Month: August 2016

We, the Peoples of these United States…..

​  “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

  Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” – Jude 1:1‭-‬3‭, ‬24‭-‬25 KJV (http://bible.com/1/jud.1.1-25.KJV)

Jude wrote these words almost 2000 years ago. The more I read God’s Word, the more I realize how timely and appropriate it is for us now, in 2016. We have some really difficult decisions to make before the elections this coming November. Before you shut this off, I’m not here to stump for any of the Presidential candidates. This is not a Republican or Democrat or Independent blog…. it is intended to be a Christian blog. Consider these words from Jude and tell me he wasn’t speaking directly to Christians today:

  “For there are certain men {and women} crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” – Jude 1:4‭, ‬8‭-‬8‭, ‬18‭-‬19 KJV (http://bible.com/1/jud.1.4-19.KJV)

It sounds as though God is directing Jude to speak to us about our leaders and potential leaders today. Not voting in the election is not an option…. but who to vote for? This calls for some serious “knee time!” We the people of these United States have some hard decisions to make. Will you make a knee-jerk reaction, or spend time in prayer and meditation, listening for God’s guidance? God bless America, because she certainly needs those blessings. Amen.

Holy Father, under your direction and with the Holy Spirit guiding us, help us to discern the path You want us as followers of Your Son Jesus Christ to take. We need to be humble and in Your Word, Lord. I pray understanding over me and my house; Amen.


Together for the City – notes and my thoughts from  Frontline Church Edmond 7/31/16 (Tim Kimberly)

The question is “How can we as a church push back the darkness that is overcoming the world?” 

Out of the 1181 chapters in the Bible, the first two of chapters are a wonderful picture of the light pushing back and overcoming the darkness. 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” – Genesis 1:1‭-‬3 NIV (http://bible.com/111/gen.1.1-3.NIV)

From Genesis 3 on – darkness begins to cover the earth with human being #3 (Cain) killing human being #4 (Able, Cain’s brother). It really didn’t take long for the enemy, Satan, to move into our lives in full force. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, in the Harvard commencement speech he gave, he said “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Why use this point he made at Harvard? Because if we look at the world and try to cut out all of the evil, then we would have to decimate the entire human population. Every human being has evil in their hearts. Definitely something to ponder.

What does this have to do with Jesus? I think it goes to this question that He asks His disciples. “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” – Matthew 16:13 NIV (http://bible.com/111/mat.16.13.NIV)

Do we consider Jesus to be the Son of the Almighty God, or just a good person? The evil in our hearts – even in those who are “good” people – wants us to say that He was a good man, maybe even a prophet, but not the Messiah. His disciples answered Jesus like this: 

“Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”   “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”   Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, Christos, the Son of the living God.” (Completely man and completely God.) – Matthew 16:14‭-‬16 NIV (http://bible.com/111/mat.16.14-16.NIV)

Are we working to overcome the darkness in our families and our neighborhoods?  Do we understand why our world is covered in darkness? God explains the why to the prophet Jeremiah:

“…then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook Me and did not keep My law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying Me. My Eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My Eyes. I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled My inheritance with their detestable idols.” – Jeremiah 16:11‭-‬12‭, ‬17‭-‬18 NIV (http://bible.com/111/jer.16.11-18.NIV)

Bluntly and plainly put. We now have the why; now we need to know what to do about it, and how to go about it. Is this following verse you? “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” – Isaiah 9:2 NIV (http://bible.com/111/isa.9.2.NIV)  We are definitely living in the land of deep darkness! I believe that as followers of Christ it is our job to spread the”Great Light”, and we do it through the Gospel proclamation.

Just as Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.“ – Matthew 16:17 NIV (http://bible.com/111/mat.16.17.NIV)

When we see the Light of Jesus, it isn’t because of anything we can do ourselves. It is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. It’s up to us to light up the world through our lives…. not because we are “good” or any better than anyone else. We are simply sinners saved by Grace. When we judge others, we need to remember that there, except for the Grace of our God, we could be.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, the Rock, (the level and square foundation block of the church) and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be  bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be  loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 16:18‭-‬19 NIV (http://bible.com/111/mat.16.18-19.NIV) 

Without God at the head, Satan wins. With God, no gate of hell will stand against the Light of Jesus. We have to take the Light to the darkness, living out our faith through our lives. I was this woman Jesus is speaking to in John, condemned by man and saved by Jesus, Amen. Are you possibly this woman – or man – waiting for Jesus to set you free?

“Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I AM the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.” – John 8:10‭-‬12 NIV (http://bible.com/111/jhn.8.10-12.NIV)

William Wilberforce wrote “Real Christianity: Contrasted with the Prevailing Religious System,” published in 1797. He set out as a young politician to do two things: rouse professing Christians to understand the nature of true faith, and to bring about the end of slavery in England’s colonies. His book is equally relevant today for Christians wanting to understand their faith better, but it is also still relevant on the issue of slavery. Even though we don’t have the obvious slave markets that were so prevalent in the 1700’s, there are thriving slave markets that exist to this day. (The book is still available, both new and used on Amazon, and also available as an eBook.) 

What do you think of Jesus? What do you say about Jesus? What do you live about Jesus? 

Social media and God 

​”The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9 NIV (http://bible.com/111/2pe.3.9.NIV)

I read this and immediately the thought popped into my head of how impatient we have become. My computer/tablet/phone are all too slow. I was up in the mountains of northern New Mexico for several days, staying in a log cabin. Thankfully, there was indoor plumbing and electricity! No cell service, no Internet, no television…. but there was a landline for essential communication and a radio to listen to, and a post office and few miles down the road. I could have chosen to be frustrated about the lack of my devices after a couple of days and gone to a neighbors to use their broadband, or I could choose to embrace it while I was in the mountains. Had I  gone to broadband, it would have been very slow compared to my normal WiFi. 

The way I see it, I have very similar choices with God’s Will. For many years, I chose to ignore Him. I used the world’s means of communication, insisting that whatever it was, I “needed” it to be done now.  It seems to me that Peter’s message is intended for us, God’s children, to slow down. We don’t need the instant gratification the world teaches. We (I) need to take a breath and look at God’s need instead of our own. The only thing He ever needs or wants from us is our love. It’s true that our love should include acceptance and obedience, and those giving their love should be slowing down to be able to hear Him. That’s how we can know His Will for our lives.

I confess that I don’t slow down enough, or often  enough, to hear God’s voice in my life. God will never let me down. He always has my best interests at heart. His time is not my time, and His thinking is not my thinking – after all, it was/is my best thinking and impatience that gets me into trouble!

God is real, and He is good, ALL the time.