As I have pondered on the ministry, a thought occurred to me. . .What if each member of a local church approached the ministry as fans do ball games?

Each week, during the Fall, untold thousands of fans pour into the stadiums of their favorite teams.  They pay a ghastly amount of money for an advanced ticket.  They spend large amounts of funds to finance their trip to the game.  They may rent a motel room the night before, buy a lot of food for “tail-gating” purposes, fuel for the vehicle, etc.  They have spent money on their team’s merchandising (hats, pennants, flags, decals, etc).

These well-financed fans arrive a couple of hours early, in order to get the best parking and seating.  They pay a fee to park their car at the stadium.  Stand in long lines to enter the stadium.  Then, joyfully sit in the stadium seating for several hours.

As game time approaches, their heart races in anticipation of the “kick-off.”  Then, the participation begins!  The shouts, the yells, the cheering of their team players.  In a packed stadium, the adrenalin levels are at all-time highs!  When a quarterback throws an interception, (more…)

It is Christmas time again!  What a joy it is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   Although the world has lost the wonder of Christmas, believers must never get over the wonder of that first Christmas night so long ago.

John tells the world that, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).  What a wondrous thought!  The Word (i.e., Jesus, God) was made flesh.  That means that the God, who created all that is, became like mortal man.  For thirty-three-and-a-half years, God Almighty clothed Himself in a robe of human flesh.  He endured the sufferings, trials and temptations of a mortal man, yet He sinned not (Hebrew 4:15b).  This means that Christmas offers hope for mankind.  God was not “made flesh,” but He “dwelt among us.”  This is another astounding thought!  Why would the God, whose habitation is the boundless eternity, be willing to confine Himself to the spatial limitations of time?  Yet, that is what He did. . .He “dwelt among us.”  The sinless Lamb of God chose to live among sinful men.  He did this so that you and I could know the forgiveness of Christmas.   John concludes the verse with “and we beheld his glory. . .”  Yes, those who saw Him during His public ministry saw One like they had never seen before.  They saw Him heal the blind, raise the dead, cause the dumb to speak and the deaf to hear.  Yes, they beheld His glory.  However, we too can still behold His glory.  Every time we witness the work of salvation in a believing heart, we witness the greatest of all His glorious works.  What a joy it is to know that Christmas brings the miracle of salvation.

As we celebrate the wonder of Christmas together, it is my prayer and hope that you and your family have a wonderful and joyous Christmas celebration.  I pray that you will have the opportunity to introduce your unsaved family and friends to the Wonder of Christmas through salvation this year.  In the words of the old carol. . .”Oh, Come Let Us Adore Him!”

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”  (Eccl 9:10)

In his book, Tallyho, the Fox!, author Herb Hodges quotes Myles Munroe in a comment on potential.  This is a great and a must read for all who would succeed. . .

“The wealthiest spot on this planet is not the old fields of Kuwait, Iraq or Saudi Arabia.  Neither is it the gold and diamond mines  of South Africa, the uranium mines of the Soviet Union or the silver mines of Africa.  Though it may surprise you, the richest deposits on our planet lie just a few blocks from your house.  They rest in your local cemetery or graveyard.  Buried beneath the soil there are dreams that never came to pass, songs that were never sung, books that were never written, paintings that never filled a canvas, ideas that were never shared, visions that never became reality, inventions that were never designed, plans that never went beyond the drawing board of the mind and purposes that were never fulfilled.  Our graveyards are filled with massive volumes of potential that remained potential.”

“Potential demands that you never settle for what you have accomplished.  One of the great enemies of your potential is success.  Small successes destroy great possibilities!  In order to realize your full potential, you must never be satisfied with your last accomplishment.  It is also important that you never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.  The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life that never realized its full potential.”

Let’s ALL live up to our potential!

Back in the 1970’s I can remember many preachers thundering in their pulpits about the dangers of the “Deeper Life” movement.  They declared it to be at odds with the spirit of soul-winning and evangelism.  Yet, the preponderance of the lack of any depth of modern-day believers has become the present strangler of soul-winning.  As with any theological point, it is easy to “go to seed” and miss other important issues.

In his book The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer addresses the problem that is produced by those who fail to have depth in their walk with the Lord.  He writes. . .

“We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God.  We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.  The tragic results of this spirit are all about us.  Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: These and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.”  [A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Harrisburg, PA:  Christian Publications, 1948) pp. 69-70]

Since this classic book was written in 1948, and what Tozer saw the church of his day, what would Tozer think of much of the church of our day?  Although Tozer has passed away, what about the One who will never pass away?  How does God view His church today?  He yearns for intimate fellowship with His people.  Do we have the same yearning for Him?

The following article is an outline that was preached at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Columbus, GA.    Basically, I became very disturbed by all of the media pundits, and others, who claim to know that “God Hates War.”  It is biblically obvious that such people have never examined the Scriptures to see what God has to say.  Although, God loves peace, there are times when He justifies and calls for war.  I hope the following is a challenge and blessing.  If you would like the complete outline in downloadable format, please feel free to e-mail me at admin@pastorwynn.com with your request and I will send you the file at no cost.

When God Justifies War
Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and Selected

 America is getting ready to celebrate her 232nd birthday. We are grateful for a nation such as ours. We are thankful for liberty and freedom. We are blessed by living in a land of prosperity and peace.

However, America is engaged in a war that is dividing our nation. War is nothing new. It has been a part of history since man’s early history. For America, it took a war with England to gain our independence and freedom from a monarchy. Other wars have dotted our history. . .

• American Revolution (1775-1782)
• War of 1812 (1812-1814)
• Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
• Civil War (1861-1865)
• Spanish American War (1898)
• WWI (1914-1918)
• WWI (1941-1945)
• Korean War (1945-1953 Cease-fire)
• Vietnam War (1959-1975)
• Persian Gulf War (1991)
• Iraq War (2003-?)

The human casualties of these wars are an estimated 1.1 million (with almost half of those is WWII). There are another estimated 1.5 million wounded. Yes, war has impacted our national history.

Concerning our current conflict in Iraq, we have become a divided nation. Sadly, we are approaching days like we experienced in the Vietnam era. In WWII America, as a nation, went to war. We had been called to war by the unprovoked attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. We answered the call, and America led the world in a decisive victory. Those of the WWII era became known as the “Greatest Generation” in a book by Tom Brokaw.

In Vietnam, soldiers were sent to war but America stayed home. Protest and riots were the hallmark of a youthful generation that failed to realize the price of freedom was sacrifice. The war became a political firestorm that strangled military strategy and, for the first time in her history, America lost a war. South Vietnam was conquered by North Vietnam and placed under communist rule.

It seems that history is trying to repeat itself. Yet, the division of our country is based upon the faulty premise that war is never right. The arguments against war fall into one of three categories. These are. . . (more…)

The Beauty of Holiness
Read: Psa. 108:7a (“God hath spoken in his holiness“)

Jesus Christ is absolute holiness. This is, perhaps, His most beautiful attribute. Throughout the Scriptures we find that we should “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psa. 29:2; 96:9; I Chr. 16:29). Notice that the phrase does not say “the beauty of His holiness.” But rather, it states, “the beauty of holiness.” Thus, beauty is attributed to holiness itself (cf. I Chr. 20:21; Psa. 110:3). Holiness displays its own beauty. Holiness stands in direct opposition to the vileness and ugliness of sin. Although sin’s pleasure is attractive (Heb. 11:25), it possesses no beauty. Attractiveness may go no farther than the skin, but beauty radiates from within the heart and soul.

Therefore, we find the inherent beauty of God is found in His holiness. God is the consummation of divine holiness. There is not even the slightest hint of anything less than holiness to be found in the nature of God (James 1:17; I Jn. 1:5). Thus, the more we know of God, the less we desire to know of sin. The more consumed we are with God, the less contaminated we shall be with sin. And, the more intimate with God we are, the less influenced by sin we will be. If we, as sinful men, are distraught over the sinfulness of our age, then how much more must the Holy God be sickened by even the smallest of our sins.