Will you heed the sign?

There is an old saying: "Nothing is certain except death and taxes".  Taxes can (and hopefully will) be changed for the better, but what about death?  Even though medical science has progressed considerably over the past 100 years, still the conquest of death remains elusive.  Perhaps, someday, human beings may live two, three or maybe even 400 years (although, its hard for me to even imagine a lifespan that long).  No matter what, sooner or later, death is inevitable.  Some may say that eventually we will conquer death, but reality says that accidents still happen; no matter what we do, some people will always die.  Then what?  Some say, that's it; we experience nothingness.  But that doesn't make any sense to me, because unless you have been there, how would you know?  But, someone has and has already made a way to overcome death and life will go on for those who will really listen to the truth and do what he commands them to do.  Consider this chapter from the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 15:1-58 (WEB)
1) Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2) by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6) Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8) and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9) For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10) But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11) Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12) Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14) If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15) Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16) For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17) If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18) Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19) If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20) But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21) For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
24) Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26) The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27) For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
28) When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
29) Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?
30) Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
31) I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32) If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33) Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
34) Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35) But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”
36) You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.
37) That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.
38) But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
39) All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40) There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
41) There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.
43) It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46) However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47) The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
48) As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49) As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
50) Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54) But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55) “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Facts are facts; if only one person tells you something, it may or may not be true, if two or three people say the same thing, its probably is true.  I wonder, how many people have to testify that something is true before it is considered absolute fact; 50, 100, 200 or maybe even more?  Five hundred people or more were witness to the resurrected Jesus and that's a number that I can accept as absolute.  If life starts with a physical seed which grows, how far fetched is it to be to think that our body is but a seed for another life?  Reality is that people will believe exactly what they want to believe, regardless of truth, but I think its safe to depend on the huge testimony of the early church witnesses who saw the risen Christ.  Is there life after death?  Yes, but don't jump the fence and find out!  Death will come soon enough, so why rush things?

Some things should not change.

 

When I first saw this sign, I had no idea what it was about, then a quick internet search informed me that it was a type of rock music from the 1990's.  It also refers to a style of dress.  What bothered me about the above classification in the signs is what we see happening in the United States; that it is seemingly OK to reclassify human beings into additional categories.  Language like gay, straight, lesbian, bi-sexual, transsexual are becoming so common that we even see mutilated beings like Chasity Bono on mainstream television programs.  For those of us who want to maintain a proper sense of reality, here is the way it is supposed to be.

Genesis 2:4-25 (WEB)
4) This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
5) No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
6) but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7) Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8) Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9) Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10) A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.
11) The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12) and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone.
13) The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.
14) The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15) Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16) Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.”
18) Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
19) Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20) The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21) Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22) He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man.
23) The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.”
24) Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
25) They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
 

God man human beings male and female, period.  The two marry and reproduce, period.  To attempt to create something other than this is an abomination and an exhibition of arrogance.  EMO is just music, leave it that way.  I believe in change, but some things should not change, no matter how "enlightened" our society becomes.

A paw can be a powerful thing!

This dog is unattractive to say the least, but, look at what its doing; consoling its master.  Somehow, it almost makes it human, because caring and consoling another is a characteristic of our species.  I wonder, if that is our trait, then what about God?  Paul says...

2 Corinthians 1:1-7 (WEB)
1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
4) who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5) For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.
6) But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
7) Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort.

Paul is giving the Corinthians consolation; something they obviously needed.  He can do this because he has been through trials and has been comforted by God.  If you have ever suffered, then you know how much a word of encouragement can mean.  Yesterday, something unsettling happened that upset both my wife and I.  Two of my grandchildren were over for a visit and when I took them home I hardly said a word (which is a clear indication that either I am sick or something is bothering me).  Just before I dropped them off, my granddaughter, Elizabeth, started singing "Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight" and it changed my whole mood.  If just a few choruses of a song can effect such a change, imagine getting a letter from an apostle of Jesus.  For that matter, I wonder what it would be like to really know that God himself was comforting me?  It probably won't be something like a paw on the knee and a tender look, but you never know...God works in mysterious ways.

ps.  Thanks again, Lizzy!!!

The progression of "Who"

This is a picture of me; the year was 1956 and westerns were "The Thing".  Those of you who have only known me for 30 or 40 years will not recognize the photo; I HAVE CHANGED!!!  This is completely normal.  We start out learning our name (our "who") and then learn what the "who" really means as we progress through life.  It happens by "what" we learn, "when" we learn it, "where" we are "when" we learn it and "why" we learn the things we do.  And we become a part of the lives of others along the way; parents, friends, our spouse and then children and grandchildren.  Our progression in life becomes part of the progression of others and dies only when that memory ceases with the death of others.  Or does it?  Is there more to life than this?  Consider the following chapters from the book of Galatians...

Galatians 1:1-24 (WEB)
1) Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),
2) and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:
3) Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
4) who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—
5) to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6) I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”;
7) and there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.
8) But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
9) As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.
10) For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.
11) But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.
12) For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
13) For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it.
14) I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15) But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace,
16) to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
17) nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.
18) Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days.
19) But of the other apostles I saw no one, except James, the Lord’s brother.
20) Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I’m not lying.
21) Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22) I was still unknown by face to the assemblies of Judea which were in Christ,
23) but they only heard: “He who once persecuted us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.”
24) And they glorified God in me.

Galatians 2:1-21 (WEB)
1) Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.
2) I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
3) But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
4) This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage;
5) to whom we gave no place in the way of subjection, not for an hour, that the truth of the Good News might continue with you.
6) But from those who were reputed to be important (whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God doesn’t show partiality to man)—they, I say, who were respected imparted nothing to me,
7) but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcision
8) (for he who appointed Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision appointed me also to the Gentiles);
9) and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.
10) They only asked us to remember the poor—which very thing I was also zealous to do.
11) But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.
12) For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
13) And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14) But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?
15) “We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners,
16) yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.
17) But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!
18) For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.
19) For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.
20) I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
21) I don’t make void the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

Paul is a man unlike any other I have know; gentle, compassionate and yet uncompromising and very powerful in spirit.  God saw something in him and chose him to spread "The truth of the Gospel" far and wide.  From persecutor of Christians to evangelist extraordinaire, this devote Jew became the poster boy for Christianity.  His life is the story of what God can do with a man; how he can be molded so that the world can be changed.  Today, think about your life; how you came to be what you are today and what you hope to be tomorrow.  If God is part of the progression, then you will never really die, because you will live forever and the only thing that will change will be time.  Humm, I wonder if there are cameras in heaven?

Let the show begin!!!

An unusual "Northern Lights" display; they don't normally ascend vertically!!!  Take away the housing and it looks like an introduction for an old movie.  In other words... let the show begin...  While thinking about this, I thought of this passage from the book of 1st Peter.

1 Peter 4:1-11 (WEB)
1) Forasmuch then as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin;
2) that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
3) For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
4) They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming:
5) who will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
6) For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
7) But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
8) And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.
9) Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
10) As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.
11) If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Today, for most of us, practicing our Christian faith is easy compared to what Christians had to endure in the earliest centuries.  It is a rarity for someone in the United States to die for their faith.  Notice a little statement that is casually mentioned: "but the end of all things is near".  This sort of statement is found in several of the New Testament and is a problem for some.  Their problem is... if this is true, then why hasn't the return of Christ happened?  Good question!!!  Consider that God has made everything in the universe and that with HIM a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  Imagine that all time is viewed as one of the giant Egyptian pyramids and that the time of the end is as a postage stamp at the top.  The end times would appear insignificant and fleeting; a mere wisp of time.  Who says we must consider the end of all things from our perspective?  Why not God's?  Also, whether God comes today, tomorrow, or in 50 or 90 years, we are but a heartbeat away from meeting our maker.  So, let the show begin; sooner or later (in God's own time) judgment day will come!!!!!!

JOY

This picture brings back memories.  One and only one time have I seen this and that was 47 years ago.  I had just started to go steady with my Linda and was visiting her home for the first time.  Her mom (Dorothy) was giving the baby (her brother David) a bath in the sink.  That was the first time I had ever seen anyone do this and although David was not quite as happy as this baby, it still was something to see.  As for this picture, what struck me was how happy the baby is.  There is a special kind of joy associated with bathing, one that makes whatever time you have doing it WAY TO SHORT.  But, it also raises a question, and that is... What makes YOU joyful??  Take a look at the following passage and I will talk a bit about one of the ways I understand joy.

WEB: Philippians Chapter 2
[12] So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [13] For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. [14] Do all things without murmurings and disputes, [15] that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, [16] holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain. [17] Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all. [18] In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.

[19] But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing. [20] For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you. [21] For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. [22] But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News. [23] Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.

Paul was a servant of his brethren; he loved for them, cared for them, was concerned for them and prayed for them. So, because of this, he sent a man after his own heart to them.  Timothy was young, inexperienced and somewhat timid... but he did care and tried to do the best he could for others.  Nice way to be remembered!!!  The first sermon I ever heard at Northeast School of Biblical Studies was by brother Ed Healy.  It has stayed in my mind for 32 years because of its simplicity and profoundness.  Briefly, JOY means Jesus first, others second and yourself last of all.  In a way, its almost a complete definition of Christian discipleship.  If "JOY" is not a good way to characterize your lifestyle, then today is a good time to change.  You may or may not look like the baby in the picture, BUT, you will be a better person for it.  Oh, yes; I forgot one thing....Yyippee!!!

"Cute"

This image gives no doubt as to what this baby's parents think.  Even though babies have different temperaments, still, every baby is precious.  Not only are they "cute", but they don't even know how to lie, cheat, steal or do so many of the things that God calls sin.  We love them for their innocence, their purity and because they represent the future.  Over time, though, they do things that irritate and anger us; how we wish they could always remain pure!  This passage from the book of 1st Peter shows us how.

1 Peter 2:1-10 (WEB)
1) Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
2) as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,
3) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:
4) coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
5) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6) Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.”
7) For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,”
8) and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
9) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
10) who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

God has shown us the way to purity; he has done this through the living, breathing, Jesus; the one who overcame sin and has given us a way to heaven.  Imagine, being able to "erase" all the wrong (sin) we have ever done?  Being able to be looked at like the baby in the picture and feeling like that too!!!  God teaches us through "the pure milk of the word" and that word helps us to be pure.  Spiritually, we become "cute" and once again are loved as we love that little "angel" in the picture.  Nice thought for me, as its been a long, long, long time since anyone thought of me as "cute".