Category: Accountability

Where are we in our lives?


Strange title, huh? Well, I wanted to name it as such so that we who read it might think about where we are. Are you in a relationship, personally with God or do you despise Him and His laws? Maybe you don’t believe that He exists at all! You are one of those foolish people who thinks that everything in our universe, all of the trillions of galaxies and stars and planets came from a compact singularity long ago and just “evolved” from that big bang.

mygodisawesomeMaybe you even believe that we come from a pond of proteinaceous soup which formed from a random comet impact billions of years ago and all life on Earth came from those proteins. If our planet had more time than it is estimated to exist, it may have happened this way, but it did not happen like this.

I know, evolutionists will want to argue this point but according to God’s Word, He created all of these things with His Words. He placed the stars and galaxies in their places. God created all of these in His time, not ours. Life is sustained by Him, the stars are sustained by His strength, your strength is given to you by His Grace for you each day.

God does all of these things because He loves us, whether we love Him or acknowledge Him or not. Although, He did provide a way for our salvation and our life in Jesus and through Jesus Who gave Himself for us and for our eternal life, if we will only believe in Him. Seek Him while there is time and don’t delay because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Please, for your eternity and your life in it, believe in Jesus and the atonement that He paid for with His blood and He did it willingly for all who would believe.

themissingpieceBut don’t just take my word for it, read it from God’s Word in the New Testament. The gospels all tell the story of His ministry and His birth, death and resurrection, some tell different aspects of it or from a Jewish perspective and one from a Greek perspective in Luke’s gospel. He was a physician who traveled with Paul and he gathered the story of Jesus meticulously, as a physician would.

God uses each of us with our own voice or talent in telling a story to get the Word out and tell it in the unique way that He gifted each of us with. Some of us can tell it better or maybe more to the point, and some tell it like we see it through our eyes of faith in Him. To each of us, God gives a unique voice because He knows who will listen to that voice and what they will get from it.

That is why Jesus went to common fishermen who were devout Jews. He didn’t go to the Pharisees or the others who were sanctimonious in their faith, because they were “safe” in their blood lineage of being Jewish. They were “sons of Levi and Abraham”, they didn’t need some carpenter telling them how to serve God!

Many of us live our Christian lives this way today. We create god in our image and we give him aspects which we are comfortable with him having and we convince ourselves that this is the God of the Bible. But our “god” is nothing like God and we would know this if we read and studied His Word and prayed to Him to reveal Himself to us in it! How many of you do that? Would you do that? Are you brave enough to ask God to show up in your prayer life? What would you do if you actually heard His voice in your spiritual ears while praying?

Many of us would fall over wondering just what or Who that was which spoke to us! Many others would think they were imagining it and just ignore Him. Until He spoke again. In the Old Testament God usually called to someone three times. Sometimes it took that many times to get their attention, but often it was because God wanted to impress a point on them.

Make sure of whom you are hearing and know that it is God. The only way to do this is to get to know His voice by reading His Words in the Bible. The more familiar you are with His Words and His Word, then you will be able to accept that the Voice speaking to you is Him.

2.5%? Really?


I am not speaking of the Social Security increase that our government is graciously giving to us out of our own money, which will supposedly come next year. I am speaking of a report which said that Christians in America tithe at the rate of 2.5% of their income! I know that jobs are hard to come by and it is hard to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck, but 2.5%!!

The prophet Malachi wrote to the nation of Israel over two thousand years ago because of something similar happening at the time, here is what God said to write and tell the people:

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.  Malachi 3:8-12

If you are paid say $500 per week, before taxes and all the other stuff, 2.5% of your check would equal $12.50. That barely pays for one meal at a fast food place that serves decent hamburgers!

RaiseyourstandardofGivingI am a pastor and my wife and I try to tithe our ten percent, even if it is more than we can afford at times. It is true that sometimes we don’t tithe that much because of surprises which come up like doctor visits or other things which just happen. Even in the Great Depression people gave to the church at 3.3%! Not great, but better than we are doing today and they had far less that we have!

This article, which I put a link to above, breaks my heart. So much could be done, yet we still hold onto our money…tightly. Could we give more? Sure. Should we give more? Yes, but will we? It is a question which haunts my own soul and it isn’t easy to answer. Even though Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, your heart will be also“.

So, what should we do? Pray about your giving and your tithe, if you are a Christian, if you aren’t then give or don’t or just follow your heart. We could fix so many problems in the world IF we would give ten percent of our income and them make sure it was used in ways to help those who have little and need so much. How  could we do this? I don’t know. I am not a politician nor would I even know how to get the funds to the right people in the countries and the states which truly NEED it.

We need to repent of this tragedy. I need to repent of my own act of robbing God and robbing those who could be helped by this. Prayer and repentance and giving out of our heart is the answer for Puerto Rico and the poor in the rest of America as well as many countries in Africa and Asia, followed by feet taking the fruits of our giving to those who are in need. That is the only way to show Jesus to millions of people who will not see His love if we do not.

He makes me lie down….


Psalm23Today I am speaking from a position not so unlike the title. I had a doctor visit this morning because of some allergies and a possible chest infection, so I am taking meds for it and I am writing to you from a bed. Before anyone asks or thinks about this, I am not in such health that I can’t get around but I am trying to listen to my doctor’s advice.

God does the same thing to us at times and just as the Psalmist wrote in the 23rd Psalm, He does make us lie down at times. Usually it is for our own good but sometimes it is to get our attention or to get us to hear Him like we should. God enjoys hearing our prayers and our needs, although He already knows what they are, but He also enjoys it when we are willing to listen to Him. Why did I put some of those words in bold-face? Because, many times we really DON’T listen to Him or even listen for His voice!

We say our prayers and end it with “in Jesus’ name, Amen” and then go about our business. I am not saying that we shouldn’t expect an answer when we pray sincerely about a need in our life or someone else’s, but ending it like that is like calling your Mom or Dad telling them what is happening, how you feel, and could you send me some money or help, thank you, goodbye!

How would you feel? I don’t know how you would feel but I wouldn’t answer that prayer or request at all, but I am only human. If you don’t ever let God speak to you when you pray, that is what it seems to me would possibly happen. Of course, that is looking at it from our point of view and our way of thinking and that is not how God thinks or feels at all. He knows what we need and when we need it, so He will likely answer that prayer anyway, but it may not be when you want it answered.

He is our Creator, our Redeemer and our Father in Heaven and just like fathers here on Earth, He likes to hear from us but He also likes to speak to us as well. Give Him a chance! You wouldn’t pick up the phone and call your Dad and tell him all the stuff that isn’t working in your life and ask for help in fixing it and then just hang up would you? It is likely that you wouldn’t get a very good call back after that either.

God, thankfully, isn’t like us with our petty hurts and feelings. He loves us so deeply that He sent Jesus to take the punishment for ALL of mankind, so we, meaning everyone, could have a relationship with Him IF we will believe in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross! He did it for us, all of us, and yet we as the human race have rejected Him for a long, long time. Even Christians make up their own “god” and rules which he will follow, thinking that by going to church their “god” will allow them to get into Heaven one day.

Of course the problem with that thinking is: we have made an idol in our own minds to be our god. It is not fashioned with gold or silver or carved from wood, but we have placed god in a box which limits him to a being which is more to our liking and comfortable. But…that is NOT God! He won’t share the throne or any of our worship and praise with that puny idea in our heads!

The Bible is God’s written Word and His way of speaking to each of us and we need to take it as literally the Truth from the Holy Spirit which is part of the Trinity. God did not mince words when He spoke the world and all of the animals into existence nor did He mumble when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses! If you want to know God, read the Bible and learn from Him about Himself!

Salvation, is it important to you?


Many people seem to think that being a Christian is not fun, but they could not be more wrong. Living as a follower of Jesus today is not easy but the rewards of being a follower of His are worth more than ALL of the money in the world! To God, your soul is worth more than the entire world! Just ONE soul in God’s Kingdom is worth more than all of the wealth in the world, imagine how much value He places on all of us?

Believing in Jesus and His atonement for you and your family is all that is necessary to be saved, then follow Him, learn about Him, read His Word, seek His counsel in all things. Living daily for Him is not a joy ride that you take on one certain Sunday. It is not something which you do because you are in trouble or you have been given a bad diagnosis. Yes, He is to be sought out when things like this happen but He is to be followed every day of your life even after the problems are taken care of!

Jesus endured all of the stripes from the whip used on Him without a word, as well as the nailing to the cross and He did this because it was necessary for the atonement which He came to provide for us. The agony was not something which He sought because in the garden He had asked the Father if it was possible for this cup to pass from Him, yet not my will but thine. Jesus was sweating drops of blood in His anguish before this trial, but He did it anyway.

The Creator of the universe allowed His creation to whip Him with a cruel cat of nine which tore flesh and reached down to the bone at times under the hand of Roman soldiers who hated the people where they were tasked with keeping the peace. They took out their hate and frustration on Him and never thought about it until afterward. At least some of them repented after He arose from the grave according to historical documents.

Could He refuse to go to the cross? Yes. He could have come down or struck down those who put Him there? Yes, but if He had we wouldn’t have salvation granted to us and anyone else who believes in Him and His message.

Life today has many hardships even in America. Most of the world doesn’t think so, but there are many problems which we have that are fixable IF we will turn back to Him. Follow Him, believe in Him, read His Word, and do His Work while we are here instead of being selfish and proud and taking care of just one person….me.

When you do that you have declared that you are your own god because you are more important than anyone else. Our problems are multiplied in this world because it isn’t just one person who is doing this. It is almost every person in the world! Very few take care of others very much. Oh, you see a few hundred who will sacrifice themselves or their comfort when problems arise, but if we did this as a country on a daily or weekly basis the entire world would be so much better off!

Acting as Jesus would in every situation is something which is not normal for us. It is hard for us to understand and practice that way of life, but that is what the Christian life is supposed to be like! Seek Him out in every situation, His wisdom and His direction for your decisions because if you can’t do that or if you won’t do that…then how can you truly claim the distinction of being a Christian?

Times and times and half a time


So many meanings, hard to understand, only metaphors and not literal prophecy, these are the interpretations of the book of Revelation or at least the way that many Christians have looked at it and declared it too hard to understand. Why? The fig tree blooming is the nation of Israel coming back into their country after nearly 2,000 years. The time of the gentiles being over in the city of Jerusalem came about after the 1967 war. Now, we are fifty years past that time and the generation is about to see many other prophecies coming true in that land.

What are the people of the world seeing in these things? Not much actually. Nobody is paying any attention to what is coming about, nobody is noticing that prophecy is coming true before them. Why is that? Because few people believe that the Bible is the Word of God and His promises and prophecies always happen at the time that He chooses.

The book of Revelation is not a fantasy and none of the prophecies in the Bible are wishes, they are foretold by God Who lives outside of time as we see it. He can know what day you and I will die, and He also knows when you will read this post or if you will just scoff at the first few lines and leave. God loves each of us and the Bible is His way of telling us that He knows all that is knowable about us and about our world. It is also His way of telling us that He loves us and He doesn’t want us to go down the wrong pathway!

Learn about Jesus and read the Bible, regardless of which version that you read it tells the same story if you open your mind and ask Him to reveal it to you. Your life is special to God and He knows exactly what you can do for His Kingdom, if you will give your heart to Jesus and follow Him the rest of your life. Jesus taught His disciples that the Old covenant only pointed to Himself, His covenant was ratified by His blood that was shed for you and me on the cross. When He rose from the grave three days later, He proved Who He was and when He left after forty days, He said that He would return to take His church with Him.

It is true that you can choose not to believe this and go on living your life without Him, but when you breathe your last breath here and stand in judgement without Jesus as your Savior….what can you say about your life? Were you righteous in all of your ways? Did you manage to live a sinless life as Jesus did? If you told one lie, no matter how big or small you thought it was, then you are a wretched sinner and will pay with your eternal life in hell.

Sounds harsh? Yes, but the only decision which was needed and necessary was the one of belief in Jesus as your Savior and giving your heart to Him, turning from your “old life” and living as well as you can with His Spirit guiding you each day. Learning more about Him through study of His Word. Is living with the Holy Spirit as your guide easy? No! Because you are now an enemy of Satan and he will try to make your life worse, but through Jesus you have defeated him and you have the victory.

Why?


It is a question which we hear, especially parents, when our child or children are young. They ask it…sometimes to the point of getting on our nerves with the number and frequency of the question!

Sometimes we can answer it with a realistic answer and sometimes it is “Because I said so!”! But, this week we have no answer for the shooting in Las Vegas. There is no note or reason or anything that even approaches rationality. Because there is nothing rational about this! Was the shooter insane? I don’t know and few other people have a real clue either. Had he been “radicalized” in some way? Who knows?

Why is a question which we as a nation will be asking about this for a long time. Will we ever find the answer to that question? I honestly don’t know. In my view, my opinion is that only the shooter knows and God and likely we will never find out the actual reason. Because, the behavior to do such a thing defies logic and any human decency.

On the news tonight, Steve Hartman said that there are no real words to describe or comfort this type of event and he is right. We can’t think of anything to say because there isn’t anything that makes any sense when you are talking about an act so dehumanizing and tragic.

Life is precious. Not just one person’s life or a particular skin color or religion, but to God ALL human life is precious because He made us in His image! At one time the rule of law was that “when man kills another man, then by man his life will be taken“; which we have toned down with political correctness so that even when convicted a killer can live out his natural life without ever being killed for his crime! Some even claim that it is inhuman to punish a man in that fashion. Really? If they killed your wife or son or daughter, would you feel that way?

God is already punishing the killer from Las Vegas since he took his own life as well, so at least he is getting his punishment. His soul and his eternal body will endure that forever and there is no appeal or stay that will come to get him out of hell.

Hell was not created to punish mankind, but when we act like demons and follow the leading of their suggestions in our minds then God has no recourse but to place us in the same place of punishment that they have waiting for them. Please give your heart and life to Jesus and follow Him while there is still time to do so. We don’t know when He is coming back, but it won’t likely be much longer. Will we all live to see it? I don’t know, but I do know that when He comes there will be no doubt about Who it is and what is happening…at least to those who have heard about it or read the book of Revelation.

Conclusions


In our society, we draw conclusions about everything and most of the time we do it immediately. Especially when it comes to violence in a public place. Writers for many publications are disavowing any responsibility when it comes to owning the reason for any crime which has a violent outcome. In spite of our collective ideas of terrorism, whether it is done by a person of color or of a certain religion, we still tend toward segregation of blame.

If you are Muslim, then you were radicalized. If you are African-American then you are angry; about what doesn’t seem to matter, but that is what the pundits on “news” programs label people as. But when the person is white, they are labeled as insane and a gun nut or even disturbed because of PTSD. Yet, many of them bought their weapons legally with background checks and apparently passed those checks multiple times.

bible-verses-about-the-downheartedThe shooter in the most recent event bought quite a number of guns, some modified to fire more quickly like an automatic. According to what we have heard so far, he actually bought these legally with background checks. So, why didn’t the number of purchases by one individual not raise a flag or at least suspicion? Even if he passed the background checks, the amount of ammunition bought and the number of guns purchased should have gotten someone’s attention.

Why do we or at least some in America make snap judgments about each other and about people who buy firearms and use them. It is true that we only think these things when some person uses a firearm to take lives in a way that is inconsistent with society or its norms. But honestly, any life taken is one which was taken too soon! Murder is against the law of man and God as well! It doesn’t matter if you kill someone with a knife or a gun or a bomb, murder is still against God’s law!

What can make someone snap to the point of shooting at people just because they are convenient targets? I will never understand the kind of crazy that sounds like!

Was God there? Yes, in the first responders who came to the aid of those in danger. He was there with the police who stormed the hotel and found the killer who was taking lives like targets on a range. Yes, God was there and He is still there giving comfort and strength to families and friends and to those who are recovering! We all need to pray for the victims and for our country because there could be another person who may snap and begin to do this somewhere else.

Seek Him out in all things and look for God in every place where you are because He is there, sad though He may be because of our intent and because of the apathy that is in our society today. God still cares and loves all of us, whether we return that love or not is our choice.

 

We need to be close


Our world is cracked and shattered today by violence which happened last night in Las Vegas. Nobody knows why the shooter did what he did, no rational person would do such a thing. Is there an explanation for this? Yes, there is evil in our world and we can’t ignore it. Men are evil, Satan is evil and yet people are wanting to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. The shooter bought his guns legally with FBI background checks, what snapped? What happened?

Honestly, we will not know for sure. His brother said that he doesn’t know why or what could have brought this on. Nobody knows for sure, except God. The shooter has been judged by Him and is likely being punished in hell right now. Taking a life which is made in the image of God is not something that God dismisses. A Christian could not have done this, so he is likely in hell and will be for eternity.

We should be seeking God’s strength and His Presence today, not trying to take the rights of people to own guns. It is true that an owner of many guns is the person responsible for this tragedy, but what started this or what set him on the path to do such a thing…nobody knows except for God. I know that I am repeating myself, but it is so shocking until it is hard to understand or even get your mind to begin to comprehend.

Pray for the families who have family members injured or recovering or even killed in this horrible tragedy. This is not the time to place blame or seek revenge on law-abiding citizens because of the act of one person whose sanity snapped in some way.

Seek out Jesus and look to God’s Word for comfort in times like these.bible-verses-about-the-downhearted

What will happen?


Today, I am writing because frankly I have nothing else to do at the moment. There has been a prediction that this weekend the rapture of the church will happen and all people who have given their hearts to Jesus will be taken to Heaven.

If God chooses to make this “prediction” come true it will happen, otherwise this is just a joke. Nobody knows when He is coming for the saved of this world and there is no way to predict it. As I stated in another post, God knows exactly the day and the hour when this will occur, not the angels in Heaven, not the demons on Earth, not Satan or even Jesus knows the timing of this event. God will tell them when it is happening and at that precise moment it will happen.

There won’t be a warning or a notice given, but it will happen. Anything else that God wants us to know is in His Word and we shouldn’t be changing words around or picking what we like or don’t like from it. The Spirit of God gave the words to those who wrote each book of the Bible. It wasn’t made up by men and it wasn’t written by old men having dreams, although some did.

God predicted many things which have come to pass long ago. Most of those prophecies have come true and the few which have not are the ones which directly affect Israel’s future. So, when will we be taken up? I haven’t the foggiest notion of that date or hour, nobody does except God and He will signal the angels to take care of it when it is time and not before.

Make sure you and your loved ones are ready because as the Bible says, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever“.

God doesn’t want any to perish but if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus, then you will be left here and will go through the Tribulation with the rest of the world. Be sure of your salvation because today is the day of salvation. Seek Him for salvation because it can be found in no other religion.

Will the world end this week?


theworldendsI heard that someone has predicted that it will. I would like to know where these people get their information from. The Bible foretells of the end of the world and yes, there are many things happening right now that seem to point in that direction. BUT…until you see the church taken out of the world or see Jesus coming in the clouds with the host of Heaven, I don’t think that our world will end. Especially not when someone says that it will on a certain day. Humanity is not given that information in the Bible or anywhere else.

So what are we supposed to do? First, don’t worry about it. If the world ends, there isn’t anything that we can do to stop it. If the church is taken up to Heaven, that is God’s decision and there is still nothing which will change that.

The most useful outcome of this would be if people really began to read and study their Bibles to find out if there is an end coming because it is, just not this weekend. God has given us, humanity, nearly two thousand years to learn that we need Him and to give our lives to Him. In may opinion He has been very patient with us when we have been doing some things which would provoke any human to just kill everyone!

Thankfully, God is not like us. He loves each of us with our faults and our fears and our tears. He doesn’t care how much money we have or how big our house is, but He does want us to give our lives to Him and to tell others about Jesus! If you are looking for your calling or your purpose in life, that is it as far as God is concerned. Study His Word, learn as much as you can about Him and His Son, pray about your problems, your fears and your joys in this life because He is the One Who supplies all of our needs and our ability to live in this world!

In the news it seems that more people want to cause chaos and destruction in the world. For what reason, I don’t know. Maybe their idea is if the world is on fire, a Savior will come to fix things. Maybe the rest of the population will decide to follow their god or their ideology so that there will be “peace”. Honestly, a peaceful world doesn’t get that way by killing and burning everything in sight! At least, that doesn’t sound like a way to bring about peace  to me!

Seek peace in the Word of God and learn from its wisdom because mankind’s wisdom is foolish to the rest of the world and peace does come through God alone.