What Do You Do With Your Crown

What Do You Do With Your Crown?

Revelation 4: 9-11

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 

10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
      To receive glory and honor and power;
      For You created all things,
      And by Your will they exist and were created.”

   A crown is what kings wear, right?  Not always, and in the Bible, mostly not.  The primary symbol in the Bible of ruling or the right to rule is the scepter, not the crown.  Genesis 49:10 & Isaiah 14:5 are two examples.  There can be only one ruler in a kingdom and one scepter.  Ultimate authority can’t be shared among subordinates.  We all want to be chiefs, not indians, but in reality there’s only one Chief. 

   So what does it mean when we see these twenty-four elders sitting around the Lord on His throne and wearing crowns?  If you look at the Greek word translated “crown,” you find it’s the word, “stephanos.”  A stephanos was a crown awarded to the victor of a race or a contest of some type.  The word for a king’s crown is the Greek word, “diadema,” where we get the word diadem from.  These stephanos-type crowns are what the elders were laying at the feet of Jesus - symbols of victory not symbols of ruling.

   The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him, which is giving or ascribing worth to the One being worshipped.  They are laying the symbols of their victories before Jesus, giving Him the worship, or in other words, the credit for the victories they received the crowns for.  They recognize that the worthiness, the credit, belongs to God, not to themselves.  Casting the crowns simply acts out their declaration.  They are saying, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.”  And if God is worthy of the glory and honor and power, then He should get the crown that symbolizes the victory. 

   The twenty-four elders - representing all the redeemed of God - throw every achievement reward they have back to God, because they know and want all to know that He is responsible for the victory that we received the crowns for.  Also note that they all cast their crowns before Him; there are no divided opinions in heaven.  No sects, no schisms, and no divisions were displayed there.  This passage does not say that any of the elders envied another because his crown was better looking.  No one criticized another for wearing his crown a different way.  No one said, “my jewels are prettier than your jewels are.”  Sound silly?  So do many of the reasons we give for not fellowshipping with other churches.  We revel in our divisions and brag of them.  I have news to break to you:  there won’t be divisions in Heaven, so you’d better get used to the idea of being one big happy family when you get there. 

   Although I have no particular preference for the King James Version, I confess a fondness for its version of Revelation 4:11: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  The phrase, “and for thy pleasure they are and were created,” reminds us that we exist to give glory and pleasure to God.  Until we do that, we don’t, and indeed can’t, fulfill our created purpose.  Charles Spurgeon said, “There is a throne in heaven that no one can occupy but You, and there is a crown in heaven that no other head can wear but Yours, and there is a part in the eternal song that no voice can ever compass but yours, and there is a glory to God that would be wanting if you did not come to render it, and there is a part of infinite majesty and glory that would never be reflected unless You should be there to reflect it!”

   Do you practice worship?  And if you do, why do you worship?  Do you follow others in worship, not really thinking of why you worship?  Like so many other aspects of our Christian life, we need to examine what we do and why we do it.  If you’re just going through the motions, remember to focus on Jesus.  He is One Who is worthy of your praise.

Stephen Cram                  March 27, 2011                         Colossians 2:8

How to be a Good Spotter

How To Be A Good Spotter

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

   Many athletic endeavors are not only physically difficult, but also physically dangerous.  We’ve all see videos of someone on a trampoline bouncing higher and higher and then hitting the edge and falling off.  I lifted weights for a brief time after high school, and heard stories of people doing bench presses alone and dropping the barbell on themselves.  One man was killed when the barbell landed on his neck and broke it.  I watched a gymnast miss a dismount and land on the hard floor rather than the pad.  He suffered a broken ankle.  All these problems could be avoided by making use of a spotter. 

   A spotter is a partner who stands by you and warns you when you’re in danger and gives a helping hand if needed.  A spotter for a bench press exercise can steady the barbell when you pick it up and stand by to help you if your arms begin to give out on you.  Just a little boost can help you place it safely back in the rack.  A gymnast who is concentrating on their routine needs a spotter to watch them to be sure they don’t dismount wrong and land somewhere they shouldn’t.  A good spotter also motivates the athlete and keeps encouraging them as they work out.

   In my Christian walk, I’ve been blessed with some good spotters.  The senior saint who has given me pep talks when the going got hard.  The ones who showed me a better way to live.  A steady hand on my shoulder to calm me down and tell me to focus on what I need to do and not let my mind wander.  The one who was there when I fell and helped me up and dusted my off and told me to try harder.  I read somewhere that a good spotter is "a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction."

   As I’ve grown in the Lord I’ve found myself in the role of a spotter.  I’ve been blessed with giving advice to young Christians and watching them grow.  It is a big responsibility, and one has to pray before giving advice that will affect someone’s life. 

   Today, I still value the use of a spotter.  An athlete never gets good enough to do without a spotter watching out for their safety, and a Christian never grows so much that they don’t need spiritual advice.  Don’t be ashamed to ask for advice and don’t be foolish to ignore good advice when it’s given. 

Stephen Cram                             March 20, 2011                   Colossians 2:8

He Wants Your Opinion

He Wants Your Opinion

Mark 8:27-29a NKJV

27 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”
28 So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

   I really don’t like to be put on the spot.  When someone looks me right in the eye and demands an opinion on some controversial question it always makes me stammer and then I feel awkward and usually mumble something that sounds pompous.  Peter didn’t have that problem, he was a “Ready, FIRE! Aim,” kind of guy.  There is no recorded pause between the Lord’s question and Peter’s answer. 

   But here the Lord Himself is putting us on the spot.  This question does not leave us any wriggle room.  He is asking a direct question and wants a direct answer.  Whether or not you’ve been a Christian for a long time or just a short time, whether you’re a pew warmer in the back pew or the pastor of the church, you need to face this question.  “But who do you say that I am?” 

   I’ve heard, I’d guess, dozens of sermons on this passage and heard a lot of opinions on this question.  Sometimes the answer has been out of the church’s Mission Statement.  Sometime it’s been some high-sounding theological statement.  Rarely has it been an honest answer dealing with the real question.  What is Jesus asking here?  How will you face the question and how you answer it?

   I can explain Who Jesus is out of the Bible.  I can put together a pretty accurate picture, as far as our limited human minds can understand, of what the Bible has to say about His Divine nature and His humanity.  But He’s not asking for a theological answer here, He wants to know who I think He is.  No hiding behind my church’s Mission Statement or getting lost in a theological explanation.  The question is a simple, direct one.  Is He my Lord?  Do I honor Him as Savior and King? 

   I’ve read this passage often and just passed over it and moved on.  But once in a while it hits me again.  “But who do you say that I am?”  Lord, King, Savior, and so much more that it staggers my mind.  When I turn to face Him and look Him in the eye all my indifference falls away.  He grabs my attention and for a minute I see His glory.  The troubles of the world dim and lose their power over me for that minute.  For just a minute I realize Who He is and I see myself in the reflection and know I am destined to be with Him for eternity.  For a minute I stand in His presence and see His love.  

   Look into His face.  Stop what you’re doing and look at His face.  Pew-warmer and Pastor, mature Christian and newly Saved, look into His face.  Who do YOU say He is?       

Stephen Cram            March 13, 2011                            Colossians 2:8

Earning God’s Love

Earning God’s Love

Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

   There is a short book written by David Gregory named, “Dinner With A Perfect Stranger.”  A man gets invited to dinner with Jesus, and gets to have a frank, honest conversation with Him.  The first key point he learns is that there is no way to earn God’s favor.  There is no road that leads to God, no program to join, no secret words to say, no shrine to visit.  There is no human way to reach God.       

   Search the scripture from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find anywhere where we are instructed on how to earn favor with God.  Indeed, the Bible pretty much tells us we are going to fail, and fail badly.  God’s love cannot be earned or bought.  He loved us before we knew Him, and even before we were born.  His love for you is purely a voluntary act on the part of Almightily God. 

   When Jeremiah wrote of this love, this is not a “from now on” type of love.  Love is part of God’s makeup and is the core of God’s Being, and was in His heart from before time began.  God’s love is an eternal constant that never fails and never runs out.  Love answers the “why” of creation, and explains the motivation of Calvary. 

   Paul says that this love “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).  In other words, the sum of man’s knowledge cannot explain the fullness of God’s love.  Karl Barth, a Swiss theologian, was asked by his students to identify the most profound truth in the world. His reply?  "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!”

   Why do we struggle with this truth?  For many years I wavered over this question, when the evidence was right in front of my eyes.  For me, the problem was going through difficult times in my life.  It was so easy to adopt a, “God must not care about this” attitude when problems pile up.  But the secret of keeping strong in the face of trials and problems in life is to not only remember God’s love but to rely on it. 

   The best way to gain strength in life is to pray and meditate on His Word.  As you commune with Him, you will draw strength from Him.  I don’t really know how it happens, but somehow God will impart His love and His strength into your life.  When I feel at my worse, if I stop and pray a miracle happens in my heart.        

   There’s no magic answer to life that eliminates all pain and fear.  So as long as you need to go through these hard times, why go through them alone?  Why not pray more and complain less?  And let that peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

Stephen Cram                               March 6, 2011                      Colossians 2:8

Laying the Monkey to Rest

Laying the Monkey to Rest

Philippians 4: 6&7

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

   I have been living with a monkey on my back for more than 20 years.  The monkey was named guilt.  This week I had a chance to face my greatest failure and deal with the guilt that has been nagging at me for more than two decades.

   To start at the beginning, I lost custody of all my children during a family crisis in 1983.  We were given  custody of the three oldest children back, but the two youngest were left in the foster care system.  They were eventually adopted by families, but the family of the youngest, Samuel, moved out of NH shortly after.  I never heard from them again.  I was already feeling guilty over the pain I allowed to happen to my children, and now I lost track of one of them.  The guilt became a burden so heavy it nearly crushed me beneath the load at times.  I prayed many, many times about finding him, but never learned anything about him.  I have searched for him for many years but never found a single clue.  I found out recently that I had been spelling his last name wrong. 

   In January, I received an email message from some woman I did not know asking if I knew of any Cram who might be related to a Samuel Peter.  I sat staring at my computer screen, not daring to believe the words.  I read and re-read that message, and finally replied back that I had had a son named Samuel Peter and gave all the info I could remember about him.  She wrote back to me and told me her husband was adopted and was trying to find out who his birth parents were.  She gave me a phone number and asked me to call.

   That night, I picked up the phone and tried to punch in the number, but couldn’t.  The monkey on my back dug its guilt into my brain and froze my fingers.  What if he hated me?  What if he just wanted to talk to me to tell me he never wanted to hear from me again?  What if he been abused and had suffered in his childhood?  What if…  What if…  What if…. 

   I was frozen by fear and guilt and had to force myself to finish dialing.  The phone rang and then a deep voice answered, and there I was face to face with my greatest failure and that mountain of guilt rose over me again.    

   We talked and slowly my fears melted and my guilt fell away.  I explained what had happened, and he began telling me about his childhood and his family.  We talked for a long time and said our goodbyes.  I hung up the phone and felt the claws loosen their hold in my brain.  Later that week, his wife invited me to come visit if I could.  It was almost Sam’s birthday, and she thought it would be great if I could be there.  I talked it over with my wife and then bought a Greyhound ticket and rode 23 hours on a bus to get there.  He met me with his family and we spent time together and we laughed and we cried and we joked and we had serious conversations.  I showed him little mementoes I had saved all these years which were all I had to remember him by.  I also had a picture of a hand-made Christmas ornament I had purchased with his name on it the year he was taken into foster care and told him I hang that ornament every year to remind me of him.  I would hang that ornament and say a quick prayer, “This year, Lord?” 

   And somewhere during that whirlwind first day that monkey on my back died.  I basked in the love I felt from him and his wife and from their four kids.  Sometime during the very first day he went from being a fading memory in my mind to a real person:  a man, a dad, a husband, a soldier, and my son.  His wife greeted me warmly into their family and their kids went from being names and pictures to grandkids.   And at the end of my time with them I wished that the last day could have lasted forever. 

   God has proven His love to me many times and I don’t doubt He shows me grace and mercy in abundance.  Many times I’ve asked Him for some lead about what had happened to Sam, and many times I wondered why He hadn’t answered.  But I’ve grown up enough over the years to know that God has His own timing and my brain is not big enough to understand how and why He does what He does.  I don’t know why I wasn’t able to connect with Sam until now, but I am thankful that Rachel, (his wife,) kept trying as long and as hard as she did.  I am thankful for the support of friends and family who have helped and encouraged and prayed for a long time.       

   My heart goes out to the people who still haven’t gotten their answers.  There are thousands of missing kids, missing parents, and missing spouses and for each of them there are people who sit by windows watching and waiting for just a word to let them know their loved one is OK.  Pray for them.  Pray God covers them with His love.  The pain they endure is hard and goes deep into the heart. 

Stephen Cram                          March 2, 2011                    Colossians 2:8

What Are You Looking For?

What Are You Looking For?

Matthew 18:20 NKJV

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

   I want to ask you a question, which assumes you go to church.  If you stay home for whatever reason and never go to church, don’t bother to answer the question - you have bigger problems to worry about.  The question is this:  When you go to church, what are you looking for?

   I want you to really, seriously, honestly answer that question.  Go ahead, now’s a good time.

   I don’t go to a flashy church.  My church does not have an over-the-top worship team.  There are no fancy lights and they don’t wear matching outfits.  Truth be told, they’re not even a particularly good worship team.  But that’s OK, because I don’t go to church to be entertained by the worship team. 

   Our pastor is a good speaker and he preaches the Word of God and does not shy away from Biblical truth.  But he doesn’t wave his arms or dance around or shout or show fancy slideshows during his sermons.  But that’s OK, because I don’t go to church to be entertained by the pastor. 

   I go to hear Biblical teaching and to have fellowship with other Christians.  I consider it essential for my spiritual well-being and growth.  It gives me a chance to worship God and honor Him.  Many places in the Bible instruct us to worship God and church gives me the opportunity to do that with like-minded Christians.  The Bible teaches us that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people.  So when we meet together in worship, He is there whether or not we have a light show and a full band rocking the house.  I am not against music, in fact I love worship music and worship time in church.  But the quality of the music and size of the worship team have no effect on whether or not the Holy Spirit will be present with us during our time together.  He will be there because He’s promised to be.  But do we hear Him?  Are we looking for His presence? 

   The Bible makes it clear that a right relationship with God requires both a "vertical" relationship – a relationship with God, and a “horizontal" relationship – a relationship with other believers.  If you fail in loving other Christians, you will have a problem having a right relationship with God.  One of the weirdest things I see in the church is people who profess love but don’t love others they go to church with.  If we are unwilling to practice love in the church, how do we expect to reach the unsaved with the Gospel? 

   Going to church gives me the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached and taught which increases my faith.  Romans 10:7 tells me, “so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Faith is vital to my spiritual life.  Faith allows me to grasp what God has promised me and without faith I would fail as a Christian. 

   And of course, going to church is showing obedience to God’s Word. 

   Hebrews 10:24&25 NKJV

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

   Going to church is a matter of obeying God's Word.  Supporting other believers is a responsibility charged to every believer. Rejecting church attendance is a rejection of one of the priestly duties of the believer.

   It also provides accountability to spiritual leadership appointed by God in the church.  We're instructed to submit to the authority of spiritual leaders within the guidelines of God's Word.  Hebrews 13:17 "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you"

   This system of accountability is designed by God to protect the church from the attacks of the enemy.  I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t believe going to the TV church on Sunday morning gives you that kind of protection.  How can you be under the authority of a TV pastor you’ve never met and doesn’t know you?

   Also, it is impossible to be under authority of a pastor if you are one of those who change churches frequently.  I Thessalonians 5:12 gives us the responsibility to know and be familiar with the elders of the church you go to.  I believe if you keep bouncing from pastor to pastor you are leaving yourself open to many problems including confusion and you will be vulnerable to attacks by the enemy. 

   I intend to honor the Lord’s Day and give him some time each week to meet together with a church family and worship God.  I grew up with a mother who believed that her studies showed her that Sunday was the Sabbath and we needed to honor Sunday as the Holy day.  My grandmother, however, spent some time in a Seventh Day Adventist church and had reasons to believe that Saturday was the Sabbath Day, and we should honor God then, but since she attended a church that worshiped on Sundays she would honor Sunday.  I underwent a personal study some time ago and reached conflicting conclusions.  I don’t prefer any day of the week over any other.  I believe that the act of meeting together and worshipping God is the important decision to make, not worrying over which day is more holy than the others. 

   There are many Biblical reasons to go to church and I pray you have found a church family to attend with.  I pray the Lord has directed your steps to find the place you can worship Him and grow together with other believers. 

Stephen Cram                  February 20, 2011               Colossians 2:8

When We Have Clean Hands

When We Have Clean Hands

Psalm18:20-24

20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
     According to the cleanness of my hands
     He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
     And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
     And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
     And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
     According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight. 

   In our American legal system, there is a doctrine known as the clean hands doctrine.  This is a rule of law that someone bringing a lawsuit or motion and asking the court for a favorable judgment must be innocent of wrongdoing or unfair conduct relating to the subject matter of this claim.  For example, if a seller sues a customer for not paying payments on a contract, but he had defrauded the defendant in some way, then the courts will not find in his favor because he is said to have unclean hands in the matter.  The judge is not bound to reward an illegal act. 

   The background of Psalms 18 is that David is running for his life from King Saul, his father-in-law.  Some in Saul’s court wanted to put this young upstart David in his place, so they made up things against him to tell King Saul.  The King was already jealous of David, so these stories only made it worse for David.  They said, "Saul, David said this," but he never said anything against Saul.  They said, "David is doing this to you," but he never did anything to injure Saul.  David's hands were clean.  Nevertheless, he was forced to flee from Saul and hide in the wilderness, fearing for his life.  He prayed to God for delivery from this powerful enemy, and God honored his prayers and not only kept him safe, but gave him favor with many people around him – including enemies of the Israelites. 

   During his long season of affliction under Saul, David had many opportunities to strike out against Saul, and history would have forgiven him for acting in self-defense.  Yet David consistently conducted himself in righteousness, and knew that God rewarded him because of it.

   Now, this was not a claim of sinless perfection on David’s part.  We see him make some questionable decisions during this stressful time of his life.  But through it all David kept the integrity of his heart right towards God.  He accepted God’s correction when he did wrong and actually defended Saul’s life and kept his followers from harming the King.  David resisted the remarkably strong temptation to depose Saul violently and take the throne promised to him.  This demonstration of righteousness was rewarded by God, Who gave David a throne that could never be taken away from him.

   No matter how difficult our problems may be, if we have clean hands before God He will fill our hands with blessing.  "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me" v. 20.

   David's hands were clean. He worshipped God sincerely and tried to follow His commandments and the statutes of the Law and God knew.  God knows the intents of our hearts, and knows when our hands are clean or only white-washed. 

   When our hands are clean and we are keeping our hearts right before God, He will work for us.  He will give us what we need to see us through our problems, protect us and help us.

   God responds to us as we respond to Him.  Verses 25 & 26 tell us, “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.”  I read this to mean that we decide how close God will be and how much help He will be able to show us.  In verse 19 David said, "He delivered me because He delighted in me."  The Lord delights in all His children, but if we have clean hands and a pure heart we open the way for God to shower us with blessings.  God rewards us according to our righteousness. Are you keeping the ways of the Lord? If so, you may depend on His protection and strength.  When your hands are clean, He sees you through your difficult trials and circumstances.

Stephen Cram                      February 13, 2011                 Colossians 2:8

Are Your Hands Clean?

Are Your Hands Clean?

Psalm 24:4-5 NKJV

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
   Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
   Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
   And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

   I can still hear my mom’s voice asking the question for the umpteenth time – “did you wash your hands?”  And no matter how carefully I had washed my hands, she’d look at them and determine that they weren’t clean enough. 

   Many people carry small containers of "hand sanitizer" to clean their hands when they are away from home.  Most of our society is trying to educate us on the necessity of having clean hands and to get us to develop the habit of trying to have clean hands.  We are trained in the importance of sanitation and controlling diseases by washing one's hands to removing dead skin, contaminants and disease causing microbes.  And, truth be told, with all the things our hands come into contact with we need to be extra careful to get rid of anything that would try to cause sickness or disease, otherwise we might spread it through contact to others around us.  Think of all the people you touch directly through physical contact such as handshakes each day, and also everything you touch that another person may pick up or touch as well.  All it takes is one person carrying a disease to infect and contaminate a large group of people around them.  We must all have clean hands, so that we protect ourselves and others from touching anything that is improper.

   Have you ever considered that you need to keep your spiritual hands clean as well?  Just like our physical hands can become contaminated if we touch something wrong, so our spiritual life and hands become contaminated if we touch sin.  God is asking us to examine ourselves to be sure we keep clean hands spiritually much like my mom used to ask me to be sure I kept my physical hands clean.  Remember; God is watching you, and if you think you can get away with sin before Him, you are deceiving yourself.

   There are many situations and things that, as a Christian, you have no business touching or being engaged in.  Anything action or item that serves to separate you God is sin.  Period.  And, just as we all have different tolerances for disease, so Christians have different tolerances to being caught in a trap of sin.  There are sinful activities that have no lure for me but there are those that I need to avoid or risk being drawn into. 

   Another danger is the contamination factor.  If I sin openly, what of others who see me?  If my family sees me sinning, I run the risk of one of them also sinning in the same way.  If co-workers see me sinning, what example for Christ am I giving them?  My actions can spread sin to others, and the results can have eternal consequences.

   Keep your spiritual hands clean and wash them frequently.  I find myself examining my life a lot looking for things or actions that I know God does not want me involved in.  And I’ve found its often easier to avoid these actions in the first place and harder to stop them once I’ve started.  Keeping your hands clean is a lot easier if you’re not handling muck all day long.  You’re spiritual hands are easier to keep clean if you don’t handle sinful things all day long. Your heart will be healthier and you’ll enjoy a blessed relationship with God the Father.  You’re testimony will be more effective if you’re not presenting the Gospel with hands that stink of sin and rebellion.  

Stephen Cram                            February 6, 2011                 Colossian 2:8

Are You Winterized?

Are You Winterized?

Philippians 4:11-13

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

   Growing up in New England, I took for granted that we would go through cold weather.  When I was little I thought it was normal to wear several layers of clothing and be bundled up so much you could hardly move.  I shoveled snow in the driveway, scraped ice off car windshields, and slipped and skidded my way through the snow, slush, ice, and cold.  Wintertime was a normal part of life.  When winter comes it is a time of dark, dreary days with blasts of cold winds.  We knew we had to winterize our cars, our homes, and our wardrobes before the icy cold came upon us.

   In our spiritual lives, we go though winters as well, and we have to winterize our spiritual lives to prepare ourselves to face these cold times.  Those winter times in our lives can bring dark times and cold winds to our lives.  Our spiritual winters can leave us discouraged, lonely, and depressed.  There are some things that can make the cold of our spiritual winters harder. 

The Blast of Cold Air

   When we are going through trials and hardships, we sometimes tend to let our guard down and it's easier for influences from the world around us to blow through our lives and cool our spiritual fervor.  It seeps through the cracks in our spiritual lives much like the winter air seeps into our homes around the doors and windows.

   We've got to dig out the caulk and weather stripping and block those cracks and holes.  Using God's Word is the best way to do this.  If we have it in our hearts, it can help stop the cold air of the world from blowing into our lives.  The Word of God is the best weather stripping you can apply to your life.

The Icicles of a Cold Attitude

   During the winter it is easy to develop a cold attitude.  And it doesn't take much for some of us.  Here come the dark, dreary days with the cold and the chill and we form icicle attitudes.  We become cranky and out of sorts with our family and anyone who we come in contact with.  We also tend to complain more about anyone and anything.

   When we are in the midst of an icicle attitude, we don't have much fellowship with anyone so there isn’t anyone to help encourage us through our trials.  We don’t let anyone get close to us.  It's not easy to re-adjust our attitude during a winter because the weight of that ice is bearing down on our hearts.  We need to remember Who God is and let the warmth of His love melt those icicles in our attitude.

The Blizzards of Circumstances

Winter can bring so many things along with it, and blizzards are perhaps the worst.  When blizzards blow over us, they can leave us feeling devastated and overwhelmed.  Circumstances in our lives can also be devastating and overwhelm us.  Bills mount up.  Family members get sick or even die.  Relationships get sour, and many other circumstances weigh down on us until we can't go on because we can't see the road before us.  During these times we need to dig ourselves out of the mountain of problems with prayer.  Prayer is the best tool we have to dig our way out of the drifts of care that pile up on top of us and weigh us down. 

The Frost of Depression

   Better bundle up because if you are going through a trial, depression is going to come nipping at your heels like a bad frost.  Just as the cold weather of winter leave a frosty layer of ice on everything, trials seem to leave a frosty layer of depression on our lives.  The problem is that when we are in the midst of the winter it is so easy to just let it build up on us.  There's no easy way out of depression and you will be afflicted by it at times, but keeping our lives centered on Christ and worshiping Him doing regular personal devotions and prayer times each day will help thaw out a frost-covered heart.  Worshiping Christ is the one sure way of warming your spirit and melting the frost of depression. 

   Remember the simple rule:  when you feel cold, get closer to the flame.  So bundle up your hearts, and remember that winter only lasts for a season.  You will feel the warmth of the Son again soon. 

Stephen Cram                        January 30, 2011                        Colossians 2:8

Do I Make God Sick?

Do I Make God Sick?

Revelation 3: 15&16 NKJV

15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 

16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

   I used to meditate on this passage a lot.  I just couldn't understand how being lukewarm could be a sin so bad that the Lord Jesus reprimanded them for it.  What's wrong with being lukewarm? What’s wrong with being in the middle of the pack?  Being there is safe and you’re doing OK, right?  Why would anyone complain about people plodding along silently and patiently, never bothering anyone?  And why does the Bible declare that it’s better to be cold than to be in a lukewarm condition?

   So I asked myself, “What is being lukewarm anyway?”  Being lukewarm is a state of being passive; a state of not moving forward or moving backward.  You are stuck in rut with no desire to either get out or lay down in the mud, you just stand still.  A lukewarm person has reached a state of mind where they are afraid of losing what little they have, and won’t take the risk to gain any more.

   If a person is in a cold state of mind, they can at least be shown that they need more from God.  If they are miserable and in pain, they can be shown that they have a need for healing and a touch from God.  But when they don't want to move from where they are, when they are too comfortable to be really miserable and don’t know they’re unhappy, what words can lure them out of the comfortable grave they have made for themselves?  What can prompt them to love and find the real meaning to the life that they don’t even realize they’re missing when they’re too blasé to even want to change?

   One of the bi-products of lukewarmedness (is that a word?) is empty religion.  One of the worst curses ever on the earth is empty religion.  The hardest to reach with the Gospel is the one who has just enough Jesus to think they are saved but with no conviction of sin in their hearts.  I think Jesus spent more time with the tax-collectors and harlots and others sinners because His words could reach them.  The Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees were too close to their religion to see they were too far away from God.  I also think that Satan rejoices over the lukewarm religionists who do no harm to him and never point anyone to the cross.

   Jesus’ cry here is, “I wish you were either hot or cold!”  If you were hot He could use you to further the Kingdom of God.  If you were cold, He would send someone to you to witness the Gospel to you.  But you are lukewarm and do not hear His call to you.  I feel Judas had a lukewarm heart and followed Jesus just so far but never let his heart warm to his Master.

   The letter in this passage is written to the church of the Laodiceans.  Laodicea means “Rule of the People.”  I picture a church there ruled by the will of the majority, never letting the Spirit of God move them.  The curse of political correctness grows in churches like this.  They come to accept anything because they won’t stand against anything.  Jesus acknowledges this condition in this church in His salutation to them.  The first six churches He writes to are greeted differently - the church OF Ephesus, the church IN Smyrna, IN Pergamos, IN Thyatira, IN Sardis, and IN Philadelphia.  But this church is the church OF THE Laodiceans, this church is the people’s church.

   The lukewarm Christian is just as happy in a church with a lot of programs as he is in a cold church with little activities.  He will not give his heart to anything and serenely floats from week to week.

   Examine your heart.  Does the cross still draw you?  When you pray, is your heart moved?  Are you excited when you read the Word?  If you answered “no” to any of these, it’s not too late.  Christ waits with open arms for you to come closer. 

Stephen Cram                    January 23, 2011               Colossians 2:8

Absolute Darkness

Absolute Darkness

Matthew 6:23 KJV

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

   What do you think of when you think of “dark?”  I’d guess that we've all got a little different perspective on what the word "dark" really means, because we've had different experiences in our lives that we base those mental images on. To many when we think of darkness, we see images of barely seen objects, like the furniture that you almost trip over if you get out of bed in the middle of the night.  Others see dark roads out in the country away from the lights of the city.  I used to work a watchmen job on the third shift, and have a different mental picture of “dark.”  I was walking out to a storage area that was on a suspended floor over a warehouse.  There were openings in the end of the building for ventilation that were shut because it was winter time.  I was nearly at the end of the floor where the watch clock key was hanging when the lights went out.  There was no warning that the lights were about to go out.  The weather was calm and nothing unusual was going on.  Somewhere nearby, a transformer simply reached the end of its operational life and burned out.  I was suddenly standing in the middle of a really dark room a long way away from the nearest window.  Where I was, it was darkness that was thick, black, silent, and a bit frightening.  It was almost like you could feel the darkness.  I froze in place, and tried to get past the disorientation and shock of this sudden, unexpected, absolute absence of light.  I could not see my hand right in front of my face.  It was as if my eyes stopped working.  I had to feel my way out of the room a step at a time frequently stumbling over machine parts and boxes of machine parts that were stored all over the floor.  Getting back to a room with windows was such a relief!  Even what little light I had was better than the complete blackness of where I had been.

   One of the theories about what Hell is like describes it as absolute darkness.  This is based on 1 John 1:5, which says that "...God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."  I see Hell as a place where there is an absolute absence of God, and therefore there will be the absolute absence of light.  An absence of light worse than that awful deep darkness that I suddenly experienced when the power went out that winter night. 

   I know and know confidently that I will never personally experience hell, because Jesus Christ has saved me and the Bible promises me that I will spend eternity with Him.  If Hell is anything like those moments of utter darkness, I'd be really afraid to go there and it would make me get to my knees and plead with God for mercy.

   No one really knows what it is like to be in a place with the complete absence of God’s presence.  I've been in some pretty ungodly places in my lifetime, but even in the worst of these places God was there offering grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation to any and all who would receive it.  In the most hopeless of situations, God offers hope to all who call on Him.  There's really nothing that we have experienced or can ever experience that even comes close to the horror of being in a place with the complete absence of God’s presence.  What could be more hopeless than that?

   But,…..  But, nobody has to experience it.  That's the best news of all.  It's totally, absolutely optional, and anyone who ends up experiencing that dark, miserable eternity does so by their own choice.  God has gone out of His way to offer you that choice; the choice of eternal life and light or eternal death and darkness. 

It's up to you to make a choice.  To me, it was a pretty easy choice.

Stephen Cram                         January 16, 2011                                 Colossians 2:8

What’s My Line?

What’s My Line?

Titus 2:1 NKJV

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 

   Remember that old TV show?  What’s My Line was a panel show that ran on TV for about 17 years.  A panel of celebrities had to ask questions to a guest to try to guess what their occupation was.  The questions could only be answered by yes or no answers, so it was sometimes difficult to pin down the guest’s occupation.  The best guests were the ones who didn’t look anything like what you’d think they should look like.  Some wimpy looking guy with skinny arms might be a bull rider or a woman might be an oil-rig roughneck. 

   Paul tells Titus about some pastors and teachers who would have been good on What’s My Line; they professed to be faithful Christians but they lived lives contrary to Christian teachings.

Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

   I can imagine the panelists trying to guess what these people did.  They indulged in things Paul called “abominable,” they were not faithful to the Bible, “disobedient,” and they were not qualified to be pastors and teachers, “disqualified for every good work.” 

   But at the start of chapter 2, Paul gives Titus the advice that Shakespeare would make famous about 1500 years later when he wrote his great work, Hamlet.  Polonius advices his son, Laertes,

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.   

   Simple advice but it makes a powerful impact on your life and the lives of those around you.  And Paul makes it personal to Titus; who he calls his son in the faith.  He starts out this short but powerful piece of advice with, “But as for you.”  Titus couldn’t be a better Christian for his congregation’s sake.  He, like you and I, have to live as well as we can for ourselves.  Those first four words narrow this down to what I can control.  I can work at what I am, and I need to focus on that. 

   The second part is what I’m supposed to do about others.  I need to tell them the truth so they will know what God expects of them.  “Speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.” This tells me what to do around others.  Too often we measure our lives by our church or by our pastor.  We need to measure ourselves by what others see every day.  When I’m waiting in a long line at the store and the cashier is practicing for “Slowest Cashier of the Year,” what do others see?  When I’m working and everything is falling apart and going wrong, what do they see?  When my kids do something wrong, what do they see?  When the car slides off the road and the wheels bury themselves in the mud or snow, what do others see? 

   The idea behind this phrase has to do with right living, not just right thinking.  One translation says, “Speak up for the right living that goes along with true Christianity.” 

   Sorry, but we can’t get away from this subject.  The Bible says a lot about how we should live.  Saying that we believe its truth but then ignore how it tells us to live our lives is the very definition of hypocrisy.  We don’t always like it, but we always need to hear how God expects us to live. 

Stephen Cram                    January 9, 2011                      Colossians 2:8

A Firm Foundation

A Firm Foundation

Luke 6:47-49 NKJV

47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 

48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

   The Leaning Tower of Pisa was designed to be a bell tower for a cathedral, with a bell on each floor that would sound a different musical note.  But after only three floors, the weight began to compress the soil under its foundation.  The soil, being a mix of clay and sand, settled unevenly.  The tower, which is seven floors high and weighs over 14,200 tons, has been slowly tilting over the years.  It was closed for repairs in 1990 when the angle got to more than 14 ½ feet out of line.  Thankfully, combinations of counterweights, excavated soil and slings have finally stabilized one of the most famous buildings in the world.  It was reopened in 2001 for tourists to view.   

   The Tower would never have become a tourist attraction if the original designers had taken precautions.  There were hundreds of towers built on Italy’s wet soil that didn’t sink, but the ground that the Pisa Tower was built on was not properly prepared.  They were building for a cathedral built to honor Jesus, but ignored His words about building on a firm foundation.

   One of the most tragic men I ever knew was a former pastor who had been dismissed by his congregation after his views changed.  He had been an honor graduate from a good Baptist Bible school, and his church was growing and making an impact on their community.  But he was fascinated by Jesus’ early life and was convinced Jesus had traveled all over the ancient world in the years between His appearance in the Temple at 12 and the start of His ministry at 30.  He studied books about Jesus traveling to India with Mary & Joseph and later traveling to Britain with some rich uncle, probably Joseph of Arimathea, who was searching for rich trade routes.  His fascination with this took over his life and he ignored the rest of his teaching to focus on this one thing.

   This man’s error was not curiosity; it was stepping off his firm foundation and trying to build on the sand of maybes.  All our theology has to be built on the only firm foundation we have, the Bible, and never on speculation, historical footnotes, or popular opinions.

   I like to reflect on my own life every January, and this New Year I urge you to do the same.  Most importantly, be sure your foundation in solid.  Don’t believe something just because you’re told to; know why you believe what you believe.  Dig into the Word of God and do the research yourself.  Is your faith ready to weather a storm?  If it was your pastor who started preaching outside of the Bible, would you know?  Would you follow along blindly or would you defend your beliefs?  Could you defend your beliefs?  Don’t be a Leaning Tower in the Kingdom of God, stand straight and steady on a solid foundation. 

Stephen Cram                       January 2, 2011                     Colossians 2:8