Sheep Food

  Obedience is the fruit of faith. “And without faith, it’s impossible to please God”. (Hebrews 11:6). Remaining ‘carnally minded’ (or in the flesh) does little to help your case either. (Rom. 8:8) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21) “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away.” (Heb. 2:1) Have you ever been out on the water, maybe in a small boat or even an air mattress and were not paying attention, then looked up a short time later and you were nowhere close to where you thought you were, or supposed to be? It happens, drifting...that is. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitf...

  It was a funny line when it came out of that elderly woman’s mouth years ago, the one who lived in Austin, TX at the time, if I remember correctly. She was on the phone with ‘Ellen’ during her TV talk show when she fired it off and everyone just lost it. It was one of those hilarious lines that was destined to become a popular saying that would be emblazoned across T-shirts: “I love Jesus but I cuss a little.” Of course we all laughed; we got it! It describes us to a...’T’. The only problem is, that it quickly became a ‘doctrine’ of sorts for many in the church world; a doctrine I might add, that does not line up with God’s word. We just put our own spin or personal version to it: “I love Jesus, but I fornicate a little; or I gossip a little, or I murder a little, or I dabble in witchcraft a little, or I harbor resentment a little, or I’m a little racists at times, or break out in fits of rage occasionally...or I.... (Need I go on?) But I really do love Jesus. There’s just o...

  “I’m sorry and I’m ready to do whatever needs to be done to make this right”. Or.... “I’m sorry I got caught”. Both examples are capable of producing tears; but there is a huge difference between the two, as I’m sure you know. And for the record: ‘being sorry’ or saying one is ‘sorry’ or even feeling genuine sorrow is NOT....repenting. It can be an ‘apology’, where one may feel regret or sorrow and even a sense of loss over something done or maybe something one failed to do; but that still is not repentance. What we are talking about here has to do with what the Bible explains is the difference between ‘godly sorrow’ and ‘worldly sorrow’. Paul had written a letter to the church at Corinth, and had some hard issues to deal with in bringing about some ‘correction’. There was much carnality and division in the church at the time (1 Cor. 3:1-3), there was some gross immoral sin taking place that was not being dealt with (5:1-8), the communion practice had become something other th...

  I don’t want to sound petty here, but honestly....how can any sincere follower of Christ actually have a single ‘favorite Bible verse’? I mean...when we ask that of others, isn’t that like asking a parent of multiple children – “Who’s your favorite” Which child do you love the most? (That was a rhetorical question so no need to answer it) ;- ) Given yesterday’s message was centered around the topic of ‘repentance’, I was going to say that those who might be quick to point out their favorite Bible verse that it’s unlikely it has the word ‘repent’ in it; unless you are UPC and offer up Acts 2:38, of course. (IYKYK) :- ) And honestly, that verse does pack a lot in it...so moving right along here... I was thinking about yesterday’s message and how it was received, and it would not surprise me that some believers may have read over that like I used to eat vegetables ...while pinching my nose and holding my breath in an attempt to ward off the taste. But all kidding aside, I don’t ...

  We have heard it said that both John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching messages of ‘repentance’. (Mark 1:4, Matt. 4:17). On the day of Pentecost, after the incredible outpouring of God’s Spirit on the early believers that in one sense, ‘activated’ the life and the mission of the ‘church’, Peter stood up and gave quite the sermon ending it with an altar call of sorts when asked: “Brethren- what must we do?”; to which Peter admonished them...”Repent!”.... (Acts 2:37-38) For all this talk we read about in our Bibles regarding the subject of ‘repentance’, do we even know what it is we are needing to repent from, let alone understand what the word itself even means? I could be wrong, but I want to say that if you asked the average church member today for a simple definition and/or explanation for the word ‘repentance’, I like to think they would get it right, or be close. It would probably sound something akin to the idea of ‘turning away from our sins’. If one was to pursue that...

  “If our gospel is veiled...or hid, then it’s veiled to those who are perishing... those whose minds the god of this age has blinded...” (2 Cor. 4:3-4) ...those whose ‘minds...the god of this age has blinded. So much...we could unpack in those two verses alone, given what we have been studying the past few days regarding our ‘minds’. We read there of a ‘god of this age, or world’ ...who is the same ‘wicked one’ John writes about who exerts influence or sways or has power over the whole world’. (1 John 5:19) That would be the same enemy/devil who was hurled to the earth from heaven with his minions and ‘deceives the whole world’. (Rev. 12:7-9) Paul refers to him as the ‘prince of the air’ in Eph. 2:1-2 who held us captive through sins and trespasses as we were governed by fulfilling the ‘lusts of our flesh and the desires of the flesh and of...the mind.” (3). Hmmm...maybe that’s the reason the first thing the Spirit will begin to do in us who turn to Jesus is ‘putting to death a...

  When you open up your Facebook page you are usually greeted with a question along with a blinking cursor, asking: “What’s on your mind?” And truth be told, thanks to so much of what is out there today on the internet, especially in social media platforms, I would say there is an awful lot of clutter on our minds. And when I say ‘a lot’, think of those images you have seen where they go into homes of people who are ‘hoarders’. I suppose I should have included giving ‘thanks’ to all the various mediums in which people consume ‘televised entertainment’ as well. I want to share with you today some thoughts and personal observations for you to consider. No need to make or come to rash conclusions on any of this as I am simply sharing what I think fits in to what I have been talking about these past few days regarding what it means to love God with , not only all our hearts, but ‘all our minds’. (Matt. 22:36-37; Luke 10:25-28) Let me begin with an ‘aha moment’ I had just a little ...

  “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and... poisoned their minds against the brethren.” (Acts 14:2). And it wasn’t long afterwards before they made an attempt to abuse and stone them. (5) That really is a ‘thing’, you know...where people can have their ‘minds poisoned’. This is usually where it starts before it makes its way in to the heart and then eventually “desire is conceived and gives birth to sin. And sin...when it is full grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15) This should be news to none of us believers since Paul assumed we were “not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” (2 Cor. 2:11). It’s how he ‘takes advantage’ of us by gaining access in to our lives, which we are encouraged to not...let him do. (Eph. 4:27) How do you think he was able to “fill the heart” of Ananias in order to get him and his wife to ‘lie to the Holy Spirit’? (Acts 5:3) Things did not end well for either of them. (5,9-10) If any child of God is halfway serious about ‘guarding their hea...