New Creations, Old Temptations - Apples of Gold - September 14, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 14, 2009

“New Creations, Old Temptations”

 

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

Paul was born again. 

If there was ever anyone who was born again, it was Paul.

If there was ever anyone walking in the Spirit and living in the Spirit and having the fruit of the Spirit, it was Paul.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…”

Then in Galatians 5:24 he wrote, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

So in Christ, Paul was a new creation; the old was gone!  The old Paul was crucified and no longer lived.  He had crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

That’s awesome!  No more battles with sin.  No more problems with temptation.  That’s what we will all get when we become born again Christians, right?

But wait.  In Romans 7 Paul wrote, “…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”  “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”  “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”  “What a wretched man I am!”

Wow, that doesn’t sound like the old was gone.  It doesn’t sound like his sinful nature had been crucified with its passions and desires.

It sounds to me like the old sinful Paul was still alive and kicking in there somewhere. 

Maybe you have experienced this, too.  You came to Christ.  You repented.  You were forgiven.  And you could really tell the difference.  You were born again!  The weight of sin had been lifted!  You were a new person, a new creation in Christ!

But then you noticed a temptation or two.  You noticed a sinful desire.  You knew it was bad, but something was pulling you towards it anyway.

“But wait a minute!  I’m a new creation in Christ!  The old has gone, the new has come!  I thought that old nature was crucified with Christ!  Why do I still feel drawn to some sin, some evil?  I thought I was done with all that.”

“Wait a minute.  Maybe it’s because I’m not saved.  Maybe I never was saved.  I mean, I thought I was.  I really thought God had changed my life.  But maybe not, otherwise, why would I struggle with this temptation?”

Well do you think the Apostle Paul was saved?  Of course he was.  And yet he battled temptation.

The Apostle Peter called it a war.  In First Peter 2:11 he wrote, “Beloved, I beg you…abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.” (NIV and NKJV)

Ephesians 2:3 calls it “the cravings of our sinful nature…its desires and thoughts.”

Different verses call it different things.  It’s the sinful nature, the old self, the old man, the earthly nature, the flesh.

“But Doug, if I still have to battle the flesh, what good did it do to get saved?”

Read Romans 6.  Before we were saved, we were slaves to sin.  But now through Christ we have been set free from that slavery.  Sin does not have to be our master.  Sin’s chains were broken.

Plus, we now have the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us. 

So through Christ we have the tools to be victorious over sin.  That’s the good it did.

But we still have that earthly, sinful nature, with its desires that war against our soul.  In Romans 7 Paul went so far as to call it “sin living in me.”

So if there is this living thing within me, with its evil desires, what should I do about it?

Well Paul said to put it to death.  Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death…whatever belongs to your earthly nature…”

How do you do that?

Well think of this illustration.  Think of our sin nature like a pile of wood.  Technically it could burn any minute, but it won’t without heat.  For the wood to ignite, something has to come along and heat it up.  But if you keep the heat away from the wood, it will never burn.

Our sin nature is like that.  If we keep the heat away from it, it won’t burn.

Now here is a key to keeping the heat away.  Romans 13:14 says, “…do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Don’t even think about it. 

A temptation pops up.  Your sinful nature taps you on the shoulder and says, “I want that.” 

Now the battle is in your mind.  What you think about will win the battle.  And Romans says don’t even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The King James says, “…make no provision for the flesh…”

Give the flesh no provision – no food, no water, no tools, no opportunities.  Give it nothing to work with.

Galatians 6:8 warns us that if we sow to please our sinful nature, from that nature we will reap destruction.

So we don’t even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  Instead, like it says in Romans 8:5, we should set our mind on what the Spirit desires.  Verse six talks about the “mind controlled by the Spirit.”

We are to set our mind on things above.  (Colossians 3:2)

We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2)

We are to love the Lord with all of our mind.  (Mark 12:30)

And we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.  (Colossians 3:16)

So yes, we are saved, but we still have a sinful nature warring against our soul.  To win the war, we must not even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Instead, we think about what the Holy Spirit desires.  We renew our mind.  We fix it on the Lord and His Word. 

This is living the Spirit-led life, the victorious life.  It’s the life God set us free to live – a life more abundant. 

We have the power to overcome any and all of those old temptations, for in Christ we really are new creations.


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-

Do the Hard Thing - Apples of Gold - September 10, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 10, 2009

“Do the Hard Thing”

 

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

“Do the hard thing.”

I just sent that in a text message to my daughter.

It’s something I say a lot to my children, usually when they are trying to get out of something.

Maybe they don’t feel well.  Maybe they just don’t feel like doing it.

That’s when it’s my job as Dad to step in and say, “Just do it.”

“But it’s hard.”

“Yes it’s hard.  So do the hard thing.”

One hundred and ten years ago Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech at the Hamilton Club in Chicago entitled “The Strenuous Life.”*

Roosevelt said, “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes…to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil…”

The strenuous life – that’s interesting coming from Roosevelt.

Oh I know, you’re probably thinking of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, or Roosevelt the big game hunter.  Living a strenuous life sounds like a perfect fit for him.

But did you know that, as a child, Roosevelt was not healthy?  He had asthma and was in poor physical condition.  Then as a young man, due to heart problems, his doctor told him to find a desk job and to – get this – avoid strenuous activity.

But Roosevelt decided to do the hard thing.  Instead of taking it easy, he did the opposite.  He exercised and took up tennis and hiking and rowing and polo and horseback riding.  As governor of New York, and even as President, he actually spent time boxing until a punch left him blind in one eye.

So when Roosevelt said, “I wish to preach…the doctrine of the strenuous life…” he was his own best example.

This morning I was reading about a man in the Bible who did not shy away from the strenuous life:  Daniel.

If anyone was justified in going along with the flow, it was Daniel.  Here he was, a young captive in a foreign country. 

Then he was chosen to serve the king of Babylon.  He went into training, learned from the best teachers, and was even served food and drink from the king’s table.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…” it says in Daniel 1:8.

That’s what I’m talking about.  That is doing the hard thing.

He could have just “went along,” but instead he did the hard thing.

The rest of verse eight says that he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself with the king’s food and drink.

No big deal, right?  But wait.  In verse 10 we find that the chief official feared for his life!  If Daniel turned up looking less than fit, he said the king would have his head!

So here was Daniel, sacrificing his own pleasure, risking the king’s disapproval, and risking the life of the chief official – who probably had the power to do whatever he wanted to Daniel!

But Daniel made the bold move anyway, based on his conviction that, even though it was the hard thing, it was also the right thing.

And now comes the most exciting part of the story!

Verse 9 says that God caused the official to show favor to Daniel.

Daniel didn’t know it, but God was working behind the scenes on his behalf.  Daniel stepped out to do the hard thing, and the official helped him, because God caused the official to show favor to Daniel.

Proverbs 12:2 says, “A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man.”

If we take the wrong way, we end up with disfavor from the Lord.  But when we take the right way we obtain favor from the Lord.

That’s what happened to Daniel.  He took the right way, even though it was the hard way, and God granted him favor!

And that is just what I expect from the Lord in my own life.  And you can, too!

So take on the challenge.  Live the strenuous life.  Don’t just sit back and take the easy way, the lazy way, the do-nothing way.

Be inspired by Daniel.  Step out and just do it! 

And know this.  The Lord is working behind the scenes on your behalf, and favor will rise to meet you – as you do the hard thing.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


You can read the entire speech here:  http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trstrenlife.html

© 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-

Choose Your Child's Water Fountain Carefully - Apples of Gold - September 9, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 9, 2009

“Choose Your Child’s Water Fountain Carefully”

 

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

She walked down the hall toward the water fountain.

When you walk to the water fountain, you never think that a life-changing moment is about to happen; especially when you’re only ten years old. 

At the water fountain she talked with her two best friends, Mandy and Katie, about the latest candy craze to hit Crestview Elementary School:  Sour Patch Kids. 

Suddenly they were surrounded by a bunch of fifth grade boys.

Now remember, this is just a group of ten year olds at a school water fountain, a seemingly innocuous moment.  But watch what happened.

The boys started joking about which of the girls was sexually attractive, who was hot and who wasn’t, and who was more “developed.”

And Lesly Ludy wasn’t, according to her book “Authentic Beauty.”*

“Hey,” said one of the boys, “check out this ugly chick – she’s flatter than the plains of Kansas!”

In that unexpected moment, a seed of doubt was planted in Lesly’s mind, watered with a drop of insecurity. 

“Maybe men would always see me as ugly and undesirable,” she said.  “Maybe I was not pretty enough or talented enough or vivacious enough.  Maybe in order to be found attractive…I needed to change.”

So over the next couple of years, Lesly says she poured her energies into making herself as desirable as possible to the opposite sex. 

“I was surrounded by a culture that was constantly pushing this agenda,” she said, “that you need to have a sexual attitude as a young woman.  You need to flaunt your figure and be flirtatious and be seductive and be sensual.  By the time I was probably 12, in middle school I just played right into it.  I acted the part of being flirtatious and sexual and seductive and encouraged that kind of behavior from guys.”

By the age of fifteen, Lesly said, “I found myself being molded into the kind of girl the world expected me to be.  The next season of my life was the most hellish I have ever experienced.  I had listened to the voice of the culture and become the young woman it convinced me to be.”

When I hear Lesly’s story, my big question is, where were her parents?

She says, “I think my parents knew that I was slipping away from the values that they had instilled in me growing up, but I don’t think they understood what I was truly exposed to.”

Now let me say this.  Parents, you may be like Lesly’s parents.  You may not know what your child is being exposed to. 

And as a father of four, I fully realize you can’t follow your kids around all day and hold their hand.

But here is what you can do.  You can minimize the risk.

Yes, our children will be exposed to things, but we can minimize the risk.

One of the best things we did for our children was send them to a Christian school.  I know it’s expensive.  For most people it’s a big sacrifice.  Maybe you end up driving an older car and living in less of a house, but if that’s what it takes, I say do it. 

I know Christian schools aren’t perfect, but you are minimizing the risk.  Your daughter is less likely to be treated like a pre-teen sex object at a Christian school.  She is less likely to adopt worldly values at a Christian school. 

Lesly Ludy is less likely to have had that encounter at the water fountain at a Christian school.  Maybe she wouldn’t have sacrificed so much of herself for the boys at a Christian school. 

Your child is more likely to keep their innocence longer at a Christian school.

First Corinthians 13:7 says that love always protects.  When we love our children, we protect them.  And that means minimizing risk.

And it’s not just at school.  What about when they go over to a friend’s house?

You know what?  Your child can’t just go to everyone’s house.  You have to protect them.  You have to minimize the risk of them losing their innocence in various areas of life.

What happens when your seven-year-old goes to the friend’s house where the big brother has pornography under his bed? 

What happens when your nine-year-old stays at a friend’s house where every cable channel is unblocked?

I just heard this week about a woman who was exposed to same-sex porn as a child and it helped send her life careening down a hellish path.

And what about night spending?  Does your child really have to spend the night?  Can’t they just visit then come home?  How well do you know these people?  Even their cousins?

And you know what?  You can’t just hire the first babysitter that comes along.

And don’t think that every relative is safe.  How many terrible stories come out years later about Aunt and Uncle So-And-So?

It may sound like I’m being paranoid, but I’m just trying to get you to open your eyes to your responsibility as a parent, and that is to protect your child, minimize the risk, and prevent their exposure to certain things.

If Lesly doesn’t have that water fountain moment, maybe the next few years of her life don’t become “hellish,” as she described it. 

You see, mom and dad, things happen at water fountains.  Things happen in the most seemingly innocuous moments.  It doesn’t mean we keep our children away from every water fountain, but it does mean we choose their water fountains carefully. 

It’s about minimizing the risk.

It’s about protecting our children; because, like the Bible says, love always protects.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


*  You can read excerpts from Lesly Ludy’s book here:  http://shortcovers.com/shortcovers/Authentic-Beauty/sc-sDS0Wd3yQ0eo6HfzHkToVg/page5.html#2

You can read or listen to the interview with Lesly on Family Life Today here:  http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3832113&ct=7323137


© 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-

Remove Complaining From Your Vocabulary - Apples of Gold - September 8, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 8, 2009

“Remove Complaining From Your Vocabulary”

 

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

“I never heard them complain.”

That’s what Elisabeth Elliot said after living with the Auca Indians in Ecuador.*

“It was amazing to me how hard those Indians had to work,” she said.  “The men and the women and the children had to work their heads off in order to survive.  But I never heard them complain.”

They could put up with all kinds of things without making a fuss.  “Indians never fuss,” she said.  “In fact, there is hardly any vocabulary for complaining.”

Did you catch that?  Not only were the Auca Indians not in the habit of complaining, they really didn’t even have the words for it.

On the other end of the spectrum are people who complain about everything.  

It makes me think of Ebenezer Scrooge.  Remember in “A Christmas Carol” when Scrooge’s nephew says “Merry Christmas”? 

Now this is the mark of a professional complainer – they can even complain when someone says, “Merry Christmas!”

So the nephew says, “Merry Christmas!” and Scrooge says, “Merry Christmas?  What right have you to be merry?  You’re poor enough.”

And I love the nephew’s response.  “Come, then.  What right have you to be dismal?  You’re rich enough.”

See, complaining has nothing to do with your circumstances.

Elisabeth Elliot has a great illustration of this in her own mother.  She said, “My mother had come from a very wealthy family.  They had two maids and a butler, so she never had to do any housework until she married my father, who was relatively poor by comparison.”

So her mother went from being rich with two maids and a butler, to being married to a man of average means.  Then in the early 1900’s they became missionaries in Belgium.   

Elisabeth said, “They lived in a fifth-floor walk-up.  My father had to lug all the water up the stairs and all the water back down the stairs after it had been used.  And things were very, very tight when they were missionaries.  And that’s where I was born,” said Elisabeth.  “So it was always on my mind, ‘We don’t have anything.’”

“But,” she said, and now listen to this, “But there was never a word of complaint from my mother.”**

You talk about setting a great example for your children. 

Now stop and think about that.  What kind of example are you setting for your children?  Do they hear you complain?

Does anyone hear you complain?

When you hear complaining, it’s like a dark cloud enters the room.  Now think about what happens to children who have to live under that dark cloud.  What kind of a home is that?

Philippians 2:14 says, “Do everything without complaining…”

Have you ever run across someone that you don’t dare ask them how they are doing?  It’s because you know they will just start complaining. 

And yet we are supposed to do everything without complaining.  There should be no complaining about anything.

Now that doesn’t mean you close your eyes to problems.  It doesn’t mean you can’t discuss problems or work on them.  But that’s not the same as complaining about them.

Ephesians 4:29 says this is what should come out of our mouth:  “…what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Complaining never edifies, it never imparts grace.

Numbers 11:1 says this, “And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and His anger was kindled…”

Complaining:  people don’t want to hear it, and the Lord doesn’t want to hear it.

How to stop?  First of all, pay attention to your own words.  Are you complaining?  Keep track of it. 

Another thing, avoid people who complain.  It’s too easy to join in.  Hang around complainers and you will end up just like them.

Instead, work on Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

We must remove complaining from our vocabulary.

We don’t want to be the complainers that bring the dark cloud in the room.  Instead, we want to be like the people in Philippians 2 who don’t complain and become blameless and pure, children of God who shine like stars in the universe!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


Elisabeth Elliot talks about the Auca Indians:  http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/Gateway-to-Joy/Responses-to-Feelings.html

Elisabeth talks about her mother:  http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/Gateway-to-Joy/Women-Today.html

© 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 Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place - Apples of Gold - September 2, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 2, 2009

“A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place”

 

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

The shoes were all over the floor.

You couldn’t even go into the closet because of all the shoes.

They weren’t sitting upright.  They weren’t even paired together.  It was literally just a pile of shoes.

That’s what our closet looked like right after we moved.  And you know, when you move into a new home, getting the shoes straight is not the first order of priority.  So it stayed that way for a couple of days.

I got up in the morning and had to kick shoes out of the way to reach my clothes.  Then I had to root around in the pile to find a pair that matched.

That is a great example of disorder, and you can see the problems it caused.

First of all, you can trip on the pile.  Second, looking through the pile is a waste of time.  And third, it’s hard on the shoes.

As you can imagine, we didn’t put up with that for long.  I bought a little rack that fit perfectly in the closet, and now the shoes are lined up neatly in pairs, row by row.

In the morning I take a pair off the rack and put them on.  And in the evening I take off the shoes and put them right back on the rack.

It reminds me of one of my all time favorite sayings, one I tried to drill into my children.  Here it is:

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”

So start with “a place for everything.”  At first we didn’t have a place for shoes.  The shoes had no place.  Then I bought the rack.  Now the shoes have a place.  That’s the first step toward order, that everything has a place where it belongs.

Look around your house, or your office, or your vehicle.  Is there disorder? 

“Yes, but who cares, Doug?”

Well disorder causes problems.  It wastes time, it’s hard on the stuff, and sometimes it’s downright hazardous. 

So take the first step towards order.  Pick up something and ask, “Does this have a place?”  If the answer is no, then create a place for it, a place where it belongs, where it can always be found, where it’s out of the way and protected.

“But Doug, I’m just not an orderly person.”

I understand that.  Some people are more gifted in this area than others.  First Corinthians 12:28 talks about people with “gifts of administration.”  Some people can just “see” how to administer things, to organize them and put them in order.

But we can all be more orderly.  It makes us better stewards of what God has given us, both our stuff and our time.

Now back to that old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” 

You start by taking control of the situation and creating a place for everything.  Then comes the hard part for some people, and that is getting into the habit of keeping everything in its place.

Yes, I have a shoe rack, but what happens if everyday I come home and just kick off my shoes into the closet?  Soon I’m right back to that disorderly pile.

So the trick is simply putting things back into their place. 

This works for bigger things, too, such as cars.  There are six cars in our household, and no, we don’t have a six-car garage.  That means six cars parking here, there and everywhere; people parking people in, people having to move cars so others can get out.  It could be a real nightmare.

So I took control of the situation.  I mapped out a parking spot for everyone, so that no matter who’s coming or going, or when, everyone can come and go as they please without bothering anyone else.  That’s “a place for everything;” even every car.

But what happens if people don’t park in their spot?  “Oh, I was just running in the house and running right back out.  That’s why I parked you in, Dad.”

“Uh, that was five hours ago.”

“A place for every car, and every car in its place!”

Paul told the church in Colossians 2:5, “I…delight to see how orderly you are…”

In First Corinthians 14:40 the King James says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Proverbs 28:2 says, “…a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.”

This applies at home and at work.  It applies to our money and our time.  It applies in business and government and education.

To be good stewards of what God has given us, we must take control of disorderly situations and put them in order.

And the old saying sums it up so nicely.

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”


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-

Remember the Lion and the Bear - Apples of Gold - September 1, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 1, 2009

“Remember the Lion and the Bear”

 

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

“You can’t do this.  You are only a boy!”

That’s what King Saul told David when he volunteered to fight Goliath.

See, Goliath was an experienced warrior, and David was just a shepherd.  Where on earth did David get the idea that he could face a giant Philistine?

Well listen to David’s reasoning.  He started by looking back on his life and finding other instances where God had delivered him.

For example, there was the time when a bear came and carried off one of his sheep.  In First Samuel 17 David said, “I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.” 

The same thing happened with a lion.  David said, “When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”

Now it sounds like David is conceited.  In fact, that’s what his oldest brother said in verse 28, “I know how conceited you are…”

But in verse 37 David gives credit where credit is due.  He said it was the Lord who delivered him “from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear.”

So David had great confidence going into that battle with Goliath.  Why?  Because he had already seen what God could do in smaller battles.

David remembered the lion and the bear, and that strengthened his faith in the Lord for the next big battle.  He concluded, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.”

Now what about you today?  Are you standing in a valley, looking up at some Goliath?  Are you nervous and afraid, not sure how it’s going to turn out?

Then remember the lion and the bear.  Remember times in your life when God delivered you, when He provided for you and cared for you, when He came through in the clutch.

Last night my daughter sent me a text message.  It was very good news, and at the end she wrote, “Yay!  Jesus loves us, Dad!”

Now five or ten years from now she might forget all about what happened yesterday.  She might forget how God provided in a wonderful way.  And then when she faces a new challenge, she might lose heart.  She might feel nervous and afraid.

What she will need to do is remember how God provided yesterday, and so many other days.  She’ll need to remember the lion and the bear, and it will build up her faith for the next battle.

Jack Morris is a karate instructor in Tallahassee.  He maintains a little black book of remembrance.  He simply writes down the little miracles God does in His life, then he goes back and reads them.  They are excellent reminders of God’s work in the past, which build up his faith in the present.

For me this often comes in times of thanksgiving.  Sometimes when I’m praying I will take time to do nothing but give thanks.  I will let my mind wander to all the things I’m thankful for.

The other day I started thanking God for allowing me to work in Christian radio, and I remembered back when I was trying get my first full time job at a Christian radio station.  I was working at a country and pop station combo, and my convictions were running deeper by the day that I should get out of there and use whatever abilities I had for the Lord. 

I sent out a couple resumes and figured the doors would just fling wide open.

They didn’t.

I wrestled with that for a few months, and it seemed like I would never get a job in Christian radio.

Then the door finally opened, and the other day I was just remembering how grateful I was to God at the time for that opportunity, for my job to be a full time ministry.

Then it dawned on me, that was over 23 years ago.  I just turned 46, so I did the math and realized that I have now been in full time Christian radio over half my life.

And that’s funny because there were those few brief weeks when I thought I would never get into Christian radio, and now I’ve been in it forever.

God provided for me.  He opened the door for me to work in the ministry full time, which was my heart’s desire. 

And now I look back on that time and remember.  My faith is built up for the challenges of today as I remember how God met the challenges of yesterday.

 So what about you?  Are you facing a great challenge?  Is your faith withering in the shadow of the giant?

Then look back.  Think back to what the Lord has done. 

Now you might say, “Yes, but I’ve never faced anything like this before.”

That’s okay.  David had never faced Goliath before.  He had never faced any warrior before.  But he built up his faith by doing this one thing, and you can do it to, and here it is.

Remember the lion and the bear.


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-

I Am Ruined for Atheism - Apples of Gold - August 31, 2009 ***Happy Birthday to my brother Tim!!!*** -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 31, 2009

“I Am Ruined for Atheism”

 

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

If God’s not writing through me, I don’t want to write.

If God’s not speaking through me, I don’t want to speak.

If God’s not in my plans, I don’t want to make them.

If I stand at the edge and think of living life without God, all I see is a useless void.

But when I think of life with God, I see hope and beauty and mystery and love and wisdom and adventure and a high calling and purpose for my life, both now and forever.

When I look at my family, my marriage, my household, I see peace and order and love and a bright future.  And the reason is because we are trying to do things God’s way instead of our own way.

It’s not always easy, but I can look back over the years and see all the good fruit that comes from doing things God’s way.

I have an atheist trying to convince me there is no god.  He says we evolved and there is no creator.  He says we will die and there is no afterlife.  He says we are just animals and we have no soul.  He gets irate when I talk about God and thinks I am close-minded and that if I would ever just listen to all his facts, I would be convinced.

He doesn’t realize it’s too late.  I’m already 100% convinced the other way.  I have zero doubts there is a creator.  We have a creation, and thus a creator.  I am thoroughly convinced of the afterlife.  I believe it because the Bible says it, and I believe it because it makes sense to me, that even though our bodies die, we actually live on forever.

And I’m mostly convinced because of the changes God made in my life to make me a better man – a far better man than I would have been without Him.  If left to myself, hard telling how wretched I might be by now.  But God through Jesus Christ, working through His Holy Spirit within me, has forgiven and cleansed me and made me whole.  He has me striving to lead a holy and blameless life before Him, and He is empowering me to do that as He changes me from the inside out.

God is the foundation of my life, and He has made it a blessed life.

Remember the old movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  George Bailey says, “I wish I had never been born,” and suddenly he gets to see what the world would be like if he hadn’t.

Well I look at my life and say, “What if I hadn’t been born again?”  And I don’t like what I see. 

I look at the path some of my old friends have taken, a path that veered them away from God; and look where they ended up.  So many broken marriages and broken homes.  Kids gone astray.  I just see broken pieces everywhere.

I don’t doubt that without God in my life I would have ended up like that.  My life without God looks like Pottersville – bleak and ugly and dingy.

But God takes crooked things and makes them straight.  He takes broken things and makes them new.  He takes dirty things and makes them white as snow.

God has done that in my life, and it is a glorious thing to behold.

And now you want me to consider life without God, as if He doesn’t exist, as if I just made all this up, as if I just conjured up the idea of God in my own mind and convinced myself that He existed and then became a good husband and father and worker and citizen, became honest and loving and forgiving and decent and kind?  Like one day I just swallowed some kind of really-good-person pill?

Nope.  I can’t even fathom it.  The changes God made in me are so real and tangible, I guess I am ruined for atheism.  It’s impossible for me to be an atheist now. 

I don’t want to live a day without God, not a minute without God.  I don’t want to do anything without God. 

And because God has done so much for me, I want to spread the word!  I want to share the good news!  That’s why I manage this Christian radio station, to keep the good news on the air 24 hours a day.  That’s why I write Apples of Gold and e-mail it all over. 

I think knowing the Lord and His ways is the best thing that could happen to anyone, so I want everyone to know.

As for you atheists, I see what you are saying.  I can’t see God, so He doesn’t exist.  There are many different religions, so mine isn’t true.  Doctors can’t find it, so I don’t have a soul.  Scientists can’t prove a Creator, so there isn’t one.  Everything is just made up, so there really is no sin.  Oh, except that it’s a sin for me to keep telling people about God.

I see your point, but your bullying and your hateful speech and your incomplete logic just bounce off like so many pebbles against Mount Everest. 

Like I said, I’m ruined for atheism.

It’s too late for me.  God has done too many wonderful things in my life, and to even think about living without Him is just a hopeless, joyless thought.

So I say along the apostle in First Peter chapter 1 – though I have not seen the Lord, I love Him; and even though I do not see Him now, I believe in Him and am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for I am receiving the goal of my faith, the salvation of my soul.


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-

Be a Witness at Work - Apples of Gold - August 28, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 28, 2009

“Be a Witness at Work”

 

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

Bobby Bowden was at our church Sunday.

And he brought the Seminoles with him.

Now when was the last time you rounded up the roughest and toughest guys where you work and invited them to church?

Yes, I realize Bobby Bowden is in a unique position as the head coach of the Florida State football team, and one of the winningest coaches in football history.  But listen, there are plenty of strong people who suddenly grow very weak at the thought of sharing their faith.  And if you are looking for excuses not to, there is an endless supply.

But right now I want to give you a great excuse to share your faith.  Now listen to this little line and take it to heart.  Here it is.

Never underestimate the thirst in someone’s soul for God.

See, you just never know what is going on inside a person, no matter what they look like on the outside.

This week I heard a great story about Coach Bowden on the national radio show Family Life Today. 

The guest on the show was Mark Richt, who is the head football coach for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, one of the top teams in the country.  And before that he was under Coach Bowden at FSU.

Well Coach Richt is very thankful that Coach Bowden was not afraid to be a witness at work!

Back in 1986, while Richt was still a graduate assistant, FSU lineman Pablo Lopez was shot and killed.  The next day Coach Bowden had a team meeting and talked about the shooting.

Then he talked about eternity and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Coach Bowden shared his own testimony with the players.  Then he pointed to an empty chair.  He said, “Pablo used to sit right there and now he is gone.  If that had been you last night instead of Pablo, do you know where you would spend eternity?”

And there was Mark Richt, the grad assistant, in the back of the room thinking, “I know where I am going, and it’s not a very good place.”

Coach Bowden invited the players to come see him if they wanted to talk about it.  “My door is always open,” he said.

So the next morning Mark Richt went to see Coach Bowden and said, “Coach, I want to accept Jesus.”  And that’s what he did, right there in the coach’s office.

The St. Petersburg Times wrote an article about Coach Bowden, saying he keeps a Bible right there on his desk at work.  And the article quoted him as saying, “If you knew the cure for cancer, would you tell somebody?  You wouldn’t keep it a secret, would you?  No, none of your would.  Cancer can kill you.  And salvation can save you so you can live eternally.”

The coach went on to say, “God didn’t just pick ministers to preach.  He picked you.  And He picked me.”

Now you might say, “But Doug, I have no idea how to be a witness.  And I sure don’t want to stir up trouble at work.  What do you want me to do, stand up and preach from my cubicle?”

I like what they said at the end of Family Life Today.  They said that if you know someone who is a big football fan, get them a copy of that radio show featuring Coach Richt.  They said, “Give them that CD just because you know they are a football fan.  Find out how God will use that in their life.  It may open the door for you to have a spiritual conversation with them.  It may get them thinking about the fact that there is more to life than football.  But it is something that they will be interested in because they are football fans.”

Or you can get them a book like “Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy. 

But I think you see the point.  You don’t have to preach from your cubicle to be a witness at work.  It can be as easy as slipping someone a book you think they might be interested in.

Like I said, never underestimate the thirst in someone’s soul for God.  Someone may look on the outside like they are on top of the world, but you don’t know what’s happening on the inside. 

So how to be a witness?  Start by praying for people.  And look for ways to love them, to be kind to them.  Watch for opportunities to shine a little light, and to share some of your own story.  Even just being interested in someone goes a long way.

Just don’t keep it to yourself.  Like Coach Bowden said, if you knew the cure for cancer, you wouldn’t keep it a secret.

And the job of witnessing isn’t just for pastors.  Coach Bowden said, “God didn’t just pick ministers to preach.  He picked you.  And he picked me.”

So pray about it, and watch for opportunities.  And if you have any doubts, just ask Mark Richt; because it’s true – lives will be changed as we find ways to be a witness at work.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


The Family Life Today script from Wednesday:
http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3789887&ct=7273187

And today: 
http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3832113&ct=7273195&DCMP=BAC-FLT+HP+Broadcast+Link&ATT=BoxLink

The St. Petersburg Times article:  http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/13/Sports/Relying_on_faith.shtml

© 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-

Dear Celia - Apples of Gold - August 27, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 27, 2009

“Dear Celia”

 

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

There’s a man at a large wooden desk.

He looks without seeing at the specks of dust floating in the late afternoon sun.

As shadows lengthen across the room, he picks up his old fashioned pen and begins to write.

Dear Celia,

Regarding your last letter, I must reiterate that I want you to beware of being in the company of a young man alone after dark. 

Believe me, I understand your enthusiasm.  It’s the fall of the leaves, a most romantic time on a college campus, and a wondrous time to share with someone who makes your heart all aflutter.

And I realize that it may seem like you are the “lonely loser” as you put it, the one girl who goes home when the other girls are out alone with young men.

But you must listen to your old father.  When you go home, the young men think about you more, not less.  You become the mysterious one. 

Remember the story I read to you last summer?  “Verotchka” by Anton Chekhov.  Remember how Vera cast away her “woman’s enhancing inaccessibility.”

This not being alone with a young man after dark, it does not hinder your chances of marriage, as you suppose.  It does not “snuff out all opportunities for happiness,” though I appreciate your grand language!

Rather, it capitalizes on your “woman’s enhancing inaccessibility.”

Keeping yourself at arm’s length does not snuff out romance.  It stirs it!

I want to share with you a poem by Sara Teasdale.  It’s the reverse of your situation, for in the poem it is the young man who stayed at arm’s length.  You might think the young lady would have forgotten all about him, but listen to the poem:

Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.

Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.

See?  Did Colin remove himself from all desirability by keeping his distance?  In fact, quite the opposite occurred.  Those other boys’ kisses were forgotten, but one kiss was locked away in her memory:  the kiss she never got!

Now you asked me, “Where does the Bible say to not be alone with boys?” 

I want to focus on one single letter of the alphabet:  s.  You wrote “boys” with an s. 

Someday I know you want to marry and have a family, and someday you will.  And the Bible says, “the two shall become one flesh.”

That day will come, but my dear Celia, do not awaken love before its time.  It is not boyS you want to be with, it is one fine young man; and not now, but when it is time.  I advise you not to awaken love until its time.

I could quote Second Timothy about fleeing youthful lusts, and I could quote Proverbs about “keeping thy heart with all diligence,” but you know those scriptures better than I.  This is not a Bible lesson.  This is a letter from your father.

 You have become a beautiful young woman, and I believe God has a particular plan for you.  And I don’t want you to miss that plan by becoming too quickly involved with a young man.  And that means keeping them at arm’s length, and avoiding situations that are too intimate.

And that means not being alone with them after dark.

Please consider this carefully.  Walk circumspectly.  Shine God’s holy light on the subject, and then make your decision accordingly.

Your mother and I love you very much and look forward to your every letter.

Sincerely,

Dad

 
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-

Fuzzy Doctrine - Apples of Gold - August 26, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 26, 2009

“Fuzzy Doctrine”

 

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

I have now spent over half my life working full time in Christian radio.

It’s a job that gives me a rare opportunity – to work with Christians from many different churches.

Yesterday a man asked me about people whose doctrine is fuzzy.  “What do you think about those people?  What do you say to them?  I mean, we have to get them straightened out.  They believe things that don’t line up with the Bible.  Why, they’re believing in the wrong Jesus.”

Well, here is what I’ve found over the years.  Jesus Christ has powerfully changed the lives of people from a variety of congregations. 

“Yes, but what if their doctrine is wrong?”

Well let me tell you, I’ve met people whose doctrine I thought was off-center, and yet the testimony of what Jesus has done in their life is glorious.

“What do you say to those people?”

Well here is what I want to know from them.

Did you realize you are a sinner?  Did you believe in Jesus as your savior?  Did you repent of your sin and ask the Lord to forgive you? 

And of course, they all did.

Do you believe that Jesus walked the earth a sinless man, was crucified and shed His blood for our sins, died and rose again?

And they all do.

Now if they don’t believe that, then yes, their doctrine is way off.  They may believe something, but they aren’t believing in the truth.

But now let’s get down to where I think the rubber meets the road.  When I am talking to someone who claims to be a Christian, I don’t drill down into what they believe about 12 key points of doctrine, or whatever.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I believe in correct doctrine.  We need to seek and find the rock solid truth in every area.

But look around.  There are Christians all over the place who believe a variety of things, and yet say that Jesus Christ changed their life.

So when I’m talking to someone who claims to be a Christian, here is what I want to know.  This is the evidence I am looking for that God is truly working in their life.

First of all, do they love people they didn’t want to love?

I think this is a key evidence of salvation.  In the natural, there are just people we don’t want to love.  There is no love in us for certain people. 

But when we become Christians, and God goes to work in our heart, all of a sudden we love people we didn’t want to love.

Look at Paul.  He hated Christians, but then he loved Christians.  And he loved his fellow Jews all the more.  And he loved the Gentiles.  He went from being a man of violence to being a man of love for all people.

That’s what you look for in someone who claims to be a Christian.  Do they love people they didn’t want to love?

Also, do they forgive people they didn’t want to forgive?  This is something people don’t fake.  They don’t even want to fake it.  If someone wrongs us, we have no problem being angry and bitter towards them. 

But when Jesus forgives us, when Jesus does His powerful work in our lives, all of a sudden we are ready and willing to forgive.  I think, for a Christian, forgiveness is natural.  Like it says in Colossians 3:13, we forgive as the Lord forgave us.

And third, do they feel convicted about things they didn’t feel convicted about before?  I heard the testimony of a man who had a very foul mouth.  He even went to church, but he had a foul mouth.  Then he got saved.  He truly became a born again Christian.  And suddenly he was very convicted about his language.  He repented.  He asked the Lord the clean up his speech.

Some people lie about everything, but when Jesus comes into their life, all of a sudden they are convicted about lying. 

So those are three things I look for in someone who claims to be a Christian.  Yes, I want to know what they believe about Jesus, but instead of checking every single point of doctrine, what I am looking more for are things like:  Do you now love people you didn’t want to love?  Do you forgive people you didn’t want to forgive?  And do you feel convicted about things you didn’t feel convicted about before?

To me, these are signs that someone has Christ in their life and the Holy Spirit of God is at work within them.

On the other hand, I’ve met Christians who could recite all the right doctrine, but where was the love?  Where was the forgiveness?  Where was the conviction?

So anyway, it’s been 23 years now – and 2 months and 10 days – over half my life I’ve been working in Christian radio full time. 

And one of the great privileges has been to meet and work with people who truly love the Lord Jesus, whose lives are changed, and who, no matter what congregation they are part of, truly show the evidence that God Almighty is at work in their life.

And when I know that the Spirit of God is at work in their life, then I know that He will lead them to all truth, and He can open their eyes to any fuzzy doctrine


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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(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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