"The Rebukes of Life"

"The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise."  (Proverbs 15:31)

Notice who gives, "the rebukes,"  here.  It is not I, nor people around us.  It is, "life."  The NIV calls it, "life-giving correction."  What I see here is not words of rebuke.  Rather, "life," itself, "rebukes."  People can argue with other people, and sometimes walk away believing they won.  No one can do this with life.  Life will win any argument we may have with it.  I think it's called,  "The reality of life."  

If it were not so pathetic, the arguing which goes on among political pundits would be amusing.  Everyone knows more than the other.  This is particularly true among the politically correct people.  Obama can only say, "We stand with France," what comfort.  Clinton says, "We need to take a harder look at our intelligence "  How can we possibly survive without such profundity?!?  Last evening's events in France just continue to reaffirm what I have been saying for years (and you can stop reading now if you wish).  The war is between the Arab Culture and all other cultures.  Islam just came later to give it a "spiritual" twist.  Now, of course, Arab/Islamism will kill even "its own kind" if one does not embrace wholeheartedly the other's theology/philosophy.  But the stark truth is, what God said of Ishmael was a prophetic word which is playing out in the world with "end-time" intensity, "And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him...." (Genesis 16:12, NIV) 

Last night in Nice, France, "the rebuke of life," came again.  Jesus says that we will be hated by all because of our loyalty to Him.  Today's Psalms (71-75) continued to affirm this reality between those who are "The People of God," aka, Followers of Jesus, and those who are not.  Followers of Jesus are a hated People.  We may be the objects of tolerance in "civilized societies," but the fundamental hatred is still there, seemingly passive, though it may be.  A Jew once said to American Jews, "Don't think that because you live in America you will escape this."  There is no doubt today that, "the rebukes of life," are exposing the ignorance and foolishness of the Global Humanist Culture.  "The rebukes of life," are revealing more and more just what you can expect when you allow Arab/Islamism to roam freely in any given culture.

There is a very sobering truth in our text today.  Laugh at, reject, belittle those who call people to consider and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and His "Law/Word."  They can call us bigots, narrow-minded, racists, homo-phobes, and purveyors of Islamophobia; no matter.  Call me all of that, and we will all still have to deal with, "the rebukes of life."  I may go away; life will not.

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me and Your People ever vigilant.  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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"The Lord Jesus Will Be Revealed From Heaven" (Then What?)

"....The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven..., dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the lord and from the glory of His power."  (From 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, NASB)

As you know, I select the day's texts from my daily reading.  It would be far more popular, I suppose, to search the Bible for those passages which soothe us, you know, "prophesy to us smooth things," though in reality, no Biblical Word is, "smooth," in the sense that humanists desire.  For me, such "quiet time" reading, devotionals, conferences, etc., are just smorgasbord, deceptive, self-made religion.  But I digress.

Our text has been very disturbing to me today.  Sometimes we think we know who, "those," are, yet perhaps more disturbingly, we do not.  Yes, we have our evangelical "formulae" and texts which we believe qualifies some and eliminates others.  But I say that we should not take theological chances.  What I do know is that the Bible does teach that a "day of reckoning" is coming, followed by,  "....eternal destruction...."  It makes me want to grab and shake every person I see and encounter.  Many make fun of the sign along highways, "Are You Ready to Meet God?"  Yet there is a Biblical realty to such a question.  Am I?  Are You?  And, what about "them?" 

I am praying these days more fervently (whatever that may mean) for those who may, "not know God...," Whom the Bible says can only be known in Jesus Christ, none else.  Of some of them I am not so sure, of others I seem to be more so.  Regardless, you and I who claim to, "....know God...," have a call, an indebtedness to all humanity, and most compelling, the Great Command of our Lord Jesus Christ, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations (Matthew)....Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel (Mark)....You are witnesses of these things (Luke)." 

Father, in Jesus' Name, You said, "I will make you fishers of men."  I am not a very good "fisherman."  Holy Spirit, in Jesus' Name, empower and enable and teach and, "make," my friend and me tireless, "fishers of men."  Amen.
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* More news out of the "shakeable" European Union at:   jhs58.blogspot.com
* Please pray for our October Mission in Germany.  Things have changed a lot since we were there last.

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Parables? (Some Thoughts)

"Then He spoke many things to them in parables...." (Matthew 13:3)

The disciples asked Jesus what so many have asked over the centuries, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"  The answer seems a bit perplexing to many, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given....In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding....For this people's heart has become calloused....'"  What occurred to me again this morning is that God did not "design" us for a casual relationship with and in the Godhead.

There is a "pressing in" aspect to relationship in the Blessed Trinity.  A, "calloused," heart is a heart which lacks "focus," a heart which is self-consumed, always looking out for only its own interest and whatever and whomever can help them get through and get the most out of their life.  These are they who wish that God spoke in an audible voice, telling them what to do every day, e.g., His "will" (if they were so inclined), do this, do that, this is why I do this and that.  In such a creation, there would be no "seeking" involved, another "characteristic" of the Godhead, "And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart", or, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek after...."  In short, Jesus calls us into relationship in which He is not an afterthought. 

Now some would call this a "work" religion.  It is not.  Who in their right mind would want a relationship with someone that is a one-way pursuit?  You call them, but they never call you.  You do everything for them, but never even a, Thank you.  You tell them how much you love them, appreciate them, have done everything you can for them, and all you get is a blank stare.  This is the majority of humanity's life style throughout the centuries.

Not so, you and I.  We read, "the Words of God," looking, "searching," wanting to know Him "better," more fully.  We want to know what Jesus has for us, not what we can get out of Him for our own ends.  If understanding seems to be difficult in coming, perhaps the reason is that Jesus wants us to, "Come to Me....Follow Me," so that, "....that where I am, there you may be also."  It is not, Where you are, there I may be also.  Some may find this statement difficult to accept, but I rather have it that I am where Jesus is, than Jesus is where I am.  It's a matter of priority, pressing His way, not mine, seeking His purposes until His purposes/will becomes mine.  No need for, "dark sayings," for such a people.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that my friend and I can have greater understanding in this.  Amen.

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You know my "prophetic" belief concerning the European Union.  The new article on our Blog site reveals just what is going on in Europe:   jhs58.blogspot.com

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"....A Good Word Makes...Glad"

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." (Proverbs 12:25, ESV)

The Interlinear says, "Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop, bow down."  But what does, "a good word," do for that heavy heart?  "Makes him glad, rejoice."  I really do hope and pray that I can be this for you. 

You and I pass people every day, sometimes they may be right in our own homes or places of business, whose hearts are weighed down by anxiety, heaviness.  O, I know that sometimes people can really exasperate us, try our patience and cause us to want to lash out at them.  But may Jesus help us always to remember that they may be going through a pain which if we really knew it, could make our hearts heavy also.  Anyone you and I encounter today just could be a heart weighed down by anxiety and heaviness.  You and I have, "a good word."  Father God help us to deliver.

"Heaviness," what a description of a sad, anxious heart.  I don't know if you have ever been "there," but you know as well as I do that, "a good word," which can be, yes, an encouraging word from us, something kind, compassionate, encouraging, yet is ultimately and supremely the, "Good Word... of God].  It is not some religious spirit of throwing out Bible texts, but rather, "words of  God," passed on from someone on whose heart and in whose mind are written those very, "words of God."

O, Father, in Jesus' Name, let me please be always a person with, "a good word," for everyone, anyone.  Amen.
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* Please pray for:
    Our Berlin Mission, October 5-27, 2016
    My time with churches in California, September 9-18
    Preaching July 24 in our local church

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Have A Good Week"

"My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.  So I said, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove!  I would fly away'....Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." (From Psalm 55)

Tire rotation and balance, and having lunch at local McDonald's while waiting for the car, aka, "just another day."  Over the years in pastoral ministry, I have often thought of where people spend most of their time, and what I have done to help prepare, equip, encourage people in the arena where they spend most of their day to day living, e.g., waiting rooms, work place, schools, etc.  The "average work week" in the United States of America is 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week.  It was very interesting to me that when I "googled" a question regarding how much time people spend in religious meetings, the only articles which came up were about pastors. 

Most of David's psalms, as today's text, were not written in or for religious gatherings.  They were written in the heat of battle, day to day living, his work as a shepherd/king, his struggles with temptation, sin, and, well, just what most people confront every day--------- everywhere.  One of our good friends in our local church said to me as we were leaving the building yesterday, "Have a good week."  We had just spent about two hours together in a, "service of the Word," and now we were all leaving to "have a...week," wherever that week takes us.  As a pastor, I prayed for him, and all of us, that we go into our "good week" in the, "power of His resurrection," trusting Jesus, "Looking unto Jesus," following Jesus, "Abide in Me and I in you."  And when we face, "pained within me,.. fearfulness and trembling...come upon me," or feel as though you want to, "fly away and be at rest", we would then realize the victorious power in what David declared, "Cast your burden on the Lord [Jesus Christ], and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that right now, right here, in this business establishment, I am Yours and You are Mine, You in me and I in You.  "You shall sustain [me]."  Amen.

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Still appreciating any prayers for our "good week" (three of them) in Berlin in October.

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2