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Neal Pollard
We have been blessed to stay with Jared, Rachel, Brennan, and Tate Kyle during some of our time in New Zealand. Kathy spoke to the ladies of The north island on the subject of her book, Return To Me: What To Do When Loved Ones Fall Away. Sunday, we worshipped where the Kyles attend. Jared, a 2011 Bear Valley graduate, made a profound observation. Those in New Zealand, just across the international date line, are the first to worship God each week! I am not sure I ever thought about the anticipation of heaven as the Lord’s Day dawned each week. This brings to mind a perspective we may not dwell upon enough. We know God is the object of our worship and while it is impossible to comprehend how our infinite Creator views us and what we do, it does make us think about what we bring Him. Do those who are first to worship disappoint or thrill Him? Of course, when you take in all those who refuse to come before Him and those who fail to bring Him what He wants the way He wants it, there is an abundance of heartbreak and disapproval as He sits on the throne. But when it comes to all who bring worship in accordance with His instructions, how does He feel if we come minus a heart full of enthusiasm, passion, and concentration?
Only one small portion of the world can be first to worship God each Sunday. Denver is 18 hours behind Palmerston North (“Palmy”). For a God not bound by time, I suppose that is more of an earthly fascination than a heavenly notation. Wherever we are on the world clock, shouldn’t we give thought to how our worship takes its place among all the other worship His saints give Him each week and do all we can to give Him our best and pour out hearts full of reverence and praise. It impacted me to think of being among the first to bring worship to Him this week. I pray I will maintain a growing desire to bring my best each week I am privileged to come before the Great I Am! What about you?

Neal Pollard

Neal Pollard
People who attend our services may be perplexed by the way we end each sermon. I, or whoever is in the pulpit, invite those present to respond to the lesson if they need to become a Christian or if they need to share a need for prayers or even forgiveness for living sinfully. This is a perfectly acceptable, logical thing to do, since the message will often be persuasive and call for a change of heart and action. We never find an example of “offering the invitation” in scripture or a command to do it after the preaching, but it is an suitable, convenient, and advantageous thing to do. The power of God’s Word, when preached, has frequently touched and convicted hearts (Acts 2:37; 7:54). Many have come face to face with the reality of who God is and wanted to know what to do to be saved (cf. Acts 16:31). Our preaching answers that question, after most every sermon. One can respond to Christ’s invitation (cf. Rev. 22:17) any time of day or night, in a public assembly or privately. Many times, the sermon will simply build our desire to live more like Jesus . We may not come to the front row, but we have that resolve within ourselves.
But, let me make this confident pledge to you. If you feel like you need to publicly respond after the sermon, you will not be judged, criticized, looked down upon, or rejected by any godly, faithful Christian. The overwhelming majority of those present will simply hug your neck and a great many will add you to their daily prayers. You will feel the love and support of a loving and supportive church. You will understand that we are all dealing with the same struggles and temptations, all of us trying to make it to heaven! We often build up fear and anxiety about how traumatic “responding to the invitation” will be, but that is almost always a figment of our imagination. God gave us the blessing of the church so that we would have a spiritual family to aid us on our spiritual journey. Never fear taking that step “down the aisle,” if it is necessary. Your example may be the catalyst for someone else to consider their need to come forward, too!

Neal Pollard

My dad was once fired for converting a black woman (sister Perry).  Dad studied with her and baptized her, but there was a contingency in the congregation that suggested she attend a predominantly black church. Dad rebuffed that suggestion, and for this he was fired. I know of another gospel preacher who at about the same time, in a neighboring state, was handed the same fate the weekend he baptized a black couple. Thankfully, as the decades have wore on, this mentality has changed and, in many places, disappeared. For several years, I preached in a congregation wherein of the five elders three were white and two were black. The most noteworthy thing about our racially diverse congregation is that race was an utter non-factor.  We just didn’t think about it or talk about it. Such was my personal background, and such has been my experience as an adult.

To say that racial tension is mounting and emotion about race-related matters runs high is perhaps to understate the current state of things.  The last 12 months has given rise to such slogans as “hands up, don’t shoot” and “black lives matter.”  Racial oppression and racial prejudice are part of our nation’s (and at times the church’s) past, and sadly, like lying, stealing, and murder, prejudice is a sin that will never be fully eradicated—by whatever race toward whatever race.

Among certain extreme radicals, however, who seem to come to the forefront to foment and agitate racial strife through such provocative slogans as the aforementioned ones, there is an utter hypocrisy that we should not ignore. As Christians, we must understand that all lives of every race matter.  While the activists focus narrowly on one specific situation in our society, they have chosen to ignore so many others.

• Do the lives of unborn black children matter? Have you read the history of Margaret Sanger, the mother of the “Planned Parenthood” organization? She and her colleagues advocated abortion particularly as a means of racial eugenics (deliberate efforts meant to control the population growth of specific ethnicities)(Sanger, “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda,” Birth Control Review, Oct., 1921; “Birth Control and Racial Betterment,” ibid., Feb., 1919; et al). “An African-American woman is almost five times likelier to have an abortion than a white woman, and a Latina more than twice as likely” (Zoe Dutton, The Atlantic, 9/22/14, via http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5808a1.htm?s_cid=ss5808a1_e).
• Do the lives of kidnapped African girls matter?  The media has largely been silent and organized protests in any of our racial communities conspicuously absent regarding the wanton kidnapping and abuse of female students from Chibok, Nigeria, in April, 2014. Boko Haram, Muslim terrorists, took these children from what were recognized as “Christian” schools and populations (Marie Arana, “Why Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls are worth more than gold,” The Washington Post, 5/15/14).
• Do the eternal lives of blacks (red, yellow, whites, etc.) matter? The greatest threat to a person, regardless of race, is eternal separation from God! Yet, every day without fail, there are those of every race who die unprepared to meet Him in the judgment.  Where is the outcry and outrage?  We should be less concerned with social justice than we are with spiritual grace!

Mistreatment of people because of the color of their skin is deplorable and unconscionable.  But, we need to make sure that we approach the issue without a myopic view.  We need the eyes of Christ and the mind of Christ in this and every other matter!

The Truth About… Preaching | TheTruthAbout.net.

Neal Pollard

Did you hear what happened over the weekend at a college invitational race in the northwest? Oregon runner Tanguy Pepiot had a commanding lead down the final stretch of the 3,000 meter steeplechase.  Obviously, he felt it was insurmountable so he began to wave in appreciative response to what he thought were the cheers of the home crowd.  Instead, they were screaming out warnings to him.  Then second place runner, Washington’s Meron Simon, figured out Pepiot did not know he was surging.  Consequently, Simon overtook Pepiot in the last step of the race to win by a tenth of a second! There are so many life’s lessons to learn from this.  It’s never over until it’s over.  Don’t celebrate too early.  Pride goes before a fall.  To me, nothing is more significant than the importance of never quitting.  Simon was counted out, at least by Pepiot, but he simply would not quit.  As a result, he won the race!

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win” (1 Cor. 9:24).  Similarly, the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).  Paul exemplifies the principle, telling Timothy he finished the course (2 Tim. 4:7).  This repeated imagery of Christian living as a race holds within it the same dramatic idea as that illustrated by the Washington runner.  He ran to win while his opponent lost because he prematurely celebrated.  The ultimate winner ran with endurance and he finished the course.

It is wonderful and helpful to get a strong start in the Christian race.  Pushing hard and accomplishing good for Jesus helps the “runner” and those who may “watch” him run. But, among the saddest experiences of my life has been witnessing many who quit too soon.  They were overtaken by improper relationships, discouragement, stumbling blocks, distractions, doubt, or any number of other factors.  Overshadowing the cause is the tragedy of the result.  Those who fail to finish the race suffer far worse than humiliation and an earthly prize.  These sacrifice eternal life and a heavenly home.

Today, you may be wrestling with whether or not to stay in the race for whatever reason.  May I plead with you to let the cheer of the “witnesses” (cf. Heb. 11) give you second wind.  But, please don’t stop running!

Neal Pollard

The immigration issue I want to bring to your attention is not one you’ll read about in the news.  I doubt they’d have any interest in covering it.  It has been articulated in this way: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11).  He also speaks of this as “the time of your stay on earth” (1 Pet. 1:17).  But the dilemma existed before the first century church was established.  Old Testament heroes of faith “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

One of the hardest things for us to do is to live with conviction the idea that “this world is not our home, we’re just passing through.”  As Jesus prayed for us and all His followers, He even touches on the inevitability that we must be here on this earth (John 17:15), but it is so easy for us to forget our status.  Too often, we become naturalized citizens of this world by virtue of our conforming to its values, worldview, philosophy, and goals.  When that happens, we may gain its wholehearted acceptance but we renounce our heavenly citizenship in the process.

The issue for us is how to be in the world but not of it.  Paul familiarized himself with the culture, icons, and activities of his time, and he used that information to reach people in that culture with the saving message of Christ.  It was a means to an end, not the end itself.  For us, achieving that balance can be difficult.  As we become informed and interested in sports, politics, entertainment, and various media, does it become so much a part of us that it distracts us and replaces our longing for the Father’s will (Luke 22:42) and the Father’s house (John 14:1-4)?  In a materialistic culture like ours, we can become so enamored with earthly treasure that we fail or cease laying up treasure where we should be (Mat. 6:19-21).

Let’s encourage each other as fellow aliens and exiles to understand what Paul said, that “our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).  We must set our mind on things above, not on things that are on earth (Col. 3:2).  That is the issue for us.

Neal Pollard
Frank Crowninshield related a time when Clarence Darrow spoke to a woman’s club on the civilization of ancient Phoenicians. He finished his lecture, and the chairlady said, “Oh, how can we thank Mr. Darrow for the fascinating lecture he has given us tonight?” Darrow returned to the podium and made one final observation: “I entirely forgot to tell you that it was the Phoenicians who first invented money.”
Darrow wanted to be properly “appreciated.” To him, that meant money. Today, in a world where the thank you note is getting to be like an ancient manuscript, where “common courtesy” is scarce, and “manners” are to too many a mystery, there is a great opportunity for a revolution and a revival. Our society is primed for thorough thankfulness. It is due employers, teachers, law enforcement, neighbors, friends, family (both physical and spiritual), waitresses, cashiers, and even strangers. But, most of all, it is due Almighty God!
It should be so natural to join in with David and ask, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Ps. 116:12). He answers both in this Psalm (“I will call upon Him and pay my vows to Him”-13-14) and in Psalm 103:2 (“Bless the Lord” and “forget not”). This gratitude will show itself in our giving, but it will also show itself in our living. By developing a spirit inclined to find blessings and express gratitude, we will draw people to the Lord. We will also improve every conversation, activity, and relationship in which we find ourselves.
New Testament writers repeatedly urge thankfulness and show it themselves (cf. Rom. 7:25; 1 Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 9:15; Eph. 5:4; Col. 3:15; etc.). New Testament Christians ought to be characterized by it, too. Sure, there will always be plenty about which to be depressed and discouraged-taxes, health, betrayal, disappointments, sorrows and losses. But, even in these things blessings and benefit can be found. The old adage, “Have an attitude of gratitude,” is the need of the hour. If you are wanting to shine like a light in a world of darkness (cf. Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:9), a grateful spirit will do the trick.

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Neal Pollard

There are occasions like family reunions, class reunions, church seminars, lectureships, and forums, and the like which allow us to see friends and loved ones sometimes for the first time in years.  There is a joy and rejuvenation of spirit which comes along with such being brought together again. The reunion may seem to come at just the time we feel we needed it, to aid us in coping with trouble, temptation, or trials. A kind word or warm greeting may by itself be enough to keep us moving forward.

This is a testimony to how God created us and how we need those human interactions to encourage and help us.  Without it, we can feel misunderstood, isolated, and dismayed. From the dawn of creation, God, who designed us, knew that “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18).  We innately crave that togetherness and socialization without which we cannot hope to spiritually thrive.

The longer we are in Christ and growing in a relationship with Him, the less we may be compelled by a command to assemble.  There should be a yearning, based on what we see of Him and receive from Him, to want to praise and magnify Him in worship and learn more of Him through the study and preparation of a Bible class teacher.  The longer we are in the body of Christ and growing in our relationship with them, the less we are compelled by a command to assemble.  There should be a yearning, as we know our brothers and sisters better, to be reunited with them at every opportunity we are given!  If for no other reason, I would be opposed to “dropping services” because of what it would represent in my ongoing development of that vertical and that horizontal relationship.  I do not want to worship Him less often or see my church family less often!  I long for that fellowship.

This fellowship, which is modeled for us in the example of the early church (Acts 2:42-47), fuels me and so often helps me with what I seemed to need most that day.  This is not accidental, but by design.  God, who made us, knew we would need each other and that is why He created the church as He did—not perfect, not always easy or necessarily warm and fuzzy, but as a family.  We are not under the same roof, necessarily, but we are in the same family (1 Cor. 12:13).  God gives us fellowship with Him and each other to help us survive this life and to receive eternal life!  The question is, “Are we trying to do it alone or together?”