The Red Chord

In the Book of Matthew there is a listing of all the relatives of Jesus on His mother's side.

"Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David." - Matthew 1:5-6

Rahab is the Great, Great, Grandmother of King David. She lived in Jericho, the first walled city that God commanded the Israelites to destroy when they came out of Egypt. Rahab was a Canaanite, and a harlot, a prostitute. But she was righteous in God's eyes. Why?

Joshua sent spies into Jericho before they attacked the city. But why did the spies go into Rahab's house? Unknown. Were they directed by God? Anyway, the spies were seen entering her house and Rahab was soon confronted.

"But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them." - Joshua 2:4

She saved the spies from certain death, eventually lowering them down through a window. She lived on the outside wall of the city. When it's walls "came tumblin' down," every wall around the city fell, EXCEPT the walls of Rahab's house. Interesting.

"Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent." - Joshua 6:17

Rahab had made a deal with the spies. It saved her and her family. It started out this way as she aknowledged that God IS the God of heaven and earth.

"Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." - Joshua 2:8-11

Rahab believed in God and helped the Israelites in their effort to conquer Jericho. Noble. But there's something else.

"Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down." - Acts 2:17-18

Scarlet. Red. You mean like the color of blood? Like "the blood of the lamb" the Isrealites put on their door frames in Egypt to save their first-born from death? Yesss.

The story of Rahab, and what she did and believed, is a reflection of Jesus and us. It's a story of salvation.

And what is OUR red chord? It is the Holy Spirit who lives in ALL who believe. And not just believe, but who have acknowledged Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Are you wearing a "red chord."

The story of Rahab and the spies exists in two parts (links below). Rahab is also mentioned in the New Testament.

"In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?" - James 2:25 

"By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient." - Hebrews 11:31

We might think we are unworthy, but if we place our faith in Jesus we will be saved.

Joshua 2

Joshua 6

Jesus IS Lord

"Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 10:33

[First off, I'm not going to try to influence your vote with any sleight-of-hand or video editing tricks. This is just a few comments on two politicians, using their own words.]

Recently, Kamala Harris held a political rally where she was bashing Trump for stacking the Supreme Court in order to get rid of Roe v Wade (ie. abortion). Someone in the crowd yelled, "Jesus is Lord!" to which Kamala replied, "Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally."

Let's pause right there and ask, "What is she implying?" That Christians belong at a Trump rally? I actually think she is. That alienates a HUGE portion of the voting public.

According to a recent Pew Research article, "About eight-in-ten Republican and Republican-leaning voters (81%) identify with a Christian religious denomination."

Alright, let's push play again and look at Republican VP candidate J.D. Vance at a rally of his own. Just like at Kamala's rally, someone in the crowd again yelled out, "Jesus is King!" What was Vance's response?

"That's right. Jesus IS King!"

Apparently, Kamala was right. Christians DO belong at a Trump rally. A couple of verses spring to mind regarding this.

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." - Matthew 12:30

That was Jesus speaking. And also, this one . . .

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31

I don't know who's going to win the presidential election next week. But I DO know this: God is in control and no one, NO ONE, comes to power in ANY country without the sovereign Lord appointing them, according to His will.

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." - Romans 13:1

To God be the glory.

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen." - Romans 11:36

Jesus Is Lord - Vance & Harris

Real-Life Vampires

We all are familiar with vampires - those blood sucking, Bela Lugosi spin off characters that we allow our kids to dress up as during this time of year. But that's a different story. Today we will be learning about a real, present-day "vampire" - the Bible study leader.

I was sitting in the living room reading as my wife watched her Good Morning America show. They had a guest on who I recognized from a television series my wife and I used to watch - One Tree Hill. Her name is Bethany Joy Lenz.

She has a book out right now about being trapped in a cult that began, believe it or not, in a Bible study. The book's name is Dinner For Vampires.

Her Bible study started out simply, like most of them do. But then someone new joined the group and things went downhill from there. This new member, a man, began to lead the group and then brought his "new biblical insight" into their meetings. Demonic insight. The next thing you know he was heading up his own cult. And then the sexual nastiness began.

The point of this story is this: do not let just anybody lead your Bible study. Especially someone who will suck the life, and the truth, out of it.

Here is a truism: A Bible study is only as good its most knowledgeable member.

The key word in any Bible study is discernment. We all must be good Bereans. And what does that mean?

"Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." - Acts 17:11

Truth is found everywhere in The Bible, not in anyone's thoughts or desires. Don't trust anyone . . . unless he or she is reading God's Word.

Dinner For Vampires - Bethany Joy Lenz

The Enemy Within

Less than two weeks to go before our country's presidential election. Personally, I can't wait until it's over. These elections bring so much division and animosity. Ever wonder why? There is actually an answer in the Bible. Imagine that.

"So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” - 1 Samuel 8:4-5

The people wanted a king, just like we want a "king" to rule over us today. They wanted a king just like "all the other nations have." The problem with this was that the Israelites already had a king - God.

"But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." - 1 Samuel 8:6-7

From that day on the Israelites had earthly leaders rule over them. We still have that today. That desire is the enemy within us.

Joshua brought forth a solution years earlier when he said . . .

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

We have choices to make in our elections - one from Column A or one from Column B. For various reasons, neither one seems worthy to leader our great nation.

But who should rule over us then?

Many Christians think that Jesus would bring peace and stability to the world. Nope.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household." - Matthew 10:34-36

Do any of us have family members with differing political beliefs? Yes. Why is that? Are they are siding with a human leader this election? Humans are human. We humans are ALL sinful. Trust is God alone. Solus Christus!

In Christ Alone - Kristian Stanfill

All Along

There are currently 8.2 billion people living on earth right now. Some of them are dying. Some have just been born. But ALL are on a faith journey, whether they acknowledge it or not.

There are many different belief systems and many different gods. So, which one is true? Or are they ALL true?

Recently Pope Francis of the Catholic church said, "All religions are a path to God." Really? What does Jesus say about this?

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

Maybe that's why many of the world's religious leaders are so upset with the Pope. He is speaking lies. Or is he?

We do all take different paths to ultimately find God. The problem comes when we make a wrong turn in our journey and don't discover our 'lostness' until it's too late.

But it also doesn't help to have religious leaders giving comfort to those are walking on an incorrect path. It is downright wrong.

The following song reflects someone's faith journey. We don't know the path they followed or the wrong turns they made along the way but we DO know they found who they were looking for. Jesus.

It's not everything it seems, the world and its dreams

Slipping like water through my hands tonight

All the things I thought would fill me up inside

Left me empty here and now I know why 

All along I was looking for something else

You're something else

All along I was looking for something more

You're so much more

I finally found what I could never see before

You've always been The One that I was looking for

Always seek the truth. Trust no one. Only trust God who never lies. Jesus IS the truth. Seek Him while He may be found. Because He is coming soon, and then it will be too late to change your mind.

All Along - Remedy Drive

Baldy!

There's a story in the Bible that has always kind of bothered me - the story of Elisha and those pesky, disobedient kids.

"From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys." - 2 Kings 2:23-24

Okay . . . now, doesn't that seems a little harsh? Why did Elisha do that? He was a prophet of God. Where's the compassion and the love?

This story is just one example of why it is SO important the STUDY the Bible and not merely read it. There are several things to note here.

First, as I mentioned earlier, Elisha was a prophet of God. That demands a certain respect, perhaps even fear. These 'boys' were not giving Elisha the respect he was due.

Second, the Bible translation used above was the NIV, not always the most accurate translation. The word 'boys' appears in the NIV. A good source to use in studying various translations of text is BibleHub.

If we search for 2 Kings 2:23 on BibleHub we get all the various translations of the text. 'Some boys' (NIV) is not the only translated words we find here. 'A group of boys' (NLT), 'some small boys' (ESV), 'little children' (KJV), 'some youths' (NKJV)' etc.

So which it is? Bible study tool #2...

The Old Testament Interlinear Bible I use is ScriptureForAll. The link here is for Old Testament (Hebrew). There is also a New Testament Greek version. If we click on the 2 Kings 23 link we get this Hebrew words: unorim qtnim. This translates to 'lads, small ones.' Let's move on.

So we have some small lads disrespecting the older prophet of God. What does scripture say about children disrespecting their elders?

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord." - Leviticus 19:32

And although there is not a specific punishment written for disrespecting elders, there is one for disrespecting parents. It's the Fifth Commandment.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." - Exodus 20:12

There is a case of a disrespecting son found in Deuteronomy, his parents brought him before the elders for judgement. The following was the law given to Moses by God.

"Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid." - Deuteronomy 21:21

The penalty for not honoring one's parents was death. I imagine it would be the same regarding demonstrations of honor for one of God's prophets. 

So, was Elisha wrong for calling down a curse on these young lads? No. Not under the law. But let's consider Jesus and the grace of God.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48

The punishment under the law was death for not honoring parents. God's law has not changed. And even though Jesus spoke about loving our enemies, He also said this:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." - Matthew 5:17

He died on the cross to fulfill the sentence required for not honoring those who deserve honor.

How will we handle being disrespected today? Will we honor those who are worthy of honor? Or who require honor?

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are older than me. Both have held the position of president. Are they due honor and respect, despite what we think about them? Hmm.

We can have our opinions but we also must respect the office.

"Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God." - Romans 13:1

God's Grace

Here's the typical question from many unbelievers: How can a loving God send people to hell? Or, If there is a loving God, why does He allow pain and suffering to exist?

I have written about this before but the answer bears repeating. So many potential believers get hung up on this one thing - blaming God for everything that goes wrong in their lives. It's not His fault, it's ours.

"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." - Psalm 14:2-3

In God's just world, the punishment for sin and disobedience is death. But God . . .

God provided a way out of our death sentence. His name is Jesus. It is through our belief in Him, and our submission to Him, that we are saved. Through HIS extendingly amazing grace to us, and our acceptance of it, Jesus becomes our Lord.

Then comes the challenge. We must act like He is our Lord. But let's get back to those two questions in the opening paragraph.

How can a loving God send us to hell? God is a just judge. There is a penalty for our sin and God will hand it out. WE are the ones who chose sin over obedience. WE chose to disobey.

How can God allow pain and suffering? Why doesn't He cure cancer and let us live forever?

We ALL will live forever. It's just a matter of location. Sickness and death entered the world when WE sinned in the Garden of Eden.

So the real question we should be asking becomes this: How can a loving God sacrifice His one and only Son for a bunch of sinners like us? Good question.

But He did. It's called grace - God's grace. Isn't God worthy of our praise rather than our disobedience and sin? That's another good question that we ALL must answer.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” - Isaiah 55:6-13

Go Out With Joy - Maranatha Singers

The Duration

Here's something they don't tell you when you volunteer to be a youth leader at church. It's for life. At least it's turned out that way for me.

For example: I walked into Subway the other day and there was a youth group "kid" I knew behind the counter - from 10 years ago, when the kid was in youth group! Our smiles were immediate.

Another kid from youth group gives me tomatoes when we talk. Another one sends me songs to listen to. "Youth Leader" IS a lifetime job!

Of course, one could ignore all of their Facebook posts and messages and simply unfriend them all, but that's not what God wants us to do.

Once you read the Bible, God's plan, and His will for our lives, is to love one another. It's really that simple.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." - 1 John 4:7 

"And He (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:37-39

We get the picture. The question then really becomes this: Is love a finite thing? Can we love someone, and then just STOP loving them at some point? No! And, should we actually ever stop loving someone, was our "love" really even love in the first place?

Love is eternal. At least it should be.

My point is this: This world is run by Satan, not God. God is still all-powerful and intervenes whenever He so chooses. But "God is love" as it says in 1st John, and we are "children of God." We are commanded to love! You read the verses. We should be exuding love wherever we go!

When we sign up to be a youth leader it should be because of our love for kids, especially for the lost. That love should never die. It might fade for a bit or become stagnant but it should always there.

That's when we must fan the glowing embers of love into flames of love for God's glory. Quite honestly, to do anything less is a sin.

Who will we exhibit unconditional agape love for today?

In Spirit and Truth

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:24

Everyone has their favorite worship songs, right? They are songs that strike a particular "chord" in our hearts, and we can actually get quite emotional singing them.

There are the old standards like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. But there are also newer songs that can hold a special meaning as well. Today's story is about one of those songs.

I was playing this song the other day on YouTube. The thing about YouTube is that once you click on one of their videos their algorithm pummels you with the same songs over and over again. That can get quite annoying. However, that is not true for this song that is currently stuck in my head, and in my heart - Is He Worthy? by Andrew Peterson.

The reason it has so much meaning to me, I believe, is because nearly all of its lyrics are scripture. The whole thing is pretty much Bible verses. The chorus for example:

Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?

Is anyone able to break, the seal and open the scroll?

The Lion of Judah, who conquered the grave

He is David's root and the Lamb

Who died to ransom the slave

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” - Revelation 4:11

"And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”" - Revelation 5:2

"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.”" - Revelation 5:5

These things that John saw were all very emotional to him, the writer of Revelation, saying:

"I wept and wept." - Revelation 5:4

It is also quite emotional to Andrew Peterson, the writer of today's song. Near the end of the video he gets choked up and can't finish one of his own lines.

Another thing I love about this particular version of the song is the way that it is constructed, with a choir answering every question that is posed to it. That choir will be you and me one day. And we won't need read sheet music either. We will know every word by heart.

"And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne." - Revelation 2:3

So, is Jesus worthy? Oh, yeah.

He is!!

Is He Worthy - Andrew Peterson 

Chippy!

Boy, it was cold in the house this morning! I checked my weather app - 37 bloody degrees! Yikes!! Winter is approaching. The cold air is just a sign of the times.

Here's another sign that winter is approaching. Chippies! They are running everywhere - digging up holes in our yard, searching for food that they can store up for the cold months ahead when their food will be scarce.

They also like to sit on our wood pile and "chip" at anything that moves - a shadow, the neighborhood cat, my wife, etc. They're just trying to warn other chipmunks of impending danger. Nothing wrong with that.

Speaking of impending danger, we have an election coming up. Each of the two candidates says the other is dangerous. Regardless, one of the two will win and we are stuck with them for four years. That's true.

I saw a video this week that listed the top ten Dollar Store things you should have on hand should things go bad. Here they are, just in case your candidate loses.

1. Matches / lighters
2. Candles
3. Band aides
4. Water
5. Chlorox disinfectant 
6. Ramen noodles
7. Batteries
8. Ibuprofen 
9. Flushable moist wipes
10. Tooth paste / brush combo 
11. Ziploc bags

I guess that's 11. Somebody can't count and it's probably me. Those are good items to have but the Bible has a better list, and it's short. One item, and His name is Jesus.

When times get tough, Jesus is the one thing you NEED to have. Why? Well, He doesn't take up any storage space, He's free, and with Jesus in your heart, you can live forever!

The Bible says that things will get bad before Jesus returns. It looks like that's happening right now. Don't get caught without your name in the Book of Life when He returns. That would be extremely bad.

"Anyone whose name is not found written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire." - Revelation 20:15

You do NOT want to go there!

Heed the example of the chipmunk. Store up Jesus in your heart while you still can. If Jesus is Lord of your life, you WILL be saved. If He is not, well, you read the verse.

Here's better verse:

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9

A New Heart

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26

I'm not really sure where to begin today's story. Perhaps by rewinding to 2008 - (sixteen years ago? That long??). I had just volunteered to be a youth leader at church.

Kortney was just "one of the kids" in the youth group back then. We met a few times at Dairy Queen to talk, but our conversations weren't as weighty then as they are today.

These days we talk about transplants and tests, families and bucket lists.

I thank God for our renewed friendship, but always in the background is the thought that our future conversations may be few. So I make a point to be positive and funny while also being encouraging and empathetic at the same time. 

There are currently 103,223 people on the National Organ Donation Waiting List. 3,436 of those are waiting for a heart to become available. 943 are waiting for a lung, or two.

My friend recently completed five LONG days of testing at UW - Madison's hospital. She is now on the official waiting list. Can you imagine what that must be like? I can't.

What is the Christian response in situations like this? Prayer, of course. But James tells us that "faith without works is dead." So, what can we do?

My Wisconsin driver's license has a little star on it in the lower right corner. That means that I checked a box on an application at some point. It also means that I am an organ donor. Are you one? If not, please consider it. 17 people die each day, waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

But what else can be done? Hmm. That's a tough one but here it is. Talk to people about Jesus. It's a critical conversation to have when someone is facing an unknown future.

Another thing you can do is to pray WITH them. Let people hear your words. Ask if you can pray for them, then do it. Right then and there.

The thing we need to remember that anyone who is struggling just needs to know that they are loved and that someone cares. It's sounds simple but it requires being open and vulnerable.

Just look at the world we live in. Pain and suffering seem to be everywhere. It's almost like the world needs a giant heart transplant, right? And only God can do that.

Love, pray, act, repeat.

The Devoted Things

Shortly after Moses died, Joshua was charged with bringing God's people into the Promised Land. There's a major lesson to be learned in this.

God's people had just taken Jericho according to God's command. The walls came tumbling down and God brought about a great victory. However, not everyone obeyed what they had been told NOT to do. Joshua told them this:

"The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord." - Johsua 6:17

That seems pretty clear. And then Joshua emphasized this in the next verse too.

"But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it." - Joshua 6:18

Again, that's pretty clear. And note the word 'trouble.'

"But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel." - Joshua 7:1

Uh-oh. That's not good.

[Side note: Achan's name literally means 'trouble' in Hebrew.]

So, the Israelites were feeling pretty confident after taking down Jericho. TOO confident. They attacked the next town without consulting The Lord and were routed.

THEN Joshua talked to God to find out what was wrong and God let him know. They soon figured out it was Achan and confronted him. Achan was then stoned to death and the devoted things were burned. Yikes!

This story begs the question, "What are OUR devoted things?" And do we have anything in our possession from other religions or beliefs? What are WE devoted to? Let's think about it.

Do we have a yoga mat? Maybe you think I'm "stretching things" a bit too far but yoga is a religious practice. Let's look it up.

Traditional yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as practiced by the Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions.

Are you or your kids dressing up for Halloween? What as? Or do you like Taylor Swift? Lots of people do. Read this from an article in the Christian Post about Taylor Swift:

"As Christians, who are filled with the Spirit, should we be entertained by, sing with, and expose our kids to lyrics that aren't just different than what you believe, but are actually mocking what you believe?"

Look what's covering Taylor's costume in the picture above. Hmm. Looks like a bunch of . . . SERPENTS. Or am I wrong?

Are we devoted to God? Or are we devoted to the world we live in and the things in it?

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

Taylor Swift - The Christian Post

Something's Missing

My wife and I recently attended a special Grandparent's celebration at our grandson's school. It was wonderful!

Our grandson came and sat with us in the bleachers and we listened to a pastor present the Gospel. That too was wonderful.

We heard about how we are all sinners.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23

Then we heard that Jesus died for our sins, once for all.

"He (Jesus) sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself." - Hebrews 7:27

More wonderfulness. But it seemed as though something was missing.

I went back over what we taught children at VBS this past summer - Repent, Believe, Forever Receive. Again, that's all good, but there's still something missing. What is it?

Jesus summed it up in one single question. It's a question we ALL must answer.

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' but do not do what I say?" - Luke 6:46

We can believe in God (even the demons believe) but if we are not changed by that belief, our faith is useless, as James says:

"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." - James 2:24

Works do not save us. Works are EVIDENCE that we have been saved. If the Good News of Jesus' death, resurrection, and life does not change us, our faith is meaningless. We are still dead in our sins.

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9

And there it is. That's what was missing. Not only must we 'believe,' we must be changed! Jesus MUST be our Lord! He must be in our heart.

What all of that means is, we must do what He says. We must love our neighbor. We must love God. We must not lie. We must not covet. The list goes on. But here's the thing . . .

Example: Why do so many Christians celebrate Halloween? The holiday started out with good intentions (remembering the dead), but it has been perverted by "the world" into something totally different.

Example: Why do those who profess faith in Christ support those who want to kill their own babies? This is an abomination to The Lord!

Jesus MUST be Lord of our lives or we simply will not be saved. We must DO what God commands us to do. Study the Bible. What are God's commands? Are we doing them?

We've got an election coming up. Do any of the candidates profess faith? Do they back what they say with their actions? Or is their faith dead?

Our remaining time here on earth is short. Make the change. Serve the Lord.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God." - 1 Corinthians 6:19:20

Jesus Is Lord - Voddie Baucham

Hurt People

We all have been hurt at somepoint on our lives. Why do people do that? We love these people and suddenly we find them hurting us. Why?

My wife and I went to a Sidewalk Prophets concert a few weeks ago. They were debuting one of their new songs - "Hurt People." The song implies that people who have been hurt in their lives are the ones who in turn hurt others.

Hurt people hurt people,

Broken hearts break hearts

If true, that's something we need to remember the next time someone breaks OUR hearts or hurts US in some way.

Lashing out at someone in response to their lashing out at us is no way to act for the Christian. Yet there is still a strong desire to lash out, indicating that we ourselves are far from perfect. So, what do we do?

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:44-45

That's Jesus speaking. He's telling us to love and to pray. It's that simple.

And just to drive Jesus' words home, that Sidewalk Prophets song ends with this line:

But love will heal our hearts.

It really is that simple. Love others enough to take them to God in prayer.

Here's an idea. Let us take the first line of the song and change it up a bit.

Loved people love people.

God loves you and God loves your enemies too, wishing that none would perish. So, what are we waiting for?

Love! Pray! Repeat!

Hurt People - Sidewalk Prophets