Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

“Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

(Proverbs 27:1 NIV)

There are not many things that we can be sure of. None of us can wake up tomorrow morning and say that our jobs, marriages, finances, homes, the state of our nation, our health or anything else is for sure. Many of you perhaps find yourself in a totally different situation right now than you thought you’d be in last year at this time. There is only one thing that we can be sure of and that is God’s Word. Whatever God says will come to pass. Things He says about history, promises that He makes and things He claims about Himself are for sure.

The book of Romans gives us hope against all hope as we see God’s Word declaring truths about what He has done for us. In this book, Paul tells us what our responses should be towards this Awesome God. Listen for a moment to the voice of God: “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (8:1); “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…” (8:28); “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8); “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (8:38).

How do we respond to a God who has done so much for us and who did so even at the expense of His being responsible for the death of His only Son? We do so by renewing our minds (12:2), by using the gifts we’ve been given for His glory (12:4-8), and by living lives of obedience and living worshipfully each day walking with the God of our salvation, singing this song with our lives:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Today, let’s worship Him with everything within us, for this is the Hope we can rest in and the One whom the season we are about to celebrate is all about.

God’s Hand Of Blessing

“Give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

As I ponder the last twelve months since we last celebrated the Thanksgiving season as a church and as a nation, I am overcome with emotion as I think of all that God has done for me and my family. We have been so blessed financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically and in countless other ways that God has chosen to show Himself faithful and trustworthy. It’s a good season and for that I give Him praise!

How has your year been? If God’s hand of blessing has been obvious in your life, lift up your praise and shout it from the rooftops in proclamation of the goodness of the Lord. On the other hand you may be wiping the tears and blood stains off of yourself as you are just desperately holding on due to what you’ve been dealt this year. Maybe it’s a death, a divorce, loss of a job, a horrible marriage situation, a rebellious child, diagnosis of a terrible disease. Whatever it is and as bad as it might hurt, because of Who He is, all of us can, if we’ll put our trust in Him, say like the hymn writer Horatio Spafford, “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

The Lord never tells us to be happy about everything that we already have or will go through, but we are told to give thanks in the midst of each of those circumstances. Why, because it feels good? No, rather because He is good and no matter what your situation, He is using and will continue to use it to finish what He has begun in you with the goal of making you more like Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

This Thanksgiving season, no matter what you are going through, take a moment, even if you cannot think of anything else and thank God for who He is and for making a way for you to be His child. Just meditating on that gives us enough to be thankful for, for the rest of eternity. If you are still struggling to find something to give thanks about, take a moment and thank God that you have the ability to read this.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor MJ

God Knows His Children By Name

I’ll never forget the look on her face as I walked up to her and said hello and called her by name. Her eyes grew wide and her smile went ear to ear as her eye brow had an excited yet hint of unbelief that not only did I say hello, but that I knew her by name.

It’s no secret that being called by name is a powerful thing. Whether it’s Mark Jones (usually in a good comforting tone) or Mark Walton Jones (usually in a “opps, what did I do now” situation), being called by name has power.

Isaiah 43: 1 reminds us that God knows His children by name. What an awesome thing to ponder on. Just imagine yourself calling out to God and He answers back, “Hello (your name). You didn’t tell Him your name, you didn’t say, “Hello Lord, it’s (your name). He knows you. But it doesn’t stop there, my friend.

John 4:18 reveals to us that God not only knows your name, but He knows your situations intimately. “Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” John 11:14 and 35 shows us that our Lord knows our heart aches and is touched when we go through difficult times. “….So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead….Jesus wept.” Furthermore, great comfort and proper godly fear should overwhelm us when we realize that not only does Jesus know our name, our situations, good and bad, but that He alone, knows the intent our hearts. Psalm 139 makes that clear in verses 1-4, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”

Today, as you worship Him in Spirit and in truth, thank Him for knowing your name, praise Him for knowing your needs, adore Him for caring for you in an intimate way every moment of every day.

“He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And He hears me when I call”

Tommy Walker

In God's Hands -Trust Him

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,

for there is no authority except that which God has established.

The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Romans 13:1

Wow! That’s about how I summed up the election of 2008. I am struck in two ways during this historic moment in time. First, as an American black man and a great, great grandson of a slave, my heart was full of joy and celebration as I watched a nation elect a man as President of the United States of America who at one time, as recently as when I was a child, could not ride in the front of busses, drink out of certain water fountains, enter certain restaurants, sit in the sanctuary of some churches or be enrolled at certain local seminaries. I never thought I’d see this day in my lifetime. We’ve come a long way!

Secondly, as a Christian my heart is comforted towards hope and drawn towards prayer for our President-Elect as I hold onto the Sovereignty of the God of the universe. A.W. Pink offers a definition of this sovereignty:
“The Sovereignty of God. What do we mean by this expression? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the god-hood of God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou? (Dan. 4:35). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in Heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His will (Psa. 115:3). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is "The Governor among the nations" (Psa. 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the "Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). Such is the God of the Bible.

”No matter what your thoughts are about our new President-elect, keep your eyes on our Living, True and powerful God who doesn’t change office every four or eight years, who can be trusted and who will always do what’s right. Live each day proclaiming through a prayer from your heart these powerful words from First Chronicles 29:11. "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as Head above all"

I Will Still Praise Him

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19

I’ll never forget a certain birthday for one of my sons. He had researched and planned for months on end to come up with what he wanted on his birthday. For months he dropped subtle and not so subtle hints about what he wanted. One day as his actual birthday drew near; he came to me with a smile and tender eyes and said, “Dad, if you get this for me, you won’t have to get me another gift until my next birthday!” To which I replied, “Son, if I get you this gift, this will take care of your next several birthday’s, Christmas and whatever else you might choose to celebrate.” Well, I ended up getting him the gift and he claimed that from that moment on that I never had to get him anything else and to top it off, that I was the best dad in the entire world!

It seems to be easy give praise and adoration when our cup is full, when our circumstances are good and healthy; not so easy when the well is dry and our circumstances find us on the pinky toe of our last leg.

Throughout the journey that the Lord has brought my family through, we have found great comfort and encouragement in the verses above. How easy it is to say, “Thank you, Jesus”, “Praise God,” “God is good,” when times are good? When all of the bills are paid and everyone is healthy and our jobs are going really well it’s not difficult to give God praise. When all of our friends think we are great and our spouses “rise and call us blessed” and our children are the better than the Cosby kids, it’s easy to say, “God is good”. But what happens when our world is shattered and it seems that all hope is gone? Is God still good? Is His faithfulness still great? Can we still proclaim that our hope is in Him? The answer, even in the “dark of our circumstantial night” is YES!

Praising God in the good season is wonderful and right, but the reality is that often, praise demands a sacrifice. A sacrifice that flows from an empty heart and hand; a sacrifice that proclaims, “though He slays me, I will still praise Him”. Because God’s goodness is not determined by what’s in my bank account, because God’s faithfulness is not determined by what condition my health is in, because God’s sovereignty is not determined by what my circumstances look like, because God’s love is not determined or diminished by His silence at the time, we can in any and every situation give Him praise and be joyful. But that praise and joy come, not from things getter better, rather by a choice of the heart to trust Him even though we cannot see Him, to believe His Word even though we cannot hear Him and to praise Him even if we cannot utter a word. Why…because He is worthy.