Too Many Masters — Part 2

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Too Many Masters — Part 2

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:34

Yesterday I shared with you a devotional by Chris Tiegreen that taught us the principle that we cannot serve two masters. Our hearts are idol factories, and if we are honest, we too often allow those idols to become the driving factors in our lives.

Today’s devotional builds on this theme by addressing the issues of our heart. What we value most we treasure. Dr. Henry Blackaby shares this insight on identifying where your treasure is:

What you value most you treasure. Where you spend your time and your money is your treasure. Whatever dominates your conversation is what you treasure. What others know you for is a good indication of what your treasure is.

Most Christians are quick to claim that God is their first priority. Yet often their actions reveal that a their treasure is not God but the things of this world. Some Christians find it difficult to discuss their relationship with God, but they can chatter easily about their family, friends, or hobbies.

Some find it impossible to rise early to spend time alone with God, but they willingly get up at dawn to pursue a hobby. Some find it difficult to give an offering to God but readily spend on lavish recreation. Some boldly approach strangers to sell a product, yet they are painfully timid of telling others about their Savior. Some give hundreds of hours to serve volunteer organizations but feel they have no time available to serve God.

If you are unsure of where your treasure is, examine where you spend your available time and money. Reflect on what it is you most enjoy thinking about and discussing. Ask your friends to tell you what you think is most important to you. Ask your children to list the things most valuable to you. It may surprise you to know what others consider to be YOUR treasure! — from Experiencing God — The Devotional

So my brothers, where is YOUR treasure today? Good question to ask yourself. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 29; Job 14-16; Acts 9:22-43

Dig This Quote: To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; To seek Him, the greatest adventure; To find him, the greatest human achievement.-Augustine

Determined Digging: Level 1 – Proverbs 23:17; Level 2 – Psalm 100

Too Many Masters

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TOO MANY MASTERS
“No one can serve two masters …” Matthew 6:24

Today’s devotional is from the pen of Chris Tiegreen, devotional writer for Tyndale House Publishers and Walk Thru the Bible. I have been using his devotionals the past several years, and his teaching ministry has blessed my heart.

Every human being is a temple. We who understand that the Spirit of God dwells in believers John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 3:16) know this to be true of Christians. But in a sense it is true of everyone. We are either temples of the Holy Spirit, or temples of any number of idols. We are worshippers by nature, and the objects of our worship are placed on the altar of affections.

We underestimate the power of our affections. We will pursue that which we love and value most highly. And when that happens to be something other than God — and it often is — then we are idolaters attempting to serve two masters.
Contrary to popular belief, we are not helpless captives of our hearts’ desires. We choose them. We value relationships, riches, possessions, activities, and all other cravings BY CHOICE. We choose to dwell on certain desires, possibilities, and problems.

We we dream about a venture, a purchase, a romance, or a game, we do so because we want to. We are not defenseless against those idols. We feed them. And while imaginations and dreams can be used for God’s purposes, they can also fill us with substitutes for Him. When we let them, we find ourselves with too many masters.

Jesus does not say that no one SHOULD serve two masters. He says no one CAN! It is an impossibility. One will carry more weight than the other, in which case that one is the true master and the other is the weaker rival. And how easily we make God the weaker rival!
We try to maintain our fellowship with Him while placing our greater affections on less worthy things.
Those who know the power of their affections are wise disciples. They have learned that we choose what we put in our hearts, and then we let ourselves be driven by them. We must remember: We are a house of worship, and there is only one rightful Master in that house. Anything else will pollute the temple. — from The One Year At His Feet Devotional (Tyndale House Publishers)
So my brothers, this would be a good moment to take a step back and do some serious evaluation this morning. Are you trying to serve two masters? I am not talking about working two jobs and serving two bosses. I think you already know what the issuse is — are there idols in your heart that have taken first place rather than having HIM be numero uno in your life? Think about it. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK
Digging Deeper: Proverbs 28; Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21

Dig This Quote: Everyone of us is, even from his mother’s womb, a master craftsman of idols. — John Calvin

Determined Digging: Level 1 – Proverbs 23:17; Level 2 – Psalm 100

A Prayer About A Bigger Heart for God’s Praise

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A Prayer About A Bigger Heart for God’s Praise
Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150
I love reading prayers from some of the great men and women of God. My collection is growing, but most of the prayers I have collected have been from the Puritans. I recently found a collection of prayers that are being written by an amazing “gospel-filled” preacher, Pastor Scotty Smith, Senior Pastor of Christ Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Scotty has been Pastor and mentor to many of our contemporary Christian music artists. I trust that this prayer this morning will help to prepare your heart for worship of our great God and Savior:
Most gracious Father, it occurs to me as I meditate this Psalm that I need a much bigger heart for the purposes of your praise. I need the gospel to expand my palate… multiply my aesthetic taste buds… and increase my capacity to enjoy the rich diversity of worship which is offered by your pan-cultural beloved people.
My tendency is to treat this Psalm, like many parts of your Word, as though it was a buffet line from which I pick and choose the items that I personally enjoy. What’s worse, I find ways to marginalize or eliminate expressions that don’t fit within my bandwidth of beauty. I love harps-n-lyres and stings-n-flutes, but trumpets make me cringe, waiting for a sour note… tambourines remind me of bad theology… clashing and resounding cymbals are simply too loud and non melodic for me… and there’s no way I’m going to dance. Father… all of this I confess as sin. My heart is just too small… too turned in on me.
O how I long for the Day when the work of Jesus will be complete in my heart … when I will no longer be the measure of anything and I will no longer offer a measured response to your glory and grace… when I will find great joy in celebrating your surpassing greatness with the whole family of God… with all of restored creation… with every single breath, instrument, sound, molecule and nano-particle.
Your greatest praise-worthy act of power was in sending, offering and raising Jesus from the dead… for us… for me. May the limits of my worship and praise only be determined by the unsearchable immeasurable riches of the gospel. ‘Nuff said. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ magnificent and merciful name. — from the blog, HEAVENWARD by Scotty Smith
Dig This Quote: Moses became radically addicted to the Cross, God’s vehicle of death where I must make sure I AM REALLY DEAD to self and to any desire to worship myself or create vehicles I worship by which I can feel good myself. — Manny Mill
Determined Digging: Level 1 – Proverbs 23:17; Level 2 – Psalm 100

The Power of the Word — Matthew 5

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The Power of the Word — Matthew 5
I have started to occaisionally share just Scripture with you in my Freedom Fighter blog. God’s Word is powerful enough without commentary, so here is a powerful word from the Sermon on the Mount taken from The Message. I pray that it will speak to YOUR heart today:
Matthew 5: 1-12

1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

3″You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4″You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5″You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6″You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7″You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8″You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9″You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
10″You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12″Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Today, my brother, be amazed at how blessed you are! — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK
Digging Deeper: Proverbs 26; Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25

Dig This Quote: Out of suffering come the strongest souls. God’s wounded often make his best soldiers. Anonymous
Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

The Unchanging Law of Judgment

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The Unchanging Law of Judgment

With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you —Matthew 7:2
I have read this devotional many times, but the message is one I need to be reminded of often. It comes from the writings of Oswald Chambers — MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST:
This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution— “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back.
This eternal law works from God’s throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26 ).
Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts.
To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”
Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” ( Matthew 7:1 ). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.
How about it? This is a good devotional to keep referring to often. I needed to be reminded of this today. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK
Digging Deeper: Proverbs 25; Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25

Dig This Quote: Jesus Christ did not say, “You will understand why war has come,” but “Do not be scared, do not be put in a panic.”…It is the most natural thing in the world to be scared. There is no natural heart of man or woman that is not scared by these things, and the evidence that God’s grace is at work amongst us is that we do not get terrified. Oswald Chambers
Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

I Am Not Al Bunday

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I Am Not Al Bundy!

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

There was a television show that would come on Sunday night’s back when I was waist high in the muck and mire of my sinful self. The show was called “Married…With Children”. The main character of the show was Al Bundy. He was a shoe salesman who once had football glory while he was in high school but then he got married and turned into this buffoon of a man. His wife wouldn’t work at anything and his children seemed to follow that same pattern. Al would have his moments of manly victory but in the long run he was a frustrated loser of a man who everyone laughed at either on screen or in the living room. And I was one of them, until my life also became a joke for people to laugh at.

I was in agreement with a message that Pastor Garth Hanselman of the Spirit and Truth Worship Center in Egg Harbor City gave one time. It was a very simple battle cry. After we come to The Cross all that Disney nonsense that the world would have us believe about fathers and husbands should get wiped out. The Christian man is not the weak willed goof that Robin Williams might portray in a Disney movie. And yes I am referring to the Disney movie “RV”. I don’t know about you guy’s but I for one no longer have the desire to watch any movie that makes any man look like he has no clue how to be the spiritual head of his house. And to those ladies who have chosen to read my Freedom Fighters, I am not Al Bundy so hear me roar. With that outta the way here’s where I am going with this….

Man was given dominion. God had already given us this responsibility. Adam may have surrendered it and television may want to keep it that way but that was not God’s original plan for man. We are to reign in boldness like a king and worship boldly like a priest. That means we should use the rod with all the authority of a scepter but with the love of The Cross. Christian men need to rise up and begin to take their place in who we are. We have had the world walk up to us and poke in the chest and say, “so what are you going to do about that?” I believe that it is time that we poke back and say “The Lord rebukes you!!”

We need to show the world we can maintain our integrity and our fortitude. That we can walk what we say and say what we walk. The Christian man needs to remember that the very first thing that God said over us was, “And let them have dominion”. We need to take back the original charge that God put over us. We should not sit idly by and complain how bad it is out there when we were given the responsibility not to let it get this way in the first place.

This is what was running through my head this past Father’s Day. I looked back at what I remembered about my father while he was alive and then looked at myself as a father now. I believe that God has used me to make it better for my family…my children in particular. They are a constant reminder to me that in those times where I need to step up and be that king or be that priest that I can do it with Godly boldness and not with the boldness of Al Bundy. So I’ll say it again, I’m Not Al Bundy!! And I hope you’re not him either. This morning take time and ask Him to restore your boldness. Make it part of your rising up and your setting down. — Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a frequent contributor to Freedom Fighter

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 24; Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43

Dig This Quote: “True greatness is not recognition or popularity. Greatness is godliness. Greatness is obedience. Greatness is faithfulness. I am willing to go anywhere, to do anything, to be anything that God wants me to do or to be. I take my hands off my life, and say to Him, “No more telling You how to use me.” I want to lay it on the line. I want to make a difference. I’ll pay the price. Life is too short, and, at any moment, God may say, “Give Me back My breath!”
“Godly Men: Hope for Our Times” Crawford Loritts

Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

You’ve Got a Friend in Me

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You’ve Got a Friend in Me

“A man of many companions may come to ruin; but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

Don’t shoot the messenger … yes, I did go see Toy Story 3 in 3-D! It was a great movie. It was the best of the three in my humble opinion, and it was surprising to me to see how many teens and adults were there without kids. Guess you can’t take the kid out of an adult.

As I was watching the movie, there were several thoughts running through my mind. There were actually a number of spiritual applications that one can learn from the movie:
1. We’ve come to love all the toys from Woody to Buzz Light Year. It is amazing how the toys come alive and we get sucked in very quickly to their story line. Don’t deny it. For years I have been fascinated by one of America’s great ventriloquists, Bevan Griener. His dummy Julius is quite the character. By the end of his routine, Bevan has people thinking that dummy is real!

All of the characters in Toy story are useless and lifeless until Andy makes them come alive. Much like you and me — apart from Christ — we are really lifeless, useless and hopeless! But just think what we are because of Christ. ” … Apart from me, you can do nothing!” John 15:20 (Thanks, Chris Thompson, for this illustration!)

2. In this movie, Andy is packing up to go to college. His Mom is getting him to clean out his room. At one point all the toys are in a box and are headed to the attic. Andy looks in the box and pulls out Woody and sticks him in a box that he plans to take to college. The other toys get mistakenly put in the trash rather than the attic, thus the adventure begins.

Woody goes isn’t about to leave his friends … so he goes after them with a passion and is reunited with them. The rest of the story is for you to find out.

I was thinking about how this relates to our life in Christ. We were headed to the trash heap (hell) — “But God, who is abundant and mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses!” — Ephesians 2:4

God pursues you and me with a passion. Other friends may fail you — but in Him, you and I have “a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

No wonder the hymnwriter could pen these words:

Jesus! What a friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul!

Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole!

Refrain
Hallelujah! what a Savior!

Hallelujah! what a friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
HE is with me to the end.

If you’re like me, and the little ditty from Toy Story gets in your head — “You’ve got a friend in me, You’ve got a friend in me, You’ve got a friend in me; You’ve got troubles, well I’ve got ’em too;There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you;We stick together and we see it through;You’ve got a friend in me!” — just remember that you have a FRIEND who is not imaginary — He is real! He’s alive, and He calls you and me HIS friend. What a friend we have in Jesus.

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 23; Esther 9-10; Acts 7:1-21

Dig This Quote: Abundant life means that we are fully alive at every level our our being, to the whole of life; alive to the very tips of our fingers; aware of the whole range of response, intellectual, spiritual, emotional, sad and joyful, painful and peaceful. Tom Marshall

Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

Holy Dissatisfaction

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Holy Dissatisfaction
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
You’ve been there I am sure. There is that longing in your spirit that you want more. There is a yearning for something far better, something deeper. You are hungry and it is hunger that keeps getting more intense. Snacking doesn’t take it away. You want MORE!

If that has happened to you, then today’s thoughts from Dr. Glyn Evans will put it into perspective for you:

I will practice the art of holy dissatisfaction. God deals only in holy, not unholy dissatisfaction. This means dissatisfaction in spirit, not in flesh. Jesus refereed to this as being “poor in spirit,” and the result of this poverty is to receive the “kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

The Bible is full of dissatisfied holy people. I am sure that Abraham left Ur because of the emptiness of worship of the moon goddess Ishtar. David built his kingdom on men who were tired of Saul’s arrogance; his collection of men “in distress … in debt, and … discontented” (I Samuel 22:2) was the raw material for his empire.
The disciples of John the Baptist, and later Jesus’ disciples, were men who were tired of this world’s politics of greed and selfishness; they longed to see God’s kingdom in operation on this earth. No matter where I look in church history, I see a trail of dissatisfied men and women who longed for higher, better things. They sought and found a spiritual ideal, and left a spiritual empire behind them.
Holy dissatisfaction always begins with God and ends with God. I can be easily dissatisfied about THINGS — politics, money, the world situation — but that is usually selfish, and it leads nowhere.

But HOLY dissatisfaction begins with me, in my spirit; it sees poverty there, and then it begins the quest for satisfaction that must lead to God. I will never be much of a disciple unless I have felt this kind of dissatisfaction; the greater the dissatisfaction, the stronger my discipleship.

I need to keep asking myself, Are you satisfied? If I answer yes there is a sense in which I have become my own obstacle to a flourishing discipleship for Jesus Christ. On the other hand, when I “mourn, I have HIS comforts, and when I “hunger and thirst” I have HIS filling.
As I read this devotional this morning, Bill and Gloria Gaither’s little praise chorus was running through my mind:

More of You more of You

I’ve had all but what I need
Just more of You
Of things I’ve had my fill
And yet I hunger still
Empty and bare
Lord hear my prayer
For more of You

CCLI Song No. 15111© 1977 William J. Gaither, Inc. Christian Grit Music Press ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin TN 37067)Gary S. Paxton Gloria Gaither William J. GaitherFor use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.comCCLI License No. 1301252

Are you dissatisfied today? Hungry for more of Him? If so, run to Him today. Allow Him to fill you with more of HIM! — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 22; Esther 6-8; Acts 6
Dig This Quote: John Paton was making a translation of the Scriptures into a language spoken in the country where he was a missionary, and searched long for the world for “Faith”. The natives had no word for “believe” One day, while working on his translation, a native entered his room, exhausted and flung himself down on the nearest chair, and placed his feet on the chair across from him. The native remarked how good it was to lean his whole weight into that chair. Dr Paton noted the word he had used for “lean his whole weight.” He had his word for “believe”. John G. Paton
Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

Basic Realities for Life

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Basic Realities for Life—Freedom Fighter

Life doesn’t always work as we want it to. Many who read FF each day have known the frustration of living a life that isn’t working. We know defeat. We know remorse over those defeats. Sometimes, though, we don’t know how to get through life when it isn’t working.

The Apostle Paul addresses a group of people for whom life wasn’t working. They were believers, but life was hard. Men were coming to the Galatians with false teaching that would lead them into legalism and bondage . . . again.

Beginning in Galatians 3:26 and going Galatians 4:7, Paul addresses some basic realities that will lead us through life, even when it’s not working so well. These realities are true for all people in all times . . . period . . . if we know Christ. They don’t vary. They don’t stop being true. They are just true!

In 3:26, we learn that we share a common faith. All of us who know Christ share a common faith, and that faith encourages us and strengthens us, even when much of life isn’t working. During the worst of our struggles, we can come back to that basic reality of faith in Jesus Christ.

We also share a common identity. Galatians 3:27 teaches us that we have “put on Christ.” We may not always feel like we’ve done that, but it’s the reality. To put our faith in Christ is to put on Christ. We share that identity with every brother and sister in Christ. The deceiver works hard to convince us that we are still our old self—that person we were before we put on Christ. The basic reality confounds his lies; we have put on Christ!

Sometimes we get so bogged down in the present that we forget what the future holds. The Apostle, in 3:29, tells us that we share a common future. We are heirs according to promise. Even when life is at it’s worst, that basic reality remains true. Followers of Jesus have assurance of a bright, fulfilled future. That promise of the future will sustain us when life isn’t working—if we’ll keep it in view.

Finally, Paul tells us that we share a common relationship. Galatians 4:6 teaches us that we are no longer slaves in bondage; we are sons (and daughters) of God! When life isn’t working very well, and we can’t see it getting any better, we have this basic reality of life. We belong to God. We’re adopted into His family. We’re His children!

One more thing to notice comes out of all of this. Notice the word “common.” More than at any other time, when life isn’t working we must understand that God places His children in communities of faith. You and I aren’t designed to live the life of Christ in isolation. We share these basic realities in common—together. — John Strain is Senior Pastor First Baptist Toms River and a contributor to Freedom Fighter

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 21; Esther 3-5; Acts 5:22-42
Dig This Quote: Seeing God as parent may seem childish. But might there be, in the unadmitted sparkle of the child within you, a sometime longing to climb into God’s fatherly lap, …to nestle against God’s breast, to rest for a moment in the shadow of God’s wings or be held in God’s strong and tender arms? If you could allow yourself to feel it, are there not times when you would love to cry on God’s shoulder, to let God tell you you are worthwhile and beautiful? And is there not something in you that would be delighted if you could bring a smile to God’s face?Gerald May
Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9

Happy Father’s Day

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Happy Father’s Day

“… you should contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3

Good morning and happy Father’s Day. This hymn has been floating around in my head as I have thought about this father’s day:

Faith of our fathers, living still
In spite of dungeons, fire, and sword,
O how our hearts beat high with joy
When-e’er we hear that glorious word!

Faith of our fathers, God’s great power
Shall win all nations unto thee,
And through the truth that comes from God
Mankind shall then indeed be free.

Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife,
And preach thee too as love knows how,
By kindly words and virtuous life.

Refrain
Faith of our fathers, holy faith,
We will be true to thee ’till death.

I am very, very thankful for the father’s that God has put in my life over the years. My biological father, Bill, was such a blessing in my life. God took him home over 24 years ago. But he has blessed me over the years with men who have been like a father to me: Pastor Bill Raws, Neil Fichthorn, Joe Dariano and Pastor Van.

Though my earthly Dad is with the Lord, I have a HEAVENLY Father that never leaves me or forsakes me. I am thankful for my three sons: Josh, Garrett and Jon, who are three of the greatest Dads to their kids. Guys, I love you and I am so proud of you. And Zach — he has had the opportunity to learn to be a Dad by watching his brothers. I know Zach will one day be a great dad as well.

If you have an earthly father still alive today — I want to encourage you to pick up the phone and call him, or better yet, go visit him. Let him know today how thankful you are for his life today. You just may make his day. God bless. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 20; Esther 1-2; Acts 5:1-21

Dig This Quote: Here they are, Lord Jesus, my hidden sins. I bring them out of the secret chamber of my heart. I take them out of the darkness and expose them to Your light. Lord, You have promised You will execute Your word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly. Oh God, thoroughly cleanse my heart; purify me quickly! Francis Frangipane

Determined Digging: Level 1 — Proverbs 19:3; Level 2 — Psalm 96:1-9