Sear Your Steak, Not Your Conscience

When I was a little boy, I stole a quarter from my mother’s purse. I immediately knew I had acted wrongly and I needed to make it right. Day after day my conscience bothered me and the heavy load of guilt increased. I finally confessed my sin to my mother and repented to God. Admitting that I had stolen money was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Of course mother and God forgave me. It was a wonderful feeling to be free from guilt and shame and to have a clear conscience again!

When you become a child of God, the Bible states that you’re a new creature and you have the spirit of Christ living in you. Your newly-cleansed conscience can be trusted to lead you in paths of Christlikeness. Deliberately ignoring your conscience is a spiritual danger as stated in 1 Timothy 4:1,2 NKJV: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,  speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” Sear means to burn to dryness and hardness; to cauterize; to expose to a degree of heat that changes the color of the surface, or makes it hard. A seared conscience will make you insensitive to God’s voice and opens the door to deceiving spirits from Satan.

In the book of Acts 24:16 NKJV, Paul writes, “…I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” Keeping it clear requires you to do the right thing even when it seems to be the hardest task you‘ve ever done. God speaks in a soft and tender voice that can be ignored if that‘s what you choose to do. But in order to follow Christ wholeheartedly, you must be able to hear the voice of your conscience.

A seared conscience doesn’t happen overnight; it‘s a process that occurs over a period of time. I recently read an incident about an older gentleman that brewed his coffee on the woodstove. He’d pour the boiling coffee into his cup and drink it quickly. Through the years, this man had seared his lips, mouth, and throat until it was easy for him to drink boiling coffee. This is an example of how you need to keep your conscience tender so that spiritual things will be clear to you.

If you speak unkind words, treat someone badly, tell a lie, or act out an evil thought, your conscience will let you know about it. Do yourself a favor and don’t shrug it off! The minute your conscience warns you, stop and make it right. Believe me, the sooner the better because the passing of time will make it harder to straighten out, and repeated offenses will eventually sear your conscience.

If you want to walk as close to the Lord as possible, then you should be thankful when your conscience convicts you. God is giving you the opportunity to come up higher in your spiritual walk.

The Bottom Line: If you want a close personal relationship with God, don’t sear your conscience.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

(620) 223-1483

Diamond Community Church

Worship 10:45 am

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” Revelation 21:21

It was so hot last week… I saw a chicken lay an omelette. It was so hot last week… I started sweating like a politician on election day. It was so hot last week… Jehovah’s Witnesses started telemarketing.

Right in the middle of all this heat we have been having, our air conditioner went out. I came home and my wife, Amanda, was frowning. She was drenched in sweat. She looked at me and said, “The air-conditioner is out. I don’t care how you get it done, you just better get that air conditioning fixed, preacher boy.” Now this is not in the Bible, but I have learned a valuable lesson in life: “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” From the expression on Amanda’s face, I could tell she was not happy.

I panicked and ran to the phone. I called 10 air-conditioner repairmen. Nine of the 10 did not answer. I left messages for all of them. None of them called me back. I finally got a hold of an air conditioning repairman. I said, “Our air-conditioner is out. I’ve got an emergency.” He said, “You and everybody else has an emergency. I can get someone out to you in 4 to 6 weeks.” The rest of the summer is going to be hot at my house.

When I was growing up, our church didn’t have air conditioning. Instead we used church fans. For those too young to remember, church fans were little paper fans with wooden handles. In our church, they were always available in the hymnal racks on the backs of pews. The fans in our church were provided by the local funeral home, and at election time, a politician or two would bring in a batch.

On one side of a church fan there would always be a picture of Jesus. Usually Jesus was in a garden, or sitting with children, or holding a lamb in a soft meadow near a brook. On the other side there would be the commercial message of the funeral parlor or the politician who had donated the fans.

“Downer Brothers Funeral Home. Put Them In The Ground, With No Money Down. Our Coffins Are So Nice, You’ll Want To Die Twice. We’re Dead Serious. Ask About Our Installment Payment Plan.”

Or, “Elect Hamp Baker State Senator. Family Man. Deacon. Honest. Keep Your Freedom, Guns, And Money. Vote November 7^th.”

Hamp Baker wasted a bunch of money on church fans, because he never was elected. He always put his picture on his fans. He looked just like Uncle Fester from “The Adam’s Family.” He was so strange looking that nobody would vote for him.

I remember one church fan with a picture of heaven. As a seven-year-old, I would stare at the golden streets and imagine walking there.

That church fan reminds me of the story of an old miner who struck gold and carried his bag of gold with him everywhere. One day he died and went to heaven, still carrying his gold. When he arrived, an angel asked him why he was carrying asphalt.

On earth, we value gold as being the most precious of metals. In heaven, it will be what we walk on.

The point is: The things we value in this life will not be so highly valued in heaven. Money, fame, houses, and cars are nice in the here and now. What value will those things have in eternity? Earthly possessions are temporary. Our true wealth is in heaven.

Have you made your reservation for heaven? Trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Make you reservation today. Trust me, you would rather go to heaven than the alternative.

You think it’s hot here? There are no air conditioners in hell.

James Collins is the Pastor at Fort Scott’s First Southern Baptist Church. He can be reached at (620) 223-2986, or through the website thepointis.net.

Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. (Prov. 16:24)

Last week, I wrote about heeding warning signs, especially those given to us by God dealing with choosing the right mate. It took no time at all for Dave to make me crazy. All I asked was for him to look up the definition of a clove of garlic—and yes, I should have known the answer. Bulb or clove, which is which? My brain simply refused to go there. (Sometimes it does that. But that’s a story for another time…provided I can remember it.)

Anyway, I was chopping garlic; Dave was sitting at the kitchen table, playing a word game on his phone. My recipe called for two cloves, but the “bulb-clove” thing confused me, so I asked for help. My sweet hubby needed to finish his game because he was being timed, and I guess he was going to win a kajillion dollars if he won, so I waited patiently. Then he started.

“Patty, did you know that garlic is related to the onion?”

“Lovely. What is a clove?”

“Did you know it comes from the genus Allium?”

“I don’t care where it comes from, Dave. What is a clove?”

“Here’s something interesting. It helps medically. Did you know that?”

“Did you know that I’m about to bang my head on the cutting board?”

“Patty, you’re really cranky, but I’m serious. It’s recommended for gout, snakebites, scalp ringworm, earaches, stomach aches, hemorrhoids…”

“That’s terrific, but unless you are getting a PhD in garlic, all I need to know is the definition of a clove.”

“Wow! It helps treat heart disease, enlarged prostate, chronic fatigue, stress, and…”
“Dave, if it’s recommended for stress, I’m going to suck down this whole thing just to get me through this conversation.”

It was then I left Dave, excitedly rattling off all kinds of garlic gobbledegook, and walked into the living room where my computer is located, googled “clove of garlic” and found my answer. As I stopped chopping and tossed my two cloves in with the other ingredients, sweet hubby was still sharing his research.

“Do you want to know how to get rid of garlic breath?”

“Do you want to know how to get rid of a wife, because you’re getting close.”

“Gosh, Patty, I thought you’d find this interesting.”

“About as interesting as swallowing a bowling ball.”

“Cranky, cranky, cranky.”

As I write this, I think of wonderful Christian couples who never would have a conversation like this. Their words are bathed in prayer, and they purpose to edify each other. From the minute sweet hubby said, “Did you know that garlic is related to the onion?” they would have stopped chopping and shown interest. They would have asked for a handout and memorized the spreadsheet. They would have put the other person’s feelings first. I know that’s what God wants me to do. I know that time is short and I won’t have Dave forever (unless, I guess, we eat a whole lot of garlic).

Proverbs 16:24 gives us advice to guide our talk: Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. I need to memorize that scripture. Kind words benefit soul and body.

Then again, I could just chomp on a clove of garlic. If Dave’s lucky, maybe it remedies crankiness.

Our neighborhood here in Florida is filled with warning signs. The alligator notice posted above is one block from where Dave and I live.

The “cart” sign hangs on a wall outside our local supermarket, and a neighbor’s front door holds the “I’m happy…don’t ruin it” sign. None of us are unfamiliar with notices of caution, but how about this one? “Removing consumer labels from pillows is punishable by fines.” When I was young, I feared the pillow police would show up at my door if I tore off one of those scratchy tags. (Tell the truth; you did too.)

Humorous signs now are the norm. “Children left unattended will be given a Red Bull and a puppy.” “Do not cross this pasture unless you can do it in nine seconds because the bull can do it in ten.” “Stay off the tracks. They are only for trains. If you can read this, you’re not a train.”

Most warnings, however, are not laughable. We heed them…or we pay the consequences. Especially ones God has given us. Every book in the Bible cautions us about what our bad choices can do to us…and to others. Our problem is that sometimes we don’t take the warnings seriously, if we read them at all.

For example, God gave strict instructions on how to choose the right spouse. I have Christian friends who chose their mates only after much prayer, seeking God’s wisdom because of the decision’s lifetime importance. (I wasn’t one of those people, I admit, but God blessed me in spite of myself.) With the divorce rate in the U.S. nearing 40% (one site said that every 13 seconds, there is a divorce in America), many couples—Christians included– are choosing to split.

In Judges’ chapters 13-16, we read of a tragic story in which a young man disobeyed God’s marriage order, and it cost him his life. You’ve probably heard his name, synonymous with what NOT to do in choosing the right mate. Samson. For starters, he refused to listen to his parents’ warning. I have known three sets of praying parents who convinced their children that they were marrying the wrong person. All now are happily married in a union blessed by their father and mother and are grateful for the wisdom in their parents’ concerns.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying all parents know what is best for their children. Many times wedges are drawn when personalities clash with future in-laws as they circumvent God’s best with their attempts to break up a relationship. Children need to recognize the difference in motive. They need to pray for God’s wisdom.

That did not enter Samson’s mind. Worse than not heeding his father and mother, he disregarded God’s advice and lusted after a beautiful Philistine woman, a no-no to any God-fearing Israelite, much less a young Nazarite (set apart from birth to honor God) like Samson. Suffice it to say, Samson ended up being captured and blinded before dying, thanks to the sinful woman he chose as his wife.

Readers, I think I have this figured out. Messing with an alligator might be much safer than messing with an ungodly spouse.

The Bottom Line

Jimmy Tucker

The Bible is full of accounts where God spoke to people and told them to do things that didn’t make sense. For example, the Old Testament tells us that Naaman had leprosy and Elisha, God’s prophet, told the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. So, in 2 Kings 5:9-14 we read the details of Naaman‘s predicament. In order to receive his healing, Naaman had to obey what he was instructed to do. And that’s where the temptation to doubt and disobey came into the picture. Naaman was expecting Elisha to come out and meet him, wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord and heal him. But no, Elisha sent a messenger out to him and the message was: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

Naaman didn’t want to wash in the muddy Jordan River. However, he did want to be healed. His officers convinced him to do as the man of God had instructed him. So Naaman obeyed and went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times and his skin became healthy again. I don’t know if Naaman was having doubts by the sixth dip, but he obeyed explicitly — even if it didn’t make a lick of sense to him.

Another time in 2 Kings 6:1-7, we find a bunch of prophets cutting down trees and an ax head came off the handle and fell into the river. This was very disturbing to the wood cutter, because the ax was borrowed. Elisha asked the man where it fell into the water, and he showed him the place. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface so the man could grab it. That didn’t make sense as far as I understand ax heads and water. But it worked because that’s what the Spirit of God told Elisha to do.

The wedding feast at Cana wasn’t a disaster because the servants obediently filled some jars with water. That didn’t make a lick of sense, but it worked because that’s what Jesus said to do. The blind man washed the mud from his eyes in the pool of Siloam and could then see. That didn’t make any sense, but he was healed because he used his faith and obeyed.

When we come to the end of our time on earth, all the challenges we faced will be forgotten. But before we enter eternity, we’ll want to be sure that we didn’t get distracted from obeying God and fulfilling our assignment.

The Bottom Line: When you need a miracle, do what God tells you to do — even if it doesn’t make sense.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

620-223-1483

Diamond Community Church

10:45 a.m. Worship

Snakes in the Dark

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:5

The great philosopher and thinker, Indiana Jones, once said, “I hate snakes.” I couldn’t agree more. I absolutely hate snakes. I really do. I used to say, “The only good snake is a dead snake.” However, that is not even true. Did you see in the news a while back where a man in Texas nearly died when he was bitten by the severed head of a dead rattle-snake. I hate snakes – big ones; little ones; live ones; dead ones; and rubber ones. I hate them all.

Not long after I moved to Fort Scott, I joined the American Legion. We hold our meetings at Memorial Hall which is two blocks from my house. When we have a meeting, I usually walk there. One night, I was getting ready to leave the monthly meeting when one of the guys in the Legion said, “Hey preacher, I read in your newspaper column that you are scared of snakes. You better be careful out there. The copperheads are crawling tonight.” I just laughed and thought, “What a crazy old man.”

I walked outside, and it was dark, but the streetlights were bright enough to enable me to see the sidewalks. So, I started walking. I was almost home, when I saw the biggest copperhead I have ever seen. He was stretched out across the sidewalk. He looked like a python. He must have been ten-foot long. I swear he looked at me and hissed. My heart was pounding in my chest.

I was stuck. The snake was between me and my house. I had to go around him. Then I thought, “There’s probably hundreds of them in the grass, waiting to get you.” But I had no choice. I ran as fast as I could through the grass around the giant copperhead. I ran into the house and screamed, “There’s a giant snake out there that almost killed me.” My wife, Amanda, rolled her eyes at me and said, “Poor baby.”

The next morning, I looked outside, and the giant snake hadn’t moved. It was still there!

I was shocked and amazed. I couldn’t believe the copperhead was still there. I looked closer. Then I realized it was a tree branch. A limb had fallen on the sidewalk. I nearly had a heart attack running from a tree branch.

The next time we had an American Legion meeting, I just drove the two blocks.

The point is: Things are always worse in the dark. When it is dark, we don’t see things like we normally see them. However, there are some things in the dark that are not a tree branch. Things like doubt, discouragement, and demons.

Often, when darkness comes in our lives, we tend to think, “God, I can’t see You. God, I can’t feel you.” When shadows obscure our walk, we believe we are walking alone. We focus on the gloom and forget God. We may even ask, “Lord, Are You still there?”

Even though you can’t see Him, Jesus has never taken His eyes off you. Even though you are walking in the darkness, He is still with you.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Light of the world. He shines in the darkness, and the darkness can’t overtake Him. If you are traveling down a dark path, you don’t have to be afraid of the dark because the Light is with you. In Jesus, we have the only Light that we need to find our way through the darkness of this world.

Are you walking in the Light?

James Collins will be signing copies of his latest book “Don’t Throw The Believer Out With The Baptistry Water: The Best Of The Point Is… Volume 1” today (July 20^th) from 10 am until 2 pm at the Fort Scott Public Library’s LibraryCon. For more information about the LibraryCon, please call (620) 223-2882.

Wimbledon, the most impressive of all tennis tournaments, is over, and I am sad. For two weeks, Dave and I record the matches so we can watch them together when he gets home from work. Seeing English nobility in the “Royal Box” is thrilling, and everywhere the camera pans, there is no shortage of excellence, including the ball-boys and ball-girls. These are no ordinary ball retrievers.

Over 700 teens apply, and after a written test, 250 are selected and train for five months to perfect their skills of tossing, catching, and rolling the tennis balls as well as learn how to “present” the towel to the sweaty athlete. They scurry like jackrabbits to nab errant balls and return to their assigned position where they stand like robots. Perfection is expected.

The code of professionalism extends to everyone. This year, Serena Williams (the best female tennis player ever!) was fined $10,000 for damaging the grass practice court when she frustratedly threw her racquet to the ground. Three players were fined when the umpire found their coaches giving advice during the match. Bernard Tomic was fined his entire $56,000 prize money when the umpire determined he had not “tried hard enough.” (If fans are going to pay big bucks to watch this level of tennis, they deserve to get their money’s worth.)

This year, Dave and I were especially excited when Saturday’s women’s final round involved Serena Williams (U.S.A.) and Simona Halep (Romania), two of my favorites. I watched the match live that morning but recorded it for Dave who would pick up Chinese food on the way home from the ballpark and we would view it together. (I would need to gag myself not to disclose who won.) It didn’t matter. As Dave left the locker room, one of the other coaches shared the news: “Hey, Roachie, could you believe Serena got crushed?”

So much for our Wimbledon picnic. Dave opted not to watch the game.

Sunday would make up for it. Roger Federer would take on Novak Djokovic (whom I rooted against because he rudely rolled his eyes at one of the ball handlers). Once again, I DVR’d the event, joining the almost-ten million fans who watched on their televisions. Following church, Dave and I would hold our Wimbledon picnic and watch Roger win. I was on the edge of my chair the entire time. Four hours into it, they were tied when Dave’s phone buzzed and he blurted out, “This can’t be right. This lists the years Djokovic has won Wimbledon, and 2019 is listed. How would they know?” I stared at him. In shock. “Because England is five hours ahead of us. That’s why we record it,” I reminded him.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Dave just did to me what the other coach had done to him. My day was ruined. The suspense was gone. I now knew the ending. Dave immediately moved to the kitchen so I could sulk alone…which I did well, thank you very much. But then something changed. I found myself relaxing. The “highs” of Federer’s aces and “lows” of his errors were gone because I knew the results.

For most things, life doesn’t work like that…which probably is a good thing. None of us know how our day/week/month/life will turn out. All we have is this moment…except, that is, where the Bible is concerned. From the beginning to the end, we are given the full picture of how life plays out. God created. Satan interfered. Jesus saved and will return again to open Heaven’s doors for all who make him Lord.

Granted, there are earthly, daily, unpredictable issues for all of us (like people who disclose tennis results prematurely), but we can relax and not get too concerned about our “highs” and “lows” when we know the outcome of what really matters. Jesus wins. Satan loses. And we all know that in eternity’s case, the stakes are much higher than those of a tennis tournament.

Proverbs 10:21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

We sat at circular tables, approximately 50 of us in all, each with a leader assigned to steer discussions and keep us from rambling. These groups are designed to indoctrinate us in the beliefs of the church Dave and I attend here in Florida so we can be plugged in as volunteers. Every weekend of each month a new “Journeys” group starts, four in total. In April I attended week one and two but was not here the last two weeks of the month. That meant I took the week-three class in May at which time I continued with a new group of people.

Our assignment after week two was to go online and take a test to determine our top three spiritual gifts which we would reveal to our tablemates. That third meeting we were allotted 10 minutes in which to share our findings, a countdown clock visible from where we sat. Sheila, our leader, started with me and asked (1) what I found out, (2) if I was surprised by my results, and (3) if I agreed or disagreed. My answer time: 30 seconds (yes, even I am shocked).

The woman to my right was next. She had not taken the test because her life was “a mess” and she didn’t “have any free time to work on it.” For two minutes, she shared some of the details of her messy life. Sheila was empathetic but encouraged this woman to please take the test. It would be helpful for her to know in what areas God had prepared her.

Bob spoke up. He thought it foolish to ask us to do anything on line because some people might not have a computer. He, of course, did, but did not take the test because he was protesting. Couldn’t Sheila just give him a hard copy? No, she couldn’t, she explained, because the questions were computerized so as to reveal our top three gifts. She was not equipped to determine the results.

Bob thought that was “ridiculous.” After all, he knew his gifts; his “main ones” were compassion and listening. (Surprise!) Sheila shared that sometimes we might think we know what our gifts are but that our ideas aren’t necessarily God’s and Bob might be pleasantly surprised by what he found out if he took the test. Unnecessary, he said. He “knew” his gifts. (Bob’s time: 5 minutes)

I’m not sure what happened next except Bob’s neck veins started to bulge. He turned and whispered something to “messy-life woman” and stared at his notes, fuming. Sheila moved on to the next couple who actually had taken the test and were excited about their results. Hospitality was #1 on their list, and since they love having people into their home, they considered this verification. (Time: 2 minutes)

That’s when Bob erupted, slammed his study guide down, grabbed his things and stormed out of the room, disrupting the class and loudly expressing his disagreement with the volunteer at the door. I stared at Sheila, looking for a response. Nothing. Not even an eyebrow-raise. Impressive. She smoothly moved on to the next two people at our table and was told–yet again–that they had “forgotten” about the test (which actually was fortunate since we now were out of time).

When class was over, I stayed to tell Sheila how much I respected the way she had handled our group, especially Bob. She had “represented Christ in such a loving way while still holding Bob accountable.” Too, she had not gotten upset with those who did not do their homework. Leading, I thought, had to be one of her gifts.

“Oh, you have nooooooo idea,” she answered. “I was biting on my tongue the entire time to keep from saying something I would later regret.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well,” I told her, “Maybe that’s the best spiritual gift of all.”

The Bottom Line

Jimmy Tucker

One Lump or Two?

The phrase “one lump or two” usually refers to how many cubes of sugar you want in your coffee. But in Ecclesiastes 7:9 The Message reads, “Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.” This verse strikes me as funny, but uncontrolled anger is no laughing matter. Relationships have been destroyed, lives have been lost, and individuals have left the church as a result of anger. The Bible teaches us to control ourselves by being slow to anger and quick to forgive.

Anger has been around since Adam and Eve. When their sons Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord, God respected Abel’s offering of a lamb, but not Cain’s offering of produce from his crops. Cain became jealous of Abel and his anger led him to murder his own brother.

God teaches us to rule over our attitudes, emotions, and actions. “Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm” (Psalm 37:8 NLT). Choose to humble yourself and forgive — we should know how to do this if we’ve been disciplined and taught these things from childhood. If you don’t have the discipline of self-control, your attitude will take you down a path of misery and prevent you from enjoying God’s blessings.

Believers are supposed to live peaceful and quiet lives that are full of love for one another; if we don‘t, then we‘re no different from the world. When we gather into the church to worship, we are to be “… free from anger and controversy” (1 Timothy 2:8 NLT). The only way to do that is to forgive perceived offenses quickly: “…do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26 NLT). If you hold a grudge, you cut off your fellowship with God and the person you think offended you. If there’s an undercurrent of anger in your attitude, you need to get rid of it like a gunnysack full of rattlesnakes because it’s just as deadly to your spirit.

Just one act of anger by Moses, the leader of God’s people, cost him dearly. Instead of trusting Moses and God to take care of them until they reached the promised land, the Israelites were complaining. Because Moses was angry with the people, he disobeyed God’s instructions to speak to the rock to get water. Instead, Moses struck the rock and because of his disobedience, God did not allow him to enter the promised land.

The Bottom Line: Don’t let pride and anger put a lump on your head.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

(620) 223-1483

Diamond Community Church

10:45 a.m. Worship