Tag Archives: God

If you could save souls, and you knew you somehow would not get credit for it with God, would you do it anyway?

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River Baptism in New Bern (Photo credit: Ma’s Blog)


If you had the power to save souls, quickly and easily, but you knew you somehow would not get credit for it with God, would you do it anyway?

You answered yes, didn’t you?

In case anyone reading this blog might not understand why you answered yes:

It’s because He gave His life for you. That’s why you do what pleases Him, whether there’s any credit or reward involved or not.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:10, 19

Luke 1 — You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus

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Photo by drproehl

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

…no word from God will ever fail.”

Luke 1:30-35, 37

There he sat in the lounge chair, snacking on munchies with his friends while watching one of his favorite movies. They were more than friends really. After working twenty-four hour shifts with these men, after saving lives with these men, after fighting fire with these men, they were his family. It always felt good to be around them. He was completely relaxed, completely at peace, and completely content when the bell went off.

“Beep, beep, beep,” the pre-alert sounded. “Structure fire, flames and smoke seen from an upper floor of a highrise. Address is…” As was often the case, the tone of the female dispatcher’s voice said as much or more about the call than her actual words. This wasn’t a false alarm or burned toast. This was the genuine article.

He moved quickly and easily from the lounge chair and made for the apparatus bay where his fire engine waited. Like a mother duck with ducklings, the Captain unconsciously listened for the noises of his crew making their way to the engine. First running, then the sounds of his men donning their protective gear, then the sounds of doors slamming – one door, the driver’s, then another, then another. As he entered the cab himself he heard the engine start, he heard the bay door open as he looked down to zip up his turnout coat, then he heard the siren.

“8102 responding,” he said into the radio as he simultaneously pushed the responding button on his mobile computer.

“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked the engineer. As usual he did.

The headsets came on and one of his firefighters asked, “What do you think Cap?”

“Sounds like the real deal to me,” the Captain replied. “We could be first in. Be prepared.”

“First in.” First in had special implications. Incidents that start well usually go well. Incidents that don’t start well…

“What are we taking up?” one of the firefighters asked. The crew reviewed the list of equipment that they’d need to take with them: two inch and three quarter hose packs, thermal imaging camera, irons for forcible entry…

It was barely more than five minutes when they heard the dispatcher say, “Units responding to the highrise fire, we have a report of multiple trapped victims on the fire floor and on the floors above.”

“Copy,” the Captain said into the radio. His adrenaline was already pumping but this last bit of information felt like an electric shock.

They turned a corner and there it was: perhaps fifteen or twenty floors up, multiple floors well involved with fire. People hanging out of windows. He took the briefest moment to steel himself for what was to come, then he gave his report, “8102 is on scene at a thirty story apartment building with at least three floors well involved, possibly floors fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. We have victims hanging out of windows. 8102 is going to the lowest fire floor. 8153, it looks like we’ll need at least ten alarms.”

“Central copies, multiple floors well involved. 8102 we just received a report of a floor collapse on the seventeenth floor.”

“Copy, floor collapse on the seventeenth,” the Captain said. Then to his crew he said, “Let’s do it.”

They bailed off the engine, entered the building, and began making their way up the stairwell to the fifteenth floor. On their way up, they shouted and directed people to the way of safety.

“8102,” the dispatcher called.

“8102, go ahead,” the Captain answered.

“8102, we have reports of two more floors collapsing. It appears to be the fifteenth and sixteenth floors. We also have a report of fire showing on the roof.”

“Copy,” the Captain said trying to catch his breath enough to speak as he climbed the staircase.

“Cap?” It was his youngest firefighter, “Cap, are we going to make it?”

“We’ll save as many as we can.”

“OK but will we make it?”

The Captain knew they had to climb as far up into the highrise as possible. He knew he couldn’t save them all. He knew they’d have to save as many as they could.

And he knew they probably weren’t coming back.

“We’ll save as many as we can.” he said. The young firefighter could hear the determination in his voice…

Before Jesus was born into this world to save us, He enjoyed a wonderful and amazing life in heaven with the Father. He enjoyed a life that was filled with glory but He chose to forfeit all of that to come down to earth. (John 17:5) He chose to come in order to save as many as He could. He chose to come even though He knew it meant His own death.

Like the fire Captain in our story, what a devastating choice that was for Jesus.

But what a glorious choice that is for you and for me.

The fire Captain left the comfort of his fire station to go up into the highrise to save as many as he could, knowing that death awaited him. Jesus left His life in heaven with the Father to come down into the earth to save as many as He could.

Praise God in the highest for in spite of the terrible death that awaited Him, Jesus chose to come for you and for me, to save us, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

Paul, speaking of Jesus, said,

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:6-8

Thank you Lord for choosing to come down to save us.

Glory to God in the highest!

Merry Christmas!


References:

Bible Gateway

Jon Courson

Photo by drproehl

Don’t Go Rafting Without a Baptist in the Boat

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This is just too funny not to share. In case you’ve never heard her before, when she says “Left Brain” she’s referring to her husband. Check it out.

Genesis 2:19-23 — But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man.

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Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:21-22

Notice that Adam didn’t settle for less than what God had in mind for him. As the animals were brought before him to name, Adam obediently named each creature but, because for Adam no suitable helper was found (Genesis 2:20) Adam didn’t take any of God’s creatures to be his help meet. Today it seems men and women try to find their future mate in the energy of their flesh — visiting bars, clubs, or subscribing to an online dating service. The results are usually dismal. Many of these who marry find themselves heartbroken later. If your single, make your requests known unto the Lord, during this single season of your life, with thanksgiving. (Phillipians 4:6-7) Don’t settle. As Matthew Henry said, “If we graciously rest in God, God will graciously work for us and work all for good.”

Men should take notice that while the man was created from the dust of the earth, the woman was created from the rib of the man. (Genesis 2:21-22) The woman is double refined and the very last of God’s creations on earth. Could it be that God saved the very best for last? While Adam is the first creature to be created in God’s image and the leader or the head, one could say that the woman is the crown that is to be worn upon the head.

Women should take notice that the man, while assigned to be the head, will never be everything you want him to be. As my pastor says, “A rib was taken from Adam and men have been missing something ever since!” The only man that will never let you down is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Give your man a break, don’t put an expectation on him to fulfill your every need because he can’t. Put your hope in Jesus. The first Adam was commanded by God to name the animals, the last Adam was named “Jesus” when Joseph was commanded by God to do so in Matthew 1:21. The Hebrew form of the name Jesus is Yeshua which is a contraction of the Hebrew name Yahwehshua which means “Yahweh is salvation.” Your husband can’t completely satisfy or save you but Jesus can. Put your hope in Him.

Jesus said

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40)




References:

Blue Letter Bible

Bible Gateway

Matthew Henry

Jon Courson

Chuck Smith, Living Water, p. 38, Word for Today, 2007

Genesis 2:16-17 — You will surely die

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And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

It’s been said that with great privilege comes great responsibility. Adam was given the privilege of living in God’s garden, having dominion over all of nature, and living in fellowship with God. He also was given the responsibility to work and care for God’s garden, as well as the responsibility to obey God’s instructions to eat from any tree but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With great privilege comes great responsibility, for Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

And what a blessed life we’ll have if we found it on the acceptance of God’s right to rule over us, and if we choose to accept our obligation to obey Him. So much sin, frustration, and even rebellion stems from a refusal to live life according to God’s desires for us.

Now notice what God said regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil, “for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Every single one of us will die. Not one of us will live here on earth forever. Let me speak plainly. You are going to die, and, because you know this with complete certainty, the only thing that makes sense is for you to accept Christ. Blaise Pascal, the great French mathematician, examined this question thoroughly. Reason together with Pascal and I as we examine what’s known as Pascal’s Wager.

Imagine with me for a moment that the Bible is false: If the Bible is false and you accept Christ, you’ve lost nothing. The outcome is precisely the same as if you didn’t accept Christ. If the Bible is false, whether you accept Jesus or not, you experience the same eternal outcome — when you die, you cease to exist.

However, if the Bible is true and you don’t accept Christ, after you die you’re spending eternity in hell — you’ve lost everything. If the Bible is true and you do accept Christ, you’ve gained eternity in heaven with Jesus. You’ve gained everything.

Even many of Pascal’s critics have explicitly conceded that Pascal’s wager is valid. (Mackie 1982, Rescher 1985, Mougin and Sober 1994, Hacking 1972) It’s not that life is so short, but that eternity’s so long.

What a great gift God has given you. He gave His only Son, to die for you so you can spend eternity in heaven with Him. He’s said that yes, you can choose to go to hell but you’ll have to do so over My dead body, over the body of Jesus Christ.

Listen to Pascal. Bet on Jesus. Ask Him into your life right now. Join Christ’s family .



References:

Blue Letter Bible

Bible Gateway

J. Vernon McGee

Matthew Henry

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Jon Courson

Genesis 2:10-15 — God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work

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A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:10-15

The second two rivers mentioned, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, we know of today. We know their location, in fact, you can go to Bing Maps right now and find the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, just to the North of Basrah, in Iraq, which I’ve marked on the map with an orange push pin. Interestingly, the headwaters of these two rivers are not very far apart — both are found in East Central Turkey. Although we don’t know the location of the other two rivers, perhaps, the location of the Tigris and Euphrates headwaters gives us a clue as to the location, or former location of the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 2:15 we read, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” I was reading an article recently on stress that listed the top 10 stressors in life. Guess what? Retirement made the top 10! Here in Genesis 2:15 we see that God has created this perfect environment for Adam and notice that, included in the perfect environment, is work! God has designed us to work. Over the years as I’ve watched friends deal with unemployment and retirement I’ve seen all kinds of problems as a result of leading a life without it, without work. According to the American Journal of Public Health men who are unemployed experience more somitization (similar to hypochondriasis), anxiety, and depression than those who are employed. The unemployed also take more medications, visit their doctors more, and spend more time in bed sick even when the unemployed and employed receive the same number of diagnoses.

In Mark chapter 1 Jesus saw some of the disciples working, they were fishing to be exact. As he passed by them He called to them and said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) Perhaps God has blessed you in such a way that you’re in a position where you don’t have to work. That’s great! God is good. He’s given you time that most others don’t have. I want to encourage you to use it for His glory. I know of a number of people in this position — several use their time volunteering at a dump in Mexico, they minister to the impoverished people there, several others I know have dedicated themselves to helping in their church. Use your time to influence people for God’s kingdom. Use your time to fish for men!

If you are perhaps younger, and you have to work to provide for your family, as I do, then give thanks to God for your job if you’re employed. And if you’re not employed, I want to encourage you to work as God desires you to. A number of years ago a friend of mine worked a job in a cabinet shop for less money than what he would have made had he collected unemployment. Some said that he was a fool to take less money, just so he could continue to work, but during this time, I could see the Lord doing a work in this man. His attitude and his work ethic were growing. Conversely, I’ve watched friends take their unemployment and enter into a downward spiral of inactivity. Their initiative eroded away. If you can’t find work for pay, then work for free. Help in the children’s ministry, find a widow or someone fatherless who’s in need and help them — these are things that are pure and faultless in God’s sight. (James 1:27)

As with everything God directs us to do, we’ll be at our best, at our healthiest, and at our happiest when we’re in the flow of God’s will.

God wants you to work.



References:

Blue Letter Bible

Bible Gateway

American Journal of Public Health

The Kitchen’s on Fire — How God prepares us

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So my son, Gabe, is sitting peacefully on his couch a few nights ago when his wife bursts into the room and hollers something to the effect of, “Honey, the kitchen’s on fire!” He jumps off the couch and runs out to the kitchen to find that a pot of cooking oil is on fire. No problem, he just checked his fire extinguisher less than two months ago — he knows right where it is and that it’s charged and ready to go. So he runs past the stove to the room with the extinguisher.

It only takes a few seconds to grab it but by now the fire is climbing up the wall behind the stove. No problem, Gabe, extinguisher in hand, pulls the pin, aims at the base of the fire, squeezes the handle, and…

Nothing.

Oh the little challenges life throws at us… Here’s Gabe in his 100 year old house (no exaggeration, it really is 100 years old) that’s on fire, with a fire extinguisher in his hand that’s of no use, except perhaps as a boat anchor. As anyone in the fire service knows, 100 year old houses are tinder dry and burn like a pile of kindling. So by now the fire has climbed up the wall and is already starting to roll across the ceiling. Gabe grabs a cutting board and tries to cover the pan with it but it’s too hot. He can’t get close enough to the pot. He presses forward but suffers first degree burns to his forehead and hand in his attempt.

Plan ‘A’ no go, plan ‘B’ not working, hopefully Gabe can put this fire out before he runs out of letters in the alphabet.

He runs out the back door where the garden hose is, quickly he turns on the spigot, runs back into the house and instantly recalls something. As I listened to Gabe tell the story I’m thinking, “Something he learned from his firefighter father perhaps?” But no, of course not. Rather he recalled something he’d recently seen on TV. Some dramatic film footage of what happens when water hits burning cooking oil. It looks something like a miniature atomic explosion.

So very carefully, Gabe aims the garden hose stream at the wall and ceiling, avoiding flowing any water into the pot of burning oil. As the fire on the wall and ceiling are knocked down he’s able to get closer to the stove top. With the garden hose in one hand, and the cutting board in the other, Gabe covers the pot of burning oil with the cutting board.

Fire’s out, game over, house saved, thanks to God’s grace, and Gabe’s quick thinking and cool head.

I find it interesting that Gabe happened to see that film footage of what happens when water hits burning oil just a few weeks before he needed that bit of wisdom. God has a way of preparing us for the future He’s laid out for us.

Next time you’re enduring a trial or tribulation take heart. God is more concerned with your eternal condition than he is with your current comfort. He loves us enough to prepare us for what is to come. Consider how God prepared David for his battle with Goliath.

Before David slew Goliath king Saul said,

“You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

1 Samuel 17:33-36

Applegate Christian Fellowship

Bulldog vs Patrol Car Video and the Potter’s Wheel

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Check out this video of Winston, an 80 lb. bulldog, attacking a 3,000 lb. patrol car — and winning.

While the bulldog’s efforts resulted in destruction (of the police car), having the same tenacity is essential in our relationship with God. Another Winston, Winston Churchill, the great Prime Minister of the UK, is famous for something he said while addressing a graduating class of college students at commencement. Winston Churchill’s words to the students were simply,

Never, never, never, never give up.

In scripture God is sometimes portrayed as a Potter and you and I are portrayed as the “pot in progress” as it were. In this context I need to ask myself, and you need to ask yourself the following important question:

Do I truly want to become the person that God desires me to become?

This is undoubtedly one of the most important questions anyone can ask himself. If the answer is yes then you and I must start doing whatever it takes to make ourselves as responsive as we can to the hands of the Potter. I find it interesting that water is what the potter uses to make the clay more responsive to his touch. Scripture portrays God’s word as water. (see Ephesians 5:26) So in the same way, the more time you spend washing in the water of God’s word, the more responsive you will be to the touch of the Master Potter.

Nothing in life is more important than your relationship with God. Not money, not career, not success, not sports, not entertainment, not drink, not sex, not the approval of others. Nothing. Whether you feel like it or not, spend time in the scriptures daily. Although you may not feel inspired or interested, know that God has said that His word “…will not return to Me empty…” (Isaiah 55:11) Whether you feel like it or not, spend time in God’s word and trust Him to do His part. Whether you feel like it or not spend time in the scriptures and trust Him to use the water of His word as an ingredient in your life to make you into the vessel He desires you to become.

…we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Tiger Woods I Know But Who Is Brit Hume Anyway?

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Brit Hume, who is he anyway? This man who has stirred up the blogosphere, the newspapers, the TV news, and every other purveyor of news on the planet.

He is a veteran news man. According to Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_Hume , Brit Hume has worked for the Hartford Times, United Press International, the Baltimore Sun, ABC News, and since 1996, for Fox News Network. Among his many awards, he won an Emmy for his coverage of the Gulf War and the American Journalism Review named him “Best in the Business” as a White House correspondent — twice. In an article by Carl M. Canon of Politics Daily, http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/08/fox-tiger-and-christianity-a-defense-of-brit-hume/ , Cannon writes that at Hume’s last White House press conference, President Bill Clinton said of him, “…over the last several years, I think all of us think you have done an extraordinary, professional job under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, and we will miss you.”

He is a broken hearted father. His son, who was an up and coming news man in his own right, committed suicide in 1998. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_Hume

He is a Christian. He is committed to investing his time and energy into something he calls the 3 G’s — God, granddaughters, and golf. After he moved from Fox News’ Special Report segment he said,

“I want to pursue my faith more ardently than I have done. I’m not claiming it’s impossible to do when you work in this business. I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time. When my son died, I came to Christ in a way that was very meaningful to me. If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the implications of what you say you believe, it’s a pretty big thing. If you do it part time, you’re not really living it.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_Hume

He is right about Buddhism. According to Canon http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/08/fox-tiger-and-christianity-a-defense-of-brit-hume/,

Stephen Prothero, a Boston University professor on Buddhism, told Tamara Lush of the Associated Press: “You have the law of karma, so no matter what Woods says or does, he is going to have to pay for whatever wrongs he’s done. There’s no accountant in the sky wiping sins off your balance sheet, like there is in Christianity.” Added James William Coleman, a professor of Buddhist studies at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “If you do what [Tiger Woods] has done, it comes back and hurts you.”

He is right about Christianity. No other religion offers the redemption and forgiveness that Christianity does.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 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.”

John 8:2-11