I am inspired by a study we are currently doing in Church called the ever loving truth. No organization, no person, no government, no anything has trouble with the name Bob or Bill or Jack. If we say the name Jesus however then somehow everyone is offended and we have to be tolerant of other people without them tolerating us. Have you ever wondered why? Why is it we can pray to allah, buddha, or a block of wood and its ok, but if we pray in the name of Jesus then everyone is offended somehow. What is it about that name that people are afraid of? Its because the name of Jesus has power in it but the name of Bob does not.
Philippians 2:9-11 (New International Version)
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
There will come a day when all of those people can be offended all they want BUT they WILL bow a knee, and they WILL confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the Glory of God the Father.
Do not be afraid to share Jesus even though people will get offended. We have been promised persecution if we choose to follow Jesus. But then again how little is the persecution that I could face compared to what He did for me on the Cross and the hours leading up to it. I will count it gain to be persecuted for proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
A call to prayer
I started a quest to read through the bible again about 3 weeks ago and its going well so far. I am almost through with Genesis, and I am eager for God to speak to me in a deeper way than He has been while I have hit at random through the bible. Because I am in Genesis I think my blog has been a little lacking because nothing has hit me between the eyes so far, that has gotten my writing desire going. There has been a burden on my heart though.
I don't know how much any of you watch what is going on in the world, but I do on a daily basis. I am to the point now where I don't even recognize the country I live in. Its like I grew up in some different world and now that I am on the doorstep of 40 I have been moved to some alternate reality. The rioting around the world from unions over the cuts in pensions because their country is broke is frightening. Greece is on fire with protesters and people are getting hurt just because someone didn't get their entitlement check in the amount they were expecting. I realize I am probably over simplifying the chaos but in a nutshell the government is broke because they have spent themselves to death. To save the government of Greece they have to change the spending and people don't want to give up the benefits that they have enjoyed. But is any of this worth killing some innocent bank worker? Heaven forbid the USA ever sees a day like this. I am afraid however that this type of rioting is on our doorstep.
The US has 119 trillion dollars in debt and unfunded liabilities as of today. With Cap and Trade on the docket and who knows what else is coming under this administration, we now have no way of paying our debt under our current system. If every taxpayer in America made 1.7 million dollars and we had a 70% tax rate we could pay it off. Um, not gonna happen.....unless....the government inflates our dollar. Well what does that mean? Simply put, the total amount of currency available is multiplied by some variable, lets say 10. Your 1$ bill is now worth 10$, however your debts have not changed. So if you are making 50,000 dollars per year all of a sudden you will be getting 500,000 per year but your fixed liabilities will not changed like your mortgage or your car payment. What will change is the price of consumables like food, gas, clothing by a factor of 10. Needless to say this causes a huge strain on the economy.
Will we ever get to this point I am not sure. The IMF(International Monetary Fund) is the private organization that is leading the effort of bailing out Greece, but at what cost to Greece? The IMF is a world banking organization that the US contributes 17% of capital to which by the way the next biggest contributor gives just 6.2% and that is Japan. Most of the countries in the world give to this fund, so really we are financing 17% of the bailout for Greece. Also this week the IMF is calling for a single currency and governance for the world to prevent this from happening ever again. Even our politicians here in the US both Democrat and Republican are spewing the same rhetoric.
If all of this doesn't send a chill down your spine I don't know what will. We are moving on the fast train to a world government at a pace never seen before. If there was ever a time to get on your knees, repent, and pray for our world and the lost, it is now. Turn from your sin, abandon the fear we have in sharing the gospel, and cling to Christ and His promises like Peter and John did while facing the Sanhedrin in the book of Acts. We have nothing to fear as long as we have Christ with us. Let us not let one person in our lives go to hell because they never heard the gospel of Christ.
Time is running out.....
I don't know how much any of you watch what is going on in the world, but I do on a daily basis. I am to the point now where I don't even recognize the country I live in. Its like I grew up in some different world and now that I am on the doorstep of 40 I have been moved to some alternate reality. The rioting around the world from unions over the cuts in pensions because their country is broke is frightening. Greece is on fire with protesters and people are getting hurt just because someone didn't get their entitlement check in the amount they were expecting. I realize I am probably over simplifying the chaos but in a nutshell the government is broke because they have spent themselves to death. To save the government of Greece they have to change the spending and people don't want to give up the benefits that they have enjoyed. But is any of this worth killing some innocent bank worker? Heaven forbid the USA ever sees a day like this. I am afraid however that this type of rioting is on our doorstep.
The US has 119 trillion dollars in debt and unfunded liabilities as of today. With Cap and Trade on the docket and who knows what else is coming under this administration, we now have no way of paying our debt under our current system. If every taxpayer in America made 1.7 million dollars and we had a 70% tax rate we could pay it off. Um, not gonna happen.....unless....the government inflates our dollar. Well what does that mean? Simply put, the total amount of currency available is multiplied by some variable, lets say 10. Your 1$ bill is now worth 10$, however your debts have not changed. So if you are making 50,000 dollars per year all of a sudden you will be getting 500,000 per year but your fixed liabilities will not changed like your mortgage or your car payment. What will change is the price of consumables like food, gas, clothing by a factor of 10. Needless to say this causes a huge strain on the economy.
Will we ever get to this point I am not sure. The IMF(International Monetary Fund) is the private organization that is leading the effort of bailing out Greece, but at what cost to Greece? The IMF is a world banking organization that the US contributes 17% of capital to which by the way the next biggest contributor gives just 6.2% and that is Japan. Most of the countries in the world give to this fund, so really we are financing 17% of the bailout for Greece. Also this week the IMF is calling for a single currency and governance for the world to prevent this from happening ever again. Even our politicians here in the US both Democrat and Republican are spewing the same rhetoric.
If all of this doesn't send a chill down your spine I don't know what will. We are moving on the fast train to a world government at a pace never seen before. If there was ever a time to get on your knees, repent, and pray for our world and the lost, it is now. Turn from your sin, abandon the fear we have in sharing the gospel, and cling to Christ and His promises like Peter and John did while facing the Sanhedrin in the book of Acts. We have nothing to fear as long as we have Christ with us. Let us not let one person in our lives go to hell because they never heard the gospel of Christ.
Time is running out.....
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Do we really believe?
I asked my children a couple of days ago a question that made them really think. The question is, "IF, you were taken up to heaven, and were standing before the throne of God, and He was there arms wide beckoning you to come closer; what would you say?" My children told me they would thank him for things and ask for blessings. They also said they wanted guidance in their lives. What would you say?
Every time we stop to pray, that is exactly what happens. We are communicating with the all knowing, everlasting, creator God of all things. Um.....WOW!!! When I stop to think about that it leaves me speechless and awestruck. For starters, the fact that we even have access like we do, is amazing. But the bible does say, that those that have accepted Him as Lord and Savior, become children of God. That all makes a little more sense to me now. Even the most powerful King would not deny His children an audience whenever they wanted. We have the access because of what Christ did for us, in becoming our sacrifice for sin. When we believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day, and accept that, we become children of God. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your savior, you are missing out on so much.
Now, back to the Christian, what would you say? I believe that if we really understood the privilege that we have, in the ability to communicate anytime we want, with God; maybe we would not say repetitive empty prayers. How many times in our life have we ran through a prayer at the diner table without thinking just to fulfill some duty so we could eat? How many times have we prayed because we wanted to say "well I've finished that duty for the day", now let me go do what I really want to do? If we really believed that we were in the throne room of God and talking to Him, I think we would have a hard time getting up from praying rather than quick repetitive empty chants we call prayers. I challenge you to think about were you are and what you are doing next time you talk to God. Lets not abuse this awesome privilege we have.
Every time we stop to pray, that is exactly what happens. We are communicating with the all knowing, everlasting, creator God of all things. Um.....WOW!!! When I stop to think about that it leaves me speechless and awestruck. For starters, the fact that we even have access like we do, is amazing. But the bible does say, that those that have accepted Him as Lord and Savior, become children of God. That all makes a little more sense to me now. Even the most powerful King would not deny His children an audience whenever they wanted. We have the access because of what Christ did for us, in becoming our sacrifice for sin. When we believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day, and accept that, we become children of God. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your savior, you are missing out on so much.
Now, back to the Christian, what would you say? I believe that if we really understood the privilege that we have, in the ability to communicate anytime we want, with God; maybe we would not say repetitive empty prayers. How many times in our life have we ran through a prayer at the diner table without thinking just to fulfill some duty so we could eat? How many times have we prayed because we wanted to say "well I've finished that duty for the day", now let me go do what I really want to do? If we really believed that we were in the throne room of God and talking to Him, I think we would have a hard time getting up from praying rather than quick repetitive empty chants we call prayers. I challenge you to think about were you are and what you are doing next time you talk to God. Lets not abuse this awesome privilege we have.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
He is Risen!
John 20
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Friday, March 26, 2010
How do we get to a one world currency and government?
Revelation 13:16-17 (New King James Version)
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
I have often wondered how we as a world get to the point where nobody in the entire world can buy or sell without having the mark of the beast. How do we get to this point in our society that seems so radical? Well, in the past few weeks I can finally see the road that will take us there.
Our world is tied together by our economies. Its easy to see this one daily basis just by looking at the effect that our rising and falling currency has on the rest of the world and ourselves. This is important to understand, in order to grasp the danger that lies ahead. The economy of Greece is on the verge of collapse, and other economies of the world are heavily invested in Greece. When the economy of Greece finally collapses it will have a domino effect hitting other world economies. The next to fail after Greece will be Spain, England, and Germany since they are so closely tied to Greece. When these three fail then the entire EU will fail. The EU failing will cause the United States to fail if we have not already. When the US fails the world fails.
I said that the US would fail if we had not already. Our economy is in deep trouble because of the massive spending over the past couple of years. Economist say that by 2020 just 10 years from now, and maybe sooner, Medicare, Medicaid, and Interest on our debt, will consume every tax dollar collected. Think about that. That does not include any other spending just those three. We cannot afford to keep spending like we are. Look for our dollar to be inflated in order to attempt to pay for all of our debt. other economies of the world are spending just like we are and that is why Greece and the EU are in trouble as well.
No the question is, what happens when the economies of the world collapse? Well look at the EU. They started out as the EC, a European Commonwealth, that just had a shared currency and now they are unified under a government. When the economies of the world collapse, its a perfect time for a group like the United Nations, though I'm not saying this is the group, to step in with a common world currency to try to stabilize the world wide crisis. The problem with a single world currency is the governing that follows.
We are on the edge of disaster and it seems that none of our leaders have a clue. Friends, get out of debt, turn to Christ, and pray. A time of great tribulation is coming and Christ is the only thing we can cling onto that will not fail us. Repent from your sin, get on your knees in prayer, turn back to Christ and fear no more. I know this seems radical and weird, but its how I see it through my eyes. Until next week.....pray.
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
I have often wondered how we as a world get to the point where nobody in the entire world can buy or sell without having the mark of the beast. How do we get to this point in our society that seems so radical? Well, in the past few weeks I can finally see the road that will take us there.
Our world is tied together by our economies. Its easy to see this one daily basis just by looking at the effect that our rising and falling currency has on the rest of the world and ourselves. This is important to understand, in order to grasp the danger that lies ahead. The economy of Greece is on the verge of collapse, and other economies of the world are heavily invested in Greece. When the economy of Greece finally collapses it will have a domino effect hitting other world economies. The next to fail after Greece will be Spain, England, and Germany since they are so closely tied to Greece. When these three fail then the entire EU will fail. The EU failing will cause the United States to fail if we have not already. When the US fails the world fails.
I said that the US would fail if we had not already. Our economy is in deep trouble because of the massive spending over the past couple of years. Economist say that by 2020 just 10 years from now, and maybe sooner, Medicare, Medicaid, and Interest on our debt, will consume every tax dollar collected. Think about that. That does not include any other spending just those three. We cannot afford to keep spending like we are. Look for our dollar to be inflated in order to attempt to pay for all of our debt. other economies of the world are spending just like we are and that is why Greece and the EU are in trouble as well.
No the question is, what happens when the economies of the world collapse? Well look at the EU. They started out as the EC, a European Commonwealth, that just had a shared currency and now they are unified under a government. When the economies of the world collapse, its a perfect time for a group like the United Nations, though I'm not saying this is the group, to step in with a common world currency to try to stabilize the world wide crisis. The problem with a single world currency is the governing that follows.
We are on the edge of disaster and it seems that none of our leaders have a clue. Friends, get out of debt, turn to Christ, and pray. A time of great tribulation is coming and Christ is the only thing we can cling onto that will not fail us. Repent from your sin, get on your knees in prayer, turn back to Christ and fear no more. I know this seems radical and weird, but its how I see it through my eyes. Until next week.....pray.
The Middle East on Fire
This morning I heard a news report that President Obama snubbed visiting president Benjamin Netanyahu not once but twice. Obama is demanding that Netanyahu stop the building in Jerusalem and come to the table to accept a two state peace between Israel and Palestine. This will never happen, and tensions are rising. Our president as of this morning has only a 9% approval rating among Israelis. I've spoken before about the war of Gog and Magog. We see that all the players are aligned in this present time, like never before in History. Iran is allied with Russia and are on the fast track to getting an operational nuclear weapon to use on Israel, or try at least. Turkey has abandoned their alliance with Israel, while Iraq and Egypt are at peace. This is the picture of Gog and Magog. Friends, the time is close, and the world is being positioned for biblical prophecies to come true.
Matthew 3:2 (New International Version)
2and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
The time to repent and come to Christ is now. You do not want to be on the losing side when Christ returns. Come to Jesus, and live.
Matthew 3:2 (New International Version)
2and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
The time to repent and come to Christ is now. You do not want to be on the losing side when Christ returns. Come to Jesus, and live.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Do we still Love our Neighbor?
Jesus gave us the two greatest commandments in Mark chapter 12 verses 28-34, but I want to focus on the second one. To love your neighbor as yourself. This comes to mind for me because I was reading about the last days in Matthew 24 and a verse stood out to me. Verse 12 listed below is what hit me so hard.
Matthew 24:12 (New King James Version)
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
While examining my own heart, I wonder if I truly love my neighbor or has it grown cold? I end up asking myself some questions. Have you watched what is going on in this world? Are you frustrated with the school systems? Are you frustrated with the Government? Are the laws in this country backwards, when a person drives drunk and kills someone gets 6 months in jail, but someone who kills a dog gets 2 years in jail? Do you get tired of the bias toward Christianity? Does it bother you that Christ is being erased from all facets of life for the sake of separation of church and state? Is common sense dead? It feels like lawlessness is more acceptable now-days, rather than the biblical world view of living life.
After all of this examining of ourselves, do we still pray for our political leaders faithfully or do we just yell at the TV about how crazy all of this mess sounds? Do we pray for our teachers and school boards everyday, or complain about what our children are being taught and wish someone would do something about it? For me I fear that my love for my neighbor is at least getting chilly and I need to spend more time on my knees. I challenge everyone to examine yourself, so we do not fail at one of the greatest commandments. Lets love our neighbor.
Matthew 24:12 (New King James Version)
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
While examining my own heart, I wonder if I truly love my neighbor or has it grown cold? I end up asking myself some questions. Have you watched what is going on in this world? Are you frustrated with the school systems? Are you frustrated with the Government? Are the laws in this country backwards, when a person drives drunk and kills someone gets 6 months in jail, but someone who kills a dog gets 2 years in jail? Do you get tired of the bias toward Christianity? Does it bother you that Christ is being erased from all facets of life for the sake of separation of church and state? Is common sense dead? It feels like lawlessness is more acceptable now-days, rather than the biblical world view of living life.
After all of this examining of ourselves, do we still pray for our political leaders faithfully or do we just yell at the TV about how crazy all of this mess sounds? Do we pray for our teachers and school boards everyday, or complain about what our children are being taught and wish someone would do something about it? For me I fear that my love for my neighbor is at least getting chilly and I need to spend more time on my knees. I challenge everyone to examine yourself, so we do not fail at one of the greatest commandments. Lets love our neighbor.
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