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In One Ear and Out the Other: When the Word Never Reaches the Heart

Allen Frederick Leave a comment


A Funny Story With a Not‑So‑Funny Truth

Three men went deer hunting, and as they crossed a field on their way to the woods, a massive buck jumped up right in front of them. All three fired at the same moment. The buck dropped instantly, and the men hurried over—only to realize they had a problem. Who actually shot the deer?

As they stood there debating, a game warden approached to check licenses. Hearing the dilemma, he knelt down, examined the buck, and said, “One of you is a preacher, right?” Sure enough, one of them was. The warden nodded and said, “Well, the preacher’s the one who got him.” The men stared at him in disbelief. “How can you know that?” The warden shrugged. “Simple. The bullet went in one ear and out the other.”

It’s a humorous story, but beneath the laughter lies a sobering truth—one James warned the church about with prophetic clarity when he wrote, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

When Hearing Becomes Self‑Deception

Hearing is not the problem. Hearing without obeying is. A message that goes in one ear and out the other never reaches the heart, and the heart is the only place where real transformation takes place. Jesus Himself said the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The mind matters. The mind is essential. But the mind is not the destination. It is the doorway. The heart is the target.

The preacher in the story fired a shot that passed through the deer’s head but never touched the heart. It produced death, not life. It left a carcass, not a conversion. And that is exactly what happens when the Word of God is received only at the level of intellect. It may pass through the mind, but if it never penetrates the heart, it cannot produce obedience, repentance, or new life. It becomes information without transformation.

A Wound That Never Heals Becomes Fatal

Here is the deeper truth: a bullet that never reaches the heart can still kill you. It can wound you. It can tear flesh, rupture arteries, and leave you bleeding out. A wound is not harmless simply because it missed the center.

And the same is true of the Word when it is only received intellectually. A sermon aimed at the mind alone may not transform you, but it can still wound you. It can leave you convicted but unchanged, aware of truth but still resisting it. You can feel the sting of conviction without ever surrendering to it. And that kind of wound, left unattended, becomes spiritually fatal.

The writer of Hebrews says, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two‑edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is designed to pierce. It is meant to cut deep enough to expose motives, confront sin, and bring healing through repentance. But when the Word is only admired, analyzed, or agreed with—when it is heard but not obeyed—it becomes a cut that never closes. Over time, the soul begins to hemorrhage. Not because the Word failed, but because the heart never yielded.

When the Lips Say “Amen” but the Heart Stays Distant

Jesus described this condition when He said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). The mind can say “Amen” while the heart remains untouched. The intellect can applaud truth while the will refuses to bow to it.

James continues this warning by saying, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror… and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23–24). The problem is not the hearing. The problem is the forgetting. The problem is the lack of response. The problem is the absence of obedience.

Truth that only grazes the mind can still leave a person spiritually dying. Truth that never reaches the heart cannot save. Truth that never produces obedience becomes a slow bleed. Eternal death does not always come from outright rebellion. Sometimes it comes from a lifetime of sermons that never penetrated deeper than the intellect.

The Word Must Be Received With Surrender, Not Just Agreement

This is why preaching must aim for the heart. This is why hearing must lead to doing. This is why the Word must be received with surrender, not merely agreement. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). Hearing is the beginning. Doing is the evidence. Obedience is the fruit. Transformation is the result.

Do not let God’s Word pass through you without penetrating you. Do not let it skim the surface of your mind without sinking into the soil of your heart. Do not let it go in one ear and out the other. Slow down. Meditate. Respond. Obey. Let the Word reach the place where life is changed. Let it pierce, not to destroy, but to heal. Let it cut, not to wound, but to free. Let it strike the heart, for only there does the Word bring life. It isn’t about how much Bible you know or can quote but how much you actually put into practice.

Don’t let His Word go in one ear

and right out the other!

Ten Rules of Living

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

1) Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble. It is a "steering wheel" that directs us in the right path throughout life.

2) Do you know why a car’s windshield is so large and the rear view mirror is so small? Because our past is not as important as our future. So, look ahead and move on.

3) Friendship is like a book. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.

4) All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy it; it may not last forever. If going wrong, don’t worry; it may not last long either.

5) Old friends are like gold! New friends are diamonds! If you get a diamond, don’t forget the gold! Because to hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold!

6)  Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, God smiles and says, "Relax, it’s just a bend, not the end!"

7) When God solves your problems, you have faith in His abilities; when God doesn’t solve your problems, He has faith in your abilities.

8) A blind person asked St. Anthony : "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight ?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision."

9) When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them; and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10) Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace.

–author unknown

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bsjeh

Man Arrested for Praying Outside Planned Parenthood Facility

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The mistake this guy made was praying to God and not Allah and he did not have his prayer rug. I wonder if the police would have arrested a Muslim for praying outside the same building.

Now in defense of the Chicago police the ordinance does say: “displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education or counseling” within 50 feet from any health care facility.” and it is quite obvious from the picture and the accompanying video that two men are seen within 50 feet of the entrance to the building. They both seem to be praying but one is definitely holding a sign. There is the sound of a woman’s voice also heard but not seen praying.

Now praying in public is not forbidden if you are Muslim in fact it must be tolerated, but if you happen to pray to GOD and not Allah then it can be considered illegal activity. Cooler heads need to prevail in this whole matter in my opinion. And for that reason I give the Chicago Police and the Planned Parenthood facility this weeks DODO bird

clipped from www.foxnews.com

Thomas More Society

Complaining witness, left, stands next to Joe Holland, middle, as he prays the rosary outside Planned Parenthood’s Near North Center in Chicago.

Joseph Holland, a 25-year-old graduate student at Northwestern University, says he was standing still praying the rosary outside a Planned Parenthood facility in downtown Chicago July 3 when police arrested him for violating the city’s new “Bubble Zone” ordinance.

The law, passed in October, states that a person cannot approach within 8 feet of another person without consent “for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education or counseling” within 50 feet from any health care facility.

But Holland says he didn’t approach or interfere with anyone.

Click here to see a video of Holland praying outside the center.
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Pray for our Country, Pray for our Leaders

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

I like the way the Good News Bible reads on this verse: A wise person’s heart leads the right way. The heart of a fool leads the wrong way. Ecclesiastes 10:2 pray therefore that our President starts to seek after wisdom rather than clinging to his ideology.

The Other Reverend Wright: National Prayer for Repentance

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

National Day of Prayer
Image via Wikipedia

Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. On January 23, 1996, He was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer.

The controversy didn’t end there. Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright’s prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.

Paul Harvey got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program. He got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Here’s what he prayed:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will… Amen

God Hates Jews & Israel
Image by k763 via Flickr

Today not much has changed, in fact an argument could be made that things may have gotten worse since 1996. How much more should we the people be praying for our nation. The next National Day of Prayer will be on May 6, 2010. This year’s focus is “for such a time as this” based on the story of Esther and her bravery in thwarting the evil intentions of  Haman the Amalakite, who was outraged that Mordecai would not bow down and worship him. Haman was so outraged that he wished for the extermination of all Jews from the kingdom and made it his mission in life to accomplish just that.

Nothing is new under the sun what once was will be again and what now is already was to paraphrase Solomon. It is no secret that Haman, Hitler, and all those who despise God’s presence in the world symbolized by the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, have been around for all time. There has been a spirit of anti-Christ at work in the world even from the foundations of the earth itself. Therefore the things we face in America, the systematic attempt to remove anything that resembles worship of God from our culture, has presented itself in different forms, in different cultures, at differing times in history, only to be repeated again and again. Satan has not given up his quest to be worshiped in place of God and like Haman or Hitler, he will not rest until all of God’s people are eliminated from the world, because he sees them as a hindrance to his goal of being worshiped.

Like Esther we who are called by God’s name are to seek His face and pray for the well-being of our fellow Christians. Esther, although Queen at the time, would not have been spared from the wrath of Haman anymore than we will be spared the wrath of the anti-Christ today.

We have been preserved as a nation, and a people perhaps for exactly a time like this. Will you pray with me and Rev. Wright for a national repentance and renewal? Unlike the other Rev. Wright who proclaimed with a loud voice for God to dam America, I stand with the other Rev. Wright in proclaiming God bless America!

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