High Places

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? Maybe you've looked down at your speedometer and discovered you were driving JUST a few miles over the speed limit? Or burned a pile of brush when you didn't know there was a burning ban that day? 🤔 Well.... I sure have.

Let me tell you about Josiah, King of Judah. He discovered that HE was breaking the law - God's Law. Uh-oh. 😯

One of Josiah's buds, Hilkiah the high priest, found The Book of The Law, abandoned in the Temple of The Lord. Again, uh-oh. This was the law that God had dictated to Moses back in the day.

After Josiah read The Book of The law, he said this:

“Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” - 2 Kings 22:13

Kind of like the world we live in today . . .

So, what did Josiah do? Amongst other things, he removed all of the "high places" and "asherah poles" and burned them outside of the city. What is a high place? This is from GotQuestions.org

High places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities).

And what did God think of these high places? Places where the people worshipped gods that THEY THEMSELVES had made?

"I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you." - Leviticus 26:30

Well, okay then. That raises a question of two.

Do WE have things that WE worship rather than God? What, or who, do we put up on a pedestal (a high place)? These are high places of our own making. God must be #1 in our lives. Not family, or friends, or work . . . or the Packers. And definitely not the Chiefs.

Worship God, and God alone. This isn't about going to churchand saying all of the "Christian" catch phrases. We must allow God to change to change our hearts. We must reject all of our high places and follow HIS ways, not our own.

High Places - Gotquestions.org

Eclipse

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks our view of the sun. Today's story is about an eclipse taking place, not in our solar system, but in our hearts.

"The moon of secularism has blocked the face of God." - Dr. Erwin Lutzer

I watched a YouTube video of Kirk Cameron's show Take Aways this week. His guest was Dr. Erwin Lutzer, president emeritus of The Moody Bible Church in Chicago.

Dr. Lutzer wrote a booked entitled, The Eclipse of God. He goes on to say, "Americans don't mind saying they believe in God just as long as they get to choose the god in which they believe. Often times God becomes themselves actually, and as a result of that we are in the society where we are leaving transcendent truth behind and the implications are massive."

That is SO true.

When I was a youth leader at church I encountered many kids who SAID they believed in God, but when asked about God's specific views on same-sex relationships for example, they'd say, "Well, I don't believe THAT."

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." - James 1:17

God does NOT change to suit our desires. It is WE who must change to conform to His will. God is the light of our spiritual self. Anything that gets in the way of His light (a spiritual eclipse) is sin and obscures our view of Him.

"I am the light of the world." - Jesus, John 8:12

We will close with one last word from Dr. Lutzer . . .

"Churches often times make concessions, one compromise at a time, and they think, "Well, I can compromise here but I won't go here," but eventually the pressure is so great that they give in to the culture, they give the culture whatever the culture wants and as a result they lose their effectiveness because they've lost the Gospel."

Has your church experienced an eclipse of the truth? Have you? Read and study the Bible. We must KNOW the God we worship, not worship the god we have created for ourselves.

Take Aways - Lutzer Episode

Hold On Loosely

"I've learned to hold all things loosely, so that God will not have to pry them out of my hands." - Corrie ten Boom

Great words to remember from a Holocaust survivor. And just to prove that her words are timeless, here's a similar quote from the band 38 Special.

"If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control."

The point here is that if we cherish anything too much it will become an idol to us, and a stumbling block. And if we have any "idols" other than God it is a sin and He WILL take them away from us.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." - Exodus 20:3

We must constantly examine ourselves and our habits. Are we consuming ANYTHING that God might consider an idol?

What about the Green Bay Packers? Their recent success has a lot of people excited. However, if we are praying that the pastor's Sunday sermon would end on time so that we can make it to a watch party before kickoff, we've got a problem. 

When I was younger I used to consume two 16-oz bottles of Mountain Dew every day. I am now Type 2 diabetic. Is that God's doing? To take away my idol?

How about my phone? My computer? The television? Relationships? Work? Our politics? Even church duties can take us away from God.

The only thing we are supposed to hold on tightly to is God Himself. Worship, praise, and devotion are to be His.

I am reminded of a song that we sing in church. It goes like this:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grown strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace."

We need to remember that in our walk with Jesus, in our worship of Him, and in our daily lives, HE is the One who created us. And why did He do that? So that we would honor, praise and worship HIM, not "things of earth."

Hold on Loosely - 38 Special 

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - Alan Jackson

The Rest of The Story

We've been told how AI will be a benefit to mankind, thinking and doing things faster and more efficiently than we humans EVER could. As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now, the rest of the story."

Did you see where the NYPD has purchased two robotic dogs? "Digi-dogs" they're  called. $750,000 each.

But that's just one example.

In China they are using these robotic dogs for a slightly different purpose. They have attached a machine gun to the "dog's" back.

These AI developments are just a sidebar to the real story. A story that no one is covering. Headline: WE Are Now God. We have created 'life' for our own purposes.

"Well, it's not really life. Ha ha! It's not really thinking for itself."

Yet.

There's another story out there. This one is being written by Elon Musk. He's funding research to link a brain to a computer. His "brain-computer interface company (BCI), which began last year, is called Neuralink. 😳

What are we doing to ourselves? 

"The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” - Genesis 11:6-7

When we ourselves begin to act like God, He is not very far from altering the situation. In my mind, we are living in the last days. Our "intelligence" is getting the better of us. It's time to repent, but we won't. And that is why God will act. Then He will show us 'the rest of the story.

And the story is already written. It just has to play out. NOBODY does things like we're doing and gets away with it for long.

Yet . . . . maranatha!

NYPD Digi-dog

China Robot Dog

I, Robot

An interesting string of events has led me to write this morning's story. First, the local channels feature on our DirecTV have stopped working. And lastly, I prayed, sang worship songs in my head, and quoted Bibles verses until I fell back asleep early this morning.

I'll keep this as brief as I can. I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get our local channels back. They disappeared on Friday. I don't really miss them but my wife sure does. I was on the phone with tech support, staring at "the guide" for our satellite dish, and trying all sorts of things to get those channels back. Checking connections, cutting limbs off trees to make sure we had "a clear view f the southern sky."

While staring longingly at "the guide" I kept noticing the movie I, Robot. Hence the title of today's post. Perhaps I should have called this story I, Idolater instead. Let me explain.

I spent hours trying to figure the missing channel thing out. HOURS. Do I spend that much time reading my Bible? In prayer? At worship? No. Why not? That's just "too much time." But I have enough time to devote to an electronic device?

Isn't that idolatry? Worshipping something more than God?

So I started an investigation, just like I, Robot's Will Smith, and guess what? I AM an idolater! Actually, we probably ALL are.

Time spent on our phones, on the computer, in front of the television set, that all adds up to hours of screen time. In fact, my wife and I got a data usage warning from the phone company yesterday. Too much time!!

That brings me to the time spent quietly singing hymns, praying and going through Bible verses in my head this morning. Do you know what that's called? That's called repentance. And this morning I am changed. But will it stick?

Last night already I had dismantled my phone. I even took the battery out!

I am reading the Book of Psalms right now. Perhaps that is where all the verses, prayers and praise came from. Those things don't usually get a prominent place in my daily life. That must change.

I don't want to be an idolater. Nobody should. So how do we change that? Verse 11 below has the answer.

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

We were washed, sanctified and justified! By whom? Jesus! And by The Holy Spirit! God is worthy of our praise. Let's not forget to do that today. And let us devote more time to doing that. More so than anything else. Amen.

Artificial Intelligence

Have you seen this young lady? I hope not. She's a robot. A sex robot. "It" was designed by humans, men probably, to provide themselves with pleasure and to satisfy their lustful desires. Looks pretty real doesn't she? All TOO real I'm afraid.

In a related story, I read an article this weekend about how some  rogue scientists have created human-pig "chimeras" so they can grow human organs for transplant - and profit. This raises a question in my mind.

What the heck are we doing!?!

In the Book of Genesis we read a story of the people of Babel in chapter 11. They were pretty advanced for their day. They decided to build a tower to heaven. Why? Verse 4 gives us the reason - "so that we may make a name for ourselves."

They were setting themselves up to be their own gods. That did not sit well with The One True God.

"5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." - Genesis 11:5-6

Are we approaching that point again as humans? We are creating things for our enjoyment and for our own exultation. We are becoming our own gods - creating this and that. Even creating and selling body parts. We are sinning against Almighty God! How long will God let this go on?

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator." - Romans 1:24-25

We were made to worship. However we are worshiping the wrong things. It seems as if we are worshiping anything but God, mainly worshiping ourselves. This is unacceptable in the eyes of the Lord and soon he will come down and set things right. It won't be pretty.

It will be coming up on Halloween in a few weeks. If you'd like to watch a really scary horror movie, watch this 15 minute AI video. It will leave you speechless. This in not the future. It is happening now.

Artificial Intelligence - Jay Tuck
Human-Pig Chimera - WorldHealth.net

Fanatical Fanatics!

Duke beat the Wisconsin Badgers Monday night in the NCAA Basketball National Championship game. The Facebook posts prior to the game were varied. People were nervous, excited, confident, doubtful and enthusiastic. All the typical emotions of a fanatic - a fan.

I only watched a few minutes of the game. I had a Bible study scheduled for that night so I went to that. Nobody else showed up. It was pretty much me and the waitress at the restaurant. I gave her a $5 tip for my glass of water and left. No sense everybody's night being a total loss.

Well, it wasn't a TOTAL loss. I did go home and read two chapters in The Book of John. I was reading the account of the betrayal and death of Jesus and began to think about all the things Jesus gave up for me. For us.

He gave up His life . . . obviously. But that's not exactly true. He is alive today! Come to think of it, Jesus didn't really give up anything at all. He actually has everything He could have dreamed of. Hmm. I wonder. Does Jesus dream? If so, what does He dream about? But I'm off on a tangent.

God didn't really lose anything either. We are fond of saying that "God gave His only Son" but God's One and only Son is currently sitting right by His side. God didn't give up anything either.

For the Badger basketball team and their fans the night WAS a total loss. Some people spent thousands of dollars to travel to Indianapolis, rent hotel rooms, pay for dinner, tickets, taxi fares, tips. All to see their team lose. Of course, they might have won! But they didn't. Thousands of dollars lost, time lost for absolutely nothing. But that's past of the cost of being a fan.

After the game many Badger fans posted congratulatory messages for their Badgers. "Thanks for the season Badgers." "We'll get 'em next year." "Thanks Bucky!"

Always thinking about those Badgers (or whatever teams name you want to use). Which brings me to the point of this blog post.

I wonder . . . with all of the basketball games being played in March and now baseball starting up, how much time does the average sports fan have for Jesus?

Do you remember what Jesus said was the greatest commandment? Here's hint.

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

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:36-40

I struggle with that command. It's not that I don't want to obey it. I can't!

Let's talk about the word "ALL" for a moment. All . . .  that kind of means everything, doesn't it? How many minutes are there in an hour? ALL the minutes. Every one. Well, there's 60 minutes in an hour.

How many minutes in a basket ball game? 40 minutes. That's the whole game. That's ALL of it.

We have no trouble thinking about basketball for 40 minutes but most of us can't think about God for 4 minutes, let alone 40 minutes.

Do we love God with ALL our hearts? Or do we save some of our hearts for the Badgers? See what I mean? God wants all of us and we refuse to let him have us. That's a problem.

So, how do we let God have all of us? We could start by getting rid of the extra stuff.

I probably spend too much time on the computer. I work on a computer at work drawings architectural plans. I also  write this blog on a computer. If I wanted to think about God all the time I would have to give up my job. Is that what God wants?

The question actually is do we LOVE God with all we have? My answer, sadly, is no. Do I love God more than I love my best friend? More than I love my wife? My kids? Myself? The answer MUST be yes!

Thank about that for a moment. Do you love God more than anything? Is YOUR answer yes? I want my answer to be yes, yet I still fail at living that out. It's probably the same for you. So what do we do? We stand back up and try again tomorrow. Our highest goal must be to please our God and when He wants us to give him our EVERYTHING, our ALL, We MUST be fanatical about doing that.

You Are My All In All - Hillsong Kids

We Are An Adulterous People

Do you recognize this image? You might. It's from The Passion of The Christ movie. It is the story from John 8 about the adulterous woman. We read . . .

"2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” - John 8: 2-11

This is an interesting story. Many people read it and think, "Gee, Jesus didn't condemn her. He let her off without punishment. It looks like Jesus broke the law!" Did He? The law clearly states that both the man and the woman should be put to death.

10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." - Leviticus 20:10

According to the law she should have been put to death. Why did Jesus let her off?

Jesus knew she had sinned and that she was guilty; hence the "go and sin no more" statement. But do you see anything that is missing from this story? Something required according to Mosaic law?

There are several thing missing in this story. Ready?

Where was her partner in the alleged adulterous act? Hmm. Nowhere. Interesting. The law clearly states that "BOTH the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." Where's the dude.

Something else is missing. Turn to Deuteronomy 17 . . .

"On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." - Deuteronomy 17:6

There are no witnesses present. It says the woman was "caught in the act" yets the witnesses were not present at this potential stoning. Let's keep reading in Deuteronomy.

"7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst." - Deuteronomy 17:7

The two witnesses are supposed to throw the first stones at the adulterous couple. None of the Pharisees were willing to throw the first stones. My guess is because the actually witnesses, if there were any, were not even present.

So Jesus obeyed the law. AND He turned the situation around to confront the Pharisees - questioning them about THEIR sin? Interesting.

So let's talk about you and me for a moment. When we sin, and we ALL do, are there witnesses? Are there TWO witnesses present to convict us of our sin? I would submit that there ARE two witnesses - ourselves and God. We know what we did. So does God. Are our sins on the level of adultery though? I also say yes.

Today there is a big football game. Our Green Bay Packers are in THE NFC Championship game. Many people will be tailgating at Lambeau Field . . . even though the game is in Seattle! Packers fans will be partying it up all over the planet. Will they be passing up worship today to do so? Will they be getting drunk out of their minds? Some WILL get "stoned" in a different way than described in The Bible.

In the Old Testament days people were stoned for adultery. I am grateful we don't do that to each other today because I would be one of those to be stoned. How many times have I put off reading His Holy Word to us? How many times have I not prayed? In other words, how many time have I cheated on my God by spending time with someone or something else? Yeah. I am worthy of death. So are you I'm guessin'.

However, we serve an amazing God. A God of grace and forgiveness. A God of mercy and compassion. As a matter of fact, God is SO gracious and merciful, so loving and forgiving, that He makes me want to worship and praise Him more!

My prayer is that we each would think about the adulterous lives we ALL lead, lthe time we spend ignoring God or replacing worship with something else, and come to Him on our knees in humility, seeking His forgiveness. Please, won't you join me in doing so today? The Packer game isn't until later. What are you doing right now?

Mighty To Save - Hillsong

I Once Was Blind But Now I See

Scrolling down through my Facebook news feed yesterday, I came upon this quote. "If the whole world was blind, who would you impress?" - Boonaa Mohammed.

I thought about that statement for a moment and wondered what the world would be like if none of us could see. "You know, there might just be something to that statement, " I thought to myself. At least at first blush.

Think out it. We wouldn't have to worry about what to wear because no one could see us. For that matter, we wouldn't have to wear ANYTHING! We would probably just wear something comfortable - to keep us warm instead of wearing something that looks good in the eyes of someone else.

If we couldn't see, we wouldn't be tempted by members of the opposite sex who like to flaunt their "stuff". No more "heaving breasts", as my wife calls them, by women trying to get a man's attention. There also would be no more ogling a man's abs or his "ripped" physique for the women. None of these things could be seen.

There would be no need to design fancy, eye-catching sports cars if we all were blind. "Sounds nice" could be our only comment. No need for beautiful architecture. We couldn't see a building until we ran into it!

And if you were walking towards a 1000-foot cliff, wouldn't you rather have your sight?

If we were totally blind, physical beauty would mean nothing. The most beautiful man or woman in the world could be standing next to us and we wouldn't notice. The same could be said for the ugliest person. Beauty and ugliness would not have the same meanings as they do now. So is that opening quote correct? I think not.

The quote I opened with DOES have true meaning if you live a life without Christ. The quote only rings true from a secular world view and therefore, in my opinion, falls short.

So I thought I would modify the quote by Boonaa Mohammed, whoever that is, and come up with one of my own. One that fits the life God wants us to live.

"If the whole world could see through the eyes of God, who would be left to impress?" - Bob Hall

Think about that for a moment. If everyone worshiped the God of The Bible there would be no more war. There would be no more fighting, only peace. There would be no more beauty contests. There would be no need for People Magazine to designate the Sexiest Man Alive. No one would care about that. Only love for ALL.

When we see a beautiful landscape before our eyes, I would rather praise God and admire His Creation. If I was blind I would not even know that beautiful view was there. I would be missing the beauty I was meant to see when God gave me my two eyes.

Tough question of the day: If a person could only know Jesus by what they saw in you, would they see Him? Or would they still be blind to the truth?

Ouch.

I will leave you with a few verses today.

“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?" - Luke 6:39

And this one . . .

"29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” - John 20:29

This is a sculpture of the veiled Christ . . . by blind sculptor Felice Tagliaferri. Incredible!

Valuable?

I saw a post on Facebook a few weeks ago that made me stop and scratch my head. Perhaps it's just me and my way of looking at things but in my mind I questioned what the text in the picture was saying. It was a nice, warm picture with some writing about God on it. So it has to be good, right? Right?

The text read, "We don't shine because of what people say and do. We shine because God sees us as valuable."

Is that true? Do we shine because God sees us as valuable? The answer to that question is . . . no. We shine because we are redeemed sinners, grateful to be given the gift of salvation through our belief in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for OUR sins. So where did this picture come from if it is untrue?

If we look a little closer at the image we can see a name in the lower right hand corner - Victoria Osteen. Hmm, Osteen . . . where have I heard THAT name before. Have you ever heard of JOEL Osteen? He is the pastor of America's biggest church. Victoria Osteen is his wife. It appears that Joel's "feel good" Christianity is rubbing off on his spouse. That is NOT a good thing.

I have written about Mr. Osteen before. He is what's known as a FALSE TEACHER. He only tells PART of the story when it comes to Christianity.That whole sin and repentance thing? Yeah, he doesn't say too much about that. He definitely is encouraging though! He's encouraging his followers straight to hell! Well, that wasn't fair. I should have said he preaches a false gospel. I don't KNOW if his followers believe him or not. I DO know that the apostle Paul feels that false teachers should be accursed by God.

"6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -  7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." - Galatians 1:6-9

Along with her picture, Victoria Osteen had some other things to say. Here they are, along with some comments by yours truly. She writes . . .

"God chose you before the foundation of the world . . ."

That's true. Ephesians 1:4

". . . because you are valuable to Him."

No, God chose us because He has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:1). She makes it sound like God NEEDS us. That's not true.

He chose you because He knows your worth, and He’s not willing to let you perish!

Wrong. The actual verse is from 2 Peter 3:9 and it says that God WISHES that none of us would perish. He is perfectly willing to let us die. That is what sin is all about! He was willing to let Jesus die . Are we more special than Jesus? No!

There were many other Biblically-questionable statements made by Victoria but I'm getting a little nauseous, knowing that there are many who follow these false teachers and are not hearing the TRUE Gospel. Isn't the Bible sufficient for us anymore? Some people feel we need to take out the bad parts, the condemning parts, because we want everyone to be happy and feel good about themselves. The fact is we are all sinners, deserving of death on judgment day, but through the grace and mercy and sacrifice of Jesus, we can be saved from all that.

I commented back on Victoria's Facebook picture. I'm guessing she probably doesn't read the comments. Too busy feeling good about herself. This was my reply:

"If we shine, it is because we are reflecting the grace and love of Jesus Christ in our lives, not because God sees us as valuable. Read your Bible. God sees us as sinners. It is only through our belief in His Son that we appear righteous in God's eyes. God does not NEED us. We need HIM!"

We must pray for Victoria and her husband Joel, that they might preach the TRUE Gospel. In only bring forth part of the Gospel their followers are only learning about an edited, customized God . . . a different god. And that is breaking the very first commandment. Please, say a prayer for them today and all those who worship false gods.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:2-6

Pastor Steve Lawson on Joel Osteen's Larry King appearance

Proskuneo

[This post was inspired by a podcast about worship by Ravi Zacharias, an Indian-born, Christian Apologist. See link below]

This story might offend some people. That's alright. From what I see on TV and read here on the Internet, God's Word offends many. My opinion on why it offends is because it goes against what we ourselves have chosen to believe - whether right or wrong. Many are abandoning the One True God in favor of a "designer god" - someone we have created for ourselves.

The words I will be using here today are God's words and they are therefore true. All I am doing is writing them down and then asking a few questions . . . to make us think. This story has to do with The Pope and a single word from the Greek language - proskuneo.

The word "proskuneo" means "to kiss the hand, bow down before, show obedience, to worship." It is the word where the English language gets its word "prostrate" from.

I'd like you to take a look at my opening picture. You probably already saw it but please go back up and look at it again. I am sure that most people can recognize The Pope and former president George W. Bush, maybe even Condoleeza Rice. It's hard to tell who the woman is kissing the Pope's hand (it's Nancy Pelosi). She is proskeneo-ing the Pope. It doesn't really matter who it is that's kissing the Pope's hand. I am writing about the act, not the person. So let's start there, with the act and The BOOK of Acts, chapter 10. This is what God's Word says.

"25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stan
 up; I too am a man.” - Acts 10:25-26

The Greek word for "worshiped" used in this particular text is proskunesen (meaning "he worships him"). What do you suppose Peter's reaction is to being worshiped? He tells Cornelius to "Stand up," saying "I too am a man." In other words, don't worship me. I am just a man. Keep that thought in mind as we read this next passage from God's Word.

Let's fast forward to the book of Revelation where John is relating his vision to us about what he saw in heaven.

"9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” - Revelation 19:9-10

An angel of the Lord told John not to "Proskunesai" (to worship) him saying, "I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers. Worship God." And this is an angel of the Lord!

Well? You have just read two passages from God's Word. It's time for a little quiz.

Question #1 - Based on what you have just read, do you believe we are supposed to worship angels?

Question #2 - If we would have been alive in Jesus' day and we met one of the disciples, do you believe that we should have bowed down and worshiped him?

Question #3 -If you met the Pope, or any other influential leader, do you think we should bow down to them or kiss their ring?

The correct answer to all three of those questions should be no. We are to bow down to no one but Jesus Christ.

I know what you're saying. When am I ever going to meet one of the disciples, an angel or the pope? That may be true. But what other "gods" do we have in our world that we bow down to. Did you watch any part of the World Cup? Do you think this fan is worshiping God or man?

We must be mindful of the things we hold high. There is only one God and it is to Him alone that we bow. If any of us should ever met the Pope perhaps we should just shake his hand as a gesture of friendship but I personally never, ever would proskuneo to him or ANY other man.

In God's word we read. . .

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:1-11

Acts 10 Greek Text

Leadership Seminar Workshop (Part 3) -Ravi Zacharias

Interupted

The other night I was lying, face down, on the living room floor . . . trying to think. My wife was watching one of her TV shows. I don't really remember which one. It doesn't matter. The point was, I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing with the television on.

Lowering my head onto my Bible, I said a prayer - a prayer interrupted by the voices filling the room - the voices coming from . . . the television.

Did you ever sit down and analyze the things this world throws at us? Whether it is through the television shows the networks feed us or through the movies that Hollywood offers, we are inundated with worldly, mind-numbing drivel. Can you tell I have an opinion?

I love my Bible dearly. I take it with me everywhere I go. After particularly moving times within it's 66 books, I have been known to kiss its cover upon completion of my reading. I treasure time spent exploring and discovering the hidden secrets, the foreshadowing of things to come, and the promises of a God who loves us enough to send His Son to die for OUR sins.

It's pretty easy to figure out what's happening here as we find ourselves slowly being entertained . . . to death.

The following lyrics are from a little-known song by Roger Waters (formerly of Pink Floyd). It perfectly describes where we are headed as a society if we continue devoting our time to ourselves - the television watchers and the movie goers. We will soon be amusing ourselves to death.

We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on earth
But then it was over
We ooh-ed and ahh-ed
We drove our racing cars
We ate our last few jars of caviar
And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Grouped around the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry no feelings left
This species has amused itself to death

Satan is VERY good at what he does. He gives us everything we want, right when we want it. We hardly even notice the little breaches in the walls surrounding our souls. Slowly he picks away at us.

"Work a little later tonight."

"Oh, no one showed up for your Bible study? Too bad. You must be failing. You fail at a lot of things, don't you."

We've all heard the voices of doubt in our heads. We let those thoughts enter into our minds because we are a forgetful people. We tend to forget about how we have been given the power to resist such things. We were bought with a price, yet we forget about our intercessor, the one who paid our price to begin with.

My wife often says to me, as I am picking up my Bible and walking out of the TV zone . . .

"You're leaving me!"

It's not like I'm "leaving my wife." It hurts me a little every time she says that. But there is someone I love more than her. I must find time to invest in that relationship as well. I MUST find time in my daily schedule for God. I must find some time for my King. The one who stands in the gap for me.

"8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 5:8-11

Please watch this video by Pastor Eric Ludy of the Elerslie Bible Institute, Windsor, CO. See if Eric doesn't get us fired up for Jesus. :)

Intercession by Pastor Eric Ludy

Adulterous

This past week I have been cruising through the Book of Ezekiel. God used Ezekiel to deliver some not-so-nice messages to his people back in the day. Ezekiel liked to start off each of these messages from God with these words: "The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man . . ." and then he would proceed with a message about how God's people had disappointed their Creator. Ezekiel had a very unappreciated job. Nobody listened to him. But Ezekiel did what God commanded him to do. He was obedient.

Chapter 23 in the Book of Ezekiel is entitled Two Adulterous Sisters. Now there's a title worthy of a Movie of the Week. Sadly, it sounds like a top ratings getter. The two sisters in the story from Ezekiel, Oholah (which means "her tent") and Oholibah (which means "my tent is in her"). The story of these two naughty girls was really a parable of sorts, Oholah and Oholibah really represented Samaria and Jerusalem respectively. And oh, how those two ladies liked their men. You can read the whole story here. It's kind of R-rated, depending on your imagination. Parental Guidance suggested.

When I think of "sisters" I often think of my wonderful sister, or I think about my wife and her two sisters, but somewhere along the line, any thoughts of "sisters" usually ends up these two ladies - Rose Mary Clooney and Vera Ellen - who sang this line in a song during the 1954 movie White Christmas.

"Lord help the mister that comes between me and my sister, and Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man."

Although these two girls flirted around with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye during the story of White Christmas, they never approached the transgressions of the two O's from the book of Ezekiel.

Question . . . If we look at our relationship with God as a marriage, how adulterous are we? Hmm.

How often do we men go off on fishing trips and leave our wives at home? How often do we work nights and weekends to satisfy our bosses but leave our wives waiting for us at home? And you ladies . . . how many romance novels do you read and how many chick flicks or soap operas do you watch? Let's face it. Most of us don't give our spouses the kind of attention they expect from us. Or, quite frankly . . . and biblically, the attention and devotion they deserve.

If we look at our relationships with our spouses or our friends like God tells us we should, I wonder what the divorce rate in this world would be. How many of our earthly friendships could be healed? Honestly, if we all loved our spouses like Jesus loved the church, our divorce rate would be zero. The biblical model of a marriage is found in the book of Ephesians.

"22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." - Ephesians 5:22-33

Honestly, most of us guys probably wish the chapter ended with verse 24 but it doesn't. Relationships are NOT one-sided. They're not even two-sided. Ideally, any relationship should really be THREE sided.

I'd like you to open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes, the fourth chapter. You are about to read my favorite verses (v9-12). I want you to pay attention to the numbers mentioned in the text.

"9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Every time the number one is mentioned, the surrounding words are all about "falling down" or trying to "keep warm alone" or about being "overpowered." But when there are two committed people in a relationship, as opposed to a one-sided relationship, it is "better", they "help the other up", "they will keep warm" . . . two "can defend themselves."

Is that how our earthly relationships are? Are they TWO-sided? Or do we shut everyone else out, keeping our relationships superficial, trying to stay warm all by ourselves? Do we sacrifice everything for those in our relationships? Or do we just suck the life out of them and move on to the next source of self-focused love? Is that how our relationship with God is? One-sided? Do we give GOD the kind of attention HE deserves?

Go back and read the last sentence of verse 12 in Ecclesiastes again.

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

The first few verses were all about one's and two's. Then, at the very end, the numer switches to three. Why is that? You can probably figure that one out. All relationships will turn out for the best if there are THREE involved, the third being God. Or should I say, the FIRST.

If you have never seen the movie Fireproof, I recommend you watch it. Although the movie was about marriages, it deals specifically with "a cord of three strands" that should be present in ALL of our earthly relationships. Why do you think stools with three legs are the most stable. It's because they have THREE legs. They are VERY stable.

ANY relationship without Jesus as one of its legs is doomed to die. But with Christ in our relationships, we will stay warm, there will always be someone there to pick us up. Our relationships will live . . . forever.

From the movie Fireproof.

TV

I spent my childhood in the 60's for the most part. Yeah, there was a brief stint in the 50's but most of those memories have long since been forgotten. The 60's was where I did most of my growing and learning - second grade through sophomore year. Most of that time was spent hanging out with my new best friend - television.

TV was different back then. I remember watching lots of shows about heroes. The Lone Ranger, Sky King, Superman and Batman. One of my favorite shows was Twelve O'clock High - a World War II show about bomber pilots - more heroes.

Television was relatively good back then. It allowed us to see a man set foot on the moon back in 1969. That was cool. I also got to watch The Ice Bowl (Packers vs Cowboys) - live, back in 1967. Those days, after-school baby-sitters came in black & white and had things known as "rabbit ears," an antennae used to improve reception.

These days the technology has improved greatly, but the quality of the television programming has taken a major nose dive. It sucks. Gone are the heroes of yesteryear. Gone are the values of family time, sitting around the dining room table. Instead we gather in the living room. If there IS any "family time" at home, it is usually centered around the television set.

King Solomon commented on television (sort of) in the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter one. Here's a few verses from my BIV translation (Bob's Interpreted Version).

3 What do people gain from all their TV watching
    at which they spend hours under its spell?
4 Generations come and generations go,
    but the scars from television remain forever.

So many parents, perhaps searching for some time by themselves, leave their impressionable children in the hands of the god of television. It captures their very souls and they spend hour after hour watching the "boob tube" - hypnotized by its cold, pale glow. That's rather sad and it speaks to the selfish nature of our society today. But what can we do about it? We're already indoctrinated.

Back in 1971, the year I graduated high school, American folk singer John Prine released a song on his debut album. Although the song was named Spanish Pipe Dream, it became more widely known as "Blow Up Your TV." Here's some good advice for today's families, trying to find "family time" in a world now filled with an over-abundance of technology.

Blow up your T.V. throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own.

Good advice and, except for the "eat a lot of peaches" part, I have done all those things. Well, almost all. I didn't blow up our TV either. My wife would kill me! Gotta watch Castle and all those cooking shows and home fix-up shows! Actually, she probably wouldn't kill me but I bet the temperature drop in our house would be quite noticeable.

You know, if I had my way on this whole TV thing, I'd get rid of the satellite dish and I'd spend supper time sitting at the dining room table, talking with my wife. Then I'd take my TV out into the back yard and . . . KA - BOOM!!!

There are times when television serves a function, but there is simply too much time spent in front of the ol' idiot box . . . in my opinion. Keep track of what you watch sometime. You might be surprised at the number of hours devoted to this "god" during a given week.

So here is our challenge. Let's keep track of all of our "TV time" and compare it to our "God time" (prayer, church, serving others, etc.). If the TV wins, God has a problem with that. I'd even say that even if it's close, God's not going to like it. And the more that I think about it, ANYTHING that takes our attention away from God is not good.

I've tried reading my Bible while my wife watches the TV. It doesn't work. My full attention is not on God and that is wrong. So I get up and go into another room to read. I want my focus to be totally on God when I am in His Word.

God, help us to focus on you and you alone. Help us to remove the distractions from our lives, the things that replace you on your thrown, even for a short time. God, there is no one like you. Amen.

Where have all of our heroes gone? The ones we used to watch on TV? Pssst. They're in the Bible!

"There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might." - Jeremiah 10:6 (ESV)

Our God Is Greater by Chris Tomlin

Law

(sarcasm warning) People love me. That's so awesome! And nowhere is it more evident than while I am driving to work. People flash their headlights at me when they see me, probably in recognition of their great love. They wave at me, sometimes waving with just one finger. Apparently I am number one in their lives. Cool. Some people even tailgate me. I'm sure that's out of love too, just wanting to be near me I guess. And these people don't even know me! It's just awesome!!

And what did I do to deserve such a "following?" Such exuberant attention? Well, I chose to actually drive the speed limit. Try it sometime. You'll be amazed at the reactions.

Where are people going in such a hurry anyway? When I am traveling the roadways I assume most of them are going to work. Hurrying to go to work? Really? Regardless of destination, people in general are in a tremendous rush. To the point where they are willing to break the law to get there are fast as they can.

Most of us, I guess, are pretty much law-abiding citizens. Most of us haven't killed anyone or robbed a bank. We haven't embezzled large sums of money or taken someone hostage and demanded money in exchange for their release. Or have we?

I know this one girl who holds her breathe until she gets what she wants. Where did she learn that? It's really extortion . . . and extortion, blackmail, is against the law. Silly kids.

Have you ever made copies at work of your kids football schedule? Made a copy of your tax return? Have you ever printed off a personal e-mail, or an interesting story LIKE THIS ONE, so you could save it or read it later? Ever PAY for those copies? Have you ever downloaded music or ripped a friend's CD so you could get the songs for free rather than buying the CD yourself?

John Cooper, the lead singer of the band Skillet, once asked the crowd if they had purchased the latest Skillet CD. The crowd roared. Then he asked, "And how many of you have downloaded our songs illegally, breaking the eighth commandment?" There was some general laughter but, truth be told, probably MANY people had done that. And the crowd was largely made up of  Christians!

Truth be told, we are probably ALL guilty of breaking the law, SOME law, every day of our lives. Do you remember the parable Jesus told in Luke 18 about the rich ruler?

"And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

What law had this man broken? Any ideas? He told Jesus he had kept the commandments since his youth. Every commandment, that is, except the very first commandment - You shall have no other God's before me. This man's god was his money.

So this morning I ask this question: What is YOUR God? What is the idol YOU worship? Is it work? Is it spending time watching TV instead of reading God's Word? Or will it be adultery today . . . simply looking at someone with lustful thoughts in your heart. Will it be stealing. No? How accurately will you fill out your taxes this year? Did you pay for that paperclip at work? And that roll of company toilet paper on your desk because you're too cheap to buy your own Kleenex? What about murder? Pretty safe there, right? God's Word says that even if you hate someone you have committed murder in your heart (1 John 3:15).

Let's face it. We're ALL guilty. How could ANY of us possibly get to heaven based upon God's criteria and our own works . . . our own sins. None of us can. But there is HOPE. :)

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

God provided a way for us. A way out of the darkness that is so prevalent in our world today - His one and only Son. Christ died for us on the cross. He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of The Father.

Each of us is deserving of death in the eyes of God. And that is what we will receive. Unless . . . unless someone intercedes for us. It is our faith in Him that saves us. It is our making Jesus lord of our lives that saves us. We need Jesus. We need . . . an intercessor.

Eric Ludy - Intercessor