Sheep Food

  Jesus began His earthly ministry shortly after undergoing a ‘test’ to make sure His heart was totally surrendered to the Father, as we read about in Luke 4:1-14. Only after He ‘passed that test’...did He receive ‘power’ to begin the work His Father had for Him. (Acts 10:38). And do you recall what His first ‘message’ was? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15). This was then followed up with “follow Me” (4:19). It was not long after that His disciples then “went out and preached that people should repent” (Mark 6:12). You would be hard pressed to find a subject or topic that was preached more in the New Testament than the message of ‘repentance’. It was the message that defined the ministry of John the Baptist who came preaching: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ... And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down an...

  “IF...any person is ‘in Christ’, they are a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17). The key operative word there is...’IF’. Friends.... we need to have an honest, but uncomfortable discussion here... We’ve all heard that expression about putting lipstick on a pig; and how it still remains to be a ‘pig’, no matter how nice you ‘dress it up’. I would submit to you that we have a full blown crisis in the modern day ‘church’ world, which should come as a surprise to no one who is familiar with Paul’s warning found in 2 Tim. 3:1-7. You might go look at that now, and notice that the list of carnal fruit he is describing...is aimed at those who have an outward ‘form of godliness...but deny the power’[ of God to transform them]. They are ‘always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth’ (5,7). Let me be clear here: because of the fall in the garden (Rom. 5:12) the ‘spiritual DNA’ of all of humanity was ‘corrupted’...

  We all know what it is to come up on some road construction where they have one lane shut down for a stretch of distance, which means you have only one lane open for 2-way traffic to get through. And oftentimes, that open lane is ‘blind’ to you because it may curve or have dips and hills and you have no clear vision to the other end where traffic resumes to a normal two lane road. So a construction worker is assigned on both ends with a sign on a pole, with one side saying ‘STOP’, and the other side usually reads: ‘SLOW’. I kid you not, every time I see one of those people out there, with a lunch box and water bottle close by and usually a two-way radio in hand, I think to myself: “Gosh...how boring would that be to stand there all day long and flip that sign back and forth?” And yet...what an incredibly important job they have. Imagine coming up on such a scene in a mountain pass with sharp curves and steep drop offs where some of those passes might not even have guard rails; ...

  [Kleptomaniac] - a person with a rare, chronic mental health disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to steal items that are generally of little value or not needed. It is classified as an ‘impulse control disorder’, where individuals experience intense tension before the theft, followed by relief or pleasure during it. ‘Shoplifting’ might be the term we are most familiar with; and because it’s such a prevalent ‘crime’ today, the price of goods are increased to offset the cost of security and preventative measures that many small and large businesses alike incur to fight against those losses. There are multiple reasons as to why people are ‘compelled’ to steal things that are not theirs, taking things they have not paid for; but the key word here is ‘steal’. I believe the 8th commandment addresses this area of sin that God takes great exception to; and yes, stealing is a ‘crime’ in our secular society as well. Charges vary depending on the value of that which was taken i...

  “Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse sinners than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5) Jesus was not issuing ‘threats’ here to those in attendance; He was pleading with them by warning them. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”. You should note that He repeated Himself twice there, and whenever God repeats Himself...it’s usually for good reason. Something else we should all know about the Lord...He is ‘longsuffering toward us, not willing that an...

  It made for a great ad-campaign used by Alka-Seltzer years ago and quickly became a popular catchphrase, as many slogans do in our culture today; but can I just state for the record here...that ‘trying out Jesus’ is not recommended. He’s not some sports car you take out for a spin on a Sunday afternoon to see how you ‘like the feel’ in case you want to purchase it. Here’s why: ‘trying something out’...does not require any commitment. There’s a reason Jesus advised us to ‘count the cost’ before you decide to actually follow Him (Luke 14:25-33). Yes...many have been coaxed and encouraged to ‘try Jesus’ and may have ‘come forward’ or ‘raised a hand’ at some point in time, perhaps ‘walked an aisle’ to repeat some ‘prayer’...but many indicators would suggest those actions or attempts at giving Jesus a try...don’t last long. And I point you to the story of the parable of the sower to make my case. (Matt. 13:3-9,18-23) Yes, it was evident that many people back in the day who saw Jes...