Man was wicked, evil, violent, and corrupt.

The LORD became grieved of heart.

Man’s disposition would not stop.

So God said, “Destroy them, I must.”

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

And so God instructed him to build a boat.

A boat so long, so wide, so high, that animals and birds might remain alive.

Noah obeyed and moved in faith.

His labor was long, 120 years long, but so was his faith…and God was pleased.

Saw. Hammer. Pitch (inside and out). Preach he also did for 120 long, long years.

The boat now finished, God told him to enter. And so he did with his wife and six others.

Animals unclean, two by two, and animals clean by seven went in too.

And the LORD shut them in.

The earth cracked. Water gushed. The windows of heaven began to erupt.

For forty days and forty nights the waters unleashed a worldwide flood.

The water went up. Higher, higher, higher! Every mountain was completely covered.

The globe became a watery grave.

Thus…All. Flesh. Died. Man so wicked, evil, violent, and corrupt was dead, gone.

“Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.”

And the boat for 150 days merely bobbed on the surface of the water.

“Then God remembered Noah…”

The water went down. Lower, lower, lower! The ark rested on the peak of Ararat.

A raven first, then a dove, confirmed that new life and dry ground had begun to sprout.

On God’s command, Noah and his family, and all the animals, exited the ark.

And upon dirt so fresh, Noah built an altar. He and his family worshiped the LORD…and the LORD was pleased.

Last weekend we had the privilege of hosting a Safety and Security Seminar at Prairie Flower Baptist Church. This seminar was presented by Tactical Insights. Our primary instructor for that day was Corey Roberts and we learned much from his years of training and expertise. Below you will find a video that outlines the tactical mindset. For more information about Corey and Tactical Insights, check out their website at http://www.tactical-insights.com.

Pastor Nick Bal is a man who has greatly influenced my life. He was the college and outreach pastor at Willow Creek when I first started attending in 2011. I remember sitting across from him one day at a Starbucks. I was meeting with him; because I knew there was sin in someone’s life and it needed to be dealt with. I pleaded my case to him and I even had scripture to back up my claim. After I had presented to him the facts, I felt confident that he would agree and we could move forward with “prosecution.”

Pastor Nick did no such thing. He did what any loving pastor should do, and he rebuked me. I was right about that person’s sin; I was right that it needed to be dealt with; and I was even right that I may be the right person to confront this individual.

I hope you are asking, “Well then how in the world did he rebuke you???” 

He pointed me to Luke 6:41-42,

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

…that was fun to hear!

He explained this passage in way I had never heard it explained, and it stuck with me throughout the years. He said the reason why it was so easy for me to see that person’s sin was not only because of sin in my life, but I most likely had that SAME EXACT sin in my life. I paused, quickly examined my life, and what do you know; I found that same exact sin entrenched and overwhelming in my own life.

I needed to deal with my own sin first.

With this passage properly explained I learned two things:

• When I find myself obsessing over other people’s sin, I need to check my own life for that same exact sin. God is probably using that person’s sin to reveal my own sin.
• This gives me a way to properly confront sin in another person’s life. Instead of pointing your finger at them and saying, “I have noticed sin in YOUR life, and YOU need to work on it!”; I can now say, “ I have noticed sin in YOUR life and MY life, WE need to work on it!”

It is a scary way to process sin in others; but it has completely reshaped my view on confronting sin, and I hope it can do the same for you!