Last week we talked about how some who identify as Christians offer truth, or their opinion on an issue, in a way that engenders hate, and then point to John 15:18-25 and say, “Yeah, well I shared the truth and now they hate me, just like Jesus said they would.” (see They Will Hate You) After reading that post, Kathy felt like I should address the times when Jesus was angry. Continue reading
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:12-13
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14
A Man Came Down From Mount St. Helens and was “Resurrected”
It was March of 1980. Mount St. Helens was showing signs of an imminent eruption. Bryan Flora, a firefighter in Medford, Oregon was curious about the volcanic activity. His jeep wasn’t running at the time so he borrowed his father’s car and drove to the volcano in Washington. For months before the big eruption there were earthquakes and steam venting from the North face of the mountain. USGS scientists felt it was too dangerous for the general public and convinced the local authorities to close the area. So when Bryan arrived, a Skamania county sheriff was there to greet him. He was denied entry into the park. But Bryan knew the country. And the perimeter is so large it was impossible for law enforcement to cover it all. It wasn’t long before Bryan found a way in. He parked and hiked to the timberline where he spent the night. During his time on the mountain he could feel the earthquakes and hear the mountain making popping noises. But he managed to survive.
However the next day Continue reading
9/11 Prayer atop the Rogue Valley Manor in Oregon
Statistic on death: 100% of people die, including you, and including me.
At a recent retirement ceremony, my wife Kathy shared a list of annoyances with the crowd gathered there. They’re things she never knew she’d have to contend with as the wife of a firefighter:
1) At the movies, when there’s a car explosion, he will lean over and say, “That would never really happen.”
2) When asked to go for a “drive” with him, he starts scouting fire access to homes or does street familiarization.
3) After a hard shift, the words, “Let’s take a nap,” really do mean a nap.
4) Certain tones on appliance timers can get him awake and out of bed in 3 seconds flat.
5) You can come home to find he has set up a multi-casualty incident scene with your kid’s matchbox cars.
6) Terms of endearment on a text are “ETA” and “Copy.”
That was a few days ago. Today I spoke with a woman who recently lost her husband of 30 years. With tears welling up in her eyes, she told me how the little things that irritated her about her husband didn’t matter anymore. She said she’d give anything to have him back, along with those little quirks that seemed so annoying before he died.
Two men I know have little time left to live. They’re both dying of cancer. Amazingly, they both told me, if they could somehow go back in time and erase their cancer, they wouldn’t do it.
They said, before their cancer they feel they wasted most of their time on things that aren’t important. Making money, mainly. But now their focus is on anything and everything that has eternal value. Loving God and loving people, mainly.
They’re not wasting their lives any longer. They’re focused on Jesus Christ, and bearing fruit for Him — at work, in their family, with their friends, everywhere they go. (John 15:4)
We’re all going to die.
Everyone of us.
Relative to eternity, we all have very little time to live.
So live for Christ.
Give your time to Him.
Give yourself to Him.
Goldman Sachs Protest
Perhaps you’ve been wondering what all the buzz is about concerning Goldman Sachs. I recently heard it explained this way: Goldman Sachs put together investment packages, sold them to customers as a wise and promising way to spend their money, and then, Goldman Sachs invested in a way that “bet against” the success of those very same investment packages — because they knew they would fail. (read more in the Washington Post article)
It’s human nature to think that reformation can change a person, an organization, a country, or the world. We think, if only we could reform the government, or get our man or woman into office. If only we could reform the financial system with more regulation, or by appointing the right Fed Chairman. If only we could reform ourselves, turn over a new leaf, make resolutions and stick to them. In reality, reformation never changes much, regeneration is the answer. Not that Wall Street can ever be perfect this side of heaven, but, without Christ in the hearts of the men running Wall Street, there’s no hope for Wall Street. Regeneration through the acceptance of Christ into your life is the answer. (see John 3:1-7) Without Christ in your life reformation will bring only temporary or superficial change. Without Christ in your life you’re likely to return to a state worse than you were before reformation. (see Luke 11:24-26) Without Christ in your life there is no hope because without Jesus you can do nothing. (see John 15:5)
…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit
Titus 3:5
Pray for regeneration. Pray for the Holy Spirit, daily. Pray for Christ to fill up your life with Himself.
For more information see John Courson’s teaching from Sunday, April 25, 2010 at JonCourson.com .
More than 200 Christians, many, women and children, were killed in Nigeria Sunday, according to Mission Network News. Accounts from neighbors of the dead say that Muslim herdsmen came out of the hills, shot pistols to draw people out of their homes, and then killed with machetes and bows and arrows. Some of the bodies had severed limbs. Many dead children were found entangled in the arms of their deceased mother’s.
Today the dead were buried in mass graves.
The area where the massacre occurred is a location where a predominantly Christian region borders a predominantly Muslim region.
Your Life:
Walk closely with God for it’s not a matter of if you’ll be persecuted for your faith in Christ but a matter of when. Jesus predicted this when He said,
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”
John 15:18-20
I’m not saying that you and your family will be brutally massacred however we all face trials and you and I won’t be exceptions — count on it. That’s why it’s so important to spend time with the Lord now so you’re prepared for the storm.
You won’t regret it.
Jesus also said,
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
