Hope For Homes Ministries

Charity Love

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Wolves Among The Sheep

Acts 20:28-29
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

The New Testament “overseer” or pastor has his work cut out for him today. As there has always been, there are wolves among the sheep. They are there not to play a game of chase or tidily winks. Those wolves are there to kill and destroy. In Matthew 7:15 Jesus warned us about false prophets. There He said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” And in Matthew 10:16 He told His disciples that He was sending them out “as sheep in the midst of wolves”. In that same verse He said to them and us, “be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
It takes a very discerning heart to distinguish a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Church member you should be grateful for a pastor who labors in the Word of God to feed you food from God’s Word. Pray for him. His calling is no easy task. The duty of a shepherd is to guard and feed the sheep of God’s fold. Why? Because there are wolves among the fold.
Written by Chuck Perkins

The Pity Of Our Father

Psalms 103:13
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”

The word “pitieth” means to love and have mercy and compassion. The word describes the deep, yearning love a father has for his children, especially when they are hurting or in trouble. The reference to fearing the LORD speaks not of a cowering fear but a respectful awe of God’s knowledge and power. Verse 14 shows us that the Psalmist David had an understanding and respect of God’s omniscience. Psalms 103:14 “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” David knew God knew all about him. He knew God knew all about his sin, his shortcomings, his troubles, and his trials. I truly believe this knowledge is what brought about a fear, a respectful awe of God in David’s heart. Because David feared God, he had the assurance that God would show pity, mercy and compassion, towards him. What a great and loving Heavenly Father we have!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Especially my own dad!
Happy Father’s Day dad!! I love you!

An Invitation

Psalms 95:6
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”

Whoever the human writer of Psalm 95 was, his faith sure had a grip on who God was and all that God had done in the past. He recognized God as our maker. He also recognized God as sovereign. His desire is to bow down and kneel before God. We can easily see this is all an act of worship and he invites us to join with him in corporate worship. One who truly worships God in public will first worship Him in private.

Where does a truly grateful and worshipping heart come from?
Maybe it originates from realizing the truth that God is our maker. Life, our life, begins with God. Jeremiah 1:5 teaches us that in the womb of our mother God formed us. Like a potter with a piece of clay, there in the secret chamber of our own mother’s womb, God fashioned you and me. He gave us identity. He knew us and gave us a purpose to later one day find. We can accept God’s gift of identity and purpose or we can reject it and rebel against His sovereignty over us.

Again, this is an invitation to come and worship, to bow down and kneel before our maker, but will you respond to the invitation? Do you reject the truth that God is our maker? Or, do you with gratitude and admiration and awe say with the Psalmist- “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:1-3)
Written by Chuck Perkins

The Giving Of Thanks

Psalms 92:1-3
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.”

The human writer of Psalm 92 went the extra mile in the giving of his thanks unto the LORD. It was more than just words. He played and sung music! He played upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the harp, and upon the psaltery. You could say he was the original one man band! He was very serious when he gave thanks unto God. I think it was more than just going through the motions of saying, Thank you God…, it was worship!

We are warned in 2 Timothy 3:2 that there would come a day when people would be unthankful. We are living in that day. What is it that causes people to be ungrateful and unthankful?
Is it the entitlement mentality that we see prevalent in our society today?
Is it that so few are true believers in God?
Why is it so hard for some people to say thank you? In Luke 17:12-19 we are told Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to thank Him. As Jesus asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?”
Have you thanked God lately?
Written by Chuck Perkins

Proof Of Being Saved

Luke 19:8-9
“And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”

Zacchaeus had to see Jesus for himself and didn’t mind climbing up in a tree to get a better look. But I have to wonder if he had thought that day that he was going to get more than just watching Jesus pass by? Jesus saw him and called him down from that tree (read Luke 19:1-7). That day Zacchaeus not only got to see Jesus, He got saved! Immediately we are able to see proof of his salvation. He promised to give half of all he had to the poor and all those he had taken more from as a tax collector than he should have, he went back and gave them fourfold. It is amazing what the presence of God will do in a person’s heart when they are truly saved! Zacchaeus knew he had stolen from and cheated people and he wanted to make restitution for his wrongs toward others. I would say that was pretty good proof that Zacchaeus got saved. Can you imagine what each one thought when Zacchaeus showed up and this time he was not taking from them but apologizing and giving to them fourfold what he stole from them! What proof do people see in you that you are a Christian?
Written by Chuck Perkins

The Message Of Hope

Acts 17:18, 32
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection… And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.”

This crowd called Paul a “babbler”. Basically they were saying that Paul’s preaching about the resurrection was nothing more than a lot of meaningless gossip. When his sermon reached the point of the resurrection some of them “mocked” him. Others may have been intrigued enough to desire to hear again from Paul at another time. I wonder if they ever had that chance to hear him again?

The truth of the resurrection of Christ does not speak to everyone’s heart the same. But when one believes in its truth they have something that no other truth in the world can bring them. They have hope. Hope is powerful, but the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ brings hope in the heart that is extra powerful! The hope that Jesus Christ brings gives the believer a hope that is beyond this world.
John 11:25-26
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Written by Chuck Perkins

The Wisdom In Keeping Your Tongue

Proverbs 21:23
“Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

I love the book of Proverbs. I love the fact it has so much practical wisdom for every day life. Plus, we can rest our faith in the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs because we know it is the Word of God. In Proverbs 21:23 we are given admonition to keep our mouth and tongue. The result is we can save our soul from troubles. The last thing I want is to invite troubles into my life. The word “keepeth” means to guard over. It takes the help of the Holy Spirit for one to keep their tongue. Think about the following. There are times that we need to say less than we need to. I believe there is such a thing as saying too much. We do not always have to give details. Saying less can keep us from troubles, but it takes restraint on our part to say less. Then there are times when we ought to say nothing at all. Jesus taught us that there is wisdom in silence. Then there are times when we speak that we need to choose our words very carefully. Once we speak them it is very hard to retract the words. Any damage done by saying the wrong thing can be hard to undo and fix. Finally, there are times when we must consider the timing of what we need to say. One can say the right thing at the wrong time. It is easy to see we need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us keep our mouth and tongue?
Written by Chuck Perkins

Making The Most Of Your Time Together

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What Is Preaching?

That title alone will get some people’s attention. Here’s a verse that might give us a basis for a Biblical answer to the question. Titus 1:3 “But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;”

In this verse we understand that preaching is a manifestation of God’s Word. The word preach in Webster’s 1828 dictionary is defined as to pronounce a public discourse on a religious subject, or from a text of Scripture. Sometimes the New Testament word that is translated “preached” in the KJV means to herald, to proclaim after the manner of a herald. A herald was one who went through the town or city making a public address or announcement for someone else. It was not his announcement he was making but another’s. Then sometimes the word translated “preached” in the NT means to utter a voice or emit a sound, to speak, to talk. This is what the word “preached” means in Mark 2:2 speaking of Jesus, “And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.” Note that Jesus “preached (uttered a voice, emitted a sound, spoke, taked) the word unto them”. Undoubtedly the phrase “the word” has to do with the Word of God.

Years ago a little boy was asked why he delivered papers when he only made just 2 cents a copy? The lad replied, “Cause it gives me a chance to yell.”
Some years ago a little boy that had never been to church asked me this question when he came out of the church I pastored, “Why were you yelling at us today?” His question caused me to examine everything I thought I knew about preaching. For some people preaching may just mean a lot of yelling, for others it is a manifestation of the Word of God. What is preaching to you?
Written by Chuck Perkins