Pastor Rick Hudgens | Tame Your Tongue

Sunday/Jul/2008 13:19

There's a marvelous story about a young man in a Highland village of Scotland who because of envy and hatred passed on a very depreciating, destroying story about another man in the village. As a result, the rumor spread until the man's reputation was absolutely destroyed. He used his tongue to commit character assassination. He destroyed the man.

And then through a discovery of the real fact he realized that he had passed on a story which was untrue. And so, he went to the local pastor of the village hoping that he could be absolved for this. And the pastor said, "Tell me. What is it that you said?" And he told him. And he said, "Now can I be forgiven?" He said, "Oh no, not that quickly." He said, "I want you to do something for me. Take a whole bag of feathers. I want you to go all around the village and put one feather in every dooryard."

The man thought that was a very unusual instruction from a clergyman. But wanting to be forgiven, he obeyed. And so he went all over the village and out around the outskirts of the town and put one feather in every dooryard. Then he came back, and said to the local pastor "Now, may I be forgiven?"

And the minister said, "Oh no, not yet. I want you to take that same bag and go and pick up all those feathers." He said, "Why, that's absurd, Pastor. I can't do that. The wind has carried them away." And, indeed, that's what happens when we have not tamed our tongue.

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Pastor Rick Hudgens | Faith: The Real Thing

Sunday/Jul/2008 14:02

Biblical Christianity demands the highest levels of commitment. Jesus Himself expressed that He expected His disciples to be willing to sacrifice their very lives to bring people to salvation or they could not even consider themselves His disciples.

Gary Collins, in his book “Beyond Easy Believism” (Word) says: “Cheap grace sounds a lot like easy believism. It is a Christianity without cost or commitment. It sees religion as a personal hobby or an ‘extra’ experience which does little more than add zest and interest to life. . . The heroes of Hebrews 11 would have buckled under if their faith had involved nothing more than a casual commitment to easy believism. The thousands of believers who suffer today in Iron-Curtain prison camps do not maintain their stability and convictions because they have only a cheap grace” (page 35).

"Easy Believism" is the idea that having a mental belief in Jesus Christ is the same as obtaining salvation. In other words, people only need to believe correct doctrines about Jesus and salvation, rather than to actually trust Jesus Christ Himself for salvation. The Bible notes that the "devils also believe and tremble". (James 2:19 KJV)

We are going to look at the passage in James 2:14-26 and see the importance of the balance of faith and works. This is the most controversial and misunderstood passage in the book of James. In this
passage James talks about the difference between real and counterfeit Christians, authentic believers and fake believers. He talks about how you can have a real faith.

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Pastor Rick Hudgens | The Problem with Favoritism

Sunday/Jul/2008 14:19

Action Required: The Problem with Favoritism

God shows no favoritism.

It's in the Bible: Acts 10:34, NKJV. "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.'" Romans 2:11, NKJV says, "For there is no partiality with God."

Why does God condemn favoritism? Because it reveals a destructive double standard. It's in the Bible: Malachi 2:9, TLB. "Therefore, I have made you contemptible in the eyes of all the people; for you have not obeyed Me, but you let your favorites break the law without rebuke." Favoritism devalues people for whom Christ died and indicates an ignorance of God's values.

It's in the Bible: James 2:1-4, TLB. "Dear brothers, how can you claim that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, if you show favoritism to rich people and look down on poor people? If a man comes into your church dressed in expensive clothes and with valuable gold rings on his fingers, and at the same moment another man comes in who is poor and dressed in threadbare clothes, and you make a lot of fuss over the rich man and give him the best seat in the house and say to the poor man, 'You can stand over there if you like, or else sit on the floor'—well, judging a man by his wealth shows that you are guided by wrong motives.