Sheep Food

  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:17- (and please make note of the two letter word he begins with) : “IF...anyone is ‘IN’ Christ...he/she ‘IS’...a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” What part of ‘is a new creation’ ...do we find so hard to grasp, let alone... understand? And for the sake of this study today, let’s just say we are directing this to those who have ‘been around for some time’...in the faith. We are not talking about new ‘converts’ or ‘baby Christians’. (1 Cor. 3:1; Gal. 4:19) Have you ever heard a car or truck ‘backfire’ before? I’m talking about one of those obscene, totally out of the blue-unexpected, ‘explosions’ that send cats running, makes babies cry and can almost cause an innocent bystander to have a heart attack . Or worse yet, have you ever owned or driven a car that did that on a regular basis? I think older model cars were prone to having that problem, for which the cause might have been any number of reasons...but ...

  If you don’t repent, then you will be brought to ruin, perish and/or be destroyed. Those were the words of Jesus, not mine.(Luke 13:3,5) When Mt. St. Helens erupted back in 1980, there were concerns that an eruption was imminent. When you warn people to flee an area, be it due to natural disasters in the making, or planned demolitions of a building, etc...these warnings should not be confused with ‘threats’. Warnings...are given so that people can escape harm, injury, and yes...even death. What Jesus was issuing here in Luke 13:1-5 was indeed a warning offered in love. After all...it is not God’s will for ‘any to perish, but for all to come to repentance’. (2 Pet. 3:9; Acts 17:30) And we are told it is the ‘kindness and goodness of God that leads us to repentance.” (Rom. 2:4). I don’t know who needs to hear this, but we who claim to be mouthpieces for God’s kingdom and the gospel would do well...to share these truths in a ‘spirit of love’ instead of wildly flailing the ‘swor...

  Today’s message will be better understood if you read yesterday’s post first. The text we’ve been reading from is found in Luke 13:1-5. It’s the one where Jesus seems to be drawing a connection to ‘sin and suffering’. Trust me, this is not some ‘new revelation’ either. (Ps. 38:1-5; Ps. 107:10-11; 119:67-71; Lam. 3:39-40; 1 Cor. 11:29-32; John 5:14; Rom. 6:23; 8:13; Eph. 5:5-6) News of some tragic events are center stage here and the question being posed, by Jesus, is...”Did these people suffer in this manner because they were ‘worse’ sinners’ than anyone else?” The part we did not get to yesterday was how Jesus doubles-down with a follow up example involving another tragic event that took place in nearby Siloam, where a tower collapsed and killed 18 people. (4) Again, Jesus asks: “Do you think these who died were any ‘worse sinners’ than all the other men who dwell in Jerusalem?” Now this is the ‘meat’ of this exchange that you don’t want to miss. Not only did Jesus pose both q...

  God not only wants to set people free today from the sins and bondages that enslave them, He also wants them to stay...free. Imagine that! We just spent a few days looking at a very short, yet powerful and insightful story relayed by Jesus in Matt. 12:43-45. Anyone can be set free today, at the snap of a finger by anything that has them bound and suffering (Matt. 9:5-8); but if we are clueless as to how we ended up in that condition to begin with, or how to stay free after we’ve been healed, then it’s only a matter of time before we end up in a ‘worse condition’ as Jesus explained in that passage. And sometimes that ‘worse’ condition may not be so evident on the outside, at first. What I mean is, if we don’t heed the advice to ‘go and sin no more lest something worse happen to us, (John 5:14), then, when we continue falling into sin, (which most of us are told we will do because of our ‘flawed, human nature’) then it is our hearts that will harden over time as we drift further...

  Remember all those masks we were encouraged, coerced, and in some cases, ordered to wear during Covid? .........(Too soon?) Humor me here for a few minutes if you would, please. Let’s imagine a new airborne virus or disease was to appear on the scene in the not so far off future, and it was as lethal as anything this world has ever seen or experienced before. Now let us pretend that a ‘new and improved’ mask has been produced and made available for every human out there with the promise that this mask is guaranteed to be 100% effective (if worn properly). Oh...and just to make this scenario more interesting...this mysterious virus can be tracked as it makes its way across the country...and the world for that matter; and it only remains in your immediate area for 24 hours before it’s completely gone. So the mask you have only needs to be worn for 24 hours straight. You are to keep it on the entire time and have to forego eating, drinking, or anything else that would require its ...

  We humans tend to be rather predictable, to God at least, when it comes to breaking old habits. There’s a good reason He likened us to ‘sheep’, which I am told are not very intelligent animals. And I can tell you with a good bit of confidence that one trait we seem to share with those Israelites we read about way back in the OT...is we seem to forget easily...that God really means...what He says. Go figure. And God made a point to repeat Himself, often... hoping His people would ‘get it’. They didn’t. And neither do many of us today. There’s a quote I remember from a history class years ago that was written on the board my first day of class. It said: “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history”. – Welcome to Modern Day Christianity 101. We’ve been looking at the short story-lesson Jesus provided for us in Matt. 12:43-45 that pretty well explains why there is so much ‘spiritual carnage and wreckage’ dotting the landscape today. Lots of sincere...

  The Bible does not teach for us to ‘ignore’ the devil; we are taught to ‘resist him’. (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8) We are, after all, not ‘ignorant of his devices and schemes’. (2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:10). Or I should say…we are not supposed…to be ‘ignorant’ of them. And yet it is a ‘lack of knowledge’ in this area that has brought much suffering and destruction to God’s people. (Hosea 4:6) Yesterday, I did ‘go there’ and point the blame for much of this ignorance that exists today on the very ones God places the blame on. I merely pointed to those verses which backs this up- it is the ‘shepherds…who destroy and scatter the sheep of His pasture’. (Jer. 23:1). Now don’t go grabbing pitchforks and ‘pull a Jan. 6’ scene on your local churches. There is no time for that. And for the record, I was right there with everyone else myself, trying to ‘figure out this pastoring thing’ for years. Matt. 12:43-45 has been our ‘base camp’ for the past few days as we have sought to gain understanding ...