Richland Creek Welcome Ministry

Maybe I’m just having a bad day. I watch the news and I hear things that make me angry and I want to get in someone’s face and tell them that they must be stupid and that they shouldn’t be allowed to waste perfectly good oxygen. Now don’t misunderstand, I don’t do that. But there are times when I would like to.

I saw on the news recently where a young man was arrested for praying outside of an abortion clinic. Praying. That’s all. Praying.

I heard a news report that said of all religions, Christianity is the one that is most often singled out and put in a bad light in the textbooks our children read in school. Christianity: Exaggerate the bad; hide the good. Other religions: Ignore the bad; exaggerate the good. Some people in the public school system clearly have an agenda to do whatever they can to destroy Christianity.

I talked with a friend who felt defeated because sometimes, she said, it feels like just one person can’t make a difference against the bully pulpit of the government and the liberal media. Both appear to have an anti-Christian agenda.

And those are just three examples of what makes me want to shake someone and say, “You’re destroying everything for which our founding fathers fought and died.”

But then I remember Ephesians 6:12 where Paul says, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

You see our fight isn’t with those in the media or even the elected officials who do not know the Lord and are being used by Satan to fight against righteousness. They are merely victims. They are the collateral damage of the warfare that is taking place in the spiritual realm. You see, these people are lost to the darkness for two reasons: 1) Satan has recruited them using his tried and true methods–lies and deceit, and 2) Christians have failed to be sufficiently diligent in our witness to and our prayer for these people.

But there is good news. “Light shall shine out of darkness.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) And that means even if Satan continues to try to hold these lost souls (and he will), we can defeat him if we do not give up. But we need to put into practice what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:13-18. We must put on the full armor of God. And we must be prepared to do battle. And that means we must stand firm even when we feel like we’re losing.

It won’t be easy and it won’t happen in a generation. It has taken over 200 years to lose what we’ve lost. It may take another 200 to win it back. For some the battle must continue. For others the battle must begin. But it’s a battle that must be fought. And for the sake of the generations to come, it’s a battle I pray we win.

Thom Fishow

August 29, 2010

I saw that Art Linkletter died recently at the age of 97. I remember in grade school my whole family used to sit around our black and white TV and watch his show “People are Funny.” And as I thought about that show, I got to thinking just how funny people really are. I don’t mean funny “ha ha”, but funny peculiar. You see, I think most people have a peculiar view of their world. I think most people see themselves somewhere near the center of their world. Let me give you some examples.

Many years ago I was in Boston and thought I was going to get killed on a particular taxi ride. The cab driver tried to calm my fears when he told me that Bostonians are some of the most polite drivers in the world. I told him I disagreed based on the way they were jockeying for position to exit the airport. That’s when he told me, tongue in cheek, that the motto of Boston drivers is, “You first, after me.”

Or how about this. Give a picture of a group of people to someone who’s in the picture, and the first thing he’ll do is look at himself. He’ll usually feign modesty and say, “That’s a terrible picture of me,” and expect you to disagree; but you’re too busy looking at the image of yourself to even see him.

And have you ever noticed that when you have a disagreement with a friend where unkind words are exchanged, it’s not because he’s wrong and you’re right or vice versa, it’s because his faults are different from your faults. You see, while we can’t tolerate other people’s flaws, we can accept our own. They’re like an old shoe–they’re comfortable. They’re who I am. That’s my charm. Take me or leave me.

It’s the same with sin. It’s easier to see sin in others than it is to see it in ourselves. Or more correctly, it’s easier to admit that what someone else is doing is sin, but what we’re doing is in some gray area that God never intend to be considered as sin.

Now, you may have noticed I’ve used a little exaggeration in my examples. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus also used exaggeration to make His point when he said, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” He then said, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone actually practiced that? I mean, if we really corrected our own sins before helping our brothers and sisters to recognize theirs? In Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus said, “Judge not so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” Ask yourself: Do you really want to be judged using the standards by which you judge others? It’s something to think about.

Yes, people are funny. But when it comes to sin, I don’t think God is laughing.

Thom Fishow

August 22, 2010

Sometimes my beagle Bo provides the best example of how we are supposed to behave in our relationship with God. And he does it without even knowing it.

Let me give you an example. Several weeks back at about 2:00 AM, we had a fierce thunderstorm that came out of nowhere. I was sound asleep when a bolt of lightening lit up the bedroom. The thunder crashed so loudly that I was instantly awakened in time to both see and hear this incredible display. And so was Bo. Bo sometimes sleeps under the covers at my feet, but this flash of light and clap of thunder was so extreme that it caused him to awaken with a start.

Panicked, he scurried to the head of the bed and came out from the covers. And while the lightening and thunder continued, he stood over me licking my face trying to get me to look at him. As our eyes met, I rubbed his head and told him everything was alright. And, that was all he needed. He stuck his nose under the covers and crawled down to my feet, curled up, and quickly went back to sleep. In a matter of less than a minute, even though the lightening and thunder continued almost as fiercely as the original crash, he was soundly sleeping and snoring.

Even in the midst of this storm, the fear he initially felt was gone. Because I was there. I was his protector and if I told him it was okay, it was okay. He didn’t have to worry. I was in control and as far as he knew, I would keep him safe.

In Proverbs 3:25-26, King Solomon says, “Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; For the LORD will be your confidence And will keep your foot from being caught.” That was not written for Bo; it was written for me.

Now, I know that the type of fear Bo and I face is bound to be different and I hope that dogs never have to deal with the same level of wickedness we as humans encounter, but the way we react to fear and wickedness can be the same. Bo’s confidence to go back to his rest came from knowing that I was there and watching over him. Once he knew I was awake and his eyes locked with mine, he knew that I would do whatever I had to do to protect him.

God is always awake–He’s always there to protect us. And if we keep our eyes on Him, we don’t have to be afraid of sudden fear or the slings and arrows from the wickedness we’re bound to encounter. The proverb doesn’t say that we will never face wickedness or that we will never have to deal with fear. It only says that God will protect us if we place our confidence in Him. And, you know, if we allow it, that confidence should be enough to let us sleep in the midst of whatever trials we may be facing. After all, if I was good enough for Bo; God should certainly be good enough for us.

Thom Fishow

August 15, 2010

Have you ever heard someone talk about a “story” in the Bible and, because they personally have a hard time accepting it as fact, they brush it off as an anecdote made up just to teach a particular lesson? They say something like, it’s okay that it’s not true and everyone knows it couldn’t really have happened like it says. One story that comes to mind is the story of Jonah, but I can think of others.

Now I know that living in the world today can make some stories in the Bible a little hard to believe. Fiction writing today is so true to life; and TV and movies have shown us that anything you can imagine in your mind can be recreated–even things that could never possibly happen in the real world. We’ve been conditioned to believe that just because we’ve seen it with our own eyes is no guarantee that it’s real. And the truth is, some people’s hearts have just become so hardened that they don’t appreciate what God is capable of doing.

And then I got to asking myself: What if the story of Jonah is simply a story made up to teach an important lesson? Would it matter? It’s still a good story. It impacted my life as I’m sure it has the lives of many people. Whether the story is true or not, I can definitely relate to Jonah; after all, I learned about obedience from his story. Even if it was just created for the purpose of teaching, people do learn from it.

So does it matter? Well, let’s see.

I remember story about a farmer who raised watermelons and had a problem with some of the local boys who would come by at night to steal a watermelon or two. The farmer, not wanting to lose his inventory but also not wanting to stay up all night guarding his field came up with what he thought was a pretty clever idea.

He put a sign in the field that said, “One of the watermelons is poisoned.” By doing this, the farmer thought, the boys wouldn’t know which watermelon was tainted and he figured they would leave all the watermelons alone. Problem solved. Or so he thought.

The next morning when the farmer awoke he walked to his field feeling proud of himself for his ingenuity and confident that the remaining watermelons would now be 100% safe for the market. But when he checked his field he found another sign left by the boys. This sign, a little smaller than his sign but equally as powerful, said simply, “Now there are two.”

Two watermelons are now poisoned. But, which one did the boys ruin?

If we accept that one or two stories in the bible could be just fictional stories, which ones are they? And, if there are one or two, could there be three? Or four? And, if one of the stories that’s just a story is Jonah, what about Sampson? Or the parting of the Red Sea?

Or the resurrection?

Don’t be deceived. The Bible is God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16) written down for us; it is true from Genesis to Revelation. Only Satan has an interest in turning it into just another book of cute stories.

Thom Fishow

July 18, 2010

As I was driving home from work the other day in rush hour traffic, I came to a stop several cars back at a major intersection because the light was red. The lane to my right was free of traffic and I glimpsed a red car in that lane proceeding to the intersection. Then, before it reached the intersection, the light turned green and the driver continued into the intersection.

Unfortunately, a black car coming from the cross road to the left attempted unsuccessfully to hurry through the intersection before the traffic that now had the right of way began moving. The result, as you probably guessed, was a collision between the red and black cars with glass and metal flying everywhere and both cars spinning through the intersection involving several other cars. It reminded me of a commercial on television where two cars suddenly collide and the voice over says, “I bet you weren’t expecting that.”

Thankfully, the occupants of the vehicles were okay and after less than a minute the drivers got out of their cars. The driver of the red car looked like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. He looked at his car which was badly damaged, then at the black car, also badly damaged, and then he looked down the road where the black car had come from as if there he would find an answer to an unspoken question. There was no answer. And then the driver did something I’ve only seen on TV. He literally threw up his hands.

After all, he had the green light, so how could this happen? Green means go. Red means stop. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. And laws, after all, are laws. So if you have a green light, you are safe to go. End of discussion.

But is it? After all, who can guarantee that just because the light turns green for you that it will turn red for the other traffic? It’s supposed to work that way, but what if it doesn’t? And even if it does, who’s to say the drivers will always stop just because their light turns red?

We just trust that these things will happen. The question is this: is our trust misplaced? Starting in Jeremiah 17:5 it says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. . . But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.”

Now I don’t think Jeremiah was talking about highway etiquette in this passage, but how many times each day do we just depend on the “rules of the road” and totally forget who is really in control? How often do we trust in “mere humans” and forget to ask God for His protection?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think we should ignore good defensive driving when we head out to work or to the grocery store. But, if that’s all we’re doing to make sure we reach our destination, aren’t we simply trusting mere humans. Shouldn’t we include God when we get behind the wheel? Mirrors. Check. Seatbelt. Check. Protect me, God. Check.

Thom Fishow

July 4, 2010

I’m what you might call a news junkie. I watch the news on TV and listen to it on XM radio on my way to and from work. And I don’t listen to the news out of boredom or idle curiosity. No, I listen because I really do want to know what’s going on.

And I follow the news even more closely when it comes to politics during the campaign season. You see, I want to be able to make an informed decision when it comes time to vote. And, I do vote. I vote in every election. And I vote for candidates whether I think they’re going to be a good elected official or not. Maybe I better explain that. After doing my homework, I always vote for the candidate I think will be the best person for the position, but in some cases (and don’t tell me you’ve never done this), I know I’m voting for the “lesser of two evils.” Yes, I sometimes hold my nose with one hand while filling out my ballot with the other.

But sometimes, that’s the only option I have. So I pray. Sometimes, I pray harder than at other times, if you know what I mean. The fact is, we should all be praying for our leaders, whether we voted for them or not. And do you know why? Well, the Bible says we should.

In Romans 13:1, Paul says there are no governing authorities except those established by God. And, listen to this: They get their authority from God (yes, even those who don’t believe in Him). That means every one of our leaders–senators, representatives, governors, the president, etc.–get their authority from God. We should, therefore, pray for them because God is using them for His glory. And, we should pray that they do indeed glorify Him and that they don’t lead us down a path that is in conflict with His Word.

As a matter of fact, Paul tells us how to pray in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 when he says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” So, while we are praying for our leaders, Paul says we are also praying for ourselves. And, it is important to pray for the right thing because how we pray matters.

So, on this Independence Day, as we think about the founding fathers of this great country of ours, remember that the United States of America was established as “one nation under God.” We need to pray that it remains that way. And remember also, that even though we are not a monarchy, when King Solomon said in Proverbs 12:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases,” he could just as easily have been talking about our President. And if the President is important enough for God to direct as He pleases, we should be praying that the way he lives his life and the way he leads our country are both pleasing to God.

Thom Fishow

June 27, 2010