Sheep Food

  We call them ‘spin doctors’.   They are in pretty high demand these days given what they do, and high profile politicians give them plenty of job security.   In short, they go in and try to explain to the public what their boss really meant to say when he said something that was ‘off script’ and created quite a stir in doing so. I bet you know what I’m talking about here.   Can I just tell you now there is no shortage of them working in ‘churches’ today as well. Yeah...I said it. No shortage.   How do they operate? That’s an easy one to answer. They basically tell folks who don’t know any better why God really did not mean what He said when you come across various statements there in the bible. They are often put in a position to ‘put a spin’ on it with a lot of extra words when asked about various scriptures, so as to take what was originally said and redirect it to say something else. Hence, the term ‘spin doctor’. Usually they'll...

  Whatcha got?  Yes, You...that question is directed to you...What do you have? As in, do you have what those believers in the early church had?   I've asked that of myself repeatedly over the years and the answer is usually the same: 'Apparently not'.  May I direct you to a specific example recorded for us there in Acts 3 which came on the heels of the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the Day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts 2. That was the fulfillment of what Jesus told them would happen just before He ascended back in to heaven. He told them to ‘tarry’ there in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high that they would receive after the Holy Spirit came upon them. You can read the exact quote in Acts 1:8.   So back to the incident in Acts 3.  A lot is going on in Jerusalem after this outpouring. Seems there was quite the buzz given rumors had spread just weeks earlier about some resurrection of the teacher many knew as Je...

  You can truly change. You can honestly be... set free.   You can be transformed. You can become something you are not, and actually become what you were called to be which was what God intended and designed you to be: Like Him. (Gen. 2:17) (Please note: I did not say you would ‘be God’, but you would be ‘like God’. We call that ‘godliness’)   It is not delusional dreaming or wishful thinking to believe that you really could be different, in a better way.   Being transformed by the power of God is not some unattainable goal wrapped up in poetic language or figurative speech.   We are not talking about spiritual ‘smoke and mirrors’ to trick you. It goes well beyond learning ‘church jargon’ and wearing pseudo-spiritual attire that gives you an outward appearance of being ‘sheep-like’ but inwardly, you know not much has changed.   And it is not about giving you a ‘brighter personality-paint-job’ either.   Peter describe...

  Imagine if you will, a young caterpillar looking up at a beautiful butterfly on a tree limb and being told that it won’t be long and it too...will look like that because that is what he will become: a new creation.   It is difficult to wrap one’s head around and fully understand how...that can happen. But it does. It’s part of the ‘laws of nature’ that never ceases to amaze many of us.   If the caterpillar was then given a pair of wings to strap on, would that make him a butterfly? Hardly not.   If the caterpillar went around announcing to all his caterpillar friends and other insects in his garden-neighborhood that he was a butterfly, would that make it so because he 'confessed it' ?  Nope.  When true, genuine transformation takes place, you don’t need anything artificial to help the process. Nor will you even need to announce it. - It. Will. Be. Evident.  “By their fruit, you will know them....By this will all men know you are M...

  Water baptism was never intended to be a Christian merit badge.   It’s a burial.   We bury things when they die. Whether it’s a beloved pet, or a parent or loved one; we bury most anything that dies, even if they are beloved or not. (i.e. - mass graves in wartime or natural disasters)   Dead bodies are not a good thing to have laying around. They attract unwanted ‘guests’ like birds...vultures, ravens, flies, things that feed on dead carcasses. They rot as they decompose and maggots and other ugly bugs take over as well. To leave a dead body out in the open would lead to the spread of disease, not to mention foul odor.   We bury dead bodies for good reason.   Even Jesus mentioned something about where you see the carcass, there the vultures will be gathered together.(Luke 17:37) Jeremiah painted a similar gory picture as well: “The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth ...

  For all we read and hear about this idea of ‘putting to death the deeds of the flesh’ and ‘dying to self’ or ‘laying down one’s life’...is this just poetic language and figurative speech that everyone knows is impossible to do and not to be taken literally?   Or just the opposite? And if it really is to be taken seriously, and what Paul wrote in Gal. 5:24 really means what it says...( “those who belong to Christ have put to death the flesh with its passions and desires”) ...then ‘how...’ does one actually do that?   I’m sure that you, like so many of us...go through seasons where we ‘do better’ than we have in the past; maybe dialing down certain ‘bad habits’ we are prone to ‘stumbling’ in but never completely die to it. And no doubt, there are other areas that are no longer a problem or temptation for you and you praise God for that victory. But completely dying to it all as Paul mentions there in Rom. 6:2,6-7? I would think you hear that little voice in y...

  We are told back in Genesis 6 that God’s patience was wearing thin with His creation (mankind). “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (6:5-6)    So God decided to destroy all that He had created. Man had then, and continues today, to choose not to follow God and walk according to His ways...and to love Him with all their hearts.   Yet, we read in vs. 8 that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We are told that Noah was a ‘just man, perfect in his generations.’ And that ‘Noah walked with God.”. That would be another way of saying ‘abiding’.   God told Noah of His plans there and then made it clear there would be a way of escape and protection. (11-18). We should all be familiar with this ‘ark project’ Noah undertook. And it’s a good thing he did. B...