Love Them Enough

“For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children,  That they should put their confidence in God.”
                                                                                                – Psalm 78:5-7

It’s the call no parent ever wants to receive.  Just imagine, it’s late on a Friday night.  You’re up watching a movie with your wife and enjoying the quiet as the children have gone out with friends.  Looking at the clock you realize that it’s getting very late and you’re beginning to wonder what punishments await the kids when they get home from the game and dance.  You told them be home by 11 and it’s already 11:30.  They’re not answering their cell-phones and it causes your blood pressure to rise, wondering why you invested in the devices if they aren’t even going to use them.  Heading to the kitchen to get a refill on the popcorn, you hear the phone ring.  Well, at least they finally called.

You wait to hear your spouse lay into them with the chastisement and expectations for when they get home, but instead you hear a scream and hysterical cry.  Dropping the bowl, you rush back into the living room and find tears flowing and crying.  Suddenly, there is a lump in your throat, and fear races through your mind.  You take the phone from your spouse’s shaking hand and hold it to your ear.  On the other end is a sympathetic but stern voice.  You introduce yourself with a shaking in your tone, only to hear the person on the other end of the phone explain with deepest regrets that there has been an accident and both of your children have been killed, along with three other teenagers in their car.

Falling to your knees near your spouse, your heart falls and your hands shake.  They explain the details, and ask for you to come to the emergency room.  The police officer asks if there is a minister or priest they can call to meet you there.  Your mind races for a moment, and then you respond with the name of the Pastor at the local church you grew up in.  Hanging up the phone, you and your spouse fall into each other’s arms shaking, broken and lost in the anguish.
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Now, this is an unbelievably sad story that happens all too often to parents all over this globe.  As parents, we are given the responsibility to raise our children, love our children and protect them.  We spend our lives worrying about them and helping them overcome problems that arise through their growing years.  Yet, there comes the time when they must be able to stand on their own and we watch as they step out of the house potentially for the very last time.  We never expect it and fear that it could happen at any time. 

Tragic as this story is, I want you to look at it from a different perspective.  An eternal perspective.  Every one of us will die at some point in our life.  Often times, our children are taken long before their time for one reason or another.  Their life of choices, dreams, goals and adventures wiped out in an instant.  We love our children so much, and many of us would say right here and now, that we would give our own life to save our child’s life.  I know I would. 

My serious question for you all today though is, do you love your children and/or your spouse enough to ensure they have eternity in heaven?  Are you doing everything you can to educate them, to help them come to a relationship with Jesus Christ, or are you backing off to let them figure it out on their own?  Over the last month we have spent much of our time talking about evangelism to others, to the Muslim, the Atheist and the world; to share God’s love with them as He has shared it with us.  Yet, many of you cannot honestly go to bed tonight fully believing that your own children, spouse or parents are saved.  Before you go to the world, shouldn’t you focus on your own circle.

Your children are being influenced by this world if you aren’t doing it.  Are you okay with the world telling your child that there is no God or all God’s are the same or it doesn’t matter what you believe, just live a good life.  Living a good life is great, but if your child or spouse doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ, they are going to Hell after death.  I know it’s harsh, but if you claim to be a Christian, this is the truth as told by our Savior.  You can’t just sit back and do nothing.  That makes you somewhat culpable in their eternal fate. 

If you believe that they will come their own realization and that you don’t want to upset your relationship with them by bringing it up, then you have to look in the mirror and ask yourself why it’s not important enough to talk about with them.  You claim you love them more than anything, than I beg you, I plead with you, do something about it.  Here is how much I love you.  If for some reason you can’t have this conversation with them for one reason or another, than send me a private email or message me on Facebook; and I will.  Don’t let another day go by without addressing your child’s salvation.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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God’s Rules

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”
                                                                                                – 1 John 4:16-17

You did what?  Seriously, you did that?  Man, you better say your prayers tonight and hope God forgives you.

Sound familiar.  Many people look at God as this strict father in heaven just waiting for His children to mess up so He can banish them to hell.  He put rules in place thousands of years ago and if we break one of those or step across the line we are damned.  This is how some people view Him, and often times the reason many turn away and give up on following Christ.

How sad is it that we truly don’t understand God the Father.  We approach Him as if He is waiting to chastise us, rather than approaching Him as if He is waiting to hug us and forgive us.  What does it say in 1 John 4:7-21 – “God is love and if we believe in Him, love is in us and we will love one another as He has loved us.” {paraphrased}  You see God is not a God of wrath, but a God of love.  Throughout all time people have looked at God as a vengeful, wrath filled God set on punishing those who deny Him.  Flip that around completely.  God is a loving God set on bringing all of His children (all mankind) home to heaven with Him for all of eternity.

Evil exists in this world.  Evil sets men’s heart to see the anger, the wrath and wrong doing in this world.  Mankind chooses evil over God and in doing so, separate themselves from His love.  He doesn’t stop loving you, in all honesty you stopped loving Him enough to sin against Him.  Sin is that which is against the commandments of the Lord.  We all sin, for we are all human.  But, when God is in you, the acknowledgement of sin becomes much more real, and we are told to repent and turn from it. 

God did not condemn you for sinning, God actually provided a blood sacrifice and atonement full knowing that you would sin.  This is truly love, not wrath.  He loved you so much and in His omnipotence and all-knowing authority He realizes that you needed a Savior to be sacrificed.  He came Himself, out of pure love for you, in the flesh form of Jesus Christ, to die for your sins.  A sacrifice for you to be granted eternal life.  He died on that cross, was buried and rose again on the third day to defeat death once and for all.  It is out of this love that God looks at you every day.  His child, making mistakes and learning from them; to be forgiven and granted eternal peace.  He only requires that you acknowledge His Son – Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and to repent and turn from the wickedness of the world.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Chasing the Curve

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
                                                                                                – 2 Corinthians 11:13-14

I love baseball, and of course it’s even more special this year because the Houston Astro’s are in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It’s amazing the amount of talent these players have and it reminds me that God has gifted each of us in a unique way.  As much as I love the game, and played as hard as I could for 30 + years, I don’t even come close to any one of the players on the field.  Can you imagine how many people there are in the world that can actually throw a baseball 100 miles per hour?  It’s definitely less than a few hundred, but more likely less than 50.  This is a gift.  This is not a learned talent or something that you can train your arm to do, you either have it or you don’t, and 99.99997% of us in this world don’t.

I was watching Clayton Kershaw the other night in game 1 of the World Series.  He is an amazing pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has won the Cy Young award multiple times (best pitcher), 7x All Star, MVP (2014) and a Golden Glove award winner.  He has taken Los Angeles to the playoffs for 7 of his first 10 years in professional baseball, and only this year to the World Series.  By far, he is considered one of the best pitchers ever in baseball.  Watching him though, I began thinking about how deceptive he is when he pitches.  The batter is nearly helpless to know what’s coming or where the ball will be when it actually crosses the plate, unless he is throwing heat right down the middle.

I watched him throw his curve ball on numerous Astro’s batters, and they had no clue where the ball was.  Some swung helplessly trying to find it, while most just stood there watching it drop 3-4 feet at the last second right across the plate for a strike.  This deception he uses has the batters thinking the pitch is way out of the strike zone, and then by the time they realize it’s a good pitch it’s too late to swing.  Or he throws it so it looks like an amazing strike and then when they do swing the ball has dropped into the ground, and is unhittable.

Similarly in life, we are all tempted by those things which look wonderful at first, and then when we reach for the prize, it’s actually not at all what we thought or it’s not there at all.  Satan hangs a curve out there that looks so sweet and tempting, and we know we can find success in the achievement.  Then he pulls it away at the last minute, leaving us broken and embarrassed, all alone.  Satan is the great deceiver in this world.  He is evil, often times disguised as goodness.  Once we commit, once we are hooked, only then do we really see it for who and what he really is. 

We serve a God that is truthful, honest, and just in all of His actions.  He will not deceive nor lead you down the wrong path.  When you see His works in your life, you know it is out of love for you, and not love for Himself.  This is the right path to pursue, so quit chasing the curve, only to be abandoned.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Morning Cup of Joe

“Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
                                                                                                – Romans 12:11-12

The smell of coffee in the morning.  HMMMMMMMM…..Ahhhhhh.  There is just something about that rich smell that brings a smile to my face, a joy in my heart and a lift to my spirit.  Now, mind you, I don’t drink coffee; unless you count the chocolate, sweet cream, foo-foo Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha, but that’s not really coffee, is it?  Anyway, I just love the smell and I reckon most of you do to.

Have you ever thought about coffee from a biblical point of view?
Say you have a bag of coffee beans, not grounds, but beans.  Hard right, almost unbreakable.  When you want a cup of coffee, what must you first do with those beans?  Go to the cupboard, pull out your coffee grinder, pour in a cup of beans and wait for it to do it’s magic.  Got it, but what if you don’t have a grinder?  Go to the garage, grab your hammer, put the beans in a plastic bag, and after stepping out onto the porch start hammering away until the beans are crushed.  This is not going to get you fine grounds of coffee, but it will probably work in a jam.  The best way, in my opinion, is to take a sauce pan and fill it 2/3rds full of water, drop in a dozen or so coffee beans, bring the water to a boil.  Suddenly that oh so sweet smell starts filling the air around you.  Sure it takes longer, but the coffee is so much better (so I’m told).

The coffee beans change the water around them, rather than being changed by the boiling water.  They make the water better (for those who like coffee) after spending time submerged in it.  This chemical change, this improvement is evidenced when you pour out that first cup and taste of it’s richness and flavor.  It’s harder work than stopping at Starbucks, turning on your Keurig or Mr. Coffee brew machine in the morning.  It takes intent and patience to get that perfect cup, but it’s worth it.

Very much like that perfect cup of coffee, your work has the opportunity to influence those around you for good or for bad.  You are that coffee bean and your attitude, your words, your joy has an impact on everyone around you in the office, in the school, on the plane, or wherever your day takes you.  Working hard demonstrates your commitment to the work at hand you are demonstrating to those around you that we are to give 100% in all things.  We are paid for our work, it is actually stealing from your employer to give them anything less than 100% while they are paying you.  This is right and represents high integrity, which are righteous characteristics that others will see.

Let others see your dedication to the Lord through your work and in your work environment.  Do not be ashamed of the joy the Lord has placed upon your heart, and look for those opportunities to share it with others around you.  Living righteously, serving God and working for man is a strong testimony to influence those around you for the better.  Like the coffee bean, let the scent of the Lord fill the room around you, to increase their desire to likewise partake.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Small Changes

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                                – Matthew 28:18-20

 

Don’t over think it.  Many of us are all looking for some great cause to change the world, and make a difference in the lives of millions.  The reality is that we have a great influence right where we are that we overlook every day.  Perhaps we should become great at the small things, before we become good at the large.

Reflect for a moment on the disciples in the New Testament.
  Fishermen – Peter, Andrew, John (son of Zebedee), James (son of Zebedee)
  Tax Collector – Matthew (also called Levi)
  Other Disciples - Thomas, Philip, Judas (of Iscariot), Bartholomew (also called Nathanael), 
        Thaddaeus (also called Jude), Simon and James (son of Alphaeus)

Each of these men were called from very humble, simple lives.  None are documented as being from high positions in society or notoriety at that time.  What each of them have though is a personal calling from the Lord Jesus Christ on their lives.  Each, gave up their life and followed Him.  Were they strangers prior to their meeting with Christ, or had they seen Him walking the hillside and villages near the Sea of Galilee prior to Him calling them?  We don’t really know the answer, but we gather from scripture that when called, they obeyed, without knowing exactly where they were going or what they would be doing.

For nearly three years they followed Jesus through the countryside, around the Sea of Galilee and along the river Jordan.  They ate with Him, walked with Him, conversed and prayed with Him.  They saw Him perform miracles and heal people.  There were times when they tried to protect Him and guide Him, because they thought they knew what was best for Him.  They developed a relationship is what they did, and they did this through interaction and engagement with Him. 

Fast forward 2000 years, and here we are.  Are we so different than those original disciples, called by Jesus to “Follow Me”.  We want to follow Christ, we want to be more engaged with Him and know Him.  We see the good that He brings, we understand His history and teachings to the best of our knowledge.  We are not scholars, but humble men and women in search of a Savior from the depravity and perverse nature of this world.  We have the opportunity to build a relationship with the Son of God, the Holy One, the King of Kings and the Messiah; but are we fully committed to that relationship?

We see the difference that these men made in the world by spreading the gospel and truth following His death and resurrection.  We want to be as impactful, but is that really what is being asked of us.  Matthew 28:19 tells us to go to all the nations and make disciples, teaching them the ways of Jesus.  I propose that this great commission is the calling on all of our lives, if indeed we have given our life to Jesus.  Having said this though, we first need to have a deep relationship with Him so we can fulfil this command. 

This relationship is formed only through daily interactions, engagement and dialogue with God the Father.  Just as with everything that you are passionate about though, you must prepare, you must learn, you must start small and expand your horizons.  You didn’t get to where you are in this life immediately, but rather through pains, struggles and years of learning and growth.  So it is with serving the Lord.  You can start serving in your own home: prayers at the dinner table, praying with your kids, reading the scriptures together with your spouse and children, loving others like Christ loves you and helping your neighbors.  These small steps allow you to see Christ’s work in and around your life, just like the disciples did.  Then, you are ready to expand your territories and influence others around you.

Just like ripples, when a pebble drops into a lake, the concentric circles get bigger and bigger over time.  Your faith is strengthening each and every day you spend with the Lord, so don’t be impatient in serving Him.  Keep in mind, God doesn’t where a watch, and doesn’t think in minutes and hours, but in eternity.  The key is to start doing something though. 

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Everything from Nothing

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.”  Ephesians 6:11

 

Those of you who have followed me for some time know that I am involved in a ministry called RDOF (Rational Defence of Faith) with an awesome man, Daryl Youngblood.  In this ministry Daryl provides very practical information for the debate between Atheism and Christianity from a scientific point of view.  His father was a scientist, and Daryl is steep in knowledge and wisdom in the scientific field. 

Today, I’d like to share an excerpt from one of Daryl’s RDOF events, title “Fine Tuning from Nothing”.
   (the following is a transcript from his event © RDOF, 2017 )

Nothing: A Pronoun denoting the absence of anything

In my many years of doing this, I have found that many people who say that scientific evidence disproves the existence of God, don’t actually know the evidence.  … Many times they don’t know the deep scientific evidence which makes up the basis for their belief, (yet they still believe it) and so it’s more of an emotional foundation rather than a logical foundation.  This happens all the time in conversations that I have with people.  So, what we’re going to do is look at some of the evidence here.  We’re going to look at the fundamental forces of the universe.

Recently, scientists have found that the fundamental forces of the universe are perfectly set, or fine tuned to allow human life.  They are tuned to an exactness that defies comprehension.  Scientists call this, rightly, fine tuning of the universe.  The values of these forces are tuned so precisely, that if you change them by even an infinitesimal amount, you would not exist.  There are many of these (forces).

One example is gravity, or the gravitational constant.  If the value of gravity changed by even 1 part in 10 sextillion quintillion human life would be impossible.  Folks, that’s 1 with 40 zero’s after it [10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000].  To explain how incredibly small 1 part in sextillion-quintillion is, imagine all the grains of sand on a beach, now imagine all the grains of sand in all the beaches in all the world.  Ok, that’s about a quintillion grains of sand.  Now, take that number and multiply it by 10 sextillion.  Now, wrap your head around that amount of grains of sand. 

In this analogy, if all of these grains of sand represented the value of gravity, how many grains of sand would you have to add or subtract in order for human life to be impossible? {dramatic pause}  ONE.  That’s how precisely gravity alone has to be set in order for you to exist and be here tonight.  The chance, obviously, the chance that gravity would be set this precisely by accident or by chance alone would be less of a chance of you winning the lottery every second in human history.  And, it’s not just gravity.

There are many other forces that have to be fine tuned in just this way.  When you add them all up, the chances of this happening randomly or accidentally are so logically impossible that it just makes your mind boggle.  They are so astronomical that it really does make it logically impossible. … So the question is how could the forces of the universe be this fine tuned by just chance.  This demands an explanation, it demands an explanation. 

Well, atheist scientists have an explanation for this.  They have an explanation that they say has ruled out God.  Do you know what it is?  The multiverse, anybody heard of that?  Let me explain a multiverse to you.  They say that instead of a creator being responsible for the fine tuning of the universe, that instead our universe is just one in an infinite number of parallel universes going on right now just as real as ours.  And, in these universes every possible event of any kind is being played out, every possible event of any kind has occurred.  That means there’s one where I’m a wrestler named Dominant; there’s one where Pastor Reggie is a metal rock star {laughter}… Every possible of any kind has been played out in one of these universes. 

This is the logic, so they say that, by chance somewhere in one of these vast number of universes, our finely tuned universe just popped into existence.  That is the current explanation for the fine tuning of the universe.   If you’re here tonight and you believe that scientific evidence disproves a designer of the fine tuning of the universe, here’s your evidence.  This is the current presiding explanation.  Atheist theoretical physicist, Sean Carroll, believes “An infinite number of universes is more plausible than God.”  “…each potential state does not cease to exist…each potential state creates a new universe and is real in that new universe.”  “Carroll states that he believes that the number of alternate universes actually existing is actually infinite.”  (Evolution News, Aug 2, 2017)  That is how they explain away the fine tuning of gravity and all the other constants.  That’s the way they explain it.  There are an infinite number of universes where every possible event has occurred, we just happen to live in the one where this series of events occurred.  Is that enough for you?

There is a philosophical problem though that rears it’s ugly head here.  If anything is possible in these universes, than it’s quite possible that we’re in a universe where God exists.  So the logic shoots itself in the foot.

I am so blessed to be a part of Daryl’s ministry and teaching.  I learn from him every time I get the opportunity to meet.  I hope you don’t mind my sharing this one excerpt from his teaching, because I find it so valuable and practical in my daily walk.  The bible tells us to put on the armor of God and prepare for the battles each and every day.  This is just one of the many battles we are fighting in today’s world, and I am using RDOF as one of my many weapons.  I believe it could provide value in your walk as well.  If you’d like to look into Daryl’s latest, follow RDOF on Facebook or find his videos on WWW.VIMEO.COM .  I hope you have the opportunity to check out his teachings.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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There Will Come a Day

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” – Matthew 25:46

 

There is a rope stretching for as far as one’s eye can see.  Imagine it laid on a football field, with one end staked to the ground at the goal line at one end of the field and the rope extending straight down the center towards the other end.  It doesn’t stop at the other goal line, but continues straight out of the tunnel at the end, onto the parking lot, and then the street, the park, the subdivisions, the countryside and so on.  For miles and miles, the rope lays in a perfectly straight line over the horizon beyond your comprehensible vision.

A person walks up to you and hands you a single red pushpin and asks you to stick it into the rope at any point along the rope within the scope of your visible realm.  Taking 10 steps forward you press it into the rope and step back.  What did this mean?  What is the purpose of this silliness?  Consider that the red pushpin represents the entirety of your life on this earth, and the rope represents the entirety of the eternal kingdom.  The beginning; all of the history behind you all the way to the infinitely distant, immeasurable future. 

Where is your focus?  In today’s world we are so focused on the pushpin, the 70, 80 or even 100 years of our life on this earth and ignore the reality that there is an eternal  kingdom where we will spend 99.9999999999+ % of our existence.  Why is this so hard for mankind to comprehend?  Why are we so enamored with and addicted to this realm?  Are we so captured by what we see to believe that this is all there is, that we are so important in the cosmos that we can fathom the entirety of mankind’s existence?

Take a step back and look at your existence in the scope of all of humanity.  Whether you are a Christian, a Jew, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Wiccan, an Atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist or none of these; you have a beginning and you will have an end, just like every other human that has walked upon this earth.  You must have an opinion on what will happen to you when the end comes.  You must have an opinion of what was here before you.  Our lives are shaped by our knowledge, our experiences and our environment; but if this is all there is and all there ever has been, then we must ask ourselves, why does anything we do have value?

Each day I make business decisions which impact the lives of those customers and companies that rely on our products.  I make decisions that impact the lives of employees that work for the company I work for.  If we make a profit or lose money this quarter, people’s livelihood is impacted and their families are impacted.  We make a difference in this world, but it is all temporary.  Today’s decisions impact tomorrow, but what about 10 years from now, 20 years, 50 years and so on.  What am I doing today that will impact the long term future of this world?  And if this is true, why should I care – I won’t be here.  Do I owe something to the future generations of this planet?  Why?  Why is it my responsibility to ensure they have a better life?  If I have not bigger perspective than my own existence on this rock, then all of a sudden, my social value system begins to crumble quickly.  I immediately only become interested in the comfort level of my own personal life while here, and find it very easy to blame others for impacting my comfortable life.

When I step back and consider the eternal picture of God’s Kingdom though, my attitude changes dramatically.  All of a sudden, my fellow man becomes more important.  I want them to be in heaven with me because I love them, and I am interested in more than my own salvation and future, but theirs as well.  All of a sudden, I’m more compassionate, more loving to my neighbor, more forgiving, more empathetic and far less selfish and greed stricken. 

I have a infinitely small window of opportunity (the red pushpin) to influence those around me for good, to experience God and His love and to share the gospel.  Once it is gone, that responsibility is passed on to others.  I could die tomorrow, so what am I doing while standing on this red pushpin on the timeline of eternity that will change the outcome of someone’s eternal well-being.  That is what I really get up for each morning, and why I am so driven to want to spread His word.  I hope you feel the same today and are willing to share this and spread His gospel along with me, for you see you have a pushpin of your own to work within.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Judas in the 21st Century

Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.  Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”   – Matthew 26:48-49

The traitor, the betrayer and the evil one sitting at the table next to Jesus at the Last Supper.  We observe thousands of years later and still look upon him with disdain and accusation for what he did to our Savior Jesus Christ.  What was behind his motivation and decision to betray the Son of God?  Within the scriptures it clearly states in several passages that Satan had entered into Judas (of Iscariot), and therefore provides the real motivation behind his actions.  Judas had displayed worldly views throughout the writings of the Disciples.  Greed, selfishness, stealing, covetness and murder; just to name a few.  All of these are sins of this world, which led to Judas being prey to Satan’s control.

Jesus called Judas as a disciple though.  Because He was all God and all man, He must have known from the time of this calling that Judas would serve a purpose later in His life.  I propose that Judas, like many Jewish people at that time, was waiting for a King to come and save them from the persecution and oppression under Roman control at that time.  When Jesus came upon him and asked him to follow, his mind must have immediately jumped to the conclusion.  “This is it, this is the time we have been waiting for.  Our freedom is at hand after all of these years.” 

He acted as their treasurer, and condemned Mary’s use of expensive perfume to wash Jesus feet, and said “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” (John 12:5)  His interests were in material things, not things of the kingdom of God.  Based on his worldly view, I propose that Judas was looking for his self interest in being part of an overthrow of the Roman authority, and was excited to go along.  At some point over the few years he walked with Jesus though, he came to realize that Jesus intentions were not an overthrow of this world’s authority and he took things into his own hands (or shall I say Satan took control).  He negotiated a price for the head of Jesus Christ, with an intention of bringing the whole thing to an end.  Satan used Judas to exercise his will in this world and to murder Jesus once and for all.  For thirty pieces of silver, and with a kiss, Judas betrayed the Son of God.  Satan’s work had been done, Judas was no longer needed.  Regret sets in when Judas realizes what he has done.  He gives back the thirty pieces of silver, and hangs himself. 

Judas was called by the Son of God to follow Him.  He had every opportunity possible to live a life serving God and helping others come to know Jesus Christ.  But, he wanted the immediate satisfaction, the power himself, the fame and fortune that this world can bring.  I then have to ask the hard question: How different are we?

We are given every opportunity to live a life for and to serve the almighty God, but we let our lives, our desires, our greed, selfishness and lusts get in the way.  These sins of Judas, are they greater than our sins?  Does not every sin take us farther from Christ, who is sinless and perfect, and bring us closer to a worldly view?  Is Satan no longer alive in this realm and capable of turning a man’s heart away from God and towards the world?  Was Judas just a weak man, unable to resist the temptations, and we are so much stronger today that temptations of this world are of no concern? 

Perhaps, we are much more like Judas than we are like Jesus.  That should concern each and every one of you reading this today.  For you see, every sin, every temptation, every desire that draws you away from Christ, draws you closer to Satan.  Judas had a purpose in God’s plan of salvation for mankind.  He was to betray the Son of God, to set in motion the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  This was done once, so that our sins could be forgiven by His grace.  But, make no mistake about it, sin is still sin, and is still of the world and therefor of the devil.  Flee from it, resist temptation and turn toward the Lord, for we do not need another Judas.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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And the World Keeps Turning

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

Storm after storm, raging wild fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, wars and political unrest have become norm in the last few years.  Have we become numb to the pain and suffering in the world?  Are we so overtaken by the volume of events and information that it’s impossible to engage and take a stance?  The world continues to teeter on the very brink of destruction, according to the global warming community; while those in opposition spend time and waste resources trying to disprove it.  Do these individuals actually believe that mankind in our minutia are capable of destroying what God has created?

Consider that the earth does have a life cycle, a timeline and an end point for existence.  But to think that we have control of that finite timeline is awful arrogant on our part.  The exactness of creation is unfathomable when we stop to truly think about our place in all of existence.  Consider the perfection of His design of the solar system, universe, galaxies, clusters, Sun, planets, earth, moon, gravity, oceans, land, atmosphere, water, trees, animals, mankind, brain, organs, blood, cells, atoms, molecules, neutron, electron, neutrino, quark and plank; and understand that it’s simply not random. His finger put it all in perfect place, perfect relationship to each other, and dependence upon this perfect relationship for the cooperative existence.  Shall we believe that we can upset this perfection from our actions?   If indeed we do have this much control doesn’t it bring into question why God would allow us this power?    

The hard question to address: In this world, is there enough evil for mankind to destroy what the Lord has created?  First, we must understand that EVIL DOES EXIST IN THIS WORLD, and that God is not the author of evil, we are.  In our flesh we are drawn to the desires of the world, the temptations and the lustfulness based on our short-sided desire for instant gratification.  Each day we are faced with decisions that will either bring glory to God or bring glory to ourselves.  It really is that simple.  When we take what He has given us for granted and think only about ourselves, we are destroying the beauty, the paradise that He provided.  We can eliminate the natural resources He provided, we can contaminate the nearly infinite water supply He provided, we can pollute the perfectly balanced atmosphere that He provided; all in the name of progress for our desires.  So, the answer is Yes, we have created enough evil in this world to destroy what He created, but it doesn’t mean He isn’t in control.

For you see, in His word, God tells us in Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” and in 2 Peter 3:7 – “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”  and again in Revelations 3:12 – “…city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God…” We are destroying the earth because of our lack of knowledge, selfishness and belief that we are actually in control.  God has revealed to us that we are destined for death on this planet in one way or another,  Hebrews 9:27-28 – “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.  He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.” 

Jesus is coming back, and if we, as followers and believers, are fortunate enough to still be on this planet on that day, we will be taken with Him.  For those who have refused, they will see the complete and utter destruction of this earth, and in that day be consumed with it.  So, yes global warming is real, and caused by man’s selfishness and greed; but it is not unpredictable.  For God has revealed it all in His Word for all of those who are willing to listen.  Fear not child, but be ready for the day is nearing when we shall all be with Him once again in the new Jerusalem.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Unproven Faith

“Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by,  as in generations of old..” – Isaiah 51:9

I love studying history and watching shows on the history channel.  I find it interesting to see where we came from, how we got here and the passion and vigor for which those of previous generations fought to have what we now often take for granted.  I particular enjoy learning about the history of ancient Israel and the times before and shortly after the life of Jesus Christ.  I watch as scientists, archaeologists, studied professionals and pundits all try to piece together an accurate portrayal of what life must have been like in those days.  Often times, I challenge their opinions and question what they might claim as factual, simply due to emotion and biasness that they harbor when doing their research. 

 Doing research is often deemed scientific and the output used to justify the hypothesis by which the research was commissioned.  The truth be told though, research is nothing more than finding what you want to find to substantiate your belief system.  I propose that true objectivity does not exist when we are dealing with the areas of theological beliefs, parenting and sports.  Often times the person doing the research will be so strongly biased by their emotions and beliefs that it makes it impossible to discover something that would prove that belief wrong.

 We take what we have and try to apply human logic to it.  To most this would seem appropriate given that all things must work together in life and death. When it comes to the area of researching theological history though, mankind is at a serious disadvantage.  We take logic and principals that are contained in our finite minds and apply them to something that is not contained in finite proportions.  You can’t pick up the Bible and read it under the restriction that it must make sense within the limitations of our knowledge base.  If you, like me, are truly seeking the will of God and the purpose for what He wants in your life, you must be able to separate your understanding from your beliefs.  This is the act of faith and trust. 

 You can’t prove that God parted the Red Sea.
 You can’t prove that God rained down sulfur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
 Did Abraham and Sarah truly conceive in their old age.
 You can’t prove that the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, simply by blowing on a horn.
 You can’t prove that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, lived, died on a cross and rose from the dead on the 3rd day.

 We must accept the fact that the Bible contains God’s truth.  It has been handed down for generations and generations.  The Torah (first five books of the bible) has been communicated in both written and verbal form from older family members to the younger generations over thousands of years.  Learning from those that have gone on before maintains the original intent.  The Torah outlines the laws and guidelines given to Moses, and held up by Jewish tradition to this very day.  If I were to open up the book of Genesis in my English (NIV) translation, it would represent the exact details captured by Moses in the original writings thousands of years ago.  It is the thread, the fabric by which my belief structure is based.  If I can’t accept that God created the heavens and the earth by faith, because I trust the bible to be true, than nothing in the Bible is true.

 We must never forget from where we came from as children of God.  Reading the Bible to me is like reading a history book and a personal letter from God to me at the same time.  I read from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with as much faith and trust in the truth that lies therein, as if I were reading the Wall-Street Journal to discover yesterday’s news.  Often times, there is more truth between Genesis and Revelations than could ever come from the news media in today’s culture.  I’m so often taken aback by those that will surf the internet, discover something written by an individual and accept it as fact, gospel and complete truth.  Yet, that same person will look straight at you and tell you that the Bible is a collection of fantasy stories passed down over the ages.  This is a person that has no ability to believe in something intangible or to just trust by faith that the word of God is authentic and has been passed down intact from generation to generation for thousands of years.  In some cases the only thing that can be done for these individuals is to pray that God opens their heart and eyes.  Try as we might, there is no way to prove within the knowledge base of mankind that His word is authentic.  God knows the hearts of every man, and has placed within each of us the desire to seek His truth.  Sometimes, we just need to let God by God and love others as Christ loved us.  Live by His testimony and share His word when allowed, but let Him remove the scales from their eyes.  He’s done it before and can certainly do it again. 

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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You Can’t Put Them Back

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing”
– Proverbs 12:18

As the words echoed through the quietness it immediately becomes apparent that once again my tongue has outpaced the ability for my brain to stop the syllables.  Many of you recall as children we were told sticks and stones may break bones, but words will never hurt you.  Words can be hurtful whether intentional or not, and cannot be taken back.  Do you also recall the story of the tube of toothpaste?  I remember this from a youth camp activity in my teen years.  The counselor came into the room one night while many of us horsing around.  One young man let a few discretionary words escape his lips and the room went quiet.  All eyes turned to the counselor to see his reaction.  The counselor asked the young man to go to his overnight bag and get a tube of toothpaste.  He then proceeded to squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube onto a plate until all of it was sitting in a pile.  He handed the tube to the young man and with just a few words made a very strong point, “Please put the toothpaste back in the tube for me?”  With that the counselor left the room and we all had learned a valuable lesson about choosing the words we say.

We are reminded throughout the scriptures to watch our tongue and words that come from our lips.  Paul, Peter and James write frequently of the evil and deceit that comes from the lips of man.  It is critically important to keep alert and aware of the words that we speak, knowing that we cannot take them back and that they will have a definite impact on those within hearing distance.  We all fail at times inadvertently say something that hurts the feelings of those around us.  If we are not quick to retract those words, consider the long term damage they may cause to your relationship.  Anger often gets the best of us and we say things that we truly never meant, but if we’re not big enough and humble enough to take them back and apologize, it is almost as if we are telling the other person we truly meant what we said.  Friendships and relationships can forever be changed by a word or combination of words said in a solitary moment.  It doesn’t have to be so.

 Because the flesh is weak, we are all susceptible to unrighteousness in many ways while we are still walking upon this earth.  It is impossible to live your entire life without a slip of the tongue.  Knowing this, we are all to be held accountable to make amends where we have inflicted pain, suffering and sorrow from our lips.  In addition, we should be quick to seek the forgiveness of the Father for our weakness and carelessness.

They cannot un-hear once the words have left the tongue but there is healing in the apology, repentance and actions to love others as Jesus loved you.  This should be our goal in these situations.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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If Not Now, When?

Why don’t we trust God?  Why do we allow fear and worry to overtake our faith?  I propose to you that we don’t have a proper respect of God and just how much He loves us.

What is God asking you to do with your life?  You know that thing that is in your heart and continues to come to the forefront every time you think about doing more.  You and I both know that God wants more from you than you have given Him.  For that matter He wants all of you and surprisingly still loves and accepts you even though you give Him such a small part of who you are.  Each of us have our respective list of excuses.  Mine is longer than most and I review it frequently and challenge myself to look past the false limitations I have place in front of my total commitment to God.

Several years ago I was at a Promise Keeper’s conference with Pastor Kerry Shook and Randy Reeves here in Houston.  On the bus home from an absolutely inspiring conference Pastor Kerry looked at each of us and asked one question:  “If tomorrow you woke up and every limitation you can imagine had been lifted from your list of burdens: finances, job, education, time, fears of speaking, etc.; and you were given a blank checkbook to an unlimited bank account, what would you do for God?”
It truly makes one think about their priorities in life and where one places God on the list of things to focus on.  The list of excuses is endless and I’m sure you can add to this list:

1. If I could become financially independent, I would tithe to God and spend my life serving Him.
2. I’ve got this big project at work, I just can’t break away for enough hours to dedicate to serving God right now.  As soon as this is over I will.
3. As soon as the kids are grown and move away to college, then I’ll focus on serving God.
4. There just aren’t enough hours in the day; with work, the drive time to and from work, kid’s school, soccer, cheerleading, dentist office, dinner, bathtime, helping with homework, catching up on e-mails, more work into the night and getting sleep each day – I can’t take on another thing.  I just don’t have the time right now.
5. I’m afraid if I give up my job to serve the Lord, I will lose everything I have.

 

What is it that is keeping you from serving God completely?  Time management, finances, work, relationships, laziness or the lack of desire?  I challenge you this week to focus on how your using your time, and by next weekend, what you would be willing to give up to spend more time giving back to God.  Get a picture in your head of just how big God is.  If God had a physical hand, the Earth, moon, stars and Sun would look like a spec of dirt under His fingernail; yet He wants desperately to have an intimate one on one relationship with you.  If you don’t feel close to God or are wondering where He is; you should be looking in a mirror, because He never moved nor changed; you have.  Stretch your mind and get a big vision for how you can impact God’s kingdom, than ask yourself “Why not?”  Put aside those answers and fears and focus on trusting God to see it through.

 

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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