His Personal Invitation

His Personal Invitation

How often have you heard these words of Jesus in Bible classes and sermons? “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). They touch our hearts, but they may become even more powerful when we look at the words preceding His invitation.

Before giving His invitation, He spoke to the Father. “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent.” The things He mentioned were the eternal truths He came to reveal. They were hidden from those described as wise and prudent. The wise and the prudent would be the ones you might expect to be given such vital truths, yet Jesus thanked God that it had not been given to those respected by society as being above all others. It may at first seem strange, but if Jesus was thankful for this, shouldn’t we also be thankful?

Jesus continued His thought when He said the Father had “…revealed them to babes.” Obviously, the babes are not infants, but those individuals to whom it was revealed were so different from the wise and prudent. Paul describes this truth in this way. “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many noble, are called” (1 Cor. 1:26). There was no way to comprehend those prophecies about how God would come in the flesh and the Creator of the universe would suffer crucifixion. When He actually came there was no human wisdom, even among the wise and prudent, that could comprehend it.

Jesus said even more about this before giving His great invitation. “No one knows the Father…except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). To whom does Jesus reveal the Father? He has been revealed Him to “babes” who by human standards are so far removed from being wise and prudent. Jeremiah described those who would be the recipients of the New Covenant. “For they shall all know Me, from the least to the greatest” (Jer. 31:34).

We must never forget that as we respond to His great invitation we come to know God. It is that revelation from God that enables us to so easily understand the crucified Creator! That which the world by its wisdom will never comprehend is the very basis of how we come to the Savior and know Him!

Christendom often asks, “Do you know the Lord as your personal Savior.” Is there any way we can know that we really know God? Here is God’s answer to that question. “By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:4). Coming to Him involves knowing His will and doing what He says. “Babes” fully understand this.

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The Brothers Karamazov

The Brothers Karamazov

I recently read the book The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is an impressive literary work that touches on religion, law, psychology, and philosophy. The author sets forth three brothers. One is a Russian-Orthodox Christian, another is an atheist, and the third is an egotist.Brothers Karamazov

The atheist believes that “all things are lawful,” since God does not exist, including things like murder. The Christian holds that “every man is a debtor to all” meaning that we must take other people into consideration. The third brother is caught between the two. Dostoyevsky takes both beliefs from the apostle Paul. “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Is Paul saying that a Christian may behave however he wants? No. This expression is about living lawfully. For example, eating food is good if one is not a glutton. The Christians has everything in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21-22).

The second expression, “every man is a debtor to all,” comes from Romans 1:14, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.” In this context, Paul is speaking specifically about preaching the gospel, but there is a broader application. To be a Christian is to live for others because that’s how Christ lived His life. We owe everyone a Christ-like life because Christ gave His life for us. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

At the end of the book, the egotist goes to prison for murder, the atheist drives himself insane, and the Christian lovingly consoles a family that has lost a child. Which life would you choose?

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Points from Joel

Lessons from Joel

Recently, I taught the Lesson: Rethinking Joel.  The lesson below focuses on four points from Joel.  Those concepts are:

    • We Need Thankfulness, Honor, Respect
    • God is Our Shelter
    • God’s People aren’t Powerless
    • God Will Not Leave the Wicked Unpunished

Hopefully, you will find these thoughts helpful in your study of Joel.  While this lesson is a little less information packed than the first, I hope you find it edifying.  God has given us all of the Bible for our learning.  What he has given us is not simply a collection of stories.  It is history.  That which has happened and should now guide how we approach our lives.

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Stories: One of the Saddest…

Stories: One of the Saddest…

There were about seven of us sitting in a local restaurant telling tales, as men are known to do. We laughed together as some of the men shared embarrassing fishing stories. At some point the conversation drifted from fishing and trucks toward the more serious topic of families and children.

I had been conducting a series on the family in their local congregation, and it was obvious some of the material was weighing heavy on these older men. Within a few minutes they began opening up their hearts.saddest story

One of the men began to tear up and shared the story of his son. He told me that when his son was young, they were at the little league field 3-4 times per week. He told me they practically lived at the ball field. His son was talented, and he progressed into high school and college ball. He was a phenomenal pitcher.

This heartbroken father shared with me that his son ended up being a professional baseball pitcher in MLB for 11 years. If I shared his name many of you would probably recognize it.

But then this older man went on to tell me he had not talked to his son in about 2 ½ years. The mom of this ball player had passed away, and her funeral was the last time they talked together. It was obvious this father longed to hear from his son.

He went on to share with me how his son had left the church in pursuit of his professional dreams. He told me his son lived in a mansion filled with all kinds of expensive toys—but those toys came at a huge expense. With tears in his eyes, he admitted that the cost of chasing professional baseball had ultimately cost him everything—including his relationship with his earthly father and his heavenly Father.

I will likely never forget hearing him loudly proclaim: “I wish my son had never picked up a baseball.”

You could have heard a pin drop. With tears running down his face he finally realized that pro-ball was just not worth it.

Think about that for just a moment. Here was a dad who had invested literally countless hours to get his son in the major leagues, and yet today he was wishing his son never picked up a ball.

I asked the older man if I could share his story with others, and he said, “If it will help just one person from going through what we went through then I hope you will.”

And so, I share this heartbreaking story in hopes that some dad of a young boy out there will think long and hard about what his priorities should be. In the end, that affluent life and professional sport may end up costing the soul of your son. It’s just not worth it.

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Do you Want to be Tickled?

Tickle Me?

Today’s society wants to be tickled.  They want to hear things that appeal to them.  What appeals to them is their own traditions, beliefs, feelings, or values.

Universities which once used to be a place to challenge thought and delve deep to discover truth, now seem to promote only group think.  If someone poses a thought which is unique from other students, feelings explosion occurs!  Students weep, feel threatened, or get angry when exposed to something outside of their box of thought.  Their minds want to be tickled.  Agree with me!  Don’t terrify my mores.  Safe rooms have had to be set up for fear of enountering a different point of view.  Visiting lecturers have been protested against, threatened, or canceled because they see the world through a different set of glasses than the mind numbed students.

 

The government working with mass media and pharmaceutical companies engaged opposition fiercely during the Covid 19 years.  They told people they must lockdown, though they knew from history that such a position would be futile with covid.  They told people they must wear masks.  Though they knew that evidence from over a century of practice and study proved masks useless.  They chose arbitrary spacing distances such as six feet (completely out of the air) and expected not to be questioned.  They forced ineffective and dangerous vaccines upon citizens, hiding and ignoring trial results and mass side effects.  When doctors of great renown questioned the widespread actions, they were censored, jailed, and had their licenses pulled.

Parents have been watching the educational system melt down for decades.  Schools are not turning out well educated children in the fields of literature, mathematics, science, and technology.  Instead, they are being exposed to drag shows, make believe pronouns, gender studies, and homosexuality.  When parents try to express their dismay, they are labeled domestic terrorists.  They are marched away from the assemblies and told their parental rights end at the school doors.

Sadly, the church is not immune to the pathetic blockades of inflexible minds.  “This is what we have always done.” “We have never been taught that.” “We like the way things are now. ”  These words echo from one congregation to the next.  They are not ready to hear teaching and explore the scriptures to see if the things said are true.  They just want to hang anyone with a different thought.  They want to shut up the noise that causes them any discomfort.  Truth does not matter.  Feelings, comfort, happiness are the god they love.  Churches want to be tickled.

For the betterment of society, mankind needs to listen, to contemplate, and to investigate different thought.  They need to challenge what they believe. The need to be willing to change if it appears they have been following a path of failure and foolishness.  Only with sincere minds of patience, goodness, self control, and peace is there room for needed change in our world.  Jealousy, envy, anger, greed, and selfishness currently reign in our times and we will be none the better for it if it is allowed to persist.

 

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