Favorite Sermons from LFBC
Harvest Laws for Holy Living- Intro
Remember:Nov. 21, 2005— - William Ginglen was a family man who taught his three sons a sense of duty, the sons now say.
Ginglen served in the Marines and even raised a son who is now a police officer. So when Jared Ginglen went online and saw his father's picture on the sheriff's Web site -- naming his father as a suspect in a string of Central Illinois bank robberies, he was shocked.
“For our family, it was devastating,” Jared Ginglen, a police officer, said.
Jared Ginglen read an article about the robberies in the newspaper and the description of the suspect's car matched his father's. He consulted with his brother Garret, who went onto the same site and literally threw up when he saw the photo.
“It was just a quick panic,” said Garret Ginglen, who was at work when he saw the picture. “I knew immediately that it was my father.”
Along with their other brother, Clay, the Ginglens decided to confront their father at his home. Since he was not there when they arrived, they decided to turn him in.
Ginglen, 64, is accused of stealing more than $56,000 between November 2003 and July 2004. He admitted to the robberies and, on Friday, a federal judge delayed his sentencing, giving his attorney more time to make a last request for leniency from prosecutors.
The Ginglen brothers, who all have their own families, said their father had come to them several times asking for money. He never told them why he was in need, they said.
“He was hugely low on money, it was a situation that was out of control,” Clay Ginglen said.
Clay Ginglen also said his father was often away from home and told his family that he was working as a collection person for a company that distributed video poker games to bars.
“I had no reason to doubt him,” Clay Ginglen said. “At the same time, it sounded sort of a dubious way to earn a living.”
Despite his crimes, Ginglen's attorney hopes that his client, whom he says is a family man, will be able to see his sons and grandchildren soon.
“I love my sons,” Ginglen said. “I think they could have helped me get through this thing easier. I could have turned myself in and probably would have but I didn't really have a chance to do that. They did what they thought was right. I can't fault them for that.” But their relationship has certainly suffered. Clay Ginglen is the only son who still talks to his dad, but never about the robberies. It is mostly small talk, Clay Ginglen said. They never visit. They say their mother, Donna Ginglen, has suffered the most though the ordeal.
Despite his legal transgressions, the Ginglen sons say their father raised them to be good citizens.
“It was his ultimate demise,” Garrett Ginglen said. “He taught us to do the right thing, and that got him caught.”
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
- Sin will take you further than you want to stray!
- Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay!
- Sin will cost you more than you want to pay!
Now that we have concluded our series on the book of Amos, I have felt constrained by the HS to follow it up with a mini-series on the seven laws of sowing and reaping, which are found in God’s Word. I’ve entitled this series: HARVEST LAWS FOR HOLY LIVING. These are laws ordained by God for our instruction and blessing.
I am greatly concerned that each of us understand not only the magnitude of sin, but the fact that sin always has consequences...always. Sin pays wages...sin earns dividends. It ought to be the goal of every child of God to so ponder this principle, that it can act as a deterrent to keep us from sin. We must train ourselves to think on these things before we disobey the Lord!
But when most of us think of the concept of reaping what we sow, we usually think of it in the negative sense. We think of paying the consequences for sinful actions or foolish choices, but the laws of the harvest are not just negative. These laws are also positive, very positive, and stand as a promise of blessing for sowing that which is good as well as a warning against sowing what is bad.
No doubt, most of us have heard of the laws of sowing and reaping, but I am concerned that we under- stand it from God’s point of view. These laws have been in Scripture for thousands of years, so it behooves us to grasp their significance and the necessity that we allow the HS to apply them to our personal lives.
It is a paradox of vast proportions that today, there is more talk about God, more Bibles being sold than ever before, yet there is less holiness on the part of God’s people than ever before!
May I suggest to you that God’s Word teaches far more than simply the fact of sowing and reaping. Rather, there are, as I said a moment ago, actually seven specific laws of the harvest found on Scripture. And each of them is given an application to the spiritual life.
I dare say that if the average farmer didn’t know any more about farming principles than the average Christian knows about spiritual harvesting, he’d never make it through the winter. So, we must under- stand, use God’s spiritual laws so that our lives can be governed accordingly, and we can prosper and grow spiritually.
Perhaps the clearest revelation of the overall law of the harvest is found in the last chapter of Galatians. In this epistle, Paul deals with one predominant, primary theme and teaching: the Gentile believers to whom he wrote were not under the OT Mosaic Law, either for salvation (to get saved), nor for sanctifi- cation (to stay saved). Paul hammers this truth home for more than five hard-hitting chapters, reaching his conclusion in 6:7-10.
Here’s the point: believers aren’t under the Law God gave exclusively to the Jews at Mt. Sinai, but NT believers are under a far higher Law--the Law of Christ...and we’re under God’s spiritual laws which are in operation today, including the laws of the harvest.
Before we actually begin to examine these seven laws of the harvest, let’s get an overview of them. And as we do, keep in mind that these laws are absolute...they know no exceptions. They operate whether we realize it or not. Remember, God will not be mocked!!
HARVEST LAWS FOR HOLY LIVING
- The Law of Planting--We reap only what we have sown (Gal. 6:7,8).
- The Law of Parity--We reap the same in kind as that which we have sown (Gen. 1:12, 13; Job 4:8).
- The Law of Postponement--We reap in a different season than when we planted, but the harvest comes anyway (Gen. 8:22).
- The Law of Productivity--We always reap more than we sow (Prov. 22:8; Hosea 8:7).
- The Law of Proportion--We always reap in proportion to what we've sown. If we sow sparingly, we reap sparingly; if we sow abundantly, we reap abundantly (II Cor. 8,9).
- The Law of Persevering--We'll reap a full and fruitful harvest of the good we've sown as we persevere, but the evil part of the harvest comes on its own (Gal. 6:9).
- The Law of the Past--We can't do anything about last year's harvest-it's in the past. But we can do something about this year's harvest by sowing only that which will reap spiritually profitable benefits (Heb. 6:7,8).
- Throughout this series, you will hear me repeatedly declare this truth: Choices have consequences! We need to let the reality of that truth burrow its way deep into the depths of our being. Again, I remind you that good choices will result in good consequences, while bad choices will produce bad consequences. You see, we make our choices, and then our choices turn around and mold us.
Perhaps this sentiment is best illustrated in the following poem, with which I close today’s message:
If you play around with fire,
Chances are your hands will burn;
It’s the same if your desire
Is for things of sin you yearn.
You may hide from your loved ones
And the people that you know,
But there’s one thing that’s for certain:
You will reap just what you sow.
If you sow for worldly pleasure
You will have a lot of fun,
But you’ll reap a field of sorrow
When the harvest has begun.
You may think that you’re much smarter
Than the other wrecks you know,
But you’ll never be a winner
If the seeds of sin you sow.
For a time it may seem rosy
While you’re livin’ like you please,
Then you’ll wonder just what happened
When the devil works the squeeze.
Though you struggle in your sorrow
And you worry, fret and fume,
Satan always pays you double
When he lowers down the boom.
Better start today your sowing
For a life with God above,
Trusting fully in the Saviour
And enjoying His great love.
Then when harvesttime is ready
And the crops are gathered in,
You’ll be glad you did your sowing
In the Lord and not for sin.