"A Tame Christianity"

"Being a Christian is not just a matter of being kind and patient.  It is also a matter of being tough, committed, and passionate.  This is particularly necessary when things desperately need to change.  And things usually do not change when people are only kind and patient, but when, along with such qualities, they are prepared to make the hard decisions no matter what the personal cost, and when they care enough to risk change.  There are times when the borken-in horse many be of good use, but sometimes we do need the fiery stallion." (Bonhoeffer)

I sent a follow up quote to Facebook.

Woody

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Strength in Suffering"

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17.18)

It was 43 years ago yesterday when Stephen Paul Barnette passed from this, "seen," world to the, "unseen."  According to the Bible, the latter is the, "eternal"; the former is the, "temporary."  Look around you right now; it will all be gone some day.

I must share Bonhoeffer's devotional for today.

Strength in Suffering
Isaiah 53:4-5

"Sorrow cannot tire them or wear them down; it cannot embitter them or cause them to break under the strain; far from it, for they bear their sorrow in the strength of him who bears them up, who bore the whole suffering of the world upon the cross. (The Cost of Discipleship).

 "Sorrow and difficulty as such cannot destroy us.  But if we have no resources with which to handle difficulties, we will be overcome.  We will give way to self-pity or despair.  The greatest resource with which to respond to sorrow and difficulty is to gain strength from the Suffering Servant who bore our suffering and sin to win us redemption and freedom.  A further resource is to recognize that suffering, while being our common lot, is never without its potential for growth."

This devotional is my testimony; I pray it is yours.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You so much that You bore our griefs, sorrows, sicknesses and pains in Your Own Body on the Cross.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Do You Need Clarity?

"The woman said to him, 'Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that is Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.'"  (John 4:19, 20, ESV)

Or, "The move from a structuralist account in which capital is understood to structure social relations in relatively homologous ways to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition, convergence, and rearticulation brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure, and marked a shift from a form of Althusserian theory that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects to one in which the insights into the contingent possibility of structure inaugurate a renewed conception of hegemony as bound up with the contingent sites and strategies of the rearticulation of power." (An excerpt of an article which won first price in the "bad writing contest," sponsored by the academic journal "Philosophy and Literature."  The article was written by a UC Berkley professor.) 

When our Lord Jesus was getting too close to home, the woman at the well wanted to go to "Mars Hill," get academic, theological/philosophical instead of dealing with her real "issues."  This is rampant in American schools and churches.  Every time I read this passage I am reminded of just how easy it is to avoid what I really need.  It is a diversion when the Word of God is getting too close to the real issues in my life.

The Bible is not like this.  Compare the professor's verbal confusion to the clear expression of the Word of God, Jesus, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  The woman at the well was laboring in the "seen" world, as most of us do far more than we should.  She had similarities to the professor: escape encounter with Jesus Christ with self-created complexities.  "If God exists, why? or "How do we," etc.  A person with insatiable questions and on and on verbosity is a person who does not really want answers.

Today there are issues in all of our lives which need, "The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  This, "water welling up to eternal life," is not answers to life's questions, "Well, what do you think I should do?"  It is rather, "Whom shall I trust?"  The water is a Person, Jesus Christ.

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for clarity-------- You.  Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

June 10, 1967

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21:24, KJV)

Jews celebrate the capture of Old Jerusalem from the Jordanians, June, 10, 1967.  Jerusalem was no longer, "trodden down of the Gentiles...."  I am so thankful that my Dad and Granddad both lived to see this.  They had been expecting it for years.

World, you might as well stop trying to defeat King Jesus and His Covenant Purposes.  You will loose every time, just as you have always.  Now some would argue that Jerusalem is still not "liberated" because of the Temple Mount situation.  But I can assure you; I have personally witnessed that the Jews control all of Jerusalem, even the Temple Mount area.  The Arabs are only doing what they are doing in Jerusalem because the Israel Government has been conciliatory.  Indeed, this is true of all Israeli territory.  I have posted an article to Facebook which reveals just how far the Nation of Israel has come since 1967.

In my 70 year sojourn on this planet, I have witnessed some great prophetic events, events which were foretold millennia ago.  What faith building in God's fulfillment of His, "God-Breathed," Words.  This should be a great encouragement to you and me today.  Whatever is going on in our personal lives, whatever is going on in our local churches, communities and nations, "Jesus Christ is Lord."  The exhortation to you and me today is to keep praying and believing Jesus Christ and His Words; He never fails.  History is marching to His orders, not man's. 

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen."
*********************
Please pray for us as we make some very important decisions concerning Sarah's mother.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

June 10, 1967

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21:24, KJV)

Jews celebrate the capture of Old Jerusalem from the Jordanians, June, 10, 1967.  Jerusalem was no longer, "trodden down of the Gentiles...."  I am so thankful that my Dad and Granddad both lived to see this.  They had been expecting it for years.

World, you might as well stop trying to defeat King Jesus and His Covenant Purposes.  You will loose every time, just as you have always.  Now some would argue that Jerusalem is still not "liberated" because of the Temple Mount situation.  But I can assure you; I have personally witnessed that the Jews control all of Jerusalem, even the Temple Mount area.  The Arabs are only doing what they are doing in Jerusalem because the Israel Government has been conciliatory.  Indeed, this is true of all Israeli territory.  I have posted an article to Facebook which reveals just how far the Nation of Israel has come since 1967.

In my 70 year sojourn on this planet, I have witnessed some great prophetic events, events which were foretold millennia ago.  What faith building in God's fulfillment of His, "God-Breathed," Words.  This should be a great encouragement to you and me today.  Whatever is going on in our personal lives, whatever is going on in our local churches, communities and nations, "Jesus Christ is Lord."  The exhortation to you and me today is to keep praying and believing Jesus Christ and His Words; He never fails.  History is marching to His orders, not man's. 

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen."
*********************
Please pray for us as we make some very important decisions concerning Sarah's mother.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2