Sheep Food

  In that story of the prodigal son that we’ve been looking at, I forgot to point out one of the saddest details found towards the end of this ‘mini-drama’. The older brother, who also received his inheritance, and did not run off and leave the home and squander it all...he had even a bigger problem. In his eyes, he was pretty righteous...compared to junior. He ‘did all the stuff’ he was supposed to do. (Luke 15:29). Yet, when the door to the house was opened and the celebrating had begun...he didn’t...go in. His anger kept him out. The one who thought he deserved to be in the house as a ‘saved son’...was left on the outside looking in. Sounds like he was blinded by his own, defiled heart. (Matt. 7:23; 25:10-12) Don't be like him. “You can take this to the bank!” That is a popular slang term or idiom we use often when we want to assure someone that what we have just told them can be counted as reliable and certain. You can ‘bank on it’, as you are informally ‘guaranteeing’ tha...

  We’ve been looking at this ‘new birth’ that we are told one must undergo and experience if we have any hope or longing to see and enter God’s kingdom. (John 3:3,5). Obviously we are speaking of a ‘spiritual rebirth’ and not a natural or physical one; but make no mistake about it, just because we refer to it as ‘spiritual’ in nature, does not mean it is not genuine, tangible, and so much more than just poetic language. Just a few days ago, I suggested that many people, after examining so many of the scriptures from the Bible, could very well come to the conclusion that just maybe they were not a legitimate ‘child of God’ based on what is laid out there for us to see. (Act 17:11; Heb. 12:8). And I pointed out that this was not all that bad of a thing to conclude...IF...it led to an eye-opening and heart changing moment that humbled us and then made us a candidate of God’s unfathomable grace. (James 4:6-10) Let’s not forget, there was an entire sect of religious scholars who were co...

  There are two parables told by Jesus that I’m pretty sure have found their way in to American Literature, and beyond...that are most likely familiar to many folks who have never cracked a Bible open a day in their life. I could be wrong...but... The first one that comes to mind is The Good Samaritan, and the second one – The Parable of the Prodigal Son. I ended yesterday’s post referring to this one. That would be an interesting question to ask a ‘non-believing’ friend or acquaintance sometime if they have ever heard the story and/or are familiar with it. Luke’s gospel tells the story of a certain man who had two sons. (11). There is a boatload of information that we are not made aware of regarding this family dynamic; and I always hesitate to try and speculate as to what is ‘not given’ for us to know. Safer to stick with what we are told, or so I like to think. But we have two men who clearly are sons of this father and apparently both are due an ‘inheritance’. That in itself...

  You do realize, I hope, that a person can be a ‘good Methodist’ or a ‘good Baptist’ or even a ‘good-devoted tongue-talking-Pentecostal’...and still not be...a child of God, yes? And if that offends you, no worries...you are in good company. Jesus highly offended a group of ‘good Jewish Pharisees’ when He told them outright that the devil was their father. (John 8:44) I don’t say this to start an argument or to offend anyone either; it’s just that when you go back and start reading to see what our beloved Bibles really says...a different picture can begin to come into focus that reveals another story...and it really is worth taking a look at. (Acts 17:11) In order for one to truly become a child of God (as in ‘the God’ who created the heavens and the earth) one must be ‘born again’ or ‘born from above, according to Jesus. (John 3:3,5) That would also be the same God and Father that Jesus prayed to, and claimed to be the Son of...as in the ‘only begotten Son of God’. (John 3:16) H...

  Sometime back, I came across a short video clip of a well-known ‘TV-Preacher’ whom will remain nameless here, but you would certainly recognize him if you saw or heard him. He was looking directly in to the camera lens and talking to the untold numbers of people who were tuned in on this particular day. He then asked those who were willing if he could lead them in a very short prayer to ‘accept Christ’. It was not the length of his brief prayer or number of words that were uttered, that I found unsettling. It was what he told all those folks who joined in with him after he said ‘Amen’ ... that stunned me: Looking  back into the camera, he said: "Congratulations... You’ve just been born again.” Do what? Now please hear me out on this – I’m not judging nor even questioning the use of television media to effectively reach people with ‘the gospel’. (Phil. 1:15-18) And only God Himself, knows what is going on in the hearts of countless people today that He may be dealing wit...

  When one of the leading and well-respected Pharisees sat down with Jesus that night and flat out admitted that he, along with his counterparts, ‘knew...He (Jesus) was a teacher sent by God’, (John 3:2), Jesus did not waste any time teaching Nicodemus. Jesus was not there to have a round-table discussion, a debate, or to find out what Nicodemus thought about things. He was there to shed some light. The Pharisee might have come to Jesus in the dark of night, but when you decide to have a face to face encounter with the Son of God and are willing to just lay it out there and be honest with Him (and yourself)...you are gonna see some light and hear some truth. You may not like what you see and hear, but there will be no mistaking the light. And what you do with that light/truth depends on where your heart truly is. God has this thing about testing men’s hearts. He always has. (1 Thess. 2:4; Deut. 8:2; Prov. 17:3; Jer. 20:12) To Nicodemus’s credit, at least he was willing to come ...

  Certainly most of us at some point in our lives have looked in to a mirror, or just inwardly at least, and have wondered how differently things might have gone in life if we only had a ‘do over’. Maybe it was decades in to your marriage when you begin to ponder such things, given that spark had flickered out long ago. Perhaps it was the career path you chose against your better judgement and after years of ‘punching that clock’ you find yourself questing your purpose in life and where did you go wrong. For others, it might have been more simple and short term, wishing for a do-over after you bombed that exam and knew you should have spent the night before studying instead of partying. Having spent a few years ministering in jails and prisons, I can assure you there are thousands upon thousands of incarcerated inmates who are rotting away behind prison bars who no doubt can only dream of what it would be like to have a ‘do-over’ in this life. Many of those individuals were born...

  We are told his name was ‘Nicodemus’. We read that he was ‘a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews’. (John 3:1) And for those to whom these things matter – he identified as a male and his pronouns were ‘he/him’. Nicodemus would have been an educated man who was an influential religious leader back in his day, being a respected teacher and a part of a sect known as the Pharisees. And like many of his counterparts, he too was captivated by this Jesus of Nazareth who had arrived on the scene and was making quite a splash among the people who had been listening to His teachings, and were eyewitnesses to the miracles He had performed...if not a recipient of one themselves. Yet wisely, as we all should be when anyone ‘new’ arrives on the scene with teachings and ‘signs and wonders', one would do well to ‘test the spirits’ before jumping on any bandwagon. (1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11). Let’s not forget we humans tend to be like sheep and can quickly fall for most anything. So those reli...