’t “just docked there” for anyone to use. It was “the one belonging to Simon.” I think this is where Matthew 6:21 also shows up to challenge us. “ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. That was Simon’s boat! Yet, it wasn’t just any boat. It was his livelihood and source of income because he used it to go fishing. The boat was meaningful to him and he placed great value in it. Yet, Simon, was willing to welcome Jesus in to be a part of his passion, profession and area of expertise. Jesus had touched Simon by His ministry in Simon’s home and workplace. However, what converted Simon was when Jesus showed His absolute and miraculous lordship over what was most important and the greatest love of Simon’s work. Simon was a professional fisherman and Jesus, a Carpenter (Mark 6:3), was not. When Jesus convinced Simon by the miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:6...

  St. Anthony the Great is attributed as saying ““A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying: ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’” It is obvious that the truth is offensive to those who abhor its existence and noise to the ears who don’t want to hear it in their presence. This is nothing new. It shouldn’t be surprising. Since the dawn of humanity, those who choose evil and darkness have made it there passion to silence truth. History tells of many stories of people who wish to rid the world of those who sought to do good …name combinations such as Lincoln/Booth, Kennedy/Oswald, and King/Ray. Besides the obvious crucifixion of Jesus, resistance to the truth was no different for those written about in the Bible. Stephen who was the first martyr of the Church who was stoned for refusing to deny his faith (Acts 7:54-60). John the Baptist was beheaded for his message (Matthew 14:1-12). James was killed with a swo...

  It wouldn’t be surprising if many of us confessed that it is challenging, if not, downright hard to always eat right, exercise, and watch our weight. That seems to be rather common for most of life’s important requirements. It is no different for our faith. Christianity is not for the faint of heart. Our faith requires radical obedience, trust, sacrifice, self-control, and unwavering resolve…just to name a few characteristics. The sin-abrasive challenge we will always face is to become complacent, calloused, lethargic and distracted. Let’s face it…our adversary, the devil, does not want us to grow deeper in faith nor glorify God in any way. We must make a concerted effort to be a faith-filled, radically obedient people. We see the words of Paul to Timothy on one way of accomplishing that growth. 1 Timothy 4:7 , “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” I like that last part… train yourself to be godly. One translatio...

Just a bit of trivia….it was January 31, 1933, on radio and September 15, 1949, on television that the “Lone Ranger” galloped into the hearts of the American public to eventually become an icon of our culture. Still today, the term “lone ranger” is used as reference to those who “go at it alone” in life. We pray that is not so of any Christian. In fact, John Wesley , once wrote, “There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian.” We pray that we do not have fellow brothers and sisters isolating themselves from fellowship or struggling and feeling more like “Spiritual Lone Rangers” trying to make it in life all alone because they’ve had no one to turn to in their troubles nor ever had anyone recognize their talents or abilities before. I believe this is why it is so critical for us to be looking out for each other. We find this type of concern and love for one another in Acts 4:32 , “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was ...

Difficult as it may be to imagine, there are recorded accounts where people chose to openly mock and laugh at Jesus. One story in the New Testament is about a young girl who had died. Jesus shows up to visit the family. The Jews who had also assembled to weep and wail at the death of a young girl had now turned their attention to ridicule the only One with the power to bring her back from the dead. Upon his arrival and examination of the girl, Jesus simply told them that she was not dead, but merely sleeping. The reaction? It is recorded in Mark 5:39-40 , “He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed him to scorn ….” What? “They laughed Him to scorn.” That is a pretty intense reaction. It is nothing new. Jesus was often the subject of ridicule because of the things He said, and He made many enemies because He told the truth. The Greek word for “scorn” implies derision, jeering, disdain, mocking, or disrespect. Thi...

  If you are familiar with the Old Testament story of Joseph (coat of many colors), you recall the seething disdain his brothers had of their younger sibling. Whether Joseph brought that on himself, or it was simply unprovoked, it was apparent there was tension and ill feelings against Joseph. I f you read the story, you’ll soon find that the brothers conspired to do some very mean things to Joseph which included wanting to kill him. There came a time that they were able to rid themselves of Joseph (at least they thought) by selling him into slavery. Finally, he’s gone! They “faked his death” and reported his demise to their father. Their father believes Joseph is dead for many years. They have managed to “get away” with “getting rid” of Joseph….at least that is what they thought. We learn even later in the story that they eventually discover Joseph is not only still alive, but serving in a very powerful position of authority that could possibly result in a major act of retr...