God's Way

The problem of disinterested people is not new.  It existed in some places even in the first century.  Paul said it existed in Corinth.  "For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness" (I Corinthians 1:22-23).

Paul had the power to offer signs to the Jews and the knowledge to compete with the Greeks in worldly wisdom.  The philosophy described above would have suggested advertisement of a lecture on "The Judiastic Philosophy in the Roman World." Obtaining his audience with this, he could then slip in a little about Jesus and the cross.  But this was not Paul's approach, as he told us: "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).  Human philosophy and human wisdom had no place in Paul's plan for saving the lost in Corinth.

Preaching only the gospel, of course, Paul could have announced himself as "Dr.  Paul, graduate of the University of Gamaliel, noted author, world traveler, inspired and dynamic lecturer." Rather, he says, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God ... I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:1, 3-5).

Worldly appeals simply cannot save lost men.  And to attach them to the gospel is to cheapen the good news of Jesus Christ.  By such appeals we may increase numbers and even "make waves," but such individuals in the local church are liabilities rather than assets.  As materials in God's building they are classified as "wood, hay, and straw." Paul warns against building such material into the church: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it.  But each man must be careful how he builds on it .... Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work" (I Corinthians 3:10, 12, 13).

- by Sewell Hall

 

The Power of the Blood of Christ

 

We pray you, Lord,

help your people

whom you have redeemed

with your precious blood.

 

…

       Revelation 1:5-6

                  5:9-13

                  7:9-17

                  12:7-12

                    19:13-16

 

Victory in Jesus

 

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

 

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:13-25

 

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:4-6

 

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:9-17

 

[Acknowledgement: The words and cross at the top (but not the heading, Scriptures, or “Victory in Jesus”) were seen on a little card beside the front door of a local friend’s house. Seeing it led me to write this page. “Victory in Jesus” was the title given to a study of the book of Revelation by Don Klingenberg (typing done by wife, Maxine), both now in Paradise. Don, originally from Washington, U.S. and who spent many years in Australia, was one of my teachers in word and life.]

 

--David Hunter

Heart pain

 

"Heartaches"

Dale Pollard

Have you ever been in such emotional pain that your heart felt like it was literally aching? The worst pain in this life is not always physical. Often times it's the emotional pain of saying "good bye" that can drive us to our knees. It can make us lash out in anger. It can make the toughest man alive break down in tears, and it can crush a young person's spirit. Why would a God of love and compassion let such a thing happen? If He cares, but He can't do anything about it, wouldn't that mean He's not all powerful? If He doesn't care, but He has the power, doesn't that mean He's cruel?

 

If you've got "heart pain" in your life, the best thing you can do is draw closer to God. Don't isolate yourself from the only true source of comfort and healing. Don't throw your head up to the sky, as if looking for some eye-contact with God. Rather, let your head fall to the scriptures. God will tell you that His ways are perfect, His word has been tried and tested, and He is the shield for those who decide to take refuge in Him (Psalm 18:30).

 

He would also tell you that if you are a righteous individual, He's going to deliver you from any trouble (Psalm 34:19). As a loving Father, God would tell you that He understands what you're going through (Isaiah 53:3). God would tell you to hang in there because while there is suffering, heartache, and pain here, there is a place prepared by Him where none of that exists (John 14:2-4). God would ask you to draw near to Him, because if you do He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

 

We can't always think of the appropriate words to say when someone is going through grief, but God always knows the right thing to say and He is perfect in all His ways. Bring Christ your broken life. He'll fix it for you.

 

A Murder Confession

On a cold rainy night on March 1, 1946, the doorbell rang. The wife of Felix Gulje answered the door and saw a woman standing there. The woman claimed that she had a letter to give to Felix. When he came to the door, he was met by a gun and shot in the chest. He died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. This murder remained a mystery for 65 years until recently. After all of this time, Atie Visser, at this point a 96-year-old woman, confessed to authorities that she had murdered Felix Gulje on that night. But now that she is so old and frail, they are not going to prosecute her.

 

It's troubling that it took Atie Visser 65 years to confess this murder. You have to wonder what went through her mind over this extensive period of time. Did she ever feel bad? Did she regret her actions? Did guilt ever get to her? While such questions are nothing but speculation, we do know that her guilty conscience clearly did not play much of a role for a very long time.

 

Sadly, people are constantly trying to "get away" with crimes in this country. Today we even have TV shows like "CSI" and "Law & Order" where people are trying to escape the punishment for their actions. While it seems like there are so many unsolved mysteries out there, it is important to remember the words of Hebrews 4:13, "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

 

While Atie Visser "got away" with murder for 65 years, this murder mystery was never a secret from God. Even if people aren't caught in this life, no one is actually "getting away" with anything. Christians are no different. Let's remember that we are not getting away with anything that occurs in secret (Psalm 33:13-15). God is always watching (2 Chronicles 16:9). Nothing is hidden from His sight (Job 34:21). He knows what we are doing and thinking. There will come a day when we will have to answer for our actions (Jeremiah 21:14; 32:19; Psalm 62:12; Matthew 16:27). If this is an uncomfortable thought, then something needs to change in our lives. 

 

--Brett Petrillo

 

Hell

“By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…” 2 Peter 2:3-4

What is in hell? Hell, in many mythological, folklore and religious traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in an afterlife. It is viewed by most Abrahamic traditions as punishment. ... Many are ruled by a death god such as Nergal, Hades, Hel, Enma or the Devil. (Wikipedia)

Hell is not something most people want to hear taught. In fact, many believe that a loving God could never condemn anyone to hell. This just shows how far we have drifted from God’s word in our thinking today. Notice these words from Jesus:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:29).

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

“Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:45-46).

Jesus taught very forcefully on the subject of hell. His teaching was a constant warning to his hearers that they should repent and avoid this place of eternal destruction. It makes no difference how much we try to avoid the subject; hell is a reality in the teaching and doctrine of Jesus.

C. S. Lewis had some interesting things in his writings about hell. Some is just speculation but some is also very Biblical in its content. In The Screwtape Letters Lewis wrote, “The safest road to hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Screwtape is coaching his nephew, a junior demon, on the nuances of leading someone to hell.

In The Problem of Pain Lewis wrote, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason.”

In The Great Divorce Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” This coincides with what Paul wrote to the Romans regarding the Gentiles who rejected God, “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature” (Rom. 1:26).

Scott Gage

Bible verses about dreams

According to Numbers 13:30, dreams:

• Cause us to act-"Let us go"
• Cause us to see urgency-"Let us go up at once"
• Create faith within us-"Let us go up at once for we are well able"

45 years later, Caleb, who spoke in that passage, says, "I want the place where the giants live, the sons of Anak" (Josh. 14:12). He had a dream, but one man having the dream didn't make the difference. 602,448 of his fellow soldiers died. 1000s and 1000s of women died because they didn't share the dream.

 

I believe that churches need to dream big and have faith that those hopes and desires that please God and glorify Him will be accomplished. But there may be pitfalls along the way, any one of which may keep us from doing great things. In Caleb's day, there were the obstacles of intimidation (31-33; 14:2-3), opposition-walled cities (28), enemies (29), imagination-borrowed trouble and irrational fear (32-33; 14:3), defeatism (31), and unbelief (14:11). Today, if we'll let him, Satan will provide a way to disobey what God wants us to do. When we do, the consequences are grave (cf. 32-33). There will always be excuses for why we shouldn't work at doing the Lord's will. But God gives us large dreams and objectives. The Promised Land, with all its blessings, was from God and by God. God opens so many doors of opportunity to us. He wants us to take advantage of these opportunities and fulfill His objectives for us. He's shown that He gives more opportunities to those who work with the ones already given. Remember the parable of the talents (Mat. 25:21,28-29). The greatest limit on our ability to fulfill those challenges and dreams is us (Eph. 3:20). Remember, God wants us to keep growing and doing more good for His glory (Phil. 4:19), and if God be for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)?

 

--Neal Pollard

Lamentations 3

There is a lot of suffering in the world these days, isn't there?  Sometimes it just breaks your heart.  There are some people who must wonder why everything seems to go so wrong in their life. And I know that the pain is real and sometimes severe. 

 

Sometimes when people suffer so much, in their cry to express their pain, there may be a temptation to blame God or, at least, to question why we should have to suffer so.  In Lamentations 3:1-22, Jeremiah felt like he was a special target for God's afflictions on His people, but even so he refused to give up his trust in Jehovah. 

 

A few verses later in that same chapter, the weeping prophet makes a statement that all of us would do well to consider: Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?  Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:39, 40).  We really do not have any cause for complaint.  I don't mean that we should just grin and bear it when we suffer such terrible afflictions.  We should cry out to God and we can take great comfort in the fact that He has promised to hear our cry and deliver us.  However, we must stop short of blaming God for the things we suffer. 

 

We suffer in this life simply because we are still in this life and not in heaven where there will be no more tears (Revelation 21:4).  As long as we remain here there will be pain.  What we need to concentrate on is returning to the Lord. 

 

In Lamentation 3, for several verses Jeremiah continues his "lament" that he suffers at the hand of God and as a result of his own sins, but a subtle shift takes place along about verse 50.  There is no hope until ...the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.  From there Jeremiah describes the deliverance by the hand of God.  When Jeremiah returned to the Lord and cried out "from the lowest pit" (verse 55), God heard and said, "Do not fear!"  (verse 57).  Verse 58 says, "O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause; You have redeemed my life."

 

The point of this note is not that you deserve what you get in this life.  It is not to say that God is just paying us back what we have earned.  Nor do we mean to say that all you have to do is cry out to the Lord and there will be no more pain in this life.  What this passage of Scripture, these "lamentations" of the prophet Jeremiah, seems to be saying is that if we concentrate on what is most important (returning to the Lord), we can look forward to salvation in the end.  And that is only because God loves us enough to make this possible.  

 

--Donnie Bates

What is the abundant life?

ABUNDANT LIFE

John 10:10 (NASB)  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

            When it really comes down to it … the bottom line … the core of the Christian life we need to remember the words of Jesus about the life he gives. The abundant life means that he doesn’t want us to live with fear and cynicism. He wants us to know that as He overcame the world, we can too (1 John 5:5)

            When Jesus prayed for his followers (John 17) he tells us that we cannot expect the world to understand us because they did not understand Him. The prayer for his followers comes right on the heels of these strengthening words … "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).

            The world, with its empty promises will pass away and the only hope we have is through our faith in Christ (1 John 4:4; 5:4). That knowledge comes through our learning about him (2 Peter 1:3), and that comes from the word of God. The truth of the song we all learned in Sunday School rings out “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” And if the Bible didn’t tell me, I couldn’t know for sure.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

---Edwin Myers

 

"Sons of God" & "Daughters of Men"

In Genesis 6:7 we read of God's gross displeasure with the wickedness of men: "And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

Just prior to this announcement there is a statement that has caused quite a lot of speculation.  "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose ... There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:1,2,4).

What does this mean?  Who were the "sons of God," and where did they come from?  Some have guessed that these were angels or heavenly beings of some sort.  The theory goes that these beings lusted for and ultimately mated with human women.  The "mighty men" that resulted from these unions are held up as proof that something 'other-worldly' had occurred. There are some major problems with this view.  Briefly:  1) It ascribes human sexual desire to heavenly beings.  There is nothing in the Scriptures that would support this conclusion.  All we know of angels is that they "neither marry, nor are given in marriage" (Matthew 22:30).  2) It diminishes the uniqueness of the virgin birth of Jesus.  His case alone stands out as one in which a child was born by some means other than by natural conception.

What is the answer then?  A key verse is Genesis 4:26: "...then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."   It seems that as human history began to unfold, some men began to make the conscious choice to follow God, and others did not.  Those who "called upon the name of the Lord" would have been known - then, as now - as the "sons of God." But as time went on, even these men began to be corrupt (including their marriages to wicked mates).  Finally, they also were so full of sin that "it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" and only Noah "found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:6,8).

- by Greg Gwin

 

Louisa Tarkington, Putting Your Past Behind You

An author once stated, "I wish there were some wonderful place called 'the Land of Beginning Again,' where all of our past mistakes and heartaches, and all of our poor selfish grief, could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never be put on again" (Louisa Tarkington, Putting Your Past Behind You, p. 13).

There are hundreds of movies where the main character's goal is to go back in time and correct mistakes of the past. This idea of "a new beginning" has always been an appealing one. We've all messed up (Romans 3:23), and so we wish that we could have a fresh start. There are words we wish we could take back, actions we wish we hadn't done, and decisions we wish we hadn't made.

Unfortunately, this life does not work this way. The great news is, there is a way to get a fresh start. Revelation 21:25-27 explains, "In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."

To put it simply, there is no sin in heaven. All of our mistakes, sins, and poor decisions will be "left at the door" and will never be a part of us again. While baptism does cleanse us of the sins we commit (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4), those sins cannot be reversed. Sometimes the punishments of these sins are ones people continue to deal with for life. In heaven, there is no punishment. We will be cleansed and remain so forever. The kicker is that in order to obtain this, we must be saved (1 Peter 3:21), and then remain faithful until death (Revelation 2:10). How very sweet this will be. Let's make sure we are living in a way to obtain this reward!

 

Brett Petrillo