Don't Be a Chalkboard!

“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling..." — Ephesians 1:17,18

Recently, I was at a graduation ceremony. The salutatorian’s speech revolved around the importance of a good education. In the course of the speech, he quoted another author (unfortunately, I did not get the author’s name). Part of the quote read, “The things we learn, we will forget, but our education remains.” This statement totally caught me off guard. How is that possible?

However, when you look at our current society, the statement is accurate. Many college students are in school for the degree – not the learning. Many graduates value their diploma over a wealth of know-ledge. Our school systems continue to move in the direction of providing an education rather than providing an environment where students are encouraged to think on their own and to learn. We spoon feed students the “right” answers so they will think like us. We should be asking them the tough questions in the hope they will learn to be better than we are.

The same is true – maybe even more so – when it comes to Christianity. Many Christians have ceased to think. We listen to our pastor and accept everything as truth. We read a Christian book and accept it as truth. In fact, many Christians are of the opinion that they are incapable of understanding the Bible, so they don’t even try. They listen to what others have to say and accept it as truth.

Many Christians have become walking chalk-boards. Others have written the information on their minds and they display it as truth. Yes, they may display a wealth of information. So does a chalkboard, but it does not own the information. The information belongs to the person who wrote it.

Why does the truth not impact more lives? The answer is simple. You can write the greatest mathematical formula on a chalk-board. The formula may change the world forever, but it doesn’t change the chalkboard. As long as believers depend upon others to provide them with truths, believers will not grow.

Imagine if the apostle Paul came to your church. How would you accept his teachings? I would be tempted to accept every word he said as absolute, unquestionable truth. Yet, look what Acts says about the people at Berea when Paul went to speak to them. “These [the people of Berea] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

I believe we need more noble Christians in the world. Christians who are ready to receive the word of God. Christians who are willing to search out the Scriptures and seek the Truth.

Don’t be a chalkboard! Search out the Scriptures. Know that Truth is not understood by those with a high I.Q. Truth comes through revelation. As Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, . . .” (Ephesians 1:17:18)

Today, open your bible and ask Jesus to reveal His Truth to you. 

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Walking Among Tulips

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
— Matthew 13:44

In the Dutch 1600s, Tulipmania created what would be the legendary first market bubble and bust of note. A single tulip bulb, which you could buy today for less than a dollar, could easily be sold on contract for $50,000-$150,000. Some of the more rare bulbs sold on contract for as much as it would cost to buy a mansion. All for a plant that bloomed once a year and, at the time, for approximately one week. When the market went bust in 1637, several wealthy Dutch merchants found themselves bankrupt and destitute when the contracts came due. The market and mania wilted away, much like the flower, in very short duration.

Tulipmania has been taught and exaggerated for centuries as a cautionary tale about speculation in markets. However, while the history might have been exaggerated, the real problem is as true today as it has been since mankind began assigning value to things. The tulip did what a tulip does. The problem was the value mankind assigned to it.

We continue to do the same today. We assign value to everything: currency, time, gold, precious metals, rare earth minerals, etc. We even assign value to a dollar bill (which by the way is not a dollar; as of the moment I’m writing this it is 99.783 USD). However, as Tulipmania and other bubbles have shown, we are often not very reliable in seeing values correctly.

Let me put it to you another way: what do you worship? I hope your answer is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But have you ever thought about what it means to truly worship Christ?

The word worship comes from the Middle English and is the combination of “worth” + “-ship.” It literally means “the state of showing worth.” However, I like to think of it more like an actual ship. We all have many ships (states of being) in our life. I’m a husband, father, employee, speaker, minister, artist, writer and many more. I’m also a follower of Christ.

Imagine each of those “states of being” actually being a ship. Sometimes sailing in a flotilla towards a common destination, and sometimes floating aimlessly or even at odds with each other. Whatever the case, into which ship do you put most of your worth (money, time, energy, effort, love, etc.)? That is what you truly worship.

Worship is not the three songs you sing before the sermon. We worship that to which we assign the most worth.

Today, we look at Tulipmania and wonder what in the world were those people thinking? Why would you risk everything for a flower that wilted in a week? Yet, are we any better today?

What would you risk for fortune? What about pride or reputation? Respect? Acclaim? Praise? Affection? And the list goes on.

Truly we all still walk among the tulips. We overvalue the worth of the things of this earth that will fade just as surely as a tulip.

Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with many of the things we value. What we often get wrong is the worth we assign to them. We are called to worship Christ. We are called to give Him more worth than we give anything else. When we do, all else is seen in its proper perspective. When we worship our Lord we do not give up our relationships, time, money, possessions and all those other things, but they are placed in Christ and under His direction. They are put in His ship to be sailed at His pleasure.

There is only one ship which merits our worth and that is Christ. All is to be placed in His hold. All is to be captained by His Word. That is why worship is not an act we perform. It is a state of being or it is nothing at all. I am not writing to you today. I am being challenged myself. But we must all personally answer the same question in the end:

What, or rather, whom do I worship?

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

The Heimlich Maneuver

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." — 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Someday, I’ll be a bea–u–tiful butterfly!”

Throughout the movie “A Bug’s Life,” Heimlich, an unquestionably pudgy caterpillar with an insatiable appetite, has a singular desire: he wants to be a beautiful butterfly. From the first scene to the last, Heimlich constantly reminds us of his quest. Then towards the end of the movie, you see Heimlich jumping out of a tree, holding leaves in all of his hands and flapping them like they were wings. He exclaims, “Look at me! I’m flying like a beautiful butterfly!”

The movie sets up the final scenes with absolute clarity. The scene pans up to a cocoon. Here is the moment we have been waiting for. The cocoon begins to shake and open. We can’t wait to see what a beautiful butterfly Heimlich has become. Then it happens . . . the Heimlich Maneuver. Out of the cocoon drops the exact same unquestionably pudgy caterpillar WITH TWO LITTLE-BITTY WINGS!

Animation dictates that characters must look the exact same to be recognizable. Therefore, you can imagine how hard it would be to change a pudgy caterpillar into a graceful butterfly and it still be recognizable as Heimlich. The animators for “A Bug’s Life” chose not to solve this problem. They simply turned Heimlich into a worm with wings.

I would say that all of us – at least at times – have fallen victim to the Heimlich Maneuver. We have bought into the lie. The Evil One has come up beside us and said, “You are nothing but a worm with wings. Just look in the mirror. You haven’t changed at all. You aren’t any better today than you were before you knew Christ. You will never be beautiful. So, you have wings. Big deal! Under those wings, you’re still just a big, fat worm.” And we buy the lie.

Our God is not in the business of putting wings on worms. He is in the business of creating beauty and perfection. When He says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, ALL THINGS have become new,” (2 Corinthians 5:17), it is either true or false. There is no middle ground. Some things did not become new. Most things did not become new. ALL THINGS became new!

Yet we say, “But I don’t feel any different.” The fact is that you’re looking in the wrong mirror. Do not look into the mirror of the flesh. Look into the mirror of God’s Word. His Word says you are complete, 100% forgiven, accepted and much, much more. He says you are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people.” (1 Peter 2:9) This is the vision He has for your life. As G. K. Chesterton says, “The vision is always a fact.”

There are a large number of beautiful butterflies – God’s own special people – crawling around like worms with wings, because they have been looking in the mirror of the flesh and bought into the lie of the Heimlich Maneuver. Isn’t it time for us to look into the mirror of God’s Word, accept that we are a new creation in Christ, set our eyes on the vision God has for our life, and start living as the beautiful children He has made us? Isn’t it time?

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Life is Fair?

“There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
...For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin." — Ecclesiastes 7:15, 20

“Life is so unfair” is the refrain heard from every child that ever lived. Ever. If you were unfortunate enough to live in my house, it was always met with the retort, “Life is fair! Because it is unfair to everyone!”

Few things ruffle our feathers more than unfairness. Someone cutting the line, or cutting you off in traffic. Someone getting a better raise for less work. Or even someone getting a larger piece of cake. We struggle when we see it. We bristle when it happens to us. We just want life to be fair! Or do we?

I certainly do not! I want it to be unfair!

Sure, I struggle with perceived unfairness. And with passages like that found in Ecclesiastes where the righteous man perishes and the wicked man prolongs his life. I struggle when I see others taken advantage of around me. But I often forget that “there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” (v.20)

That’s me! And I do not want the fair reward for my sin!

What is truly unfair?

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,…” (1 Peter 3:18)

What is truly fair?

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

While the verse from Ecclesiastes is not necessarily a prophecy verse, it certainly applies to fairness. We all think we want fairness until we realize the only righteous man to ever live had His life cut short for us. In doing so, He prolonged the life of the wicked (for no man does good and does not sin). He did so in effort to save those who are perishing (you and me). That anyone who would believe in Him and receive Him as their Lord and Savior might be saved.

He took upon Himself, unfairly, the penalty for our sinfulness. We, in Christ, receive unfairly the just reward for His righteousness. Life is fair! He received what He did not deserve and we receive what we do not deserve: forgiveness, life, acceptance, hope, righteousness and every spiritual blessing!

Fairness is only found in the finished work of Christ, not the world. But it is truly unfair to everyone! It is grace. Grace is not based on merit. It is unfairly bestowed on those who do not deserve it. Yet, each person must choose. The same grace is extended to every person on earth, but only those who receive it benefit. Only those who walk in it experience it. It is up to each person to choose.

So, let me ask you: do you want life to be fair to YOU (based on your merit)? Or do you want the fairness that can only be found in Christ? Do you want the fairness due for your efforts? Or do you want the fairness due from the finished work of Christ?

It is all about Him and not about us. As hard as it is to remember this in the stark reality of the unfair world, we must remember that it was Christ being treated unfairly that made us fair in the eyes of God.

Life is fair because it is unfair to everyone! Praise God that Christ unfairly took the penalty for my sin that I might walk in His reward. And may that truth give us all the grace to endure the unfair world in which we live. And perhaps extend a little grace ourselves.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

“Christianity Doesn’t Work For Me!”

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.” — Isaiah 55:8

I was listening to a young woman struggling in her faith and sharing all the trauma and drama in her life. She was trying to understand why situations in her life continue to go wrong. She shared with me all that she has done; read her Bible, pray, go to church, do things the right way, etc. Yet, the circumstances didn’t change. In exasperation, as I have heard many times before, she ended with, “Christianity doesn’t work for me!”

I responded, “Good! It is not supposed to.”

What? What could I possibly mean by that? I mean Christianity is not supposed to work for you!

We live in a world that is all about us. In fact, many of the churches you can attend in America are mostly concerned with practical advice on how to live your life. I’ve presented in churches that would specifically ask me to end my sermon with practical steps for people to apply. I always refuse. While there are practical things we can learn from the Bible, there is nothing practical about being a partaker of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Many have fallen back into the old covenant view of blessing and cursing. Certainly in the Old Testament the relationship God had with man was one of blessing and cursing. If you follow the law, God will bless you in the world. Break the law and God will curse you.

We often embrace this idea today and think: If I do everything right, then my life will be perfect, my spouse and kids will be perfect… finances, job, etc. …all will be perfect.

This is not Biblical. Many who have walked closely with God were imprisoned, stoned, persecuted, crucified, fed to wild animals, and put to death in unimaginable ways. They were poor, slaves, outcasts and from all walks of life. Not because they were doing things wrong. Rather, because Christianity didn’t work for them, it worked for Him. Because the world is not God’s kingdom.

Jesus said speaking of Christians, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:15-16)

Christianity is all about Jesus and not about us. It is all about His kingdom and not this world.

Paul provides one of the craziest passages in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 7:20-22, “Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.”

What ongoing circumstance could be worse than slavery? Yet, we are told not to be concerned even about that circumstance. Your circumstances in the world are irrelevant from an eternal perspective. Rather it is the circumstances of your spiritual life that matter most to God.

That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about what you are going through. He cares deeply. We are to pray without ceasing. Bring our circumstances, troubles, worries and burdens to Him. Yet, His plan is not to work everything out to give you a heaven on earth. His plan is to grow you in His grace and knowledge for the Heaven that is to come.

Christianity is not supposed to work for you in this world. The work is done! It was finished in Christ. We were created to worship our Lord. We were created to grow in His grace and knowledge. We were adopted to join Him in the perfection of the age to come.

God does not work for us! We were created for Him. The moment we put a litmus test on Christianity by how God works for us, we have lost all perspective on who God is and who we were created to be.

Certainly God blesses those who walk with Him. Always spiritually, sometimes physically. However, those blessings are just as true and real in a vacation house on the beach as they are in a prison. They do not waver from the mansion to the shack. They are not changed by prosperity nor by poverty nor by any other circumstance.

Christianity only works when we understand who God is and who we are called to be in Him. It only finds life when we allow the Living Lord to live through us. It only truly has hope when all our hope is placed in Him rather than the next circumstance in our life. It reminds me to examine myself everyday as to whether my eyes are focused on the world or on He who has overcome the world.

Where is your focus today?

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.