Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Speaking Out
The recent statement by the CEO of Chic filet and the backlash from the liberal media and the folks who are calling wrong right is interesting. The agenda of the present administration is to grant the homosexual minority status (which has to be an affront to true minorities) and to silence those who are willing to say that such lifestyle is sin. Our culture has made the choice to abandon the foundation of moral and ethical guidelines that are from God's Word. We have cut the ship loose from shore, thrown away the anchor, sail, steering wheel and rudder and are being carried along by the whims of this culture. Shipwreck will happen sooner or later. A refresher of the rise and fall of the Roman empire brings to our attention that immorality, sin, selfishness, eventually brings its own destruction. The wrath of God is not needed, the law of sin and death will bring its own result. We reap what we sow-when we think we can sow seeds of sin, immorality, greed, hatred, prejudice and still live the good life, we have moved into the ultimate delusion. In the midst of the chaos, may the body of Christ step forward to speak His truth in love and to live a different life, one of true righteousness and holiness that brings glory to Christ. May we, the followers of Jesus Christ, get serious about shining like stars in this dark world.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Freedom in Christ
I have been doing a series on celebrating freedom in Christ during July. How often we take any freedom we have for granted. I remember when doing a jail ministry in Houston at Harris County, one day a week I would spend five hours 'inside" the facility. It would always a joyous moment to hear the door shut behind me when I left the facility and reentered the world of the free. Our freedom in Christ is a precious gift, given to us not so we can do as we please, but so we can please Christ. A freedom from sin, condemnation, fear and doubt that privides the position to live in a manner worthy of Christ. My freedom in Christ is a freedom for Christ. I am now free to do His will, to follow in His steps and live to His praise. I am now free from the littleness of a selfish life, and am living in the vast ocean of His grace, for His glory. Some talk that our freedom in Christ is a freedom from responsibility, holiness, obedience, etc. The freedom in Christ is the freedom to be who I couldn't be without Christ and to do what I couldn't do until He set me free from the prison of sin and selfishness.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
God's Glory
When Christ comes again, the Word tells us that every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. According to my personality, that is because God the Father will force it to happen. But once again I believe I have it wrong, for God never 'forces' anything. All will bow, all will confess because they will have to. The glory of Christ's presence will be so overwhelming that they will have to bow down and confess. The glory of His presence will bring us all to our knees. Mankind may not want to, but they will have to because of the overwhelming presence of the living Son of God. Then I am reminded by a friend that the hosts of heaven right now, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders are on their faces because of God's glory and pouring forth unending praise to the Lamb who was slain. Unending praise, always on their faces-because of His presence. I really doubt that seeing Grandma will be at the top of the list when we enter His eternal presence. I really doubt we will be concerned with mansions and streets of gold. It will be all about Christ-His presence. His overwhelming, all consuming presence. Dare I pray, Lord show me your glory? Could I handle such an overwhelming Presence. O Lord, teach me your ways.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Servant Who Is Our Hope
We are a multi-task generation. There are so many things calling for our energy and attention. Much of it is driven by the shallowness that overwhelms the human spirit. The shallow stuff of this world, that is constantly passing away. Christ stands in the middle of it all as the One in whom the nations will put their hope. (Matthew 12:21). His name is hope. Not Mohammed, Ghandi, Joseph Smith, or any president or world leader, but Jesus Christ. There will be a moment in history when every one who has ever lived or is living at that moment will realize that Jesus Christ is the One in whom is life. In that moment there will be a great cry of despair from those who rejected this One who is our hope, and at that same time a great shout of victory and praise from those who put their hope in this Jesus. Awesome and great is His name. There is no other name under heaven that brings salvation and rescues mankind from the shallowness of this world's stuff. Look at my servant the Father says. This Servant is my Son. It is more than a suggestion, it is the invitation to life for whosoever will. In our multi task age, let us do this one thing-Look at the Son of God, who reigns and is coming again.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Look At My Servant -The Easter Person
Isaiah 42 and Matthew 12:18 call us to look to the Son, who is also the Servant of the Lord. Sometimes our perspective gets out of focus, we become selfish, we look at others and make comparisons and become full of despair, we look at the world and the mess of humanity and become discouraged or even afraid. The Word tells us to look at the Son. To focus our attention upon the One, crucified and raised to life.
The Father delights in the Son and calls us to do the same. At the heart of salvation, of having peace with God and the peace of God, is delighting in the Son, looking to the Son. The Word says every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. That every eye will see him or look at him, even those who pierced Christ.
God the Father will get mankind's attention with the Son sooner or later. The salvation choice, the life giving choice is to look to the Son today. To acknowledge our need of the Savior today and walk each day with our attention upon the Son. Easter is about the Person, Jesus Christ who was declared with power to be the Son of God through the resurrection from the dead. Look and live!
The Father delights in the Son and calls us to do the same. At the heart of salvation, of having peace with God and the peace of God, is delighting in the Son, looking to the Son. The Word says every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. That every eye will see him or look at him, even those who pierced Christ.
God the Father will get mankind's attention with the Son sooner or later. The salvation choice, the life giving choice is to look to the Son today. To acknowledge our need of the Savior today and walk each day with our attention upon the Son. Easter is about the Person, Jesus Christ who was declared with power to be the Son of God through the resurrection from the dead. Look and live!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Come To me
Oswald Chambers in his book, "As He Walked" states the following.
"All the questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words "Come to Me." Not-'do this' and 'don't do that', but "Come..." Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart and mind, you will find you will do anything rather than the one simple, childlike thing-Come. Be stupid enough to come, and commit yourself to what Jesus says. That attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits the whole thing to Jesus. At the most unexpected moments there comes the whisper of the Lord, 'Come to Me,' and we are drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. He meets our sins, our sorrows, and our difficulties with the one word-Come."
"All the questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words "Come to Me." Not-'do this' and 'don't do that', but "Come..." Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart and mind, you will find you will do anything rather than the one simple, childlike thing-Come. Be stupid enough to come, and commit yourself to what Jesus says. That attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits the whole thing to Jesus. At the most unexpected moments there comes the whisper of the Lord, 'Come to Me,' and we are drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. He meets our sins, our sorrows, and our difficulties with the one word-Come."
Thursday, March 8, 2012
God's Good Work
The GOOD work (Phil. 1:6): A work only God can do within man, the work that every person requires to be complete, restored to the image of God, redeemed from sin’s death & despair. God created & it was ‘good’, Jesus said why do you call me good, only God is good. We define a lot of things with ‘good’, but ‘good’ is something that comes from the hand of God the Father. Every good & perfect gift (Ja 1:17). The Father loves to give ‘good’ gifts to his children (Mt. 7:11). The good work is the Christ work, the Divine work. Rom 8:28-work in all things for good-the good being Christlikeness. The restoration of the image of God to the spirit of man, the shalom of God bringing wholeness & completeness to the heart of restless mankind. The good work is bringing order out of chaos (Genesis), the good work is bringing life out of death, redeeming power out of the cross, hope out of an empty grave, life in the person of the Son. Only God can do this. When men do something ‘good’, it is a little spark of the Holy God. The good is holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, truth-those powers that bring freedom to the human heart. The hope of mankind is that they would allow God the Father to do the good work in them through faith in Christ. All other ‘works’ only treat symptoms, the good work of God is to make the tree good, then the fruit will be good. Ultimately the good work is the life of Christ in us that brings hope, joy, peace, the shalom of the true and living God.
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Speaking Out
The recent statement by the CEO of Chic filet and the backlash from the liberal media and the folks who are calling wrong right is interesting. The agenda of the present administration is to grant the homosexual minority status (which has to be an affront to true minorities) and to silence those who are willing to say that such lifestyle is sin. Our culture has made the choice to abandon the foundation of moral and ethical guidelines that are from God's Word. We have cut the ship loose from shore, thrown away the anchor, sail, steering wheel and rudder and are being carried along by the whims of this culture. Shipwreck will happen sooner or later. A refresher of the rise and fall of the Roman empire brings to our attention that immorality, sin, selfishness, eventually brings its own destruction. The wrath of God is not needed, the law of sin and death will bring its own result. We reap what we sow-when we think we can sow seeds of sin, immorality, greed, hatred, prejudice and still live the good life, we have moved into the ultimate delusion. In the midst of the chaos, may the body of Christ step forward to speak His truth in love and to live a different life, one of true righteousness and holiness that brings glory to Christ. May we, the followers of Jesus Christ, get serious about shining like stars in this dark world.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Freedom in Christ
I have been doing a series on celebrating freedom in Christ during July. How often we take any freedom we have for granted. I remember when doing a jail ministry in Houston at Harris County, one day a week I would spend five hours 'inside" the facility. It would always a joyous moment to hear the door shut behind me when I left the facility and reentered the world of the free. Our freedom in Christ is a precious gift, given to us not so we can do as we please, but so we can please Christ. A freedom from sin, condemnation, fear and doubt that privides the position to live in a manner worthy of Christ. My freedom in Christ is a freedom for Christ. I am now free to do His will, to follow in His steps and live to His praise. I am now free from the littleness of a selfish life, and am living in the vast ocean of His grace, for His glory. Some talk that our freedom in Christ is a freedom from responsibility, holiness, obedience, etc. The freedom in Christ is the freedom to be who I couldn't be without Christ and to do what I couldn't do until He set me free from the prison of sin and selfishness.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
God's Glory
When Christ comes again, the Word tells us that every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. According to my personality, that is because God the Father will force it to happen. But once again I believe I have it wrong, for God never 'forces' anything. All will bow, all will confess because they will have to. The glory of Christ's presence will be so overwhelming that they will have to bow down and confess. The glory of His presence will bring us all to our knees. Mankind may not want to, but they will have to because of the overwhelming presence of the living Son of God. Then I am reminded by a friend that the hosts of heaven right now, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders are on their faces because of God's glory and pouring forth unending praise to the Lamb who was slain. Unending praise, always on their faces-because of His presence. I really doubt that seeing Grandma will be at the top of the list when we enter His eternal presence. I really doubt we will be concerned with mansions and streets of gold. It will be all about Christ-His presence. His overwhelming, all consuming presence. Dare I pray, Lord show me your glory? Could I handle such an overwhelming Presence. O Lord, teach me your ways.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Servant Who Is Our Hope
We are a multi-task generation. There are so many things calling for our energy and attention. Much of it is driven by the shallowness that overwhelms the human spirit. The shallow stuff of this world, that is constantly passing away. Christ stands in the middle of it all as the One in whom the nations will put their hope. (Matthew 12:21). His name is hope. Not Mohammed, Ghandi, Joseph Smith, or any president or world leader, but Jesus Christ. There will be a moment in history when every one who has ever lived or is living at that moment will realize that Jesus Christ is the One in whom is life. In that moment there will be a great cry of despair from those who rejected this One who is our hope, and at that same time a great shout of victory and praise from those who put their hope in this Jesus. Awesome and great is His name. There is no other name under heaven that brings salvation and rescues mankind from the shallowness of this world's stuff. Look at my servant the Father says. This Servant is my Son. It is more than a suggestion, it is the invitation to life for whosoever will. In our multi task age, let us do this one thing-Look at the Son of God, who reigns and is coming again.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Look At My Servant -The Easter Person
Isaiah 42 and Matthew 12:18 call us to look to the Son, who is also the Servant of the Lord. Sometimes our perspective gets out of focus, we become selfish, we look at others and make comparisons and become full of despair, we look at the world and the mess of humanity and become discouraged or even afraid. The Word tells us to look at the Son. To focus our attention upon the One, crucified and raised to life.
The Father delights in the Son and calls us to do the same. At the heart of salvation, of having peace with God and the peace of God, is delighting in the Son, looking to the Son. The Word says every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. That every eye will see him or look at him, even those who pierced Christ.
God the Father will get mankind's attention with the Son sooner or later. The salvation choice, the life giving choice is to look to the Son today. To acknowledge our need of the Savior today and walk each day with our attention upon the Son. Easter is about the Person, Jesus Christ who was declared with power to be the Son of God through the resurrection from the dead. Look and live!
The Father delights in the Son and calls us to do the same. At the heart of salvation, of having peace with God and the peace of God, is delighting in the Son, looking to the Son. The Word says every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. That every eye will see him or look at him, even those who pierced Christ.
God the Father will get mankind's attention with the Son sooner or later. The salvation choice, the life giving choice is to look to the Son today. To acknowledge our need of the Savior today and walk each day with our attention upon the Son. Easter is about the Person, Jesus Christ who was declared with power to be the Son of God through the resurrection from the dead. Look and live!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Come To me
Oswald Chambers in his book, "As He Walked" states the following.
"All the questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words "Come to Me." Not-'do this' and 'don't do that', but "Come..." Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart and mind, you will find you will do anything rather than the one simple, childlike thing-Come. Be stupid enough to come, and commit yourself to what Jesus says. That attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits the whole thing to Jesus. At the most unexpected moments there comes the whisper of the Lord, 'Come to Me,' and we are drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. He meets our sins, our sorrows, and our difficulties with the one word-Come."
"All the questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words "Come to Me." Not-'do this' and 'don't do that', but "Come..." Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart and mind, you will find you will do anything rather than the one simple, childlike thing-Come. Be stupid enough to come, and commit yourself to what Jesus says. That attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits the whole thing to Jesus. At the most unexpected moments there comes the whisper of the Lord, 'Come to Me,' and we are drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. He meets our sins, our sorrows, and our difficulties with the one word-Come."
Thursday, March 8, 2012
God's Good Work
The GOOD work (Phil. 1:6): A work only God can do within man, the work that every person requires to be complete, restored to the image of God, redeemed from sin’s death & despair. God created & it was ‘good’, Jesus said why do you call me good, only God is good. We define a lot of things with ‘good’, but ‘good’ is something that comes from the hand of God the Father. Every good & perfect gift (Ja 1:17). The Father loves to give ‘good’ gifts to his children (Mt. 7:11). The good work is the Christ work, the Divine work. Rom 8:28-work in all things for good-the good being Christlikeness. The restoration of the image of God to the spirit of man, the shalom of God bringing wholeness & completeness to the heart of restless mankind. The good work is bringing order out of chaos (Genesis), the good work is bringing life out of death, redeeming power out of the cross, hope out of an empty grave, life in the person of the Son. Only God can do this. When men do something ‘good’, it is a little spark of the Holy God. The good is holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, truth-those powers that bring freedom to the human heart. The hope of mankind is that they would allow God the Father to do the good work in them through faith in Christ. All other ‘works’ only treat symptoms, the good work of God is to make the tree good, then the fruit will be good. Ultimately the good work is the life of Christ in us that brings hope, joy, peace, the shalom of the true and living God.
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