“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
Now that we are firmly ensconced in the new digs, we have the opposite problem we had at the old place. We used to step all over each other due to lack of space, and we had no way to grow the congregation. Now we have 45,000 square feet, and we are only using a little over half of it. Part of our plan for buying a building like this was to rent out our unused space, and we are currently seeking renters for that. So far we have had a lot of “tire kickers”, but no real serious offers. If you know anyone who is interested in some really sweet space for a good deal, send them my way. I will give you a finder’s fee – lunch at your favorite diner.
While we attempt to open our doors to suitable renters, there are far too many people who have closed the doors of their heart to Jesus Christ. We are all familiar with the Christmas story and how Joseph and Mary were turned away in Bethlehem because there was “no room in the inn.” That is an object lesson of the condition of the hearts of men. We fill it with everything under the sun except for the one who died for our sins. Jesus told the parable of the sower of the seed in Matthew 13, and how the word of God enters into the various types of hearts in men and women. Most of them are closed to the truth for various reasons. Satan sends his minions to catch away the word out of the hearts of many before it has a chance to do any of its work. Others let trials and persecution rob them of the joy we can have through a walk with the Lord. There will always be troubles in this life. Jesus makes them manageable and will even give us victory in the midst of them, but when we close the door of our hearts to him, how can he do so? Still others receive the word, but then the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” are allowed to enter in. We fill our hearts with things that are going to perish someday, and the eternal Son of God and his word get crowded out. The result is a life “unfruitful” in the things that really matter.
When a person gets saved, Jesus enters his heart through the Holy Spirit and takes up permanent residency. In a strict doctrinal sense, we open the door of our heart and allow the Lord to “sup” with us at the moment of salvation. But for most Christians, Jesus is allowed to “rent” a corner of the attic as long as he keeps his distance and doesn’t bother us. He has to use the back entrance so that none of our neighbors know he is there. We ignore his tenancy unless an emergency takes place, then we expect him to immediately jump and take care of it. If he doesn’t, we blame him for the problem. If you rented from someone who treated you that way, you would find another place to live. You would almost rather be homeless that live that way. Yet his promise remains: he will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). His unlimited love for his own compels him to give us his very best even when we do not return the favor. The Bible says he will have the pre-eminence. Every knee shall bow. Someday he will be crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. You would be thrilled and honored beyond belief if your favorite dignitary came to visit your home. You have the God of the Universe living inside your body if you are saved. Give him his due and his proper place at all times. He deserves it, and your life will be better for it.
One of the great old hymns says:
Have you any room for Jesus, He who bore your load of sin?
As he knocks and asks admission, Sinner will you let him in?
Room for Jesus, King of glory! Hasten now, his word obey;
Swing the heart’s door widely open, Bid him enter while you may.
If you do not know Jesus as your Saviour, open the door and let him in. If you have done that, make him the guest of honor in every moment and place in your life.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A Banquet In Honor Of The King
“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:9)
Last Saturday night we held a Valentine’s Day banquet at the church. We have done a few of these in the past, but with the recent move it has been a couple of years since we have done this. Like every church, we have dinners all the time, but this one is usually special. Most church dinners are pot luck or buffet style where everyone goes through the line with their paper plate and dishes up whatever mass produced thing we can come up with. It is usually pretty good food, but still, when you are trying to feed large groups it is not always easy to prepare something like you would find at home or in a nice restaurant. But with our dinner last Saturday, we pulled out all the stops for a special evening. No buffet line. It was a sit down dinner with real plates and silverware prepared by our head chef Kevin Benton and served by some of our youth. The menu was roast brisket au-jus with salad and rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, and Kevin’s world famous Root Beer green beans. For desert, we had the main fare from the Cheesecake Factory, and Kevin’s wife Paula made German Chocolate cake from scratch that was absolutely to die for. The room was decorated with real table cloths and centerpieces, and a band from our sister church in Piper entertained with some awesome music. It was truly a magical evening. Kudos to Anita Clark and our Women with Heart ministry for the planning and preparations. We had more raves about this event than we have had for anything else lately.
As nice as the evening was, it pales in comparison to an event that is on our calendar as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible likens our relationship with Christ as a bride / bridegroom according to II Corinthians 11:1-3 and Ephesians 5:22-33, along with others. Someday, those who have placed their trust in the Saviour will be called to the wedding reception and the feast of the ages. Our recent church banquet was to commemorate the world’s holiday of “love” called Valentine’s Day. The banquet described in Revelation 19 will be the celebration of the greatest love story of the ages. I John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Propitiation” is a fancy term we don’t use commonly, which means “a provision for mercy.” When a person is convicted of a crime, sometimes he will “fall upon the mercy of the court” in order to try to reduce or eliminate his sentence. In a truly just legal system (none on earth today), mercy can only be granted if there is a valid reason. The court cannot extend mercy just because a man happens to wear a certain color shirt. There must be some provision given to the court to extend mercy. We see a small picture of that in our legal system when a “first offence” is given a lesser sentence. But God’s “court of law” cannot operate like that. Perfect justice requires perfect prosecution and sentencing for sin. But there is a provision for God to grant his mercy – the death of his Son on the cross.
Every love story of the world contains a bit of human selfishness. We love our spouse because of what they can do for us. We love our children for the joy they bring us. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) The only pure love this world has ever seen or ever will see was displayed at Calvary. Once we access that love by trusting Jesus as our Saviour, we can have God’s perfect mercy. The only real “Valentine’s Day” in history happened on a hill far away outside of Jerusalem on a Passover evening nearly 2,000 years ago. Have you experienced it?
Last Saturday night we held a Valentine’s Day banquet at the church. We have done a few of these in the past, but with the recent move it has been a couple of years since we have done this. Like every church, we have dinners all the time, but this one is usually special. Most church dinners are pot luck or buffet style where everyone goes through the line with their paper plate and dishes up whatever mass produced thing we can come up with. It is usually pretty good food, but still, when you are trying to feed large groups it is not always easy to prepare something like you would find at home or in a nice restaurant. But with our dinner last Saturday, we pulled out all the stops for a special evening. No buffet line. It was a sit down dinner with real plates and silverware prepared by our head chef Kevin Benton and served by some of our youth. The menu was roast brisket au-jus with salad and rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, and Kevin’s world famous Root Beer green beans. For desert, we had the main fare from the Cheesecake Factory, and Kevin’s wife Paula made German Chocolate cake from scratch that was absolutely to die for. The room was decorated with real table cloths and centerpieces, and a band from our sister church in Piper entertained with some awesome music. It was truly a magical evening. Kudos to Anita Clark and our Women with Heart ministry for the planning and preparations. We had more raves about this event than we have had for anything else lately.
As nice as the evening was, it pales in comparison to an event that is on our calendar as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible likens our relationship with Christ as a bride / bridegroom according to II Corinthians 11:1-3 and Ephesians 5:22-33, along with others. Someday, those who have placed their trust in the Saviour will be called to the wedding reception and the feast of the ages. Our recent church banquet was to commemorate the world’s holiday of “love” called Valentine’s Day. The banquet described in Revelation 19 will be the celebration of the greatest love story of the ages. I John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Propitiation” is a fancy term we don’t use commonly, which means “a provision for mercy.” When a person is convicted of a crime, sometimes he will “fall upon the mercy of the court” in order to try to reduce or eliminate his sentence. In a truly just legal system (none on earth today), mercy can only be granted if there is a valid reason. The court cannot extend mercy just because a man happens to wear a certain color shirt. There must be some provision given to the court to extend mercy. We see a small picture of that in our legal system when a “first offence” is given a lesser sentence. But God’s “court of law” cannot operate like that. Perfect justice requires perfect prosecution and sentencing for sin. But there is a provision for God to grant his mercy – the death of his Son on the cross.
Every love story of the world contains a bit of human selfishness. We love our spouse because of what they can do for us. We love our children for the joy they bring us. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) The only pure love this world has ever seen or ever will see was displayed at Calvary. Once we access that love by trusting Jesus as our Saviour, we can have God’s perfect mercy. The only real “Valentine’s Day” in history happened on a hill far away outside of Jerusalem on a Passover evening nearly 2,000 years ago. Have you experienced it?
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Dependency
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (II Corinthians 3:5)
I am late with this week’s blog post. A couple of weeks ago, my computer at the office “caught a bug” and shut down. We got it back running, but it has thrown me behind – along with a lot of other stuff that has surfaced recently. What is it with people who have nothing better to do than sit around in their pajamas scratching themselves and writing dirty code? What possible thrill can someone get by making other people’s computers blow up? I have a solution for this problem. We find all the people doing stuff like that and give them their own planet. That way they can spend the rest of their lives diddling with each other and leave the rest of us normal humans alone. I would even be willing to contribute to the fund to provide the one way tickets.
Then last weekend, my computer at home went on the fritz. This one was not a virus. I refuse to use my home computer for anything on the internet – it is not even hooked up. It is only used for documents. My keyboard shot craps. I tried another one and it doesn’t work either, so something must be wrong with the unit itself. I haven’t had it fixed yet, so I am using Vicki’s computer right now to type this. With my luck with technology, I hope I don’t fry hers also.
If you know me, you know I am a “technophobe”. I have had the same cell phone for about 5 years. It is an actual telephone, and nothing more. It allows me to partake in audio dialogue with other humanoids – period – which is all I want. I have never sent a text message in my life. My “Power Point” for my preaching is my right index finger. Yet as much of a “dinosaur” as I am with technology, I am as tied to it as the rest of you geeks. It is absolutely amazing how rapidly our world has gotten to this point. I got my first cell phone in 1994, and when I got it, I was somebody. Less than 20 years later, everyone has one. There are more cell phones in the United States than there are people. My grandkids each have one now at ages 10 and 12. Pretty soon, they will start assigning cell numbers at birth like they do now with social security numbers.
The world has become completely dependent on technology. Despite my distaste for it, there is obviously a clear benefit to most of it. But when it shuts down, we are paralyzed. We have forgotten how to function in life without instant access to every tiny piece of mindless trivia the world can produce. It is almost scary how incapacitated a person can become without their iphone. It is as if we have made technology our God.
If only we were as dependent on Almighty God as we are our toys. Self sufficiency is the bane of Christianity. We panic when our laptop shuts down, but we can go days or weeks without spending quality time in prayer and in God’s book. The old hymn says, “I need thee every hour.” Then how is it we can let hundreds and thousands of them pass without any thought of the Saviour and his love for us? He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), so there is no chance that Jesus will get a virus and shut down. The “hard drive” of our 66 volume owner’s manual for life will never crash. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Mark 13:31) Our blessed Bible is settled in heaven forever (Psalm 119:89). May we depend upon it infinitely more than anything else in our lives.
The skeptics and agnostics make fun of our dependency on our Lord. They say that religion is a “crutch” for the mentally weak. Well, first of all, I have a relationship, not a religion. But semantics aside, if my dependency on my Lord is a crutch, give me a wheelchair. Even when everything in life fails me, my Lord sustains me. I never need to fear or panic that something will leave me floundering or hopeless. I have the God of the Universe as my Rock and my anchor.
I am late with this week’s blog post. A couple of weeks ago, my computer at the office “caught a bug” and shut down. We got it back running, but it has thrown me behind – along with a lot of other stuff that has surfaced recently. What is it with people who have nothing better to do than sit around in their pajamas scratching themselves and writing dirty code? What possible thrill can someone get by making other people’s computers blow up? I have a solution for this problem. We find all the people doing stuff like that and give them their own planet. That way they can spend the rest of their lives diddling with each other and leave the rest of us normal humans alone. I would even be willing to contribute to the fund to provide the one way tickets.
Then last weekend, my computer at home went on the fritz. This one was not a virus. I refuse to use my home computer for anything on the internet – it is not even hooked up. It is only used for documents. My keyboard shot craps. I tried another one and it doesn’t work either, so something must be wrong with the unit itself. I haven’t had it fixed yet, so I am using Vicki’s computer right now to type this. With my luck with technology, I hope I don’t fry hers also.
If you know me, you know I am a “technophobe”. I have had the same cell phone for about 5 years. It is an actual telephone, and nothing more. It allows me to partake in audio dialogue with other humanoids – period – which is all I want. I have never sent a text message in my life. My “Power Point” for my preaching is my right index finger. Yet as much of a “dinosaur” as I am with technology, I am as tied to it as the rest of you geeks. It is absolutely amazing how rapidly our world has gotten to this point. I got my first cell phone in 1994, and when I got it, I was somebody. Less than 20 years later, everyone has one. There are more cell phones in the United States than there are people. My grandkids each have one now at ages 10 and 12. Pretty soon, they will start assigning cell numbers at birth like they do now with social security numbers.
The world has become completely dependent on technology. Despite my distaste for it, there is obviously a clear benefit to most of it. But when it shuts down, we are paralyzed. We have forgotten how to function in life without instant access to every tiny piece of mindless trivia the world can produce. It is almost scary how incapacitated a person can become without their iphone. It is as if we have made technology our God.
If only we were as dependent on Almighty God as we are our toys. Self sufficiency is the bane of Christianity. We panic when our laptop shuts down, but we can go days or weeks without spending quality time in prayer and in God’s book. The old hymn says, “I need thee every hour.” Then how is it we can let hundreds and thousands of them pass without any thought of the Saviour and his love for us? He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), so there is no chance that Jesus will get a virus and shut down. The “hard drive” of our 66 volume owner’s manual for life will never crash. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Mark 13:31) Our blessed Bible is settled in heaven forever (Psalm 119:89). May we depend upon it infinitely more than anything else in our lives.
The skeptics and agnostics make fun of our dependency on our Lord. They say that religion is a “crutch” for the mentally weak. Well, first of all, I have a relationship, not a religion. But semantics aside, if my dependency on my Lord is a crutch, give me a wheelchair. Even when everything in life fails me, my Lord sustains me. I never need to fear or panic that something will leave me floundering or hopeless. I have the God of the Universe as my Rock and my anchor.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Gun Control
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)
I am a “Will Rogers” sort of guy. He never met a man he didn’t like. I can’t quite reach his level of character, but I get pretty close. It takes a lot for me to not like someone. One of the notable exceptions is Bill Maher, the political pundit and so-called comedian. He just irritates the snot out of me. I have obviously never met him personally, and I hope I never do. The man makes me furious every time I see him on television, which will be obvious in my tone in this blog post. He is the total embodiment of arrogance, ignorance, disrespect and disgust. He recently did a DVD titled “Religulous” which was a spoof about religion being ridiculous. I got a copy and watched it – why, I have no idea. It is like purposely jabbing yourself in the forehead with an ice pick. I wanted to vomit, take a shower, and burn my clothes just to get the stench out of my life.
The last time I saw Maher was on the Leno show a few days back. We are a few weeks removed from the tragic shooting in Arizona that took the life of six people and left a US Congresswoman fighting for her life. The first ambulance had not even arrived on the scene before all the pundits began speculating as to the cause of the tragedy. Everyone and everything was blamed except for the deranged maniac who pulled the trigger. Maher took off on a rant against the NRA, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, “right-wingers”, and anyone else he doesn’t like. Since he is the polar opposite of Will Rogers, that would include most every group and institution on earth.
As much as I would not ever want to be around the guy, I wish I had been on the show. I would have said, “You know, Bill, the nut case who did this was an atheist – LIKE YOU.” Why is it that no one tried to blame Madelyn Murray O’Hair or the other non-believers? Where was the call for a Federal law to ban all atheists?
I support the second amendment right to bear arms. Granted, some of this stuff is a little crazy. We should have the right to hunt, shoot for sport, and defend ourselves, but I often wonder where a 200-round-a-minute assault rifle fits in that. Bambi is not that mean. But the call to disarm the population when an incident like this occurs is counter-productive. Without getting into a heated debate over this controversial issue, let me take it to the spiritual realm for the real lesson.
The most important aspect in securing the peace and establishing a society based on respect of the law and of life is to arm the population with the “sword of the Spirit”. The lunatic in Tucson was an atheist. But these things happen too often as well with those who tote the Bible around. David Koresh in Waco years ago is a classic example. After his fiasco took the lives of about 80 people, some were blaming God, the Bible, and religion for the problem. They were saying that if we could just get the Bible out of the hands of the people, these things would not happen. I beg to differ. The “wacko in Waco” used the Bible to deceive and control his people. He began with the Bible, then twisted it for his own purposes and sinful desires. Who was the first being to do that? (Hint, Satan in Genesis chapter 3) He would have had absolutely NO chance whatsoever with me or my church members. Why? Because we are “armed to the teeth” with the sword of the Spirit. The answer to these types of things is more Bible, not less. Peter told us to, “arm yourselves likewise with the same mind…” (I Peter 4:1). Paul said, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (II Corinthians 10:4). The more we study our precious book, the better equipped we are to defend ourselves from the “wiles of the devil”, and the less likely we are to even think about nonsense such as occurred in Arizona or Waco. A Federal ban on atheists would be nice, but obviously wishful thinking and never to be accomplished (until Jesus returns). The real solution is to “strap it on” with the book until that time.
I am a “Will Rogers” sort of guy. He never met a man he didn’t like. I can’t quite reach his level of character, but I get pretty close. It takes a lot for me to not like someone. One of the notable exceptions is Bill Maher, the political pundit and so-called comedian. He just irritates the snot out of me. I have obviously never met him personally, and I hope I never do. The man makes me furious every time I see him on television, which will be obvious in my tone in this blog post. He is the total embodiment of arrogance, ignorance, disrespect and disgust. He recently did a DVD titled “Religulous” which was a spoof about religion being ridiculous. I got a copy and watched it – why, I have no idea. It is like purposely jabbing yourself in the forehead with an ice pick. I wanted to vomit, take a shower, and burn my clothes just to get the stench out of my life.
The last time I saw Maher was on the Leno show a few days back. We are a few weeks removed from the tragic shooting in Arizona that took the life of six people and left a US Congresswoman fighting for her life. The first ambulance had not even arrived on the scene before all the pundits began speculating as to the cause of the tragedy. Everyone and everything was blamed except for the deranged maniac who pulled the trigger. Maher took off on a rant against the NRA, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, “right-wingers”, and anyone else he doesn’t like. Since he is the polar opposite of Will Rogers, that would include most every group and institution on earth.
As much as I would not ever want to be around the guy, I wish I had been on the show. I would have said, “You know, Bill, the nut case who did this was an atheist – LIKE YOU.” Why is it that no one tried to blame Madelyn Murray O’Hair or the other non-believers? Where was the call for a Federal law to ban all atheists?
I support the second amendment right to bear arms. Granted, some of this stuff is a little crazy. We should have the right to hunt, shoot for sport, and defend ourselves, but I often wonder where a 200-round-a-minute assault rifle fits in that. Bambi is not that mean. But the call to disarm the population when an incident like this occurs is counter-productive. Without getting into a heated debate over this controversial issue, let me take it to the spiritual realm for the real lesson.
The most important aspect in securing the peace and establishing a society based on respect of the law and of life is to arm the population with the “sword of the Spirit”. The lunatic in Tucson was an atheist. But these things happen too often as well with those who tote the Bible around. David Koresh in Waco years ago is a classic example. After his fiasco took the lives of about 80 people, some were blaming God, the Bible, and religion for the problem. They were saying that if we could just get the Bible out of the hands of the people, these things would not happen. I beg to differ. The “wacko in Waco” used the Bible to deceive and control his people. He began with the Bible, then twisted it for his own purposes and sinful desires. Who was the first being to do that? (Hint, Satan in Genesis chapter 3) He would have had absolutely NO chance whatsoever with me or my church members. Why? Because we are “armed to the teeth” with the sword of the Spirit. The answer to these types of things is more Bible, not less. Peter told us to, “arm yourselves likewise with the same mind…” (I Peter 4:1). Paul said, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (II Corinthians 10:4). The more we study our precious book, the better equipped we are to defend ourselves from the “wiles of the devil”, and the less likely we are to even think about nonsense such as occurred in Arizona or Waco. A Federal ban on atheists would be nice, but obviously wishful thinking and never to be accomplished (until Jesus returns). The real solution is to “strap it on” with the book until that time.
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