Beware Fledging Babies

Some things seem impossible, but the Bible says that nothing is impossible. (1) Would you believe a man with leprosy could be cured and be like new? The Gospel of Saint Luke chapter 5 tells all the details. (2) Would you believe a man born blind could be healed and see again? The Gospel of Saint John chapter 9 tells all the details. (3) Would you believe that thousands could be fed with a few loaves and fish? The Gospel of Saint Matthew chapter 14 tells all the details. (4) Would you believe a man dead for four days could walk out of a tomb? The Gospel of Saint John chapter 11 tells all the details.

Would you like a hundred more examples? A thousand? How many more stories do you need to be convinced that miracles did happen, do happen, and will happen? What will it take? You don’t have any trouble believing in miracles you say: good for you. What about those who do need something extra? It’s not that they don’t believe in miracles, it’s more a matter of ‘what do they need to believe in’ to change? Change? Change what exactly? Change their destiny.

People are so diverse the world over. Some believe in reincarnation, some in false gods, some in karma, some in stones and stumps. Some believe that everybody will go to heaven. The all roads lead to Rome theory. The Bible has disproven all these notions and more. Scripture even warns us not to rely on our intellect, and there are some first rate intellectual giant’s trodding the globe.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than Christ.” Colossians 2:8

There are many man-made approaches to life’s problems that totally disregard God. To resist heresy you must use your mind, keep your eyes on Christ, and study God’s Word. Be careful that you guard against any philosophy of life based only on human ideas and experiences. We must not let anyone’s teaching that credits humanity, not Christ, with being the answer to life’s problems. When we have Christ we have everything we need for salvation and right living.

Can an egg really be too big for its nest? Do miracles have to fit nature? Can one’s destiny be changed by one’s actions? Either you fledge and leave this world behind, or cower and wait for the predator. Make up your mind.

Lighten Up

Remember that guy in the Bible that just wanted to eat, drink and be merry? Farming was his occupation and he had a terrific year. His crops were so great he was determined to tear down his barns and build bigger and more barns to hold the surplus. He was determined to sit back and relax and take life easy for awhile. He decided to retire and eat, drink and be merry. Sound ok?

As always there’s more to the story than we know about. God happened to disagree with his plans and especially his attitude. It seems that the farmer thought all the bounty of crops was “his” doing and that God should be a silent partner! God thought the farmer was a little too proud and decided to “harvest” the farmer by letting death visit him that very day! “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” Luke 12:20 Your life is not defined by your bank account, possessions, titles and the like. Sound ok now?

At this point some of you are thinking; that seems a little harsh. Some of you are thinking that God should “Lighten Up” a little and let the poor old farmer enjoy his retirement years and let him eat, drink and be merry. If you will remember, I told you that there’s always more to the story than we are privy to. The farmer was proud, greedy, arrogant and selfish among other things. So what you say, there’s a little of that in all of us! One tiny fact remains, the farmer had these things in abundance, and God called him on it! Even God gets His share of our hubris and haughty attitude. Sound about right?

For those who think God should “Lighten Up” and let people do their own thing, the Bible has the last word. The Scripture in First Corinthians 10:26 remind us: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Sound like the final word?

Life is more than material goods; far more important is our relationship with God. Planning for retirement—preparing for life before death—is wise, not preparing for your afterlife is DISASTROUS. If you're accumulating wealth only to enrich yourself, with no concern for helping others, then, you will enter eternity empty-handed. Sound reasonable to you?

The next time you think God should “Lighten Up” and let people do whatever they want, maybe you should book a sightseeing tour of Sodom and Gomorrah. A tour of the gift shop should lighten things up. Buy an ashtray!

Bottom Line

“Keep falsehood and lies from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Proverbs 30:8

Stand at Ease Disease

Who remembers high school chemistry? How many of you took chemistry? How many of you took high school biology? How many took high school? How many of you took college chemistry, biology and other medical classes? What do you know about diseases? Besides they maim, paralyze, and kill. Fungal growth usually live off of and feed on living organisms. Dangerous stuff! A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism or part that impairs normal physiological functioning. A fungus is any of numerous plants or the division or sub-kingdom Thallophyta lacking chlorophyll ranging in form from a single cell to a body of mass of branched filamentous hyphae that often produces specialized fruiting bodies and including the yeasts, molds, smuts, and mushrooms. Whadda think: is sin a disease or a fungus: or both?

People say alcoholism is a disease. If it is; it’s the only disease that is bottled, sold and taxed! People say marijuana is a disease. If it is; it’s the only disease that is packaged as brownies, cookies, candies and other venues then sold and taxed in many areas. Truffles are tasty, but they’re still a fungus! Let’s put away our chemistry, biology and medical books; we find sin defined “in the Bible”. Romans 14:23 says that; “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin”! You might think this a gray area. “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” means that to go against a conviction will leave a person with a guilty or uneasy conscience. When God shows us that something is wrong for us, we should avoid it. This is not rocket science. And we know what alcohol, marijuana, and other drug products do to us. They maim, paralyze and kill. All diseases and fungi aside—sin is 100% fatal; unless…you have THE ANTIDOTE. The definition of sin and its cure are found on the Roman road! Looking?

Bottom Line

Be careful what you choose. You are free to choose between two masters, but you are not free to manipulate the consequences of your choices. Each of the two masters pays with his own kind of currency. The currency of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That is all you can expect or hope for in life without God. Jesus’ currency is eternal life. What choice have you made?

Hungry For the News

When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming over the crest of the hill, with that big multi-colored coat flapping in the wind, looking like royalty, they hatched a plan without a moment of hesitation, look at pretty boy; let’s kill him! This poor teenager, daddy’s favorite, was about to encounter the Yiddish ‘twilight zone’. Beaten, thrown in a dry well, and sold into slavery for a half pound of silver; Joseph was seeing firsthand how brotherly love didn’t work to his advantage! For all his brothers knew, Joseph was sold at the slave market, never to be heard from again. This violent turn of events launched Joseph into a trajectory that caused him to land in Egypt. Into the second most powerful seat in Egypt!

Twenty years without a letter from home is a long time! Joseph wondered how the family was doing. Who had been sick, who had married, who had died and who had moved away? So many questions, so few answers. No news is unsettling! Would you have given the family a second thought after what had transpired? To be fair, Joseph’s family didn’t know where or who he was. A severe famine in Joseph’s hometown brought his brothers to Egypt to buy food. Joseph recognized his brother’s, but they didn’t recognize the powerful ruler before them. He was hungry for news from home, but played his role wisely. When he finally revealed himself to his brothers, they were terrified. What would happen to them? Had it been anyone other than Joseph, it might have been their final day. Joseph decided to forgive and forget and told them of God’s plan. Joseph told them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20

God uses people’s evil actions to sometimes fulfill His ultimate plan. God is sovereign. His plans are not dictated by human actions. “So, then it was not you who sent me here (Egypt), but God.” Genesis 50:20.

Bottom line “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” Psalm 56:11

The Total so Far is.....

What if? What if you were assigned an angel, not a guardian angel, but an accounting angel, to watch your every step? An angel to meticulously count your every mistake, every misbehavior, every misfeasance, every misstep, every misreckoning, every mismanagement, every misbegotten thought, every misnomer, every miscue, every miscalculation, every misconduct, every mishap, every misunderstanding, every misalliance, every trivial misdemeanor, and every mischievous misthought, time date and place!

It might go something like this: he fell down, he got up, he fell down, he fell down, he fell down, he barely got up, he fell down, he stayed down, someone helped him up, he fell down and kept falling, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Attitude is not the issue, restoration is the issue. Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” Everyone must travel the Roman Road to have restoration.

What if, on Judgment Day, your scrupulously precise angel presented all the books on your behavior, and they stacked up like a redwood forest. The judge sees your Roman Road passport and dismisses all charges!

Did Noah Wear A Fedora?

Everybody knows about Noah and the ark he built to save mankind. Without doubt it’s one of the greatest stories ever told—one man; saving the world! The Bible mentions men in 99% of the stories in the Bible, but every now and then a woman captures the attention of the writer and the reader!

Did you know that there were two Noahs? There was Noah the great ark builder and there was Noah the daughter of Zelophehad Numbers 26; (Did her dad name her after the original?) In Biblical times sons got everything, including the inheritance from their dad. This included any land that dad owned. Time passed and Zelophehad died, leaving no sons, just Noah and her four sisters. Then providence intervened. Noah went to Moses and asked, “Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives!” Noah proposed an original idea.

Moses brought the issue directly to God, and after some deliberations, the matter was settled. God agreed with the five women! God told Moses to set up a rule that extended forward; that the property of any man who died without sons should go to his daughters. A legal precedent was set! Case law established by the ultimate judge! But it wasn’t over yet!

Noah petitioned Moses again asking, “What if we marry out of our tribe, wouldn’t our inheritance become part of our husband’s tribes?” Moses brought the same issue directly to God, again, and after more deliberations, the matter was settled, again. God agreed with the five women, again, but only to the extent that they marry within their own tribe so that the territorial lines would remain intact (Numbers 36:5-12). Case law established by the ultimate judge, again! Was it over? We wait.
See the case law established in Numbers 26, 27, 36 and Joshua 17. See for yourself.

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Spreading the Gospel to the whole world today-is it possible? Tomorrow? Imagine all the obstacles to overcome. There are language barriers, cultural barriers, financial barriers, geographical barriers and ideological barriers. There has to be effective communications, a receptive audience, the proper dialect, political correctness, financial considerations and calculated time.

Don’t underestimate the warnings Jesus warned us about. In Matthew 24 He warned us about war and rumors of war. Famines, earthquakes, Christians being persecuted and killed, false prophets deceiving many, false Christ’s, lawlessness, and evil. In the end times the Lord says you will see an increase in frequency and intensity of disasters and deaths. On the Mount of Olives, the disciples asked Jesus for the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. Jesus’ first response was “Watch out that no one deceives you” Matthew 24:4. Problem is: When we look for signs we become susceptible to being deceived. The only sure way to keep from being deceived is to focus on Christ and His words. Don’t look for special signs and commentaries on The End Days…Look to Christ

“No one knows about that day and hour, not even the angles in Heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, somewhere in the world; someone is hearing the gospel. The earth has seen full coverage for some time now. There’s television, cable, radio, cell phones, I-pods, blackberries, PDA’s, 3G, 4G, Gee Whiz, newspapers, books, magazines, songs, word of mouth, movies, evangelists and missionaries all over the world are working to get ‘The Word’ out to beat the deadline. What deadline you ask? Simple; once critical mass is reached, Matthew 24:14 affirms “Then the end will come.” And when is that you ask?

The end

Who's Your Superhero?

Everyone knows by now that Superman is really mild-mannered Clark Kent. Spiderman is actually the ubiquitous Peter Parker. As for the rest of our superhero crime fighters, their identity must remain a secret. What about the superheroes that walk among us daily? Do you see them for who they are?

What about the pastor who's underpaid and works a 70 hour week trying to feed the Bible to his flock, counsels drug addicts, tries to fix bent and broken marriages, and keep the bills paid up? What about your neighbor, the single mother of three who works two jobs, drives a 20 year old car, tries to make it to the AA meetings and cares for her aging parents? And the others: those walking the earth carrying a load of problems not of their own making.

Jesus was a superhero in disguise. He leaped tall problems with a single step, was faster to do good than the gossip people spread, and was more powerful than a speeding accusation. He was a mild-mannered Jewish carpenter, who could teach in any synagogue, refute any slander, and stop to help the downtrodden at a moment's notice.

"The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!” 2 Samuel 22:47

Who's your superhero? A sports figure, a movie star, a business mogul, a Bible character? Why?

After A Week of Partying

Too much to drink, too much to smoke, too many drugs, too many pills; morning light is blinding you; you stagger to the sink and look in the mirror. The image looking back at you has deep bloodshot eyes, smeared lipstick, hair that’s all bent and twisted, and your complexion looks like the translucent post larval octopus below, from the deepest part of the ocean. The wrinkles and the aged look frighten you. And your girlfriend looks worse!

The King had one of those nights that lasted for seven days! King Xerxes of Persia reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa. In the third year of his reign he threw the mother of all drinking parties. “On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the peoples and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.” (Ester 1:10-11)

Looking back can you see that something was askew here? After a week of hard drinking, partying, the King wanted to show off his lovely Queen. The Queen got the impression something was not kosher and refused the King’s orders. All things considered, probably a sensible decision. A drunken King wanting to put his wife on display to his drunken guests—what could possibly go wrong?