One-On-One

Back in the early- to mid-eighties my brother and I played an Apple II video game called One-on-One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird. Look at those graphics! Pretty lame by today's standards. But the game's title taught me something about relationships.

One-on-one conversations with someone can really allow them to open up and share what's on their hearts. Going for a walk, grabbing some coffee, it's all good.

Look at the example of Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus and the woman at the well, Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. He was alone with each of these people and they really had an opportunity to ask questions and to learn. One-on-one, away from friends and people who know us, can be very beneficial. Even restorative.

There are two things that really make one-on-one conversations work: the willingness of a person to open up and share their struggles without fear of judgement. That can take some time before a person feels comfortable enough to share.

The second thing that is beneficial is if the other person is a good listener and asks the needed, and sometimes difficult, questions.

Words like trust, mercy, compassion, love, grace, and honesty are some of the required characteristics for a good listener.

The cool thing about talking with someone, one-on-one, through their pain, is that at the end you both usually end up being really good and close friends.

Jesus was, and is, really good at helping others through a tragedy or storm. The hardest part is for us to get to the point where we are willing to open up to Him, one-on-one, and trust in Him. But once we do that we have a friend for all eternity.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

The Parable of The Glove

Have you got one of these? Or perhaps you have two. What good is one without the other, right? Well, today's story is about a glove. And also about what makes it work.

The picture above is of an old work glove of mine. It's made out of leather and has been used so much that it has holes worn in it. But it did its job, and I'm greatful.

I used this glove for many things. I'd put it on when I was using my chainsaw in the woods, hauling brush, moving concrete block, etc.

The thing about a glove is it can't do anything by itself. It has to be put on and worn before it can be effective.

Oh, we could encourage it to do something. We could yell at it, or say "pretty please," but unless there's a human hand in there somewhere, it's basically useless.

But as soon as it's put on, it serves its purpose and does exactly what it was created to do.

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

You and I are empty work gloves. We are limp and useless, unless . . . unless Jesus lives in us.

"For in him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28

Unless we have God's Holy Spirit in us we are useless as thay old work glove.. We who believe in Jesus have His Holy Spirit in us - like a hand in a glove. Through our faith in Christ we have life, eternal life, and it is the Holy Spirit living in us that moves us.

This old body of mine is worn out and weary but it can still move and work for God. If you have not allowed Jesus to do a work in you, your life is probably a lot like my old work glove - empty, useless, and without purpose.

Please, allow yourself to be used by the One who created you. Allow God to direct you and use you for His glory and for your good. And the good news is that when we get to heaven, we get a new "glove" to replace the old!

"But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-53

Thanks be to God!

The Parable Code

In the tribulation period that is to come, the Bible tells us that there will be persecution and trials like we have never seen.

"You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." - Matthew 24:9-13

With the rise of A.I., and it's ability to scan billions of emails, how will Christians communicate with one another without inviting persecution?? Perhaps a simpler form of communication will be required.

"Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground." - John 8:6

That's good, but people passing by can still read what we write. And the people we would be communicating with will be right there with us. Perhaps some sort of code....

During World War II the United States military used Navajo soldiers to conceal their messages. In 2002, Hollywood made a movie about them called Wind Talkers.

The Navajo language was an ingenious way of secretly communicating because the enemy had no idea what it was.

Check this out. It's a code. Can you figure out what it says? The 'key' is literally right in front of your face.

%[# >@ )[:÷

There is a super-secret code available to use. You've used it already but you didn't even know it. It's the Parable Code. But you have to be a believer in Jesus Christ to decode any messages. And THAT is something that artificial intelligence cannot understand. God's Holy Spirit is our interpreter.

"This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." - Matthew 13:13

Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear?

Perfect Love

I have a theory, however I can't prove any of it. I feel like it's true but it's just a feeling and nothing more. Although it is that very feeling that proves my theory.

I think.

Let's start with some basic truths and proceed from there.

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them" - 1 John 4:16

"There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear." - 1 John 4:18

The first part of my theory is this: All humans desire to be loved. We were created that way. It's part of who we are.

And now here is the second part of my theory: Because we were created in God's image (Genesis 1:27) I believe that God also desires to be loved.

Basically, we were made to love and to be loved.

What would the world look like if we all loved each other unconditionally?

The key to all of this unconditional love is the Holy Spirit. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters us and changes us. The Holy Spirit in us is the proof.

Unconditional love is amazing. It's perfect love. When we experience it, or give it, in this world we get a glimpse of the Father's love for us.

And then there's Jesus - the ultimate unconditional love giver - when He willingly gave His life up to pay for our sins. He never said the words 'I love you' from the cross but He didn't have to. He lived it. 

How will we love unconditionally today?

5th Generation Warfare

I heard a term this week that was unfamiliar so I looked it up on-line. You know, the source of all truth, right?

Fifth-generation warfare (5GW) is warfare that is conducted primarily through non-kinetic military action, such as social engineering, misinformation, cyberattacks, along with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and fully autonomous systems. - Wikipedia

So.... here we are.... in a 5G world, using our 5G phones, feeling like we're out of touch with everything that's happening. Welcome to the battlefield of the mind.

The first question we need to ask is this: How can our minds possibly compete with the artificial intelligence that has all of the information on internet at its dispoal?

Answer: We can't.

But don't panic. We have an ally in our 5G battle. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And what a mighty alliance THAT is!

God is watching everything we are doing. And that's not good for those who are deceiving the people.

A similar thing happened once upon a time in the Old Testament - the Tower of Babel. God was watching them too. Here's what He said. His words still apply today 

"The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language (A.I.?) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” - Genesis 11:6

I added the emphasis to the text, aren't we doing a similar thing today? Trying to be like God? Worshipping ourselves and our own interests instead of worshipping God? Satan did that, rebelled against God, and here we are.

"In the future, we might see the first cults and religions in history whose revered texts were written by a non-human intelligence," - Noah Harari, May 3, 2023

Do you think that God will allow this to happen? New religions created by human design through A.I.?

I don't think so.

We are fighting a 5th generation war in this world and many have no idea it's even happening. Hooah!!

To Your Tents!

When things got bad in Old Testament times, what did the Israelites do? They went camping!🙂

Don't believe me?

"When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” So the Israelites went home." - 1 Kings 12:16

And there you have it!

Of course, it wasn't a happy time when the Israelites went 'to their tents.' Things were usually pretty bad. Basically, they had no where else to turn. Every man for himself! Deperate times call for desperate measures, right? And desperate times are headed our way today. Check that, they are already here.

So, what do we do about it? How do we handle the increasing birth pangs of these last days? Three words - go to church.

You will not find a more loving, compassionate, and empathetic group than at a gathering of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And why is there so much love and understanding in a church? Each believer has in them the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised.

 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." - John 14:15-17

What a wonderful reminder!

The church doesn't love like the world loves. At least they shouldn't. They love unconditionally and without thought of self. And that is something the world simply cannot understand.

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

4D Chess Anyone?

Chess is difficult enough to begin with but add a third dimension to the game and, well, you'd have to be a Vulcan to understand it. But what if there was even a 4th dimension?

There are a lot of things happening in our world right now. We've had fires in Maui and Canada, numerous hurricanes (we're half way through the alphabet), and there are wars (Ukraine) and rumors of wars (Israel). There was even an eartquake in Morocco the other day (2100+ dead). The economy is struggling and there is talk of another pandemic (It must be getting close to election season).

If all of these things happening around the globe were chess pieces, this would be one, big, crazy game of 3-dimensional chess.

I mentioned a 4th dimension - it's a spiritual dimension. Game pieces are being moved but we can't see who's moving them. Demons versus angels, and they're battling behind the scenes, but their 'chess moves' are only the beginning. Wait until the BIG pieces start to move!

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book." - Daniel 12:1

The only way to win at any spiritual chess game is to have a substitute play for you. You need an expert in overcoming ever move the enemy make. Our substitute is named Jesus. Let Him make all of the moved in your life. You'll be a winner in no time!

The Angel of The Lord

"David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown." - 1 Chronicles 21:16

God had sent His angel to punish Israel for David's not trusting in Him. God's angel killed 70,000 fighting men before God told him to stop.

Why do we disobey God? Surely people have heard of His might and power, yet we don't follow His commands.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" - Luke 6:46

The answer is easy. We choose NOT to obey. He's not a priority for us in our daily lives. We get so involved with ourselves and our lives that we forget about God desires for us.

That's a problem. As David clearly found out.

How many of us are being punished by God without our even knowing it? That's hard to say with any certainty but I think it happens more often than we realize.

• I believe in God but I have never been married and have two kids.
• We believe in God but we don't attend worship.
• I believe in God but the church I attend worships 'Mother God' and embraces LGBTQ+ pastors.
• We believe in God but we also think that abortion should be the law of the land.

Why has our country gone downhill in recent days? Some would say, "It's Biden's fault! The economy sucks and the border's wide open."

Really?

"There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." - Romans 13:1

If we are going through struggles and hard times, it is VERY possible that we are doing so because we have disobeyed God or dishonored Him in some way.

We need to examine ourselves for any fault and then repent of it if things are ever going to change in our lives or in this world. David repented of a bad decision he had made, THEN God commanded the angel to stop the killing.

1. Examine
2. Pray
3. Repent
4. Obey

And don't forget about Jesus. Only by placing our faith in Him can we avert God's wrath and be forgiven.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9

Shall I Go Up?

Have you ever felt led to do something but you're not really sure you should do it? You are not alone.

We all have people in our lives who don't know the Lord. At least we THINK they don't know Him, right? I mean, "Where's the fruit?"

Are we supposed to talk with them about Jesus and the Gospel, or should we just pray for someone else to do it?

Yes!!

A phrase popped into my head last night that got me thinking. It occurs several times in the Bible - mainly in the Old Testament. 

When a king or someone else was about to go into battle they would either pray or have a prophet/seer contact God and ask, "Shall I go up" against so and so. Then the Lord would answer, "Go up" or "Do not go up."

Another accompanying phrase to "shall I go up?" is this: "Will you deliver them into my hands?"

What if we actually prayed both of these questions before we spoke to someone? Would God answer us in some way?

"So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.” - 2 Samuel 5:19

What if we prayed and asked God who He would like us to share the Gospel with? The default answer from our pastors would be, "Share the Gospel with everyone!" That's good, but how about something like this:

Lord, I'm thinking about talking to Sandy about you. I'm not sure whether she knows you or not, but you do. Shall I go up and visit her and talk to her about you and the Gospel of your Son? Would you open her heart and mind to hearing about you?

Time is short. Shouldn't we be found actually doing something for Him when the Lord returns? I would think so. Then let's go up! Let's inquire of the Lord and act. We don't want to be standing in front of Jesus and have Him ask, "Why didn't you talk to Sandy about me?"

Pray. Act. Pray. Repeat.

Prayers go up. Blessings come down.

The Gutter

Here's a fun little challenge for you today. Take a close look at this picture and tell me what you see.

Garbage dumpsters, parking meters, a moving vehicle, pigeons on the sidewalk, palm trees, a couple walking, a pawn shop.... anything else?

Well, there's a "16th Street" sign, a McDonald's across the street, and... a church sign. Do you see it? Upper left. "San Juan 14;6 Pentecostal." San Juan is St. John. And here's the verse:

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

Good verse. And this is a good place for a church. 

Regardless, welcome to "the gutter." This is where many of us live these days. How do you like what we've done with the place? The picture was taken in San Francisco.

Now, tell me the things you DON'T see. Besides Nancy Pelosi, that is.

I don't see any cars parked in front of the parking meters. I don't see anyone cleaning up the trash. And other than the couple walking through the mess, I don't see any other humans at all. Besides the walking couple, and the person taking the picture, there is no one.

Welcome to the future. And the future is now.

If you saw someone lying in the gutter on a street like this where you live, would you stop to help them? Or would you walk right by? Be honest.

Our apathy as a society is why we still have homeless people sleeping in the gutters of every major city in America. We don't stop to help.

We send news crews to take pictures and we say 'somebody should do something' but no one ever does. We are the reason Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." (Matthew 26:11)

The one thing missing from the picture above that really stands out is the church....the body of Christ. Yes, there is a sign, and a building, but there is no one out on the street....in the actual gutter....doing anything.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have." - Luke 10:30-35

Jesus is returning soon. Where do you think we'd find HIM? With the sick, the poor, the homeless, the hurting.

Where then should WE be?

Frozen To The Sword

I have a challenge for you today. It involves the love we have for our family and friends. Kind of strength test - a measuring stick if you will. First, read this:

"Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day." - 2 Samuel 23:9-10

How much do we love our family? What if someone was attacking someone we love. Would we step in and fight them? To the death?

We are in the midst of a spiritual battle in this world. Watch the news. Parents are having to fight just to raise their own children! Many school systems are indoctrinating our kids without the parent's knowledge. This is just wrong.

Some parents show up at school board meetings, some have actually gotten arrested, and some have gotten so frustrated that they have pulled their children out of the public school and are now home schooling them. Good for them.

Go back to that verse about Eleazar. He fought so incredibly hard for Israel. Even though others fled, he stayed and fought, and "The Lord brought about a great victory that day."

We must stand firm in these last days. We, the silent majority, have been silent for far too long.

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm." - Ephesians 6:13

Paul goes on to tell the church in Ephesus that "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) is essential for fighting the schemes of the Devil.

Do we have a tight grasp on God's Word? So tight that it has become frozen in our hands?

High Alert!

As Rosh Hashanah approaches each year (just two weeks from this Friday) I always get a little excited. "Confidence is high," is the military jargon for it. And it's a "high watch day" according to Bible prophecy experts.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. Also known as The Feast of Trumpets, it marks the day the universe was created and when Adam and Eve were created. It is also called The Day of Judgement or Remembrance. 

A distinctive feature of this high holy day is the blowing of trumpets, or the shofar (a ram's horn).

Why is this particular Jewish holiday of interest to the Christian? Well....

Jesus to the disciples: "Let not your hearts be troubled. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that where I am you may be also." John 14:2-3

Jesus said that He is coming back to get His disciples. That we may be where He is. Where's that? Heaven. When is He coming?

The Apostle Paul: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The twinkling of an eye? That's pretty quick! And a trumpet will sound? Yep. And the dead will be raised? Mhmm. And we....we'll be changed?? Uh huh.

"According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

As we go through today or tomorrow, or however many days remain until His return, let us be encouraged by Jesus' words.

"I will come back."

And I hope it's soon.