Stomping Out Prejudice - Martin Wiles

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20 NKJV

The one place he didn’t want them was … the church.

The monthly deacons’ meeting had rolled around to a popular topic: racial relationships. I can't remember what brought up the matter, but I do remember the conversation. The church “policy” was rehashed. If a person of color entered the sanctuary, the pastor was to close the service as quickly as possible.

After scanning each deacon, I said, “Well, you will have to find someone else to do it because I won’t.” I was willing to risk my job over that conviction. 

More discussion followed. One deacon said he worked and even ate lunch with people of color. Then came the bombshell, “But I want to be able to go one place where they aren’t.” 

Church was his getaway. The place that Martin Luther King, Jr., said was the most segregated place at eleven o’clock every Sunday morning. 

Although laws have been passed and wars fought, prejudice lives on. And it extends its ugly claws far beyond race. It creeps into the political, cultural, gender, social, economic, ideological, and even religious arenas of life. Sadly, it affects many believers. Those who allow it to reinterpret the above verse and haven’t learned what God taught Peter when he asked him to go to a Gentile’s house: “God has shown me that he doesn’t think anyone is unclean or unfit” (Acts 10:28). 

Our sinful nature makes all people struggle with areas of prejudice—but it doesn’t make it acceptable. Pride creeps in, making us think we’re better than another person or group. 

Examining one’s family history often reveals the roots of prejudice. I never fell prey to racial prejudice—though my family of origin did. Perhaps because I lived through the various “rights” movements of the 1960s and 1970s. 

Trying to justify feelings of prejudice with remarks such as, “That’s just the way I am,” or “That’s the way my parents were,” won’t rid it from our lives or justify it. Confession and repentance are necessary. 

God created and loves all people. His word is clear: if we claim to love him but hate others, we’re a liar. But the good news is that he can rid our lives of prejudicial feelings. All we have to do is ask and be willing to do the hard work. 

Give God your feelings of prejudice so your work and witness for Him won’t be hindered.

Father, help me to love all people as you love me. 

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Traveling with Firm Footing - Martin Wiles

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:33 NLT

I learned the art of careful walking while backpacking in the mountains. Trails were littered with rocks, roots, and dead leaves, making the path uneven and slippery. If I wasn’t careful, I could twist my ankle, catch my foot on a root, or slip on wet leaves. More than once, my feet magically disappeared from under me. 

Having to watch my step while hiking made me wish I was like a deer. While visiting our friends in Henderson, Colorado, we traveled to the Rocky Mountain State Park. The mountains are aptly named and peered at us through the car window as we wound around the curves. Suddenly, they were there, and we pulled over for a better view. Mountain goats. They were like deer—surefooted. They scaled the rocky surfaces—never slipping, as I would have. 

I doubt the psalmist meant God gave him the ability to climb a mountain without falling, though he was familiar with mountains. The mountains he needed help climbing are like ours: financial, spiritual, emotional, relational, educational, and parental. I’ve discovered life is filled with such mountains. The psalmist scaled them because God steadied his feet. 

Slipping on the mountains we climb is inevitable if we don’t let God help us scale the heights. Through prayer, meditation on his Word, and wise counsel, God gives us the wisdom to take the right step. Even when we neglect these things and fall, he’s more than happy to pick us up, steady our feet, and nudge us along. 

Although we sometimes fall out of neglect, we periodically fall because God lets us. Falls teach important lessons. We need to pray before we make decisions. When we make decisions that take us out of God’s will, he will discipline us because he loves us. Occasionally, God leads us over rocky, slippery paths to prepare us for an upcoming assignment. 

While it’s our responsibility to watch the path we’re traveling, God will give us sure footing so we can travel it. 

Travel your life paths with confidence. God will give you sure footing as you walk each one. 

Father, I trust you for the ability to travel each path on which you lead me. 

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Po Man's BBQ Chicken and Bacon Hoagie

 

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen Tyson’s Shredded Chicken

1 bottle BBQ sauce

1 pound of bacon

Tomatoes

Muenster Cheese

Hoagie Buns

Directions

Thaw chicken and place in a crock pot on low.

Mix in barbecue sauce and cook until warm.

Fry bacon and set aside.

Place cheese, bacon, BBQ chicken, and tomatoes on a hoagie bun.

Toast in a toaster oven. 

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To Forgive or Not to Forgive - Martin Wiles

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

To forgive or not to forgive, that is life’s dilemma.

Mickey had faced a lot in life. He’d had to forgive his first wife for walking out on him. So he wasn’t prepared for the words his second wife whispered one night in their bedroom: “I don’t love you anymore.” 

Mickey’s world also crumbled when he learned his wife had been unfaithful. Containing his anger took every ounce of energy he had. When his wife finally walked out, forgiveness was the last thing on his mind. When it became clear the marriage was not salvageable, he had to choose: forgive her and move on, or resent her and be miserable. 

God’s choice was similar. He created humans, placed them in a garden where all their needs were met, and gave them one prohibition. Shortly thereafter, they failed the test. He could assign them and their descendants a murky future or forgive them and provide a way for reconciliation. He chose the latter and made a path of reclamation that was foreshadowed by the skins he secured to cover their nakedness.

Thousands of years later, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice that those first animal skins had symbolized. But why couldn’t God simply forgive without the gruesome suffering the cross demonstrated? The answer lies in the association between forgiveness and suffering. The first always entails the second.

Choosing to forgive entails suffering. If someone wrongs us and we choose not to forgive, resentment, hatred, anger, and plans for revenge will assume the place of forgiveness. We may think refusing to forgive hurts the other person, but we’re the one who suffers. Doing the opposite, forgiving, also involves suffering. 

Our willingness to forgive automatically brings suffering because we release someone from a debt they owe us for a wrong they’ve committed against us. Doing so goes against our human nature and brings pain. Jesus showed how to do it well. God allowed him to take on our sin so we could receive his righteousness. When we forgive others, we assume the pain they deserve to endure for hurting us. 

God forgave because he loves. He gives us the power to do the same. Let Him teach you how to forgive those who’ve wronged you. Failing to forgive leads to a life of misery.

Father, give me the grace and strength to follow your example of forgiveness. 

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Where Can We Find Absolute Truth - Martin Wiles

God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. Psalm 18:30 NLT

Befriending a liar is taxing.

Ben was a friend who entered my family through marriage. Initially, I took everything he said at face value. Then I talked with someone who had known him longer than I had. Suddenly, Ben’s stories took on a new appearance. His stories seemed too good to be true. Perhaps the truth was somewhere in the story, but he embellished it so much that it was unrecognizable. My friendship with Ben never became what it could have been because I couldn’t trust his words as the whole truth. 

Ann also entered my family through marriage. Whereas Ben exaggerated to make himself look better or to make his stories more interesting, Ann told plain lies. Not so much in what she said as in what she withheld. As with Ben, I initially took her words at face value. Then I spoke with people who had known her longer than I had. Their stories agreed: “You can’t believe anything she says. She’s a perpetual liar.”  

But the story doesn’t stop with two. Charlie, another family member by marriage, also struggled to tell the truth. Not initially when she entered the family, but later when she went through some type of mid-life crisis. Deciding whether I could believe her made associating with her taxing—and unpleasant. 

Thankfully, God doesn’t mince words, renege on his word, or utter untruths. Every command God gives has a purpose, and every promise he makes will come to pass. Friends and family who keep their word and speak the truth are much easier to have relationships with. When we’re never lied to, we never have to worry about whether what they say is true. We accept it as fact. 

Every word God speaks is truth. In a time when many wonder where to find truth, I’m betting my life on the truth of God’s Word. It testifies to its own inspiration, relevance, and freedom from error. God’s Spirit inspired the writers, and they penned what He wanted them to say. God’s truth has stood the test of time and will endure to the end of time. 

When you’re looking for something you can depend upon, look to God’s Word. 

Father, I thank you for giving me your Word, which is dependable, trustworthy, inspired, and profitable in any situation we face. 

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What if Your Guide Is Blind - Martin Wiles

They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. Matthew 15:4 NLT

He stared at her until she got up and exited the building.

Spring had arrived, and our church needed to schedule one of our two annual revivals. But one year, we decided to hold only one and hire a full-time evangelist.  

A church member had recently begun a van ministry. Each Sunday, she faithfully picked up kids from the neighborhood and brought them to church. We never saw any of their parents—until one night during our revival. 

A young mother with a small child walked in and sat near the front. Her baby was restless, the preacher was preaching passionately, and the mother was trying to quiet her. I saw irritation wash over the revivalist’s face as the mother kept sitting and listening while her baby whimpered. See, we had no scheduled nursery—we had no nursery-age children in the church—and no one got up and offered to take the small child to our nursery. 

Then it happened. He stopped preaching and gave her the Aren’t-you-going-to-leave stare. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, she did. We never saw her or her child again. A potential believer was lost. I suppose the evangelist believed the adage, “children should be seen and not heard.” I wondered where he found that in the Bible. I also wondered whether he ever felt any shame about turning away someone who needed and wanted to hear about Jesus. 

Those Jesus called blind guides were not dastardly criminals, but religious leaders. It’s ironic that he called them that, but they led people astray with their traditions and added interpretations to God’s law. Jesus corrected them with scathing words. 

Traditions can be good or bad, but even good ones become bad when we elevate them to the same level as God’s Word and then make others feel guilty for not obeying them. This makes us blind guides, and our destiny is to fall into a ditch. Our hypocritical actions will lead others farther from God, not closer to him. 

God wants us to share his truth, not the interpretations or traditions we’ve developed around it. His truth—and his truth alone—sets people free. 

Don’t let your traditions or personal convictions hinder you from delivering God’s simple truth to others. 

Father, I thank you for your truth. May I faithfully deliver it, without adding anything. 

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POSSUM PIE

Ingredients

1 LARGE INSTANT CHOCOLATE PUDDING    

1 LARGE COOL WHIP  

1 PACKAGE OF OREO COOKIES

Directions

PREPARE PUDDING AS DIRECTED FOR PIE FILLING. LET SET. 

WHEN PUDDING IS SET, FOLD IN COOL WHIP AND CRUSHED COOKIES.

REFRIGERATE UNTIL READY TO SERVE.

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Surrender Is Not Giving Up - Douglas Vandergraph

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV 

Quitting and surrendering are different. Quitting says, “Nothing matters, so I am done.” Surrender says, “God matters more than my need to control the outcome.” From the outside, both can look like letting go. Inside the heart, they move in opposite directions.

Trust becomes difficult when we can see only part of the road. We want explanations before obedience and guarantees before peace.

But surrender does not mean becoming passive. It means doing what is ours to do and releasing what is not ours to control. We can make the phone call, prepare carefully, apologize sincerely, work diligently, seek wise counsel, and pray faithfully. We cannot force another person’s response, manufacture an opportunity, or command tomorrow to cooperate.

Jesus modeled surrender in Gethsemane. He did not pretend the suffering ahead was easy. Instead, He prayed honestly and then entrusted Himself to the Father’s will. That is not defeat. That is faith under pressure.

Today, identify the outcome you keep trying to control. Name it before God. Then ask, What part is mine to do faithfully, and what part must I release? Do the first with courage. Give the second to God.

Father, show me where control has replaced trust. Give me courage to obey and humility to release what belongs in Your hands. Amen.

Douglas Vandergraph is a Christian writer, Bible teacher, podcaster, and digital creator whose work centers on Jesus Christ, Scripture, spiritual growth, practical encouragement, and long-form Bible study. He has built an extensive free Christian library and a YouTube community of approximately 600,000 subscribers, with more than 2,000 videos across his broader body of work. Douglas writes and speaks to help people connect Jesus’s teachings with grief, prayer, forgiveness, perseverance, purpose, hope, and ordinary life.

Links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

Christian Library / Master Index: https://douglasvandergraph.com/douglas-vandergraph-master-index

Christian Website: https://www.douglasvandergraph.org

Primary Website: https://douglasvandergraph.com

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What Can We Do with God - Martin Wiles

In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. Psalm 18:29 NLT

Stephen Winter said, “Life is not ‘Hollywood’ perfect.”

Nathan found that out too. For fifteen years, he ambled in the wilderness, leaving God on the back burner. His marriage to his high school sweetheart was marred from the beginning when, on their honeymoon night, she said, “I miss my momma.” Six months later, she left him for a colleague. After a short fling, she moved in with another man. 

For three years, Nathan kept women at a distance. Then he decided to start fresh in a new town, where he met a young lady, fell in love, and married her two years later. He finally made his way back to God but watched this wife go through a mid-life crisis and leave him and their two children sixteen years later. 

Once again, Nathan wondered how God could have allowed it and how he would ever get through the mess he was in. But he did, and four years later God sent him a wonderful woman who pulled him out of his depression and repaired his broken life. He discovered he could do anything with God, but nothing without Him.

David the psalmist was a military man and a king, but he had faced his share of hardships on the way to his position—and still faced them. When the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king for Israel, David’s father didn’t even invite him to the selection party and left him in the field tending sheep. Later, after becoming king, one of David’s sons led a rebellion, ran him out of town, and then topped off his insolence by sleeping with his father’s concubines in public view. But David made it through each tumultuous episode because he discovered he could do anything with God.

I’ve discovered what Stephen, Nathan, David, and many others have: life isn’t perfect just because I have chosen to follow God. God doesn’t promise it will be. He does promise, however, that with his strength, we’ll get through, that the trial will contain a seed from which we can learn valuable lessons, and that we’ll grow spiritually if we respond with trust instead of bitterness. 

With God’s strength, you can face whatever life throws your way. Trust him when the trials come. 

Father, help me meet life’s trials in your strength, not my own. 

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What Happens When We Drink Confusion - Martin Wiles

You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling. Psalm 60:3 NLT

Life brings periods of confusion quite naturally, but what happens when we drink confusion on purpose? 

Lonnie had listened to church folks tell him how much God loved him. One day he acknowledged his sin, repented, and accepted Jesus as his Savior. But shortly thereafter, he was confused when, at a church business meeting, the church voted to excuse itself from a local men’s fellowship because churches populated by another race wanted to join. Didn’t God love all people? Lonnie thought so. 

Garrett was confused too. He had accepted Christ when he was younger but had grown further away. He and his wife rarely attended church. His first marriage ended in divorce, and his current one was in trouble. Then his wife’s drinking problem led to a wreck that killed their youngest child. Couldn’t God have prevented this? 

Carine had a heart for children’s ministry. When a new Vacation Bible School director brought in numerous children from the community, her heart was touched. She decided to begin a van ministry. Every Sunday, she picked up children and brought them to church. When teachers threatened to give up their classes, when no one would sit with the children, and when no one even attempted to speak to them, Carine was confused. Didn’t Jesus tell the little children to come to him?

David was also periodically confused. If God favored Israel, why did he occasionally let their enemies defeat them? 

I, too, can throw my hat into the ring of confusion. God, if you love me, why the divorce, why the financial struggles, why the rebellious children, why the unemployment, why the layoff, why the betrayal, why the death, why the sickness, why the (you fill in the blank).

David found confidence amid his confusion. But you have raised a banner for those who fear you—a rallying point in the face of attack (Psalm 60:4). Whether it looked so or not, God was in charge and in control. What appeared as a mess to David wasn’t to God. What looked like indifference wasn’t indifference at all. 

The only way we can walk through periods of confusion with our faith intact and our eyes looking upward and forward is to believe the same. God loves us and orders the steps of our lives—even when the evidence seems to point to the contrary. 

Don’t let life’s confusing seasons dampen your faith in a loving God.

Father, when life gets confusing, strengthen my faith that you control the details and will orchestrate good from bad. 

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BACON POTATO SALAD

 

Ingredients

3 POUNDS POTATOES

1 BAG REAL BACON BITS

¾ TEASPOON SALT

¼ TEASPOON PEPPER

2 TABLESPOONS DICED PIMENTO

½ CUP MAYONNAISE

½ CUP SOUR CREAM

Directions

PEEL POTATOES AND CUT INTO CHUNKS.

COOK IN BOILING WATER UNTIL TENDER. DRAIN AND LET COOL SLIGHTLY.

PLACE POTATOES IN A LARGE BOWL.

ADD BACON BITS AND THE NEXT 3 INGREDIENTS.

STIR TOGETHER MAYONNAISE AND SOUR CREAM UNTIL BLENDED.

POUR OVER POTATO MIXTURE, TOSSING GENTLY TO COAT. 

COVER AND CHILL FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR.

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To Hover or Not to Hover - Martin Wiles

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Exodus 19:4 NLT

A mother hen had nothing on Sadie.

Sadie was a hoverer. I knew her from church and watched her hover—over the piano, over people, and over her two children.  

Instead of letting her teenage son sit with the other young people, Sadie made him sit on the front row—the row she sat on. Until he graduated from high school and left for college, he idled in the front row while Sadie hovered over him. By the time their daughter reached her teenage years, Sadie had relaxed her hovering—but just a little. Perhaps seeing her son rebel against religion and God during his college years explained the small amount of leniency that crept into how Sadie parented her daughter. Occasionally, she’d let her sit with the other young folks, but not often. Most of the time, she—like her brother—sat on the front row by her mom. 

Sadie’s hovering didn’t keep her children from rebelling, but at least she had the assurance that she’d done her best. God’s hovering didn't keep his children from rebelling either. No sooner had he delivered them from Egyptian slavery than they rebelled against everything he had taught them. 

My parents also hovered over me. Their hovering didn’t prevent my rebellious behavior. I thought I knew best. I needed to spread my wings and fly—to sow my wild oats. Neither did my hovering keep my children from rebellious acts. They, too, needed to fly on their own. 

What children do once they leave the nest is beyond a parent’s control. The fact that they might—and probably will—rebel doesn’t alleviate a parent’s responsibility to hover. God does, and we should too—but with caution and wisdom.

Hovering entails unconditional love. God has it, and all parents should, too. Parents should teach their children God’s rules and principles, but we must also love them whether they obey or not. Unconditional love includes discipline. God does it when we go astray—and parents should too. Like parents, I’ve watched hens, ducks, and geese scold their young when they wandered away, but they also worked diligently to bring them back. 

Hover lovingly over your children. As a parent, God gave you that responsibility. And believe it or not, your children will eventually appreciate it. 

Father, help me to bring my children up in the nurture and admonition of your commands, while loving them unconditionally. 

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