PLUS

Haggai 1:2-7 “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built. Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”

Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

In Haggai’s day, God’s people were too interested in other things to finish God’s work. They claimed that it was not yet time to be faithful. They were busy making themselves comfortable instead of making God’s work complete. As a result, their hard work lacked results. It was as if they were trying to fill a bag with holes.

In this New Year and during the year of our nation’s semiquincentennial, where are we too interested in other things to finish God’s work? Where are we too busy making ourselves comfortable instead of making God’s work complete? Meanwhile, why should we wonder why our hard work lacks results? It’s as if we are trying to fill a bag with holes.

The Lord brackets Haggai 1:6 with the same admonition – “Consider your ways.” He would likely admonish us with the same. We have been busy seeking our own prosperity, our own security, and our own stability. Meanwhile, we have less prosperity, security, and stability than we had in the past. We have been filling a bag with holes.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS IN 2026 WOULD FOCUS ON GOD, HIS WAYS, HIS WILL, AND HIS WORKS. This year and always, we must carefully consider our ways, and align them with God’s ways. If we do, then we should see results instead of regrets.

Exodus 6:5-6 “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments”

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It is said that conviction from Exodus 6 provided the compelling moral justification that prompted President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Like the nation’s Founders a century before, Lincoln may have seen the escape of the Israelites from the bonds of Egyptian slavery as an analogy to America’s journey towards the Promised Land of liberty. It is a journey we are still on today as we enter the year of our nation’s 250^th birthday and as we collectively strive toward the loftiest of goals – to “form a more perfect union.”

The Emancipation Proclamation, in part, stated the following:

“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

In an instant as the calendar turned to 1863, up to four million image-bearers of the Lord our God, who had been denied the liberty that they had deserved as a part of God’s creation, were declared permanently and forever free. It was a freedom to be maintained by the full power of the federal government. Yet, the ultimate moral justification for such a claim comes from a power far greater than that – a God who declares that we are all created in His image (Genesis 1:27).

Such a claim is amplified through another powerful, revolutionary, and righteous proclamation in His Word and through His Son. At the moment we accept Christ as our Saviour, we are reconciled to Him and made permanently and forever free. Once we embrace that freedom, it is recognized and maintained by the full power of an amazing Lord.

PLEASE PRAY THAT IN THIS YEAR OF CELEBRATION FOR OUR GREAT NATION, THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD AMPLIFY THE TRUTHS OF THE ULTIMATE EMANCIPATION. We are redeemed and made forever free by the power of his stretched-out arm and great judgment. 

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Psalm 121:1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

Billy Mitchell was the “dominant figure in American aviation” from 1919 to 1926. His advocacy for air power, though far beyond the capabilities of the time, would be a natural fit for the headlines of our current day. Decades before 1941, he foresaw the Japanese air attack on the American Navy. He also predicted the emergence of worldwide air transportation, commercial space travel, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial systems. His foresight was legendary.

In many ways, his enduring success was due to his intentionality in thinking about the future.

On December 17^th, 1925, Mitchell was convicted by court martial for his radical thoughts and unorthodox methods of trying to capture the attention of a world that didn’t understand the urgency to properly invest in new aviation capabilities. In the authoring of a manuscript around this time, his editors and publishers recommend that he back off from his more extreme concepts. His response – he wanted his writings to be read and relevant “a hundred years hence.” They are!

Far too often, Christians get stuck in the myopic mindset of the today and the here-and-now. We lament our sorry situations without a perspective that includes longevity. We don’t consider the outcomes that could arise from our current conditions a month from now, let alone a century from now. We certainly fall short in properly considering the eternal ramifications of our daily activities and the right alignment of our priorities. God wants us to lift up our eyes and expand our perspectives.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO EXPAND OUR PERSPECTIVES TO BETTER THINK IN TERMS OF ETERNITY. May our lives reflect a viewpoint that considers a hundred years hence and beyond.

ADMIN: The quotes above come from “Billy Mitchell: Crusader for Air Power” by Alfred E. Hurley. You can also see a related thought that I published this week at:

Billy Mitchell: Lessons a Hundred Years Hence

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 22:36-40 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

On December 17^th, 1903, lifeguard John T. Daniels took one of humanity’s most iconic photos – the world’s first flight with Orville Wright at the controls. Interestingly, Daniels had never taken a photo before. In fact, he had never even seen a camera and had only just received abbreviated instructions in its use by the Wright Brothers prior to that moment. Frankly, he got lucky and the picture ended up in focus.

We must not rely on such luck as we diligently and purposefully focus our lives. Fortunately, God provides practical and spiritual tools to create and sustain intentional focus. We are to set aside distractions and affix a gaze throughout our lives on our Lord and Saviour. We are to press towards Him in spite of those things that would divert our attention. And we are to make His clearly articulated priorities our own.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FOCUS ON THE LORD OUR GOD WITH DUE DILIGENCE AND UNYIELDED DETERMINATION. When we do those things, we will capture something far more important than an iconic photo. We will capture a meaning and purpose in our lives that aligns with God’s plan – no luck needed!

II Timothy 2:1-2 “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking at First Baptist Church of Hammond during services to recognize veterans, military members, and their families. It was a great honor.

I hadn’t considered the powerful lesson of me being there until I was trading some texts on that Saturday night with Jerry and Bonnie Ferrso.

Jerry and Bonnie were the ones who had the greatest personal impact on me in the lead-up to my salvation, and their faith journey had begun and accelerated through the incredible ministries in Hammond.

As I pondered that point, it struck me! That’s the type of multi-generational impact that we are supposed to harness to perpetuate the great news of the gospel of Christ:

• Generation 1 – First Baptist Hammond invests in the lives of Jerry and Bonnie Ferrso, and triggers and matures their faith. The ministry also emphasizes the need for the Ferrsos to share their faith and disciple others in their faith.
• Generation 2 – Jerry and Bonnie invest in me and my wife at Lancaster Baptist Church. I come to Christ (my wife had already been saved through grace by faith as a teenager). The Ferrsos disciple both of us, and challenge and equip us to share our faith and disciple others in their faith.
• Generation 3 – In a large part because of their investment, I have an opportunity to speak and preach. Not only that, but God opens the door for me to share three different messages on Sunday (combined Sunday school, Sunday morning and Sunday evening) in Hammond for Veterans Day 2025 – the same place that started this cycle in the lives of young Jerry and Bonnie Ferrso.

Wow! That is the cycle called for in II Timothy 2 and Matthew 28. It is a cycle that allows for the perpetuation and multiplication of the unmatched gift of salvation through Christ.

I hope and pray that something that was said and done during my time in Hammond triggers and matures the faith of someone in attendance, and that they similarly feel compelled to share their faith and disciple others in their faith so that the cycle continues for countless generations.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO CONSIDER OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TRIGGER A CYCLE FOR CHRIST THAT PROPAGATES THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE DECADES. The Lord’s direction for us is to play a part in a plan of multi-generational impact.