SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. Today’s journal comes from reading Hebrews 10.

Scripture

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” –Hebrews 10:14

Observation

Perfected (Greek: teleioo): To make perfect, complete; to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end. To add what is wanting in order to render a thing whole.

The contemporary definition is to be completely free from fault or defect.

Application

This word should be used and should be adequately defined. Often, when describing their walk with God, Christians will add in the phrase, “Not that I’m perfect.” By this, they mean, “Not that I’m without fault or defect.” And yet, we are “perfect” in that God has accomplished His work of salvation, justification and redemption in us.

We have been made complete/perfect in God’s eyes (our position) even though our daily walk (our condition) is in the process of being made whole, complete and without any flaw.

Prayer

Father, thank You that through the offering of Your son, Jesus Christ. I have been made perfect, complete, whole! I am forgiven, redeemed and justified by His blood!

But this is not just a positional truth. You are transforming me into this very complete perfection on a day to day basis. Your Spirit is at work in me. You have given me a new heart. You use trials and hardships to make me “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:4).

Hallelujah! Father, keep working in me, I pray. Might I be like soft, moldable clay in Your hands. Change my heart–perfect it in love–I pray.

Make me to be (in experience) what You have already made me to be in Christ!

All for Your glory,
Amen.

My heart goes out to the family members of those tragically killed in the Germanwings airline crash. Apparently, the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane into a mountain, taking his own life and 149 others as well.

As I write, investigators are unsure of his motive, but a break-up with his live-in girlfriend and past bouts with depression are being put forth as potential reason for this dastardly deed. I imagine his former girlfriend and those who treated his depression are overcome with guilt, wondering if there’s something they could have done to prevent this senseless act. I’m sure they never saw it coming.

Which brings this incident to us. What can you and I learn from this? After all, we Christians are in the “business” of healing people’s souls, and this fellow obviously needed a “soul-doctor.”

1. We must take our own disappointments to God and help others to do so as well. Life is full of trials, hardships, and disappointments that are designed to draw people to God. They humble us. Some things are just too difficult to handle without the Lord.

2. Be careful about breaking someone’s heart. Guys and girls enter into relationships way too carelessly these days. They have sex together, move in together, etc without any intention of a life-long commitment to each other. Obviously, many people make it through such relational break-ups, but it’s not what God intended.

Breaking up hurts; it’s supposed to! And we shouldn’t do it. So, be careful about entering a relationship and don’t do things with one another–or send messages to one another–that imply more than the commitment you have made. Specifically, WAIT until marriage to do what only married people should do! And then, keep your commitments whether you feel like it or not!

3. Take mental health issues seriously. Take a person’s threats of suicide seriously. Get them help. Pray for them. Don’t leave them alone. We need one another’s encouragement lest we become hardened by sin and do unimaginable things.

And if you feel so angry and depressed that unimaginably evil thoughts enter your mind, seek help from a trusted friend or pastor immediately.

4. Finally, BAD things happen because the world’s filled with bad people running from God. Let’s do our part to help people find life’s one solution: Jesus Christ.

It was 1978 and I had no interest in politics.

Zero. Zilch.

I thought it a waste of time to even vote.

Watergate had disillusioned me.

I was going through some teenage rejection of my upbringing (I had been raised in a family deeply immersed in politics).

And, most of all, my newfound faith in Christ so consumed my heart and mind that I simply didn’t have time for worldly ventures.

But something happened to drastically change my perspective and it happened in a matter of minutes.

I saw the pictures.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the ones I saw were beyond ten thousand words.
They were indescribable.

The were pictures of aborted babies.

And there was something so evil, so sickening, so shocking that I’ve never forgotten what I saw.
Those pictures changed me forever.

Prior to that afternoon, I’d never even heard of “abortion.” Just five years into legalized abortion, it still wasn’t talked about often — at least not in my circles. I guess it mattered to Catholics and radical feminists, but I didn’t much hang out with either of those groups. When I saw those pictures and someone explained what they were, I literally had no idea that such a procedure was even possible.

In fact, when we thought Roz might be pregnant, we went to a clinic where we heard we could get a free pregnancy test. After discovering she was pregnant (we were thrilled!), we were given literature about “terminating” the pregnancy. We were in an abortion clinic! And I still left that afternoon having no idea what they meant by “terminating our pregnancy.”

But that all changed when I saw the pictures.

My world was shaken that afternoon.
Does this really happen in the United States of America?
My head had been in the sand and suddenly I saw there was evil all around me in ways I had never even imagined.
Babies, hundreds of thousands of them, were being murdered right here in my country.

How could this be?

That afternoon began a transformation in how I viewed politics.
Edmund Burke is known to have said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
After seeing those pictures, I could no longer do nothing.
I had to do something.
A deeply sinister evil was on the march in my very own country that required good men to take a stand.

So, I educated myself on the issue.
I talked with people on both sides.
I prayed to God.
I spoke up.
I wrote letters.
And, for the first time, i believed my vote mattered and so, I voted.

I was part of a sleeping giant — what was then a “moral majority” — that woke up as a result of legalized abortion. Millions of us Christians who honestly didn’t much care for politics were now recruited into a battle we really preferred not to fight, but one from which we were convinced we could no longer be AWOL.

In time, I became convinced that the single most important role of government is to protect the lives of innocent people (Romans 13:1-6). If it fails at that, nothing else really matters. And I have become convinced that the most innocent of all people are those yet to be born.

Thus you can imagine my disappointment when, after over 35 years of steadfastly clinging to the pro-life position, of skillfully and gracefully arguing it and of sticking to my conviction to only ever vote for pro-life leaders, our Republican majority in the House (and Senate) caved to the fear of “alienating women” and “millennials” by failing to further meaningful pro-life legislation.

Yes, I am grateful that Republicans passed a bill seeking to restrict federal funds from being used for abortions  — and Democrats will fight tooth and nail to make sure your tax money funds abortions for whoever wants one.

But I’m deeply saddened that Republicans yielded to the voices of its “moderate” members on legislation that would have blocked most abortions after 20 weeks. This despite polls which indicate 84% of Americans want legal abortion limited to the first trimester (13 weeks)! 20 weeks is half-way through a pregnancy! I’ve actually seen babies who were born at 20 weeks who survived and went on to live perfectly healthy lives. After 20 weeks, there’s no euphemism of words to call it a “blob of tissue;” we’re talking about killing babies that would survive outside the womb!

And so where do we go from here?

Because we are principled people and evil never rests, we will not rest either.
We will never give up.
We will continue to educate ourselves, to speak up, to pray, to take a stand.
Yes, we will continue to vote, and though we will not be vengeful, we will remember.

We will NOT put our faith in government or politicians; we will ultimately hope only in the Lord and cry to Him for justice.

I issue a special plea to WOMEN and MILLENNIALS to stand up and raise your voice on behalf on the helpless and innocent. You must carry on this fight against this shedding of innocent blood.

Maybe for you, it will start by simply seeing the pictures.

http://www.100abortionphotos.com/

‘Tis the night before Christmas and I have all the typical warm and wonderful feelings that come with this time of year.

But my heart is also heavy as I think of our brethren in India. This looks to be a tough Christmas for them.

Christmas is the time of year in which Christians can publicly declare their faith and be tolerated in this predominately Hindu country. Many of the larger stores are decorated and have Christmas sales just like here in America. Our closest friends there have a tradition of visiting the local jail, giving the prisoners an apple and then presenting them with the gospel. Later in the day, they go into the streets with their Christmas program explaining to Hindus what Christmas is all about.

But not this year.

A new political party has come to power in India that is hostile to Christianity (as well as Islam or any other non-Hindu religion). Therefore, our friends have been denied permission to visit the prisoners as well as any other organized presentations of the gospel message. And they must be on guard when doing any type of evangelism because they know the police are unlikely to come to their aid if a mob of Hindus attacks them.

But it gets even worse. Even though it is technically illegal, there are multiple reports of Hindu groups offering significant amounts of money for people to “reconvert” back to Hinduism. They have chosen Christmas day as the day for these mass reconversions.

Of course, these folks in India are not the only ones suffering persecution and religious hatred this Christmas. ISIS has displaced and murdered tens of thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria. Boka Haram continues to terrorize the people of Nigeria — especially the Christians of southern Nigeria. War in Ukraine continues to ravage lives of believers we know there.

Here in America, we are facing our own unrest in which “social justice advocates” are rising up against law enforcement (I have much I’d like to say about this, but I don’t think Christmastime is the time to do so).

All of this causes me to reflect on the importance of the real Christmas story and gospel message. Real peace on earth will never come until people have peace in their own heart. And people won’t have peace in their own hearts until they have peace with God. And peace with God only comes through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

And so, on this Christmas Eve, I am thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God’s gift to us. Those of us who truly know Him have His peace ruling in our hearts — a peace that passes all understanding. I pray for this peace to fill your heart this Christmas season and all year long.

And if you’ve read this far, can I ask you to take just a moment and pray for our persecuted and suffering brethren around the world (India, Iraq, Nigeria, Ukraine, etc) and those in racially torn communities here in America. Let’s hope and pray that the Prince of Peace will one day soon rule in each of these places.

Merry Christmas and might God’s peace be multiplied to you!

Wouldn’t you agree that our country — indeed, our world — needs Jesus!

Images of violence in our nation’s cities and atrocities committed by radicals overseas remind us that something has gone terribly wrong with our world — something that is beyond the scope of politicians or educators to fix.

At its root, our problems are spiritual in nature.

We’ve been alienated from God since the Garden of Eden and our deep need is to be reconciled back to God.

And Jesus is the One who can do it!

This is the moving hope of Christmas: “There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” (Luke 2:11)

This message of hope, love and truth is the message I’ve been actively, aggressively and tirelessly spreading on campuses all over American for over 35 years.

In that time, thousands of lives have been touched by the powerful, life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps your life — or the life of someone you know — has never been quite the same after spending an afternoon on campus with me evangelizing the lost and defending the truth against the attacks of skeptics.

But please don’t think I’m a one-man-show.

Obviously, I am what I am by the grace of God and all that is done through me is done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But I also have a whole team of folks who partner with me in taking the gospel to our nation’s campuses.

People just like you who

• have benefitted from our work
• and who want to see the gospel continue going forth in a bold, persuasive and gracious manner.

We call these team members “ministry partners” because they really do partner with us in advancing the gospel.

How do they do this?

They pray for us and they financially support our work.

Would you please consider joining our team as a TSCM ministry partner?

Becoming a TSCM Ministry Partner allows you to become part of a team impacting our nation’s youth, but joining this month allows you to have twice the impact!

A generous supporter of our ministry has promised to match whatever amount is given during December up to a total of $5,000!

That means if you give $50, he’ll give $50.

If you give $100, he’ll give $100.

In essence, your gift to TSCM will have twice the effect.

Please take advantage of this opportunity to double your donation by going to http://www.tomthepreacher.com/#!support/c1wc9 where you can give securely and conveniently right now.

Or, if you prefer, you can mail a donation to

Tom Short Campus Ministries
PO Box 224
Worthington, OH 43085

Once you join our ministry team, you’ll begin to receive our monthly prayer letter.

You’ll find it encouraging and instructive.

I share things in this letter that I only share with our ministry partners.

And we’ll begin to pray for you as well.

I believe God blesses those who give to His work and I regularly pray and ask God to bless our ministry team partners.

But most of all, you’ll know that you have been a faithful steward of resources God has entrusted to you and you are part of a team that is putting the “go” back into the gospel.

You will be with us in spirit as day by day we boldly take the gospel to some campus somewhere in America.

And on that day, lives will be changed!

I thank you in advance for prayerfully considering my request.

Please don’t hesitate to write back with any questions you might have about joining our ministry team.

Remember, you can give on-line, right now by going to http://www.tomthepreacher.com/#!support/c1wc9

Serving the Lord with all my heart,

Tom Short

Giving is such a vital part of the Christian life that I can’t imagine anyone ever becoming the person God wants them to be if they have not learned the grace of giving.

Earlier this week was “Giving Tuesday”— a new day on the calendar to refocus us after the mad rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I gave to several of my favorite missionaries and mission organizations. I encourage you to give to your favorite missions as well, but first, a few thoughts about giving.

“You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving,” said Amy Carmichael, a heroic missionary to India in the early 20th century. How true! This was modeled by none other than our heavenly Father who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16).

It was modeled by Jesus who, although He was rich, become poor for our sakes (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Giving of ourselves and our resources has been the practice of men and women of God throughout the ages.

In my early Christian life, I had a job but very few needs and responsibilities. I made it a practice to give away much of what I earned — sometimes up to my entire paycheck. Jesus said my heart would follow where I put my treasure (Matthew 6:21), and I wanted my heart to be with God. And it worked! The more I invested in the work of the kingdom, the more I grew to love the King! Forty years later, I still give faithfully to my church and generously to missionaries who have forsaken all to follow Christ. I’m a richer man for it!

But I’m also on the receiving end. Our ministry does require funds in order to function. We have individuals that give hundreds of dollars each month to our ministry. God has given them resources to be this generous, and they form a vital base for our work. We also have people who give just a few dollars a month. These folks have fewer resources, but they demonstrate the heart of a true disciple by giving what they can. And many a time when we had a spending decision to make, I thought about the sacrifice made by those who had so little to give but chose to invest it in our ministry, thus helping us to be frugal and careful to not waste the funds entrusted to us.

And then, I go to India. One time, after preaching, several elderly women approached me, asked for prayer and slipped some money into my hand. They’re poor. They would be lucky to make a dollar a day. I didn’t want to take their money and tried not to receive it, but my host whispered in my ear that it was important for me to do so and that it would be rude to refuse their offering. When I got back to my hotel, I counted up what was given to me and found it to be a couple of dollars. Certainly not enough to pay my plane ticket to India, but enough for them to leave a lasting impact on my life. They didn’t have much, but they gave what they could — and they’re better Christians for it and so am I.

I hope you have discovered the grace of giving. If it’s not yet a part of your life, you don’t know what you’re missing! Wait no longer! Become a giver!

Personally, here’s how I decide where to give my money:

• I faithfully give to my local church
• I give to those from whose ministry and teaching I have benefited
• I give to those who are advancing the gospel of Christ.
• I give to those who are suffering and needy
• I give where I trust the integrity of those who receive my gift
• Most importantly, I pray and ask God’s guidance on where to give

Of course, our ministry is supported by the gifts of people just like you. Some are able to give large amounts, some smaller amounts. Some commit to a monthly gift, others give periodically. If you have benefitted from our work and believe in what we are doing to advance the gospel, and if God leads you to give to our ministry, you can do so here http://www.tomthepreacher.com/#!support/c1wc9.

May God bless you and make you a blessing to others!

Tom Short

How awesome to live in a nation that has a national holiday designated to be a day of giving thanks to God! Sadly, that original purpose has been lost to many. Might it not be so with us!

I hope you get up a bit earlier than others tomorrow and allocate personal time to communicate to God how thankful you are for His many blessings. Before the parades are shown on TV, before the meal preparations, before all the fun of family being together, before someone turns on a football game — get some time with God!

Sing some hymns of thanksgiving to Him. Praise Him for His goodness! Thank Him for Jesus, your salvation, your family, your church, the Bible, your health, your finances, and your country. Not all of these may be perfect (except, of course, for Jesus, salvation and the Bible), but today is not a day for complaining.

Find things to thank God for and then do so. Verbalize your prayers! Don’t just pray silently in your heart. God loves it when we praise Him with our lips (Hebrews 13:15).

And, if I could be so bold, let me encourage you to make this a DAILY practice rather than only a once-a-year event. You can’t eat a turkey every day, but you can take time to praise our God for His goodness toward you. I’ve found that praise drives the devil away—he can’t stand to hear God’s Name being praised. I’ve found that praise lifts my attitude from destructive worry and discouragement, and I’ve found that praise reminds me of my victory in Christ and helps me walk in that reality.

No matter what’s going on in your life, there’s something to praise God for. Find it! Focus on it! Praise Him! You’ll be a far better Christian for doing so!