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     Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” I do not understand why the fly paper in the corner of my garage kept catching flying insects. I don’t know why because you would think that a fly would figure out from his fellow flies that this isn’t a safe place to land. You’ll get stuck here—don’t stop here, but inevitably the fly paper keeps catching flies. Satan’s traps are similar in that they are often subtle, but they have quite a stick to them.
     ​You would think we might figure Satan’s traps out and do everything we can to help one another avoid the sin mistakes we have made. It’s like Satan says, “You can do this and be OK. You will not be there long enough to get hurt. You can do this and still be Ok with God.” That’s when the spiritual drift begins. Let us be careful not to drift away from what we have seen and heard. Mark it down, Satan will not tell you I want you to sever all of your Christian relationships and separate yourself from the church, but he will try to get you to drift away. The people that will go to Heaven are those who entertain no part of compromise of God’s Word. They are those who make no bargain with the Devil. Do not allow yourself to slip away from the salvation you have graciously received through Jesus. Do not ignore such a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3).

Clark Tatum

Clark Tatum

​     Songs were used in the Old Testament to teach, to caution and to express gratitude toward God. Songs were written for significant events such as the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15), as a reminder of God’s laws and manner for living (Deut. 32), as expressions of thanksgiving for God’s gifts (1 Sam. 2), as cries for help in time of trouble or discouragement (Ps.13), and as pure praise to God (Ps. 8). The songs we sing today still perform these functions as we obey the command to sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).
 
     Singing is one-way for everyone to actively participate in our assemblies. Each person can direct and express their deepest feelings to God through the songs we sing. Listening as others sing has some benefit, but only by singing the words ourselves can we realize the full meaning and depth in our inner being. It is not how well we can carry a tune that impresses God when we sing, but the active expressions and confessions of our hearts in song. As an additional   benefit, Jesus himself sings with us in our assemblies (Heb 2:12), and we praise God together with Him in song. Let’s resolve to continue to sing with the spirit and understanding in our assemblies. 

Clark Tatum

​It was a revolutionary idea and a turning point for me when I decided to take God at His Word. There were two specific words that caught my attention: Never and Every. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. These words are found in Lamentations 3:23 and they will change our life and our direction in life.
 
When I most wanted to give up, when I was all but convinced that God would surely give up on me, I decided to believe that the words never and every were true. God’s love NEVER ends. It is worth noting in the original Hebrew language, the word never translated in English means never. His mercy never ends. His mercy is new EVERY morning. This means that we can open our eyes every day knowing because of God’s mercy we are right with God. Not because we were perfect yesterday, or the day before, but because today, like every day, God extends His mercy. His mercy never comes to an end to anyone who will receive it.

Clark Tatum

​When I coached T-Ball we did not keep score. Not officially, at least. The closest we came to keeping track was limiting the number of runs allowed: each inning both teams batted until they made three outs or scored seven times. The point of not keeping score was to give the young players an opportunity to learn the basics of the game. However, there does come a time when we are ready to start keeping score and collecting stats. It is the same way in business and in life. We need to make a habit of keeping score in certain areas and keeping track of where we are in order to get to where we want to be. It is why we check our bank balances during the month, and it is why, if we are smart, we evaluate our progress in the less tangible areas of life. No one stumbles into holiness accidentally.
 
No Christian experiences sustained growth without an effort to measure progress and chart results. Without the grace of God and the blood of Christ we have no eternal hope of heaven. And yet, Paul tells us to run our race in such a way as to win the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24). He is talking about being the best we can be for the sake of the gospel.

Clark Tatum