Watts' Words

Recently I read that a call from God was like a 'telephone' ringing, our Lord calls and we answer and listen.  When Jesus saw the four fishermen, his call was very simple.  All He said was, "Follow Me."   While the call was indeed a simple call, the response was more difficult.  Peter and Andrew left their boats and nets, James and John left their "Father, boats, nets, and his hired help", and later on scripture recorded that Matthew left his lucrative accounting business (tax collecting).  Following Christ will always mean leaving 'something.'  While this is not a popular message and certainly one that is less than palatable, it is certain a scriptural part of the call of Christ. His callings extend to every part of our lives.  He calls us to SALVATION - in other words to be saved.  This call, in and of itself, is a call to leave one life and take on another.  Following Christ means a change of our entire life and direction, a repenta...

A couple of years ago I was in Mobile, Alabama, for the state Pastor’s Conference and was struck by the truth in a video presented by one of the speakers.   As an introduction to his message, one speaker used a clip from a man named Penn Jillette.   Admittedly I live a sheltered life so I had never heard of the magician team of “Penn and Tiller” nor did I realize who it was ‘on the screen’ when Penn’s name was mentioned and his face appeared.   Yet, the words this avowed atheist spoke still echoes in my soul Penn told the story of a man, a “Gideon”, giving him, an atheist, a New Testament.   It seems that because of the way this Gideon presented himself; Penn was very affected by the meeting.     First, the Gideon was very complimentary of the show and it was noted that this was stated in a truly authentic way.   Next, the Gideon was very nice to Penn; a fact that Penn mentioned no less than twice. Next, the Gideon looked Penn in the...

In the 26 th chapter of 2 Chronicles is an intriguing and informative story about a King named Uzziah.  Uzziah was named King when he was only 16 years old and he reigned for 52 years.  Here’s the big news; Uzziah was blessed by God, enjoyed the touch of God on his life (and Kingdom) as well as was successful as long as he sought the Lord!  This was seemed to indicate that ‘when he no longer sought the Lord then he would no longer be blessed by God or be successful.’ The scripture gives a picture of Uzziah’s rise to power, his development of far-reaching power, and even his fall from power.  Because of his past victories, the power of his military, and the force of his power, Uzziah, slowly but surely, became someone who the Lord God would no longer bless. As a young man and a rookie King, he surrounded himself with great counselors because he knew he needed help.  However, as the victories came and his successes became many, he became too strong for God...

Our culture and country is in need.   A degree in finance is not required to recognize that we are in a financial crisis, nor is a degree in Law Enforcement is required to know we have a crime problem, nor is a degree is ethics required to clearly understand that the USA has a pervasive problem with ethics.   Yet, all of these stated problems are not the ‘root cause’ of the disintegration of this country, culture, and community.   Finance, crime, and ethics, are but symptoms of the true problem.   If we Americans can ‘man-up’ and ‘face-up’ to the real, deep-seated problem of our culture, then there is hope for the culture that we have come to know and love.   On the other hand, if we are unable to ‘face the music’ and seek the genuine answer, then we may not survive as a country and culture.   What’s required is a spiritual awakening which changes the cultural landscape.   Let me offer a thought from history.   Recently, I read the following...

Simon was a church leader.  He may have been a deacon, Sunday school teacher, or some other officer.  He had a party for all of his church leader friends.  The guest list was quite small.  But, as is recorded in Luke 7, Simon invited Jesus.   Simon is termed a Pharisee in the Bible.  The reason he and all his Pharisee friends wanted to have a quiet, intimate, and personal meal with Jesus is open for much discussion.  Did they want to get to know Jesus or were their motives less than honorable?  This is a question which has to be asked because it was the Pharisees who, only a short time later, were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.  But that story will have to wait because there’s a party going on and Jesus is the guest of honor! When all of the invited guests arrived, things got a little interesting.  An uninvited woman came in and stood behind Jesus.  It seems she was known by the host because in his mind he calle...

Before the modern times of ‘civility’, a country that was defeated in a war might well have their population removed from their homeland and carried to the foreign land that had won the war.  The people who were relocated would become slaves of their captors.  Such was the case with the Jewish nation as recorded in scripture.  In 722BC, the Northern Nation of Israel was captured by the Assyrians under Sargon and around 586BC; the Southern land of Judah was captured by the Babylonian under Nebuchadnezzar.  Many of the people who were taken into captivity were never heard from again.  They were lost to either genocide or cultural absorption. After almost 70 years in Babylon, the people of God were getting homesick.  From an unnamed writer we read a report in Psalms 137 of how these people felt.  It reads, “By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. There we hung our harp on a willow tree, for our captors there ask us fo...