The Tipping Point

There comes a time in our thinking and in our hearts, when we choose to change. Something has led us there. A set of circumstances perhaps or maybe a disease. We humans eventually get to a point where we chose to try something else, or believe something else. It's usually because something's not working and we desperately want SOMETHING to work. Something to believe in. Welcome to the tipping point.

What makes a person desperate enough to reach out for help or to make the decision to end their life? Where is that tipping point? And what decides which way things tip?

I think there are two factors in most tipping point decisions - truth and love.

Everybody has their own version of truth. or should I say everybody has their own opinion of what the truth is. "The World" sees the truth and being relative. What's right for one person is wrong for another. News flash. There is only ONE truth.

God hates sin. Lying is a sin. Therefore God hates lying. If God hates lying I think it's a good idea to always speak the truth. And to do that we always need to know what is truth and what is a lie. That's a tipping point. Always tip in favor of the truth. If we find we are not walking in the truth we must change. There is only one truth. If we are not living it and breathing it we are no better than Satan, the father of lies.

Love is the other ingredient that we need to exhibit. I had a lady give me some light fixtures and a ceiling fan for the tiny home I am building for those in need of emergency shelter. I hardly knew her yet after we got done loading them into my car, I gave her a hug because she was helping people we both love - those in need.

Look at your family and friends right now. Is anyone living a lie? Is anyone without love? Examine God's Word. It is filled with truth. If we are merely vessels, filled with God's Holy Spirit, we need to be pouring out that love and truth to others in need around us.

Today, let's be active vessels and do some dispensing of the love that God has shown us by pouring ourselves into the lives of others in His name. Call someone, text someone, tell someone you love them. It may be just what that person needs to hear today.

In the following message Pastor Matt Chandler delivers a sermon at a seeker sensitive, self-focused mega church. In his message Matt provides them and us with a tipping point in OUR walk with Jesus. Is God for us or is He for His own glory?

Matt Chandler - Code Orange Revival

Living Donor

I saw a commercial on television the other day that made me stop and think. I had the volume off so I was just looking at visuals. There were a bunch of people standing in line, motionless, going nowhere. The image was dark and grey. Kind of like Monday morning, right?

The commercial was actually for a living donor program but the images perfectly depicted what you and I are called to do with the Gospel message.

As you watch the commercial pay attention to the hopeless people standing in line. They are simply waiting, their hope seems almost gone. Then someone comes along. Someone they know, and pulls them out of the line. There is a loving embrace. Then the two of them walk together, hand-in-hand. Powerful images to be sure.

Think of the Gospel. What was it God wanted us to do with it?

"15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." - Mark 16:15-16

Is there someone in your life who is struggling? Just going through life without purpose or hope? Just standing in line waiting for the end to come?

Reach out to them! Draw them close and give them a hug. Share the truth of The Gospel with them. Show them the love Jesus showed you when His Holy Spirit drew you to The Father. Share some of what YOU have with someone who has nothing.

And by that I mean share the hope that you have. The hope of our Savior. Pull your loved ones out of the line that is "the world" and walk with them towards the light - the Light of The Gospel.

UPMC Living Donor Commercial

That Wedding Day

There are many things in life we never get to see. This past Sunday our pastor spoke about his getting to do and see things that most of us never get to see. Like stopping in to pray for the bride as her bride's maids readied her for her wedding day. Most people don't get to experience moments like that. But I did.

Our pastor talking about the beauty of a bride getting ready for her wedding in Revelation 21. Here's the text.

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." - Revelation 21:1-2

This past summer I had the privilege of officiating at a wedding ceremony. Before the service I visited the small house where the bride was getting ready for her special day. I walked in, knocking, eyes to the floor, not wanting to see anything I shouldn't.

When I was told it was okay to enter I looked up and saw one of the most amazing sights I'd ever seen. A beautiful bride and her bridesmaids. They were making sure her dress fit just perfectly, they were arranging her hair just so and tended to her bouquet.

Previously I had only seen this particular bride wearing a sweatshirt and blue jeans. What a transformation!

When God sent His son to die for our sins, He was preparing us for OUR wedding day. The time we come together at the wedding feast with Jesus. God previously only saw us in our "blue jeans and sweatshirt" but now, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, we were adorned in our wedding dress. ready to get married.

We have not seen heaven either. Somehow I don't think we'll notice it at all. Because we'll be staring into the eyes of Jesus.

Wedding Day - Casting Crowns

The Parable of The Holey Sock

I caught my wife darning one of my socks the other day. Apparently, her silly husband likes to walk around in his stocking feet and wear holes in his socks, thereby causing more work for his wife.

"If you'd only wear your slippers!" she tells me. She shakes her head and keeps right on darning the sock.

Here we have a typical example of a conflict of interests. On one hand, my wife doesn't like darning socks. It takes time out of her busy schedule to do something she really doesn't want to do in the first place. That can be frustrating. It can put a strain on a relationship, especially when her husband doesn't like wearing his slippers.

My wife also doesn't like spending money on socks when she COULD be spending it on her grandkids. Doubly frustrating.

On my side of the issue, I don't always want to wear my slippers. I like walking around in my stocking feet, sliding around on the kitchen floor like Tom Cruise (not really). I guess I could go without wearing socks but then my feet would get cold. What's a man to do? Well, that's easy.

The verse I find myself going back to time and time again is Ephesians 5:25

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." - Ephesians 5:25

I reached into my sock drawer this morning and grabbed a pair of socks. I was about to put them on when I noticed that one of the socks had been repaired. I held it in my hand and looked and the stitching my wife had done. There were a lot of stitches in that sock!

As I pulled the sock on I reflected on that Ephesians 5 verse. Previously, in Ephesians 5, I also reflected on the wife in Paul's example of a biblical marriage.

"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:22

My wife had already submitted to my wishes. She had fixed my socks, she had thereby saved money for her grandkids. What had I done in my role as a husband? I'll tell you what I did. I smiled and I put my slippers on over my socks.

There's no one home as I write this. I could have walked around in my stocking feet. My wife would never have known, until she saw the next holey sock. But I would have known. I made the small sacrifice of wearing my slippers around the house to honor my wife and to honor God.

What bigger relationship issues could we solve by sacrificing ourselves for our spouses? What can we do to make someone's life easier? Shouldn't we make that sacrifice?

You and I are socks. Our sin is the hole. God chose to fix us through our belief in His Son, Jesus. Aren't you glad He chose to mend us and make us whole rather than just throwing us in the garbage?

How To Repair A Hole In A Sock With Darning

Running Wild

When I was growing up I had a dog named Linus. Yes, he was named after the famous Peanuts character. Linus used to stand on his hind legs at the end of his chain and bark at anything that passed by. He kept working at his chain until it broke and then he took off running, chain dragging behind. He loved to run wild.

It always took a long time to get him back home once he was free and running to and fro, wherever he wanted to. He enjoyed being free and doing what he wanted. Unfortunately, he was also running blind - running without being aware of his surroundings.

In the summer we would travel to our family farm and there we would let him run free. He really enjoyed that. He would run and run until he couldn't run any more.

You and I are a lot like Linus. So often we think of this life and some place to run wild through. We won't listen to the voices that are calling after us. We ignore them in favor of doing what we want. That can come with some heavy consequences.

Although we don't have chains on us we do have God's Law as our leash. Our obedience is something that God wants from us. When He yells, "Stop!" God wants my dog to obey because we are often going somewhere we shouldn't.

There are two things that can happen when God removes OUR chains and we are allowed to run free. Either we are obedient to our Master and stay by his side or we run wild through life, disobeying everything we have ever been taught.

Are we obedient? Or are we running blind?

"5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine," - Exodus 19:5

"25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." - James 1:25

Running On Empty - Jackson Browne

Once and Forever

So, you have believed in Jesus but have fallen away. You don't go to church. You don't pray. You sin continually. Are you going to heaven? The answer may surprise you.

I am reading through the Old Testament right now. Each time I read through it I am reminded of myself. God calls Israel, God's chosen nation, a stiff-necked people. Israel keeps turning away from God. They continue to sin. God punishes them, as a father punishes his child, until they repent and return in obedience to God.

This process goes on and on and on throughout the Bible.

If I am honest, I too am stiff-necked. I keep turning away from God and I keep sinning. Even though God doesn't want me to. I am disobedient.

You and I are natural born sinners. Everybody has to be good at something, right? Sin is our thing. It's what we do best. It all depends on who is more important to us in our hearts. Ourselves or God.

The Bible says that . . .

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

So, if I have believed in Jesus - if I have called myself a Christian at some point in my life - am I still a Christian when I sin and wander away from Christ?

The Bible also says that when we place our faith in Christ "we are a new creation. This is an amazing paragraph from the Bible:

"16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin b for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

So that is the ultimate question. Are you reconciled to God? We can believe in God but still not be reconciled to Him. Even the demons believe in God (James 2:19).

Have we changed? Are we different? Have we repented of our sins? Is Jesus Lord of our lives?

We all will find out one day. In the meantime, Can we lose our salvation? No. The bigger question is, "Have we truly placed our faith in Christ?" What's YOUR answer?

Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin
Can I Lose My Salvation? - GotQuestions.org

One More Week

Just think. One week from now there will be no more political ads on television! I can't wait.

My wife and I play a game each night to see who is the first to grab the remote whenever a political ad comes on. We are both sick of seeing them so the competition between my wife and I is intense. She leads 759-698. And that was just last week!

I think church can be like that if the ones hearing the message aren't really interested. When I was in eighth grade confirmation class I didn't really care about God or Jesus. I just wanted to answer the questions so I could get outta there!

It wasn't until much later in life, when I fell into a relationship with Jesus, that I realized the truth and the seriousness of the Gospel message. Similarly, unless we have a relationship with a candidate - someone who speaks to us in truth (a rarity) - we won't even listen to the other candidate.

If we get religion rammed down our throats when we're young, we won't really be interested in what it has to say. Not unless it is accompanied by a relationship first.

I don't really care if someone is a Republican or a Democrat. I am looking for truth, honesty, and someone whose message parallels the Gospel. That usually narrows the choices down a bit. Like to zero!

So I find somebody close and vote that way. If my candidate loses, oh well. I voted. I'm not going to whine and cry about losing. I suck it up and move on. Jesus is MY King.

"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

You Are My King / Amazing Love - Chris Tomlin

The Next Step

I love dark, gloomy, rainy days. Days when nothing seems to be going right. Why? Because something is about to happen. Something good.

Think about it. Why are there clichés like "It's always darkest before the dawn" or "Behind every cloud is a silver lining?" Most cliché's like those have some element of truth to them. That's why they are clichés.

The thing I like most about gloomy depressing days is, I seem to draw closer to God during those times. Because I am less sure of myself I am more apt to pick up my Bible. I am more likely to contact a friend who I know will help me cheer up.

That's where Jesus comes in. I have found no better friend. He's always there. He knows what I need before I do. He directs my life by placing people in it for a reason, a season or a lifetime. And, yes, He IS that good.

God doesn't sugar coat the truth so I feel good about myself. He shoves the truth right in my face and says, "Deal with it." And if there is some short term pain, so be it. The pain is always accompanied by a long term gain.

I have reached out to a lot of people over the past 12 years, in the name of Christ. I love them, I try to tell them what they need to hear - the truth. Sometimes they walk away for a while. Sometimes for good. But my job is not to make them feel good. My job is to make them think. I do that by asking questions.

"What got you to this point in your life?"

"What was the decision you made when your life took a turn for the worse?"

"What's your next step?"

For many, the best next step they can take is Jesus. Either turning to Him or RE-turning to Him. That's always a good place to start.

Here's another good question. "Doing things your way has gotten you to the point where you are right now. What would you think about trying life God's way?"

Never pass up the opportunity to love someone or to encourage someone. You may be the one person who God has placed in their lives for that specific reason. Don't get the end of the day and say. "I wish I would have . . ."

Put God first.

Put God First - Denzel Washington

The Parable of The License Plate

I have been trying to get a license plate for my tiny house on wheels for the past four months. What a nightmare! One snag after another. Battling against the DOT can be an uphill battle. Unless, of course, you have someone to help you.

Things were going along well at first. I sent in my license application. All filled out. I sent them some money. I thought I had covered all the bases. Nope. I received a letter back from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation telling me they needed more money. Figures. Fine.

So I sent them more money.

Then I got an e-mail from my "application specialist" requesting even more information. They wanted to make sure my "RV" had a bed and a sink, a toilet and a cooktop. It's not an RV if it doesn't have them I guess. So I wrote back and told my specialist friend that I had all those things. Well, I had most of them, sitting in the trailer. I immediately ordered the rest.

That still wasn't enough. I needed a special certification stamp from my trailer manufacturer. It had have some special wording and it had to be attached to the trailer. I had a document with the wording on it but it wasn't attached to the trailer.

Well, that's a problem apparently. Looks like I had come to the end of the line in my effort to get licensed. Ah, but I have read the Bible. I know all about Law vs Grace. The Law, in my attempt to get a license plate, was being played perfectly by the state DOT. All their rules and regulations were quite hard to live by.

But then along came my tiny house trailer manufacturer. My savior! When I confessed to them my struggles with the state, they went above and beyond the call of duty. I got this e-mail from them yesterday.

"We will get you one. Let me work out the details and I will let you know asap. What address would you like me to send it to? Sorry this has been such a pain for you but we will make it right.

Angel"

My trailer company is sacrificing its profit margin to get me right with the State of Wisconsin. And did you catch the name at the end of the trailer company's message? Angel! Are you kidding me?

We can never satisfy the requirements of God's law. There's too many rules. Besides, we are prone to break rules to begin with. Jesus said, "There is no one good."

Thank God for His grace and mercy!!

Without the grace of my trailer company I'd be up the creek without a license plate. But thanks to someone who exhibited grace and mercy, I just might make it to "the promised land."

I thanked the trailer company for their customer service. And I thank God for the sacrifice of His Son. Without that I wouldn't have met the requirements of getting into heaven - a sinless life.

We all will be given a "license plate" when we get to heaven. A name that no one knows except Jesus. But only those who are 100% perfect will get one. We are made perfect through our faith in Christ. Send in your application today!

"Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." - Romans 10:1-4

Grace - Michael W. Smith

(wait for the message at the end)

You're The Inspiration

This song has been in my head a lot lately. I actually wrote a story about it once I think. As you listen to it, try this - close your eyes and think about God. Think about all the thing's He's done for you. All the teaching, the parables, the questions He asked us. And, of course, His sacrifice on the cross.

The song ends with the repeated words, "When you love somebody."

Now picture Jesus hanging on that cross for you and me. What are the limits of God's love? They are endless . . . when You love somebody.

God loves us! Rejoice! Inspire someone today by showing them how much you love them!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." - John 3:16

You're The Inspiration - Peter Cetera

An Opportunity To Love

Where does love come from? We KNOW it exists because we can feel it. In our hearts, in our minds and in our souls. But where does love begin?

I believe we are all born with the desire to be loved. I watch my granddaughter and I can see the love in her eyes as she looks at her mother. Although a mothers love for her child is there from the beginning, the child needs to learn and trust and feel safe in order to love. It wants to be loved and, if it is, it returns that love.

Some children never know love. They are to be pitied because the ultimate goal of any human being is love. It is actually what we were created to do. Love is at the heart of the first and greatest commandment.

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

If we are to love our neighbor, what than should we do with the thousands of people approaching our southern border? How do we show THEM love?

I think every American has compassion for these people who are walking here. They are poor and desperate enough to do this. How should we greet them? What would you do if you were the president? What is the loving thing to do, not only for these migrating people but for the American citizen as well?

Just about everyone living in this country can trace their ancestry to immigrants. Most Americans don't have a problem with LEGAL immigration. What should we do? How will we be known as a people? How will we show love?

Whatever we end up doing I hope it is done in love. I hope we will be seen as a loving nation in the eyes of the world. But more so, I hope we are seem as a loving nation in the eyes of God. What would HE have us do?

24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands." - Acts 17:24-26

Every nation has borders. Some borders are more permeable than others. Whatever the state of our borders are, we need to check the condition of our hearts as well. We will ultimately be judged by our works in the name of Christ. What if Jesus was amongst these immigrants?

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:40

Get Together - The Youngbloods

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