Sheep Food

  Trust me...when I tell you that when this subject of ‘sinning no more’ gets brought up...it really bothers people...I mean, it angers them. Go figure. And it’s not like I’m making up this idea...I’m simply telling you what your bible says. I have pointed out to some in the past, these verses and actually had them ‘slam the door shut’ in my face during an online chat. I’ve seen others bow up in anger when I suggest the scripture teaches we can walk and ‘sin no more’. It’s the craziest thing to see this kind of response directed...not at me...but to the Word itself.   Folks will want to bring out commentaries and suggest it’s nonsense. Others will want to cite personal experiences and failures to suggest why God’ word could not possibly mean what it says. In fact, the more opposition I see to such an idea tells me that maybe there is more to studying and sharing this than what I first thought. We do read where we have a spiritual enemy who comes to refute the word ...

  The distance from the front door of my house to our mailbox is about 50 yds. If you told me that a winning Lotto ticket was delivered and waiting inside it for me to retrieve, but that I would have to walk out to it barefoot and then back in order to validate it, the expiration date would come and go before I could accomplish this task. Yes....my feet are that tender. I could probably get through some of the grassy part of the lawn but then get stopped by the little cockleburs out there. And the gravel drive... put a fork in me...I’d be done. I just don’t have the ‘mountain feet’ that some of you do as I was never one to enjoy playing outdoors barefooted. Judge me if you will...but it’s true.  If only....our hearts were as tender and sensitive to God’s voice as my feet are to every little acorn and twig and rock they come in contact with. Over the years, I just kept my feet covered. Imagine if we took God’s advice and protected and guarded our hearts in the same fash...

  It’s a verse that most church members have heard on more than one occasion. They probably hear it at ‘revival’ services where we are reminded how stale and cold we’ve grown and how far our hearts have drifted and become callused. It’s the one in Rev. 2:4-5 where the church at Ephesus was being reprimanded for how ‘far they had fallen’ and how they had ‘left their first love’. It’s not like this was something new for God’s people to experience; which is sad in itself.   Yet…here we are…many of us nodding our heads in agreement because we can identify with this all-too-common condition. So let’s take a look at just what the condition is, why does it happen, and what might be a better solution to avoid such a place given it is something we are admonished to ‘repent’ of ‘lest our lampstand is removed’ (vs.6) (I’m not even sure what that means but it doesn’t sound good.)   I think it’s noteworthy to point out that chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation focus on how God...

  Enjoyed this beautiful sunset last night down on the water front. Juggling some travel time today after a lovely weekend here in Seattle with our youngest daughter and her boyfriend so I'll pick up where I left off with my daily postings here in the next day or two. Be blessed...   "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” ... “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. - Jesus. (John 8:32-36)   "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." - Paul (Romans 6:22)

  I was reminded yesterday of a statement Paul made regarding this message he was compelled to preach when he wrote: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.’ (1 Cor. 1:18) To those who hear and respond in faith and obedience…it’s life changing. Yet to so many others, it falls on deaf ears and sounds like utter nonsense and gibberish.   We’ve been trying to find a good answer to the question of “If Jesus set us free from sin, why do we keep on sinning?”   I made the case yesterday that two possible reasons may have to do with either a person simply never being informed of this piece of news, or taught incorrectly (man made doctrines) that differed from what the Word says. In both cases...we end up with a lot of folks who ‘walk in a form of godliness but deny the power’. (2 Tim. 3:1-5). It is more widespread than we would care to acknowledge, sadly.  Look at some of the ‘fruit’...

  No telling how folks received yesterday’s posting. I’m just going to keep sharing from the Word what I feel compelled to share and leave the results up to God and am confident that the Holy Spirit is more than able to help you process it all. Having said that, please know that I am totally open to any questions you may have if you want to private message me. I prefer to avoid discussion and debate on the open thread itself.   The question that all of us should be asking ourselves which I pointed out yesterday is this: IF we have truly been set free from sin, then WHY do we continue to sin?” That really is a great question and one that I think God is constantly wanting to ask us. I’m sure that question was asked repeatedly after 1865 when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves everywhere in this country after a bloody Civil War. No doubt...there were ‘freed slaves’ who continued to live as slaves and for varying reasons I’d suspect. For ma...

  It really is a catchy tune and a great song to sing in a church service. In fact, it goes over much better in a Pentecostal service than it might in say a more ‘traditional’ denomination like a Methodist or Presbyterian service. (No disrespect towards any of the three I mentioned).   ’d imagine you have sung it yourself at some point in your Christian experience...   “I’m so glad that Jesus set me free...I’m so glad...that Jesus set me free. I’m so glad, that Jesus set me free...singing ‘Glory Halleluiah’, Jesus set me free.”   It’s pretty hard to sing that without clapping your hands, tapping those feet and even getting a little ‘sway’ action going. :- ). You almost have to wonder why the whole congregation does not erupt into demonstrative expression during that song unless...just maybe...some of the folks singing that have yet...to be set free? That would be a awkward song to sing if still bound in chains.   So here’s a question for y...

  We really do have a ‘spiritual enemy’ at work in this world and in our lives. To ignore him is to your own detriment and suffering. I know it’s not a topic many are comfortable with discussing, let alone acknowledging for multiple reasons. But the bible has much to say about him and we would do well to ‘resist’ him as opposed to ‘ignoring’ him. I have shared often my own personal testimony as to how I came to know Christ on a personal level at the young ripe age of 19 while living out in Arizona.   In fact, the day I ‘gave my life to’ or ‘invited Jesus in’ to my heart, ...within those first 12 hours I was schooled in Lesson # 1 that there was indeed a spiritual enemy of evil and darkness and that I would do well to pay attention. It was a lesson that made a very strong and sobering impression on me early on. But even ‘wise virgins’ can slumber and fall asleep (Matt. 25) and we know that when ‘men sleep, and enemy comes to sow bad seed’. (Matt. 13:25). I would imag...

  There is a word that appears hundreds of times in our bibles, in both OT and NT that we for some reason really don’t know what to do with. I think in part it is because we really don’t understand what all it encompasses and means. Oh, we can rattle off definitions and it’s not a word we are unfamiliar with. It’s just that we are not really sure how it fits in and is applied to our faith and love for God. And I’m not suggesting that you will even have a better grasp of it after you read this post nor am I suggesting that I have it ‘all figured out’ myself. I will say that I have a heightened awareness of this ‘word’ but trying to explain it is not that simple given we all have so many viewpoints of it based on our own experiences and understanding of it.  Let me see if you can identify the word in this one passage I shared the other day from Deuteronomy. We were talking about how God was wanting to re-introduce Himself to a generation of His people who did not know Him....

  Today is ‘Father’s Day’.   You’ll notice I didn’t use it as a greeting preceded by the word ‘Happy’.   It’s one of those ‘holidays’ that can be painfully awkward for many people, much like the same reasons ‘Mother’s Day’ is.   It is not some designated national holiday where all the federal institutions like banks and such shut down and people have to be paid extra for working that day if they indeed do have to work.   My guess is that a group of folks looking for a way to make some money came up with the idea to pick two days, get some kind of federal approval to have it ‘designated as a holiday’ so that way, greeting card companies and tool companies and florist could make a killing. ;- ). And I don’t say that with any cynicism or resentment. There is nothing wrong, in my opinion for having such days set aside to give a shout out to moms and dads everywhere. I’m sure there will be many pics of dads shared on social media today as well a...