I've Been Ripped Off and Someone's Going to Pay - Apples of Gold - February 18, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 18, 2009

“I’ve Been Ripped Off and Someone’s Going to Pay”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Last week someone stole my wife’s purse.

They broke out our van window right there in broad daylight.

Other than paying $242 for a new window, it didn’t seem so bad.  They got her driver’s license, but she didn’t carry her Social Security card.  There was no cash in her purse.  We immediately called and cancelled any bank cards and credit cards and stopped payment on the blank checks.

Problem solved, right?

Wrong.

The thieves tried to cash a huge check anyway, which bounced and the bank charged us for it. 

Then they tried to cash three big checks in my wife’s name, and guess what?  Somehow they were able to drain our savings account, which had nothing to do with the checking account.  And there was nothing in my wife’s purse about the savings account anyway.

Yes, there’s a big fraud going on somewhere and we’re still trying to get to the bottom of it.  Both police and bank investigators are involved, and we have been told that we will get all of our money back…eventually.

The last time I left the bank I told the woman, “Call me when you know something…so I can stop fuming.”

Now I know this isn’t a super-spiritual reaction, but here’s what I feel like.  I’ve been ripped off and someone’s going to pay.

And it’s not even that bad of a rip-off.  Pretty good odds we will get our money back and life will go on.  But still...if I could get my hands on the guy who broke into my van…

But now listen.  That river of anger quickly overflows its banks.  Instead of being pinpointed on the thief, it spills over onto others. 

Now watch this.  Listen.  Guess what question some people have asked me?  About the thief they ask, “What color was he?”

I say, “That has nothing to do with it.” 

You see how quickly anger can become generalized and flow over to innocent people?  No matter what the skin color was of the thief, there is a temptation to take it out on everyone else of that skin color, which is ridiculous.

But I understand it, because when you’ve been ripped off, someone has to pay.  Someone has to become the target of your bitterness.

I spoke to a bank employee this morning.  I had to keep reminding myself to be nice because he was not the cause of my problem.  But I wanted to unleash on him and everyone else at the bank. 

I’ve been ripped off and someone’s going to pay.

That is our human nature, but thank God I have the Holy Spirit within me to guide me and keep my human nature from running amok.

But let me tell you, I can sure relate to anyone who feels ripped off today.

Some people feel ripped off by life in general, so they are making all of society pay.

Some people feel ripped off by their parents, so they are making their parents pay, and anyone who reminds them of their parents.

Some people feel ripped off by their church, so they are making all churches pay, and maybe even all Christians.

Some people feel ripped off by being raised poor, so they are making anyone pay who isn’t poor.

Some people feel ripped off by their employer, so they make them pay by stealing or even by sabotaging product.

Now listen to this.  Some people feel ripped off in their marriage.  They feel cheated in the spouse they are stuck with, and someone’s got to pay.  They justify an affair.  They justify doing their own thing.  They justify leaving entirely because they feel ripped off.

But you know what?  All of this can be remedied by putting our faith in God.

Abraham could have felt ripped off when he went so many years without a son.  But Hebrews 11 says he continued to believe that God was faithful.

Joseph could have felt ripped off when he ended up in prison for something he didn’t do.  But instead of wallowing in bitterness, he maintained his faith in God.

David could have felt ripped off when he had King Saul trying to kill him for no good reason.  David went through many dark valleys, yet this is the same David who wrote Psalm 36:5, “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Paul suffered much at the hands of men after becoming a Christian, but he didn’t let that ripped off feeling poison him.  In Second Thessalonians 3 he wrote, “…pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith…but the Lord is faithful…”

This same Paul wrote in First Corinthians 10:13, “…God is faithful…”

You know what?  Everyone gets that ripped off feeling.  The question is, what do we do with it?

Yes, strive for justice and work to right the wrongs.  But watch out for the poison of feeling ripped off.  It will quickly overtake you and spill onto everyone else.  Anger turns to bitterness, then hate.  We end up hating people when we are called to love them.

So how on earth can we love people when we feel ripped off? 

I think the key is trusting in the Lord.  Like one guy I know said, “Trust the Lord, even when it don’t make sense.”

So that’s my advice to myself today.  It’s going to be alright.  No matter what happens, I will trust in the Lord to look out for me.  And that allows me to let go of that ripped off feeling.  I can let it go, and breath in the Lord’s peace instead.

Yes, now I can get rid of the chip on my shoulder that says someone has to pay.

Instead I can walk in peace and love, knowing that the Lord is faithful, and I can put all my trust in Him.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


P.S.  New update.  In the time it took me to write this the bank passed through another $2,000 check and took it out of our savings account.  Our savings account is now almost $2,000 in the RED!  I didn’t even know a savings account could go in the red. 

© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

A Message for Church Song Leaders - Apples of Gold - February 17, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 17, 2009

“A Message for Church Song Leaders”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Hey church song leader.

Have you ever led a song at church, then just kind of felt depressed because no one really got into it? 

I mean, you picked it out.  You practiced it.  You thought it was powerful.  But then it hit the congregation and just sort of skipped like a rock, off the top of their heads and out the back door.

Well don’t quit just yet.  Let me tell you how this often works for me.

I suppose I’m your average man in the congregation.  I’m just not a big reactor.  If you are going to base your feelings of success or failure on how I look on the outside, you might feel like a failure. 

I think church song leaders often base their feelings of success or failure on the immediate response to a song.  Now I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, the most powerful effect of the song usually comes later, after the service.

I don’t know for sure how it works, but here is what it seems like to me.  During the service, as a song is sung, it’s like seed being planted inside me somewhere.  Then it takes time to germinate.  It sort of takes root and grows.  In this way a song can really get a hold of me and effect me. 

I will go back and look up the lyrics.  It will hum along in the back of my mind throughout the day.  It might bring tears or determination.  It might make me rise up to new levels of faith and strength.

But you know what?  You don’t know any of that.  It’s all going on out of your sight, long after the song was sung.

Take for example a song called “Believe.”  Our church choir sang it I don’t even know how long ago.  I’m real fuzzy on the particulars.  But the seed went in the ground.  And it germinated.

And then finally the other day it broke through the dirt.  For some reason a line from that song burst forth into my memory.  I was suddenly singing to myself this little phrase, “to have the form and not the power.”

It caused me to pray, “Lord, I don’t want to be like that.  I don’t want to be one of those people who has the form of godliness but not the power.”

Then I went back to the Bible verse it’s talking about, Second Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof…”

To me, having the form of godliness means you look like a good Christian on the outside.  You go to church, you provide for your family, you’re a good guy in the community. 

That is having the form of godliness.  But do you really have godliness?

I’m still talking to you, church song leader.

You see, it’s not too hard to be a church song leader who only has a form of godliness.  You know how to behave.  You know music and how to make it.  You can get by in church from now until the day you die with just a form of godliness.

But wouldn’t you rather have the power? 

The line in that song “Believe” goes like this:

“I’m not satisfied,
living in yesterday’s hour.
I’m not satisfied,
To have the form, but not the power.”

Please, song leader, don’t be satisfied to have the form, but not the power!

I’m talking about the power of godliness.

Second Peter 1:3 says God’s divine power gives us everything we need for godliness “through our knowledge of Him…”

We need to tap into God’s divine power source.  We need to grow in our knowledge of Him.  We need to draw near to Him and be filled with His Spirit.  We need to walk with Him and live our lives for Him, all day every day.

Without God’s Spirit living and stirring within us, we are just shells.  Oh, we might be very Christian-looking shells, but shells nonetheless. 

We will have the form, but not the power.

So there you go, two messages for church song leaders today.

First, be encouraged that your work may be vastly more effective than just what you see as the song is sung.

And second, don’t settle for just having the good form of a Christian.  Tap into the power!  Grow in your knowledge of the Lord and walk with Him.  Draw near to Him and be filled with His Spirit, then watch as His divine power courses through you and makes your ministry more powerful and effective than you ever thought possible!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Wisdom Is Knowing What's Important - Apples of Gold - February 16, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 16, 2009

“Wisdom Is Knowing What’s Important”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

I was thinking about wisdom over the weekend.

And I came up with this as one aspect of wisdom.

Wisdom is knowing what’s important.

See, a million things can fill our lives, but we should focus on the most important things, right? 

But what are they?

The wise person knows.  Wisdom is knowing what’s important.

I thought about this as I read what Jesus did in Mark chapter two.

A paralyzed man was brought to Jesus.  Now remember, Jesus had been healing people left and right.  And now here was this paralyzed man. 

Isn’t it obvious what Jesus should do?  He should heal the man, right?  The paralyzed man gets up and walks, everyone cheers, and people believe in Jesus, the miracle man.

But remember, wisdom is knowing what’s important.

Well apparently, and I’m sure it came as a surprise to everyone, Jesus did not see this man’s healing as being most important.

What?  What could be more important for a paralyzed man than to be healed so he could walk?

Well in Mark 2:5 we read that Jesus simply turned to the man and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now let me tell you, if I’m one of the guys who went to all the trouble of getting that paralyzed man to Jesus, I think I’m a little disappointed, maybe even angry. 

“Okay, his sins are forgiven.  Fine.  Now let’s get on to the main event, Jesus.  Heal the man!”

But there he was, still flat on his back, legs still useless.  Nothing changed – except that little fact that his sins were forgiven.

That brought no amazing reaction from the crowd, and yet that was the main event.  Jesus did the most important thing, He forgave his sins.

It’s Monday morning, and you know what the headlines in the paper should read?  “Sins Forgiven!”

I say that because over the weekend I’m sure that tons of people went to Jesus and received forgiveness for their sins.

That is the main event!  That is the most important thing that happened all weekend – sins were forgiven! 

But it doesn’t make the headlines because you can’t see it.  You can’t take a picture of it.  You can’t really measure it, and you can’t prove it.  But it’s most important, and it changes lives – and the world we live in – everyday. 

So have you done this?  Have you come to Jesus to have your sins forgiven? 

A wise person knows what’s important, and this is important.

So what do you have to do?

Well the Bible talks about forgiveness from several different angles.

When Jesus was teaching about prayer in Luke 11, He made it sound like a simple request to our Heavenly Father, “Forgive us our sins.”

That’s a simple prayer you can pray anytime, “Father, forgive me of my sins.”

But now listen up, because other verses have other things to say about forgiveness.

Acts 10:43 says that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

Ephesians 1:7 says that our forgiveness is through the blood of Jesus.

Jesus said Himself in Matthew 26:28 that He would pour out His blood “for the forgiveness of sins.”

Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

So yes, we ask the Father for forgiveness, believing that our forgiveness was paid for by the shed blood of Jesus.

First John 1:9 talks about another dimension.  It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Luke 24:47 says that both “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations…”

In Acts 5, Peter and the apostles indicated that these were a gift from God, “repentance and forgiveness of sins.”

In Acts 2:38 Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…”

And one of the most important teachings about forgiveness is what Jesus said in Luke 6:37, “…forgive and you will be forgiven…”  He teaches this more in depth elsewhere, and that is that if we want God to forgive our sins, then we must forgive those who have sinned against us.

So a few teachings about forgiveness:
--We ask our Heavenly Father to forgive our sins.
--We believe that our forgiveness comes through Jesus and the blood He shed for our forgiveness.
--We confess our sins to God.
--We repent of our sins.
--We are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
--And we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Wisdom is knowing what’s important, and this is among them.  It’s important that we do this ourselves, and it’s important that we share this information with others – just as Christians around the world did this weekend. 

We must stress the importance of coming to God for the forgiveness of sins.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

The Feeling That You Should Not Be Doing What You Are Doing - Apples of Gold - February 13, 2009 - ***Happy Birthday Dad!!!*** -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 13, 2009

“The Feeling That You Should Not Be Doing What You Are Doing”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“Hey Doug, how did you end up in Christian radio?”

I love this story. 

In college I had a Friday morning radio show, all rock-n-roll.    

Then in the summer of ‘84 I gave my life to Christ.  I went back to the college station and asked to do a Christian music show, which they buried on Sunday afternoons. 

I didn’t take an actual radio class until my last semester of college.  In that class one day the manager of a local AM-FM combo came and talked about a job opportunity.

So I went and checked it out and took the job.  At first I just did some computer work and production, some news and sports.  But rather quickly they gave me my own show – and there I was, playing all the hits from the 80’s.  After all, it was the 80’s.

But something inside me stirred.  I was uncomfortable and restless.  I just did not like playing that music, by which I mean secular music. 

I’ll never forget being in the grocery store when a girl from our church stopped me and went on and on about hearing my show on the radio.  And all I could think was, “You’re a good Christian girl.  Why are you listening to that music?”

Now listen.  There was no one preaching at me about this.  No one was condemning me about being a secular music DJ.  This all came from within.  There was just something stirring inside me, a conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing.

Have you ever felt that?  A conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing?

I’m reminded of this phrase from Hebrews 10:14, “…those who are being made holy.”

That’s what was stirring inside me.  God’s Spirit was working in me.  I was being made holy (a process that continues to this day, by the way.)

Do you want to be one of those who are being made holy?  Then you have to go along with that stirring of the Spirit, that conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing.

At that point in my life I was saved.  According to Hebrews 10:10 I had been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.  Hebrews 13:12 says that Jesus suffered to make me holy “through His own blood.”  Colossians 1:22 says it was so that I could be presented as holy in God’s sight, “without blemish and free from accusation.”

That was me, made holy by Jesus Christ.

But now look at Second Timothy 1:9.  It says that, yes, God saved us, and “…called us to a holy life…”

First Corinthians 1:2 says that, yes, we are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and we are “…called to be holy…”

One requires no effort.  We believe the Gospel, trust Christ to save us, and there we are, holy in His sight.  That is our salvation.

But now look at First Peter 2:2.  It talks about growing up in our salvation.

See, we don’t just stay where we started, like newborn babies.  We are to “grow up” in our salvation. 

And that does require effort on our part.  In fact, Hebrews 12:14 tells us to “make every effort…to be holy…”

Yes, God cleanses us.  But look at Second Timothy 2:21.  It talks about the need to cleanse ourselves, and it says why. 

We cleanse ourselves so that we will be “made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”  We do it so that we will be “an instrument for noble purposes…”

So there I was, a born again Christian, playing secular music, and feeling a conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing. 

Now I had a choice.  To heed that conviction, or suppress it. 

Well why wouldn’t I just immediately heed the conviction?

Because it meant change.  Because it meant stopping something I enjoyed. 

Over the years I have met a lot of Christians in secular radio who suppressed that conviction.  Why did they do it?  For the money.  For the pleasure.  For the popularity. 

There are a lot of ways you can talk yourself into suppressing that conviction, but don’t do it. 

First Thessalonians 4:7 says, “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

We are to be an instrument for noble purposes, but Second Timothy 2 says we must first cleanse ourselves of the ignoble.

And that’s what I finally decided to do.  I heeded that growing conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing.  I decided to trade in ignoble purposes for noble purposes.  I decided to get out of secular radio once and for all and go to work in Christian radio where I could serve the Lord as my full time job.

And that’s how I got into Christian radio.

Now what about you?  Do you feel a conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing?  I’m not just talking about your job here.  I’m talking about anything in your life.

Well maybe it’s time to grow up in your salvation.  It’s time to cleanse yourself of the ignoble.

It’s time to make every effort to be holy.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Make Deposits in Your Spouse's Love Bank - Apples of Gold - February 12, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 12, 2009

“Make Deposits in Your Spouse’s Love Bank”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Valentine’s Day is Saturday.

So if you are married, or in my son’s case, about to be married, I have some advice for you. 

Pick up a book by Dr. Willard F. Harley, Jr.

He has a lot of great books, and I haven’t read them all, but what I have read I love.

He just has some tremendous insights into how people fall in love, what makes them fall out of love, and what they can do to stay in love.

One of his key principles is the Love Bank.  Dr. Harley says we all have a “love bank,” and people are always making either deposits or withdrawals.  When someone makes us happy, when they stir up positive emotions, they are making large deposits into our love bank.  But when they stir up negative emotions, they start making withdrawals.

So imagine a woman on her wedding day.  Her new husband’s account in her love bank is full of deposits.  She feels great about him and wants to be with him all the time.

But things happen in marriage that can cause withdrawals from the love bank.  And like any bank account, if the withdrawals continue at a pace faster than the deposits, eventually the account will run dry – and that is when you feel like you have fallen out of love.

Now some people think that’s inevitable.  That’s just the way marriage is, stuck with the old ball and chain.

But Dr. Harley says that is not the case at all.  He says you can stay in love throughout a lifetime – if you simply follow certain “rules.”

Dr. Harley is a marital therapist who has counseled thousands of couples.  He has scientifically tracked what works and what doesn’t.  He has even seen marriages in the gravest of circumstances come roaring back with a passion.

It can be done!  You can have two people, formerly in love, but now out of love, or in hate, or even indifferent – yet they can fall back in love simply by following Dr. Harley’s principles.  And he says it’s as simple as two people making more deposits than withdrawals.

Dr. Harley stresses this idea of being “in love.”  He says it is a romantic emotion, and that it is not as fickle as you might think.  He says it can easily be created just by doing the right things.

Some people think just caring about each other will keep their marriage strong.  But Dr. Harley says, “I’ve counseled hundreds of couples that care about each other yet have filed for divorce.  But I have yet to know of a couple in love with each other who are even contemplating divorce.”

That’s so true!  Two people who are in love will do anything to be together.  The last thing they want is to be apart.

So Dr. Harley keys in on this principle of being in love.  He writes about staying in love, and how to do it throughout your life.

Now I can’t possibly tell you right here everything Dr. Harley has written.  But I’m just telling you, it’s good stuff.  And I think one of the best things you can do for your marriage this Valentine’s Day is to pick up a book by Dr. Willard F. Harley, Jr.

No, I’m not getting paid to say that!  I say it because over the years I have been so blessed by his books, and I’ve learned so much, not only for my marriage, but also for the people I give advice to.

Dr. Harley has a website, and here it is, write it down.  It’s simply Marriage Builders dot com.  That’s Marriage Builders dot com.

Like I said, he has several great books.  Here are some of my favorite titles:

“5 Steps to Romantic Love,”

“Fall in Love, Stay in Love,”

and “His Needs, Her Needs.”

Throughout his books you will find the same basic principles, explained to fit various situations. 

And if you know a married couple that is coping with infidelity, his book “Surviving An Affair” is amazing. 

Oh, and another book I have by him is called, “Love Busters:  Overcoming Habits That Destroy Romantic Love.”

Now don’t rush off and buy a book and throw it at your spouse and say “Happy Valentine’s Day, jerk!”

But do educate yourself on Dr. Harley’s principles, whether through his books, or through his website, Marriage Builders dot com.

Learn how to fall in love and stay in love with the advice of Dr. Willard F. Harley, Jr.

And make sure you make some big deposits in your spouse’s Love Bank on Valentine’s Day Saturday!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

The Days Are Evil - Apples of Gold - February 11, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 11, 2009

“The Days Are Evil”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Okay, this is weird.

Today’s Apples of Gold is entitled “The Days Are Evil.”

At the exact same time I was writing this about evil, someone smashed out a window in my wife’s van and stole her purse.

The old family van was in broad daylight in the parking lot.  Most of the van windows are so dark you can’t even see inside.  Yet someone was bold enough to shatter the window, grab the purse and a witness got a good look at him as he drove off like mad.

It’s a crime.  It cost us and I’m not happy about it.  But I must say it’s a perfect illustration of my point, which is “the days are evil.” 

That’s what it says in Ephesians 5:16, “…the days are evil.”

Can a day actually be evil, even the very day you are a crime victim?

Not really.  What that verse means is that evil is being done these days.

People are doing evil all over the world.  That includes heinous crimes and petty thievery. 

James 1:21 uses this phrase:  “…the evil that is so prevalent…”

Have you ever seen a map of troop movements in World War II?  As the Germans and Japanese invaded other countries, the black places on the map grew, like ink spilled on a desktop.  Then as the Allies fought back, the black ink receded.

That’s the way I see evil in the world.  It ebbs and flows each day as people do more or less evil.

And now the black ink has spread into a little Tallahassee parking lot. 

And it spread in a thousand other places, too.

Yes, the days are evil.  But there’s nothing new about that, is there?

Now back to Ephesians 5:16.  The whole verse says, “…making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Now don’t miss this.  Because the days are evil, we must make the most of every opportunity.

See, we have a limited number of opportunities.  Our time is limited.  We only have so many shots at making a difference.  Are we making the most of them?

Because here’s the thing.  Evil will.  Evil wants to advance.  It recruits and plunders and gains ground.  If we don’t fight it, that blank ink will spread and will eventually engulf the world.

We, as Christians, need to make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  So what should we do?

First of all, focus on the fact that it’s people doing the evil.  So if we could just get them to stop.  Easier said than done, right?

Second, realize that this evil comes from within, from their sin nature, from their heart.  Jesus said in Matthew 15:19 that evil thoughts come out of the heart.  So if we want to stop people from doing evil, we have to deal with their heart.

In this war on evil, I see three main fronts.

The first front is where people are deciding to do evil or not.  We need to make the most of every opportunity to encourage people to avoid evil and do right. 

This means teaching people right from wrong.  It means moral instruction and character training.  For people to do right, they need to know what right is.

And they also need leaders and role models.  We can’t just babble on about it.  We must live it.  We must deny our own evil desires, avoid sin, and live holy for the Lord.

You know that black ink of evil on the map?  It would recede quite a bit if we could just get the Christians to stop doing evil.  We need to help each other and hold each other accountable.

And by evil I don’t just mean capital crimes.  I mean anything that is a sin in God’s eyes. 

The second front in the war on evil is where people are already doing evil.

How can we stop them?  As Christians, we go right to their heart.  We share the Gospel and call for repentance.  We pray for them and trust the Holy Spirit to work on them.  We shine our light, and we show them love.

Only the Lord can change a heart – and He will!  And as people come to Him, that black ink will recede.

And the third front in the war on evil is where the victims are.

Evil always leaves behind victims, and this is where the body of Christ shines.  We reach out as the hands and feet of Jesus, just like the Good Samaritan, loving and nurturing those who have been robbed and beaten by evil.

And this is a crucial front in the war because so many victims of evil turn right around and become the purveyors of evil.  We can help break that cycle.

Can you see it?  Can you see that evil like black ink, spreading across the map of the world?

We can turn the tide.  We can make that blank ink recede, but it means getting involved. 

And we only have so much time.  Yes, we must make the most of every single opportunity, because like the Bible says, the days are evil.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

What About Athletes Thanking God? - Apples of Gold - February 9, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 9, 2009

“What About Athletes Thanking God?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“You’re not going to like this, but you’re the third oldest quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl.  How does that make you feel?”

“You know, everyone’s going to be tired of hearing this, but I never get tired of saying it.  There’s one reason that I’m standing up on this stage today, and that’s because of my Lord up above.  I gotta say thanks to Jesus!  You knew I was going to do it, and I gotta do it.”

That’s what Kurt Warner told Terry Bradshaw after the Arizona Cardinals won the NFC Championship Game.

Actually that’s what a variety of athletes say after a big game.  Some people hate it.  One guy even wrote that he is glad when Kurt Warner loses so he won’t have to hear about God. 

Some people criticize them for not thanking God when they lose.  Of course, when you lose the general public doesn’t really care what you have to say.  When the Cardinals lost the Super Bowl they sure didn’t ask Kurt Warner to come up on the big stage and share his thoughts.

But when you win, that’s when you get that live microphone.  That’s when the nation’s ears perk up.  And that’s when you get the chance to do this one important thing.

Acknowledge the Lord.

Now what does it mean to acknowledge the Lord?  It basically means to recognize that He exists and that He plays a role in our lives.

And you know, you don’t have to wait until you are on national television.  Yesterday we ate at Red Lobster.  My dad told the waitress, “We’re getting ready to pray before we eat.  Would you like us to pray for you?”

He acknowledged God before an audience of one – our waitress.

Now I’ve had people tell me to keep my faith to myself, or to keep my religion at home.  And a lot of people live by that credo, that faith is a private matter between you and God.

But Jesus didn’t see it that way.  He wants us to bring Him up in front of other people – and He said He would reward us for it.

In Matthew 10:31 Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.”

The King James uses the word “confess.”  “Whosever…shall confess Me before men…”

It means that we publicly recognize that Jesus exists, and the role He plays in our lives.

Proverbs 3:6 says we should acknowledge the Lord in all of our ways.

That doesn’t meant that everyone is going to like it.  In fact, even while Jesus walked the earth it caused a lot of people trouble.  John 9:22 says that the Jews decided to kick everyone out of the synagogue who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ.

Acknowledging Jesus publicly comes with a price.  You are saying that you are on Jesus’ team, and that means anyone not on His team might turn on you.

In Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders told the early church to stop with all the Jesus stuff.  But they wouldn’t.

And there are people today who want us to stop bringing up Jesus.  But we won’t.

Jesus is Lord and God.  He is our Savior. 

And as Christians, we need to let that be known.  We need to acknowledge Jesus before men.

No, it’s not politically correct.  It might cost you some opportunities.  It will make you unpopular in certain circles.

But let me tell you, there is really only one circle that I’m concerned about, and that’s this one in Matthew 10:32.

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.”

So what would you do if the microphone was suddenly thrust in your face on national television? 

For Kurt Warner, it was so important to acknowledge Jesus before men that he skipped right over the question.  He jumped right to the part about Jesus.

Most of us will never get such a huge opportunity, but we all get many smaller opportunities.

So watch for them.  Look for opportunities big and small to publicly acknowledge your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

The Excitement of the New - Apples of Gold - February 6, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 6, 2009

“The Excitement of the New”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Isn’t it exciting to get something new?

Here I am, a middle-aged man, but I feel that little kid buzz when I remember that, “Oh yeah!  I have new clothes!”  Or it might be a new watch, or for crying out loud, I even get a little excited about having a new saw blade.

And it’s not just new things.  I remember feeling that excitement in college at the start of every new semester. 

Speaking of college, the girls used to do this thing where, for example, a whole floor from a girl’s dorm would reserve a restaurant for the night, then each of them would get a date for their roommate.  See, maybe there was a guy the roommate liked.  This was a way to get them together.

I went on a few of those dates, and for the guy they were blind dates.  When you walked in that restaurant you had no idea who your date was.  Talk about exciting!  It was the excitement of limitless possibilities.  Anything could happen!

That’s kind of the way I feel when I read about the early days of Jesus’ ministry.  Like when he called his first disciples.  I picture them all as sunny days!  The future was bright, the possibilities endless.  It was the start of something new and man, it’s gonna be great!

The Bible doesn’t exactly spell it out in chronological order, but here’s the best I can figure it.

It started in John chapter 1.  There was John the Baptist and two of his disciples out by the Jordan River.  John saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

Then those two disciples of John the Baptist walked over to Jesus.  One of them was Andrew, and apparently the other was John.  And they ended up spending the day with Jesus.

So that’s two disciples now in contact with Jesus – ten more to go.  I’m telling you, something new and exciting is starting to unfold!

Well after meeting Jesus, Andrew just could not contain his excitement.  The first thing he did was go and tell his brother Simon, “Hey, we have found the Messiah!” 

So Andrew brought Simon to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John.  You will be called…Peter.”

Three down, nine to go.

John 2:43 says, “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.  Finding Philip, He said to him, “Follow me.”

Wait a minute.  Where did Philip come from?  Well all I know is that he was from the same town as Andrew and Peter, which was Bethsaida.

Four down, eight to go.

Philip got all excited like Andrew did, and he found Nathanael and told him about Jesus, of Nazareth.

“Nazareth!” said Nathanael.  “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see,” said Philip.

So he did.  And Nathanael was impressed and that makes it…five down, seven to go.

Now you need to know that Nathanael also went by the name Bartholomew.  So when you read the lists of disciples in the Bible, just remember that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same man.

Anyway, there is definitely an excitement in the air as these men are being drawn into Jesus’ circle.

Apparently some time passed after their first encounter with Jesus, because we find Peter and Andrew, plus John and his brother James, back at their fishing job.  At this time, however, Jesus gives them a more formal call.  He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  At that point they left the fishing business to follow Jesus.

That’s two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew, and now John and James.  James makes it six down, six to go.  And by the way, John and James (the sons of Zebedee) also got a nickname.  Jesus called them the Sons of Thunder.

At some point Jesus saw the tax collector Levi sitting at his tax booth.  Jesus said, “Follow me,” and Levi got up and left everything to follow Jesus.  And he ended up being called Matthew.

That’s seven down and five to go.  And in the Bible we kind of see Matthew paired up with Thomas, but we don’t find the story of how Jesus first called Thomas, or the other four for that matter.  They were James the son of Alphaeus, Judas the son of James (who was also called Thaddaeus), Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.  When the twelve are listed, Judas the traitor always comes last, and Peter is first, by the way.

Actually Jesus had a lot of other disciples.  He was stirring up a lot of excitement, and a lot of people were drawn to Him. 

Then one night He went up on a mountainside and spent the night in prayer.  Then in the morning He gathered His disciples and picked out twelve of them to be His apostles.

I just love reading about those early days of Jesus’ ministry, so full of excitement, of possibilities!

But with Jesus, it never does get old.  The next thing you know they were in that upper room on the day of Pentecost.  The next thing you know the Gospel was turning the world upside down. 

And it still is today.  I see it in my own life.  Following Jesus means a continual supply of new things.

I think God created us to enjoy new things, and I think as we live for Him, He continually brings new and exciting things into our life.

So what are you waiting for?  Heed the call to follow Jesus today.  Like those first disciples, leave it all to follow Him.

Then watch in amazement as the Lord continually brings into your life the excitement of the new!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Who Is Most Successful In Your Family? - Apples of Gold - February 4, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 4, 2009

“Who Is Most Successful In Your Family?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Do you want to be successful?

Who doesn’t, right?

Donald Trump is successful.  The Pittsburgh Steelers are successful.  Barack Obama is successful.

Now let me ask you a question, and I want you to think for a second.  In your family – just off the top of your head, the very first person that comes to mind – who is most successful?

So who came to mind?  I’m going to guess that it was the person with the most money. 

Or maybe you have a family member that is famous to some degree. 

Or maybe it’s someone with a lot of education, or a business owner, or maybe even just someone with their own office.

But when I asked that question, “Who is most successful in your family?” someone came to mind, right?

But why that person?  What criteria in your head made you think of them as most successful?

This is important because it will tell you something about your definition of success.

And I suspect that most of us, especially when making a quick decision, have a worldly definition of success.

So if we all want to be successful, and our most prominent definition of success is worldly, then we are prone to value worldly success; or what I will call “success in the eyes of men.”

However, as Christians, our priority should be success in the eyes of God.  And let me tell you, they are not the same thing.

Take Jesus, for example.  When He walked the earth, He enjoyed little success in the eyes of men.  There was the magnificent Roman Empire, and then there was this little nothing Jew walking around little nothing Israel.

Jesus never went to Rome.  He had no trophy wife.  He did make a little splash around Jerusalem, but did not maximize the publicity.  And just when the ball would get rolling He would do something to kick it off course.

How would you have liked to have been Jesus’ publicity agent?  He didn’t write a book.  He didn’t bounce from city to city on speaking engagements. 

You know what?  He just wasn’t interested in being successful in the eyes of men.

In John 4:34 Jesus told us what He considered successful, “…to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.”

We need to plug this into our heads.  This needs to be our definition of success.  Someone is successful to the degree that they do the will and the work of the Lord.

Take the Apostle Paul and Julius Caesar.  Who was most successful?  Well by this definition, Paul was.  He was immersed in doing the will and the work of the Lord.

Now back to your family.  Who is most successful?  It should be the one who is most doing the will of the Lord.

Look at the kings in the Old Testament.  On what basis were they judged to be successful or not?  It was based on the degree to which they did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

See, success has nothing to do with your money or your fame, your power or your education.  It’s not even your reputation or your standing in the church.  No, our level of success is just like the kings of old.  Are we doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord?

As you map out your goals for success, this must be at the top. 

Are you planning the success of your children?  Make sure this is at the top:  doing the will and work of the Lord.

So much of what we call success is really just success in the eyes of men.  But listen to Jesus’ words in Luke 16:15, “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”

First Corinthians 3 says, “…the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.”

So, if we want to be successful, we need to first of all define what that is.

And we need to do away any worldly notions of success because sometimes what men so highly value is actually detestable to God.

Yes, we want to be successful, and it needs to be according to God’s definition.

And that comes down to doing God’s will and God’s work. 

We will be successful to the degree that we do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

How Can I Receive All the Blessings God Has For Me? - Apples of Gold - February 3, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 3, 2009

“How Can I Receive All the Blessings God Has For Me?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“Dear Doug, how can I receive all the blessings God has for me?”

Great question.

First of all, let me say that all blessings are from God, and if it’s not from God, it’s not a blessing.

James 1:17 indicates that every good and perfect gift comes down from our Heavenly Father.

Psalm 16:11 says that at His right hand are “pleasures forevermore.”

So with God are all the blessings, and apart from Him are no blessings.

In my Bible, Deuteronomy 28 starts with this word in the heading, “Blessings.”  Then it goes on and lists all these wonderful blessings God offered the people of Israel.  Blessed, blessed, blessed – but with one caveat.  They had to “fully obey the Lord.” 

It’s like a giant fire hose of blessings would rain down on them – as long as they obeyed.  But as soon as they didn’t obey the hose would start to kink.

You see, sin is a barrier to God’s blessings.  We will be blessed, unless sin comes between us and God.

And here’s how it played out.  Their sin always came between them and God.  And that meant their sin always came between them and God’s blessings.  They just couldn’t “fully obey” Him.  They didn’t “carefully follow all the words” of the law.  They didn’t revere his glorious and awesome name.  They weren’t able to carefully follow the terms of the covenant.

See, that’s what it was – a covenant between them and God.  It was a great system, but it didn’t do them much good because the people couldn’t be good.  It was their covenant with the Lord, but they couldn’t uphold their end of the covenant.

Skip ahead to Hebrews 8:6.  Jesus came along as the mediator of a new covenant.  It’s superior to the old covenant, and get this.  “…It is founded on better promises.”

Wait a minute.  Better promises than all those promises in the old covenant? 

Yes.  The new covenant is founded on better promises.

Well what are they?

Hebrews 8 goes on to talk about the new covenant.  God says it won’t be like the old covenant.  “They did not remain faithful to my covenant,” declares the Lord, “And I turned away from them.”

But now buckle up for the new covenant.  Listen to these promises starting in Hebrews 8:10.

“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…they will all know me…for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Now remember how we started.  With God are all the blessings, but sin separates us from those blessings.

Well this new covenant takes care of that sin.  Jesus Christ paid the price of our sin.  He purchased our forgiveness with His own blood. 

This kicks off the new covenant.  God forgives our wickedness and remembers our sins no more – when we turn to Jesus Christ.  Through faith in Christ we are cleaned and redeemed.  That obliterates the wall of sin that separates us from God.  It unkinks the fire hose of His blessings.

We literally become children of our Heavenly Father, the Most High God.  Galatians 3:26 says we become children of God “through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Now those are two powerful blessings from the new covenant.  First, God takes care of the sin that separates us from Him. Second, we become His children.

Then comes a super powerful aspect of this new covenant.  Galatians 3:10 says that by faith we “receive the promise of the Spirit.”

This is the Holy Spirit of the Living God, coming to be with us, and to actually live inside us.  He becomes our teacher and our comforter.  He leads us and guides us and convicts us.  Not only are we not separated from God, He has now taken up residence within us!

And remember, with God are all the blessings.  So now the source of all blessing is not a million miles away in some spiritual outer space somewhere.  He is right here!

So now what?  Can we just put it on spiritual auto pilot and wait for the blessings to come flying in?

No.  The next step is to start listening to the voice of God’s Spirit within us and walking in obedience.  Romans 8:5 says we “live in accordance with the Spirit,” with our “minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

Now we can still choose to sin, but we are no longer bound to sin.  We have the Spirit of God within us and as we listen to His voice we can stay clean before the Lord.  If we do sin, He convicts us and we can quickly confess our sin and repent.  This keeps us walking clean before God and prevents any kinks in that fire hose of blessings. 

So yes, God is the source of all blessings, but sin comes between us and those blessings. 

But thank God through Jesus Christ our sin is removed!  Our sin is forgiven and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.  We are children of the Most High, and His Spirit lives inside of us.  As we listen to His Spirit we live in such a way that there is no wall between us, no kink in the hose of His blessings.

And that’s how we receive all the blessings God has for us!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
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Don't Lower the Standard Just to Get a Laugh - Apples of Gold - February 2, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for February 2, 2009

“Don’t Lower the Standard Just to Get a Laugh”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

I have always been a sucker for laughter.

Growing up I always migrated towards people who made me laugh.

I liked comedies and comedians, cartoons and comics.  I went from Charlie Brown to Bloom County to Calvin & Hobbes to Dilbert.  And don’t forget the Far Side.

And even though I wasn’t really asking for it, a lot of foul things were introduced into my life through comedy.

Just for the laughs I listened to Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx and Rodney Dangerfield.  Throw in Steve Martin and Saturday Night Live.

Oh, I had a lot of laughs, but I got something more.  These people also passed along their values.

The main value they passed along was, “What is acceptable to say?”

See, if they said it, then it must be okay to say.  And they were willing to say most anything to get a laugh.  In fact, sometimes the foul things were the funniest.

But you know what?  As Christians, there are some things we should not say.  There are some things that should never come up in conversation.  Ephesians 5 says these things include filthiness, foolish talking and coarse joking.

It says these are out of place for saints.  They are improper for God’s holy people.

So think about it.  Do you ever say things that fall into the categories of filthiness, foolish talking or coarse joking?

Now here is the danger zone.  I think we are more likely to say these things when we are trying to be funny.

Somehow, when it comes to being funny, we have received the values of the comedians more than the values of God. 

Now there’s nothing wrong with being funny.  Nothing wrong with a good laugh.  But it is wrong if it’s filthy, foolish or coarse.

I’ve seen pastors do this while preaching.  I’ve seen youth leaders do this, and Bible teachers.  All of a sudden they say something in order to get a laugh, but lo and behold, it’s filthy, foolish or coarse.

Most Christians, in their normal conversation, would not be filthy, foolish or coarse.  But somehow that standard gets lower when it’s time to get a laugh.

We are more willing to say something crass in order to get a laugh.

Comedy involves the element of surprise.  And since coarse joking is almost always a surprise coming from a Christian, it can cause the much desired laughter.

In other words, a great way for a Christian to get a laugh is to be coarse.

Laughter makes us feel good.  We’re happy!  Even if it’s a guilty pleasure, we’ll take the pleasure, thank you.

Okay, now let’s pull the lid off this thing.  What’s the difference if we all sit around and tell coarse jokes and have a good laugh?  It’s just talk, after all.  I mean, for example, we can joke about adultery all day long.  It’s not the same as doing it.

Well let me tell you.  Jokes matter.  Jokes change our attitudes.  When we laugh about things that are sinful, then we start to attach positive feelings to things God hates.

It will be hard to feel strongly against racism if you sit around and tell racist jokes all the time.

It will be hard to respect women if you tell jokes that demean women.

It’s hard to have a godly view of sex when you tell dirty jokes.

If you laugh a lot about drunk people, it’s hard to feel the depth of sadness and grief for them that we should.

What we choose to laugh about matters.

The Bible says that filthiness and foolish talking and coarse joking are not fitting for saints.  They don’t belong in our conversations. 

The first step is to stop saying these things ourselves.  We just decide that this is unacceptable and we stop saying them.

The second step is to stop listening to others who say such things, including comedians.

I believe these things grieve the Holy Spirit of God.  So let us examine our lives and work to do away with all communications that include filthiness, foolish talking, and coarse joking.

And let us beware of that oh, so subtle temptation – to lower our standards just to get a laugh.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-