Scripture

Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your ‘saltiness’ be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others.

~Matthew 5:13, TPT

Quote

It is due to our failure in deportment, conduct and witness that the modern church counts for so little and that so few are attracted to Christ.

~Martyn Lloyd Jones

Jesus used two metaphors in the sermon on the mount which are descriptive of the church, and those two metaphors are salt and light. There are not a lot of comparisons between salt and light, they are very different in nature and essence, yet both are very important and yea even vital. I think there is to be a balance. I think salt has to do with our convictions and conduct and light speaks of our witness or sharing the gospel with others, or pointing the way to Jesus. Today, I want to address the salty side. Salt is a preservative and was essential in the ancient world. Salt is also an ingredient used to add flavor to food. Saltless food is bland. It has very little taste. Salt is also an irritant. It will burn if it gets into a cut or wound. It is also a strong mineral that can be used for poison. Too much salt can kill. I am afraid my failure as a Christian and pastor is to err on the salty side. I have a pastor friend that is an avid witness. Where ever he goes, he talks about the goodness of Christ. He is not ashamed of the gospel. I have failed at this point and failed miserably. If I can rely on the opinions of others, I err on the salty side. I am infamous for being an irritant. The truth is: I don’t want to be. I think it is very possible that I have offended more people than I have lead to the LORD, and of course, this is nothing to brag about. It is not something that any man should take pride in.

I have been rebuked by other preachers on more than one occasion. Sometime these rebukes are subtle and rather mild; at other times they have been overt and stern. I was told by one preacher that denouncing abortion as murder did no good; that it would alienate more people than it could possible help. The same man said to me, “Jack, you need to learn that honey draws more flies than vinegar.” I should have said,“That’s OK, John the Baptist is my model and he ate honey and preached vinegar.” Every pastor doesn’t need to be a John but this world need more John’s. Millions of lives would have been saved if preachers had denounced the evil of abortion from the start. Most preachers have never been close enough to abortion to see the spirit that drives it. I speak of the spirit of Satan. I have no doubt, the abortion industry is fueled by the fires of hell. Child sacrifice is an abomination to God: He abhors it, so how can I ignore it. I will continue, as the LORD convicts and inspires me, to speak out on the social evils of the day. This includes the corruption in Washington D.C. and the complete reformation of the Democratic Party which is now Marxist. If that offends you: prove me wrong and I will apologize to you and everyone else. God knows I wish they were still pork barrel democrats with their grubby hands in the pocket of tax payers but they are not. I believe is lesser of evils which means I would take a Truman or a John Kennedy over all the Obama’s of this age. Biden’s proclamation that Easter is no longer about the resurrection but about gay rights is ridiculous and someone needs to do something about it. If something is not done, we will know that all the dems are anti-Christ. He should be impeached. Of course it would change much, Obama would still be running the show.

I agree with Martyn Lloyd Jones, the modern church has lost it’s influence and we are good for nothing except to be trampled on by the foot of man. Oh, that this might change. Revive us O LORD, that we might be an influence in this evil society, of which we are a big part of the problem.

Extra

It looks like we are going to have a great day. I am very thankful for a good day yesterday. We had less than 500 hundred at the Point, around 400 less. DBC had 468 and the kids said they saw no visitors. Makes you realize they could have that number every week. I smoked chickens for the kids. We had 26 kids, grands, and greats. Big Mama was thrilled to she her entire brood together. God is good. We cannot complain. I hope you had a good day and I pray you will have a good week. Thank you for reading the blog.