Bob, Bob

I might be old but I am still learning what it means to be a follower of Christ. Like this past Saturday for example.

I was running a glow-in-the-dark disc golf tournament. Preparations were going well. I had lights for the baskets, glow-in-the-dark plastic, and treats for everyone. 

I even had volunteers - a rare thing these days. I was so organized and prepared I even had time to listen to a sermon I had missed the previous weekend due to illness.

The message was from Luke 10:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:38-42

Good message. Then Saturday, three hours before the event, I received a text from one of my volunteers. 

"I can't make it tonight."

What!?! Seriously? How irresponsible of him. This put a major cramp in my plans for the evening. How could I manage? Everything hinged on these volunteers being there. Great. Just great.

Later, as the event was about to begin, a car pulled up. My ONE volunteer got out. But then my OTHER volunteer also climbed out. The one who had cancelled.

Well, he probably felt guilty and came, I thought. Nope. He came to teach me a lesson.

"I had a flat tire and Nate saved me."

I could almost hear Jesus saying, "Bob, Bob. You are worried and upset about many things."

I was so concerned with my event that day, so busy with my preparations, that I had neglected to ask why my cancelling volunteer WHY he couldn't make it. I just dismissed him as his breaking a promise. It was actually I who was at fault.

Life can get busy at times but it should never get so busy that we forget to do the things God asks us to do.

What will God be asking us to do today?

Choose Wisely

It's Halloween - a time when people dress up,  pretending to be someone else. But don't we do that every day anyway?

I recently heard of someone who decided to change their sex. Instead of being a boy, they decided to become a girl. I thought about that for a moment and then dismissed it. Such a thing is not possible, no matter how hard we might try.

For us to be capable of changing our sex, well, we would have to be God. And even if God chose to do such a thing, I doubt that He ever would. It's against His will.

Still, God has done some pretty life changing things. Numerous times Jesus healed people from all kinds of illnesses, demonstrating He has power to not only heal, but restore and transform the human body into whatever He wants.

In the Old Testament, God turned people leprous with a thought, sent plagues and diseases meant to punish the disobedient, and caused others to simply die right on the spot. But in the entirety of scripture God has never changed a man into a woman, or vice versa. 

"He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created." - Genesis 5:2

So, why do we humans try to do such things ourselves if actions such as these are against God's will? Good question. The answer is simple.

Those who attempt such things don't believe in God. They believe only in their own feelings. And that's where all of our problems begin. Placing OUR desires above God's will.

“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” - Proverbs 28:26

We all like to 'feel good' and many will do whatever they can to accomplish that goal. But thiat scenario has been going on for millennia.

Today we hand out participation trophies so that everyone can FEEL good, even when their team sucks. Schools no longer hand out failing grades. Why? So that no child is traumatized by their own failure.

Our main problem as a society is that we have forgotten about God and we no longer concern ourselves with what HE thinks. It's all about what WE want. And now we are simply living with the consequences of our own choices. Oops.

Choose wisely.

The Parable of The Fruit Tree

There is an old saying in the church that "80% of the work is done my 20% of the people." Is that true in YOUR church?

I have found that saying to be true in most of the churches I have ever been a part of - except for my current church. There, 80% of the work is done by 80% of the people.

Our pastor joked recently about having a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. He said that if we did that we'd need to take out a loan for all of the food we'd need to buy.

Back in the Book of Acts we find our model for what the church should be. They had a 100% -100% church. All of the work was done by all of the people.

"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." - Acts 4:32-35

The first sentence holds the key, I believe, to a healthy church. "Those who believed were of one heart and soul."

We cannot see inside a person's heart or soul but we CAN see the fruit that people bear. Jesus spoke of this to His disciples.

"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit." - Matthew 7:17

Churches of today are made up of all kinds of people, fruit trees, often with differing beliefs and depths of commitment. Far from the 100% church we read about in Acts.

Question: If your church is a 20%-80% church, and if you don't mind my asking, what are you still doing there?

A church should be like a family . . . because it is! All it's members should be children of God, right? And if all are children, then all are brothers and sisters. Those who are not family are like the kid next door, who came for a visit and a snack, before returning home where they have no food.

If God has blessed you with a wonderful church family, rejoice! If not, begin searching for the bountiful fruit trees around you and get grafted in today!

Noah, Lot and You?

I have a theory. I don't know if it's true or not but there is evidence in scripture that God has done this type of thing in the past. The question is, will He do it again?

The first example I would like you to consider is Noah. Exhibit A:

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth." - Genesis 6:9-10

This text says nothing about the righteousness of Noah's sons. Were they righteous? We don't know. Now consider this passage:

"Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you." - Genesis 6:17-18

Exhibit B: Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

"The two men (angels) said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here - sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here," - Genesis 19:12

Again, the text says nothing about the righteousness of Lot's wife and daughters, but the angels warned Lot to get them out of the city before God destroyed it.

Is this an Old Testament pattern that will one day be fulfilled by Jesus? In Noah's case, the ark was a symbol of Jesus, the Messiah. To be saved, one had to enter the ark. That brings us to the question of the day. When Jesus returns to rapture His church, will unrighteous wives and children also be taken?

All Christians have been made righteous by their repentance and belief in Jesus, whose shed blood on the cross MADE them righteous in God's eyes.

There are many Old Testament foreshadowings of future events. Jonah spent three days and night in the bellow of a large fish. Jesus spent three days and nights in the belly of the earth before rising on the third day.

Jesus has fulfilled the first four Jewish festival days by doing something huge. There are three more of these days to be "completed." What's next? The rapture of His Church.

Jesus and HIS children will be saved from the wrath to come, but the rest of mankind will be destroyed.

I don't know the answer to today's question, but I do know this:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13

God may take our unbelieving spouses and children with us when He comes. He might not. Is that something you want to take a chance with? Place your trust and hope in Jesus today!

Do You Have MTD?

There is a problem in the world today, and in the Church. We have become a people who deal in concepts and theologies that have differing meanings.

For example, Muslims worship a god, but so do Christians, Satanists, and Mormons. But we ALL worship the same god, right?

Wrong!

I have a young friend who is struggling with what she believes in. She says she prays, but to WHOM does she pray? We all have different beliefs. Who is right?

In today's Christian church there is an increasing belief that God just wants us to be happy and to do good things. It's called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).

The term has been around since 2005 when Christian Smith wrote a book about it called Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Those teenagers are now adults and they're in sitting in our churches.

They believe that god wants them to be happy, so they can basically do whatever they want. It's very liberating, right? Everything is relative - sin, sex, drugs, personal behavior - morality in general is subject to the individual whim.

MTD people pray to a god when they want something and then wonder why he or she doesn't answer their prayers. Then they quit going to church because they see no advantage in it.

As the older generation fades away it is being replaced by individuals who believe in a false god. And we wonder why church attendance is down and apathy and lawlessness abound.

There is only one "happy" outcome to this problem. It involves repentance and Bible study.

1. Read the Bible!
2. Learn from it.
3. Modify our behavior to match it.
4. Worship the God that's in it.

Read the story of Elijah and The Profits of Baal and find out who the REAL God is.

God vs Baal

Here's an excerpt. Baal worshippers prayed to their god but no one answered.

"At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention." - 1 Kings 18:27-29

Then the God of the Bible stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.

Pay attention to the god you worship. When someone says they will pray for you, ask them to tell you about the god they are praying to. You just might be surprised. And shocked!

Cooper Stuff clip - Alyssa Childers

The Parable of The Train Whistle

Usually it's early in the morning that I hear it - a distant warning that something is coming. It is a lonely sound. Almost other-worldly. Like "the voice of one crying out in the wilderness."

It's a train whistle. Or more appropriately, a horn. Trains sound their horns whenever they are approaching an intersection with vehicular traffic.

Trains take a long time to stop. Why? Inertia. They also take a long time to get up to speed. But once they're moving, not much can stop them. Trains are a lot like God in that way.

God can be slow to get angry, but once He gets mad, you don't want to be in His way.

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." - Psalm 103:8

Did you ever see the movie Unstoppable? It's a movie about a runaway train. Lots of train whistles blowing on THAT movie!

So it will be at the time of God's coming. There will be a warning sounded. Unfortunately, when the ram's horn is blown, it will be too late to get out of the way of God's wrath.

The best way to be prepared for an on-coming train is to get off the track. And the best way to be prepared for God's coming is to make Him your Lord and Savior today.

Unstoppable Trailer

Symbiotic Relationships

Good morning class! Today we will be learning about different types of symbiotic relationships. There are three basic kinds. Which ones do YOU have in YOUR life?

The first is called mutualistic. That's where both people benefit in the relationship. If you have a best friend, that would be a good example. Mutualistic relationships are mutually beneficial. 

Another example of a relationship would be commensalistic. That's where one benefits and the other gets nothing out of it. This is basically a one-sided relationship. Unrequited love would be an example. One person loves another but does not receive that love in return.

The third type of relationship is parasitic. That's when one party consumes and damages the other. They are parasites, like a tick or a mosquito.

Look at the relationships in YOUR life. You probably have experiened all three types at one time or another.

There is actually a fourth type of symbiotic relationship. I'll call it a sacrificialistic. One person benefits at the willing sacrifice of another. Jesus is an example of this. He died so that we might live.

There ARE examples of these sacrificial people in our lives today. A kidney donor, a surrogate mother, a soldier.

Look at the relationships in your life. Can you find examples of all four? I hope and pray your relationships are teaming with mutually beneficial and sacrificially offered relationships.

And if you don't have a sacrificially beneficial relationship in your life, you can find one in Jesus. All you have to do is ask Him for that relationship. He has already paid the price for it.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." - John 15:13

Welcome Home!

Have you ever watched one of those 'welcome home' videos where a member of our military comes home and surprises their family?

I get tears in my eyes whenever I see one of those. I'm sure you do too. Who doesn't like to see loving family members reunited!

My mind wandered off after watching one of those videos this morning to contemplate on heavenly things. Will our arrival in the afterlife be similar to these earthly reunions we see? 

If the following verse is any indicator, I think the answer is 'yes.'

"In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!" - Luke 15:7

When I read that verse (and they are the words of Jesus), I wonder if there is a big viewing screen in heaven and everyone is watching us make our life decisions down here. Do actual cheers go up when someone repents?

Will they have a rewind button so they can watch someone's conversion over and over again? Who knows? All we know is what Jesus tells us - there will be joy!

That leads me to helieve that there will be NO joy for those who do not repent. The Bible is filled with stories of scenarios like that. Here's just one example.

"The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you . . . yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud." - Judges 2:1,2,&4

There are two possible outcomes from the lives we are currently living here on earth. One is filled with 'weeping and gnashing of teeth'. The other is filled with joy and celebration.

One of my favorite expressions is this: 'Not to decide is to decide.'

Make your decision today.

Military Sergeant Surprises His Wife

All For Jesus?

Every so often I wake up with a song in head. It plays repeatedly until I get busy doing something else or some other "top hit" makes it's way through to #1. Does that ever happen to you?

This time however the song was relentless. It was as if someone wanted me to understand something.

The words in my head kept repeating and repeating, until their meaning became clear.

"Jesus, all for Jesus, all I am and have and ever hope to be."

Is "all I am and have and ever hope to be," all for Jesus? Ouch. Honestly, no. This is a very humbling lyric for me.

The song goes on to say this:

"All on my ambitions, hopes and plans, I surrender these into your hands."

Do I do that? Do I surrender "my ambitions, hopes and plans" into the hands of Jesus? Umm, next question please.

And then this line. This line in the song really made me think.

"For it's only in your will that I am free."

Think about that for a moment and let it sink in deeply. It is only in the will of God that we can be free. Free from what?

Free from sin. Free from disappointing God with our decisions and actions. Free from guilt and remorse. Free to love others unconditionally and without ulterior motives, strings and attachments. Free! Totally free!

No wonder I am singing this sing over and over again. It is a reminder. A reminder for why God created us in the first place.

We were not created for any other purpose than to love, honor and obey our Lord. Period.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus, All For Jesus - Robin Mark

The Parable of the Cache

We had an overnight visit from our grandson this past weekend. We did lots of fun things. And then there was our hike to the state park.

Our walk started off beautifully. All the leaves on the trees are changing color. Yellows, reds, and browns in various shade to mix with the greens of the pine trees.

I thought it might be fun for our grandson to go on a geocaching adventure as we walked so I downloaded an app and discovered there was a treasure near our house over in the state park.

Things were going fine for a while until we had to go cross country to reach our destination. We trudged through a lot of nasty raspberries and other unfriendly things.

As we neared our hidden treasure we came across a trail in the woods - the Ice Age Trail. That's when I realized that there was a much easier way to get to where we wanted to go. Oh well.

Then my phone vibrated and said we were within 20 feet. Our grandson then began searching more intently. And then, there it was. Sitting in plain sight next to a log.

Our grandson quickly began opening the box and discovering fistfuls of treasure. And there you have the parable for today.

We all are on a journey in this life that we are living here on earth. Some of us have it pretty easy. Some of us struggle. And there IS a treasure that awaits all those who seek it and find it.

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

Are we seeking God with all of our hearts? He has promised we WILL find Him if we do so wholeheartedly.

Open up God's Word and discover the treasure IT contains. Trust in Jesus and your heart will then contain that treasure you have always longed for. Love.

Share the love that God gave YOU with everyone you meet. And KNOW that there is more treasure awaiting each of His children, in heaven.

Where Are We?

Do we truly know where we are? Not physically. Even my phone knows that. Where are we, spiritually.

I was talking to a friend who moved to a big city from a small town. She was saying that she really missed living in a small town and its relatively peaceful setting. There was more violence, more homelessness, more general unrest. And then she spoke about squad cars on permanent display at the local Walmart due to the number of shootings.

This past Sunday our pastor commented about how we should be grateful to be living in these times. We have God's word - the written Bible.

We also have a great many teachers and churches, compared to living in the old west, all alone out on the prairie.

Before the printing press was invented there were no personal Bibles to study. Talk about feeling alone!

Faith in biblical times really WAS faith. There was nothing else. Today we can do research online, attend conferences, participate in Bible studies.

Ultimately though, it all comes down to what we believe in. I think God said it best when He was walking through the garden, looking for Adam.

"But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” - Genesis 3:9

It doesn't really matter what city we are living in. Or what time period. What matters most is where are we in our faith? Still searching? Non-believing? Agnostic? Atheist?

I've been studying the Bible for over 16 years now and, although I don't have a theology degree, I know this: 

When the Lord returns for His Church we want to be found IN Christ. We don't want to hear God asking us our whereabouts. He's not wondering where we are. He's wondering where our obedience is.

We should be found living a life that says, "Here I am, Lord!" regardless of where we live, or when we lived there.

"Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” - 1 Samuel 3:4

Where are YOU?

This Is A Test

Before there was cable and satellite TV there was just regular television. We had a handful of channels and they went off the air at night. Things are a lot different now.

We used to have a test every so often on the TV. The radio too. It went like this. I can still remember the words.

"This is a test. For the next 60 seconds this station will be conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is ONLY a test. Aaaaa! Aaaaaa! Aaaaaa!"

Kids of today have grown up without the threat of imminent nuclear war, and it shows. We used to joke during the nuclear bomb tests in our school.

"Now class," the teacher would say, "when the siren goes off, march single-file into the hallway and sit down. Then, lock your hands behind your head and put your head between your knees."

Invariably, one of the kids then would yell, "Yeah. And kiss your butts goodbye!" Then everyone would laugh.

Not today. In today's world kids would run outside with their brand new iPhones to take a video of the pretty mushroom cloud. Then they'd take selfies with each other as their faces melted off. Ha ha! Cool.

Can anybody truly be prepared for a nuclear war? No!

This following passage is from the Book of Revelation. It talks about the war to end all wars. You might think it would be an epic battle between Good and Evil. It's really not much of a battle at all. Jesus speaks a word and it's over.

"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

King of kings and Lord of lords." - Revelation 19: 11-16

There is one way to make sure you are on the winning side in ANY battle. Place your faith and trust in Jesus. And do it today.

What Do We Do?

How far would we go to save a human life? How far are we willing to travel? How much are we willing to sacrifice to share God's love with those in need?

There are several scenarios playing themselves out in the world these days. Each one of them requires an answer to these questions.

How do we react when we see people who have lost everything in the recent hurricane? And have our hearts become numb to the scenes of war in Europe and the violent crime on our city streets?

These are all questions that need to be answered. How we answer them defines us in the eyes of The Lord.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him." - Luke 10:30-34

That's quite a to-do list for the Christian!

I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own. The company she worked for closed its doors. How should I respond to someone who is uncertain of the future? How can I convey hope to the hopeless?

Look at the Samaritan. 

The Samaritan went to where the person was. I should visit my friend.

The Samaritan took pity on the person. So should I. 

The Samaritan bandaged the persons wounds. I should pray with my friend and encourage her with words of hope.

The Samaritan provided lodging by taking him to an inn. What does that look like today? Money for rent until my friend finds another job? Yes.

The Samaritan took care of the person. He paid for everything. And so should I. "Let's go grocery shopping." "Let's go out to lunch."

We can watch the news and feel sorry for people, or we can actually DO something to help them.

Make a donation to the Red Cross or Samaritan's Purse. Pray for the victims of a storm or war. Help those who need it in a tangible, meaningful way.

One last thing. The Samaritans and the Jews in Jesus' day did not like each other. Would you be willing to help even your enemies?

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Do this and you will live.” - Luke 27-28

Ka-Boom!

This fascinates me, probably more than it should. It's bubbling gas from the sabotaged Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea. May I suggest a tanker filled with Rolaids?

Who did it? And why? All questions without answers at this point. But someone knows, and they're not telling.

There are several theories running unbridled in the media of course, Ukraine thinks that Russia did it. Russia thinks that the United States did it. But no one has any proof, at least for now.

There are all kinds of rabbit holes we could go down, but all of that is just a waste of time. In the end, someone caused it, and others won't like it. Isn't that the story of our world these days?

How about some facts. The pipeline runs from Russia to Germany. This event is a major blow to the environment - all that methane gas being released into the atmosphere. AOC must be catatonic. Swedish, Finish and Norwegian seismologists all detected explosions off their coast. And most importantly, God is still on His thrown.

How do we deal with such catasteophic news headlines and happenjngs in our lives?

Prayer.

We ourselves don't have ANY power over these things. But God does. Wars, hurricanes, nations, people's hearts, are all under God's control. None of this stuff happens without His say-so.

"The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." -Proverbs 21:1

"For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is His name." - Amos 4:13

We see all these things happening in the world. Should we be afraid? No! God is in control. These things are happening for a reason.

Let it rain. And trust in The Lord!