Flasback Friday - Martin Wiles

Serving with Sincerity

I was serving, but deep inside my motives were tainted.

Fresh out of college and pastoring my very first church, I was eager to impress…someone…anyone. So began my journey for recognition. In addition to pastoring and teaching full time, I directed a department in our local church association, worked on my Master’s, and volunteered with local literary associations. To say my plate was full is an understatement.  Read more...

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Rooted - Martin Wiles

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17 NLT

With really no roots at all, Tom sold most of what he had and headed out. 

Tom had a fragile childhood. His father was known as a rowdy type, a sailor with a woman in every port. Naturally, things between his mother and father fell apart since his father wouldn’t stop his running around. Then the day came when his mom met a man from Florida. Before he knew it, they were married and moving to Florida—without him. 

Tom was left to live with his grandmother who lived with her daughter and son-in-law and their two children. His aunt and uncle became his parents, and his two cousins became his brother and sister. 

Tom’s life wasn’t much different than his father’s. None of his marriages lasted very long. Since he couldn’t father children of his own, when the marriage dissolved so did all the roots that went with it. When his last wife died from breast cancer, Tom sold almost everything he had, loaded his horses and belongings in a trailer, and hit the road. He had no roots. 

Sometimes I feel a little like Tom. As a preacher’s kid and then a preacher myself, moving from place to place came with the territory. Family reunions were often missed due to church, so I depended a great deal on my grandmother to keep me updated. Mom and Dad’s sister are the only family matriarchs my family has left. 

Though my earthly roots are somewhat fragmented—and now very shallow—my spiritual roots run deep. Distance, divorce, and death can shatter and fragment genealogical roots, but the root that extends down into God’s love is a deep one. In fact, it is a tap root with no end.

Others may leave us in life for numerous reasons. We ourselves will one day have to leave this earth behind. But if we are rooted in God’s love, we have a large family that is planted across the world. Though our physical families dwindle and fragment, our spiritual families can be found anywhere we go because anywhere we go we can find people who are rooted in God’s love. 

When it appears your family roots are slowly dissipating, remember how large your spiritual family is. Pray for them, and enjoy spending time with them. 

Prayer: Father, we thank You for giving us spiritual family all across this globe.

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Technology’s Overload - Martin Wiles

For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT

Too much of a good thing can be harmful. 

Exercise is good, but too much can damage the body. More importantly, it might damage relationships with others.

One Krispy Kreme doughnut won’t harm me, but eating a dozen a day most likely will. Where what I eat is concerned, most doctors will say, “Everything in moderation.” Eating a little along and along is better than binge eating. 

Our day is really not much different in the moderation area than was Paul’s. Idolatry, sporting events, drugs, alcohol, sexually immoral practices, gluttony. They were all available. So Paul took the opportunity to remind first century believers that their bodies were temples of God’s Spirit. He had bought them with the death of His Son. The least they could do was honor Him with their bodies. 

The current greatest “too much of a good thing” temptation is technology. An entire generation of digital natives is alive and well. Defined, they are the young people who have never known a time when the internet didn’t exist. Just as doctors once thought tobacco was good for us—and freely smoked in and out of the presence of their patients—but then discovered it was dangerous, so the same is now happening with technology. 

Researchers have now unveiled the damage too much digital interaction—especially gaming, can have on people’s brains. The younger the brain, the higher the addiction rate and the more harmful technology is to the brain. Staring at and interacting with “screens” not only builds an addictive wall in our brain, but it also damages our eyes, leading to dry eye disease.

I use technology profusely and am certainly not an advocate against it. Through it, I can spread the gospel with one press of a button or touch of a screen. But like everything else, I can get too much of a good thing. Moderation is necessary lest overload occur. 

Some suggestions to avoid technology’s overload: take a break from it every 15 minutes, don’t give it to young children (It’s not a good babysitter.), use it wisely, take it out of your bedroom at night (Analog clocks are still available.), enjoy an analog activity (Board games are still sold.), and go outside. 

What’s one thing you can do to avoid technology’s overload?

Prayer: Father, help us enjoy the good things You’ve created but not to be mastered by anything that steals our attention from You. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Giving That Hurts

Finances going south and a pressing question: should I keep giving to God, cut back, or cut it out entirely.

I was always taught you couldn’t outgive God, but what about when giving means an unpaid bill, a missed meal, an empty gas tank, or insufficient funds for the children’s lunches? Can I hold back then?

These were situations I dealt with when employment was lost and two incomes suddenly contracted into one. And the one was less than half of the previous. Something or someone was going to miss out if I gave…or gave as much as I knew I should. Doubt and anxiety reigned, and I chose to skimp on God. Not completely but enough for him to demonstrate what lack of trust can do…dry up what little I kept back. Read more...

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God’s Rewards - Martin Wiles

To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. Matthew 13:12 NLT

His comment came during one of the most taxing times of a school year.

As I stood outside of my doorway during the changing of classes, a young man—who I had previously taught, passed my way. I normally speak to him first, but this day he spoke first. “Dr. Wiles, you were hard on us, but it paid off in the end.”

His comment shocked me. Rarely do we teachers hear remarks like this while students are still in school. Perhaps during graduation speeches or after they enter college, but not while they are still under our tutelage.  

I smiled a large smile, thinking this was one of his normal smart remarks he was known for, and said, “I’m glad.”

With an even larger smile, he remarked, “I’m serious.” 

This interaction was one of those rare occurrences when a teacher receives confirmation they are doing a good job at what they do. I thanked him for his comment. The remainder of my hectic day took on a new shape. I had been rewarded—not monetarily, but in a way money couldn’t buy. 

Wanting rewards for things we do is normal. Never receiving recognition for anything leads to a miserable existence. Jesus’ disciples were rewarded with something many others weren’t: the ability to understand the parables He taught. When they didn’t, He explained them. 

God’s greatest reward is the assurance of salvation and comes when we trust in what Jesus did on Calvary’s cross and follow Him as our Savior. The work God assigns to His children can be challenging. 

Some of the work He has given me taxed my ability to cope, understand, and carry it out. But God rewards our good works. He gives more opportunities in the present and promises crowns in the future. 

Regardless of how He rewards, I must always remember to praise Him for any accomplishments that result. I can do all things through Christ—but nothing worthy apart from Him.

While good works don’t produce salvation, they should result when forgiveness of sins has occurred. They are the proof in the pudding. Using them to serve God in new and fresh ways—and as a way to say “Thank You” for His salvation—is the only wise thing to do. 

What are you doing with the rewards God has given you?

Prayer: Father, move us to serve You faithfully as we anticipate the rewards You will give for our obedient service. 

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Be Happy - Martin Wiles

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people to do in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Ecclesiastes 8:15 NLT

My great grandmother rarely ventured beyond the confines of her bedroom, but she was happy.

As long as I can remember, my great-grandmother—Mammy, lived with my paternal grandparents. Her bedroom was just off the living room of the old home, and in those two rooms she spent most of her days. But she never appeared sad. Crocheting afghans was one of her passions. For weeks and months, she would sit in a straight back white chair, a basket of yarn beside her, an intense smile on her face, and work her needles. Often, she watched Perry Mason on the television while she did so. If not him, a game show. 

When Mammy wasn’t there, she was in her bedroom, sitting on the bed reading her Bible. I often sat with her and had long conversations. 

Mammy was always happy. From today’s vantage point, she appeared to live a somewhat boring lifestyle, but obviously she didn’t think so. She enjoyed the simple things. Wise King Solomon proposed the same: eat, drink, and enjoy life. 

Happiness is a state of mind and not governed by circumstances or things—as Solomon discovered. Things may create happiness in my life for a short time, but eventually—like a child, I tire of them and want something new. And if I wait until circumstances are continually pleasant to get happy, I’ll only experience happiness infrequently. 

A permanent state of happiness—like Mammy possessed, is created through a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing my sins are forgiven lets me live life with a smile on my face. And I should. I have something to be happy about. This continual state of heart happiness validates my witness to others. If I claim to know Christ yet appear sad all the time, a contradiction occurs. Understanding God loves me unconditionally and that I can never do anything to make Him stop is important for maintaining a smile on my face.

Happiness can also be caught. I caught Mammy’s, and I hope my demeanor—along with the words I write, will help others catch the “Be Happy” attitude too. 

Are you continuously happy, or are you allowing circumstances to govern your smiles?

Prayer: Father, remind us we can live in a state of joy because of what You’ve done in our life. 

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Disciplined to Discipline

Dad was a master disciplinarian with a large repertoire of maneuvers. Among them, his favorite…a haircut.

I was a baldheaded child, and as I surpass mid-life I am reliving my childhood. But there was a time when I could grow hair…more than my father was comfortable with. If I wanted to fit in, I had little choice. I was a child of the seventies and the hippie generation. Though my hair never crept below my shoulders, it snuggled near them…until I infringed upon one of Dad’s critical rules. Then I was conveyed to the place I despised-the barbershop.

Dad disciplined because I needed discipline. His discipline also helped clear my conscience. Read more...

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Fringe Benefits - Martin Wiles

To open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me. Acts 26:18 NLT

For a middle school aged boy, it was the job of a lifetime—regardless of the pay. 

My paternal grandfather was an ice cream delivery man. Not the kind who drove through neighborhoods and sold ice cream novelties to eager children, but the type who drove a large truck and delivered bulk items to restaurants and businesses. Exactly when I began helping him during the summer, I’m not sure, but by the time I was of middle school age, I was spending the entire summer with my grandparents and working on the truck with him every day. 

For a young boy, the benefits of working on an ice cream truck during the hot summer months were exciting. Each day when we loaded the truck for the next day’s delivery, I got to get up in the refrigerated truck and stack the ice cream my grandfather handed me. But the most tantalizing benefits were that my grandfather paid me $20 per week, told me I could eat as much ice cream as I wanted free of charge, and bought my lunch every day. 

As the apostle Paul made his defense before King Agrippa, he recounted how God had given him a new mission in life. He was to take the gospel to the Gentiles, who, if they accepted it, would receive many fringe benefits. 

As God’s child, my eyes have been opened to the light. Prior to accepting Christ as my Savior, they were shaded by the scales of darkness. Sin blinded me and held me securely in its chains. I could only do what my sinful nature dictated. I thought I was free, but I was actually a slave. Satan, the god of this world, was my blinder. God, however, removed the blinders.

Forgiveness is another fringe benefit. Christ paid for all my sins on Calvary’s cross. No longer will God charge me with them. They were placed on His account. 

Becoming a member of God’s family is a further fringe benefit. I’ve been sanctified—set apart. The righteousness of Christ has been given to me and all members of God’s family. His family is large and eternal. I can enjoy their fellowship now and forever. 

Are you experiencing the fringe benefits of being God’s child? 

Prayer: Father, thank You for the benefits that come with being Your child. 

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Freezing Out Temptation - Martin Wiles

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. James 1:14 NLT

The humongous concrete trough begged us to place our parched toes in its tantalizing coolness.

Life on the farm was different every day. My cousin and I could find more adventures to take than we had time for. On this particular day, we were sitting around thinking about what we could do. Where we sat was on a ledge just above a concrete trough filled with green water. 

Running around barefooted wasn’t uncommon. Why not plunge our dirty, parched feet into this water? We did. Within a few days, I noticed a circle on my foot. When I showed it to Mom, she immediately took me to the doctor who froze it. The stagnant water had produced ringworm. 

While the freezing process was somewhat unpleasant, this infestation wasn’t nearly as deadly as the one James speaks of. The sinful nature I’m born with leads me into temptations of various types and degrees and drags me into sinful activities and thoughts. Of course, Satan and his demonic hordes are involved, but I don’t really need any help being bad. 

Satan, however, often provides the stagnant water that draws my attention into areas I should avoid. With Eve, it was fruit from the one tree God told her and Adam to leave alone. For King Saul, it was a jealous spirit. With David, it was sexual lust. For the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, it was power and an attitude of spiritual superiority. 

God, however, provides the strength I need to freeze out a pattern of sinful activity. I must put forth the effort. I know my nature and what my weaknesses are. Satan learns them and uses them to his advantage. When I live with a desire for holiness and purity, I’ll make a valid attempt to stay away from people and situations I know will pull me down and entice me to sin. 

Even as a young boy, I probably had better sense than to put my feet in stagnant water—but I did it anyway. When I’m determined to live a holy lifestyle, I’ll learn to depend on God to give me direction and stop me from putting my feet—and eyes and hands, where they don’t belong. 

Are you allowing God to help you freeze out temptation?

Prayer: Father, remind us You will never let us be tempted beyond what we’re able to bear with Your help. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Putting First Things First

Perhaps she wasn’t my first case of puppy love, but she’s the first I remember fawning over and daydreaming about.

Dad was preaching at a small town church in Low Country South Carolina. I was approaching my teen years…not particularly looking for love but not running from it either. As normal, he stayed just long enough for me to make a few friends...Cathy among them. I didn’t pay her much attention while living there, but once we moved…Ouch…the love bug nibbled. Before long, I was writing her endearing letters and driving twenty-five miles to court her. Our romance didn’t last long, but at the time she had my attention and my heart. Read more...

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Why I’m Here - Martin Wiles

Should I pray, “Father, save me from what lies ahead?” But that is the very reason why I came. John 12:27 NLT

Our reason for existence sometimes takes time to discover. 

As a child, staying with my paternal grandparents was second nature. When I was pre-school age, my grandmother was my babysitter. I rode with her in her 1930’s green Chevy and helped her ring doorbells—though I never heard her say, “Avon calling.” 

One day, now as a middle school aged child, while reclining on the bed beside my grandmother, I confessed: “I think God wants me to be a Bible teacher.” I had accepted Christ several years prior and was now considering the question of why I had been placed on earth. Though it took cascading through some years of rebellion, I finally succumbed to God’s will. I’ve been a Bible teacher and a pastor. God’s plan for me has changed and developed, but I’m still reminded of that moment when I discovered why God placed me here. 

Though God, Jesus was also human and, like everyone, had to discover why He was here. When the Father revealed that, I’m not sure, but He did. As Jesus thought of the cross, He was repulsed, but He knew it was why He was here. 

Above all else, I’m here to glorify God. He created me, and each one of my thoughts and actions should reflect Him to others by their purity and holiness. Jesus said we should let our lights shine so that others can see Him through us and glorify the Father in heaven. 

I’m here to serve God. Beyond loving Him with my entire being—which Jesus said was the greatest commandment, I’m to love and serve others. Jesus even went so far as to say that’s how we serve Him. Sharing God is vital to my walk with Him. I share by telling why Jesus was here, by showing the difference He can make in a person’s life, and by giving myself to Him and others. 

I’m here to allow God to form me into Christ’s image. Sometimes I don’t enjoy the avenues He chooses to do that, but bucking Him won’t yield the results He wants. Submission and obedience—regardless of His effort’s intensity, will. 

When we live out the reason God put us here, we’ll enjoy life and live it fully. 

Prayer: Father, thank You for creating us with purpose. Guide us to live out Your plan for our lives. 

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Finalizing the Final Affairs - Martin Wiles

Set you affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness. 2 Kings 20:1 NLT

Handling final affairs can be sobering but helpful. 

Some time before my father died, he arranged most of his final affairs. Though he never went to the funeral home and selected a casket, he did have his order of service mapped out as well as a burial site selected. This made it much easier on Mom and us boys when he died. 

Later, when Mom remarried, she and her new husband went even farther. Though they each decided to keep the original burial plots they had selected from previous marriages, they did redraw their wills. Mom, too, has planned out her funeral service. The only thing we three sons will have to do is choose her casket. 

Finalizing one’s final affairs isn’t pleasant, but it’s wise. King Hezekiah came face to face with his mortality when he became deathly ill. Isaiah the prophet visited him, and told him to set his affairs in order. He would soon die. 

A loved one’s death is taxing on a family. Having a will made so a particular state can’t take what doesn’t belong to them—or so the family members won’t get bottled up in legal wrangles as they divide the loved one’s estate, is vital. What a will states doesn’t always please family members, but having one is still more advantageous than not. 

Picking out a burial plot and then taking a trip to the funeral home to select a casket and make arrangements to pay for final affairs isn’t a bad idea either. No one enjoys facing their mortality, but already having the final details taken care of gives the family more time to properly grieve. 

Whether we want it to be or not, life is brief—even when it’s 80 or more years. Anne Bradstreet, one of the two major poets from Puritan America—in writing of the death of her grandchild—wrote:

Or sigh thy days so soon were terminate
Sith thou are settled in an everlasting state.

Though life is tenuous and uncertain—as is proven everyday by terrorist acts, natural disasters, and other tragedies, we don’t have to live with fear. 

Bradstreet concluded her poem with the line: “Is by His hand alone that guides nature and fate.” 

Planning your final affairs is prudent; making sure your life is securely in God’s care is even more so. 

Prayer: Father, knowing life is precious but brief, help us live prepared to meet You. 

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

I Forgive

“No! I don’t want to forgive ______!” he seethed. Sure, he believed in forgiving, but not this person…never.

Craig Groeschel was bitter after learning a family friend had molested his sister. He had been his sister’s sixth-grade teacher, but behind the façade was a sick man who abused numerous girls. Groeschel wanted him to die and burn in hell. But the preacher’s message and God’s Word convicted him otherwise. Read more...

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