Minding A Mixed Crop

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Song: Have You Counted The Cost?

Wheat and tares grow together in the same field, share the same soil, drink the same rain, and are warmed by the same sun. They worship in the same church, share the same pew, even live in the same house. But wheat and tares are not the same.

Wheat and tares look alike. They stand the same height, appear in the same garb, sway in the same wind. The disciple had to ask Jesus at supper which one was a Judas. Wheat and tares look the same to one another. But they’re not really.

So closely do wheat and tares grow to one another that their roots intertwine. They’re benefitted by the same fair climate and injured by the same drought. They sustain like triumphs and trials and often weep together the same tears of joy or sorrow. But wheat and tares are not the same.

Wheat and tares are kept for the same harvest and fall to the same sickle. They’re gathered by the same reapers though not to the same place. Tares are put to the flame. Wheat is gathered to the barn. Because wheat and tares are not really the same.

Take stock of yourself today. The fruit of what you sow this day may not be apparent to others and you may blend in among the rows of standing grain. But the harvest comes when the produce of today’s toil will be judged as good fruit or bad. Remember that while wheat and tares may be close, and even kin, they’re still not the same.

Jason Moore

This Week's Travel Tips

Song: He Will Pilot Me

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-8

Recently I boarded a plane I’d never seen, built by people I’d never met, piloted by a man I’d never known. We dangled above the earth on strings I couldn’t see, over country I couldn’t identify, at a speed I couldn’t fathom, to a destination unfamiliar.

We put our trust in nuts and bolts, in flesh and blood, in forces we can’t even see and which few understand. Oh, that we had like faith in God!

“Trust in the Lord”—Mechanics forget to tighten bolts and pilots have sleepless nights. The Lord never forgets and He never tires.

“Lean not on your own understanding”—I assume there’s a reason why we fly seven miles high. God has His reasons and they’re always good.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him”—Not just during turbulence but when the flight is smooth too.

“He shall direct your paths”—The skies are not always friendly but God knows the safest route.

“Don’t be wise in your own eyes”—Floating seat cushions are poor life insurance when flying over terra firma. Anybody can see that.

“Fear the Lord and depart from evil”—There never was a safe arrival that was not preceded by a successful departure.

“It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones”—Fasten your seat belt. Return your seat and tray table to an upright and locked position. Stay in your seat. Leave the navigating up to God.

Jason Moore

Nature's Science Lesson

Song: Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah!

Scripture: Psalm 148

Modern, secular science has done much to remove nature’s personality. Human behavior has been explained as so many chemical reactions and electrical impulses. And if human life is robbed of purpose then how much more inexplicable are the meanderings of beast and bird, of fish and flower.

Ancient science grasped what modern science misses. It gazed at nature’s wonder and wondered at nature’s order. But it understood that nature’s ordered wonders imply a Wonderful Orderer. “For He commanded and they were created.”

The psalmist lacked the benefits of modern science. But knowledge had not led him to the proud boast of our generation that he understood it all. He saw the Person behind nature’s power and the Personality within it. He observed the purpose to nature’s wonder—to teach creation closest to God to behave like creation farthest away.

The sun is not just a spinning orb of fiery gases. He’s a witness to the Almighty who lit his torch from nothing. He follows the path God first drew for him without fail. Hail, snow, cloud, and storm are not just varied forms of H2O. They’re messengers of God’s providence and judgment fulfilling His word. Weathermen may not predict their patterns. But they never disobey God’s marching orders. It is this grand procession of creation by God’s direction that gives Him praise. Let us them praises give Jehovah!

Jason Moore

Thursday's Business

Song: This Is My Father's World

Scripture: Genesis 1:1-25

Today is Thursday and it’s likely a busy day for you. I don’t know what time God started working on the first Thursday that ever was. But it was a busy day for Him.

It was today, Thursday, that God populated the skies and the seas. It was today that the first cardinal called, the first goose gandered, the first mourning dove moaned, and the first hummingbird hovered. I wonder—do the birds sing louder today? For today is their birthday. I wonder—did He make them all at once? Or one by one did He add them in stunning crescendo to the first orchestra of praise that winged creation ever conducted at Jehovah’s direction and to His glory?

It was today, Thursday, that the first jellyfish jiggled, the first tuna schooled, the first catfish jumped, and the first Salmon swam upstream. I wonder—do the whales and dolphins frolic with greater revelry today? Because it was on Thursday that their great-great-great… and so on grandparents first toured the seas. It was today after all that finned creation first explored the ocean paths and staked claim to turquoise depths and blue-green wonders in their Maker’s name.

Yes, today’s a busy day. But not so busy that you can’t stop and listen to a bluebird’s song or watch the minnows splash in a Gulf-side sunset and then join their praise to our Heavenly Father.

Jason Moore

Sunday Morning Starters

Worship…What is yours worth?

Sermon…What good did it do for you?

Bible…Where did you leave yours?

Supper…Did you partake or just take part?

Prayer…What did you say?

Song…To whom were you speaking?

Home…To retire or to work?

Jason Moore

How The Conscience Ticks

Song: How Shall The Young Secure Their Hearts

Scripture: Romans 2:11-16

God equipped every man with a conscience, an internal gauge to help him regulate his morality. It bears some resemblance to your car’s speedometer but with some important distinctions.

Your speedometer has many pointings from 0 to 120. The conscience has but two settings, “Good” and “Bad.” It has two modes, “Before” and “After.” The conscience kicks into “Before” mode when you contemplate a moral decision. It says, “This is Good,” and “That is Bad.” Once the deed is done the conscience switches to “After” burner mode and says, “You’re Good,” or “You’re Bad.” This bustle of activity takes place in your mind “between yourself” where your thoughts either “accuse” or “excuse” you. A “Good” conscience is one that excuses; a “Bad” conscience one that accuses you.

Your speedometer doesn’t know the speed limit. This job is left to you, the driver. Neither does your conscience know the law. This task is left to you, the owner. The operations of your conscience “show the work of the law written in your heart.” It’s up to you to calibrate your conscience by writing the correct laws on your heart.

Think of your conscience as a moral-ometer. It meters, or measures, whether you’re observing the rules of the road. So keep an eye on your conscience. God gave it to so you’d know when to stop, when to go, and when to turn around.

Jason Moore

The Family Together: Five Reasons

1. Encourage spiritual headship among fathers. Many fathers are providers and decision makers but not spiritual leaders in their households. The Family Together equips fathers for daily conversations with their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

2. Promote together time within families. Household habits like television, little league, overtime, tee time, and many more leisure time activities pull families apart. The Family Together builds the daily habit of uninterrupted family time to draw the family closer together.

3. Restore living room religion. Congregational bible classes supplement but cannot—and should not—supplant the biblical and moral instruction provided by parents, especially fathers, in the home. The Family Together encourages a return to the old path of teaching the Bible “diligently unto thy children… when thou sittest in thine house.”

4. Inspire hearth and home worship to God. According to Jesus, the habit of “closet” prayer and worship “in secret” cures hypocrisy and vain religion. The Family Together encourages private, daily devotion in the home which prepares true worshipers for public, weekly worship in the assembly.

5. Kindle homespun Bible instruction. The Family Together is not a children’s book, but a family workbook. It’s home work for the family together. It serves as a practical companion, but not a substitute, for the spontaneous, interactive guidance of the parent. It creates a natural context for such guidance.

Get your family together today and every day. It just makes sense.

Jason Moore