Devotionals

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Times have changed. Do you remember when having a weapon
in school meant being caught with a slingshot?

As we drove past a church, someone said, "I wonder who will be
the next 'pastor of the year'." It was meant in jest, but actually it
is very sad.

It is troubling when a church or an individual loses out on the
blessing of God because there is "sin in the camp." But it does
happen, and unless contrition is evident and the sin is confessed,
God's blessing will remain elusive. God doesn't have a
convenient rug where sins can be swept under, but he does have
an altar upon which confessed sins may be offered.

Deut. 23:14 (nlt) can be an interesting parallel to situations in
some of today's churches: "The camp must be holy, for the Lord
your God moves around in your camp to protect you and defeat
your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or
He might turn away from you." Folks, may that be a solemn
warning to us in our churches today. May God not turn away
from us because there is "sin in the camp." May He not withhold
His blessing because of a lack of confession -- for churches or
individuals.

"Once saved, always saved" is a theological position held by
many, but for a church to assume that "once blest, means always
blest" is a shaky supposition. A congregation needs to earn the
blessing of God by a conscious effort to remain pure. Let's work
at it. Some may even need to clean house.

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