How can we rejoice with thanksgiving?

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I know that the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up soon…like in a couple of weeks, but how can we be thankful in the climate that is against Christians in America and around the world? First…don’t question God about your situation. You are there in that place for a reason. Good or bad, it will be a blessing for you and you will give glory to Him for it.

Why do I say this? Because my life was a mess while I was growing up. If you don’t want to read a portion of my life story, stop reading now. My parents divorced when I was five. My Dad brought us home to my grandparent’s place, parked the trailer there that we had been living in with him and left. From that point on through the seventies and eighties my emotions were all over the place.

I thought that nobody wanted me and that’s the way I lived from day to day. From the first grade on through high school I pretty much kept to myself. I made friends but I didn’t join any “groups” in my class or participate in sports. I didn’t like school…period. I started drinking when I was in the ninth grade because there was a place in town that you could get whiskey as long as you had the money. So, every Friday night I told my mother that I was going to the football game. I did actually go but I wasn’t there for the game, I came to get drunk. Most of the time I slowly drove home and I was not caught being drunk until I wrecked my Mom’s car one night.

To make a long, boring story short, my teenage years weren’t much fun. After I graduated, I worked for the first summer with my Dad in Florida while Irby was putting power lines through the Everglades. Hot and sticky doesn’t describe how those swamps felt during the summer of ’79. I did attempt to go to a junior college that fall but I drank more than I studied, so I quit after the first semester and joined the Air Force. Still looking for a place to fit in.

I won’t bore you with life after all of this because it was up and down for many years until I got married to a wonderful girl and a few years after that we had a baby boy. That is when God got my attention. I had given my life to Jesus a few years before my son was born but I didn’t know how to be an example for him and that is the “job” that God wanted me to take on. I began studying the Bible and praying about being a good example. Of course, the answer was to be more like Jesus.

Why have I written this way today? Because, the young people in America and around the world need to know Jesus. They need to see grown-ups living out their faith. Yes, there have been revivals since Charlie Kirk was killed and there will likely be many more because young people are hungry for Someone real to follow and Jesus can fill that empty space that I felt years ago and that many feel today. Your life can have an impact on someone. Make sure that your impact is one that Jesus would approve of. Make your life into a discipleship of following Jesus so that others will want to follow Him too.

My brief testimony about the lonely life I had due to a broken home shouldn’t impress anyone and I doubt that it will, but I pray that anyone who reads this would seek to know Jesus as their Savior. He is the One who can bring joy to each of us in the good times and during bad times too. God loves us and sent Jesus to pay for our sins so that we might be forgiven if we only place our faith in Jesus for our salvation. It requires nothing on our part except for belief in Him for our salvation. Begin your new life with Him today so that you will be in His family for eternity.

Where are we?

Today and most any day, the news has much to talk about…in spurts. A few words here and there, then they put on commercials about some drug that will help you lose weight or lower your cholesterol. It doesn’t seem to matter much about where the news comes from or who it may be about. Most of the time the few blurbs that you hear are so random until I can’t tell if it is actual news or not. It doesn’t seem to be important news, just a few words between commercials.

Nobody seems to be looking at the world and what is happening with a lens through the Bible. We are living in prophesied times and it seems that 99 percent of the world couldn’t care less. There are Christians being killed in Asia and Africa almost every day but you never hear about it, unless someone from a Christian news agency happens to report on it. Even then, most people don’t pay much attention to it.

The world around us is being controlled by a Satanic worldview but nobody seems to care about that either. The church doesn’t even talk about it much anymore. We should be at least praying for those Christians in countries where they are persecuted and killed for their faith.

One day soon, Jesus is going to come back to get those who believe in Him. Those who have died and those who are still alive will be changed in the blink of an eye and taken out of this world. When that happens, the world and those left here will know that the Bible was the Truth and that they were left behind. Some in the churches will be left, but they will know what happened. It won’t be long after this that the world will be seeking a leader who will take their fears away and bring “peace and safety”.

For a few years, everything will look good but it won’t last. Seek your salvation in Jesus Christ today because we are not promised tomorrow. He could come for the church at any time, make sure that you are a part of it before the Trumpet blows.

Where are the disciples?

Before Jesus left He told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations; teaching them everything that He taught. We have taken the gospel to many nations but have we discipled them? Have we taught them how to carry their good news to others? In some places we have, but it would seem that it hasn’t taken the world by storm given the time that we have had over the past two thousand years.

Even in America, where we have the freedom to believe and worship however we want to, it seems that the church has dropped the ball on discipleship. What happened? The answer is this: the enemy has twisted our gospel and we, the church, have allowed it to happen. We have been afraid of being labeled as extremists or radicals, but Jesus was labeled that as well and His followers too.

So…what’s keeping us from taking His message to the other side of the street or to the next town? We shouldn’t be afraid of rejection because Jesus told us “if they will not receive your message, shake the dust off of your shoes and move on”. Thank them for their attention and wish them a nice day. God knows those who are called by Him and their hearts will be receptive to the gospel.

God calls those who will receive His message and if some don’t, then take it to someone else. Eventually you will find someone who is actively looking for a peace that can’t be explained or a Savior that will change them from who they are into the person He knows they can be. Carrying a grudge against someone only hurts you, so give your heart to Jesus and allow that grudge to be taken away. Let God fix that part of you that was hurt so you can be His regardless of the past.

Tell people about your encounter with Jesus and what He has done for you. Eternity is just up ahead, make sure it will be with Jesus. Our lives here are only a small part of the training, make sure of where you will spend the rest of your life. Will it be with Jesus or without Him?

Living Love…

You have heard sermons that preach “God is Love”. How can you understand that? Well, in many ways…we can’t fully understand it because describing the emotion of love, even between spouses, is hard to do. Love as an emotion is very hard to explain other than the dictionary definition of it, and like a picture of something magnificent, even that doesn’t quite do it. If you are a parent or a grandparent you know how you feel about your child or a grandchild and by that human feeling you know what love is. But could you describe it or explain it to someone?

Humanity is God’s creation, we are His children because He created each of us with qualities that nobody else has. Each of us on Earth is an individual with the personality and abilities that God placed in us while we were being formed in the womb. His love for us is even deeper than any emotion that we can feel because His love extends into our Spirit and our soul. That is why when John describes heaven, his words fail to express the completeness of it because all of creation is loved by God. Every blade of grass, every flower, every animal, every person on Earth is infused with God’s love.

We can’t imagine a love of that depth, that is why the colors and the beauty of Heaven completely overwhelms those who have had a glimpse of it and were given a chance to tell us what it looks like. Words just aren’t enough to describe His Love that gives life to everything. It was His love that held Jesus on the cross and it was love that brought Him out of the grave. God’s Love for His Son and for us.

I pray that you will look in God’s Word and see His Love for humanity because He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. We send ourselves to hell when we refuse to see Him for the loving Creator and Savior that He is and has always been.

Doctrine…

Our country has so many different religions in it. Most are good religions and some do good things all over the world. But when you cling to a “doctrine” that is written by men and then the religion clings to that doctrine as if it came from God’s…then your “church” has a problem. A doctrine can cause all kinds of problems because it is written by men and many of these doctrines don’t have a foundation that comes from the Bible.

Major Historical Doctrinal Conflicts

1. The Great Schism (1054 AD) – East vs. West

Context: The early Christian church was one body for about 1,000 years, but cultural, political, and theological differences grew between the Greek-speaking East (Constantinople) and Latin-speaking West (Rome).

Key Doctrinal Disputes:

Authority: Rome claimed the Pope had universal authority, but the East emphasized a “council of bishops.”

Creed: The West added the phrase “and the Son” (the Filioque) to the Nicene Creed, which the East rejected.

Outcome: Mutual excommunications — and the permanent split into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

2. The Protestant Reformation (1500s)

Context: Martin Luther and others challenged practices of the Catholic Church.

Key Doctrinal Disputes:

Salvation: Catholics taught faith + works + sacraments; Reformers insisted on “faith alone” (sola fide).

Authority: Catholics upheld Scripture + Tradition + the Pope; Protestants held to “Scripture alone” (sola scriptura).

Sacraments: Catholics had seven; most Protestants reduced this to two (baptism and communion).

Outcome: Europe fractured into competing denominations, sometimes violently (e.g., Thirty Years’ War).

3. Baptism & Communion Wars (1600s–1800s)

Even within Protestantism, differences exploded:

Baptists vs. Presbyterians over infant vs. adult baptism.

Lutherans, Calvinists, and later Evangelicals disagreed on what happens during Communion (real presence, spiritual presence, or symbolic).

These weren’t just minor quibbles — they determined who you worshiped with, married, or even trusted politically.

Modern Examples

Catholic vs. Protestant: Still divided on authority, Mary, saints, and the sacraments.

Evangelicals vs. Mainline Protestants: Clashes over biblical interpretation (literal vs. symbolic), morality, and social issues.

Pentecostals vs. Others: Disagreements over spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues.

Why Conflict Endures

1. Truth Claims: If one group is right, others must be wrong — and “wrong” can mean eternal consequences.

2. Identity & Loyalty: Belonging to a denomination often ties into family and culture, not just belief.

3. Power & Influence: Churches compete for members, resources, and legitimacy.

👉 So, doctrine causes conflict because it’s never just “intellectual.” It touches salvation, authority, community, and even politics.

Freedom in Christ!

How do we have freedom in Jesus Christ, when the world around us wants to silence our message? Is it possible to keep telling the world that Jesus is the Messiah and the only way to salvation in a world that is trying to bury the message and call it hate speech and lies?

The only way to keep our freedom in Jesus Christ is to spread His message and tell the world His story and our testimonies about what trusting in Him did for us. We can’t back down or back off from the message that Jesus gave us to take to the whole world, regardless of the push-back that is happening today. The world needs to hear this…NOW!!

I’m not sure when the rapture/taking up of the church and believers will happen. Some have said it might occur during the feast days in Israel but only God knows when He will send the call out. The angels don’t know, Jesus doesn’t know and nobody on Earth knows, so don’t believe any “prediction” about it.

How do we have freedom in Jesus Christ? Because of our faith in Him and His own words about coming back to take us where He is. The freedom of Heaven is like nothing any of us has ever known here on Earth. Freedom from pain and hardship. Freedom to seek and ask God questions that we’ve longed to ask and He will answer us even before the question is formed in our mind. We will have the freedom of an eternal home where there is no suffering or death. That is the hope that I am waiting for because I have read about people who have died and visited Heaven for a while before coming back. Their description of children and pets and all of the things that we will have to enjoy in eternity only makes me want to go today.

Life on Earth is only a shadow of the life in Heaven. The colors and the Presence of God’s love for each of us is so much more than anyone can describe. That is why the pale descriptions of God’s throne and heaven itself in the Bible are so limited. Our minds can’t come up with descriptions for the beauty and the majesty there because we can’t compare it to anything on Earth. I pray that anyone who reads this will seek to know Jesus as their Savior soon because this life, this existence will be ending soon. All of the prophecies in the Bible have happened except for the Church/Bride of Christ leaving to be with Him. When that happens, I pray that even more people will come to know Him as their Savior.

Uncommon Love

The thief on either side of Jesus knew that Jesus was innocent and didn’t belong there. He had done nothing that would require death by the cross. Even the priests knew that Jesus didn’t deserve the punishment that they had yelled for but that didn’t mean much to them. They just wanted Him gone because they didn’t see Him as their Messiah. They didn’t want a Savior like Him.

Even His disciples didn’t understand the type of Savior He was until He was resurrected on the third day. Some of them knew that He was the Messiah but He didn’t fit their definition of a Savior. Many of them wanted a military figure to rescue Israel from the Romans. Jesus didn’t come to bring that kind of Kingdom to Israel. That Kingdom would be later when He comes after the Tribulation as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Now, go to the cross and see how the thieves looked at the Messiah. One of them berated Him and was saying the same as some of the priests, “Come down from the cross and we will believe in You”; “Save us and yourself, if you are who you say you are”. The other thief believed that Jesus was innocent and was the Messiah. He asked Jesus to “remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Jesus told him “today you will be with Me in Paradise”.

Believe in the love of God that Jesus showed to everyone during His ministry and ask Him into your life to be your Savior. It sounds too simple, but that is the way to salvation. He is the only way to salvation, so seek Him for your eternal Life!

Divisions…

Why is our country and much of the world so divided? We, as human beings, can’t seem to agree on anything, especially religion. Even the church in America can’t agree on how we believe in our Lord. We seem to have polar opposite ideas on how, when, and Who we are worshiping. I am not speaking of one specific religion, although Jesus prayed for us to be united in our worship. Our religion is fractured in America and in some areas of the country Christians are hated almost to the point of violence. Last week there was a Christian speaker gunned down because he was speaking about the Truths of the Bible. Yet, the shooter said “I can no longer stand to hear his hatred” or something like that.

Our world is becoming more dangerous every day and even more intolerant than ever before. The message that many preachers and other speakers have been telling the truth from God’s Word is categorized as “hate speech”. Why is this happening?

Jesus foretold this in Matthew 24 and in the book of Revelation. He warned His followers that they would be hated because of the message He was giving them to take to the world. God expects us to be His ambassadors in the world but not of the world. We are to take His message of love and salvation to those who need to hear it which means everyone who hasn’t heard the Word of Truth. God loves all of humanity but their sins keep getting in the way of a relationship with Him. He still watches over all of us and He is patiently waiting for us to realize that we need a relationship with Him as well.

We are living at the end of the “Church age” or the age of grace. With all of the wars and violence in nearly every country, it is certainly getting close to the coming of the Lord to take His Bride, the believers of His Church, home to be with Him. I pray that many more people, young and old and from many countries, will come to know Jesus as their Savior soon. Seek Him while there is time because none of us is guaranteed tomorrow.

The Unseen Hand

Many people struggle to see God at work in their daily routines or during difficult times. This post could encourage readers to look for divine appointments, small mercies, or moments of grace that reveal God’s active involvement in their lives.

In John 8:4 the story about the woman caught in adultery is a good one to look at. Granted, all of us cannot relate to this story but it happened because of the Pharisees wanting to see what Jesus would do in this instance, since the Torah demands that she should be stoned. They forgot about the rest of the law that says the man should be stoned as well.

God is present in our daily lives even when we don’t acknowledge His Presence every day. He is there giving us peace at the times that we need it and guidance when we can’t see the way forward. Even if you don’t believe in Jesus or God, He is still there watching over you. God will not interfere in your life because He gave us the ability to choose but He is still with you. God loves us because He is the Creator and He formed each of us in the womb so He knows you better than anyone.

Our lives would be much worse if He wasn’t around every day, but because of His love for us He watches over us all of the time. So…to get back to the story about the woman, the Pharisees were testing Him to see what He would do. I really wish that the Bible recorded what He wrote in the dirt, but that is what Jesus did. He stooped over and began writing on the ground. Some commentators have postulated that Jesus wrote the sins of the Pharisees in the dirt but whatever it was I think they might have noticed it when Jesus said, “The one of you who has no sin, can cast the first stone”. Of course they all dropped their stones and left because Jesus was the only person who could’ve cast the first stone.

Then, He does something that nobody expected. Jesus asked her, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? She said, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more”.

Jesus doesn’t condemn us, He paid the price to redeem us from the penalty of our sins. All we have to do is believe in Him for our salvation.

Life ahead

Have you ever thought about where you will be after you die? Some of us do but there are many who don’t think about it or they don’t believe there is a “life after death” to look forward to or dread, whichever the case may be. God provided a way for us to have salvation from the penalty of sin, which is separation from Him. The only way for us to be in His Presence is to believe in Jesus for our salvation. No work can get you into Heaven and money has no place in Heaven. God loves each of us at such a depth that we cannot know His love until we are there.

The one other emotion that we feel here but rarely acknowledge is…JOY! I have read about people who have died and gone to Heaven for a little while then they were sent back with a bigger purpose for Him. They describe the feeling in Heaven as joyous and “like being surrounded by joy”. They even describe the trees and grass of Heaven having a part in the celebration of God. Your life in Heaven will be joyous and filled with praise and worship for God and His glory and His provision of eternity for the church, the Bride of Christ.

This doesn’t refer to a church/worship service like we know here but the type of worship of all of Creation. The birds know that God will feed them. The fish of the sea know that God feeds them and they rejoice in that knowledge. God loves you and He has prepared a place for each of us. I pray that more people will come to know Jesus as their Savior because the time is drawing near that the end of the age will come to an end soon. Be ready.