Posts

Image
  “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons… having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Tim. 4:1) “We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and ‘carried about’ with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting”( Eph. 4:14) “Do not be ‘carried about’ with various and strange doctrines.” (Heb. 13:9) I mentioned in yesterday’s message how this ‘spiritual flood’ that is coming, and already here…oftentimes comes in ‘two waves’; the first wave being a flood of deception, followed up by a wave of destruction. We are seeing that happen now, and have been. You should revisit what Jeremiah had to say about the ‘latter days’ and warned of listening to what some have termed the ‘pillow prophets of peace’ --- “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of t...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Whether you are talking about torrential downpours where rivers are overflowing their banks, or expected tsunamis from a recent earthquake, or maybe ‘high tides’ as I have come to learn about out here on the coast…when extraordinary amounts of water are predicted to ‘flood the area’…the warning for folks in low-lying areas is always the same: “Seek higher ground immediately”. Seek. Higher. Ground. A more melodramatic ‘slang’ expression might sound something like this: “Ya’ll better head for the hills…thar’s a flood coming!” Head. For. The. Hills. Did you know there’s a passage in Psalms that begins with a question, followed up by the answer, and it has to do with seeking ‘higher ground’. Perhaps you’ve come across it or heard it before… “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  The 2026 hurricane season officially began about 6 weeks ago, on June 1. As of this writing, I am not aware of any impending storms brewing in the Atlantic…yet. Now if you are like me, when those storms begin to form, your interest level begins to rise, especially if you live in the path of those destructive storms, or any violent weather for that matter. I’m using hurricanes today because we tend to get much more advance warning on them in order to prepare and take proper action to avoid the potential coming danger. And as you probably know already, when serious weather begins to arise, the Weather Channel, and other weather related news organizations go on ‘high alert’ as they begin to broadcast of the impending threats. They ‘live for this’ and because of the media access we have these days, the coverage is usually non-stop, or 24/7, as we like to say. Extreme weather is a ‘media magnet’ for sure. So imagine if you would, how odd it would be to sit down this evening to ca...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  I’ve heard it said for years: ‘Deceived people don’t know they are deceived.’ We read in Matt. 24 where Jesus met with His disciples on the Mount of Olives, where they had come to Him privately and asked Him about the ‘end of the age’, and what ‘signs’ might point to His ‘return’ (3). As Matthew records for us, the very first words out of His mouth were: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (4) Anyone care to guess why Jesus might say such a thing? I’m pretty confident when I say that Jesus knows how easily…we can be deceived. I know that you know what that word means, but as a matter of record, let’s just put this out here in print- ‘to be deceived is to be tricked or misled into believing something that is untrue. This deceiving, or deception… is usually a result of someone deliberately withholding or distorting the truth for their own advantage. I would also have to add that deception can result unintentionally…when a person who is deceived themselves then pass on errant in...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  I can certainly appreciate you wanting to give even ‘more heed’ to the words that Jesus spoke as we have recorded in the four gospels, and are printed in ‘red letters’ at that! But I would also caution you to avoid being too quick to dismiss all those ‘other letters in black’, that we have recorded in the various epistles written down by the likes of Paul, Peter, James and John. I heard a congressman make the statement last week that he was a “Matthew 25 Only Christian”…which made me chuckle. I’m sorry…but I don’t believe that is an ‘option’ for us; but to each their own. So let’s look at some of those words Jesus spoke, and I’d like to draw your attention to Luke 13:1-5, where a conversation is unfolding between Jesus and a gathering of folks wanting to understand why some unfortunate tragedies befell a number of people in the region. Many of us  often want to ask ‘why’…such things happen to people, so let's listen to the question Jesus asked them, twice…citing two differe...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  You say you believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe…and they tremble. (James 2:19) I find myself circling back regularly to the passage in John’s gospel that sparked this blogging journey 5 years ago; and I still continue to draw fresh manna from it, nuggets of truth that continue to amaze me. I say ‘amaze’ because I still shake my head in wonder and even shame a times…as to how and why I never saw so much of this before. It’s found in the 8th chapter, beginning at vs. 31, where we are told that Jesus was talking to “those Jews who believed in Him’. Jews who believed… in, on, or simply ‘Him’ (depending on what translation you read). What does that even mean to you, that they ‘believed Jesus’? That’s when He points out to those who claim to ‘believe Him’…”IF…you abide or continue in My word, you are My disciples in deed.” Please circle ‘if’ in your Bible, if it isn’t already; because that is what ‘disciples’ to- they continue on in His word. Then Jesus ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  It was another one of those ‘defining moments’ that I mentioned in a post the other day, where I had a significant learning lesson to take in as I was ‘back in school’ learning what it meant to ‘abide in Jesus’. I was about a year and a half in from having that ‘personal awakening’ that I refer to here regularly; so this incident took place five years ago. My family was making their way out to South Carolina to spend some time with my brother and his crew at his lake home, which had been a gathering place for family reunions over the past two decades. I had actually flown out two days earlier to spend some time with my parents who lived close by, but would not be able to venture up to the lake house due to their age and physical limitations. By now, I had already settled in to a pattern of early morning risings to spend time in the word where I’d pour over more scripture. I had begun to fill up countless legal pads with notes, but mostly writing out particular verses that I be...
Post a Comment
Read more