Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven.

Lamentations 3:37-41

“The Lord said, ‘I will hasten my work in its time’ (D&C 88:73). Surely anyone observing the recent growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keenly aware of that hastening process. This should make us humbly grateful for the Lord’s omnipotent hand. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable have proven to be merely challenges for the faithful, for ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). “Inspiration has prepared the way from the beginning, when the Lord impressed the Prophet Joseph Smith to compose the twelfth article of faith: ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.’ This inspired statement was surely written for our day. The Prophet knew that the gospel was ultimately to be taken to all nations regardless of their governmental differences. He knew that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could bless the lives of people regardless of their politics. And he knew that people who were taught correct principles and who were loyal to their civil leaders and observing of their local laws would be most able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson

A man may be sorry, yet not repent, as a thief is sorry when he is taken; not because he stole, but because he has to pay the penalty. Godly sorrow, however, is chiefly for the trespass against God, so that even if there were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to punish, yet…the soul would still be grieved because of the prejudice done to God. Spiritual sorrow will sink the heart if the pulley of faith does not raise it. As much as we feel our sting, let us look upward to Christ for strength and healing. We must grieve more for offending God than for the loss of dear relations. Sorrow for sin must exceed sorrow at the grave, and with good reason; for in the burial of the dead it is only a friend who departs, but in sin…God departs.

O Christian! the disease of your soul is chronic and frequently returns upon you; therefore you must continually cry out and repent. Christ counts as great beauties those who are tender-eyed; and well may sin make us weep. There are special times when we must renew our repentance in an extraordinary manner: before receiving the Lord’s supper, and at the hour of death. When the soul is going out of the body, it should swim to heaven in a sea of tears.

Thomas Watson

1620-1686

Daily Read (Isaiah 52-54)

Scripture:
Isaiah 52:6 “Therefore my people will know my name…”

Observation:
Now in the book of Isaiah we begin to read of God’s love for Israel rather than His fierce anger and judgment. He speaks to her as a lover and as one who was scorned and rejected (Is. 54:6) but now redeemed with compassion and love (Is. 54:7). His plan for redeeming her, Israel, and the rest of the world is through His Servant, who would give His life as a sacrifice to bear the sins of the world (Is. 53:12).

Application:
Do you really know the name of God? Do you know Him as Yah, the Great I AM, or as El Shaddai or Elohim or Yahweh Yireh, your provider? When was the last time you called on the Ancient of Days, who knows the end from the beginning? Have you ever trusted in the Rock of Ages and rested on the tried and true cornerstone? Is the Stone that the builders rejected securely anchoring your life in Him? What name(s) do you know God by?

The list of names for God is really extensions or descriptions of His character rather than His name. When Moses stood on the mountain in front of the burning bush, he asked God, “who should I say has sent me?” God replied, “”Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Ex. 3:15).

When we look at the original Hebrew for “The LORD,” we see that it translates as YHWH (yod-hay-vav-hay) or where we get our transliterated word JEHOVAH. The name JEHOVAH means the self-existent one or eternal one – the LORD – as we seen written in modern texts. For a better comparison of the names of God please see Lambert Dolphin’s web page “The Names of God“.

Regardless of which name of God you call on, know Him. There is only one way to know Him (which goes along with the words of an old song, “To know me is to love me”) is to love Him. Jesus said to His disciples, ” If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:20). Jesus also said, “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:25-26). Therefore, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:20) and get to know Him. You have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), so what is stopping you from getting to know Him personally? The only way to know Him is through study of His Word and prayer. He is the Word (John 1:1), and the Word of God is His name (Rev. 19:13). Praying is your way of talking to Him to find out what He wants of you. Get to know your Daddy. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Prayer:
Father, You have so many names that describe in essence who You are. They are useful to me as reminders of what Your Word says about You and what You do for me. Regardless of how many names there are, I need to know Your name, YHWH – the LORD, but more importantly, I need to know You. When my heart truly knows who You are, then Your name is but a reminder to whom I am speaking. The one name that stands out above the rest to me is “DADDY”! You are my Father. I know that my Father loves me and cares for me. So long as I put my trust in You, I have nothing to fear. I have no worries. I want to know not only Your name but also more of You. Teach me more about You each day. Allow the names of God to begin to resonate in my heart and reveal to me the beauty of who You are. I love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Like any good businessman, the Lord knows it takes money to operate a business, even His soul saving business. As I have written before, the Lord is in the business of saving souls from the fires of hell, and for every soul saved from that horrible place there is a battle that must be fought for the right to claim that soul. And as with any army involved in war, there must be a support system in place to supply those on the front lines of the fight. Every person that God has saved from the fires of hell has a job to do in His service. Either we are on the front lines of the fight, or we are a part of the support system. As we should understand; any army that goes into battle without a strong support system in place will soon find themselves at the mercy of the enemy when their ammunition and food runs out. And for any war to continue for very long there must be soldiers willing to fight, and there must be people who are willing to support the cause. People who support the war effort make sacrifices in whatever area necessary that will help ensure victory for their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers or friends that might be involved in the fight.

Because the Lord understands how important finances are to fight a war; He has put into place a reward system for those people who support Him and His cause. Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

However, there are many people in the church who claim they support the cause of Christ, but never give anything to Him. There is a story in John chapter six where Jesus has just finished feeding the five thousand from two fish and seven small loaves of bread, He then sends His disciples across the sea, while He Himself remains behind to pray. Later, He walks on the sea and joins His disciples in the middle of  storm. The people who had been fed by Him, took notice that He had not joined His disciples in the boat when they departed. The next morning they went looking for Him, but could not find Him. They knew He had sent His disciples on to a certain place, so they got in their boats and went in search of Him. Upon reaching the other shore, they saw Jesus standing with His disciples, and one of the five thousand, asked Him, John 6:25 “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

The reply Jesus gave to that man in this story is a very fitting description of people who fill our churches every meeting date. The majority of them come seeking what the Lord can do for them, and not for what they can do for the Lord. I have been just as guilty of self seeking as everyon else. This thought brought to mind a statement made by John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country.” This is a very accurate paraphrase of what Jesus said to the man in the above story. If the church ever gets its priorities straight; the soul saving business of Jesus will prosper and grow, and the church will be abundantly blessed because of the support they lend to Him and His cause. If not, we will have to settle for what comes our way, like we have been doing for some time now. DThrash

Daily Read (Isaiah 49-51)

Scripture:
Isaiah 50:10 “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

Observation:
Isaiah writes of the coming Messiah as the Servant of God, who is the obedient One. He describes how Jesus would offer His back for beatings and have His beard ripped off His face. He didn’t hide His face from their mocking and spitting that would come upon Him (Is. 50:6). Jesus eventually went to the cross like a sheep led to slaughter and did so without saying a word (Is. 53:7). Isaiah would later continue his description of the coming Messiah and how He would be scourged and killed for the sake of all humanity as the ultimate and final sacrifice for the payment of sin.

Application:
When we read this portion of the book of Isaiah and the subsequent chapters that deal with the things that Jesus would later come to endure, we should take a moment to pause and ponder the truth of what He suffered on the cross. Isaiah tells us He was beaten and had His beard plucked from His face. Isaiah would also write of how he was bruised and crushed beyond recognition as a human being. He was killed as a lamb was slaughtered for the OT sacrifices, but He did what they could not do – permanently remove the sins of man.

The blood of animals could only temporarily blot out the sin record of a person because the sacrifice had to be offered annually. If they could have taken away the sins of man, then there would have been a need to only offer one sacrifice not a continuous act of sacrifice (Heb. 10:1-3).  Jesus, our high “priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). If Jesus was willing enough to step out of heaven and take off divinity to put on humanity and then live a life of humility and have to trust in God to follow through on His Word, then why do we find it so difficult to trust in God to do the same for us? Why do we take matters in our hands and decide to things our way rather than rely on God to deliver on His promises?

Is life so tough and uncertain that we seem to walk around like the blind stumbling through the darkness without light? Does not the Word of God in the book of John chapter 1 state that Jesus is the light of  the world? Therefore, if we allow God to be our light to illuminate the way for us to follow, then we have to “trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.” Isaiah said that those “who light fires 
and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment” (Is. 50:11).  In other words, those who self-sufficient and self-reliant and too proud to submit their lives to God will not have everlasting life but will “lie down in torment” or die and spend an eternity in hell in torment where the “worm never dies and the fire is never quenched” (Mark 9:48).

Therefore, put your trust in the Light of the world and rely on your God. He will be a lamp unto your feet and a light on your path (Ps. 119:105). He orders the steps of a righteous person (Ps. 85:13)  and leads them down paths of righteousness (Ps. 23:3) and all for His name’s sake.

Prayer:
Father, I have learned from You that there is no alternative to putting my trust in You and relying upon You to provide for me. I am a human who is mortal and flawed, but You are immortal and perfect. You know me better than I know myself. Continually You speak to me about putting faith in You and You alone. Help me to live a life that is submitted to You and reliant upon You. I don’t want to do anything without You and having You being the center of all I do. I bow to You and praise You my King. In humble service to You, and in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Sunday, November 22, I called for America to think about the first Thanksgiving proclamation passed by Congress and signed by President Washington. It called for a day of thanksgiving and fasting on Dec. 18, 1777. It also called for a day of humiliation and repentance. Do we not have a need for repentance? Perhaps we should call for such today, knowing that the existence of our nation is dependent upon our relationship with the Lord (Jer. 18:7-10). They understood it. Our powers today do not. We must remind them.

All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. Luke 21:6

I was riding with my boss, Mr. Rolando Bacani, and we were going to work when he asked me, “Did you know what happened in New York?” Since we are in the Philippines, I had no idea about it so I said, “No.” My boss continued our conversation and told me that there was a massive power blackout in the Northeastern part of the United States. That was in August of the year 2003.  We were working on the power system operations side of the largest grid in the Philippines, Mr. Bacani as the Vice-President of the group is well versed on this kind of events.  He told me there was one time he was presenting in Malacanang Palace about minimizing the risks of blackouts in the Philippines, he was asked if the government invested large of money in the grid if it would eliminate blackout. He replied a flat NO to the inquirer. He said any man-made infrastructure is deemed to fail at some point. He elaborated whatever intervention(s) done or will be done will not prevent any synthetic system to succumb given some time.

And he concurs with Jesus. Jesus said anything that we see here will be thrown down. Everything that we can look upon will fall down.  A stone standing upon a stone will falter. Anything that is seen standing for now will kiss the earth.  And Jesus was specific, “All that you see….”

So what will remain standing? All that is unseen. The unseen will not be thrown down. The unseen will not fall down.

God. God’s forgiveness. God’s mercy.  God’s hands. Faith in Christ. Repentance. Hope in God. Love for God and others. Dependence in God. Zeal for His house.

And what does this tells us? Look for the unseen. Believe in what is unseen. Cling on Who is unseen.

Make a choice today. Seen or Unseen?

“We live in terribly complex times. We are confronted by very serious problems. Some of us are faced with sickness, with economic difficulties, with worry and concern over many matters. Our refuge, our peace, our well-being lie in walking in the way of the Lord.”

A search for principles

A principle is defined as a basic truth or law.  Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances.  It is worth great effort to organize the truth we gather to simple statements of principle.”  Generally people,  being imperfect, have miscommunications all the time.  There is no reason to think that members of the gospel would not have the same thing happen.  Moroni, although a great and wonderful leader of the Book of Mormon, was human and had a miscommunication with Pahoran (see previous post).  This chapter is Pahoran’s response to Moroni.

“Behold, now it came to pass that soon after Moroni had sent his epistle unto the chief governor, he received an epistle from Pahoran, the chief governor. And these are the words which he received (v. 1):  I, Pahoran, who am the chief governor of this land, do send these words unto Moroni, the chief captain over the army. Behold, I say unto you, Moroni, that I do not joy in your great afflictions, yea, it grieves my soul (v. 2).  But behold, there are those who do joy in your afflictions, yea, insomuch that they have risen up in rebellion against me, and also those of my people who are freemen, yea, and those who have risen up are exceedingly numerous (v. 3).  And it is those who have sought to take away the judgment-seat from me that have been the cause of this great iniquity; for they have used great flattery, and they have led away the hearts of many people, which will be the cause of sore affliction among us; they have withheld our provisions, and have daunted our freemen that they have not come unto you (v. 4).  And behold, they have driven me out before them, and I have fled to the land of Gideon, with as many men as it were possible that I could get (v. 5).  And behold, I have sent a proclamation throughout this part of the land; and behold, they are flocking to us daily, to their arms, in the defence of their country and their freedom, and to avenge our wrongs (v. 6).”

It is righteous to defend freedom.  I think this is the first principle that Pahoran discusses in his letter to Moroni.  It is one that he knows Moroni stands for, because this is what Moroni has said throughout the land.

“And they have come unto us, insomuch that those who have risen up in rebellion against us are set at defiance, yea, insomuch that they do fear us and durst not come out against us to battle (v. 7).  They have got possession of the land, or the city, of Zarahemla; they have appointed a king over them, and he hath written unto the king of the Lamanites, in the which he hath joined an alliance with him; in the which alliance he hath agreed to maintain the city of Zarahemla, which maintenance he supposeth will enable the Lamanites to conquer the remainder of the land, and he shall be placed king over this people when they shall be conquered under the Lamanites (v. 8 ).  And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free (v. 9).”  Another principle is that of forgiveness.  Pahoran could have been angry with Moroni for falsely accusing him, but he was not.  He forgave Moroni and even saw that Moroni felt that way because his heart was great.

“And now, behold, we will resist wickedness even unto bloodshed. We would not shed the blood of the Lamanites if they would stay in their own land (v. 10).  We would not shed the blood of our brethren if they would not rise up in rebellion and take the sword against us (v. 11).”  Here he discusses the truth of fighting in war, which is that we should not fight unless it is in defense of a worthy cause, such as protection of land and people.

“We would subject ourselves to the yoke of bondage if it were requisite with the justice of God, or if he should command us so to do (v. 12).”  Here is another principle that God’s will, should be followed.

“But behold he doth not command us that we shall subject ourselves to our enemies, but that we should put our trust in him, and he will deliver us (v. 13).”  The principle of faith in God, or trust in God, is one of the most basic principles of the gospel.

“Therefore, my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God (v. 14).”  Here he talks of resisting evil, no matter what.  In the gospel principles we learn that God cannot accept any unclean thing, so we must resist all evil.

“Therefore, come unto me speedily with a few of your men, and leave the remainder in the charge of Lehi and Teancum; give unto them power to conduct the war in that part of the land, according to the Spirit of God, which is also the spirit of freedom which is in them (v. 15).  Behold I have sent a few provisions unto them, that they may not perish until ye can come unto me (v. 16).  Gather together whatsoever force ye can upon your march hither, and we will go speedily against those dissenters, in the strength of our God according to the faith which is in us (v. 17).  And we will take possession of the city of Zarahemla, that we may obtain more food to send forth unto Lehi and Teancum; yea, we will go forth against them in the strength of the Lord, and we will put an end to this great iniquity (v. 18 ).  And now, Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried concerning what we should do, whether it should be just in us to go against our brethren (v. 19).  But ye have said, except they repent the Lord hath commanded you that ye should go against them (v. 20).  See that ye strengthen Lehi and Teancum in the Lord; tell them to fear not, for God will deliver them, yea, and also all those who stand fast in that liberty wherewith God hath made them free. And now I close mine epistle to my beloved brother, Moroni (v. 21).”  Lastly he talks of the principle of repentance, which was mentioned in Moroni’s letter to him.  We must repent or the power of God will come against us.  If we repent, God will deliver us from our trials.

The principles of freedom, forgiveness, the plan of God (the will of God), faith, avoiding evil, and repentance are all principles of the gospel.  If we can remember them throughout our daily lives and live by them, we will be blessed with deliverance, just as the Nephites were promised.

How can we respond to those who falsely accuse us?

We all experience times when others accuse us falsely.  It is not a fun experience.  The awesome thing is, that we have the ability to choose for ourselves how we will respond to it.  Pahoran knew that there were greater matters to be addressed, rather than focus on Moroni’s accusations.  Pahoran was also a good man, and in trying to live a righteous life, he saw past the accusation to the reasons why Moroni would have felt that way.  He was able to put himself into Moroni’s point of view, and see that he only meant to do what was right.

I had a recent experience with this and it was hard to deal with it.  I overheard someone saying something untrue about me to another person, accusing me of something that I had not done.  I was immediately hurt by the words, but rather than confront this person with anger, I took a step away from the situation.  I thought about why they would say that about me, and then I asked for someone else who knew both of us and wanted the best for both of us, to help us to resolve the issue.  I explained that I was hopeful that there had just been some miscommunication, but in case there was something deeper, I wanted help, so that I did not react emotionally instead of rationally.  We did come to find out that it had been a miscommunication, we all met together and were able to decide a way to resolve what had come between us.  Because I chose to handle the issue in this way, I avoided an argument as well as maintained a good friendship.  This could have been a opportunity for either of us to take great offense and use it as a way to stray from the church, but thankfully it did not end up that way.  If everyone could try to take a different approach to these kinds of situations, this world would be a much more peaceful place.  We are bound to have disagreements and miscommunications, but we are not bound to respond to them with anger.

[Matthew 9:35-36] “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered. like sheep having no shepherd.”

If we look closely at the needs of the people in front of Jesus they are a microcosm of the needs of ourselves, our friends, our neighbors, the people who live just down the street, and people from all around the world. People who are weary, loaded down with problems, sick, diseased, demon possessed, and harrassed by the enemy of man. Jesus said, “We are like sheep without a shepherd.” And in [John 10:12] Jesus tells us who is doing the harrassing. “The wolf (Satan) catches the sheep and scatters them.” What a terrible condition for God’s Crown Jewels to find themselves in.

Jesus is telling us, man whom He referred to as sheep because they are slow to understand and easily frightened, has an enemy lurking just out of our line of sight who causes the sheep to scatter in fear. Frightened sheep running wildly through the briars and the brambles are easy targets for the easy loping, intelligent wolf, who possesses a keen sense of smell. Jesus is the Shepherd of the sheep, but those dim witted sheep who stray away from His flock become easy targets for the packs of predators lurking in the brush. A sheep separated from the main flock becomes easy prey for the wolf pack. Now what do you suppose happens to stray sheep that are caught by the wolf? That’s right; the wolf does everything within his power to kill the sheep. Should the sheep somehow escape the sharp teeth of the wolf, they will be cut, wounded, and possibly have mangled parts that will never heal or function properly again. This is the condition of the people standing in front of Jesus on the day He made the above comment. Do you see the relevance of this picture? This is the condition of all those people you know that are sick, depressed, harrassed and plagued with problems. They have been separated from the main flock of sheep and scattered. They are weary, tired, injured, hurting, and dying by the thousands every day. People say they are in the condition they are because they are not interested in the things of God. That is what the enemy wants you to think. These people are scared, hurting and need help. But they have been largely ignored and abused by the church. They no longer have faith in the church to help them. So they continue to wonder the deserted places of life looking for someone to help them who will not turn them away because they are damaged goods. 

Jesus said in [Matthew 9:37-38] “Then He (Jesus) said to His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

The lost, wounded, and hurting people of this world is the mission field of the church. Jesus said the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. This was His way of telling His church body that their assignment in this life is to seek out those who have been taken captive by the wolf and take care of their needs; whatever they might be. The above scriptures said, Jesus moved with compassion on the people before Him, and that is the same method we are to use to meet the needs of those who live around us and down the street. What an awesome responsibility the church has been given to oversee.

The wolf (Satan) is a seasoned hunter. He is the alpha wolf of the pack. He is intelligent, and since he can’t outright kill man, he uses his wisdom to get man to help him destroy the lives of other men through war, greed, famine, and so forth. When he is done with the perpretrator, he will discard them as well. He has alternative sites set up for people to visit who don’t receive the help they need from the body of Christ. For those sheep that are not in war zones, or areas of famine, he has set up alternative sites, such as bars, nightclubs, porn houses, drug houses, and so forth. He provides his victims with what the victim believes is a temporary help in relieving their hurts and weariness, but in reality is something that will further damage them and rob them of the blessings God desires to bestow upon them, and in the end, the side effects of their activities take their life. The hope of mankind, lies in the hands of the church body of which Jesus assigned the awesome task of being shepherds over His flock. Does the church really understand its mission in life? I don’t think so at this time. DThrash

Ignorance of good is darkness of the soul. And if person is not united with Christ, Who is light, he cannot escape the ruler of darkness, the devil.

If a humble person falls a million times they get get up again and this is seen as a victory over the fall. Whereas a proud person, immediately after falling into sin, also falls into depondency, and being hardened does not went to get up again. Despondency is a mortal sin and the devil rejoices in this overall. It is completely obliterated by confesssion of thoughts.

A person can only really stand up straight when the grace of God arrives. Otherwise, without grace they’ll always trip over and fall.

Temptations are medicines and healing plants, that treat to treat our visible passionsand invisible wounds. It is better to have one day as a winner with prizes, than many years living carelessly. Don’t expect to be freed of the passions without a struggle and shedding of blood.

Sin, whether great or small, is wiped out by true repentance.

Even though a man is forgiven his sins, the fantasy of his error and the working of it remains. Although forgive the sin, this is the rule, in proportion to the greatness of the fault.

I will either live one hour as you would like, O my Christ, or it’s better not to live at all. This is the way you cry and grive and so the Lord’s mercy comes. The passions are calmed and you are at peace with yourself, with God and with the whole of creation. Everything that causes pleasure is healed with pain.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

This video is from a sermon preached at a conference in John Piper’s church, I think.  The entire sermon is available at Desiring God ministries.  I found this by doing a youtube search for Voddie Baucham.

He says it so well.  Looks like he knows (from experience) what he is talking about

Craig

Mick Turner

Scripture is filled with great teaching stories. Both the Old and New Testaments contain golden nuggets of wisdom, often hidden in the form of parables and dramatic tales of one kind or another. The problem is we often gloss over these stories because we have read or heard them many times. This sense of familiarity is unfortunate and leads us to either ignore or entirely miss vital truths which, if applied to our daily living, could make us much better people.

 Consider the familiar story of the Prodigal Son as told by Christ in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. We are so familiar with this tale of a wasted life saved through love and redemption than we often loose the impact that it should have on our lives. Especially if we are wastrels and rogues like the wandering Prodigal. I had the good fortune to have this timeless story brought to new life for me when I was serving as an English teacher in China.

 I often taught English writing classes to university students, mostly students majoring in English Language. I sometimes began the semester by handing out a paraphrase of the Prodigal’s story because it was easy to read and contained three central characters. The students were asked to write several paragraphs expressing their thoughts on the younger son, the elder brother, and the father.

 The results were often startling. Sometimes students criticized the younger son for his irresponsibility and lack of filial piety, certainly a strong value in a culture so influenced by Confucianism. Others admired him and extolled his adventurous spirit and independence. These were usually students who were strongly impacted by the New China and its market economy and increasing focus on material acquisition. Opinions also varied on the elder son, ranging from a “loyal and faithful son” to a “stick in the mud traditionalist”. But it was the father who tended to mystify them most. How could a father be so tolerant? So forgiving? So loving and compassionate?

 At times students were able to ascertain that this was a story about something other than a human father, although I never discussed this in class in a formal way. To do so would be in violation of my contract and Chinese laws regarding foreigners and religious activities. But the student responses helped me as a Christian. They helped me view this story with “fresh eyes” or as Chinese Christians would say, ” Xin qi de mu guang”. The student writings pushed me to see things from different perspectives, different angles. They helped me to see more clearly.

 What I saw more clearly was the outstanding, awesome, and all-encompassing love of the Christian God. Of course I had often heard this concept expressed in numerous sermons and read of it in countless books. But while in China, where I was more dependent upon the Spirit for my spiritual food, this reality of God’s loving grace bored into my heart more and more deeply. I came to understand at a deeper level that I was in fact accepted. Accepted in my weakness because this is where the strength of Christ is seen. Accepted in my brokenness because this is where the healing of Christ is seen. Accepted in my faithlessness because this is where the fidelity of Christ is seen. Accepted in my wandering in the wilderness because this is where Christ’s true and stable mansions are eventually discovered.

 Remarkable isn’t it – God accepts our response to his offer in spite of our conflicted hearts and spirits. In fact, if one is to believe what Christ teaches in the parable of the Prodigal, then he in accepts our desperation just as much as he accepts our repentance. Again, this points to the awesome nature of God’s love.

 The following passage is a directly quoted from one my student’s compositions, in this case from a young woman of twenty-one who had remarkable insight into the character of the prodigal son’s father:

 What impressed me most was the father in the story. I was most amazed at his love for his two sons, especially the younger one. You see, when the boy asked for his share of the family fortune, the father gave it to him willingly. But it was not just money that he gave him. If you think about it, the father gave the wayward son a part of himself. The money was just the outer trappings. The father had worked hard for many years and put himself into earning this money. So when he gave the money to the young boy, he gave him his life as well. But the young man was foolish and immature. He wasted his father’s money and became bankrupt. But even more, he wasted his father’s most precious gift, that gift of himself. No wonder he ended up starving and despondent. If I were in that situation I, too, would have a deep longing to return home to the embrace of my loving father. And what is most wonderful in this story is that the father accepted him and loved him, no questions asked. I would give the world to know a father like that.

 Many people would like to believe, truly believe, in the overwhelming love offered by God in the Christian gospel. Yet many refuse to accept God’s gracious offer because they feel they are too unworthy, too blemished, too tarnished, too tainted. Many feel they are not good enough to share in this amazing grace that the Bible talks so openly about. Well, the fact is these people are right. They are unworthy, blemished, tarnished, tainted. All of us are. That’s the whole point of the gospel in a nutshell. We cannot go to God because of who we are. But God can come to us. And he did. Christ came into the world for the sick, the fractured, the less than whole. Our unworthiness is our greatest claim to the good news of the gospel.

 Because we are broken, we are blessed.

 © L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

Where have we been? The last post by me was made last October 12(not counting the worship song I posted yesterday), exactly 43 days where I am incognito and the last post by Nicole was last October 18, exactly 37 days of complete silence. Whatever happened to us writing here every week? We totally let our responsibility slip. Our excuse, you’ve heard this over and over again, “We are so busy we got no time to write something for our Lord and spend some time on our ministry. But guess what? We have time to watch random youtube videos, waste time on FB, study for our tests, hang out with our friends and a lot more. We have a lot of time to spend on other things but we can’t even put aside, even 15 to 30 mins of our time in writing out how our Great God is sustaining us every day.

And consider the following questions and thoughts:

Isn’t it strange how a 100 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when
you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn’t it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you’re at church, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie?

Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or the TWILIGHT series?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events at the last minute?

Isn’t it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn’t it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but we question the words in the Bible?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don’t want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

Isn’t it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Isn’t it funny how someone can say “I believe in God” but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also “believes” in God).

Isn’t it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Isn’t it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Why are we so sleepy in church but right when the sermon is over we suddenly wake up?

Why are the churches getting smaller but yet the bars and dance clubs are getting larger?

We try to keep God in church on Sunday morning, maybe Sunday night and, the unlikely event of a midweek service. We do like to have Him around during sickness and, of course, at funerals.

However, we don’t have time or room for Him during work or play. Because that’s the part of our lives we think we can and should handle on our own.

May God forgive us for ever thinking that there is a time or place where HE is not to be FIRST in our life. We should always have time to remember all HE has done for us.

[Not my own writing, unknown source]

As I reflect upon this, I feel ashamed yet grateful of how God has been very patient and forgiving of my short comings.

Think about it…Look at your life. Who or what is the center of it?

It’s my intention to not ‘do’ many videos at all, but, this one I think needs viewing.