Christian growth Archives - Pastor Marvin McKenzie

A Crabby Perspective

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Episode #23

I see a few buckets a person is best to stay in:

Marriage
God has designed marriage to be one man and one woman for a lifetime. There are numerous temptations that make us seem like this bucket is small, confining and maybe dragging us down. We need friends to keep us in our bucket.

Work
If a man won’t work neither should he eat. We would like to rationalize that to refer to the ne’er do well. The man who climbs his way to financial independence or works his way to an early and prosperous retirement must be excluded, right? I am not so sure. To become financially able to serve God more freely is certainly advisable. To become free enough to spend time and money in a vacation for the rest of one’s life would be a terrible waste of God’s will.

Church
It is impossible to put a group of people into a tight community like a church without some disagreements and disputes. The devil would love to convince the Christian that he could do better without the confinements of the local church. The matter of fact is that God created that church specifically to provoke us to love and Good works. Someone needs to keep pulling us into the unity of the local church.

We would do best to avoid friendships that pull us down into sin. But the friend who keeps us in the will of God is no loser.

To my listeners

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For more than 4100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Common Causes of Error

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Episode #08

The first recourse in correcting error is to get people to read the Bible for themselves. We need to get people to put down the books about the Bible and turn off the programs where others teach the Bible and invest some significant time into personally studying the Bible.

To my listeners

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For more than 4100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
My author spotlight at Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/marvinmckenzie

My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Compromise – The Case for the Local Church

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Episode 01

Compromise may be an essential ingredient in politics. But it has no place in Christian ministry. Pastor McKenzie argues for the value of the local church as a means to protect doctrinal integrity without compromise.

Nehemiah 3:5 Who’s Watching?

Nehemiah 3:5 (KJV)
And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.

In this exceptional chapter of unity cooperation and sacrifice one group stands out for their lack of participation. The nobles of Tekoa, a city of Judah, “put not their necks to the work“.

There were priests at work
There were goldsmiths at work
There were apothecaries at work
There were rulers at work
There were merchants at work
There was even a man with his daughters at work

But these nobles, for whatever reason, chose not to join in the work.

And Nehemiah saw it.

Could Nehemiah be a picture here of God, who knows and sees all and is keeping a record of our works? The Bible says of the Christian that “every man’s work shall be made manifest … of what sort it is.”[1]

Imagine the judgment seat of Christ where we are all judged and rewarded for our service as believers. People of all ranks and races stand before the Lord to receive their rewards. But then it comes to you. The only remark is, “He put not his neck to the work.” No wonder God wipes away tears in heaven.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Nehemiah 3:5 Who’s Watching?

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[1] 1 Corinthians 3:13

2 Chronicles 34:1-3 Patience, Patience

2 Chronicles 34:1-3 (KJV)
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

The goodness of God can sometimes appear to come very slowly. Josiah was a good king and came to the throne at a very early age, but his acts of beneficence and godliness came in what must have seemed excruciatingly slow steps.

He was crowned at eight years
He began to seek the Lord at sixteen
He began purging the land of idolatry at twenty years of age
He was twenty six years of age when he began repair of the temple

We are not told how long after that they found the Word of God and showed it to the King.

I am reminded not to be impatient with the will of God. His plan is true and plain. He, however, is not restricted to the process of time like we are. God does the right and good thing at the right and best time.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

2 Chronicles 34:1-3 Patience, Patience

2 Chronicles 29:3 Open the Doors of the Church

2 Chronicles 29:3 (KJV)
He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

What a grand thing it is to open the doors of the house of the Lord.

They had long been closed so that:

The priests were out of work
The Bible was not known and
The people were not clean

Hezekiah opened the doors and got:

The priests involved in ministry
The people involved in godliness and
The Word of God once again being heard and heeded

How needful it is in our day for every Christian to open the doors of the house of the Lord in the sense that they:

Bring people to hear God’s Word
Encourage preachers to preach Gods Word and
Get involved in obeying God’s Word

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

2 Chronicles 29:3 Open the Doors of the Church

1 Chronicles 21:1 (KJV) Satan’s Devices

1 Chronicles 21:1 (KJV)
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Though he has certainly been present many times previous to this, we have here the first instance of the name Satan. First mentions are always important in the Bible and we should see this as an important account.

Satan’ attack is against Israel
He did not specifically attack any one man. He attacked a nation of people.

These were the Jews. Satan’s ought against them is unique because Israel’s relationship with God is unique. Satan cannot predict the future but he is intelligent and surely knew by now that the Messiah would be from Israel.

I imagine that Satan still attacks whole nations of people more aggressively than he does individuals.

Satan’s attack was through David
His target was Israel but by tempting David he hit the nation. One of the reasons we ought to pray for those in authority is that Satan Will mostly likely hurt a whole people by hurting her leadership.

Satan’s attack was quite subtle
One would be hard pressed to find a terrible sin here. All David did was number his army. Though there must have been something more here because Joab knew it shouldn’t have been done, still this is not one of those heinous and obviously horrible sins.

The most terrible sins may be the ones we don’t think are so bad. We think they are acceptable so we excuse them. There is no such thing as an acceptable sin.

Satan’s temptation was through David’s pride
At least this is the most common understanding. The three things in the world are the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Pride was the sin that led to Lucifer’s fall. Pride prevents God’s grace being upon us.

Satan’s first mention is not as dramatic as a person might think. No one was demon possessed, no one was murdered but a tragedy happened nonetheless.

Don’t allow a seemingly small sin be the destroying sin in your life.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

1 Chronicles 21:1 (KJV) Satan’s Devices

Acts 10:6 What We Ought To Do

Acts 10:6 (KJV)
He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

God told Cornelius that there was a man who would tell him, “..what thou oughtest to do.“

He would not tell him what he had to do.
He would not tell him what others thought he should do.
He would not tell him what the philosophers and scholars suggested he do.

He would tell him what he ought to do.

Peter’s words would come not from books or traditions handed down from Judaism. Peter’s words would come from:

His three years experience with Jesus,
His own understanding of the Word of God and
His anointing with the Holy Spirit of God

Very few people like to be told what to do but everyone needs a preacher to tell them what they ought to do.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Acts 10:6 What We Ought To Do

Acts 6:1-2 (KJV) Uneducated and Unlearned

Acts 6:1-2 (KJV)
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Stephen was, as far as the elite of Israel was concerned:

Uneducated and
Unlearned

He was here in an incredibly stressful situation. And yet he was able to clearly and accurately cover the whole of the Old Testament and drive the point to Christ. There is only one reason this could have happened; Stephen was a student of the Bible. He may not have been learned in the various ideas of modern thought but he did know his Bible.

Far more important than knowing the ideas of man is knowing the Word of God. Fortunately no one needs a formal education for that. Colleges, even Bible colleges, aren’t famous for teaching the Bible. A person learns the Bible best by faithfully reading the Bible and attending the services of his local church.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Acts 6:1-2 (KJV) Uneducated and Unlearned

Acts 5:35 (KJV) Seize Your Chance to Witness

Acts 5:35 (KJV)
And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

The counsel of Gamaliel was heeded only a short period.

Stephen was stoned not long after.
Saul of Tarsus campaigned for the imprisonment and deaths of Christians.
Peter and James were cast in prison where James was executed.

But for a brief moment attacks on the faith of Christianity was relaxed and the believers seized upon the opportunity. Daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others