Sheep Food

  I am fully aware that anytime God’s word goes forth… the ‘enemy comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.’ (Mark 4:15) That verse was referring to the ones who have hard hearts and don’t even understand what they are hearing, as Jesus explained there in that parable of the sower. But he (the enemy) is also right there when professing believers are feeding on the word, or maybe hearing new truths…and will do what he can to combat, confuse, or twist and distort what people are hearing. Often times he’ll provide ‘controversial questions’ to assist the process of casting doubt and speculation. He has…after all, been doing this from the very beginning of time- “Has God really said…?” (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-5; Matt. 22:27-30) So when we are studying and examining this topic of what it means to ‘abide in Jesus’…and to ‘go and sin no more’, let me assure you that he (Satan and his minions) works overtime to get you to ‘back off’ and want to assure you that all...

  It’s a lesson most of us learn at some point in time, and usually sooner than later. It’s the one where it’s easier to say words with your mouth, that you will commit to doing something…than it is to actually ‘do it’. Taking part in wedding vows comes to my mind first, and I’ve witnessed many weddings over the years, both as a wedding photographer and as a pastor who officiated them. In fact I took part in one myself 45 years ago, coming up this Saturday. And those are some pretty remarkable vows two young people who are ‘in love’ will make to each other surrounded by family and friends. You know which vows I’m talking about…where you promise to ‘love each other…for better or worse, in sickness and in health...for richer or poorer’…unto the end before ‘death separates’ you. Who in their right mind and at that young age can clearly know what they are signing on for, making such promises? No wonder many people today have taken to writing and sharing their own vows that seem les...

  When Jesus spoke and taught various truths, He did so for a reason – He meant what He said; which is why I will inject oftentimes that reminder that what I’m sharing with you here are ‘His words, and not mine’. And when Jesus really wanted to drive home a particular point, or truth, He added the phrase ‘verily, verily...I say unto you’, which means ‘most assuredly’. In fact, when you read through John’s gospel, we have it recorded 25 times where Jesus began a statement using that expression...’most assuredly’. I quoted one of them yesterday which is found in John 8:34 where Jesus said: “Most assuredly I tell you...whoever commits sin is a slave to sin...”; then adding in His next statement “and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (35) With the new year only a couple of days away, many sincere believers will be gearing up to make a resolution to ‘read through their Bibles’ in 2026. I’m not knocking that practice at all; but I will say that one...

  I know I might be ‘walking a tight rope’ with some here, who may read and want to conclude that I’m teaching ‘salvation by works’, and not ‘grace’. But that’s the problem when we’ve been taught man-made doctrines and we only can see the coin as being ‘heads or tails’; and I’m saying it’s neither (the way many see ‘grace’). And ‘No’, I’m not trying to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when it comes to basic core ‘Christian’ theology either. The past two days, we’ve looked once again, at the conversation Jesus had with a young, rich ruler who came to Him seeking how one might obtain ‘eternal life’. Most people today want to associate that expression with ‘getting saved’ (whatever that means to you). And we saw where Jesus pointed him to the ‘law’, or ‘keeping the commandments’. But it soon becomes apparent that this young man who was told by Jesus that if he really wanted to ‘enter life’, it would require that he be ‘fully in’ which can only come about by ‘selling out’. And we quickly lear...

  Who here can complete this well-known piece of sage advice: “If it sounds too good to be true... ____________” My follow up question would be: “How many of you had to learn that from personal experience?” Yeah...some of us can be slow learners. And yet...when it comes to all the many ‘gospel’ presentations out there today...why are we so quick to dismiss this nugget of wisdom? [long pause....] To pick up where I left off yesterday (which is a subtle hint you might want to read that first if you missed it...) we were taking another look at the conversation Jesus had with that rich, young ruler which is recorded in Matt. 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18. This young man came to Jesus to begin a conversation inquiring what ‘good thing could he could do’ in order to receive ‘eternal life’ (Matt. 19:16). The ’short answer’ Jesus offered him...if he was serious about wanting to ‘enter into life’ was: “keep the commandments”. (Matt. 19:17). I should also point out this is not the only time J...

  One does not usually go seeking after something ...that they’re convinced they already have in their possession. (Yeah...that would be worth reading again; we’re in no hurry here ) So this makes the story of the rich young ruler all the more interesting as 3 of the four gospels share it with us (Matt. 19; Mark 10; Luke 18). We don’t know a whole lot about this young man, but what we do learn from his dialogue with Jesus is quite important. It’s easy to assume that he had financial security, along with a certain degree of influence and prestige, perhaps respect and admiration from those in his circle of people, and I sense he probably had a decent upbringing. I say that because it is told that when he first approached Jesus that he knelt before Him (Mark 10:17), showing that despite his own position of power, he was able to humble himself and show respect to Jesus. And he had also been taught the commandments of God since he was a young lad. So there’s that as well. And yet, in...

  "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us". (Matt. 1:23; Isa. 7:14) Merry Christmas - Christ has come and God has visited His people. And it all began with... a seed. The ‘seed’ is ...the word of God (Luke 8:11). We are told that ‘in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ (John 1:1,14) And even then, the very ones to whom He came to...did not receive Him (John 1:11). It happens, more than you might think. Today, multitudes around the world are ‘celebrating’ by acknowledging that God truly did visit His people, and this King of Glory, the Almighty God...robed Himself in flesh which was all a part of His plan to redeem His people. (Luke 1:68). Whether you agree or disagree with even acknowledging this time of year and the day in which we remember God’s humble and meek entrance into a bro...

  How would you explain to a person who has known nothing but a life of slavery...what it’s like to be ‘free’? I can only imagine what some of those conversations had to have been like in the ‘slave quarters’ that existed in this country years ago, when parents talked to their children who were ‘born into slavery’...trying to describe to them what it was like before they had become slaves themselves and brought to this country and forced to serve their white ‘masters’. Or better yet...imagine being a member of those federal troops who made their way into Galveston, TX in 1865 to free the approximately 250,000 blacks who were still being held as slaves, despite the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation that freed them two years earlier...and informing them they no longer had to live as slaves given the fact their freedom was granted. Meanwhile...people scoff at folks who want to celebrate Juneteenth Day, while they themselves love to celebrate Christmas; go figure. I bet some mi...

  Anyone else being bombarded with ‘last minute’ gift ideas via emails or TV ads? Something I have noticed over the years when it comes to successful marketing campaigns is if you can first convince to show (if not create) a viable ‘need’ in a person’s life for your product, you have that much better of an opportunity to sell whatever it is your pitching. Ever heard that old saying- ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’? Good marketing specialist ‘get that’ when it comes to creating effective ad campaigns. Show me why I ‘need’ this product and you could very well convince me to buy whatever it is you are selling. The ‘church’ would do well to pay attention and give that some serious thought also. It can be an easy and deceptive trap to go heavy on pushing and promoting all the ‘perks and advantages’ to owning something, when you fail to present a viable and legitimate need as to why a person should own it. And I’ve been around the ‘church world’ long enough to see how we ten...

  Still searching for that last minute ‘perfect gift’? Need some advice? Try identifying what might be that person’s greatest need. God’s people had been waiting for a long time... anticipating a promised Messiah who would come, sent from God... to deliver them from their oppressors and enemies. The whole story of Exodus and how God raised up Moses to lead His people out of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt was a dress rehearsal of sorts, a foreshadowing or ‘type’ of the ‘real show’ that would take place at a much later time, when Jesus would come to set His people free. And this time, it wouldn’t be just the Jewish nation He would liberate. All of the prophets of old pointed to this coming Deliverer, offering up clues and hints as to where and how ...”behold, a virgin shall conceive...” (Isa. 7:14) and that the Promised One would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Pinpointing the exact time as to when this would happen had been sketchy...but the people knew He was coming...

  Whether a professing believer in Jesus should ‘celebrate Christmas’ , or not...is between them and God. I am not about to enter that arena of debate. But the ‘Christmas story’ as relayed by Linus on that stage in the ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ TV special is taken straight from the gospel of Luke; and this you can be sure of: “God became flesh...and dwelt among us”, as in He became a man and was born into this world as a baby infant a little over 2000 years ago. (John 1:1;14) John goes on to write there in the first chapter of his gospel...that ‘in Him was life...and the life was the light of men...to shine in a world of darkness’ (4-5). And yet, even though the world was made through Him and by Him...the world did not recognize Him’ (10). I should also point out that this ‘light’ was made available to ‘every person’ who was in this world (9). You might also jot down Matt. 4:16 and Luke 1:78-79. As you probably are aware of, this young infant born in a stable that night would...

  “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) From the very ‘get-go’, it had to have been an ominous sign...that time when God ‘clothed Himself in flesh and dwelt among us...’ (John 1:1,14)...and would soon discover how crowded people’s hearts and lives had become as they found it difficult to ‘make room’ for Him. It’s been over 2000 years now...and Jesus still... seems to come up on so many ‘No Vacancy’ signs plastered across our hearts (Luke 14:16-20). There seems to be an ongoing tendency we humans display...where we are “always going astray...in our hearts” (Heb. 3:10). And God makes no effort to conceal the fact that this angers Him; so why do we fail to ‘get that message’? (Did you catch yesterday’s post, by chance?) I realize how easy it is for God to be ‘painted’ with so many different brush strokes to where people have quite the varied range of understa...