“Who can deny Robert Gundry’s assertion that the evangelical enterprise has become worldly, that materialism grips the church, that pleasure-seeking dominates us, that evangelicals watch sensuality and violence like everyone else, that immodesty is de jure, that voyeurism and pornography and sexual laxity and divorce are on the rise, and that we, like Lot, could find that Sodom has been born anew in our own homes. God help us if while decrying sin, we are sprinting headlong after it. We must lay this to heart: A worldly church cannot and will not reach the world. The church must be distinct from the world to reach the world.  We must set ourselves apart to God if we hope to reach the world.”
Hughes, R. Kent. Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life. Crossway. Kindle Edition.

"For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. " (1Pet 4:3-6).

Our late winter/early spring gardening chores include pruning.  Pruning is serious business.  If you do it at the wrong time and in the wrong way, you can kill a plant.  But correct pruning encourages healthy growth, more flowering, heavier fruit yields, and in general, better looking plants.  Correct pruning can also scare you to death.
              If Keith had not had an experienced friend show him how to prune the grapes, he would never have done it correctly.  Light pruning does not promote fruiting on grape vines.  It takes a heavy-handed pruner, one who knows exactly how far down which vines to cut—and it is much farther than you would ever expect—to make vines that in the late summer provide both greater quantity and quality of grapes. 
              Roses also benefit from good pruning.  Every January or February (remember that we are talking here in Florida before you follow this to the letter) you should cut off 1/3 to ½ of the mature canes, plus all dead or dying branches, as well as those that cross or stray out of the general shape of the bush.  That is how you get more flowers and larger blooms, and healthier, prettier bushes altogether.
              God believes in pruning too.  John 15 is full of the imagery of pruning grape vines, cutting off those that no longer produce and throwing them into the fire, which just happens to be where we throw all our prunings as well.  God has done a lot of pruning throughout history.
              The wilderness wandering was nothing but one big pruning exercise.  All the faithless, those men of war responsible for the decision not to take the land, had to die, and a new generation be prepared.  Do you realize that if you only count those men, on average throughout those forty years, 40 men died every day?  That does not count the people who died of accident, disease and childbirth, and the women and priests who simply died of old age.  Every morning the first thing on one’s mind must have been, “Who died yesterday?”  Those people must have done nothing but bury the dead every single day for forty years.  No wonder they moved so often.
              Then there was the Babylonian captivity.  Ezekiel worked for seventy years preparing the next generation to return to the land as a righteous remnant while the older one died off.  Pruning made them better, stronger, and more able to endure those months of rebuilding, and the years that followed.
              And what else was it but pruning that made God cut off some branches (Jews) and graft in others (Gentiles)?  They were broken off because of their unbelief, Paul says in Rom 11:20, and then goes on to say that if God will prune the natural branches, he will certainly prune those that had been grafted in if their faith fails.
              God still prunes.  We tend to call it by other metaphors these days—refining our faith as gold, Peter says in one of those passages.  “Discipline” the Hebrew writer calls it, adding that the Lord only chastens those he loves.  But all these figures mean the same thing.  Pruning can be painful.  The best pruning shears are the sharp ones, for the wound will heal more quickly the cleaner the cut. 
              We carry a lot of deadwood on us that God has to whittle away through the trials and experiences of life, and with our own growth in the knowledge of the Word as we learn what is and is not acceptable to God.  It is up to us to use that pruning, shedding the dead wood and cultivating new growth, bearing more fruit, higher quality fruit, and more beautiful blooms.  If I am not growing, I can expect nothing more than my whole vine to be cut off and cast into the fire. 
              We want to be that productive grape vine with fruit so heavy and juicy we almost break from the sheer weight of it.  We want to be the rose that brings the oohs and aahs, whose perfume wafts on the breeze to all those around us.  We must submit to the pruning of the Master Gardener, glorying in His work in us, no matter how painful, so that we can “prove to be his disciples,” John 15:8, faithful to the end.
 
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit, John 15:2.
 
Dene Ward

Monday morning I was outside for a good while, exercising Chloe, feeding the birds, pruning some dormant perennials in hopes of a good summer’s bloom.  While I puttered around, my mind wandered here and there, but eventually stayed on an idea for a devotional.  By the time I finished I had the thing half-written in my head, a good introduction, a nice outline, and even a punchy ending.  But I came in needing to study for my Tuesday morning class, a study that took nearly three arduous hours and left my brain frazzled, my neck aching from poring over the books and papers, and my eyes needing to do something besides focus so intently.
            The next day I spent in town, our usual one day a week of Bible class and all the stops we need to do at once to save the gas required for more than one sixty mile round trip.  Then Wednesday we left early for a dentist appointment that was one of the worst ever, leaving me fit for nothing but going to bed with a pain pill.  Then Thursday we had more appointments and by the time I sat down on Thursday night to type, my half written devotional was nothing but a vague memory in the back of my mind.  I sat for nearly half an hour trying to grab onto it as it floated just out of reach.  Finally I gave up and here I sit without that wonderful piece I was so excited about.
            I know this forgetting thing happens to you too.  Do you know how frustrating it is to teach something in a class, then six months later when it comes up in a sermon by a visiting preacher you can hardly get your next class started because everyone is so excited about this new truth they "just heard" the past Sunday morning?  I find myself sitting there thinking, “Where was your mind when we did this six months ago?”
            Keith feels the same frustration when he un-teaches a faulty concept that many have grown up with, watching the light bulbs go on one by one, only to have those same people repeat that faulty concept yet again the next time that passage comes up.  Yes, it happens to all of us—we forget what we have learned all too easily.
            Do you know how to avoid that?  I keep a notebook handy to jot down ideas that come up in my head when I don’t have time to sit down then and write.  The problem last Monday was not getting inside as quickly as usual and so forgetting to even put the idea in my notebook. 
            Learning involves some work.  I just sat through a wonderful class on a prophetic book I have never studied before, and never heard taught in any church anywhere.  What amazed me was the fact that only two of us were even bothering to take notes.  How much do you think the others remember now, several months later? 
            Come let us reason together…God says to His people in Isa 1:18.  That Hebrew word also means argue, convince, correct, dispute, judge, and many other words that involve thinking.  God will not listen to anyone try to argue, dispute, or convince Him of anything if that person has no clue what he is talking about.  I will be that clueless one if I do not study the Word of God and meditate (think) on it.  I will be equally clueless six months later if I have done nothing to help myself remember what I have learned.  I certainly won’t get it by osmosis from the pew I am sitting on or by an airborne germ just because I am sitting in the building where it was taught.
            Rene Descartes was the French philosopher who came up with this famous notion:  I think, therefore I am.  The guy did a whole lot of thinking his whole life long, but on February 11, 1650, he stopped thinking.  He died.  At least he had that excuse.  What’s yours?
 
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen, 2 Pet 3:15-18.
 
Dene Ward

I have heard it all my life and never noticed the problem until recently.  “Do one good deed every day.”  How many New Year’s resolutions have you heard that include that phrase?  How many times have you heard people talk about trying to better themselves by doing “one good deed every day?”  How many speak as if they are proud of that very accomplishment?
            Then it struck me.  One good deed a day?  That is supposed to make me a good person?  One?  Hey!  If I get it done by 8 or 9 in the morning, I don’t have to worry about another one, right?  If I do 5 today, I can take the rest of the week off.  I’m not expected to work on the weekends surely. Something is terribly wrong if we think doing one good deed a day is a wonderful accomplishment for a Christian.
            Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. Psalm 34:14
            Trust in Jehovah, and do good…Depart from evil, and do good; Psalm 37:3,27.
            I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live. Eccl 3:12.
            But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, Luke 6:27.
            But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased, Heb 13:16.   
              And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith. Gal 6:9,10.
            Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another; communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality. Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you lies, be at peace with all men. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongs unto me; I will recompense, says the Lord. But if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:9-10, 13-21. 
            Do I really think I can overcome evil with one good deed a day?
            Christians don’t work by the quota system.  They know they should be looking for good things to do, as well as reacting in good ways to things done to them, all day long, every day.  Yet even that is not enough to repay the debt we owe for our forgiveness. 
            I think we need to stop counting.
 
Dene Ward

It was late in the day and still the noise surrounded us.  The elevator dinging, the telephones chirping, the call buttons issuing a strident claxon, the IV pole beeping, the whooshes from the suction wand, the roaring wheels of the food carts, even the dimmer wail of the sirens as ambulances rolled in beneath us to the emergency room—and this is where we are supposed to relax and recuperate, I wondered?  Since when is a hospital a place of rest?  At least hospice, where my mother was ultimately moved, was quiet and peaceful.

              Our culture is a noisy one.  I have had people tell me they leave the television on for company, so there is always noise in the background.  Maybe because I live in the country I find that utterly confounding.  Yet this morning as I sat by the fire pit with a final cup of morning coffee I found myself thinking that it certainly isn't as quiet as thirty-five years ago, when cows lowing, donkeys braying, roosters crowing, woodpeckers tapping for food in the live oaks, and wrens singing their little heads off were the loudest things for miles around. 

              Rest.  God promised His people rest—from their enemies, from the toil of slavery, from the worries of life, if they would only keep their covenant with Him.  But what did they prefer?  The hoopla and noise of idolatry and all its attendant debauchery.  A peaceful life with their God was boring, I suppose.  It certainly did not offer the physical thrill of sin and the emotional high of a pagan festival.  What did He have to say about that? 

              Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ ​I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. " (Jer 6:16-19).  Too late they learned the value of a peaceful and quiet life with God, led by His Word and following His Law. 

               The Devil cultivates our desire for excitement and stimulation.  He fills our ears with his noise until we can no longer tolerate the serenity of spiritual satisfaction and peace with God.  Busyness becomes a status symbol.  We fill our children's minds with "cultural enrichment" and run ourselves ragged trying to outdo one another in our bustling around.  We go and go and go and talk and talk and talk until we have no time at all to sit still and simply meditate on God and His place in our lives—which ultimately becomes no place at all.

               Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near… {Zeph 1:7).  That's what happens when we become too busy and too loud to notice God.  It was spoken to a people who would soon be destroyed because they would not be quiet long enough to listen. 

              Far better to learn the lesson the psalmist teaches:  ​“Be still, and know that I am God…”  (Ps 46:10).

              Far better to realize that rest is not a punishment but a reward, a reward for those who have been busy, not with loud self-serving sin, but with the quiet work of the Lord, serving Him by serving others, in a place where we can truly rest and recuperate from all of our trials.
 
​Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  (Matt 11:28-30)
 
Dene Ward

This year I will celebrate a landmark birthday.  Suddenly birthdays have become less than exciting.  But all these years have given me one thing that I find invaluable, at least now that I am past them—a boatload of experiences.  In fact, you may be getting tired of hearing about them.
            Here is one that struck me just the other day:  I now need more than two hands to count the number of times a Christian has told me about having his horoscope read, having a tarot card reading, or going to a palm reader—“just to see what it’s like”—and have him tell me how astounded he was.   “I know it isn’t real, but it was so close, it was uncanny.”
            And do you think Satan is going to allow them to be so far off that you won’t even be tempted to believe in them?  Really now, Satan is not that stupid.  But sometimes I wonder about us!  Excuse me, I guess the word should be “gullible,” or perhaps the more politically correct “naïve.”  Solomon was not nearly so concerned about being PC.  The word he used when a child of God put himself into a position to be deceived was “fool.”
            Because deception is what surely follows if we are not careful.  This “uncanny” ability to be so accurate (we think) draws us closer and closer, until finally we are relying on those things more than God, and eventually instead of God.  Yes, it can happen to you.  I have heard Christians I thought were strong tell me they could not make a decision until they had read their horoscopes for the day. 
            And you know what is even scarier?  When it becomes obvious that we want to rely on these things instead of God, He will allow it.  And for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie, that they might all be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, 2 Thes 2:11,12.  He considers all such things “idolatry” because they are more important to the person than He is, and “adultery” because that person has been unfaithful to Him.  This is a serious matter.  That is another way Satan can get to you.  He will tell you it is just a fun little pastime.  Read Ezekiel 16 sometime today and see exactly how God depicts this “harmless” recreation.  I will judge you as women who commit adultery and murder are judged, and I will bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy, Ezek 16:38.   
            So think about it today.  What are we doing that seems harmless but that could have dire consequences if we let it go to its natural end?  Satan has dozens of beautifully crafted lures to draw us in, set the hook, and catch us before we even realize we are in danger.  He is not so stupid that he will make the traps obvious.  Be careful out there today.  Rely on God and Him alone.  Be faithful to Him and He will never be unfaithful to you.
           
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no marvel, for even Satan fashions himself into an angel of light.  It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works, 2 Cor 11:13-15.
 
Dene Ward

The only newspaper we ever bother to buy, mainly because of the coupons, the crossword puzzle, and the sports page, is the Sunday issue.  The coupons pay for it so it isn’t even a guilty pleasure, not that the press is ever much of a pleasure anyway.  But the business page one recent week sounded like something you might read in a church bulletin—or at least hear from the pulpit or a Bible class lectern.   Notice:
              “A start [to reduce our stress] is to mitigate the desire to acquire.  Folks with a high net worth are frequently coupon clippers and sale shoppers who resist the urge to splurge…Many times the difference between true wealth and ‘advertised’ wealth is that those with true wealth are smart enough not to succumb to the lure of what it can buy.”  Margaret McDowell, “Lieutenant Dan, George Bailey, and Picasso,” Gainesville Sun, 12-14-14.
              When I turned the page I found this:  “Dress appropriately [for the office party].  Ladies…Lots of skin and lots of leg is inappropriate…Keep it classy.” Eva Del Rio, “Company Holiday Party Do’s and Don’ts for Millennials,” Gainesville Sun, 12/14/14.
              Jesus once told a parable we call “The Unrighteous Steward.”  In it, he took the actions of a devious man and applauded his wisdom.  He ended it with this statement:  For the sons of this world are for their generation, wiser than the sons of the light, Matt 16:8.  Jesus never meant that the man’s actions were approved.  What he meant was he wished his followers had as much sense as people who don’t even care about spiritual things.
              We still fall for Satan’s traps in our finances, believing that just a little more money will solve all of our problems.  We still listen to him when he says that our dress is our business and no one else’s.  It isn’t just short-sighted to think that accumulating things will make us happy—even experts in that field will tell you it’s not “smart.”  It isn’t just a daring statement of individuality to wear provocative clothing, it’s cheap and “classless.”
              If we used our brains a little more, there would be less arguing about what is right and what is wrong.  We could figure it out with a little reason and a lot of soul-searching. 
              Why is it that I regularly overspend?  Because I am looking for love and acceptance from the world?  Because I trust a portfolio in hand instead of a God in the burning bush?  Because I have absolutely no self-control? 
              Why do I insist on wearing clothing that is the opposite of good taste and decorum?  Because I do not care about my brothers’ souls?  Because I do care about the wrong people’s opinions?  Because I am loud and brash and think meekness is a sign of weakness instead of strength?  Or maybe it isn’t any of these bad motives—maybe it’s just a lack of wisdom.  Is there any wonder that the book of Proverbs is included for us, and that so many times it labels people with no wisdom “fools?”
              Not just wealth and dress, but practically everything we struggle with could be overcome by being as wise as at least some of the “children of this world.”  Isn’t it sad that they so often outdo us in good old common sense?
 
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, Eph 5:15-17.
 
Dene Ward

"If Christ is to be Savior and Lord, a definite decision must be made.  A tragic failure of many pastors and churches is the failure to confront men with the necessity of making a definite decision for Christ.  Preaching which fails to confront hearers with the Person and claims of Christ in such a manner that decision becomes mandatory is altogether too vague and nebulous to accomplish the purpose of Him who is pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (1 Cor 1:21)…One cannot receive Christ as his personal Savior and Lord without a sincere intention to trust and follow Him always, through life into eternity.  Any "faith in Christ" is completely insincere apart from such intention." 

Life in the Son by Robert Shank.

“It’s just for fun,” I keep hearing.  “I know it doesn’t mean anything.” 
              If it doesn’t mean anything, why am I wasting my time on it?  And since when does God ever countenance sin “just for fun?”
              Astrology, palm reading, psychics, mediums, “ghost whisperers”—God condemns every one of these things and all their cousins in His word.
              There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this, Deut 18:10-14.  “God has not allowed you to do this.”  Isn’t that plain enough?  And if it isn’t, do you really want to be lumped in with people who sacrifice their children?
              “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers (people who claim to consult the dead}; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God, Lev 19:31.  It makes you unclean, unfit to serve God.
              And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? Isa 8:19.  It doesn’t even make sense, God tells us. 
              But it does make sense to Satan.  If he can get you to listen to anyone besides God, he has made his first inroad into your heart.  And lest anyone say, “These are all Old Testament passages,” let’s remind him of Gal 5:20 where these things are lumped under the heading of sorcery and labelled “a work of the flesh.”
              And no, these condemnations are not only to those who actually practice these things as Ezekiel makes crystal clear:  And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the [false] prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike--Ezek 14:10.  You can’t play around with this stuff and not be considered guilty, even if all you do is ask them a question.  Even brand new Christians understood that in Acts 19:18-20, and at great financial loss burned their books of divination.  It was obvious to them, babes that they were, that these things were an abomination to God.
              So please, stop playing with fire.  Stop making excuses.  Don’t let yourself be so fascinated that you lose all sense of right and wrong.  God will not tolerate a little playing around.  To Him it is sin, plain and simple.
 
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death, Rev 21:8.
 
Dene Ward

I remembered recently a walk Chloe and I took one morning when she was still a puppy.  It was a particularly nice day.  The steam bath of a Florida summer had given way to the milder warmth of early fall.  Migrating birds had stopped for the breakfast buffet in the nearby woods.  My hawk called good morning from high overhead.  A breeze fluffed up the grass and sent cotton ball clouds scudding across the sky.  Our world was filled with beauty and peace.

            All of a sudden, down at my feet, Chloe belched.  This was not the dainty puff of air I sometimes hear from our older heeler, who then looks at me with embarrassed, downcast eyes.  This was a full-blown, open-mouthed belch that, proportionate to her size, would have rivaled any beer-bellied redneck.  I laughed out loud from the sheer shock of it.  I had never heard a puppy belch.  I didn’t even know it was possible.  Puppies are cute; puppies are playful; puppies are sweet and innocent.  Hearing Chloe belch certainly ruined that image.

            Unfortunately, image is one thing and reality is something else entirely. Sometimes we forget that and set ourselves up for a lot of disappointment that could be avoided.  And sometimes that disappointment costs us our faith.

            Consider this one thing, among many others:  how much more shocked are we when a preacher or elder falls?  “What hypocrites!” we instantly accuse.  Yet, isn’t it a poor preacher who cannot preach better than he can practice?  Why should his inability to be perfect (which we have no problem telling him about otherwise) keep us from trying at all?  The reality is we all fail once in a while, even though our image of them says they shouldn’t.

            Whenever someone says to me, “I’ll never go to that church because some of the people there are hypocrites,” I usually answer, “Even the apostles had a Judas among them, but they did not let that make them forsake their Lord.” 

            To those who leave the church “because of all the hypocrites,” Keith usually says, “And you are going to leave the Lord’s church in their hands?”  You see, what it all boils down to is yet more excuses for our own behavior.

            No matter how well put together people seem on the outside, everyone has problems.  Sometimes the worst problem anyone can have is trying to live up to another person’s image of him.  If anyone knows he is not perfect, it is usually the one whom everyone else thinks is.  Not preachers, not elders, not elders’ wives, not great Bible scholars—no one is without fault.

            That person you think is a perfect wife?  Once in a while she nags.  That person you think is a great husband?  Once in a while, he leaves his dirty clothes in the floor.  That couple you think have a perfect family?  Once in a while their children roll their eyes at their parents and actually rebel a little.  That one you think is always so kind and sweet?  Once in a while she loses her temper. 

            Never blame your own faithlessness on the imperfections of others.  No one is perfect.  Don’t let your image of how things ought to be, rob you of your faith when reality checks in.

            Even puppies belch.
 
If you, O Jehovah, should mark iniquities, who could stand?  But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.  I wait for Jehovah, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope.  O Israel, hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, and with him is plenteous forgiveness.   Psalm 130:3,4,7.
 
Dene Ward