Only one adequate plan has ever appeared in the world, and that is the Christian dispensation.
John Jay - First US Supreme Court Chief Justice
Wednesday's Word: April 2007

Wednesday's Word

Welcome friends, feel free to look around, make comments and whatnot. I'll try and keep this thing updated with interesting pics, stories and other odds & ends. Feel free to criticize, but please share the 'truth in love'. No reason to be purposefully offensive. Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Whew! That Was Close!

Imagine if you will, in the very instant in which you’ve just received this email, judgment could’ve have been passed on your life. By Grimm Reaper or Rapture you could’ve been standing in the presence of Almighty God. What do you think your concerns will be then?
Here’s the Word
Exodus 4:24 – 26 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
       I’m going to speculate a little. It’s incidental and doesn’t change the truth of the Word, it’s simply because the Bible doesn’t mention the circumstances: The previous Bible verse is about Moses, getting ready to deliver the Lord’s message of deliverance of the Israelites to Pharaoh. Verse 24 is the LORD (by some method-obvious to Zipporah)about to kill Moses. Does it seem strange that Lord kept Moses as a child from being killed, raised in Pharaoh’s house, speaks to him through a burning bush, picks him to be the mouthpiece for Israel’s Deliverer…..and now He’s gonna kill’em? Why? Moses was in disobedience. The covenant of circumcision had been introduced to Abraham back in Genesis and Moses’ child(ren) were obviously not in compliance. More speculation: Circumcision was not a mystery…Zipporah knew exactly how to remedy this situation. Why was the child not circumcised up to that point? It looks likely that she may have given Moses grief about the necessity to be obedient….(by her response)maybe. And maybe for that reason Moses didn’t follow through with what he knew to be the command of God.
But when GOD showed up.
Imagine how fast Zipporah’s concern went from ‘What shall I make for dinner?’ to …..”CIRCUMCISE THAT BOY NOW!!!!!”
      We’re not promised one moment to the next and when it all shows up before the Throne everything will hinge on obedience initially, our trusting in Christ for salvation, and living obediently according to His Word for the glorious crowns we’ll cast at His feet.
And one second late is too late.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

God Don't Like Ugly

It's quite evident that in recent news, there’s been a lot of apologizing going on. Without question, intentional or accidental offenses must be addressed. The main point being that, after the apology, forgiveness should follow. Mainstream forgiveness seems to go like this:
“Okay, apology accepted; you’re forgiven…now leave and never come back!”
That is not Christian forgiveness. Let’s pull this up by the roots:
       Let’s say I’m at the gym and can’t lift 400 pounds. The problem is nothing other than ability. I’m physically not able to lift the weight. Now, it’s NOT the lack of ability standing in the way of our forgiveness, its pride. Once hurt, we often feel that WE shouldn’t HAVE to forgive. It’s hard to pick up forgiveness when your hands are already full, holding a grudge. And I don’t mean to make it sound easy, its not. I know well the reality of the pain of a trampled heart, but to not forgive is not an option.
Forgiveness is medicine, not applied to someone’s offense to try and mask or undermine its ugliness. It’s applied to your own heart as the forgiver; helping you heal from the hurt and preventing your heart from becoming hard and unusable.
Here’s the word:
Ephesians 4: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
In Matthew 18: 21-22(paraphrased) Peter asks Jesus, how often should he forgive his brother who sins against him, seven times seven? Jesus says no Peter, seventy times seven which some interpret as "completely".
       Here’s a test: Imagine yourself working at a restaurant and the person that’s hurt you the worst, walks in with their family (or friends) as happy as can be. How much is your heart wrenched at the idea of serving them courteously with a smile? Have you asked God for the forgiveness it would take to humble you back to health? He’s definitely got more than enough. Just think… He continues to forgive you.
       In closing, let’s be honest: There is absolutely nothing that you could possibly do to prevent yourself from ever being hurt again. Tenderhearted means being available and vulnerable; not throwing yourself on any old cross as a pitiful martyr (for vainglory), but indeed as a living sacrifice.
When I think on it, I know our sin displeases God, but I bet He gladly forgives us of them, casting them away as far as the east is from the west, simply because He loves fellowshipping with us. But our unforgiveness smells of pride, and I bet that reminds Him of the day that pride first raised its ugly head in heaven, causing shear chaos and ultimately the death of His only Son. I'm sure of it. God don’t like ugly.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

What's your Alternative?

I guess if I had to choose one word to describe how life is today, I would choose the word “accommodating”. No one has to settle for, nor accept things the way they are. There always seems to be an alternative. Alternative lifestyles, alternative music, alternative payment methods, all the way down to alternative fuels. I’m obviously not saying that all alternatives are inherently bad, but it seems that we don’t even question the validity of providing an alternative anymore, if someone doesn’t like the way things are, a little tweak here and a little change there, just enough to make it (to borrow a cliché from the Three Bears)….just right.. People even try and justify this accommodating behavior religiously; calling it ‘keeping up with the times’ or worse still, ‘keeping the peace’. We have so many choices of religions and alternative forms of worship that it makes me wonder what God thinks sometimes.
But I digress, Here’s the word:
John 6:66-69 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Amen Peter! It’s a sad state of affairs when you can consider yourself a bonafide disciple ‘all the way up until…”
Do you have an ‘until’ in your commitment to Christ? Looking across the landscape at the numerous religious beliefs in America today, we see that many not only have beliefs that bare no resemblance to Biblical truth, but that they audaciously exclaim that Christ himself wouldn’t mind... I’m not a pessimist; I don’t believe that all is lost. But it does cause me personal concern and I examine myself in the light of Matthew 7:13-14 which says 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Remember to pray for believers. Pray that truth would be enough, with no room for alternatives. The only alternative to truth, is a lie.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Ins and Outs

As I sit here, writing, I pause to either take a bite of my carrot or celery or a sip of my hot chocolate, which is pretty much what I do on most weekday mornings. And if you haven’t guessed by know, Yes, I’m health conscious, but not a health nut. With the compromised state of the environment in which we live, in addition to the natural process of decay that all of our bodies experience, it’s a good thing to be health conscious. It may not prevent you from getting the flu, but odds are, you’ll recover much faster, and be healthier in general. I even enjoy reading the articles that report the benefits of the polyphenol content in hot cocoa or carotenoids in carrots. How their antioxidants help fight cell damaging free radicals. There so many benefits in organic fruits and veggies. You ever take time to read the articles that report the benefits of Spiritual Fruit?

Here’s the Word:

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

I John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The benefit of the fruit of the Spirit is: Perfect Spiritual health! Pleasing and glorifying to God.

In closing, I urge you; get a Tupperware container and take a few carrot sticks, celery sticks and strawberries or other healthy snacks. Also, drink a cup or two of hot chocolate (the darker the better). You are fearfully and wonderfully made, enjoy and appreciate it. But also, in the same conscious and active mindset, let the fruit of the Spirit consume you. Take care of your ins and your outs: Bodily outside and spiritual inside.

P.S. There’s an old saying that goes: God likes spiritual fruits, not religious nuts

Click here for more bodily nutritional info

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Knock Knock

Who can resist the lure of a ‘Knock Knock’ joke? You just gotta play along… right?

I must confess that sometimes I am overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to ‘lure’ disbelievers out of their predicament. With more evidence than you can shake a stick at and with logic which seems flawless, it still doesn’t prove to win them over. It’s at these times when I really need to BREATHE OUT and realize the truth of the matter. I’m missing it. Evidence and logic are not the cause of my faith, they simply support it. Truth is that the invisible, omnipotent, immutable God wooed and lured me at level way deeper than logic and it’s the same thing He does for everyone. Yes, we are to preach the Word, being instant in and out of Season. But it’s God who by His grace, saves people through that gospel preaching.

Here’s the Word.

1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

I remember a great sermon from my Pastor in Oklahoma on this very subject about how “Today is the day of Salvation” and that the Lord won’t knock for ever.

Let the joy of the Lord be your strength and be pleased to share doctrinal truths as well as your testimony. Have compassion for those who seem to be missing it, but don’t lose heart. God is at their door too. Knock Knock.