Yours Mine and His

There have been a lot of people expressing their opinions lately about a great many things. Opinions are like noses - as they say - everyone has one and most of them smell.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's a free country, right? At least it WAS. What's YOUR opinion?

Facts should be our common currency in the marketplace of ideas. But those seem harder to come by than $2 a gallon gas these days.

Honesty, truth, and integrity should be the norm in any civilized society. So, why do we struggle so much trading in those three commodities? The answer is simple.

We have misplaced our worship.

The Apostle Paul probably described us best 2,000 years ago in his letter to the Roman church.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being." - Romans 1:21-23

Think about it. Aren't we worshipers of 'self' rather than God? Don't we value our own opinions more than God's truth?

Consider what the world would look like if we all obeyed God instead of our own selfish desires. Our own versions of the truth.

There would be no war or hunger. There would be no debate over who is male or female. There would be no murder or crime. The world would be filled with love for one another. So, why don't we strive for that? Why do we continue to wallow in our own worldliness?

Read that passage from Romans 1 again. We are lovers of self.

To change that, we must climb down from our throwns and relinquish control over all things to God. And that is our struggle because we choose not to do that. And here we are.

It would take an act of God to change the course we have set ourselves upon. God has had just about enough of the gods that we have created for ourselves.

But that's just my opinion.

The Red Pill

What if I told you that there was another world out there, similar to this one we are living in right now. Would you believe me? Probably not. Why should you? Well, because, if you don't, you will die.

You still don't believe me though, do you? And why should you? I mean, who am I? I'm just a crazy old man telling you a story. I might be crazy but the story isn't mine. I'm just passing it along.

The story was written 2,000 years ago. Longer ago than that actually. The story is found in the Bible. Jesus spoke it to us. 

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6

In this verse we see that in order to get to this other world we need to take a trip. We need to "come to the Father." And the only way we can get there is to travel through Jesus. So, how do we do that?

We must be IN Jesus. 

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is IN His Son." 1 John 5:11

So, how do we enter IN to Jesus? By placing our faith and trust IN Him. By submitting ourselves to Him and His will. We must be IN Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

And there it is. The person we were BEFORE we entered IN to Christ no longer lives. Rather it is Christ who lives in us!

Jesus is the red pill!

Once you are IN Christ, and He in you, you will see everything differently. Everything suddenly becomes new. Especially our hearts.

Our eyes see differently. Our ears hear new things. We are a NEW creation! And there is the alternate reality, the alternate world I told you about.

What a gift! A new life! A new ETERNAL life. I thank God for "The Red Pill" whose name is Jesus.

Saved!

This has got to be one of the most incredibly dramatic photos I have ever seen. It is a picture of an unconscious woman, under water, being rescued from certain death by her swimming coach.

It is also a metamorphic picture of another life changing event - that of a sinner being lifted up, again being saved from certain death, into a new life in Christ.

Have you ever had a life-changing event like  that in your life? Jesus tells us that it is required to receive eternal life.

"Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” - John 3:3

Are YOU born again?

George Barna research shows 30% of Americans considered themselves as being born again in 2017. That figure dropped 20% over the previous two decades. And this year has dropped to just 25%. A disturbing trend.

Unless we are born again, we are spiritually dead and sinking to the bottom of the pool.

Do you remember an event in your life when you came to believe? Have you sought Jesus with all your heart? Are you obsessed with the things of God - prayer, reading God's Word? Have you become changed?

This is important stuff! Just because you go to church doesn't mean that you have been saved. Make sure today!

In closing, I enlarged the picture of the two underwater ladies. It's a little pixilated, but it reminded me of another picture I had seen before. A picture of two men. See if you don't agree.

Amen.

Common Sense

Back in 1775, Thomas Paine wrote a 47-page pamphlet called Common Sense. Apparently, our forefathers had some of that back then. These days common sense seems harder to come by than baby formula and cheap gas.

According to Wikipedia (so you know it's true), "Paine connected independence with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to present a distinctly American political identity and structured Common Sense as if it were a sermon. Historian Gordon S. Wood described Common Sense as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era."

We could use some "common sense" in both our government and our personal thinking.

I look out at the woods that my wife and I live in. A gentle breeze blows in through the open windows, birds are singing and a doe and her fawn walk through the yard. None are in a particular rush.

Contrast that setting with a big, bustling city or a political assembly of differing viewpoints. Totally opposite.

Something has changed in our society. Our world is different now than it once was. I believe that the distance we have placed between ourselves and God in our daily lives is the cause. We are without excuse, as Paul says in his letter to the church in Rome.

"Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen." - Romans 1:20-25

Only God can save us from this mess we have placed ourselves in. Only God.

The Bible says that Jesus will return and remove His church, then there will be seven years of tribulation (much worse that anything we have ever experienced). After that, God will create a NEW heaven and a NEW earth. In short, things are not going to be getting better for the earth and those who do not believe in Jesus.

We need to quit looking at the world and trying to figure out ways to save it. Instead, we need to look at ourselves and figure out ways to save US!

There IS only one way to be saved. Jesus. Common sense tells us that we should seek to find that way . . . before it's too late.

Worthy

I find myself thinking about my unworthiness this morning. And while I am a sinner at heart, I have been MADE worthy by the sinless one, the Lord Jesus.

Several years ago at a Christian music festival, my friend Gayle and I were asking questions of passersby about their faith. One young man came by who got more answers right than any other - my friend DJ.

I am thinking about one of those questions this morning. "Do you think you are good enough to get into heaven?"

Some people answered yes, some no. The right answer, of course, is no. There is no one who is worthy to enter heaven.

But my friend DJ answered 'yes' by saying, "Yes, I am! Through the shead blood of Jesus Christ." Great answer.

"Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits a of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” - Revelation 5:1-10

Are we worthy? No. But Jesus is and He sacrified Himself to satisfy God's wrath against our sin. He sacrificed His life so that we might live.

Think about THAT as you walk through this day.

Revelation Song - Phillips Craig and Dean
Is He Worthy - Chris Tomlin

The Open Door

You can't see it, but it's there. You can walk through it without moving your feet. Once passed through, you will emerge on the other side, changed. What is it?

"Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."John 10:7-10

I was talking with a young friend of mine this past week who was thinking about changing jobs. She described a series of events that led her to think that maybe this job change was something she should consider.

"Sounds like an open door to me," I replied.

"Open doors" can be scary things to step through but, if they are from God, those confident steps can also be the most rewarding.

Jesus promised us that we will have life more abundantly if we walk through HIS open door. This is NOT The Prosperity Gospel that is preached in many of our churches today - the name-it-and-claim-it gospel. No. This is an offer from the One True God - Jesus.

Notice in the text that Jesus said, "I am the door of the sheep." Jesus is not the door for all. While it is true that Jesus died once, for all (Hebrews 7:27), not everyone accepts His invitation to step through the door.

The real question is not whether we "choose" to step through open doors but rather, are we the sheep of His pasture?

Jesus then goes on to say this in John 7:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." - John 7:11

Step through the open door....and into the Shepherd's waiting arms. He gave His life to give you that opportunity.

Move your feet.

Why?

"Life would be so much easier if everyone would just agree with me."

Everybody has an opinion. So, what happens when someone's beliefs conflict with ours? When someone's world view conflicts with our own, how do we handle it?

There are three options. 1.) We can dismiss their opinion. "They're obviously wrong." 2.) We can argue and fight over it. "I'm right and you're wrong." 3.) Or we can try to understand their position and verify our own stance. "Why do you say that?"

Scripture gives examples of all three. Jesus, being God, was ALWAYS right. So there is an example for #2. But because we are humans, and often governed by emotions and/or life experiences, we seem to factor in our own personal desires in any solution.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?" - James 4:1

Our third option for resolving differences seems our best choice. Try to understand what shapes the opinions of others that makes those opinions different from ours.

Jesus did that. For someone who KNOWS everything and can read our minds, He sure asked a lot of questions. Why?

Jesus asked questions as a means to get people to realize they were wrong. His questions led them to what He ultimately was trying to teach them. The truth.

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good - except God alone." - Mark 10:18

"Why?" is a very powerful question. So, WHY don't we use it more often?

Voddie Baucham once said that "we Christians must know WHAT we believe, WHY we believe it, and then be able to effectively communicate to others". He's right.

Unfortunatly, most of us stop at 'knowing what we believe.' That's just our meaningless opinion. 'WHY we believe it' means everything.

"Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?"

YES!

"Why?"

Uhhhhh. Well.... let me get back to you on that, okay?

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." - 1 Peter 3:15

Do you remember this song from Sunday school?

"Jesus loves me, this I know."

WHY?

"For the Bible tells me so."

And there you have it.

That Guy's Dead

In one of the most misused passages of scripture, ever, Jesus told His disciples how to judge someone (inside the church), "You will know them by their fruit." - Matthew 7:16

The picture featured here is from the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In this scene the man lying down dies and literally kicks a bucket down the hill (That's what everyone is looking at).

When the bucket finally comes to rest, Jonathan Winters (the guy at the upper left) utters these more than obvious words.

"That guy's dead."

Let's get back to Jesus now, and about our judging others. The Apostle Paul tells us we are NOT to judge those outside of the church. They're dead. Spiritually speaking. 

"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?" - 1 Corinthians 5:12

But we ARE to judge those INSIDE the church.

If we see someone in the church who is not bearing the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) we have no course but to question their actions.

Jesus tells us in back in Matthew 7 the means by which we are to confront that person. Paul then tells us in 1 Corinthians 5 that if they refuse to repent of their actions that person is to be kicked out of the church. Their own actions have condemned them.

As Jonathan Winters said, "That guy's dead."

But Jesus also reminds us that BEFORE we judge someone like that, we are to examine ourselves and make sure that WE are not just as guilty.

Professing faith is good, so long as it accompanied by deeds (by fruit). Remember, it is not good deeds that saves us, it is by God's grace that we are saved.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

Should we not act like we have been saved, if indeed we have been? As Christians we are literally followers of Christ. Shouldn't we act like Him then?

Jesus confronted sinners, in love. At the same time Jesus was also quite harsh in His judgement of the religious leaders of His day. They professed a belief in God, but they were actually dead inside.

It's one thing to condemn others saying, "That guy's dead." But it is another thing entirely to come alongside that person and guide them back onto the path that they have strayed from.

"Love one another, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." - John 13:34

God Works

It's interesting, how God works. It seems to me that His workings often take unthought-of forms and work in the most unexpected of ways.

Last week a mom contacted me through our disc golf clubs Facebook page. She wanted to rent or borrow some discs so that her kids could try out disc golf.

I carry a small selection of unclaimed lost discs in my trunk (for such a time as this?). Some have been in there for years, despite repeated attempts to get them back to their owner.

"You can have these."

We met at the local course on Thursday, where I gave them a brief lesson on the basics. I taught them about throwing, putting, the flight characteristics of discs, and some basic rules. But I learned something at the same time. About God.

I taught these people with love. I wanted them to learn. I encouraged them as often as I could. I corrected them when they were doing something wrong. In the end all had improved, all enjoyed playing a new sport, and all were given a free gift.

Doesn't  that sound like what God does? Isn't that how God works? He loves, He chastens, He instructs, He blesses. And He gave us a "free" gift - His Son.

"For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” - Hebrews 12:6

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37:4

God has blessed me with three new friends. I shared the knowledge I had with people who did not know - to help and encourage them. That's how God works. Multiplying blessing upon blessing for ALL of His children.

It is an honor and a privilege to be used by God for the accomplishing of His purpose and for His glory. Teaching disc golf? No. For loving others and sharing the good news of Jesus.

God is not done with these people. He's not done with ANY of us. He keeps right on refining and teaching, loving and blessing. Love the Lord! He loves you!!

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

Consume Me

My wife and I watched our grandson play baseball last night. One of the joys of being a grandparent is watching 'one of your own' performing well.

Watching all the kids playing, it didn't take long to figure out that everyone is different. Some are more intense, some are insecure. Some enjoy what they're doing while others become frustrated and quickly upset.

This same pattern holds true for Christians as well. We're all over the place with our faith. Some are on fire for the Lord while others treat their faith with such casualness, it make one wonder if they have any faith at all.

Some little leaguers have no talent whatsoever for the game,  while others excel at it. Why is that?

Everyone is different. It would seem though that the ones who do well have a little 'something extra' inside. The same is true for Christians.

That 'something extra' is God's Holy Spirit. It's the 'consuming fire' that was given to us when we came to believe.

"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." - Deuteronomy 4:24

That's my question for today. Does God consume us? Or is He just a casual acquintance? Is God our 'everything'? Or is He just a 'magic genie' we pray to now and then?

One day, and I believe it will be soon, we will all have to answer that question.

If we do not feel 'on fire' for God, if we have not been consumed by Him, we need to offer ourselves to God today. Our 'self' MUST be consumed.

Pray.

Be born in me, Lord. Consume me today. Take this empty, broken vessel and make me whole, make me new, in You. Amen.

Be Born In Me - Francesca Batistelli

Steady Me Now

It's raining as I write this today. No thunder or lightening. Just rain. Sometimes rain can be quite peaceful, like now. But other times, well, I'm sure you have all felt THOSE storms.

When things get really bad, we need to remember some truths about God.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6

When there is too much rain in our lives, we can sometimes feel like we're drowning. During times like those we need something to stand on. Like a rock - THEE Rock!

"Be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25

What we need in times of trouble in an "anchor." Something we can hold on to, or that will hold onto us - to steady us. God IS that anchor.

The link below is a song about someone experiencing a storm in their life and asking God to steady him. And to not let go. What a prayer! Dear God . . .

In angry oceans, You’ve never broken

Through every wave of the storm

You are my anchor

So steady me, steady me now

Have a steady and anchored Monday.

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." - Hebrews 6:19

Anchor - Skillet

Tim

I'd like you to meet my friend Tim. The two of us met earlier this year out at the local disc golf course. Tim is a walking reminder of why God wants us to have relationships.

During our first conversation a few months ago, I learned that Tim had lost his loving wife eight years earlier. I also learned that Tim had suffered a heart attack four years ago and had taken up disc golf as a way to get some exercise.

Well, I saw Tim again this past Wednesday. He was playing, I was cutting down trees.

I put down my chainsaw and walked out to talk with my buddy. As our conversation progressed, I learned that Tim was moving back to Missouri, where he was originally from. That's where his family is. His kids and grandkids.

His heart attack had scared him a little when he came to realize that he was literally all alone here in Wisconsin, familywise. Should he have another medical emergency, well, it's best to have family close by. If all goes well, Tim will be moving back home in just a few short weeks.

None of us knows when we will be spending our last day on this earth. What will we be doing when God calls us home? Will God find us loving others? Or will he find us too busy for a friend or for Him? Always take the time to love one another.

"Hey Tim. Before you leave, can I pray for you?"

"That'd be fine."

I don't know what Tim's faith is. Whether he has any or not. Whether he knows the Lord or not. I don't know if he's a Democrat or a Republican, what his sexual orientation is or whether he's a member of the NRA. But I DO know that I will miss my friend, and that is enough for today.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35

Jesus gave us that command three times in two sentences. What do you think? Does Jesus REALLY want us to love one another? Really?

Love Sweet Love

There is a song at the end of this story that I would like you to listen to. Don't watch the video, just listen to the song. Why? Because that's the way I heard it when I was in high school, listening to it in the car on 920 WOKY in Milwaukee.

The video comes up with a YouTube warning. Typical of today's world view. Back then anyone could listen to it and decide what they thought about it for themselves. There were no warning labels because this music needed to be played. The videos were all on the nightly news.

People my age lived through the JFK assassination, The Martin Luther King assassination, and the Bibby Kennedy assassination. AND the Vietnam war. It was a time of great unrest in our country. Kind of like right now actually.

I offer this song because, after the school shooting in Texas this past week, I think we need to hear it again.

The song suggests that "what the world needs now is love, sweet love." The songwriter couldn't be more right. We all could use more love in our lives right about now. With that in mind, consider this verse from the Bible.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." - 1 John 4:7-12

As we look at the world today, it soon becomes rather obvious that what we really and truly need, is love. Sweet love. The love of Christ.

Many people think they know what love is. However, if they don't KNOW God, do they really know love at all? They can't. It's impossible for them. Why?

Because GOD IS LOVE..

What the World Needs Now - Tom Clay