A Rock, a Hard Place, and God

A friend sent this email and gave me permission to post it online. 

Friends,

Though I spend so much time on it, politics is one of my least favorite subjects. For a few years now, I have been “this close” to absenting myself from all matters of government, having long since grown weary of its abundant emptiness. Alas, for the time being I am still a good citizen and show up to vote practically any time the poling places are open.

For the same reason, I do care somewhat how other people vote, though I don’t like dictating policy, and I certainly don’t like the attitude of “if you’re a real Christian, you’ll vote for....” While I try to pry very little into how my fellow Christians vote, this particular election facing us in a few months has me worried that Christians might be casting their votes based on a false premise, which is why I am sending this unsolicited email.

Christians have begun to make the argument that we must, absolutely, vote for Donald Trump for President, simply because this is the only way to prevent Hillary Clinton from using presidential power to further suppress the rights of Christians in this country. But I am convinced that this argument is erroneous. I would just like to make sure, no matter how you vote, that you aren’t thinking like a worldling when you cast that vote.

Americans are truly getting much bolder in their opposition to any proclamation of the gospel. If you are not aware of this, I recommend signing onto the news feed or newsletter of the First Liberty Institute (a group I have followed for some time) because they blow the whistle on many such attacks. School students are told that they cannot write the word “God” in essays. Soldiers are court-martialed for posting Bible verses on their desks. Preachers get fired from their day jobs, not for anything they said on the job, but for something they said in their own churches on Sunday. Not too long ago, somebody even tried to sue a church for building a cross on the church’s own property. Thankfully, many of these cases, when they reach courts of law, end in favor of religious liberty. Judges, as well as the general public, are still often quite lenient toward us...legally speaking. But still, it’s all very disquieting.

In that context, I can see why Christians are intimidated by the prospect of the Democrats controlling the presidency for another four years, perhaps even eight. Democrats are extremely dismissive of religious liberty, preferring instead to advocate a culture in which no one is ever “offended”...unless of course you are not a progressive, in which case you are to be offended on a regular basis. Republicans have similar double-standards, but the Democratic variety is usually more hostile toward Christians, and so it gets our attention more readily.

And now Clinton stands a great chance of winning. And since people often vote for congressional offices in the same way they vote for the presidency, Congress would also likely turn a deeper shade of blue. And then there’s the final blow: the vacancy on the Supreme Court would then likely be filled by a judge of similar mindset. It’s enough to make any Christian uneasy about the future of evangelism, or living according to our beliefs in any kind of visible way.

In light of this imminent liberal takeover, we naturally think of turning our support to the right side of the aisle. Since Republicans have proven more willing to defend the free exercise of religion, this would normally be a plausible plan. Unfortunately, the Republican nominee is Donald Trump. This is the very man that many Christians recently said was unfit to be President. But now that he is the Republican nominee, the same Christians have started to make the argument that we have no other choice but to vote for him, because the only alternative is to let Clinton win, starting a dangerous chain reaction. We are allegedly faced with only two options, and must again choose the lesser of two evils, even if Trump is only slightly less evil than Clinton.

I’m not so certain that Trump is actually less evil than Clinton, but I do know this: we are most certainly not limited to two options, because God is not limited to two options. Do Christians still have so little faith in the power of God to act on our behalf, after two thousand years of Christianity prevailing over impossible odds in various cultures across planet?

Let’s imagine a scenario in which the Democrats have indeed acquired all the power structures in our culture, and that they are ready to hit the Go button for eradicating any public Christian presence, demoting us all to second-class citizens. Now imagine that they hit that Go button...and nothing happens.

If biblical history and church history tell me anything, it’s that God loves to stack the deck against Himself so that He can win anyway, leaving unbelievers to scrape their jaws off the floor with a spatula. Without much effort, I’m sure you can compose a list of times God has done so, everything from the exodus out of Egypt to the spread of house churches in Iran. That same God is our God, and I doubt that He is looking to Donald Trump for salvation in the kind of anxious way many Christians are.

God could do any number of things in the event of a Clinton victory. God could send the Third Great Awakening, in which case it would be difficult for even the Democrats to keep the gospel from spreading, since many of them would become the newest converts. Or God could leave most Americans unconverted but give us such favor in their eyes that politicians wouldn’t dare touch us...since even they must cave to the majority. Or God could expose Clinton as such an inept, corrupt leader that no one is willing to follow her. Or God could provoke the Democratic Party to eat itself alive in its own factionalism...and in that regard, I think Bernie Sander’s former supporters look pretty hungry these days.

And if the worst case scenario unfolds, and the Go button works, God has always blessed the Church’s growth to the same degree that it has been afflicted. It would still be better to trust in God and see what He has planned. His imagination is as infinite as His love for us.

We have no reason to believe that we “must” vote for Trump, as so many Christians are saying. That is worldly thinking, bereft of any consideration given to prayer, the word, and the Holy Spirit. Has it occurred to anyone that God might be waiting for us to become totally powerless in America, in the worst of conditions, so that He could then show Himself powerful in overcoming all opposition by His own strength? That sounds like God to me.

If you can find a compelling reason to vote for Trump, be my guest. I am not claiming a monopoly on political insight, nor even spiritual insight. But if you really don’t want to vote for Trump, and find it morally objectionable, then don’t vote for him. Your conscience should be more valuable to you than that. In the name of Christ, let’s not believe the nonsense that the soul of America can be healed by a bombastic, adulterous blasphemer.

If you are desperate to see better things befall us in this country than what Clinton promises, turn to God instead of Trump. God is more than able to protect us and even empower us at our weakest moments...especially if we keep our consciences clean before Him. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in Man; it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (Ps. 118:8-9).

I’m Stan Choate, and I approve this message.

No longer children

It is a day to remember. The youngest of my children is 18 today. How time flies.  I can still remember that morning when Mrs. L woke up and said “It's time.”  I thought we had a few hours since previous births followed many hours of labor. But no, this one came quickly.  I can still hear her as a 1 year old saying “Kit-ty” when she saw one of the cats, like the one in the picture, we had at that rented farm house.  And she grew up too fast, as they all did.  I have four adult offspring.  Now I am a grandfather. How soon before those two (soon to be three) little ones are adults?

Anyway, Happy Birthday, “Child”!  May God grant you His mercy and grace as you become the woman He means you to be.

Lilacs, butterflies and the Resurrection

This may look like just any lilac bush, but it has an interesting story. It used to be three times as tall, but a few years ago we had a late frost that killed the bush.  When I finally got around to cutting it down, some new growth had appeared. So I trimmed down the dead branches and left the new growth. Now, after three years, it is blooming again.


Yesterday, when I was outside taking care of the dog, there just happened to be a butterfly on the bush, so I snapped this picture on my cell phone.


Ironically, this is the season we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  Both the lilac and the butterfly can be symbols of the most important event in history.  Just as the bush was dormant for 3 years, so the Lord was in the grave for 3 days.  Just as the caterpillar dies and becomes a beautiful butterfly, so Jesus conquered death and rose again to new life.


And we too can have new life in Christ by repenting and believing in Him.

Change in the New Year

This came in my email last week.  I was thinking of doing a prediction post, but I like this one better. ~PL

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

________________________________________________________________________

“My days are like a lengthened shadow, and I wither away like grass. But You, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations. (Psa. 102:11-12).

________________________________________________________________________

Change -- it’s the slogan of politicians, the promise of unfaithful partners, the quest of scientists, the dream of inventors. Change is inevitable. While I type this my body will have changed microscopically so that I’m not the same person I was when I started -- having succumbed to the second law of thermodynamics.

But there are some things that will never change in 2012. Here are a few immutable things you can expect to happen this year: First, contrary to our relativistic culture, truth will not change in 2012. Truth by nature is immutable and eternal. If hypothetically all truth was capable of change, then the single truth that all truth changes would be immutable -- incapable of change (Psa. 117:2). Hence, proving the point.

Second, God’s nature, will, and glory will not change this year. Since God can’t increase or decrease, His plans can’t be frustrated, neither His glory diminished by any action or inaction of His creation. ". . . the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." (1 Sam. 15:29).

Third, Jesus Christ as our high priest cannot and will not change. “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “you are a priest forever” (Psa. 110:4). And if a priest, then effectual in being heard by the Father (Heb. 7:25) and sympathetic toward His people (Heb. 4:15).

Fourth, the inability of sinners to please God will be inexorable. Just as leopards can’t change their spots (Jer. 13:23) sinners can’t please God -- never have, never will. All the cajoling of religious authorities, all the charity of benevolent philanthropists won’t change a sinner’s status before God (Rom. 3:10-18) in calendar year 2012.

Fifth, the hatred of your spiritual enemies won’t change in 2012. Expect the accuser to accuse, the world to seduce, and the flesh to oppose. It’s what they do and the forecast is for more of the same.

Sixth, God’s grace won’t change in its sufficiency in 2012. Whether faced with the opportunity to bless (2 Cor. 9:8), or struggling with trials (1 Cor. 10:13), everything you receive will be a mercy from God.

But lastly, there are some things in 2012 that must change: God’s people must change. They must be born again (Jn. 3:7) because they must see the kingdom of God. They must repent of their sins because they can’t perish (Lk. 13:3), and they must believe and treasure Christ (Heb. 11:6), because their pre-ordained inheritance demands their trust and obedience. All these “must” changes never change in how God deals with His children. They’re as immutable as God Himself -- which is far greater than any resolution you can make for yourself in 2012.

HT: Mark LaCour

1-1-12

A new year. The name January comes from the Roman God Janus, who had two faces facing opposite directions. So we look ahead and hope for good things- or strength for the bad. And we look back and remember the good things- and hopefully learn from the bad. Let’s not boast of our achievements, instead, let us keep growing in the grace of the Lord.

I was thinking of wise, profound words to post, but I’ll instead give you the words of one wiser than I. My brother in Christ and former pastor Bob Jennings had this to say on his blog:

New year? The new year is a reminder of a great day coming when the Lord Jesus will return and make all things new.

Revelation 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Sin, sorrow, and sickness will be gone.

Revelation 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

These words are “faithful and true” but only for those who have had a new birth, John 3.3 – an invasion of the living God into the heart, causing a person to begin to be radically different than he was and different from the surrounding world. He is a “new creation”, 2Corinthians 5.17, and as such, the Christian is a partaker already of the coming universal new creation – all things new. All the more, I’m not sorry I began to follow the Lord Jesus 40 years ago. I’m not sorry I came to Him as a sinner, trusting His sin-payment on Calvary. He is all I have. He is all anyone can have. Everything else gets stripped away.

An arrow released

“Sad” day today. H is moving 70 miles away, to the town of her birth and home of my older two children. She won't be far, but she won't be here. Psalm 127 speaks of children as arrows in a quiver.  It is time to let this one go and pray/trust that God will direct her to His chosen target.  Since she will be nearby, we will see her often, just not every day.  And she gets to spoil the niece and nephew more often as well.

My favorite picture of H as a little girl.

So, P will have to put up with her two 50+ parents on her own. At 17, she thinks she'll be moving out next year, but I doubt it.  There are many things involved in leaving home, which she has not yet realized.  If she is ready next year, then I will gladly shoot the last arrow from the quiver in God’s will.

Thoughts on how it used to be

It’s hot.  The weather icon on this computer says it is 99°F.  It’s September and we are getting a l;ate summer heat wave.  It always get hot around Labor Day, doesn’t it?  What did folks do in the old days when it got this hot?  Surely they endured and took a break in the shade, sipping well water or something.

I guess we are not as hardy as they were.  The schools around here that heave not gotten air conditioning are all closing early this week, including where I teach.  It was 86° inside my classroom the last few days, and  understand it was warmer at the elementary schools.  So, we got out at 1:15 yesterday and 11:00am this morning. I remember riding my bike to school, and not worrying about the heat.  Of course, I don’t remember if it got to 100° this late in the year when I was young. And there is a lot more humidity here than in Arizona, so if it did get this hot, we didn’t feel it as much.  Or we ignored it.

Now I see why schools in the old days did not start until later in September, or even October.  Not only was it cooler, but the children were needed on the farm to help with the harvest.  Now, their are fewer farms, and the farmers don’t require the extra hands as much.

So, if you are reading this and you are older than 40, tell me something you remember from “the olden days”.

The power of God in the storm

We had quite a storm Monday morning.  Winds at over 70mph tore through the area, downing many trees, including one in our yard.  We praise the Lord we were all well, though we lost a couple hours of sleep, and the electricity was off until this morning, about 36 hours total.

Storms are interesting in their display of the power of God.  This one had the strong winds and lightning that seemed to be a constant strobe light.  It took me a while to realize the power was out because of all the lightning.  All I could think was (and I know it is cliche, but it fits here): AWESOME!!!

Here are a few pictures of the damage and limbs we had moved to the street.  We thank our neighbors and their lawn tractors for moving the largest ones.

Are you dressed for the wedding?

We went to a wedding last weekend.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have seen (and I have been to a lot of them).  A young man came to the wedding dressed in shorts, t-shirt and ball cap.  My first thought was that he should realize this is a wedding and not a ballgame or picnic. I know the young man, and have only seen him dressed up on a few occasions, one of them being his own wedding.   


My thoughts turned to this passage from scripture:

But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’  (Matthew 22.11-13 NKJV)

Concerning the young man above, I'll leave it to others to decide if his attire was an offense, as I know he is dressed for the most important wedding of all.  When Jesus returns, and we celebrate the wedding supper of the Lamb, the only garment the King of Kings will allow will be the one He supplies: The righteousness of Christ.


Are you dressed for that wedding?

Corrie Ten Boom on the Pretribulation Rapture

A friend sent this in an email.  Enjoy! (For the original post, click the title and go to “Files from Toni” blog.) 

Corrie ten Boom Warns Against Pre-Tribulation Rapture False Doctrine.

Many Christians are unaware of the warning written in a letter by Corrie ten Boom where Miss ten Boom warns against a pre-tribulation rapture false doctrine. A  Dutch Christian and a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust concentration camps. Corrie spearheaded a rescue operation in Holland that helped hundreds of Jews escape the Nazi extermination camps, and travelled all over the world as an ambassador for Christ telling her story. In her worldwide travels Miss ten Boom met with many Christians abroad. Many in the Suffering Church were enduring persecution just as she had. She met with Church leaders of the underground church in China. There she became aware of what had happened to the Chinese church in 1949. At that time Mao Tse Tung was bringing China into communism. The American missionaries had left the country. Chinese Christians entered into a time of intense persecution. 

During that period the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine had been the accepted teaching. But there was a problem. And it turned out to be a serious one. This Biblically unfounded doctrine had not prepared the Chinese Church for witness under trial. Christian believers were interrogated and brutalized under the Red Guard. Many fell away from the faith in those times.

Corrie ten Boom’s story is told through her book The Hiding Place, and the motion picture released by the same name in the 1970s. 

Corrie ten Boom went home to be with her Lord April 15, 1983, but her inspiring testimony for Christ will endure.

Following is the letter Corrie left warning against a pre-tribulation rapture false doctrine that Christians all over the world, and especially in America need to take very seriously.  In this capacity Corrie ten Boom has earned the right to be heard. She is eminently qualified to present this special word of warning to the Western Church.

~~~~~

The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers. 

Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change. 

My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room. 

We may have been the Lord’s only representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” We too, are to be overcomers – bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate. 

Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can now come to shouting “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” for I have found where it is written that Jesus said, 

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things
and I will be His God, 
and he shall be My son.”
This is the future and hope of this world. Not that the world will survive – but that we shall be overcomers in the midst of a dying world. 

Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick.

“Yes, the Lord will heal me,” Betsy said with confidence. 

She died the next day and I could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the women who died that day. 

It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy’s death, today I am traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus. 

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation that the Christians will be able to escape all this.  These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days.  Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution.

In China, the Christians were told, “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated- raptured.”  Then came a terrible persecution.  Millions of Christians were tortured to death.  Later, I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly:

“We have failed..
We should have made the people strong for persecution,
rather than telling them Jesus would come first.
Tell the people to be strong in times of persecution,
how to stand when the tribulation comes,
to stand and not faint.”

I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation.  There is no way to escape it.  We are next.

Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus’ sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, “Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation.” Then I write it down and learn it by heart. 

When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, “Nothing could be any worse than today.” But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy. 

“If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye;
for the spirit of the glory and of God resteth upon you;
on their part evil is spoken of,
but on your part He is glorified.”
I Peter 4:14

I found myself saying, “Hallelujah! Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!” 

In America, the churches sing, “Let the congregation escape tribulation”, but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone, more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation. 

Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered. 

The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, “Will this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?” 

The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told them a story out of my childhood. 

When I was a little girl, I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.”
“Tell me,” said Father, “when you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket?  Three weeks before?”
“No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.”
“That’s is right,” my father said, “and so it is with God’s strength.  Our Father in heaven knows when you need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.  He will supply all you need just in time.”

My African friends were nodding and smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people began singing, 

“In the sweet, by and by, 

we shall meet on that beautiful shore.” 

Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. 

I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago. 

But I must tell you something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life. 

How can we get ready for the persecution? 

First we need to feed on the Word of God, digest it, make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives. 

Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God. 

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.  In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other.

But we must not wait until the tribulation comes before starting. 
The fruit of the Spirit should be the dominant force of every Christian’s life. 
Many are fearful of the coming tribulation, they want to run. I, too, am a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years, including the horrible Nazi concentration camp, that I might have to go through the tribulation also. 
But then I read the Bible and I am glad. 

When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down. 

“Though He shall slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Job 13:15
for I know that to all who overcome, 
He shall give the crown of life. 
Hallelujah!

- Corrie Ten Boom - 1974 

H.T.: Christine D.

Is this degree worth two years of your life?

While driving to work today, I heard a news story that made me wonder. It was the story of Mary-Lu Zahalan-Kennedy, a Canandian woman who is the first graduate from a graduate program in studying the Beatles.  Don’t believe me? Read about it here.  We’re not talking about a semester class on a rock group, but an actual college major!

So, I got to thinking of what kind of career a person with an MA in “Beatleology” might pursue.  All I could come up with was museum curator or college prof teaching more young people useless info.  I mean, all the problems in the world today and this woman (she’s my age!) wasted two years studying a rock group?  And people wonder why the world is in such a mess!

I am reminded of an A. W. Tozer sermon about:

... a certain British peer who had died just a few days short of his eighty-ninth birthday.

Having been a man of means and position, it had presumably not been necessary for him to work for a living like the rest of us, so at the time of his death he had had about seventy adult years in which he was free to do whatever he wanted to do, to pursue any calling he wished or to work at anything he felt worthy of his considerable abilities.

And what had he chosen to do? Well, according to the story, he had "devoted his life to trying to breed the perfect spotted mouse."

Read the whole sermon.  You’ll see that Ms. Zahalan-Kennedy is not the first to study something useless.

November Life and Thoughts

As I wrote here three years ago, I usually think of death in November.  But this year is different.  Life is abounding!  Above is a miniature rose that i discovered blooming on our rose bush last week when I went out to do the pre-winter trimming.  In November!  Maybe that is common in warmer climates, but around here, November is the first of several drab months.  The leaves have all fallen off the trees or are a dull, brown color, hanging onto the tree as long as possible.  The grass is brown or yellow.  Even the weeds stop growing.   But we have flowers this year.  Not only the roses, but violets and daisies.


Another thought: In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read of Jesus being our High Priest, yet He was of the tribe of Judah.  The tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe, so the Jews would not accept Jesus as a priest.  The other day, I was reading Luke 1, about Elizabeth and Mary.  Luke tells us that Elizabeth was a relative of Mary's, and that she was a descendant of Aaron, the first priest.  So, by extension, Jesus was a relative of Elizabeth, so He part Levite and of Aaron's family, so He could indeed claim a priestly position.

Take no thought

This morning, I read from D.M. Lloyd Jones on the Sermon on the mount. The chapter dealt with Jesus’s statement at the end of Matt. 6 about our “little faith”. Lloyd Jones says we all have faith, but most Christians fall into the “little faith” category, because we don’t take Jesus at his word. We believe on Jesus for salvation, but do not trust him for our daily lives. We worry about “what we will eat, what we will drink and what we will wear,” when He has promised to provide all those things for us. Not that we do not work and earn our living, but that we do not worry (”take no thought”) over these things. That thought gives me comfort, as I listen to the other teachers all worked up about what the new contract will be, whether we will get a raise or what will happen to our pensions (Illinois is millions behind in pension payments). I know my Heavenly Father will provide my every need because He said He would.

Questions from a reader

This comment was added to the kitchen post below.  Since it has nothing to do with the post, I am making it a separate post.  Here it is:

Peter your Christian. Can I ask you a question personally? Is it against Christianity to marry another race and if your parents do not agree with the person that you're with is that a sin because it violates one of the 10 commandments? I not as religious as I should be but maybe someone with your faith can fill me in... thanks in advance.. Paul 

Paul- I love honesty in questions.  The first one is a yes, you can ask.

Secondly, no, it is not a sin to marry another race, or a person from another race.  You probably are thinking of the Old Testament, when Israelites were forbidden to marry non-Israelites.  This was for religious reasons, as the “Gentiles” did not follow the Mosaic law and worshiped other gods.  As New Testament Christians, we are not to marry outside of the faith, but the faith is open to anyone from any race in any nation.  So a white from America can marry a black from Africa, as long as the two are believers.

Now, if the parents oppose the marriage, the couple should refrain until something can be worked out.  I have known couples that waited, and the parents changed their minds.   It is always good to honor the parents. However, if the reason the parents oppose is not based on Christian principles, then there ate allowances for the couple to marry.  But there is no set rule.  Many variances in Christian practice are cultural or societal.  What we do in the US may be something an African or Chinese Christian would not do, and vice versa.  And by the same token, I know of some Americans who would frown on interracial marriages because of where they live.

Anyone else have some thoughts on this?

Bob Jennings Journal

For those who know Bob Jennings, he has a blog now, set up by his son Jerad.  He has interesting thoughts relating to his cancer and other things. Go to: http://bobjenningsjournal.com/.

Talking about the weather

When I Grumble about the Weather

"The Lord has heard all your grumblings against Him!" Exodus 16:8

Does God really hear every discontented word I ever speak? Does He hear when I grumble about the hard winter, about the late spring, about the dry summer, about the wet harvest?

Does He hear when I grumble about the frosts, about the drought, about the high winds, about the storms?

Does He hear when I grumble about my circumstances, about the hardness of my situation, about my losses and disappointments?

If we could get into our heart, and keep there continually, the consciousness that God hears every word we speak, would we murmur and complain as much as we do?

We are generally careful to not speak words which would give pain to the hearts of those we love. Are we as careful not to say anything that will grieve our Heavenly Father?

"I tell you this--that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak." Matthew 12:36

"He who complains of the weather is complaining of the God who ordains the weather!" -- William Law

-- J. R. Miller

 

HT- Mack Tomlinson

All I want for Christmas...

...is a 12 bedroom, 12 bath house on a hill overlooking the Caribean Sea in Puerto Rico.  And in the three car garage, a convertable, a mid-sized motorcycle and an extended cab pickup truck.



Seriously, with all the greed associated with the modern celebration, I do not think I want anything this year.  Every year I am asked (especially by the relative that draws my name) what I want.  Every year I cannot think of anything.  So I get some article of clothing or a CD I listen to three or four times.  So this year, I am asking for donations to one of the ministries or charities listed below.  So, if you are the relative who got my name this year, take your pick.  Make it anonymous- you don't even have to give in my name.


Heart Cry Missionary Society.  This organization finds native missionaries and supports them.  From the website:

Our greatest concern is that His Name be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11), and that the Lamb who was slain might receive the full reward for His sufferings (Revelation 7:9-10). 

The Wounded Warrior Project, which desires “...to provide tangible support for the severely wounded and help them on the road to healing, both physically and mentally.”  They provide things like counseling services for servicemen wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other things like backpacks with toiletries, etc, for their hospital stay.

The Salvation Army.   I know it is more of a social than spiritual ministry in modern times, but this organizatoin does more to help the poor than anything Washington does.


Your local food bank.  The economy has caused so many to loose their jobs that many former donors are current users.


There are several other worthy causes out there.  This year, instead of piling up more useless stuff, why don't we all give to those more needy than we are?

Saying “No”

The fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 53.1).

Some commentators I have read say that this verse can be translated as The fool has said in his heart, “No, God.” To me, that means we have all been fools at one time or another. Every time we do not do what God commands, we say “No, God.” Every time we act un-Christ-like, we say “No, God.” When we offend our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we say “No, God.” If we try to do things our way, we say “No, God.”

Let us repent and say, “Yes, God.”

Lest we forget.

May we never forget what happened eight years ago, 9/11/2001.

In September, 1983, I took my lovely bride to New York to meet my relatives (grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins). We went up the World Trade Center, even though she was afraid of heights. I convinced her to go up to the observation deck on the roof. It was very windy up there, but the view was wonderful. I asked a ranger how high we were. He said 1365 ft. above sea level, or 1354 off the ground.   I was awed by the smallness of everything below, even the Empire State building just a mile or two away.  We could not look straight down from the roof, as the deck was some 30 feet or so from the edge.  But the 106th floor had a museum of commerce with indoor observation windows.  One could sit on a bench and look almost straight down from there.  Other than being on a mountain top or the rim of the Grand Canyon, I have never been on land and seen such a view.   As seen from there, the people were smaller than ants.  The cars on the streets below were miniature toys. 

Too bad I cannot take my children there. We went to New York City in 1990 with them, but did not have time to go up the towers. I wish now we had, because the next time we went was in March, 2002. All that was left was the hole in the ground and a lot of rubble.

Health Care and Clunkers

Then, along comes Cash for Clunkers. I heard an interview on NPR
yesterday that disturbed me. The interviewee was a mechanic at a car
dealership who was about to make an old Ford undrivable. He said
most cars die after ten seconds when the caustic solution is poured
into the oil tank. Then they try to restart the car to make sure
they are dead, and again an hour or so later they try again (I guess
the solution does not always work the first time). The reporter
asked him if he thought it strange that he was destroying engines
when his usual job was repairing them. Of course he thought it so.

This got me thinking about the health care debate. It seems Obama
Care is not going to be good for the elderly, as the President seems
to have meant that they would be given a pill. Hopefully he meant
that his health care plan would make their last days comfortable, and
not that they would get a poisonous pill that would end their
lives. Imagine a few years down the line when NPR interviews a
doctor giving a an elderly patient the pill that will end his or her
life. It could happen. The elderly might be thought of as too old
to continue using health care resources, and therefore only get
terminated. You think it far fetched? Remember Nazi Germany.

ADDENDUM 8-8-2009: Someone sent an anonymous post, which I would rather not accept. I did accept the one below, as Monty signed his name. I will put the link the anonymous poster left (from PolitiFact.com), as it may or may not clear up what President Obama was saying in his "take a pill" statement. I say it may not, because the statement he made "I don’t want bureaucracies making those decisions" can be interpreted as "I alone want to make those decisions." Not that I think he meant that, I'm just saying it could.