Spring is Here!

Spring is Here

Dare I say it? I know spring actually began like two weeks ago but it has only occasionally felt like it. Last night I lay in bed listening to the first real thunderstorm of the year and this morning as I was completing my daily Bible reading I heard birds singing and chirping on the back deck. Colleen and I walked around the house yesterday and looked at all the flowers beginning to bud and the thought crossed my mind that I need to get the lawn mowers running. In Song of Solomon 2:11 – 12 we read, “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” Okay, so I haven’t heard any turtles but yes, spring is here!

are you ready for eternal spring

Are you ready for eternal spring?

So here are some thoughts as we shake off the cold, snowy days of winter:

SPRING IS A HIDDEN FORCE: It is hard to believe that anything in nature can live again after winter withdraws the ice and snow of its deadly hand. For you and I it may be hard to imagine that a cold, icy heart can harbor any life. But each person has a soul that cannot perish from existence. In every soul there is a hidden life that will come forth from the ground when Jesus returns “some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

SPRING REVEALS THE LIFE – GIVING POWER OF GOD: There is no other way to explain the phenomenon of springtime than the omnipotence of God. Those who claim there is no God ignore the clear and overpowering evidence that exists in creation (Romans 1:20). “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The same remarkable power of God was seen in the resurrection of Jesus and is the only hope we have for an eternal life with Him in heaven.

SPRING I S A TYPE OF OUR RESURRECTION: The same Lord who promised the yearly return of the birds, flowers, and warm summer breezes also promises a resurrection of the dead of those who die in Him (1 Thessalonians 4:14). Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). The great and mighty power of God will be displayed that one last time when Jesus comes again.

I think everyone I talk to after a long winter says that they are ready for and eagerly anticipating spring. How I wish everyone had the same enthusiasm and earnest expectation for the coming of Christ. Are you ready for the eternal spring that Jesus will bring with Him on that last day? Prepare today by repenting of your sins (Luke 5:32), confessing Jesus as God’s only begotten son (Matthew 10:32 – 33), and being baptized for the remission of all your past sins and to be added to the body of Christ (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:47). Then be faithful and prepared to enjoy the Son for all eternity.

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Beyond the Galaxies

Life Beyond the Galaxies

You may not be aware of it, but for many years, scientists have been listening for messages from distant stars and galaxies hoping to discover that intelligent life exists beyond our solar system. Without getting into whether such could ever happen, let’s assume that their dream could be reality. With that assumption, it then would follow that perhaps those beyond our world could be listening to discover if there might be intelligent life on earth. If such were true, what would they be discovering about us?

what would life beyond the galaxies think

What would life beyond the galaxies think?

How would they feel toward the hypocrisy of protecting turtles still inside eggs buried in the sand, while providing no protection for humans inside the womb? How would they feel toward our passing laws to not only make such slaughter of infants legal, but passing laws to encourage it to happen? How would they feel to discover there are buildings throughout America to insure that humans are being ripped from the bodies of women some 4,000 times every day?

What do you think they would think about how we regulate the meals of children in school to keep them from being overweight, but providing protection for the rights of all adults to drink as much alcohol as they like? What do you think they would think about our practice of providing alcohol which results in fighting, strife, abuse of marital partners and the countless loss of lives in automobile accidents?

How would they explain the worldwide attacks, often resulting in deaths, which are happening every week on innocent individuals simply because they believe in Jesus? How would they explain the terrorists entering schools, synagogues and churches, selecting those who believe in Jesus and taking young girls to become sexual toys for ungodly men while leaving behind the mangled bodies of Christians? How would they explain the public mocking and ridicule of believers in Jesus in America—a land which was founded upon the principles of the right for every citizen to have freedom of religion? How would they explain such animosity toward those people who only want to humbly serve the man of Galilee?

The truth is that there are those beyond our galaxy who see all of this. Not some weird, grotesque looking aliens who are perplexed by this but by Deity who created all of universe and then became flesh, living in a body identical to ours. It is this One who sees the insanity of all that is happening who will return someday. Before Him all nations will be gathered to be judged. Before Him all who have ever lived will be resurrected to answer for their actions. He understands the answer to all of the evil around us. The answer is sin! God help our nations to understand what is happening. God help us!

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Sinner’s Prayer

Faithful or Sinful

At seventeen years of age I said the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer,” or “Prayer of Faith,” as it is sometimes referred to, and supposedly, at that point, had my sins forgiven as I “welcomed Jesus into my heart.” Little did I ever dream as those words left my lips, that despite the sincerity of both myself, as well as that of the religious friend who instructed and then led me in that prayer, the only “faith” involved in that decision was my faith in my religious friend, and his faith in whatever friend or family member had taught him that deceitful and diabolically biblically-contrarian doctrine! Please allow me to explain…

what does the sinners prayer have to do with salvation

What does the ” Sinner’s Prayer” have to do with salvation?

God’s infallible and all-powerful eternal word (Psalms 19:7-11; 119) quite simply and certainly defines “faith,” as that which comes from hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). When those who heard the word of God (which is what we will all be judged by and nothing else – John 12:48), believed the word of God they’d heard, and then acted upon it as instructed, they were approved of by God, having been said to have acted “by faith” (Please see Hebrews 11).

Additionally, we are told in Romans 14:23, that “whatever is NOT FROM FAITH, is sin” (EMPH. added – DED). In other words, whatever we do, which does NOT come from, or is NOT found in God’s holy word (coming from either a direct command, actual example, or at least a necessary inference – as any one of these three will at least be individually in evidence on various topics and at various times), can not only NOT be done “by faith,” but, taking it a divinely-inspired leap further, is actually SIN according to God! We see inescapable examples of this presumptuous sin and its inevitable consequences in places like Leviticus 10:1-2 and 1 Samuel, chapters 13-15 to name but a few.

Now, as anyone who has ever explored all of the conversion accounts throughout the book of Acts both can and will readily concur, never once, in all of those thousands of examples of sinners’ souls we see saved therein, have they ever seen anyone taught to say the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer,” thus welcoming Jesus into their heart and being saved. Such a prayer simply isn’t there. Nor is it seen anywhere else since the Lord’s new covenant in His blood came into effect, from Acts 2, forward, either (Matthew 26:26-28; Acts 3:37-41; Hebrews 9:17-17). This is why denominational church tracts that do contain this so-called “Sinner’s Prayer,” contain no reference at its conclusion, as to its biblical location: Such a prayer simply does not exist in the word of God. It is no more to be found in the word of God than are the denominations that promote it!

Therefore, because the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” for salvation cannot be found anywhere in the word of God, then according to God Himself who is the only and ultimate authority, it CANNOT be said by faith (Romans 10:17) – at least not by faith in God because He never said to say it! If He had, we’d have a reference! Furthermore, because it cannot therefore be said or done “by faith” (not being found anywhere in the word of God, either in the form of a direct command, actual example, or at least a necessary inference), this so-called “Prayer of ‘Faith’” is actually, factually, ultimately and scripturally, the “Prayer of SIN” (Romans 14:23)! It was made up by sinful man in the mid-1600’s and is therefore said in vain and will not save anyone (Please see Mark 7:5-13; Matthew 7:15-27)!

So then, how is a person actually, factually, fully and scripturally saved by God’s grace through their faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)? When they hear/read what God said one must do in order to receive that free gift of salvation and then do it (Luke 6:46, 11:27-28; John 10:27-28)! When they hear that they must be baptized in water for the forgiveness of their sins and then obey that teaching by faith (which they then can do – Romans 10:17 – unlike with the “Prayer of Sin” mentioned above), thus calling on the name of the Lord (See/read/hear for yourself in Acts 2:38-41, 22:16; Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:12) and are subsequently saved (1 Peter 3:21) and added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:47).

And once saved, one must continue to live by that same word-found faith, worshipping in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24); that is, by hearing what is in God’s word, and then doing only what is found therein, in the form of either a direct command, actual example, or by necessary inference. This makes worshipping thereafter in a man man-made denomination never seen or named in Scripture, or with instrumental music which is totally foreign to and never found in New Testament worship either, nothing short of God-defined sin. But we can – and must, in order to assure God’s approval – most assuredly and exclusively sing as we worship in a congregation of the Lord’s one, New Testament church of Christ (Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16-17; Romans 16:16).

Only these can be done by faith and hence gain God’s approval, coming straight from a hearing of the “book, chapter, and verse” of the very word of God (Romans 10:17). For anyone to base anything as important as their eternal salvation on anything never found even once in Scripture, such as saying a prayer to be saved and to welcome Jesus into their heart; to attend, work, and worship with a church never named or found even once in Scripture; or to use instruments never even once found in Scripture during New Testament praise and worship, is to sin (Romans 10:17 & 14:23) – and we know the only place where sin will lead (Romans 6:23).

Are you going to live from this moment on, by being faithful and therefore commended by God? Or by being sinful and therefore condemned by God? Faith comes by hearing (and doing) the word/will of God. And whatever does not come from what is found in the word, is sin – impure and simple. It’s your choice. It’s your eternity. Truth… or consequences? Faith… or sin?

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Stress?

Are You Stressed?

are you feeling stress

Are you feeling stress?

How do we define stress?  Oh, the house mortgage is late, there’s no food in the cabinet, clothes are wearing out or shrinking on your children, everyone’s calling wanting something while all in all, you feel like just shutting the door to your closet and crying yourself to sleep.  Is this stressful enough?  Or how about the preacher who is under pressure to get this sermon done, make that devotional, spend time preparing Bible class lessons, counseling others, visiting this person and helping that person, evangelizing and trying to raise a Christian family while hearing all the complaints from the congregation on how their preacher and his family is inadequate?  Is this stressful enough?  What about the Christian who tries to pray when people make fun of her, or is made fun of at work or school when standing on Biblical principles, or even mocked by other Christians who considers you to be a Bible thumper while people from all walks attempt to pull Christianity right out of your soul.  Is this stressful enough?  How do we as Christians deal with stress?

You know, stress tends to be put on us when we are already tired and sick or have too many responsibilities.  Basically, when we feel our circumstances are out of control, we feel stress.  We feel that things are not being met, that things are not going our way and our safety is threatened and we get anxious.  When we feel like this, we know that it takes on many shapes and forms, but generally, stress boils down to one basic idea–a lack of trust in God.

Most Christians are under the impression that God is sovereign and in control of our lives.  We believe He is the author of our life and that He has given us everything we need for life (2 Peter 1:3).  So, when stress dominates our lives, somewhere along the way, we have failed to trust God.  The statement, “To trust God and you will never deal with stress again” is a wonderful statement.  But oh, if only it were as easy as that statement.  The fact is, we are not perfect and life is much too complicated that we, at times, give in to it.  However, stress does have a positive side.  It can be a reminder that our lives are drifting away from God.  It can be an indicator that we have stopped depending upon Him daily for strength.  Perhaps, we have forgotten all the promises in His word.  So, let’s notice some ways in which Christians can cope with stress.

Of course, getting enough rest, a proper diet, regular exercise and keeping a balanced life between work and family are always important.  But, I believe the Bible gives Christians, from a spiritual point, three more basic disciplines.  First, there is prayer.  Consider the words of Peter, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).  Instead of worrying over our problems, turn those problems over to God.  Let Him be in your corner to not only comfort you, but to relieve your anxiety and stress.  Paul mentions to us to, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).  This is such a wonderful and comforting promise in that, as we pray, our minds are protected by a peace that goes beyond our ability to understand.  In our life, we ought to be praying often.

Second, meditating on the Word of God can call to your remembrance all the promises that God has given man throughout the years.  In addition, Paul said, “. . . brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).  The way to protect ourselves from the world is to focus on God’s Word, the Bible.  For, His word is magnified above His name (Psalm 138:2).  It is His special revelation (Psalm 19) and we are told how to obey it (Acts 15:7-11) because it instructs, corrects, rebukes, and teaches us (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Therefore, if we want to be sanctified or set apart from the world and dedicated to the Lord, we will reflect deeply and at great length, the Bible.  We ought to be reflecting on the comforting words of Jesus, such as in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Jesus offers a comfort that only He can offer.  That of knowing our sins are forgiven and how comforting it is to know that the eternal glory of Heaven awaits the faithful child of God at the end of the world.  However, without reading the Bible, we would not know any of this.  So, read your Bible.    Third, praise God.  Think of all the things God has done for you.  Counting our many blessings will give you the faith and reassurance that God is there for you.  Praising Him for what He has already done will develop inside of us, a heart of thankfulness.  When we begin thinking like this, it is almost impossible to praise God and still be stressed.  Praise God for who He is, praising Him for the sacrifice of His Son.  Praise God that we are not of this world.  For as Jesus said, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).  God does not want us to deal with the same pressures and worries that everyone else in the world faces.  Consider Matthew 6:31-32, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”  Instead of being consumed by the world, God ask you to not be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2), but to seek after the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).  These are great words of wisdom!  But, do you spend the majority of your times seeking God’s kingdom?  You know, Jesus went even farther into this explanation of seeking God and stress and asked, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27).  When we begin to praise God, when we truly focus on God, suddenly, our problems do not seem to be so big compared next to the greatness of God.  Praise God.

You know, the world is unable to cast all their cares upon God (1 Peter 5:7).  The world does not care that God told us to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and good report (Philippians 4:8).  But know this, throughout the day, God wants us to be happy.  Even when we look at being persecuted or put under the stress of opposition for being a Christian (Matthew 5:10-12), Jesus tells us to rejoice and be exceedingly glad!  Controlling our thoughts are often difficult, taking on the battles of life are even a greater challenge, but we must control our stress by giving to the one who can help us with it–God.  It is only when we turn things over to God that we begin to relieve ourselves of stress and to walk in peace.

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Love in Hosea

Love in Hosea

God commissions Hosea, the son of Beeri, to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel (Hosea 1:1). He encapsulates his work in the fourteen chapters that we have by the book that bears his name to set forth the love of God for His people [in fact, “love” is one of the key words in this book of prophetic literature]. Yet, one of the strange qualities of this book is the parabolic symbolism shown in God commending Hosea to marry “a wife of whoredoms” (Hosea 1:2) to symbolize the relationship of God with His people. Consider a whole host of lessons that we may learn from this book of prophecy.

In Hosea, we see that the love of God is balanced with His justice and His holiness. It is interesting to note that in Jonah, we see the love of God misunderstood in relationship to the Gentile people, seen in the attitude of Jonah toward the Assyrians. Yet, in Hosea, we see the love of God misunderstood in thinking that the love of God ignored sin. Mark it down—the love of God cannot compromise with sin! One may have heard of the expression, “Love is blind,” but the love of God is definitely not so! He loved Israel, but He was not blind to their sins and iniquities, which is a lesson that we need to emphasize today. Why is it that good, religious people think that a loving God will save everybody? Such individuals have not studied this book in the Old Testament. God’s love was seeking Israel to turn back and return from the idolatry that they chose. The fact that the love of God is always acting in a “right” (righteous) manner (cf. Hosea 14:9) indicates that it cannot compromise with sin.

In Hosea, we see the relationship between the love of God and salvation. The prophet’s name, “Hosea” (“Hoshea” [also “Joshua” and “Jesus”—all related in the Hebrew]) means “salvation.” A careful study of this book will underscore why this is so. Moreover, this is what the entireNew Testament sets forth—the relationship between the love of God and His salvation of humanity (John 3:16; cf. Luke 15; 1 John 4:8-10).

In Hosea, we see what happens when humanity does not appreciate the love of God. The trouble with the northern kingdom is that they did not appreciate the love of God, and because of this, they walked in their own ways, followed their own will, worshipped idols while trying to follow God simultaneously and created the problems that finally led them to the Assyrian captivity. Moreover, the love of God is grieving whenever we spurn, despise and reject Him. How would you imagine the heart of Hosea felt when his wife left him and was guilty of prostitution? Can we not read this book and sense the grief of heart? For all who are married, we can only imagine the great grief experienced should our spouse become unfaithful. This is a perfect picture of how the love of God grieves whenever we turn away from Him and fail to appreciate His love.

In Hosea, we learn that when man spurns the love of God, it brings about discipline and judgment. The nation will go into captivity, just as the prophets (Hosea included) will prophesy. They did not go into captivity because God decided that He did not love them anymore; the love of God did not change! Because they did not appreciate the love of God and spurned His mighty love, nothing was left for them but judgment. Unfortunately, this is still true. When people despise, spurn and reject the love of God today (turning their back on Jesus), nothing is left but judgment. How sad to consider that because of our free-will, our response to His love (or lack thereof, depending on how we look at it) may tie His anthropomorphic hands as far as blessing us is concerned. Yet, out of the discipline of His love through the captivity, some would return in penitence to God and respond to His love! Thus, the love of God disciplines a nation as a means of trying to get them to repent and return.

In Hosea, we learn that we abuse the love of God when we are ignorant of the character, nature and being of God. One of the core problems addressed in this prophetic Old Testament book is that they did not understand God—they were woefully lacking in knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Knowledge of God does not simply mean that we know some facts about God, but it is a knowledge that has an impact upon the way that we live. Many people know many things about God, but it does not affect their lives. Thus, they do not really know God. The Bible is a book to help us know God—His character, nature, being, characteristics, majesty, holiness, power and such like. Unless this knowledge has an impact upon the way we live, then we are no different than the Israelites—we really do not know God (cf. John 17:3). His love (and our understanding of this loving, supernatural Being) is intended to transform our lives. Through his love, Hosea sought for Gomer to transform her life from a life of prostitution to one of purity and righteous living, and this is what the love of God seeks to do—transform our lives and encourage us to appreciate things that are high and holy.

In Hosea, we learn that the love of God is His first appeal to man, but it is also His last appeal to man. God lets man know that He loves him. Yet, when man spurns this great offer of love, then His final appeal is to inform man again that He loves him. In fact, the book of Hosea is the final appeal to Israel of the love of God. His first appeal of love to Israel was demonstrated by God in delivering them from Egyptian bondage. Thus, his first and last appeal to sinful humanity is always His great, overflowing love!

In Hosea, we see that the love of God is free: “I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4); it cannot be bought. Nevertheless, the fact that His love is free does not mean that it is unconditional, for there is a great deal of difference in something being free and something being unconditional. This is one of the great problems over which the religious world has stumbled. The denominational community thinks that because the love of God is free, then man does not have any responsibility towards his salvation, which leads to the basis of their doctrine of justification by faith alone, teaching that grace excludes even works of faith. However, when Hosea sets forth the fact that the love of God is free, this does not exclude works that are expressions of faith and conditions of salvation. He loves us because of who He is, not because of who we are!

In Hosea, we see that the love of God is forgiving (Hosea 2:14-20; 3:2-3). Yet, once again, this forgiving love of God is conditional. The great love of God never forgives unconditionally!

In Hosea, we see the tender qualities of the love of God. Think about a man whose heart goes out in love to his wife who has thrown herself away so far until she has sold herself. Out of a heart filled with love, this husband goes down and buys her back (a beautiful picture of redemption, is it not?) as a common slave. Oh, the love of God is so tender. We see such further demonstrated when David talks about the tender mercies of God (cf. Ps. 32:10; 51:1). We do not ever need to forget this! It does not matter how far we may have sunk in the miry pit of sin, whenever we abhor sin and return to God, there will always be tender mercy awaiting us (cf. Luke 15:22-24).

Therefore, the book of Hosea is a beautiful picture of the love of God toward the northern kingdom of Israel, symbolized in Hosea and his relationship to Gomer. May we learn these valuable lessons between Christ and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:22-33), who loved her with all of His heart, longs for her purity and return from iniquity.

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