One of the hardest lessons that I have had to learn as a pastor is that you can't preach or teach someone into heaven or into a real relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What I mean is that I could have the most inspiring sermon in the world but if the ears aren't open and the heart is not ready to hear and accept the word of God, nothing is going to happen. As the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

I have learned this lesson the hard way with my 3- and 5-year-old children as well. I can make them look at me when I am telling them something, I can tell them something 15 different times, but in the end it is up to them to take what I say to them to heart and actually do what I say. Take Karin's and my attempts to potty train our three year old Gus for example. We tell him over and over again that big kids go potty on the potty. We give him rewards when he does go. We scold him when he doesn't. We beg him, prod him, and push him, but still in his rebellious nature, he refuses to do what we ask him to do.

You would think that the good news that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you and for me would be an easy thing to hear and accept, and that once a person hears this good news that their lives would change and they would be ignited for the Lord. You would think that, but thinking something is going to happen and seeing it happen are often two different things.

Why should I expect anything else? Did Jesus himself always reach the hearts and minds of his hearers? He even instructed his disciples to shake the dust off their feet at the house or the community of those who didn't hear what they had to say. The people at one point were so angry at what Jesus had to say that they picked up stones to stone him to death. They even crucified him on the cross because of their hardened hearts. If this was the case with Jesus, should I expect that I have such amazing power and such a way with words that I am going to convert everyone I meet or turn everyone, to whom I preach and teach, into raving evangelists and people who are on fire for the Lord? I would have to humbly say, certainly not.

Maybe you have been witnessing to your next door neighbor for months. Sure he listens to you, and has even said that he would be in church a time or two. Yet, when Sunday rolls around, they are not in the pew with you. You finally figure out that he is just being polite so that he doesn't turn you away from being a good neighbor to him.

Yet, before you and I go and judge our hearers, maybe we should first judge ourselves. For as little as people have not listened to us, so have we not listened to God, our heavenly Father, even less. If we only condemn the people who fail to listen to our message, without condemning ourselves and our own failure to listen to and do God's will, we are only deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Oftentimes ministry is a frustrating job. That is one major reason why so many pastors suffer from burn out and also why it is so hard for all of us to continue to share the good news with those around us. It is frustrating because we know what our hearers need, but it isn't our job to make them take it. It's not like giving a dog medicine where you can wrap the pill in a piece of cheese or a hotdog. A person must accept the good news at face value for what it is. It should be an easy pill to swallow, but because of our totally lost and condemned state it isn't.

At the same time, in the midst of the many heartaches and frustrations in sharing the Gospel there is much joy, not only because there are those rare times when someone hears and believes, but also because every time you share the Gospel, your own ears are hearing it again too. The Holy Spirit, through your own witness, is working on your heart and life. In essence, there is grace, mercy, and peace simply in just getting the message of God's saving work through his Son Jesus Christ out to the world. It is as much for the messenger as it is for those to whom the message is given.

In the end, as hard as it may be to do, we must give up our control to the Holy Spirit, for it is he who brings life and immortality to life. It is he who works that saving faith in a person. It is he who breathes life into a lost and condemned sinner. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the Word work in a person's heart and mind. It is simply our job as Christians to get the message of salvation out to the world.

It is this knowledge and that gives us comfort and peace. To know that I am not responsible for whether a person goes to heaven or hell takes a lot of the pressure off of me. To know that the best I can do is get the message of salvation out to the people is comforting, because I know that I can lead a horse to water, but I can't make him drink. God bless your witness of Him and His salvation.

“But God”, “Then God”, “Yet God”; have you ever heard these words spoken or read these words anywhere? I have heard them many times, not by themselves mind you, but always in the middle of a sentence or paragraph that goes something like this: “I was in deep trouble, I didn’t know where to turn, I was penniless and my children needed food, so I prayed to God to help me and THEN GOD did something miraculous. He provided for my needs in ways that I would have never imagined. I was fed and clothed.

How about this one? “I had been dating for a quite a long time and nothing seemed to be working out. I was getting frustrated and tired of it so I quit, I told the Lord, ‘If you want me to have a wife you are going to have to bring her to me.’ Not two nights later I went out with some friends to just listen to some music and relax and low and behold guess what, just THEN GOD gave her to me.”

Here’s another one. “I was laying in the gutter stoned out of my mind. All I wanted to do was die. I had given up. I was worthless. My life meant nothing to anyone. I was about to run out into the street and end my life. BUT GOD had other plans. Just then a man came up to me, helped me to my feet, and asked me if I needed any help.” He brought me to a shelter, got me into a treatment center and befriended me for as long as I needed.” Go really helped me out there.”

The stories go on and on. These are stories of God’s help, stories of God doing exactly what he promised to do if we would only ask. Why is it then that we don’t ask? Why are we so proud as to not ask God for help? Why do we fail to see all of those times when we needed help and God very plainly gave it to us?

The biggest story is the one that all of us, if we call ourselves Christians, have gone through time and time again, most of the time simply taking God’s help for granted as though if we ask for his help he is duty bound to give it to us. This help comes in the form of confession and forgiveness. It starts off with us realizing how sinful we really are and how much we need Jesus in our lives. This realization may come about in a way that can’t be missed, when a loved one reprimands us or shows their disapproval of the sins we have committed. It may come in the gentle whisper or the loud shout of our conscience convicting us of that sin we keep doing even though no one else even knows about it. Whatever it might be, that realization of sin is a gift from God in itself. For if we hadn’t known our sinfulness we wouldn’t have known our need for a Savior. Still God provides the law, written in His Word, and also written on our hearts to convict us and condemn us.

The second part is the forgiveness. This is the greatest gift of all. If it were not for forgiveness, a complete removal of sin from us by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross, we would be lost and condemned forever. I can’t think of anything more important to us than this forgiveness. I don’t know of anything more crucial in life and for life than the gift of forgiveness. The best part is, all we have to do is ask.

That is also the worst part. For in the sins of pride and self importance people are unwilling to ask for forgiveness. People would rather die forever in hell than face up their sinful lives, get down on their knees in humility, and ask the Lord for forgiveness. I hurt for these people. I yearn for these people to know the peace and joy that I know. I long for these people to, as the Lord says, “turn from their sins so that they may live.”

My prayer for you all who are reading this today is that you let go of your pride and your self importance. My prayer is that you realize your sin, your inability to get rid of that sin yourself, and your total dependence upon God for all things. My prayer is that you turn to your God in all humility and dependence and ask him for the forgiveness and peace that you so desperately need so that you may be saved and may live out your days on this earth in that peace that goes above and beyond all human understanding! God bless you and give you the will and the way to Him forever! Amen!

Today I want to talk about wisdom. The way the Scriptures talk about wisdom is that there are two kinds of wisdom. There is the wisdom of the world, which is the one that is really not true wisdom, and then there is the wisdom of the Lord.

The difference is in where the wisdom comes from and on what that wisdom is based. The first is based on one's own experience and one's own mind. It looks at the world and tries to figure things out on its own. It uses reason and logic to work things out. It will look to certain people that it deems worthy of respect and honor.

For example, a person who wants to be wise about money and uses the wisdom off the world, will look to someone like Donald Trump or Bill Gates. A person who wants wisdom on how to raise children will look to someone who has either done a good job at raising their own children or someone who has written a book on the subject. A person who wants wisdom concerning how the world began will look at secular science textbooks and consult evolutionists.

The second one will look to the world for wisdom, but only through the eyes of Scripture. For instance, I might read a book by Dr. Phil on how to lose weight, but if Dr. Phil tells me to go into a trance and pray to Buddha or to take illegal drugs, I will know not to follow his worldly wisdom. If I want to earn a living through investing in real estate, Donald Trump might be just the right guy to learn from, yet I am not going to use his advice if he tells me to stab my neighbor in the back or cheat in some way.

The very simple premise here is that if you are going to have true wisdom it has to come from the right source. King Solomon is still considered to be one of the wisest and most well known kings.

In today's world he would be the richest and most successful person in the world. From where did he get his wisdom? Did he pick it up on his own? Did he learn it from someone who wrote a book on the subject? No. He got his wisdom from God. When contemplating his kingship, God came to him and told him to ask for anything he wanted. He could have asked for all the riches of the world. He could have asked for fame and power. Instead, he asked the Lord to give him the wisdom he needed to govern the Israelites in a God pleasing manner. Still today the legend of his wisdom surpasses everyone else.

In Solomon's book to us, Proverbs, he tells us all about true wisdom. One of my favorite verse in al of Scripture is Proverbs 9:10 where Solomon tells us that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." I love this verse because it sums up in one sentence how we are to gain wisdom.

Some of the wisest people I have known were not wise by human standards. By that I mean that they didn't have all the money in the world, they weren't the most intelligent, or the fastest, or the coolest, they were and still are those who fear the Lord. They took the Lord seriously. They took the Lord at His Word. They had a holy fear that could be seen in the way they acted, how they gave to the Lord, and especially in how they loved the Lord by loving the people around them. They studied the Scriptures as much as they could. They worshiped the Lord as much as they were able. They totally sought the Lord and His holy will in very part of their lives.

The best part of these holy people is that they were able to see that they were not perfect but that they truly needed a Savior. They knew that, if it were up to them, they would be lost and condemned forever. Therefore, when they realize their sins they are able to go before Almighty God with all humility and ask for forgiveness. Then, in their wisdom, because they know what the Lord has done through his Son Jesus Christ, they are able to live in peace knowing that their sins are forgiven.

Are you following God's wisdom or are you aimlessly and hopelessly following the wisdom of the world? Do you earnestly and honestly want to have true wisdom or do you just want the kind of wisdom that suits you and your fancies? Remember again and once for all what the wisest man of all time said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". Study God's Word. Know the truth of the Scriptures. Keep the Word of God as your only rule and norm for faith and life and you will get the wisdom of the Lord.