Today God received into His arms His good and faithful servant, my grandfather.
After a long horrible illness, grandpa is finally home, having shed his old tent and put on a new one, a form that will not wither and waste away, but sustain him in perfect health forever. (2 Cor 5:1)
It is difficult . . . to think that he is no longer here with us. But he leaves behind a testimony, a life led by love, filled with good works, an example worth following in a world where precious few examples are even remotely decent.
Until we see you again, grandpa, I will strive to follow in the footsteps of the Christ-like love and obedience you leave behind.
Praise God for the time we had together with grandpa, for the wonderful memories of this godly--and often humorous--man.
Amen.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Seek First His Kingdom
But seek ye first His Kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto you. Luke 12:31
Ever wonder just what the heck this verse means? How exactly do we seek the Kingdom? Firstly, by the preceding verses in Luke chapter 12, we see that by 'these things' God is referring to our food and clothing, our basic wants and needs. He is guiding us not to worry about how we will get these things, as worry produces nothing good. He is telling us that He will provide these things, that it is His pleasure to provide us these things, if only we will focus on Him instead of on 'them things'.
It is our duty and privilege to seek His Kingdom, which means to obey His word, do good works, love our neighbors.
Lately whenever I've prayed for guidance, all I've received in way of answer is the above verse. Frankly, it was getting annoying. But then, my 'neighbor' was in need of car repairs. Though poor and in need of food and clothing, I took my tithe money and my time and fixed his car. Suddenly a few days later, I receive two separate unexpected payments!
Luke 12:31 in action. Yeah boy! God is good, God is great. It can be scary to set aside our earthly concerns, but when we seek first His Kingdom, God will tend to our needs, better than we ever could.
Trust Him.
Ever wonder just what the heck this verse means? How exactly do we seek the Kingdom? Firstly, by the preceding verses in Luke chapter 12, we see that by 'these things' God is referring to our food and clothing, our basic wants and needs. He is guiding us not to worry about how we will get these things, as worry produces nothing good. He is telling us that He will provide these things, that it is His pleasure to provide us these things, if only we will focus on Him instead of on 'them things'.
It is our duty and privilege to seek His Kingdom, which means to obey His word, do good works, love our neighbors.
Lately whenever I've prayed for guidance, all I've received in way of answer is the above verse. Frankly, it was getting annoying. But then, my 'neighbor' was in need of car repairs. Though poor and in need of food and clothing, I took my tithe money and my time and fixed his car. Suddenly a few days later, I receive two separate unexpected payments!
Luke 12:31 in action. Yeah boy! God is good, God is great. It can be scary to set aside our earthly concerns, but when we seek first His Kingdom, God will tend to our needs, better than we ever could.
Trust Him.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Bible on Love
'LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF' Galatians 5:14
That's the Bible in a nutshell, people.
We hear this verse, but do we really appreciate it? Why doesn't it say Love your neighbor as your spouse, or child, or as you love God? It advocates loving your neighbor as yourself because the highest form of human love is the love of self. Our love for others may wane, we may someday decide we don't love our mate after all, but we will always fight tooth and nail for ourselves, because at the end of the day--admit it, you know it's true--you love yourself. Think about it. After all, this is the kind of love God advocates for our fellow man(kind).
That's the Bible in a nutshell, people.
We hear this verse, but do we really appreciate it? Why doesn't it say Love your neighbor as your spouse, or child, or as you love God? It advocates loving your neighbor as yourself because the highest form of human love is the love of self. Our love for others may wane, we may someday decide we don't love our mate after all, but we will always fight tooth and nail for ourselves, because at the end of the day--admit it, you know it's true--you love yourself. Think about it. After all, this is the kind of love God advocates for our fellow man(kind).
The Bible on Hatred
My father ran into a hard verse that bothered him, and asked what it could mean. Here it is: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, wife, and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.' Luke 14:26-27
A hard verse indeed. My Apologetics study Bible explains it this way: Jesus' point was not that all who follow him must sever all ties with family relations, but rather that nothing, not even family, should be allowed to keep one from discipleship.' We need to understand that as our Creator and Savior, God has the right to demand that He come first in our lives.
Again: AS GOD, HE HAS THE RIGHT
The Word is summed up in this command, that we love our neighbor as ourself, Galatians 5:14
'So' the agnostic asks, 'we shouldn't hate our family?'
That's not what Jesus was implying. He never advocates the hatred of others, but only the hatred of sin. In the Luke verse, Jesus' statement was intentionally shocking to drive home His point that God must be put first, even before family, that we must become His disciples. We can only do this if we obey His word, which advocates love, even love of our enemies.By using potent challenging language, Jesus made clear His design not that we hate each other, but that everyone, even ourselves, must come second to Him. HE HAS THE RIGHT
A hard verse indeed. My Apologetics study Bible explains it this way: Jesus' point was not that all who follow him must sever all ties with family relations, but rather that nothing, not even family, should be allowed to keep one from discipleship.' We need to understand that as our Creator and Savior, God has the right to demand that He come first in our lives.
Again: AS GOD, HE HAS THE RIGHT
The Word is summed up in this command, that we love our neighbor as ourself, Galatians 5:14
'So' the agnostic asks, 'we shouldn't hate our family?'
That's not what Jesus was implying. He never advocates the hatred of others, but only the hatred of sin. In the Luke verse, Jesus' statement was intentionally shocking to drive home His point that God must be put first, even before family, that we must become His disciples. We can only do this if we obey His word, which advocates love, even love of our enemies.By using potent challenging language, Jesus made clear His design not that we hate each other, but that everyone, even ourselves, must come second to Him. HE HAS THE RIGHT
Sunday, April 26, 2015
The Message of the Cross: Foolishness, or Wisdom?
'For to those who are perishing, the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is God's power,' 1 Corinthians 1:18
How painfully plainly true this is, as displayed by a great wall dividing the faithful from the faithless. To an atheist the gospel is utter foolishness. Look what the God-hater Sam Harris says: 'It is imperative that we begin speaking plainly about the absurdity of most of our religious beliefs.' To Harris and Litchens, and Dawkins and all the other atheists, our belief system is absurd. They just don't get it, as Adrian Rogers puts it in his message 'It's Time to Grow Up.'
But to us, to believers, this same message of the cross is indeed the peak of wisdom, our saving grace, and the guiding light that keeps us on the right path. Without this message of the cross, we would be without hope in the world.
After all, you have to wonder about the morality of a man who rejects a message as foolishness that is summed up in this statement: 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' Galatians 5:14
If this message of love sums up Christianity, what statement sums up atheism?
How painfully plainly true this is, as displayed by a great wall dividing the faithful from the faithless. To an atheist the gospel is utter foolishness. Look what the God-hater Sam Harris says: 'It is imperative that we begin speaking plainly about the absurdity of most of our religious beliefs.' To Harris and Litchens, and Dawkins and all the other atheists, our belief system is absurd. They just don't get it, as Adrian Rogers puts it in his message 'It's Time to Grow Up.'
After all, you have to wonder about the morality of a man who rejects a message as foolishness that is summed up in this statement: 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' Galatians 5:14
If this message of love sums up Christianity, what statement sums up atheism?
Sunday, April 12, 2015
It's All About the . . . Joy!
As we go about our day, or suffer through trials, let us try to remember what Nehemiah 8:10 says: 'Do not grieve, because your strength comes from rejoicing in the Lord.'
Indeed, the only true remedy for depression, for life's weary drudgery, is joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength! When we have this joy, nothing else compares, nothing can bring us down. In fact, our salvation, the kingdom of God itself, is 'righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,' Romans 14:17.
Must we strive to attain this joy? I don't know. All I know is that it can be found only in the Lord, and that 'There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and to enjoy the work of his hands,' Ecclesiastes 2:24.
We cannot handle everything life throws our way. But God can. So why worry, doubt, or fear? It is our duty and privilege as believers and followers of the Word to rejoice, to have joy. If we don't have joy, if people do not see this light in us, they will not see the light of Christ.
Duty and Privilege.
Indeed, the only true remedy for depression, for life's weary drudgery, is joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength! When we have this joy, nothing else compares, nothing can bring us down. In fact, our salvation, the kingdom of God itself, is 'righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,' Romans 14:17.
Must we strive to attain this joy? I don't know. All I know is that it can be found only in the Lord, and that 'There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and to enjoy the work of his hands,' Ecclesiastes 2:24.
We cannot handle everything life throws our way. But God can. So why worry, doubt, or fear? It is our duty and privilege as believers and followers of the Word to rejoice, to have joy. If we don't have joy, if people do not see this light in us, they will not see the light of Christ.
Duty and Privilege.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Death of the Preacher Man
Time was you could go to church, hear a message straight out of the bible, and spend the week striving to live up to the high ideals of this living truth message.
Not anymore.
Today our preachers have become shallow worldly cowards, too afraid to speak the gospel, more interested in pleasing men and being liked than in speaking Christ and Him crucified. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6 beautifully outlines the issue here, how proper preachers speak not to please men but rather God, how they do not use flattering speech or seek glory for themselves.
When a preacher resorts to humor, anecdotes, video clips, and uses skits or any book other than the bible as reference, you need to stand up and walk out of there, for that is not a place where the gospel is being preached. You will learn nothing good from such an empty teacher. This Easter Sunday, instead of delivering the resurrection message--from the bible--our pastor described his vacations for us!
There are no words for this outrageous display of vanity.
In those moments when the Apostles spoke of themselves, it was to rejoice in their calling to speak the gospel of the cross, and they always did so with great humility.
It is all about Christ and Him crucified. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12. If your preacher fails to confess this, if he fails to acknowledge that when he is behind the pulpit, it is about God and not himself, pray for him and turn to the Word for guidance.
Not anymore.
Today our preachers have become shallow worldly cowards, too afraid to speak the gospel, more interested in pleasing men and being liked than in speaking Christ and Him crucified. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6 beautifully outlines the issue here, how proper preachers speak not to please men but rather God, how they do not use flattering speech or seek glory for themselves.
When a preacher resorts to humor, anecdotes, video clips, and uses skits or any book other than the bible as reference, you need to stand up and walk out of there, for that is not a place where the gospel is being preached. You will learn nothing good from such an empty teacher. This Easter Sunday, instead of delivering the resurrection message--from the bible--our pastor described his vacations for us!
There are no words for this outrageous display of vanity.
In those moments when the Apostles spoke of themselves, it was to rejoice in their calling to speak the gospel of the cross, and they always did so with great humility.
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