Sheep Food

  It is hard to imagine a scenario in which ‘lost people’ would ever come to Jesus because you made your political views known to them. I mean really… And for the true ‘believer’ …one who has been born of God and is a committed follower of Jesus and who truly abides in Him…is that not the desire we should all have…for those people to come to Jesus themselves? Is it not the desire of God our Father… for ‘all to come to repentance and for none to perish? (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4) Granted…we know many will still reject coming to, and surrendering their hearts, minds, and wills to Him…but if/when they ‘despise’ us…let it not be over our political views or anything else, for that matter…other than the fact we presented the gospel message of His unfathomable love to them…while loving them in the same manner in which God first loved us. We read in John 12:32 the words of Jesus who declared: “And if I be lifted up…I will draw all men to me.” How…exactly is He lifted up where all might ‘...

  “And you will hear of wars…and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” - Jesus. (Matt. 24:6; John 14:1) I can remember the ‘good ole days’…when the amount of ‘news’ one consumed was easily controlled. There was usually a 30-minute national broadcast (that followed the local news) which came on around dinner time, with commercials…so you can whittle down that 30 minutes by around 6-8 minutes. Then, there was a daily printed newspaper where the size of it usually depended on the size of the city you lived in, or near. But it was easy to be selective in what you read and/or listened to on a daily basis, if even that. Then came ‘talk radio’…where if you had the type of job or time available…you could listen to hours upon hours of one-sided opinions spewed over the airwaves filled with ‘needed information’ mixed in with ranting and raving and gr...

  In military circles, it’s commonly referred to as ‘Boot Camp’, or ‘Basic Training’. When a new recruit joins the military, let me assure you what does NOT happen…on Day 1 of their enlistment. The freshly head-shaven 18 year old is not handed high powered weaponry and tactical gear, and then put out on the front lines to lead a battalion of troops into battle. In what universe would that ever come close to making any sense? Well, on second thought, I’ve seen churches who employ such methods when an ‘influential’ convert joins their church, but we’ll move on from there now. The sole purpose of the rigorous training that new recruits undergo, regardless of which branch of the military they join…is to ‘break them down’ so they can then ‘build them up’ and make them into obedient soldiers in order to carry out the mission of the U. S. Military. I would submit to you that God’s kingdom operates in a similar fashion, when it comes to the ‘process’ in which the Holy Spirit works in ou...

  For many of us who have been on this walk of faith with Jesus for an extended period of time, we can look back and see numerous ‘mile markers’ along the way, as I refer to them as. They are defining moments that altered, or influenced our faith and relationship with Jesus in an assortment of good ways. It’s almost like a place where in the OT, God’s people would stop to ‘build an altar’ or ‘leave a pile of stones’ as a memorial. (Josh. 4:9) One of those defining moments, for me, took place on a plane years ago, as I was traveling alongside a SW pilot who was off duty flying back to his home. He happened to be a Mormon (LDS) and we struck up a rather civil discussion regarding our personal beliefs. As the flight was ending, he turned to me and asked: “So what to you believe a person must do to enter the eternal kingdom?’, as he put it. I looked at him and what came out of my mouth was this: “I believe the only people who are going to heaven are people who love Jesus.” When I say...

  There is a statement I have heard made periodically over the years in various church circles I’ve crossed paths with; perhaps you are familiar with it as well? It sounds basically like this: “We have absolutely nothing…to do with our salvation.” As in: Not. A. Thing. Would you agree, or disagree? I'm not here to argue the point, but I do have questions. Clearly, we humans are incapable of ‘saving’ ourselves, which is the primary reason God sent us a ‘Savior’ in the form of His only begotten Son, Jesus. I should also reiterate that if ‘salvation’ could be ‘earned’ or ‘worked for’ simply by ‘living better lives’, marked by ‘obeying rules and commandments’…then the death of Christ on the cross would have never needed to take place. Probably the most second often quoted verse I hear after John 3:16… might be Ephesians 2:8-9, where Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”...

  “…and God will send them a strong and powerful delusion…” Beware…when God gives you what you want…it does not always end well (Ps. 106:15). But do keep in mind that God is unreasonably patient and long-suffering towards us, not wanting any…to perish but for us all to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9). And yet, there will eventually come a time when this world as we know it will all come crashing down. (10) I don’t know of a more troubling portion of scripture found in the NT…than the one I quoted up front, found in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 2. He begins there speaking of the great apostasy that will unfold prior to ‘our gathering to Him (Jesus)’, admonishing us to ‘be not deceived by any means’ (2-3). He then explains that first …will come the ‘falling away’ and then the ‘man of lawlessness will be revealed’. Depending on what Bible version you read, that term ‘falling away’ might be translated as ‘apostasy’ or the ‘rebellion/revolt’…which summed up, sugg...