The response of so many to the news I shared about The Gospel Study Guide (GSG) has been very encouraging!  Thanks everyone.

I thought I would mention a few things about this new resource so here are five things I want you to know.


1.    This is 100% a PRE-conversion tool to help students come to really understand what the Bible teaches about our sin, the work of Jesus, God’s grace, and faith.   As a pastor, I am often approached by children and youth who want to be baptized.  I want to be sure that they have deeply understood the Gospel and said a whole-hearted “YES” to it before they are baptized.  Those of us in Baptist and other like-minded churches hear this story often: “I was baptized when I was 6 or 7 or 8 but I really didn’t know what I was doing.  It was later that my faith became real.”    It seems to me that we can prevent those kinds of confusing experiences with better teaching.  I couldn't find a resource that addressed this need so over the last few years I've been developing one.  Now, here it is.

2.   This resource can be used by anybody - student, parent, church leader, in any setting.   The GSG takes the user through the Scriptures and the key concepts of the Gospel.  There are answer pages in the back so you can check your responses.  You don’t have to be an expert or a professional.  You can do this!

3.   There are several pages of instructions and guidance for the students who will use the GSG and for the parents or other adults leading sessions.   If you choose to use the GSG, I strongly encourage you to read these pages.

4.    This is the kind of study that a pre-teen or youth can work through more than once.  In fact, the more times they walk through it the better!   Some who have genuinely said “yes” to the Gospel will benefit from gaining a clearer, sharper understanding of what they did when they trusted Jesus to be their Savior.

5.   We all want our children and teenagers to experience this wonderful thing we call being saved.  But wishful thinking is not enough.   The Holy Spirit doesn’t use  vague hints or indirect pressure.   The Spirit uses the Gospel to convict and create faith.    The guide provides a structure for a sustained exposure to the Gospel facts.  This is a long look at what this thing called the Gospel is all about.  This is a tool to help the child deeply engage with the Gospel.  

     If you are looking for something that is quick and easy...this is not for you.   This for the parent or pastor who wants to bring an older student through a sustained interaction with Bible passages that teach Gospel basics.  This allows the child to discover the Gospel for him or herself.  It requires their mental engagement with the hope that it will lead to heart engagement.
   This will require a serious commitment of time but this is, after all, a serious issue.

Copies are available for $10 plus $2 for postage costs.   Email me at clark956@hotmail.com.   If you find this resource helpful, I hope you’ll tell other parents and/or church leaders about it.

Thanks!
Clark Palmer

Walking In Our Forgiveness

Let’s talk about being chronically miserable because of the sinful/dumb/foolish things we did in the past. 

Let’s talk about that inner voice that says, “You can’t worship, pray, serve, because of that thing or those things.”  Or, “You shouldn’t even mix with those other, ‘decent’ people.”   

You hear those voices and sharp-edged feelings of guilt and shame explode inside you.  

I suspect that all of us have some experience with guilt and shame.   We’ve all behaved in ways that fell short of what God intended and short of what others expected and needed.   For some, the past may seem littered with a thousand small instances of failure.  The memory of those multiple mistakes is ever present, stealing the joy from today.   For others, the present is haunted by that one big failure in the past that still clouds every day. 

On the one hand, those of us who are believers would affirm our belief that when Jesus died on the cross, it was for our sins.  We believe what we sing... “Jesus Paid It All.”   But the truth is we don’t always feel it.   We aren’t walking in the forgiveness that was granted us when we put our faith in Jesus.

So we carry extra baggage with us through each day.   Guilt.  Shame.  Fear.  Sadness.  Emptiness.  Hopelessness.  Like a low grade fever these drag us down.

   

Events....trigger memories that trigger shame.  Opportunities....excite you but then you remember... ”Oh wait, I’m not fit.  I’m not worthy.   I can’t serve.  I can’t attend.  I can’t pray.  I can’t speak up.  Who am I to get involved?”

  

We aren’t walking in our forgiveness.   

Walking in your forgiveness means that each day you actively remember what the Bible says about the sins of your past.   

Proverbs 28:13 “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

All of Psalm 32, but especially verse 5, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.    I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”  And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

All of Psalm 103, and best of all verses 11-12, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth,  so great is his love for those who fear him;  as far as the east is from the west,  so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

How will you greet the new day with joy again?   By walking in your forgiveness

How will you be real again?  By believing what God says about your sin

How will you serve again?   By fully owning the fresh start God gives to those who confess. 

How will you worship and pray again?  By knowing you stand fully accepted before God because Jesus took your sin with him to the cross. 

You have to walk in your forgiveness. 

Shut down the relentless attack by your memories.  

Healing of the memories comes as you stand up to that part of your mind that puts the record of your past sin on "repeat" so that it plays over and over. 
Sternly, firmly tell that accusing memory to be silent.
Subdue the voice that whispers ''condemned."

It speaks lies.

When those thoughts say, “You are worthless and unacceptable,” you can forcefully respond with the truth:  “That’s not what the Word says.  The Word says I’m a cherished, beloved child of my heavenly Father."

Live in  joy.   Approach God in prayer.  Say yes to the chance to serve.  Take your place among the believers for worship.   Pull up a chair and take part in fellowship with the rest of the forgiven sinners.

Walk in your forgiveness. 

The Gift of Encouragement

I read a story yesterday that reminded me that words are powerful.   Larry Crabb tells of a man who struggled for years with a drinking problem and depression.   In the course of his counseling interviews, this story emerged.  His father started a business which grew to be a large corporation.  Repeatedly, this man told him, “Son, when you inherit the family business, I expect that you will ruin it.”  

You can imagine the stinging pain and discouraging impact of those words.  After his father died, the man was driven to prove his father wrong.  The pressure to keep that prediction from coming true pushed him to work long hours.  He found that alcohol was a temporary relief from the terrible fear of failure.  Eventually he fell into a dark hole of depression. 

Certainly the story is a warning about negative, discouraging words.    But I tell the story to make this point - positive, encouraging words are just as powerful.  

It is within your power today to give the gift of encouragement to the people in your world.  And it won’t cost a dime or take up much of your time or effort.   

Everyone you meet today is struggling in some area of their life.   Everyone.   

In some corner of their world they are insecure or uncertain.   Most of them are weary from the struggle.  Some of them have forgotten that their lives and efforts matter.   They have the feeling they are toiling on alone, in the dark, with no end in sight.

A long time ago, there was a group of Jesus followers who were drifting away from their faith.  Surrounded by an environment that was hostile to their faith, they were on the verge of giving up.  The advice that came to them was this:

  “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”   Hebrews 10:24-25

Today you will walk by people who are carrying some heavy stuff in their lives.  Some of those you will speak to today think their lives don’t matter.  Others are discouraged by their circumstances.   

What if we decided that today, we would target the people around us with some encouraging words?   There’s something to appreciate about everyone.  What if you gave voice to that today?

  

“Hey, thanks for being here.   You are such a helpful person.”    

“We couldn’t do this without you.  Thanks so much.”

“I know things aren’t easy for you right now but I admire you for hanging in there.”

“About that job yesterday....well done.”

“Don’t give up.  I believe in you.”  

I’m going to try to be more intentional about being encouraging today.   I hope you will too.  One sentence at a time we can do some good.

1 Encouragment, The Key To Caring.  Larry Crabb, Dan Allender. Zondervan Publishing House, 1984. 

Patient, Understanding, Tender

I wish I could hear how my words sound before I say them.

I wish there were a recall button that I could press that would pull those words back out of their memories, their minds, the air.

Sometimes I wish others could hear  how they sound.  I know they don’t mean to be harsh.   I know in my heart they don’t really want to be mean and rough and insensitive.

I wish I could go back and whisper in my own ear, “be patient, be understanding, be tender.”

I can’t do any of that but I can tell myself today,
 “Be patient - it will all be ok without you saying something that will sting.”
“Be understanding - they are probably doing the best they can and maybe struggling with problems you don’t know anything about.”
 *Be tender - after all, that’s how you’d want others to speak to you.”

We can be patient, understanding, and tender and still be firm.  We can still give clear direction.  We can still say no.

How can we get ourselves to a place where the tone of what we say is patient, understanding, tender?

Jesus pointed the way when he said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”  (Luke 6:45)

Perhaps in our morning prayers we can adjust the setting of our heart and choose to be patient with those we’ll meet and those we love.   We can remind ourselves to be understanding because there’s a lot going on in the minds and hearts of the  little ones, the older ones, the cranky ones.  We can decide to be tender with others just as we would want them to be tender with us.

The Gospel of Mark Project

Last Sunday I called on the wonderful folks at Faith Baptist to stretch themselves a bit and take on the challenge of reading the Gospel of Mark in December.   Many believers have never actually read a Gospel straight through.  It’s a mind-expanding, faith-building, exciting process.

And it’s completely doable.  Mark is the shortest of the Gospels with only 16 chapters.  I’ve already received reports from those who have begun.

What better way to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world, than by reading his story?

So, I thought I’d extend the challenge.  Find your New Testament.  Start reading today.  The goal at church is to be done by the 20th.   I plan to recognize everyone who has taken the challenge.  But....the goal for you might be to finish by Christmas Eve.

So, how about it?   Read a chapter today.   And let me know on here or on Facebook that you’re joining in.

It Doesn't Matter.

Thanksgiving and Christmas usually mean family gatherings.   Family gatherings sometimes mean tension, conflict, hurt feelings....you know what I mean.   Rivalries flare up.  Old hurts are remembered.  Differences of opinion emerge. Pride and stubbornness appear on the scene.  There can be clashes when their agenda doesn't match yours. 

Some of you are already dreading the day.

So here’s a thought: What if you decided to simply say to yourself - “It doesn’t matter.  I’m here to love and serve.”

Someone suggests something outrageous like “Let’s not have pecan pie this year.”   And instead of reacting with horror and contempt, what if you just thought, “It doesn’t matter.  I’m here to love and serve.”

Someone brings up that “thing” from your past.  And instead of helping re-start that argument or planning to bring up that “other thing” from their past, what if you just thought,  “It doesn’t matter.  I’m here to love and serve.”   

Perhaps the whole day could go better, at least for you and maybe for everyone if the thought you had in your head was,  “It doesn’t matter.  I’m here to love and serve.”

After all, the truth is,  it really doesn't matter.

When the Apostle Paul was trying to help some friends move away from tensions and conflict, he shared these words:

 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."     Philippians 2:3-4

As you work your way through the various encounters of Thanksgiving week, put others first and keep telling yourself,   “It doesn’t matter.  I’m here to love and serve.”  

You may find yourself pleased at how well it all goes.   

Do It Now

Every so often I need to be reminded that I really do like the "Do It Now" philosophy.   I push decisions into the future because I think I'm not ready to commit.  I let small chores and errands pile up for later while I do other work because I foolishly think that  some extra space will soon magically appear in my schedule  I don't make the phone call because, you know, it's just easier to not confront the issue.  

Hearing these three words can help me flip the switch in my brain.  The wiser part of my mind can override the tendency to delay and I can go into action.   Action mode is the better mode.  It's energizing.  I get some freedom by knocking out some of the piled up/untouched "stuff" that needs to be addressed.  I feel freer and better about life.   

I may not be the only one like this.

It may be that some others need to be reminded to "Do It Now."

I asked Michelle (the daughter) to create a simple graphic that could draw attention to this life strategy.   I'm hoping it helps me and maybe you to flip the switch, up the energy level and start taking care of our business.