Sheep Food

  If we take the time to genuinely ask ourselves: “Am I truly abiding in Christ?”… which is a far more important question to ask than ‘am I saved or not’…then how do we even know where to start, when it comes to assessing the answer to that question? The same could be said when it comes to taking Paul’s advice to heart, that we ‘examine ourselves to see if we are even in the faith…and if Christ is in us…lest we fail the test’ (2 Cor. 13:5). Certainly ‘comparing ourselves with others’ is not the wisest way to evaluate, I hope we could all agree on. So why not use God’s word as a ‘mirror’ of sorts, to see how we ‘line up’? Jesus gave a pretty good benchmark where ‘all would know’ whether we were His followers or not…’by the love we have/demonstrate for one another’, in John 13:34-35. And while that word ‘love’ can be quickly diluted in our modern day culture where that word gets tossed around to describe how we ‘love God’ or ‘love pancakes’…1 Cor. 13:1-8 gives us a nice descripti...

  So in conclusion…to our little discussion on the topic of ‘once saved-always saved’ that we touched on the past two days here…or as some folks like to debate- ‘can a person lose their salvation…or not?’…I’m reminded of a framed cartoon/sketch my dad, (who was a dentist) had in his office for years. The picture is of a dentist standing on a dental chair in the clinic with pieces of plaster laying all over the chair and floor. The bewildered dentist is sticking his head through a hole in the ceiling and asks: “Did I hit a nerve?” :- ). I have to wonder at times if when Jesus ran into opposition from the ‘religious experts’ of His day, usually in response to things He was teaching, if not doing…was He was ever tempted to ask: “Did I touch someone’s ‘golden calf’?” Church doctrines can become that to us if we are not careful; and usually it is the word of God itself that causes those ‘defensive impulses’ to rise up within us. Personally speaking…I have no issue with anyone if you be...

  We waded in to a rather sensitive (if not ‘hot) topic yesterday that centers around ‘eternal security’; a.k.a. ‘once saved-always saved’. In other words, for those who may not be familiar with this terminology…it has to do with a person who comes to Jesus in faith, recognizing their need for a savior if they have any hopes for ‘eternal life’. The debate arises when the question comes up…can a person who ‘receives salvation’ ever ‘lose’ that ‘free gift’? Interestingly...the phrase 'lose your salvation' never even appears in scripture; but the idea of 'falling away from the faith' is addressed repeatedly. Do you know that one of the more significant teaching moments I have had over the past six years, (and there have been plenty) had to do with realigning how I approach this topic of ‘salvation’. We tend to always want to ask ourselves…’are we saved’…or ‘when were you saved’…and ‘can you ever be ‘unsaved’ or ‘lose’ your salvation. The real question we need to be asking...

  Soooo…..let’s talk about it. ‘Once saved – Always saved’; it’s a phrase I’ve heard tossed around and debated amongst Christians ever since I first became aware of the concept of 'getting saved’, over 40 years ago. And I guess the definition or explanation of what it means would vary, depending on who you ask. So let’s dive in and examine this touchy topic more closely. Most of us have probably heard the statement, if not had it taught to them as ‘truth’…that once a person has ‘placed their trust in Jesus…they can never ‘lose their salvation’. I would think having a better understanding as to what ‘salvation’ is, or what it means to be ‘saved’… including ‘what are we saved from?’…would help to address this concept. And we can circle back to that later; but for now, let me present three general scenarios in how many of us have heard this 'eternal security' explained over the years. The first scenario is presented with the understanding that ‘salvation’ is like receivin...

  A young adult leaves home to set out and make a life on their own, but after a series of unfortunate events, mixed in with some bad decisions, they end up drowning in credit card debt and hit rock bottom…before humbly returning home seeking help from his/her parents. Suppose the parents are more than willing to welcome their child in and help them get back on their feet; even offering to pay off all their accrued debt. Such a scenario might surpass the expectations of many of us, even if living in perfect world. So let’s assume that son/daughter is overcome with gratitude, knowing they were undeserving of such mercy and grace to have their debt cancelled like that, and they are now determined to ‘get their act together and turn a new page on their life story. Now imagine…that despite living back at home for a while, they begin to slip back into some of those reckless spending habits, racking up more monthly debt while being unable to pay their bills. And once again, they go to t...

  “Nobody can live a sinless life; only Jesus did!” “God knows we’re not perfect and He’s always ready and willing to forgive us of our sins!” “The Bible says that we are deceived if we claim to have no sin!” (1 John 1:7) Those may have been a few of the first thoughts to come to mind after reading yesterday’s message. Trust me…it’s not like I’ve not been down this path myself and had those same ‘lines of defense’ rise up within me to refute some of the very things we read from God’s word yesterday. Which is why we have to be very careful when other ‘arguments’ well up within us in opposition to what God’s word says. Where do you think those thoughts are coming from? Yes, there was a Bible verse thrown in there in that third statement, but let’s not forget that even Satan quoted scripture to Jesus in the wilderness when trying to tempt Him to back off from the word (Luke 4:10-11). So let’s take a look at that first statement, about how ‘nobody but Jesus can live a sinless life...

  I hope the graphic of this algebra equation I used today didn’t trigger anxiety attacks for anyone who suffers from math-phobia. While I never considered myself as a ‘math person’, I did well in college algebra when I went back to school later in life to finish my education before becoming a school teacher. I had hopes on teaching JRH History but began my career teaching 9th grade algebra at our local high school for two years before taking a position as a Reading teacher for 6-7th graders. When I taught the algebra class, I remember having to grade a lot of homework, and there was a common mistake that was made frequently, which unfortunately always led to an incorrect answer for the students. And that common error usually involved the multiplying of positive and negative integers. For those who might remember those days….algebra problems could get …lengthy, in that there were multiple steps one had to work through to find the solution to the problem. So if the student began ...

  There is a wealth of intel made available to us in those first two chapters of the Book of Job. I’m not suggesting it is ‘easy’ to come to terms with what we can learn here…but it sure fills in a lot of ‘blank spaces’ when it comes to gaining a better understanding of this world we live in, especially in light of who we are told exercises power and influence over it. (1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1-3; Acts 26:18). Do you remember those worksheets we used to do in school, where we would ‘connect the numbered dots’ on the paper…and as we did, a ‘picture’ would begin to form? There is a very clear picture that begins to emerge as we ‘connect these verses’ that have been laying in our Bibles all these years; and for those who are open to allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in this journey of learning more truth…there is the promise of greater freedom to experience as we come to ‘know the truth’ (John 8:32,36). In the story of Job, we begin to see a clear picture of what happens when God ‘rem...

  As it is with many passages, stories, and books found in the Bible…there is no shortage of voices out there offering up their ‘take’ on them; and I’m fully aware that I am one of those ‘many voices’. So I know what I am up against when I post these daily messages. But I will continue to lay out for any and all who care to read for themselves what I firmly believe the Holy Spirit continues to compel me to share. I easily identify with what the early disciples who said “we cannot help but to speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). I simply share these things with you here, hope and pray that you will study for yourselves to see if the Spirit bears witness (Acts 17:11)…and then trust God to do His part. The Book of Job is one of those stories found in the Old Testament that many people turn to when they hit those ‘hard patches’ in life, that many. folks can all relate to. Job hit a really tough patch losing everything dear to him, including his own health. L...

  Rarely, if ever… is it a good sign…when God ‘removes the hedge’. A couple of weeks ago, I drove up to the wine country which is about two hours north of us. I heard that they were harvesting the grapes up there and I wanted to go take some pictures. I’ve been up there a few times before since we moved out here, but I’m not sure I ever noticed on previous visits how so many of the vineyards have stone or brick walls built around them; or some other type of fence. It’s not that I was surprised by that, but for some reason they simply escaped my notice. So I found myself getting out and taking pictures of them. The concept of a hedge being erected around a vineyard is nothing new to me, as I’ve written about this before in previous messages. And stone hedges have been around for a long time, probably ever since people began growing grapes to make wine, and they discovered that hedges served as protective barriers for their valuable crops, keeping out predators, wild animals, or ev...

  It wasn’t really an ‘assignment’ I left you with at the close of yesterday’s message, but I did suggest for anyone who wanted to ‘read ahead’, Isaiah chapter 5 would be where we would be headed today. And while I’m thinking of it, let me get this out of the way for anyone who wants to ‘go there’ – I am not trying to suggest or to twist scriptures to suggest that this chapter, or book even…is directed at ‘America’. We have been talking about ‘judgement’ though, and I asked yesterday if we even know what God’s judgement looks like? Would we recognize it if/when it showed up at our door? Many in the church today would probably agree that ‘judgment is coming’, and for ‘all the reasons’. Many sincere believers would point to the Book of Revelation and say there is no denying that God’s wrath and judgment are ‘on the way’; but they would also be quick to say that God’s people won’t be around for ‘any of that’ because they will be long gone, thanks to the ‘rapture’ that many believe ...