In Charleston, South Carolina, a little boy about four years old walked over, looked up at me and said, “You are little!” I said to the pastor standing beside me, “What did he say?” The pastor said, “It sounds like he said, “You are little!” It made the boy feel good since he was so short. But it humbled me. It made me think.
We should look at our biggest giant or mountain and say, “You are little! You are little compared to the God inside of me!” It will humble any mountain or giant to fall. What mountain or giant will the Lord raise you up to stand on top of this coming year? What stormy seas will He cause you to walk on?
On the sea of Galilee, famous for storms, I asked the Lord a question. “Lord, are we near the place where Peter got out of the boat and walked on the raging sea before he fell?” The Lord answered me. “What do you mean Peter fell? This is the sea where Peter walked!” As though He didn’t remember Peter falling. Peter sank but he walked on water. The eleven sat in the boat living in regret. The terror of that storm paralyzed them. They missed that once in a lifetime opportunity. Sinking is better than sitting. When life is over we won’t regret taking a risk for God and sinking. We will regret sitting. And God won’t remember us sinking.
Have you noticed that civilization, as we know it in the USA, is rapidly declining? While there may be many superficial reasons for this, there is one fundamental reason: God has been systematically exiled.
All negative statistics are up: teenage pregnancies, teenage abortions, murders, suicides … just about every indicator of negative behavior trends shows we are in trouble. But, God is shunned as “Old Fahioned.”
The issues that confront America in 2013 and onward, are not political issues, but moral issues. Many Americans remember such things as prayer in schools (non-specific & non-threatening), teachers using rulers to “regulate” classroom behavior, two-parent (male & female) households, an orderly society with rules that usually worked, but even when they didn’t, it was the exception, not the rule.
I am part of the generation that helped to tear down those rules and that framework, the Baby Boomers. It’s not so bad that we tore things down, but we FAILED to put anything in place to maintain or adjust the social framework. Without BOUNDARIES, society falls into chaos. This is where we are today. Anything goes … except God’s ways.
I like to play with electronics and even put furniture together. Most items seem to be pretty self-explanatory … except for the leftover screws! My pattern is, when all else fails, read the directions.
America’s people are broken. Our communities are broken. Our schools are broken. Our government is badly broken. In fact, many of our churches are broken. Rather than celebrating the greatest love ever shown to mankind and eagerly sharing it with everyone we meet, we mistakenly tend ourselves & our buildings while lost people suffer. Many churches are so busy building and tending their “aquarium,” they have forgotten about “fishing for Men.” Instead of casting our nets into the deep river teaming with fish, we have become like the Dead Sea, keeping what we find for ourselves. Maybe it’s time to find the “directions” and READ THEM … again! Two thirds of GOD is GO!
“I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.”John 17: 20-21 CEV
It’s true. I hear the sound of God’s Church coming together from various denominations, creeds, nations, and purposes. I hear the sound … We are not all the same. We are not all given the same purpose. There are theological, philosophical, and practical things we disagree on, but … But all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus are His Church. We do not need to compromise our beliefs to come together in Christ.
This may come as a shock to some. It may seem sacrilegious, but though we are not all of the Roman Catholic faith, we, as believers, are a part of Christ’s Church. As this new Pope assumes his role as Christ’s preeminent ambassador on earth, it strikes me that we ought to support him as best we can and pray for his to lead the Church with God’s wisdom. It is the Godly thing to do!
“We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.”EPH 6: 12 CEV
Some have the opinion that the anti-Christ will come from the Roman Church. Some non-Catholics have skeptical views of the Catholic church. Jesus, however, ordained the Church, and for many centuries there was only one Church. Imperfect, unjust, politically swayed at times, yes, but still an instrument of God. Like the men and women of the Bible, even those well known like Abraham, Moses, and David, each of us is flawed, so any group or organization we put together will also be flawed and imperfect. The Church is no different.
What am I saying? I’m saying to LOVE one another! It’s a command, after all! We have to grow up,get beyond our differences are learn to love one another, appreciate our differences instead of beating each other with them. Then, and only then, will the world see JESUS!
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”JOHN 13: 34-35
The world really needs Jesus … the REAL JESUS, not some fabricated, comfortable religion! But we each have to do our part.
I just happened to read this article detailing the views of Penn Jillette (from Penn & Tiller comedy team.) Ya, know … it really gets my goat, as they say! He rambles on for several minutes about how Martin Luther King, Jr, talked to everyone beyond the “Christian” community to the world. According to Penn, MLK was all inclusive, and Penn sees “Merry Christmas” as a non-inclusive greeting, permitted but, he asks why? Well, let me explain why …
If not for Jesus, the birth of this baby foretold centuries before in detail, this season would be no different than any other. For some it is the Winter Solstice. For others, Hanukkah. I choose not to recognize the other newer excuse for a holiday because it’s a fraud, in my opinion. This is not the format to debate the validity of other belief systems. I am simply answering the question posed by Penn.
Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.
What makes this season special is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Was Jesus born December 25? NO! Probably in September sometime, but that’s not the point. The ancients politicians and power mongers played the same game Penn is pushing, trying to be all-inclusive, they chose the date of the popular pagan celebration of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25 and adopted it for Jesus’ birthday, in the absence of Biblical evidence to the contrary.
Christmas is just another target of the Secular humanists, or Progressives, whose goal is to remove all semblance of “religion” from American culture, but in the process, they have themselves created a religion which is taught in our schools, colleges, and many TV programs & movies. In their attempt to sell the “all-inclusive” society, Secular Humanists remove all evidence of culture, in effect, sterilizing the American life experience. No longer is America the land of apple pie, baseball, and Mickey Mouse, for fear someone may be … offended. Except for the Muslims, that is, who are permitted to do as they please, even disobey American law.
“Is this what’s happening? John Dewey, remembered for his efforts in establishing America’s current educational systems, was one of the chief signers of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto. It seems the Humanists have been interested in America’s education system for nearly a century. They have been absolutely successful in teaching children that God is imaginary and contrary to “science.”
This depiction of America’s first Christmas was painted in 1975 by local artist Claribel Jett. Based on what was known at that time, she envisioned the event occurring near Lake Jackson. Painting courtesy Claribel Jett
Why is it, after hundreds of years … HUNDREDS of YEARS … that it is suddenly “offensive” to issue a blanket greeting of “Merry Christmas?” Jews, Pagans, Christians and Buddhists, have “coexisted” for centuries without assuming offense at our differences. Americans have become so juvenile, encouraged to be so by the sensation-hungry media, that they choose to be offended at the mere suggestion of other viewpoints while being encouraged to be “all-inclusive” or “tolerant?” In other words, the meaning of the terms: tolerance and inclusion, are being absolutely reversed for political purposes! That leaves an impossible situation since one cannot celebrate both non-existence of God and the Presence of God simultaneously. However, if logic was used, it becomes very simple: if there is no God, why is it offensive for some to believe in God?
This secular humanist viewpoint also raises the question … If we remove God and Godly morality, is it acceptable that the foundation of our Republic is also removed? Without “traditional American values,” based on Biblical morality, what remains as a national moral compass?
What fascinates me about this whole debate is how easily the ground is surrendered. The Constitution of the United States forbids CONGRESS, on a federal level, from establishing a specific religion as the National religion. Period! It also mandates that you and I must be permitted to worship in accordance with our beliefs, inside the boundaries of Law. Human sacrifice, for example, is not acceptable because it is federally unlawful. In fact, in the early Republic, several individual states did, in fact, have a State religion, but it was not a Federally established, by the CONGRESS religion. We have strayed so far from the essence of our Founders’ Constitution.
Contrary to popular mis-understanding, there is nothing un-Constitutional about a Nativity on State property. There is nothing un-Constitutional about a Christmas pageant in a public school singing “Silent Night” or Away in a Manger,” as long as no one is imprisoned for disagreeing. Cities and towns across America are under assault from secular humanists and atheists who demand their right to be offended. How silly! How can they be offended by a God they believe does not exist?
I’ve never understood that bumper sticker, “COEXIST.” This is what we’ve done for generations. We have peacefully coexisted with others of various and sundry beliefs, cultures, religions, and ethnicities. The secular humanist (Progressives) notion of COEXIST means strip away everything that enriches our culture with variety, and water it all down to what we have in common …. which is what?
It was from this site Jesus delivered what has come to be called, The Beatitudes (Be-attitudes),
notably one of the most profound moral teachings ever given.
Check em out!
A father died and left his business and comfortable estate to his widow. The couple had two adult children, a girl and a boy. The girl was senior by three years, a college grad, a Army Veteran, a wife and mother of three. The boy flunked out of college, was married with two daughters, but he’d agreed to take over the business, if reluctantly.
The son was appointed Executor of the will and, conveniently, he received the business, the summer home in Florida, and upon the sale of the couple’s home, he purchased a modest condo for his mom and pocketed the change. The daughter initially, received nothing.
A few years later, their mother began to show signs of dementia and took a spin down her steps. The following weekend, she was moved into her daughter’s home. Mom’s dementia got worse quickly, and the daughter asked her brother if he could help a little, maybe take her one evening a week for dinner or something. No reply was forthcoming.
The daughter’s marriage, bad for several years, hit the wall, and divorce proceedings began. Her children were now ages 10, 13, and 16, so clearly, she had her hands full. Her brother still remained distant when she asked for help, but allowed them to move into a small cottage he and a partner had renovated, using estate money. The cottage was assessed at a mere $36k, but he charged his own mother $95k and since he already had power of attorney, (seems like a conflict of interest in there someplace, doesn’t it?) he took the money from his mother’s account.
Time went on and the Mother’s dementia became a danger since the daughter had to work and the children had to attend school. The son, finally and angrily, abducted their mother while everyone but mom was out of the house. The daughter came home to … no mother, no mom’s furniture, and no note or explanation.
Many of the daughter’s friends urged her to take her brother to court. Clearly, both the mother and daughter had been ripped off by the son. While the daughter agreed in theory that he owed her a piece of her inheritance, she was unable to take legal action against her brother. Instead, she prayed … and prayed … and prayed.
Her brother’s children and the daughter’s children are friends today, and they still pray for the reconciliation of their parents: the brother ah, but there is an underlying tension that seems to prevent healthy reconciliation.
God’s ways are ALWAYS better than our ways!
Living, or attempting to live in accordance with God’s Word is never easy. It goes against some of our most basic instincts of self-preservation. But God expects us to be more than creatures enslaved by basic human instincts. He gave us the ability to REASON, to think things through, and to evaluate the options in light of the attached consequences. He expects us to rise above the call of instinct and obey His directive … Let HIM deal with the wayward brother, or whatever YOUR particular situation might be.
While there is some debate over the precise meaning of a few of the Beatitudes, certainly there is enough clarity to demonstrate a rather “upside down” set of standards. God discourages retribution and revenge, and instead, asks us to FORGIVE. Living God’s way is not easy, but it is rewarding.
Maybe if more of us tried this “upside down” lifestyle, we’d get along a little better? I’m thinking maybe we “comfortable Americans” might have our priorities be a bit messed up! Just sayin …
For many years, it has been my contention that God’s priorities and mine were not the same. Teachers of Biblical ideas taught satisfaction, that God wants His people, His children to prosper, to be healthy, to be “blessed.” It was insinuated that we were “favored” above non-believers. It was then assumed that if some “evil” befell you, there must be sin in your life or at the very least, a lack of faith. This, however, was not what I witnessed in or outside the Church-at-large.
Through the years, I’ve seen many people healed of various diseases and crippling conditions. I’ve seen blind eyes opened. I’ve seen deaf ears unstopped and new limbs grown or damaged ones repaired. Some, but not all. Why?
Does God love some better than others? NO! Does He require more of some than others? NO! What is the difference? Why are some healed and not others? Why are some rescued from addictions, but not all? Why do horrible things happen to good and caring people?
It has slipped into the mentality of many Christians that they are somehow exempt from life’s tragedies. That because we give our lives to Jesus to manage, the storms of life will pass by us. We skip over Jesus’ words, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)
Where did we ever get the notion that we were “above” the troubles of this life? I don’t know, but it’s a reality in many congregations to the point that when tragedy does strike, as it always does, the victim is left alone. The other “sheep” scatter unable or unwilling to deal with the hurt, the suffering, the difficulties, whatever they may be because it doesn’t line up with their trouble-free theology.
Today, there are millions, yes, millions of believers OUTSIDE local assemblies because of “friendly fire” incidents. (“Friendly fire” is when members of the same army, on the same side, wound one another accidentally or intentionally!) Something as seemingly innocuous as divorce or a child’s drug addiction or even poor grades is enough to bring on the “gossiper-prayer chains” and bring separation. Assumptions are made, insensitive and unkind words spoken, and insult is added to injury.
At some point, if the Body of Christ is to be healthy, she must learn to embrace suffering as Jesus embraced his own. We must apprehend God’s purpose even if we do not always like His methods. It’s time for Christians to once again, become more “OTHERS” focused and less self-indulgent and learn to love as God loves, less judgmental and more compassionate. God will always take care of our NEEDS, but not always our wishes, wants or desires. It seems God is less interested in our temporary comfort than He is our eternal condition. This is a very GOOD thing!
Both of these songs illustrate my point. Give a listen and ponder the lyrics.
“Blessings” by Laura Story
READ the Lyrics below
* HELD lyrics:
Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
[Repeat Chorus]
*BLESSINGS lyrics:
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace.
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, prosperity.
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
All the while, You hear each spoken need.
Your love is too way too much to give us lesser things.
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love.
As if every promise from Your word is not enough.
All, the while, You hear each desperate plea.
And long that we’d have faith to believe.
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win;
We know that pain reminds this heart, that this is not, this is not our home.
It’s not our home.
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life;
Is a revealing of greater thirst that a world can’t satisfy?
And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights; Are Your mercies in disguise?
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Rom 8:1
Arrogant Christians! The bane of any civilization! We hear about them all the time. We see their handiwork in the lives of broken and/or hurting people. Notorious examples are the folks from Westboro Baptist Church who belligerently condemn homosexuals while they overlook their own misplaced hatred. Those Christians who eagerly point their fingers at those who believe differently and condemn them, sometimes laughingly, to hell hold attitudes so contrary to Biblical teaching, that it is embarrassing to others of us who understand that God’s love is for ALL … equally … Saint and sinner alike!
“For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Rom 3:23
There are millions of believers outside the organized Church in America. Most, if not all, are victims of a Spiritual elitist attitude. Humans, it seems, enjoy the establishment of a hierarchy regardless of the venue. Whether in the boardroom or the sanctuary, we crave human pyramid order, i.e one on top, a few on the second rung, a few more on the third and then the rest on the lowest rung. Of course, with the position, comes a “value,” or “importance” to the group/local church/company. What we fail to see is the acceptance of this scheme in a local congregation, or in the Church at large, erroneously gives the impression that one person is more vital than another. While Jesus chose the 12 Disciples to follow him and learn from him for the express purpose of spreading the Word, He also taught the great paradox which we, Christians, have yet to apprehend.
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”” Mark 10: 42-45 NKJV
This truth brings us full circle. It is in this attitude of service and compassion that we find our FREEDOM! REAL FREEDOM that the laws of men cannot restrict!
All great change in America begins at the dinner table." ~ Ronald Reagan ~ What is more central to a civilization, a culture than the family unit? The strength and design of the family defines the culture, and, as such, its future. What is a Family? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is “a group of two or more people who reside together and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption” (U.S. Census Bureau). Though this definition se … Read More
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