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Trust

Sunday, August 9th, 2009
        The word faith is commonplace in Christianity. We are constantly reminded that we should have faith in Christ, faith in the power of prayer, faith in His saving grace, faith for a miracle, faith for this and faith for that. May I submit that if we but trust Him, everything else falls into place.
        There is a difference in those two words, and it is huge. We have faith with our heads, but trust comes from the heart. Comparing faith to trust is like comparing a drop of water to the ocean. But unwavering trust is tough. It relies on God not only knowing what is truly best for us, but also loving us so much that He will always give us that best thing, even though it might be extremely painful to us as we go through it. Pure trust understands that in our happiness and in our sadness, everything is inevitably being done for the best, even though we may not even realize it in this life.
        Yes, trust can be a hard row to hoe. We would rather have faith that God will bring us through the difficult time we might be facing and allow the answer we desire to be manifested. Although our head may tell us that God can see the future all the way into eternity, and it may even tell us that God loves us as His child, deep within us we would rather the outcomes of each life situation be determined by our own desires than dictated by a second party’s will, even if that second party is the all knowing God of everything. To truly trust may be one of the most courageous things in life, even the life of a committed Christian.
        However, trust is achievable. And believe it or not, it is demanded. Jesus commanded, “Trust in God, trust also in Me.” John 14:1.
        In Unlocking God’s Secrets we discussed that the word “believe” in our Bibles does not nearly do justice to the original Greek word, “pistevo.” A part of the definition of pistevo, you might recall, is “To trust, with implications of total commitment to the One who is trusted.” The more we thoughtfully search out the matter, the more we find out that Augustus Gordon was totally correct when he answered Brennan Manning’s question, “Could you define the Christian life in a single sentence?” Gordon’s response was, “Brennan, I can define it in a single word: trust.”
        Once we have absolute trust, our entire world changes. Psalm 40:4 says, “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.” And how utterly right that statement is. Once complete trust is a part of us, anxiety and stress evaporate. That “joy that passes all understanding” becomes a part of our life. Somehow, even the harshest trials we face in this life are not nearly as painful and all consuming when we fully trust our Lord.
        But where does this total trust come from. I think it comes from love, our love for Him. As I am beginning to see it, when we love God enough, our desires in our worldly life are lessened in favor of our desire for God’s will to be done. It is kind of like a beautiful marriage in which one partner wants his or her spouse’s happiness above their own. 
        A few are fortunate enough to have such love for the Savior the day they first meet Him. For others of us that love takes time as the relationship builds, as we learn that the commandment Jesus said was above all others, to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind, is truly the most important thing in life, as well as being the commandment that makes all of Christian living so easy.
        Sometimes even the most highly respected “generals of the faith,” like the beloved Dutch born Henri Nouwen, grow over time into that deep love for God that brings about pure trust. It is fascinating to me that when we look at Nouwen’s first thirty nine books we find the word “faith” constantly referred to, but in his last book which was published the day he died, September 21, 1996, we find the word “faith” mentioned only once and the higher word “trust” talked about sixty five times.
        So yes, we can be a Christian with only faith, and not the Ruthless Trust that Brennan Manning discusses in that book that I highly recommended in my book. But for us to have faith and not real trust is not what is commanded, It is not what God wants for our lives.  And it is not what is best for us in every regard. In the end, as has been said, trust may be the only gift we can give to God. And in giving that gift we are truly set free.
        We must strive for total trust. We must practice it daily and try to perfect it. In the end, we must live it. It is the gift we give to God that gives so much more back to us. It is the one word that describes the ultimate Christian life.

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Obama and Netanyahu Code

Thursday, August 6th, 2009
        As we have discussed, there are hundreds of Bible Code researchers currently working daily with high speed computers, and they are constantly uncovering new messages in God’s Word that are hidden in equidistant letter sequences. This is very controversial research that the normal secular media does not want to report about. And quite frankly, some of the findings of just a name or very short phrase are suspect as far as I am concerned, especially if the number of letters skipped is unusually long. Of course, my attention is aroused if names are found under an obviously related Biblical surface text. With that in mind, a new code was found a few weeks ago that has truly peaked my interest.
        If you have read Unlocking God’s Secrets or kept up with these articles, you know that I believe that the War of Gog and Magog that is outlined in detail in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is the last major prophecy that must be fulfilled before the prophesied seven year tribulation period count down to the return of Christ can begin. In that upcoming war Russia will be aligned with Iran and a few other Islamic nations and will come against a lone Israel. No country will help defend Israel. This will happen in order for God to show to the world that He exists when the giant Russian led forces are supernaturally defeated.
        The new code that was discovered that has my head spinning was uncovered under Ezekiel 38:3-4, in which God is talking to the head of Russia, known previously as Gog, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says; I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of (Rosh) Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army …”
        My feeling is that the hook that could cause Russia to come against Israel is the defense agreement made between Russia and Iran when Putin visited Tehran in October, 2007, and met with Ayatollah Khamenei. Let’s be clear, that summit was the first time in the history of the world that Russia and Iran had forged such an agreement, and therefore the Ezekiel prophecy could never have come to pass until after that meeting.
        Now we see Israel being left alone to handle the extremely real Iranian nuclear threat. President Obama and his people have already made statements that let the cat out of the bag that they are resigned to Iran having the nuclear bomb. Israel knows that as soon as that happens their days are numbered. Over and over Iran has openly stated that she will completely annihilate Israel, so the Jews have no choice but to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities before the bomb is built. When they do attack, Iran will retaliate, and Russia now will have to be a part of it. It will be the “hook in Russia’s jaws” that God talked about. This, I believe will be the beginning of the War of Gog and Magog. All of that scenario seems to me to be so obvious to anyone who is a student of Bible prophecy and current events. 
        This brings me to the brand new ELS code. Last month a researcher found that the names Obama and Netanyahu were encoded and actually intersected directly under Ezekiel 38:3. The odds of that occurring by random chance is so minute as to be beyond computing. 
        So, what does the code mean? Truthfully, there could be a number of reasons for God encoding those names there, but I will only speculate on one of them. My feeling is that this code is confirmation that the War of Gog and Magog will happen before our very eyes, during the time period that Obama and Netanyahu head up their respective governments. And remember, both can only serve a certain term as their nation’s leader. We are witnessing the scriptures come alive, and it is exciting. But are we truly prepared spiritually for the end result?

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To Meet The President

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

        A Union soldier heard the terrible news that both his father and his only brother were tragically killed at Gettysburg. His thoughts immediately went to his sister back home. How could she possibly take care of the farm work and bring in the harvest all by herself? After getting permission, he traveled to Washington to see if President Lincoln would give him a discharge to let him go home to help his sister take care of the farm.
        Unfortunately, when he reached the White House he was turned away by a guard who told him that the president was much too busy to see him.  Disheartened and dejected, the young man walked across the street and sat on a park bench.
        A boy walked up to him and asked, “Why are you so sad?”
        So the young soldier poured his heart out to the little boy. After hearing the story the boy extended his hand and said, “Come with me.”
        The soldier took the little boy’s hand and followed him back to the White house, past the guards who this time were silent, and straight into the office of President Abraham Lincoln. They did not even knock on the office door. Lincoln looked up from the battle plans he and a general were discussing and asked, “Who is your friend, Todd?”
        “He is a soldier who needs help, and Dad, you are the only person who can help him,” said young Todd Lincoln.
        With that introduction the soldier told his story and immediately was given a discharge and allowed to go to his family home.
        Incredible as it may sound, by taking the hand of Jesus the Son, you and I are ushered directly into the throne room of His Father, the King of everything. We are immediately given our discharge from our past sins, and are allowed to go back to our heavenly home. The true story of Todd Lincoln and the soldier is a mere earthly imitation of the even more exciting heavenly reality.

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One World, One Nation, One Kingdom

Friday, July 31st, 2009
        Whether you live in Australia, Brazil, Slovakia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Mexico, Belize, United States, Zimbabwe, Germany, France, South Africa, or Canada, you share one thing with every other reader. You have national pride. We all have it. Some stronger than others, but we all have it. If we perceive our own nation changing, or turning away from the things we love about her, we find it extremely disturbing. We all share that. too.
        In that light, though, the Lord has really been working on me the last few weeks, and the result for me has been fantastic. In the past few nights a new idea has crystallized in my mind that should have been so obvious, but for some reason has always been obscured. Therefore, in just a few paragraphs I will endeavor to explain a radical change in my thinking that you, too, might find refreshing.
        As I said, we all probably occasionally see changes made in our own nations that bother us a lot. As a conservative Christian American I personally have been experiencing that quite a bit lately. Being a child of the 40’s my views of what the United States should be like are firmly ingrained, and the rapid departure from that image of late has both saddened me and even filled me with pure anger. Since so much is happening so quickly on a global scale, you may have experienced the same feelings about your nation. 
        The last few nights I have been studying the book of Jeremiah. In it God directs the prophet in things concerning the Babylonian captivity, but in so doing God also talks to us about the upcoming end times period, the following Millennial Kingdom, and heaven. While digging into these scriptures some verses jumped up at me and gave me a whole new view of everything in our lives today that has radically changed my emotions about what is going on around me. Let’s look first at one thing God said to the nation of Israel:
        “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.” Jeremiah 30:11.
        Since God has not destroyed as of yet all of the nations in which the Jews have been scattered, this prophecy obviously deals with a future time. And although most books talk about the Jews having been scattered throughout seventy nations, I think we can agree that in reality there were at least a few Jews in every single nation on earth before the ingathering began in 1948. Therefore, at some point in the future, God will destroy every single nation on earth, except for Israel. At some point, Germany, Belize, Japan, United States, Slovakia, Australia, and every other nation listed above will cease to exist. In fact, no nation but Israel will exist at some time in the future. Actually, let’s read further:
        “This is what the Lord says,
        he who appoints the sun to shine by day,
        who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night,
        who stirs up the seas so that the waves roar -
        the Lord Almighty is his name:
        Only if these decrees vanish from my sight’
        declares the Lord
        ‘will the descendents of Israel
        ever cease to be a nation before me.”  Jeremiah 31:35-36.
        It makes so much sense if we ponder it. When Jesus returns, he will reign over the whole world from Jerusalem for the next thousand years. We all know that. His reign will be that of King. We are told that people will live in towns and cities all over the world during that time, but it would be ludicrous for us to imagine that these towns and cities would be parcelled into national boundaries like they are now. Jesus will be King of it all. It will be a kingdom. One kingdom. And it will be called Israel, which literally means “who strives with God.”
        For me, an American, to get myself in a big dither about the US changing is ridiculous. The United States is not an eternal entity. It is destined to be completely dissolved anyway. Only God’s Kingdom is eternal. And after all, that is where my citizenship lies. The same is true of your country and your citizenship. In the last article we read, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await our Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:19-20.
        Yes, the whole world is changing. The Bible tells us that a global world government is coming, even before the Lord returns. Then when He returns and takes His throne in Jerusalem, there will be one world, one nation, one Kingdom. It will be called Israel, and its citizens will be those of us “who strive with the Lord.” So, like me, calm what is churning in your belly about your nation and this world. Our true citizenship nation is truly glorious, unchanging, and everlasting. We can let our “national pride” soar to the heavens. We are but witnesses of this changing world. Our true nation will never let us down or disappoint us. Our true citizenship is in the everlasting Kingdom of Christ Jesus.

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The Two Parachutes

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
        There is a story about two men who were both given parachutes as they were boarding a plane. The first one was told that he would need it if the plane crashed. The second was told that it would make his flight more comfortable. As the flight progressed, both found their parachutes to be far from comfortable. Neither could lie back and rest with it, and the other passengers kept making fun of them and ridiculing them. Finally, the second man threw his to the floor, saying, “This thing is no good. I was lied to.” The first man, of course, kept his on, having been told what it was really for. An hour later the airplane lost power. Man number one was saved, and all others aboard perished.
        The parachute obviously represents Christianity. Some of us hold on to it because we know that it is the hope for eternal life. Others discard it along their walk because they find out that the promises they were given about it did not come to fruition. They had been led to believe that by becoming Christians their lives on this earth would be much more comfortable. God would take their troubles away from them. He would heal broken relationships supernaturally, eliminate any money concerns, heal all their sicknesses, and make life rose. When it doesn’t happen like that, and their focus is not on the true hope of heaven, many lose heart and lay down their parachutes.
        In Unlocking God’s Secrets we discussed the fact that we should be learning from the old saints who lived in the Age of Missions (1730 to 1900) who Jesus wrote to in His letter of praise to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13, rather than learning from the teaching of much of the modern age church that was written to by Jesus in His letter to Laodicia, in which He said, “I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16.
        Lately I have been reading a lot from those people of God from the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Of course, as was discussed in our book, they spent a lot more time talking about sin and the ongoing need to repent, which means actually turning away from the sin and not just asking God to forgive and then continuing on sinning. But it has really jumped out at me that they also talked a whole lot more about the hope of heaven, and much, much less about God making their lives a walk through the tulips here on earth.
        Yes, God does answer prayers. But the longer we walk with our Lord the more we realize that He does not always give us what we want. He knows what we truly need to prepare us for the eternal life, and often it is far different from what we are hoping for. Relationships are not always restored supernaturally. Money may still be a struggle (although faithful tithing does result in our basic needs being met). All sicknesses are not taken away, no matter how much faith we may have. Even the apostles were not promised that life would be a rose garden, and not only did they live lives of deprivation but all except John died horrible deaths. Of course, they did not have the modern TV ministries to “sow financial seeds” into which would have guaranteed them much cushier lives.
        Jesus told us in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” He did not say we “might,” He said we “will” have trouble. But He went on to say “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He has overcome the world, and as long as we keep our parachutes on we will get to witness that fact first hand. That is our true hope.
        We will have troubles. That is a given. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12. If nothing else, the other passengers will make fun of our parachute and ridicule us. God said it would happen, so be prepared. But this world will crash, and the parachute of Christ Jesus will save us. That is our true hope and blessed assurance.
        Definitely, Jesus walks right beside us on our daily journey. He is as close as the tear drops on our pillow. And I can attest that He has worked so many phenomenal miracles in my life that have left me awe struck that I have lost count. But these miracles and answered prayers that you and I have, and will continue to receive, are plusses. The main reason for us to put on the parachute is for the crash that will assuredly come when we die or when God puts a stop to the evil downward spiral of this world. So long as we keep heaven as our daily focus, everything else will lose its overwhelming importance and we will be able to retain that unspeakable joy in our lives that is beyond description. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are just on a very brief journey to get there. Hallelujah!
        One final thought. The thirteenth century Jewish Rabbi and philosopher, Nahmanides, said “the degree of Divine direction to an individual person depends on that person’s individual choice of how close to God he or she wishes to be.” This deep truth was stated a little differently fifty years earlier by Maimonides, whose works are now considered a cornerstone for Jewish thought. Maimonides wrote, “Only the totally righteous have one-on-one Divine direction, and even that guidance may not ensure a life free of pain and suffering. For the rest of us, chance and accidents do occur. It’s our choice as to where we, as individuals, fall within that spectrum of behavior that stretches from intimate Divine direction to total random chance.” We can choose to stay close to God with our parachute tightly buckled or not. The choice is ours.
        With our focus being on Jesus and the heavenly home He secured for us, we will finish the race that Paul talked about. Then we will personally witness what he alluded to in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” While we await that heavenly joy, we should stay as close to God as we can, through prayer and Bible study, so that we might realize the Divine direction we so need and desire on our path that will take us there. With Jesus beside us, and our eyes fixed intently on our heavenly home, we can have joy both during the troubles of this earthly world and in the glorious tear free lives we will experience in the true everlasting world we have yet to see.

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Politics, God, and Us

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
        I have bitten my lip so much recently trying to keep these articles on “God Stuff” and away from politics, but today I feel the need to combine the two and talk briefly about little known current events and how they relate to the supernatural and to us as believing Christians.
        First, let’s discuss Cass Sunstein, Obama’s new Regulatory Czar. This man believes that bloggers like me who disagree with his beliefs should be permanently silenced. To put Sunstein into focus, he is a close friend and supporter of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of Obama’s despicable, foul mouthed Chief of Staff, Rob Emanuel. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel has written that people who are terminally ill, including old folks with dementia as well as children with cerebral palsy, should be denied all basic health treatments in order to facilitate death and save the “state” money. 
        Dr. Emanual’s belief, pushed through by his brother, resulted in a little known but diabolical tidbit called “Comparative Effectiveness Research” that was included in the stimulus package that was recently passed. Of course, no US senator even read the bill before voting on it, so they could not know that this “research” simply means that a formula is to be used by which the cost of a person’s treatment must be divided by the years of their life expectancy, thus showing that the true cost of treatment for some people is too high to be worthwhile. In other words, a person who can reasonably only expect to live for five years should not be given treatment in order for that treatment to go to a younger person who can be of more benefit to society.
        This is not a science fiction scare movie. This is real. “Comparative Effectiveness Research” is already in effect in places like England. In fact, in England it goes far beyond life saving measures, as it will in America as well. For instance, in England if a person develops macular degeneration like my mother did, they must lose the sight in one eye before they can be given treatment in the other eye. That’s right, you must be allowed to go totally blind on one eye before anything at all can be done to help you save the sight in your remaining eye. And it is all about money.
        Obama talks about cost savings in our Medicare system that will help pay for his desired health care package. In fact, do you realize that the proposal includes a whopping $500 billion cut in medicare? What should be obvious to any of us is that he is targeting the older folks who he feels can’t benefit the “state” as much financially as younger folks can.
        Now hold on to your seat for this one. On page 425 of the proposed health bill that Obama tried to sell America on TV Wednesday night (7/22) there is a section that no one wants us to know about. That horrible section actually mandates that everyone on Medicare must go through suicide counseling every five years that will teach them the best and easiest ways to commit suicide, and why it would be beneficial for them and their families and all of society. Plus, if a person on medicare is unfortunate enough to develop something like cancer, the bill also makes it mandatory to go through the suicide training again at that time. I’m not kidding. read page 425 for yourself. This sick provision is actually in the “health care” package that Obama is trying to get passed before people know what is in it.
        As an aside, if we think we can keep our private health insurance because Obama said we can, think again. He lied. On pages 16 and 17 we read that if any changes occur with our private health care we have no choice but to go into the government program.
        Now, let’s get back to Cass Sunstein. This new Czar, who was not elected by anyone, and reports to no one but Obama, brings to the table beliefs that up until now would have been thought to be utterly unspeakable. Not only was this man cheering like crazy when Obama immediately put into place massive funding for abortions throughout the entire world, and not only does he support the broadly liberal abortion provisions in Obama’s health care reform bill that leave the option open for actual “forced” abortions, but Cass Sunstien espouses what would be unthinkable outside of horror movies. Yes, Cass Sunstein is actually on record as stating that “abortions should be legal up to two years after birth.” You read that right. Sunstein, Obama’s pick and close buddy from Chicago, actually feels that a baby is not a true human being until they can truly conceptualize the concept of tomorrow versus today, and therefore it should be legal to do away with them the same way the world now kills millions and millions of babies prior to birth. Moreover, Cass Sunstein, this person from the dregs of morality, even believes that a border collie has more benefit to society than a retarded child and therefore should be treated proportionately by law.
        OK, this article has obviously been political. so how do these chilling facts relate directly to the Bible and the unseen world. It is now in vogue to never mention Satan or demons. It’s politically correct still to mention heaven, but demons are off the chart. Dear Reader, demons and demonic activity are real. Most of the times Jesus healed people in the Bible there was a demon involved. If we believe God’s Word as completely true, and I do, Satan and his demons exist, and they are in the world today. Not since Nazi Germany has demonic activity been on display as obviously as in Washington today. I personally believe that Satan himself is overseeing the capital of the United States. Remember, Jesus told us in John 10:10 that Satan “Comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” His works are so very evident right now if we look around at what is really transpiring.
        But we might be thinking that baby killing after birth could never be sanctioned in any society. We would hope not, but history does tend to repeat itself. Pharaoh, of course, killed already born babies, which was why Moses was hidden in the bulrushes. Then we read in God’s Holy Word that one of the main reasons God punished the Hebrews and sent them into Babylonian captivity was for the same act. Jeremiah 7:31 says, “They have built the high places … to burn their sons and daughters in the fire.” Later, of course, King Herod ordered that all boys below the age of two be slaughtered.
        Is what I am writing in this article going to stop the insanity that is happening every day in US and global politics? Realistically, no. Even though this article will reach someone in virtually every US state and some twenty other nations, those of you who read it are too minuscule in numbers in the total scheme of things to make a big difference. Sure, if we have a chance we should vote the people responsible and the people that are allowing these things to happen out of office. But let’s be realists, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12.
        Blasphemous as this may sound, it may even be past the time for prayer to change the evil that is occurring. As a student of God’s prophecies I believe that as dark as the world is today, it will get much, much darker. The ministers who preach that a gigantic revival is coming are reading different scriptures than are in my Bible. It isn’t going to happen. The only big revival to come will be the one in which the 144,000 Jewish evangelists will bring much of the Hebrew Nation to Jesus, and that will occur during the tribulation after the true church has been raptured.
        So what are we as believers to do if Satan and his demons and their earthly minions are going to continue to advance evil in this world until Jesus returns to physically reign as King and do away with them all?
        We are to press into our Lord with everything we can, and try to stay as close to Him as possible throughout each and every day. We are to do all in our power to thwart evil as much as possible in our personal situations as well as in the public arena of politics. We are to strive to bring every person we come in contact with into the saving knowledge of the Gospel. And we are to ask and trust Jesus to guide us every minute of every day in our individual lives.
        Beyond that we should remember that “Their destiny is destruction, their glory is in their shame. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await our savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phillippians 3:19-20.
        My wonderful wife, Barb, in order to help us keep our sanity as this world around us is plunging into madness, today bought us a small book of soothing poems to help us keep our focus where it should be, on keeping our joy in the knowledge that Jesus is with us and our true home is in heaven. The book, My Heart will Go On Singing, by N.A. Woychuk, opens with:
                “Then I , John, saw the holy city.” Revelation 21:2.
                My heart can sing when I pause to remember
                A heartache here is but a stepping stone -
                Along a trail that’s winding always upwards -
                This troubled world is not my final Home.
                But until then, my heart will go on singing;
                Until then with joy I’ll carry on -
                Until the day my eyes behold the city
                Until the day God calls me home.
                                                                                by Stuart Humblin (1958)

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Wisdom

Sunday, July 19th, 2009
        It is ironic that the possibility exists that the most well known Biblical verse in the world may have been erroneously translated into our English language when the King James Bible first came to print in 1611, and the mistake has not been corrected to this day. The scripture I am referring to is one that almost anyone who has ever heard of the Bible can recite, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.
        The problem, though, actually stemmed back to St. Jerome’s fourth century Latin Vulgate, as well as even the earlier Greek Septuagint that came on the scene in 1 BC. The phrase in question is the very first one in the Bible, “In the beginning…,” for although the original Hebrew word, “Be’reasheet” could possibly mean “in the beginning of,” it is not possible for it to mean “in the beginning” without the “of.” Since there was no object in that sentence for the preposition “of,” the translators just dropped it.
        In reality, however, be’reasheet is a compound word with the “be’ “ more literally meaning “with,” and reasheet meaning “first wisdom.” The more accurate translation, therefore, is the one used in the 2100 year old Jerusalem translation into Aramic. That older version of God’s Word reads, “With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.”
        That subtle difference points us to the true original building block of everything, God’s wisdom. And that thought was emphasized later in the Bible in Psalm 104:24, “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all.”
        Later, the wisest of all, God, instructed the wisest human of all, Solomon, to strongly advise us in Proverbs 1-4 to seek wisdom. Phenomenally, you and I can not only seek wisdom, but we can receive it, for God graciously gave us the two sources of perfect, divine wisdom. The first of those easy to access sources is the ever exciting Bible, God’s true words for mankind. Our second source is prayer, our 24 hour a day direct line to the personification of all wisdom, our awesome heavenly Father. In fact, God’s Holy Word says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt.” James 1:5-6.
        The Bible and prayer, our two doorways to true wisdom, for as we just learned, “With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

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Shirley’s Incredible Story

Thursday, July 16th, 2009
        I had a conversation with a wonderful lady named Shirley who is a nurse I know here in Greenville. What she related has given me several things to ponder. Rather than expounding on them, though, I will just tell you Shirley’s story and let you mentally explore it for yourself. 
        Her adult son was in a terrible automobile accident in Florida in which he was hit head on by a drunk driver. Shirley’s son was in ICU for over three weeks in a coma and in very bad condition, near death. To set the stage for what happened you need to be aware that although he said he was a Christian, he had never been a church attender and had never even opened a Bible.                 Suddenly, while still in the coma, Shirley’s son started quoting entire passages of Isaiah, which was most astonishing because, as I said, he knew nothing at all about the Bible. Shirley’s daughter ran to the hospital chapel and got a Bible to see if what he was quoting was correct. Amazingly, it was word for word. Then he quoted, “By His stripes you were healed” and immediately opened his eyes.
        Once out of the coma, Shirley’s son described what had happened. He said he was in a long tunnel that had a glorious light at the end. He expounded on how wonderful and loving the light was. There were two lines of people in the tunnel. One line was moving very fast and was filled with people, all very joyful and singing praise songs to Jesus as they marched by. The line the son was in was moving very slowly, and he never got to the end of the line to the light. While in the line he was given scriptures, which were the verses he was saying out loud to the people around his bed in the hospital room. Then he was told “By His stripes you were healed,” and immediately he awoke from the coma.

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Augustine

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

        “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospels you believe, but yourself.”     Saint Augustine, 396 AD to 430 AD

 

 

 

 
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Good News, Bad News

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
        Do you remember the old jokes that included the phrase, “I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news”? Well, I’ve got bad news and I’ve got good news.
        First, let me tell you that if someday you find that new articles are not being posted at this site, it will simply mean that God stopped giving me clear direction as to what should be written. I have no desire at all to spend time writing down my opinions about anything. Those would not be worth a hill of beans anyway. So far, though, God has been faithful in guiding me with these articles.
        The last few nights, however, seemed to me like He might have stopped. Although I spent much time in prayer, no guidance appeared to be forthcoming. At the same time, I seemed to be stuck in my Bible reading. I had been reading Isaiah, but I could not get past chapters 24 and 25. I kept reading them over and over and over for several nights. Finally, it hit me like a ball bat to the side of the head. God wanted you to read those two chapters, too.
        With that as a point of departure I am going to just write a few verses from each of those two chapters in order to give you an idea of what is in them. Chapter 24 is bad news, but chapter 25 is good news. Please read slowly the following excerpts, knowing as I do that when God says something is going to happen, you can bet your last dollar that it is definitely going to happen. You and I are going to see these things. Let’s begin with Isaiah 24, a chapter you probably haven’t heard read in most of our modern churches.
 
        “See, the lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it;
        He will ruin its face ad scatter its inhabitants - it will be the same
        for the priest as for the people
        for master as for servant
        for mistress as her maid
        for seller as for buyer
        for borrower as for lender
        for debtor as for creditor.
        The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered.
        The Lord has spoken this word.
 
        The earth dries up and withers,
        the world languishes and withers,
        the exalted of the earth languish.
        The earth is defiled by its people;
        they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes,
        and broken the everlasting covenant.
        Therefore a curse consumes the earth;
        its people must bear their guilt.
        Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up
        and very few are left.”  Isaiah 24:1-6.
 
        “In that day the Lord will punish
        the powers in the heavens above
        and the kings on the earth below.
        They will be herded together
        like prisoners bound in a dungeon;
        they will be shut up in prison
        and be punished after many days.
        The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed,
        for the Lord will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
        and before its elders gloriously.”  Isaiah 24;21-23.
 
        Our God and Creator said these things will happen, and they will. As I said, you and I will see it, maybe soon. But the good news is in chapter 25:
 
        “O lord, you are my God;
        I will exalt you and praise your name,
        for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things,
        things you planned long ago.”  Isaiah 25:1.
 
        He will swallow up death forever.
        The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
        He will remove the disgrace of His people from the earth.
        The Lord has spoken.
        In that day they will say,
        Surely this is our God;
        we trusted in Him and He saved us.
        This is the Lord, we trusted in Him;
        let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:8-9.
 
        If you have any dread at all of the coming Chapter 24 events, repent, make Jesus the Lord of your life right now, and from here on, and you will be a part of Chapter 25. We all have choices. Make yours the right one.

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