David N. Walker's Blog, page 12

Funny Fotos

Since I can occasionally get a little wordy, I thought I’d give you a break today and show a few pictures instead. They’re supposed to be worth a thousand words each, anyhow. Enjoy:

I didn’t know mermaids looked like this.

What an ugly young man!

He’s doing what?

Guess he went to sleep hungry.

Gives new meaning to the term beak!

Look, Mom, no surf board!

That’s quite a load he’s carrying.

Do we need a caption?

May she rest in peace.

I’ve dated a few dogs, but . . .

Hope you enjoyed these. Come back Monday for my entry in August McLaughlin’s Beauty of a Woman blogfest.

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Discipling

How extensive is your knowledge of God’s word? How deep is your understanding of it? Where do you go to increase that knowledge or to deepen that understanding?

Do you depend on church services for your exposure to God and His word? Are your pastor’s sermons enough for you to come to a real knowledge and understanding? I have nothing against church services, and nothing per se against sermons.

I’ve been in many such services where the Holy Spirit moved and made the experience wonderful, but those experiences would represent a small percentage of all the services I’ve attended. I’ve heard a number of good sermons through the years, but I can only recall a handful where I learned a truly important spiritual truth.

Large gatherings certainly have a place in Christianity. Who can even guess how many people have become Christians and either are or will be in heaven because of the meetings people like Billy Graham and James Robison have held around the world? God uses such evangelists in powerful ways to spread the Gospel and get people saved, but once they are saved, the lifelong process of Christian growth and being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ begins, and the evangelists aren’t there to lead them on this journey.

Chapter 28, verses 18-20 of the book of Matthew, Jesus addresses His remaining eleven disciples as follows:

      “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

      Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father  and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

      teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This passage is commonly referred to as The Great Commission. It’s Jesus’s final instructions to His disciples about spreading the Gospel.

It’s worthy of note that although Jesus spoke to multitudes of thousands during His ministry, He gave these instructions to eleven men. Of all the hordes who heard Him speak, very few gained any grasp of the gospel. It was his disciples—and more particularly Peter, James, and John—to whom He gave deeper understandings of what He had to say.

Jesus’s preaching to the masses would be somewhat similar to today’s church services. It exposed a lot of people to Him and His word, but it didn’t actually TEACH them very broadly or deeply.

His private sessions with His twelve disciples would be somewhat analogous to today’s Sunday School classes or home fellowships. More pointed messages that gave the hearers broader exposure and deeper understanding of His word.

The time and energy He spent with the three who made up His inner circle would parallel the concept of discipling in today’s world. It’s only the expenditure of large amounts of time and energy over long periods of time that allow us to give—or receive—in depth knowledge and understanding of His word.

A few years after I became a Christian, I was fortunate to have a friend take me under his wing and disciple me. The process lasted well over 20 years until his death, and he told me numerous times that he got as much out of our discipling sessions and I did.

Some 14 or 15 years after this man started discipling me, I began discipling an old friend. We’ve be going for nearly 17 years now, and I can tell you that I’ve gotten just as much, and probably learned as much, out of this relationship as he has.

To me, this is where knowledge and understanding of God’s work is spread. One Christian taking on one or two others and discipling them. It’s a grave responsibility, but a rewarding one which combines the teaching/learning experience with intimate fellowship.

Where do you get your fellowship and learning? Church services? Sunday School classes or home fellowships? One-on-one or one-on-two discipling?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Billy Graham, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, Christmas, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Disciple, Discipling, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, James Robison, Jesus, New Year, Sins, Works

KUDOS

There really are people and organizations out there who still care. We’re all so accustomed to haphazard, slovenly service, that it’s refreshing to find someone cares how we feel and what we think about the service we received. At times, I can be pretty quick to criticize bad service, products, etc., so I try to be just a quick to commend good ones.

In December, my wife Sharon had hip-replacement surgery. The surgery went well, and her recovery has been a bit quicker and smoother than we were prepared for. We’re both happy with that.

On the day of surgery, however, I felt like no one cared about the patient’s family. I was told what time the procedure would start and to expect her to be in the OR for a couple of hours, then in recovery for 30 or 45 minutes.

It was almost noon when I was ushered out of pre-op to wait for her. I had several errands I could have run that afternoon, along with a stop in a restaurant for lunch, but there wouldn’t be time to do that and be back at the hospital by the time they projected she’d be in her room. Not wanting to disappoint her, I elected to eat a rather mediocre meal in the hospital cafeteria and come back to the waiting room.

After waiting nearly four hours beyond the anticipated time to go see Sharon in her room, I was fit to be tied. I wrote about my experience that day in a blog post (click here to read it), and I sent copies of the link to three executives at the hospital, urging them to read it.

For the next couple of weeks I thought I was being ignored. Then I received calls from a couple of the people I’d sent the link to. They had all read it, and they took it to heart. They asked me if I’d be willing to sit down with a committee to discuss what had gone wrong and help them figure out how they could improve.

Just hearing an acknowledgment of my complaints was edifying. For them to ask my help in improving their procedures almost blew my mind. I couldn’t believe they were taking me that seriously.

Yesterday, I took an hour out of my birthday—yes, I’m even older than I used to be—to meet with their committee. I was ushered into a boardroom where a dozen of their department heads were gathered. They all had pens and paper to take notes.

After we went around the table breaking ice and introducing ourselves (I told them I was too old to remember names), the lady chairing the meeting told me a bit about how interested they were in what I had to say and what they could do to improve relations with patients’ families. Then they turned the meeting over to me and told me to walk them through my experiences and frustrations of that day and to take all the time I wanted to do so.

Once I finished, we all batted a few ideas around for ways to improve, and they told me they would be meeting seriously about these ideas and would invite me back to discuss their proposed changes. Then Priti Jain, the lady who served as sort of my personal contact, took me to another meeting room where we discussed a few more things, and she asked me if they could call on me to meet with them about other problems areas.

What had been a bad day has turned into a wonderful experience for me and a great example of an organization trying to be the best it can be. My kudos to Texas Health Harris Methodist Southwest Hospital. I couldn’t have asked for more.

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Priti Jains, Self-help, Texas Health Harris Methodist Southwest Hospital

Einstein and Billy Graham

Although I normally write my own original material for my blog posts, this was so good I just had to pass it on. It originally appeared in The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman on November 11 of last year.

Einstein and Billy Graham

Billy Graham is now 96 years-old with Parkinson’s disease.    In January 2000 leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said,  ‘We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.’ So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets.

It wasn’t there.  He looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it.  Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.  “The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’

“Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

“The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t need a ticket.  I’m sure you bought one.’

Einstein looked at him and said, “Young man, I too, know who I am.  What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

Having said that Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I’m wearing?  It’s a brand new suit. My children and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this:

I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”

May your troubles be less, your blessings more, and may nothing but happiness, come through your door.  Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.”

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Albert Einstein, Bible, Billy Graham, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, Christmas, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, New Year, Sins, Works

More Pet Peeves

The comments on last week’s post on one of my pet peeves encouraged me to share another one: Behavior of drivers at stop signs and red lights.

Allow me to start with the general statement that a large percentage of stop signs and traffic lights are either unneeded or improperly installed. I’ll give you a few examples of what I’m talking about.

Many intersections with traffic lights need them at most for an hour or two each morning and evening during rush hour traffic. I’m talking about lights that stop traffic on major roads so that people can cross on little-traveled neighborhood roads. Such lights should be on timers so that they blink yellow for the main road and red for the side road 20 to 22 hours a day, allowing traffic to keep moving.

Other intersections have lights timed so that they’re green for a long time when there is little or no traffic coming, keeping traffic on the cross street waiting for no reason. These should be controlled by sensors, not timers.

It has become increasingly popular to install left turn lights. These can be handy at times, but only the busiest intersections should mark them “Left On Arrow Only.” The rest should allow you to turn left whenever there is a break in the traffic.

In my observation, a high percentage of stop signs are installed to impede the flow of traffic rather than for any safety reason. For instance, I live on a corner where a somewhat major neighborhood street crosses a court that goes nowhere. There are stop signs halting traffic on the major street, while the dozen or so cars that use the court each day can sail through unimpeded.

All of that said, we drivers could do a lot to make getting around in a city easier and more pleasant for one another. Here are a few suggestions to bear in mind when behind the wheel:

S T O P doesn’t spell park. Once you’ve come to a stop, take off. Don’t make everyone wait for you to wake up.


If it’s a three-way or four-way stop and you see someone approaching on the other street, don’t sit there and wait until after he has come to a stop before you go, making him delay his progress. As soon as you can tell he’s in the process of stopping, go. You could clear the intersection before he completes his stop.


Don’t take a nap at a red light, holding up people in cars behind you when the light turns green. Stay alert and take off as soon as it changes. Many lights are governed by sensors that think no one is there if they don’t sense movement, and if you don’t move promptly some of the cars behind you may not get through on this cycle.


If you’re in a right turn lane turning onto a multi-lane street, don’t wait for all lanes to be clear before you turn. Go as soon as the near lane is clear. You can merge left after you turn if you need to, but by going, you free the driver behind you to go.


As I told my daughter when she was learning to drive, the number one rule of courteous driving is “Get out of the way.” Consider the people behind you, and don’t make them wait unnecessarily.

What pet peeves bother you when you are driving?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Pet peeves, Self-help, Stop signs, Traffic lights

Where Our Money Is Matters

Where do you put your money? Most of us, of course, put the lion’s share of our money into groceries, house payments, car payments, and so forth, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the money you don’t spend on day to day living.

Most of us either do or at least could have some money available each month that doesn’t go for routine spending. If we don’t have any such pad, we need to alter our spending habits. No matter what our income is, we should spend something less than we take in.

As I say that, I have to confess that I haven’t always followed this advice. For many years I barely scraped by and always had the attitude that I would save or invest or give when things got better. Funny thing is, they never got better.

When I was around 40 years old, I was at my lowest point financially, and I felt a certain desperation about ever changing that. Strangely, it’s only when we’re at our lowest that some of us finally look to God. Several influences came together at that time to turn my attention to Him.

For the first time in my life, I began to tithe. As meager as my income was at the time, the amount of my tithes would hardly be noticeable to the ministries I gave to, but God uses a different ruler from ours. He saw my willingness to tithe as submission to Him, and He rewarded it. He did wonders in my income within the next few years.

At the time, my motivation was primarily the scriptures the prosperity preachers love to quote. I gave in expectation of blessing. Despite my warped motivation, God did bless me, and along the way, He opened my eyes to a deeper truth about giving.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6, Jesus talks about not laying up treasures on earth, urging us instead to lay up treasures in heaven. Then in verse 21, He gives us this jewel:

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I began meditating on that little verse. I thought about Wall Street traders and how their hearts were so wrapped up in the Dow-Jones and other indications of the stock market. I thought about some of my cousins and uncles who farmed and how their minds were always occupied by concerns about the weather, commodity prices, and other such things. Truly, where our money is, our hearts will be there, too.

There is nothing wrong with investing in the stock market. My wife and I have made major commitments to it. Nothing wrong with investing in a cotton crop either. But for both peace of mind and security, we should invest in God’s kingdom first.

This little verse showed me how to get my heart into God’s kingdom. I’d been a lukewarm Christian long enough. It was time to make it all real, and this verse showed me how to do it. Giving to my church and to various missions and ministries allowed me to let Jesus become more real and more personal to me.

Beyond the mere principle of giving, however, there was a power in where I put my money. One of the early recipients I picked was Fort Worth Teen Challenge. As I gave to them, I began to develop a real love and concern for the drug-addicted and alcoholic women this wonderful organization serves. I’d never cared about them much before that, but now these people are very important to me.

Along the way, I picked up Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth to give to. I’d never given much thought to homeless people until an old family friend landed there, but now these people are precious to me.

More recently, I’ve been giving a little money to support the mission work of a young lady who dares to take her blonde hair and fair skin to the Middle East to share Jesus with Muslims. The amount of the monthly giving isn’t large, but my heart for her and for her ministry is.

This one little verse has made a huge difference in the quality of my life.

Where do you put your money? Have you tried letting some of it lead your heart into God’s kingdom and into some of the specific works He and His people are doing?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Blue Mountain, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, Christmas, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, giving, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, Money, New Year, Sins, Teen Challenge, tithe, Union Gospel Mission, Works

Pet Peeve

You arrive at the restaurant, but before you eat you need to stop by the restroom. You take care of your business wash your hands, ready to go enjoy your meal.

But first you have to exit the restroom. You go to the door, reach out and grab the handle so you can pull it open. How many germs are on that door handle? How many people who have used that restroom ahead of you exited without washing their hands? How clean will your hands be when you get to your table to eat?

We all have pet peeves, and this is one of my giant ones. Where do you go to get an audience with the people who decide how to hang restroom doors? Do any of them have the sense God gave a jackass? Why do they always have them opening inward rather than outward?

This whole problem would disappear if they just designed the doors to be pushed open rather than pulled. You could push with a forearm or shoulder rather than grasping a filthy handle with your newly pristine hands. Yet, in my experience, upwards of 90% of public restroom doors open inward.

Why is this? Do the architects and builders not have to wash their hands, too? Do they not think before they design and build? Do they just plain not care?

The problem could also be easily solved by using paper towels instead of hot air dryers and placing a trash receptacle adjacent to the exit. This would allow customers to wrap a paper towel around the handle when they open the door and then throw the towel away after they get it open.

McDonald’s proudly proclaims that it saves umpty-eleven tons of paper a year by providing the hot air dryers and no paper towels, yet every McDonald’s restroom door I’ve seen opens inward. Why is this?

My favorite breakfast place, a mom and pop operation called Rise & Shine, gives its customers restroom doors to push rather than pull. Why can’t others do that? The Barnes & Noble where my writers’ group meets has door you pull, but they provide paper towels and have a receptacle right beside the door. What’s so difficult about that?

How do you feel about grasping a filthy door handle with your clean hands?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Public restrooms, Self-help

What Is Church?

“Where do you go to church?” That’s a common question among Christians. Or maybe, “Do you go to church?” Another common question.

Before answering either question, it might be informative to know what the word ‘church’ means. We commonly think of church as a building. It might be an old wooden building out in the country. It might be a huge structure covering several city block. It could have a steeple with bells that ring periodically. More recently, it might be all or part of a shopping center.

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary offers several definitions for ‘church’ as follows:

     1. The entire body of those who are saved by their relation to Christ.

     2. A particular Christian denomination.

     3. The aggregate of all the ecclesiastical communions professing faith in Christ.

     4. A single organized Christian group.

     5. A building designated for Christian worship.

The original Greek word for the church was ekklesia, which Strong’s Concordance defines as an assembly, a (religious) congregation. It further defines it as the whole body of Christian believers.

Although Unger does include a building as a possible interpretation of the word ‘church,’ it’s his last choice, and there are more definitions relating to people than to buildings. It’s a convenient term we use to designate a meeting place or a certain group of people, but its original use in the New Testament referred to the body of Christ—the entire body of born-again Christians saved through their faith in Jesus.

Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” This takes the body of Christ down to any group of two or more Christians gathered in His name. If you are a Christian and you and I meet for coffee and discuss spiritual matters, we’re having church. Jesus meets with us, no matter where the meeting takes place.

The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter ten not to forsake our assembling together, but to encourage one another. That says nothing about going to a certain building or listening to a sermon—it says to assemble. As we saw above, Jesus considers it assembling if as many as two or three of us gather in His name.

As Christians, we need the fellowship of other Christians to keep our own faith strong, to help one another in whatever ways are needed, to broaden our knowledge and deepen our understanding of His word—we could make a long list of reasons to meet, but nowhere in that list would it be necessary to include the location of a building or the name of a group.

All this being said, let me emphasize that I am not against the formation of local bodies. Nor am I against their finding a physical meeting place. I am a part of a local body that meets in a building built for that purpose. There is a sign outside with the name of our body on it.

If you are part of such a body and are being fed by your membership there, good for you. I have no quarrel with that. My objection arises when we tell people they have to belong to a “church,” meaning a particular local group—or when we begin elevating the importance of our group rather than lifting up the name of Jesus. Or when we want our building to be bigger or fancier than yours. Or when a pastor comes to think he is more important than his flock.

Do I go to church? Yes. Where do I go to church? I’m part of a wonderful Sunday School class, and I meet every Wednesday with a fellow Christian for breakfast. In both of those meetings, I always ask God to steer our conversation where He would have it go and to open our ears to hear what He would have us to hear. I have mini-church services with waitresses, my mother’s caregivers, and others God puts in my path. Whenever two or us gather in His name, I consider it church.

What does church mean to you?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Blue Mountain, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, Christmas, Church, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Ekklesia, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, New Unger's Bible Dictionary, New Year, Sins, Strong's Concordance, Works

Justice?

After months of intense scrutiny trying to second-guess an action Officer Darren Wilson had maybe a second to ponder, the United States Department of Injustice finally gave up its witch hunt and admitted there was nothing in the officer’s actions that violated the law or the Constitution.

For those living on Mars or somewhere, Darren Wilson is the policeman in Ferguson, MO, who used his gun to defend himself against an attack by a much larger man who had just robbed a store. The attacker, Michael Brown, used his 300 pound size to bully smaller people, and was trying to take the policeman’s gun away from him at the time of the shooting.

When a policeman faces a criminal, he has micro-seconds to determine whether or not that person is a threat to the lives and safety of the public—or himself—and then decide what to do about it. Unlike the policeman on the scene, district attorneys, grand juries, and federal investigators take months to pick apart every possible aspect of that split-second decision.

Darren Wilson should have been exonerated within hours, or at least days, of the occurrence, but that wouldn’t have fit the agendas of the leftist politicians and civil rights agitators. These agitators whipped emotions in the community to the point that they boiled over into rampant looting and other crimes. I don’t remember reading about how Attorney General Eric Holder or Missouri Governor Jay Nixon investigated these any of these agitators for their parts in fomenting the riots.

Thanks to Governor Nixon, Attorney General Holder, Al Sharpton and other rabble rousers, Darren Wilson—a police officer who was doing nothing except his job of protecting the public—has been pressured into resigning from the force, and many local merchants have suffered immeasurable losses from the ensuing rioting. All of this was done in sympathy with a bullying thug.

Actually, I’m surprised that Holder couldn’t manufacture some kind of “evidence” to persecute Wilson into prison. I’m sure the news from the Justice Department is of some comfort to Darren Wilson, but wouldn’t it have been more comforting if everyone had just accepted the grand jury’s verdict and left the man alone? It’s a travesty that people who choose careers in public service have to deal with fallout like this for doing their jobs properly.

What do you think this officer should have done differently? What would you do if a 300 pound man was attacking you?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, Darren Wilson, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Eric Holder, Fancy Series, Ferguson Missouri, friends, Heaven Sent, Jay Nixon, Justice Department, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Michael Brown, People, Personal development, Self-help

The Essence of the Gospel

Those of you who have read my book Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life, know that my central theme is that we Christians complicate Christianity be adding our rules—do this, don’t do that. Sometimes I wonder what would attract a lost person to Christianity as we present it.

We see a young lady wearing her dresses shorter than we think she should, and we tell her she has to change if she wants to be a Christian. We see a man take a drink, and we tell him he can’t do that if he’s going to be a real Christian. It seems like most of us have a long list of things you have to do to be a good Christian and an equally long list of things you can’t do if you’re going to be a good Christian.

Aren’t there enough rules and regulations in the world without our adding to them? Do we really need to appoint ourselves as monitors of the behavior of other people?

This is a theme that has long been important to me. You may have seen it in my blog posts as well as in my book. I think it’s a subject the body of Christ needs to embrace.

Sunday morning in Sunday School class, one of the songs we sang was Helen H. Lemmel’s ­Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. The first time I ever heard that song, I felt like I’d been transported to heaven. It’s a beautiful melody, and the words are so meaningful to me. I was reminded once more Sunday of the power of that song.

The whole song is beautiful, but the chorus, to me, is a summary of the entire Gospel:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

How do we Christians get things so backwards? We want to tell people what they need to do and be and how they must act in order to be Christians, but that’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is that when we put our faith in Jesus, He not only hands us a fire insurance policy—He begins a lifelong process inside of us to conform us to His image. He changes us from within.

Under the Old Covenant or Old Testament, God gave His people a lot of rules and regulations to follow. Under the New Covenant, however, God made the following statement in the 31st Chapter of Jeremiah:

  31. “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . . .

  33. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it . . .”

This is the New Covenant. This is the Gospel. He puts it all within our hearts. He doesn’t use external rules and regulations. He works within us to change our desires in order to make us what He would have us be. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, truly, the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

What things have you been told you have to do to be a Christian? What do you think of this simple Gospel?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

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