Category: Bible

I’m A Good Person

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From the book Healing of Memories by David A. Seamands comes this story on page 49.

The Calgary Herald reported:

On June 5, 1978 seven-year-old Martin Turgeon slipped off the wharf and fell into the Prairie River. The dozen or more adults standing on the same pier did nothing-except watch him struggle a few moments in the water and then drown.

Why didn’t anyone help? Well, just a short distance upstream, untreated sewage is dumped into the river. The water is highly polluted and very smelly. One witness quote an onlooker as later saying, “We weren’t going to jump in there-the water was much too dirty.” A police-man who came on the scene shortly thereafter remarked bitterly, “It makes you wonder about how human people really are. The boy probably could have been saved.”

Luke 18:18 One day one of the local officials asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?” 19 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good – only God.

Most people if asked would tell you they are good people. Most people if asked would tell you that they would have been the one to jump in and save the boy from drowning but the news tells us differently doesn’t it? This article also speaks to our delusion that things were better ‘back in the day’.

I don’t write this today out of any sense of arrogant morality. I am a germ freak. I don’t know if I could have jumped in and saved the boy so I am not any better than the people who stood on the sidelines.

Instead I write this because many see God as not good.

Well if God were good, he wouldn’t call my particular brand of sin, a sin. He’d understand that since he created me this way then he has to deal with it. The problem with this logic is that it isn’t true. To say that God made you selfish and prideful when he hates that is to say he made something he knew he’d hate from the beginning. That just isn’t true. Those of us who are creative know that we don’t dream up and create things we hate.

Well if God were good then why do bad things happen? Because the world is a place filled with imperfect people who make wrong choices. God gave us the earth and told us to multiply, subdue and take dominion. So therefore, our responsibility to each other can’t be ignored.

The list of supposed wrongs that God has committed goes on and on and the fact is that we blame him when the fault lies squarely on our shoulders if we’re honest. People go hungry while many die of obesity. We can’t really say we don’t have the resources to feed them, we do, we simply don’t care enough.

Jesus came to earth and jumped in that sewage filled lake as we struggled to stay alive. Rather than merely peer over the edge and watch us die, he had more grace and mercy that we could ever imagine or feel and jumped in to save us.

Let’s not kid ourselves. I believe most people try everyday to be good but we all fail at some point. Either through a decision that is selfish or an action made in haste without much thought. The one thing we can always count on to bring us peace is that people will fail us, give us enough time and we’ll do it every time, but God is ALWAYS good!

Lucky

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When my husband calls me these days my ringtone sings a Jason Mraz song whose lyrics go, “Happy to be loved by my best friend, happy to have been where I have been….”

Hold up though, where I’ve been has been pretty rough. A widow at 35, held at gunpoint in a stalker/attempted kidnapping, married my husband and then went through the hell of blending a family and being labeled the wicked stepmother. So how can I relate to a song that says, “happy to have been where I have been”?

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Somehow when all is said and done, I have walked through the darkness and come out in the dawn. My faith has been tried and tested and it looms larger than life. I have huge faith for you too because I know that I am not God’s favorite kid, he treats us all that way.

I have learned big huge lessons and today it’s good to be alive, I couldn’t always say that. I have somehow fallen into the arms of the Father and he has placed me in a wonderful place. I have a husband who loves me. We aren’t perfect but I could tell you stories that would show you the miracle of our marriage and that we survived the white water rapid-like beginning of it. My kids are grown and doing well. My stepkids, whom I call stepkids for this writing only, have settled down and we have a good relationship now. I work at a job I love. I have good friends.

So here you have living proof that even when we go through trials and it feels like you’re not going to make it, you will! You’ll learn something with every goodbye. You’ll somehow or another wake up each and everyday, and if you’ll apply your faith, forget about your “right” to be okay all the time, realize life happens and suffering happens, you’ll see the dayspring as well. The bible says, it rains on the just and the unjust. Meaning life is just life, there are hills and valleys for all of us. There are great lessons to learn if you’ll walk it out and not throw yourself down on the ground and throw a fit. Through this process I’ve learned that God was with me even in the dark days, that all I had to do was take his hand and trust him to lead me to light and show me a few things about the process in the meantime.

Just like the day, it’s always darkest before the dawn, but the sun does eventually come out. Here is a Josh Wilson song that touches my heart.

Before The Morning
Misc 1
(PRE-CHORUS 1)
Someday somehow you’ll see you’ll see

Chorus 1
Would you dare would you dare to believe
That you still have a reason to sing
‘Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It can’t compare to the joy that’s coming
So hold on you gotta wait for the light
Press on and just fight the good fight
‘Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

Verse 1
Do you wonder why you have to
Feel the things that hurt you
If there’s a God
Who loves you where is He now

Verse 2
Maybe there are things you can’t see
And all those things are happening
To bring a better ending

Verse 3
My friend you know how this all ends
You know where you’re going
You just don’t know how you’ll get there
So say a prayer

Verse 4
And hold on
‘Cause there’s good for those who love God
But life is not a snapshot
It might take a little time
But you’ll see the bigger picture

Misc 2
(PRE-CHORUS 2)
Once you feel the weight of glory
All your pain will fade to memory

Chorus 2
It’s just the hurt before the healing
Oh the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

CCLI Song No. 5520800
© Ariose Music | Ben Glover Co-Publishing Designee | Meaux Hits (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Ben Glover | Josh Wilson
For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. http://www.ccli.com
CCLI License No. 2285171

Stain?

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Work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete), your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). Philippians 2:12 Amplified

I think that’s the crux of the issue we have as Christians in America. We trust ourselves more than we trust God. Do we worry about whatever might offend God? Do we say we are Christians and then live like fools doing whatever is pleasing to ourselves and forgetting that in the process we discredit the name of Christ, which includes the church, and the congregation? If I am calling myself a Christian, and living contrary to what the bible says, then do I stain your name as a believer?

Inasmuch

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Mark 11:12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

Matthew:25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘LORD, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

Just a quick thought today. Do you have fruit to feed others when they are hungry? Inasmuch as you have fruit to feed others you feed Jesus. Nothing goes unnoticed. Let’s be fruit bearers. Fruit bearers who notice people who are not just hungry for food, although that’s a big consideration, but hungry for life giving word and love.

For The Future

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So last night we had V.I.P.’s, our youth group, service at the new building. It was significant in that our vision is reach the next generation for Christ. That building is not the church until the people unite there. It was built so that generations from now, followers of Christ will still have the opportunity to unite in the name of Jesus.

I don’t know if the youth understood the significance of the moment until I pointed it out. Then I saw the lightbulb go off and the smiles come onto their faces and I saw a different posture. A posture of ownership and meaning. We had communion there last night, before the grand opening and the first sermon, a gathering the willing leaders of the future.  The youth looked as solemn as youth can look when in the presence of other youth.

You’ll never know how that touched my heart. I am part of something so much bigger than myself and it makes everything else in my life so insignificant. To work to bring Jesus to the hearts of youth blesses me. To work daily in the service of our Lord is a privilege. Sometimes, I must admit, that I am like the youth were yesterday in that I fail to recognize the honor in what I get to do, and then it hits me, and humbles me, like it did last night.

We sang this song last night, acoustically, a guitar and youth voices. It doesn’t get better than that!

I Am Absolutely Convinced

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Romans 8:38 I’m absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, 39 high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

The Praise Life

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Psalm 22:22 Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship, and punctuate it with Hallelujahs: 23 Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers; give glory, you sons of Jacob; adore him, you daughters of Israel. 24 He has never let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do his own thing; he has been right there, listening. 25 Here in this great gathering for worship I have discovered this praise-life. And I’ll do what I promised right here in front of the God-worshipers. 26 Down-and-outers sit at God’s table and eat their fill. Everyone on the hunt for God is here, praising him. “Live it up, from head to toe. Don’t ever quit!” 27 From the four corners of the earth people are coming to their senses, are running back to God. Long-lost families are falling on their faces before him. 28 God has taken charge; from now on he has the last word. 29 All the power-mongers are before him – worshiping! All the poor and powerless, too – worshiping! Along with those who never got it together – worshiping! 30 Our children and their children will get in on this As the word is passed along from parent to child. 31 Babies not yet conceived will hear the good news – that God does what he says. “The Message”

Seek and Save

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patrickwilken

Luke 19:10. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Ask any follower of Christ who was lost in this passage, and they shout, “Humanity”. They would be correct. Jesus came to save humanity from death. The problem is that we have this idea that Jesus only hung out with fishermen, prostitutes and tax collectors. While he did hang out with them, he also hung out with church folk.

Only wait a minute! He came to seek and save what was lost so what was he doing in the church? Sometimes, the person you sit next to in church is so lost. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we are saved.

Don’t Be A Jackass

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So one of our leaders preached a message this week and I was struck by one of the scriptures he used. My theme today has nothing at all to do with his sermon but as I was reading this scripture it just struck me what it said in plain English! So just a few words to blog today!

Psalm 32:9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

Sometimes scripture just illuminates itself to me in such a real way! This scripture which says don’t be stubborn, don’t be led by force to do the right thing. Use your common sense and come to God by your own free will knowing that it is for your best interest!

I Don’t Like You

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Ah!! The honesty of a three year-old. I remember it well. I was struck at how often we followers of Christ do the same thing. Oh, we love God when he gives us cookies, or in our adult cases, money, cars, our own way, but we don’t like it much when he says no.

Fortunately, this child will grow up and become a man in his 20’s and realize that his mom knows best and that because of her love, she always had his best interest at heart. Unfortunately, many followers will never come to that realization.

John 3:1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”3. In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. “

In this passage Jesus says no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. That word see means to know, to perceive, to behold.

4. “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
6. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Then Jesus continues and says to enter the kingdom of God we have to be born of water AND the Spirit. That word enter means to arise, to come into.

So we see that there are two distinct transitions in a believer’s life. One, where he sees the kingdom of God, as in the three year old who sees his mom as either likable or not, depending on what she is requiring of him. The other where the believer enters the kingdom of God, as in the three year old, a few years down the road, who understands that because his mother loves him, she says no sometimes.

So we see two distinct types of believers.

John 1:12. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

These are believers who are called children by mere fact of birth. They are the ones who see the kingdom of God. They are the three year-old who proclaim, I love you but I don’t like you all the time. Or in Christian language, “God why is this always happening to me?”

Romans 8:14. because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

These are believers who are called sons because of character or behavior. They’ve matured, they live being guided by the Holy Spirit. In Christian language, “I know You have a purpose and even though I don’t understand it, I know you’ll make a way.”

Galatians 4:1. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

This believer is an heir, meaning he should be growing and maturing, but if he is still being told what to do and how to do it then he is still not walking in the freedom of Holy Spirit.

So do a gut check today. Are you still letting God know you love him, but don’t really trust him, or like him a whole lot, or have you figured out that it all works together for good, and it will be alright in the end?