Author: Mojo Ministries

Nehemiah chapter 4 gives us an interesting take on wall building.  Understanding where “The Rubber Meets the Road,” verse 14 says:

“And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, (Now, if you are in the habit of underlining things in your Bible, the next phrase is one of those things that I would underline) BE NOT AFRAID OF THEM:  REMEMBER THE LORD, which is great and terrible (That word terrible here is translated to mean AWESOME.  Our God is Great and Awesome!), and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

• We are talking about your homes here;
• We are talking about fighting for your families;

 ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought (That’s another good place to underline), that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.”

Verse 15 finishes with these words – EVERY ONE UNTO HIS WORK:

• Young or old;
• Rich or poor;
• Male or female;
• Educated or uneducated.

Every single person had a job to do.  Every single person had an assignment from Jehovah God!  Every single person had a purpose, a mission to fulfill – IN THEIR GENERATION.

• I cannot accomplish anything in my Father’s generation – that is in the past;
• I cannot accomplish anything in my grandchildren’s generation – that’s in the future;
• I can only accomplish the work of God in my generation- HERE AND NOW!

The only generation that I can affect for God is my generation.  And folks, I determined long ago that in my generation, I am going to serve the Lord with the best that I have in me BY HIS PERFECT WILL.

What I want you to understand with me is that every one has a work:

• EVERY WOMAN;
• EVERY MAN;
• EVERY CHILD

“Every one unto his work!”

And notice with me where it started with Nehemiah:

• It started with the family;
• It started with the home.

Looking at Ephesians, chapter 6, we will find this same theme is repeated in the New Testament.

In Ephesians chapter 6, we are told about how to fight the devil, the adversary.  We are taught how we are to put on the whole armor of God and be prepared for the battle ahead.

• But, before you ever get into this spiritual warefare;
• Before you ever engage the adversaries as Nehemiah did;
• And before you have to face those who oppose the work that God has given you.
• And before you can build any walls for God –

You have to ensure that your Heart is Right!

If you look back at Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 22, and folks, if we’re going to build the walls, if we’re going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, if we’re going to fight the enemies of God, we’ve got to start off RIGHT – IN THE FAMILY.

Verse 22 says, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord;”

Nehemiah said, “We’ve got to fight for our sons; we’ve got to fight for our daughters, we’ve got to fight for our wives, we’ve got to fight for our homes, we’ve got to fight for our families!”

And here in the New Testament, we are getting the same truths:  “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

Verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

• Now we can talk real spiritual about serving God;
• We can speak about doing a great work for God;
• We can talk about building the walls;

But I’m gonna tell you where the “Rubber meets the Road.”  The Rubber Meets the Road – IN THE HOME – IN THE FAMILY – IN YOUR CLOSEST RELATIONSHIPS.

And listen folks, Paul tells us here in Ephesians,

• You can forget fighting the battles against evil IF you can’t win the battle in your home;
• You can forget fighting the opposition, if you can’t win the battle in your home;
• You can forget building any walls, IF you can’t win the battle in your home!

And Nehemiah understood this and he said, “If we’re going to build this wall, every one has to build in front of your own house.”  And that’s how he assigned everybody “in front of their own house.”  And THAT is “Where the Rubber Meets the Road!“

I Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, “¹³ But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.“

On February 7th, I fell at work and broke my ankle (which had me out of work for several weeks – and off my feet).  So, I was home when news spread around the world concerning the passing of Rev. Billy Graham.  For the next week, I was glued to the television as the world celebrated the life of this “chosen vessel.”

I watched as his earthly body was carried to the nations Capitol Rotunda, where he laid in state.  I watched as the President, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House all gave warm remarks concerning Rev. Graham.  I then watched the crowds that came to pay their respects.  I then watched as his body was at the family home, where Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush came to pay their respects to the family.

I watched as he was then carried to the Billy Graham Library, and the crowds that came to pay their respects.  I then watched the final service under the “big tent.”  I watched as one of the Graham Grandson’s (an active duty Army Ranger) escorted President and Mrs. Trump from the Library to the tent, and then Pastor Don Wilton as he escorted the “Hope Chest” carrying Rev. Graham’s remains, with the Graham family following behind.  I listened to the singing and the messages.  One thought that stuck out to me was one of the family members who said “He would have said it was too much about Billy, and not enough about Jesus.”

I then watched the final grave side, attended by the family.  As I watched, I Thessalonians 4 came to my mind – followed by this thought:  Long before the remains of Rev. Graham were moved to the Capitol Rotunda, and long before former presidents came to pay their respects to the family, and long before President Trump and Pastor Don Wilton escorted the family to the final service, “The Lord Himself” had already escorted Rev. Graham into the presence of God.

What does that mean for us?  I think it means this:

When it is time for us to cross the Jordan River, it’s not going be some dignitary, or some politician that is going to escort us over – it is going to be “the LORD Himself.”

“WHEREFORE, COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.“

Acts 11:23 says, “Who, when he came, and had seen the Grace of God, WAS GLAD.”

Unfortunately, in too many churches today, it has to be said about so many born-again Christians, those who claim to have seen God’s grace, too often come to church either Mad, Sad, or even Bad!

But when Barnabas saw the grace of God, the Bible says he was Glad.  That word glad means “happy.”  I’m not saying here that after you’ve seen Grace you’ll be laughing and giggling all the time – but Praise God!  You ought to be happy sometimes AMEN!

I just believe that God enjoys looking down and seeing His people enjoying the fellowship of each other.  God likes to see His people smile once and awhile.

Psalms 16:11 says, “In my presence is fullness of joy and at my right hand are pleasures evermore.”  HEY CHURCH – God wants to see you smile!

One of the greatest things about being a Christian is that we can have a good time and still lay our heads down at night and get a good night’s sleep with a clear conscience and a clear heart!

There’s just too many Christians living their lives like all they have to look forward to is the destination.

And listen now, we’ve got a wonderful destination ahead of us, but Praise God we can enjoy the journey getting there!

Let me illustrate this point to you:  Now I am psychologically scarred from an early age and it all stems from taking family vacations.  Our family vacations went something like this:

1. Pick a destination;
2. Get to the destination as quickly as possible;
3. If you’ve been this place before, get there quicker the next time.

My daddy was blessed with an over-sized bladder, I’m sure of it.  On our family vacations, Dad would be driving as hard as he could, and we would beg my daddy to pull over so we could use the bathroom.  He would always say, “Hold it – it’s good for you.”

Needless to say, there was nothing enjoyable about our trip to the destination.  What I’m trying to tell you Church is that it’s OK to enjoy the trip AMEN.

And even when you don’t feel like laughing, and even when things are hard – you can still have that inner peace.  And no matter what happens on the trip, we’ve still got the destination!

I just believe when you’ve seen God’s Grace, it will make you happy!  And I think the world needs to see God’s people happy for a change!  When Barnabas had seen God’s grace, he was Happy.  “If you’re happy and you know it . . .”

At Church 247, we have a mission statement that goes “Helping people move from where they are to where God wants them to be.”  If we say we’re meeting people where they are and helping them get where God wants them to be, then we have to assume God has somewhere that he wants each of us to be.

Ezekiel Chapter 20 and verse 6, God’s Word says,

“In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:”

The words “into a land that I had espied for them,” literally means “a land that was selected by God Himself.”  I believe that God is taking us somewhere, and if He is taking us somewhere, He’s going to help us get there.

As I think about the children of Israel and what they must have felt when God led them out of bondage from Egypt and led them to the Promised-land, and I couldn’t help but think:

• We can rejoice over what God has done to get us where we are today;
• And we can look forward to the place that He is taking us.

And I think what we are really talking here about the Sovereignty of God, the leadership of God.  I believe that God has a place for every one of us.  And if you agree with me that God has a place for everyone of us, then we must have the faith to believe that God knows how to get you and I to that place.  But the sad reality is, not everyone will get to that place that God has “espied” for them.

Several years ago, we became involved in Biker Churches.  I was a traditional pastor, so Biker churches were a shocked to my system.  But for whatever reason, God had me in that place.  Looking back now, and seeing the place that I am at, I can clearly see what God was doing along the way.  And I can clearly see the things used to get Kim and I to Church 247.  God has picked a place for you, a place where He knew He could best use you.  The way we got here may not be the way we would have envisioned; the people and problems we faced might not have been what we were anticipating – but they’re what God used to get us here.  Rather than be bitter about the past, be grateful that those were the things God used to get you where He wanted you to be – the Place He Has Picked for You!

Have you ever wondered why God loves you like He does?  What did He ever see in us to cause Him to love us?  What did we ever do to cause Him to love us?  And I can answer those questions for you – WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING – HE SAW NOTHING.

In fact, God’s love has nothing to do with who we are.  The Bible says that God IS Love.

• That’s WHO He is;
• That’s WHAT He is.

GOD IS LOVE – that is His very essence, it is His being.  So understand today that God doesn’t love us because of who we are, He loves us because of who He is!  And I know that is hard for us to accept and understand because we have a tendency to make it all about us.  If we’re not careful, we tend to try and make relationships all about us.  And we also try to make our relationship with God all about us.

God’s love is hard for us to understand, because all of our relationships are built on conditional love:

• Kids think they have to live up to certain expectations in order for their parents to love them;
• The same is true for marriage, we feel we have to meet certain expectations and certain demands.
• The same is also true for friendships: we have to act a certain way, talk a certain way; dress a certain way.

So it is hard for us to accept unconditional love.  But it is a wonderful thing that God loves us, not because of who we are or what we’ve done, but because of who He is:

• God is Love – that’s what He is and that’s what He does!

Remember Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart, mind, body spirit and soul, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

But, in John 13, Jesus says, “I’m going to give you a NEW Commandment, “Love one another, even as I have loved you.”

• The Old Commandment was to “love your neighbor like you love yourself.”
• The New Commandment “Is that you love one another, as I have loved you.”

Now as I thought about this, If I love you like I love myself, I’ve got to be honest with you, there are days I don’t like ME very much.  There are days I am not happy with myself.  I don’t even like to look at pictures of me, because camera’s LIE about me.  Folks, there are days I just don’t like being me.  And if I loved you like I loved myself, there’d be days I wouldn’t love you very much.

BUT, If I loved you the way that HE loves me, Oh friend, I’m glad there is never a time that He doesn’t love me:

• There is nothing I can do to cause God to love me more;
• There is nothing I can do to cause God to love me less;
• He loves me when I don’t love me;
• And He loves me even when I don’t love Him.

I change:  I am IN, I am Out, I am Up; I am Down.  But I’m glad HE never changes:

• He loves me when I’m in;
• He loves me when I’m out;
• He loves me when I’m up;
• He loves me when I’m down;
• He loves me when I’m right;
• AND He loves me when I’m wrong. JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW!

AND HE LOVES US WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE.  Folks, God loves YOU because of WHO HE IS – HE IS LOVE.

I think I can confidently say that all eight of our grandchildren love cupcakes (and their papa does too!).  Watching Lucas make cupcakes is not only entertaining, it is educational.  Let me explain!

I have to admit that there is nothing (and I mean NOTHING) that makes me want to eat raw dough.  But, for whatever reason, every time Lucas makes cupcakes, he takes a spoon full of raw dough and eats it – and it makes me absolutely nauseated!

I also don’t like the idea of drinking raw eggs.  I remember the Rocky movies when Rocky Balboa would take that cup full of raw eggs and he would drink them all – again, makes me nauseated just thinking about it.

I am also not a fan of vanilla extract.  Now, I do like it in making snow cream, or making a milk shake.  However, I have never had a desire to take a bottle of vanilla extract and drink it down all by it’s self.  I mean, that just does not appeal to me – at all.

I don’t just eat spoon fulls of sugar, though I love it in my coffee and in my cereal,  I don’t like plain sugar, I don’t like raw eggs, or raw dough, or plain vanilla extract – but, when you mix them all together, you give me a call, cause I sure love a good cupcake!

Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  

God is taking all the things in our lives:

• All the things we understand;
• All the things we don’t understand;
• All the things we like;
• All the things we don’t like;
• All of the good things;
• All of the bad things;
• All the things we can explain;
• And all the things we cannot explain.

God is taking all of those things and He is mixing them together, and although there are many things I do not know, I do know this – ALL THINGS are working together for my good and for His Glory!

My daughter Jenni has always been very determined and driven.  When she was in High School, I would ask her (almost daily) why she did not bring any books homes.  She would always state, “I didn’t need to bring any books home, I finished my work.” And of course, as a dad, that used to drive me absolutely crazy . . . until she would bring home her report card, which usually reflected all “A’s.”  And of course my initial thought was “Well, school sure isn’t as hard as it was when I was going to school.”  Of course the courses weren’t the issue – if you catch my drift!

My daughter has attacked everything in her life with that same determination and drive.  She has had set backs in life, and though she has been knocked down a few times – she has never been knocked out.  And each time, she gets up stronger.  Several years after all of her friends finished college, Jenni decided that it was time for her to finish a degree – and away she went.  Why?  Because she was determined.  She did not stop until she graduated.  Now, in her mid-thirties, she attacks her marriage, her job and parenting her two precious babies with the same level of determination and drive.

Thinking about my daughter and her complete life of determination, I couldn’t help but to think of the Apostle Paul who said, “For I determined . . .”  Paul said, “I have set my face like a flint.  I know what I’m going to preach and I know how I’m going to preach.”

Paul, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”  a man who could have claimed to know many things said, “For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Paul was determined to preach how Jesus lived vicariously, how He died voluntarily, and how He rose victoriously.  And nothing else matter.  Paul was determined.

Let us live our lives daily for Christ with the same determination the Apostle Paul had for preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

Psalm 139:14 “. . . for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works;”

My son Josh is a tremendous blacksmith.  His craft is very stressing on the body and requires a great deal of strength, concentration and determination.  He  knows the type of instrument he wants. He knows the size. He knows the shape. He knows the strength required for it to stand-up.

It is absolutely amazing to watch him work.  He bangs away at that metal, and bangs away, with noise ringing out, smoke and sparks filling the air, until that softened metal begins to slowly respond and take the shape he desires.

However, the response doesn’t come easily.  It doesn’t come without discomfort.  To melt down the old and recast it as new is not easy.  The metal remains on the anvil, allowing him to remove the scars, repair the cracks, refill the voids, and purge the impurities or imperfection.

Once he stops pounding and sets down the hammer.  With a strong left arm, he strategically lifts the tongs until the freshly molded metal is at eye level.  And he begins to search for mars and cracks.  And for the first time:

• Now, he can finally see his reflection.
• Now, light shines where it once was dark.
• What was once dull is now sharpened.
• What was crooked becomes straight.
• What was weak becomes strong;
• And what was useless now becomes valuable.

That is what the hand of God does (and is doing) in our lives.  Sometimes God has to put us in the fire to soften us.  Sometimes He has to bang on us to work off the rough edges.  Sometimes He has to grind us to a point that we can begin to show His reflection in our lives.  Perhaps you’ve been there. Perhaps you know what it feels like to be disciplined by the Lord.  After God has worked to purify you:

• Now, you reflect the light of the Master.
• Now, light shines in the darkness.
• Now, others can see Christ in you.

That is God leaving His fingerprint on your life!

Years ago, I heard a message by Dr. Adrian Rogers titled Detours, Dead Ends and Dry Holes.  Little did I know at the time that I was about to hit a Detour, A Dead End and a Dry Hole.  I found myself in a place I never expected to be.  My life took a route I never saw coming.  And as a result, I found myself, for 10 years, living in the gutter – as I heard another preacher put it – I was “Living Beneath the Privileges.”

During that time period, the beautiful little girls pictured above were born.  Something that did not occur to me at the time, is the fact they had never seen their “papa” preach, let alone attend church.  One day while keeping them, my grand-daughter Emma (who was 7 at the time – almost 12 now) asked me, “Papa, you used to be a preacher?”  Tears immediately began to swell up in my eyes, a lump grabbed a hold of my throat, and with every ounce of strength I had, I replied, “Yes, sweetie, papa used to be a preacher.”  And I prayed right then they would not ask me another question.

But, they were not finished with me.  A few minutes later, Emma then asked, “Papa, will you take us to church?  I was doing everything I could to hold back the tears as Maddie then reinforced with, “Yea Papa, will you take us to church?”  Needless to say, that was one day I couldn’t wait to take them home.  Which, by the way, after we did take them home, my wife and I got on our knees before God and asked Him to forgive us for “living beneath the privileges.” I then confessed my sins before God and told Him that all I had to give Him was the broken fragments of my life, but if He would take them and use them – I give Him all I have left.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

The writer of Hebrews is giving us a picture of a runner down on the track, and a great crowd up in the stands.  What are they doing?  They are cheering on their favorite racer.  Folks, I picture myself as being a runner down on that track, losing the race miserably.  I was winded, my hands were on my knees, I didn’t feel like I had the strength to take another step.  And then God reminded me that I have folks cheering for me:

• I have a “great cloud of witnesses” in Heaven cheering for me – Not only the old saints of God from the Bible, but my old Sunday School Teachers, and my Godly grandmother and my brother;
• I have some folks here on this earth cheering for me – my children – who never gave up on their dad, my wife Kim, who encourages me always, my pastor and his wife (Clay and Hope – Church 247) who have prayed for me for many, many years, and my brother-in-Christ, Pastor Marty Starnes and his wife Jeanette from Forever Free Biker Church.
• And yes – these beautiful little girls (and the other 6 beautiful grand children God has richly blessed us with), who may never realize how greatly God used them to get their papa back in the race.

These are my Grandstand People.  I want to encourage you today that no matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, there is no detour, dead end or dry hole that the Grace of God can’t carry you through.  If you are reading this and you feel you have no one in your grandstand – you write me, and I promise you, I will become your Grandstand people.  And the simple truth is, the view is a whole lot better from the Grandstands than it is in the Gutter!

In Psalm 22:3, the Bible says, “God inhabits the praises of Israel.”  The word “inhabit” means “to sit down.”  Let me illustrate this:

When you and I go to God and we say, “Lord, I can’t be the type of preacher you want me to be,” or, “I can’t be the type of husband that I ought to be,” or “I can’t be the type of father or grandfather I need to be,” so “LORD, I need you.”  When we begin to recognize and praise God, He comes and “sits down” with us.

I think about Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25, with their hands and feet shackled in a cold, miserable Roman jail cell, yet the Bible says “About the midnight hour,”  Paul and Silas began praying and singing praises to God.

I imagine their prayer went something like this:  “Lord, we have done everything you have asked us to do.  We have been faithful to what you have called us.  Lord, although we don’t understand everything that’s happening to us, we do know ‘that all things work together for the good of them that love God, to them that are the called according to Your purpose.’  And Father, though there is sorrow in this prison cell tonight, we know that “Joy cometh in the morning.”

Maybe Silas began singing a line of “I’d rather be an ole time Christian than anything I know.”  Or Paul could have kicked in with singing “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now I’m found.  Was blind, but now I see.”

And as they prayed and began praising God, the earth began to quake, the walls began to shake, and the chains that bound them fell to the ground and the prison doors swung open.  The Roman guard woke up startled and thought all the prisoners had fled, so he was ready to take his own life.  What he didn’t realize is that the prisoners weren’t trying to break out, God was trying to break-in!  Paul yelled out to let him know they were all there.  That left that Roman soldier with only one question to ask, “What must I do to be saved?”

I pray today, that no matter what you are going through, that somehow you will find the grace and strength to pray and praise God.  I promise when you do, God will “sit down” with you!