“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Isaiah 7:9b

Having to be at an appointment at 11:30am… 4.3 miles away, I realized I also needed to drop something off somewhere else after THIS appointment… 3.7 miles away. The time was 11:07am. Calculating…calculating… I ran to my truck and, and based upon my calculations, hastened to complete the circle. Then forgot the thing I needed to drop off! Do I turn around? And yes… I made it!

Most of us do this rush around every single day. Some folks, like me, tend to press the envelope more than others. But the fact remains. We ALL face situations where time, distance, obstacles and potential hazards lie in wait! We ALL make calculations and then execute a plan to accomplish something. And it is ALWAYS BY FAITH IN HOPE!

Over 700 years before Christ was born, an evil King was challenged by GOD to ask for a sign that GOD would protect and save His own people. King Ahaz played a fake humble attitude and refused to ask God. So God gave Ahaz His OWN sign. “A SAVIOR!” 2700 years later we are STILL celebrating the miracle of Emmanuel! Well…some of us anyway!

Living on Earth is DANGEROUS! If God were to take away oxygen we wouldn’t last 3 minutes! Car accidents may pale in comparison to death by virus or bacteria. Yet we get in our cars and drive head on toward people doing the same thing from the opposite direction…separated by a yellow line… less than 10 feet apart! Then we tell God what we cannot, or WILL NOT do!

The world is going crazy and it seems the news media are in competition to be ‘The Expert’ in the announcement of fear and mayhem! And the world is so riddled with contestants, you’d think the prize was world domination! Yet as crazy as that sounds, the saddest people are the ones who choose to believe the lies! The common denominator of both… is selfishness.

God and I have a deal. I let Him be God and He lets me see what only His Children can see. The tool is Faith! And as I see it, my Faith is either growing…or fading. Having seen SO much from God in the past, I EXPECT to see even more in the present and future. Being a Faith guy, I can verify that the Bible verse today is ABSOLUTELY TRUE! And exercising Faith in a VERY BIG GOD… isn’t so hard to swallow!

So… what are YOU standing on?  Will YOU make it?

“Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?'” John 14:9

“It was a tie!” Last night’s ‘Annual Congregational Christmas Quiz’ was held between the Red team and the Green team. Both sides had male and female, and young and old participants. When it was all said and done, most folks were happy, smarter and shell-shocked at what they didn’t know! It was fun… ending in a tie!

What really stood out for me was the delay on the start time to discuss ‘rules,’ ‘scoring’ and ‘fairness!’ After disagreeing, and then agreeing to the terms, the quiz got underway. Obviously, some questions were easier than others. When a person considered smart got an EASY question, “that’s not fair” could be heard!

The story of the Birth of Jesus Christ takes only 4 chapters of the entire 1189 that exist in the Bible. The first Chapters 2 of both Matthew and Luke tell the complete story. Based upon traditional Christmas pictures and scenes, MOST of what people THINK happened… didn’t! Or DID! Depending on the question.

We have NO idea how many wise men there were… and we know they weren’t Kings. We also know they DIDN’T show up at the manger scene, but came to a HOUSE where Jesus could have been as old as 2. The Bible story doesn’t say there were camels or donkeys at the manger scene either! Shattering traditions hurts!

One thing I know from experience and observation, is that people do not like tests! Lots of folks stayed home for ‘The Quiz,’ opting to opt ‘out’ rather than ‘in.’ And while attendance is neither mandatory or indicative of a person’s Christian walk, it CAN be a determining factor for something else.

I asked someone yesterday if they ‘knew’ Jesus personally. Their answer was similar to the question, “Do you know your neighbor Bill… the guy who lives 4 doors down from you?” ‘KNOWING’ has many different degrees. What many don’t understand is that getting into Heaven requires INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE of Jesus.

I made a joke yesterday, “Heaven will contain NO illegal immigrants.” Most laughed. What most do not understand is that there WILL be a quiz… a TEST… in order to get INTO Heaven. It will consist of only 1 question! And if you know neither the question… NOR it’s answer… you are NOT getting past the Pearly Gates. So… Do you? Because your life… is the proof! Nervous???

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'” Mark 6:15

“GREAT JOB GUYS!” is what I said… even though 2 of the 5 guys were girls! It was the last JYC meeting before Christmas Vacation. JYC is a Christian Ministry our Church sponsors at the local Middle School where Jason, Amanda, Randy, Max, Vicki and I (and sometimes John) teach Bible lessons to about 15 kids!

Jason heads the ministry up, and he decided to have a Christmas Bible Quiz like we do at our church… then pass out gifts. When he was all done, there was still some time on the clock. He came over to me and whispered, “hey we’ve got 15 minutes if you have anything you want to add.” It took 30 seconds to respond.

Standing before all those Jr. Christian Knights, I asked them, “what is something you might say to a stranger to get them to talk about Jesus?” Every eye in the place stared back… blank! That’s how I knew it was ‘Jesus’ asking the question, and not me. Rewording the sentence a few times got nothing. So I suggested!

What if you were to ask, “where do you think you’ll go when you die?” Eyes began to light up, and other suggestions were made. Within 15 minutes, we had a bone fide, warrior, army of Evangelists… giving thought to how they could become evangelists for Jesus! Then I told them about the Command to “Go Tell!”

People do not usually think about dying during the day. But everybody dies. And unless they have already received Christ as Lord and Savior, people rarely give thought to Jesus Christ at all. It takes an outside force to create inner thought! And that outer force is SUPPOSED to be ‘Jesus’ saved people!’ ME!… and YOU!

So this Christmas season… will you join me, and the ‘Guys,’ in boldly asking strangers questions to get them thinking about the one for whom the Holiday Season is named? Jesus CHRIST! It’s on WE THE PEOPLE to do just that. So… why not ‘GO TELL!’ It’s YOUR TURN!

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:15-16

The man’s expression said it all! I had simply asked him how he’d been doing. The look on his face spoke volumes without him even having to open his mouth! When he finally DID speak, his words were few… “I hate this world!” So, what am I, ‘The Preacher,’ SUPPOSED to say in response? I said it… “GOOD!,” I replied!

I said what I said, because I knew this Bible passage from experience. I too have said those same words… “I HATE this world,” and meant them every time I said them. The common response I get is, “Well you shouldn’t!” But that response, stated beside the words from the Bible, are in obvious conflict! An Oxymoron!

Yes… God created the world. But He did NOT create EVERYTHING IN IT! Sin and evil were created by a rebellious decision, first by satan… then received, birthed then perpetuated by woman herself! Adam followed! If I had the opportunity to see the ‘GOOD’ world God created, for just a few seconds, I’d never want to leave.

Now I’m not prescribing myself a life of misery on this evil planet. Nor am I contemplating a leap off a tall cliff! What I simply MUST do is take God’s Word as Truth, and adjust my view to fit HIS view of the world. He saw it as lost, then sent His Son, and now His Church, into the world to proclaim Good News to lost souls.

When I find myself enjoying something enormously, there needs to be a quick checkup as to WHY! If it is because my worldly flesh is wallowing in fleshy mud, I need to back up and make a correction. If it is a Godly Joy… I may continue. But looking for and knowing the difference is what makes me Jesus’ Guy!

What do YOU love and think about! Is it for a Godly reason? So what’s YOUR opinion of “The World?”

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’” John 11:25-26

“Using the power of A.I., I am going to Amaze YOU!” And with that, the magician pulled out of his top hat… not a rabbit… but a BOWLING BALL! Then dropped it with a ‘THUD’… onto the floor! The crowd went WILD!!! “YEAHHHHH!” Along with APPLAUSE APPLAUSE! “A.I.” he said again. “You know what it means right?”

I happened to be thinking that A.I. was ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ because that has been ‘a thing’ for about a year now. But the magician said “NO! It stands for the ‘Almost Impossible!”’ And the crowd roared! We were on our cruise and the magician was the opening act for entertainment. He had us all mesmerized!

After making things appear and disappear for about 45 minutes, he vanished behind the curtain. Then I began to think., “how did he do all that and just how much time and effort did it take him to learn?” The man made a career out of traveling the world ‘mesmerizing people.’ To me, that would NOT be a good life.

Going on a cruise for a period of time is a fun get-away, but to be STUCK on a cruise for 5 days after performing ONE 45 minute gig, then go on to another, seemed lonely and sad. So I resolved to see if I could find him on the ship and impress him with some REAL magic. I only had one question for him!

After keeping an eye out for him for several days, I didn’t seen him. He’d ‘disappeared!’ I WANTED to ask him if he could perform the ULTIMATE trick… one that’s ONLY been seen ONE TIME in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the WORLD! I wanted to ask him, “Can you die… and then come back to life again! Cuz I can!”

I used today’s Bible verse for a Memorial service of one of our Church members. Sadly, the only people who seemed to be amazed were the ones who already knew the same guy I know… His name is Jesus Christ. And not only did He die and come back to life… he left a free ticket to join him in doing the very same thing…

If I WANT to!

“Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.” Jeremiah 10:23-24

It’s Christmas time! YEAAAAAA! Time to put on the cheer and celebrate the greatest gift ever given to man – God’s plan for salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. In our house, that means dragging out the boxes of decorations to celebrate! It is the reverse of what we did in January of last year when the boxes were carefully packed, labeled and stored. Now we fetch and unpack. One of my jobs is putting up the outside lights! Need I say more???

How is it that Christmas lights that worked perfectly last year… do not work now? They’re not like milk that spoils. I can’t figure how an inanimate object can be created… then just go bad without ever being touched. But SOMETHING certainly wreaked havoc – because half of my lights do not work! I commiserated with a friend who just had the same experience! We agreed… it’s not worth trying to fix them! THAT is a learned lesson in futility! It’s easier to just throw ‘broken’ away and buy new! But what does God do with ‘Broken?’

God has a way with broken, tangled lives? All through the Bible we get a picture of God’s amazing patience and Grace. Each and every one of us has faced times where our faith wavered, our love grew cold, our hearts hurt and our ‘get up and go’ just ‘got up and went!’ What does OUR maker do with us? Does He throw the whole tangled, broken mess of our lives into the trash? I think you already know the answer.

I thank God that God is in the restoration and fixing business! One of the biggest proofs of God’s existence and love comes from the nation of Israel. When He called them, they were few. He made a promise to them and, due to their own stubborn hearts, they broke His! But He continues to work, fix and move… using time and events to restore Israel to Himself. THAT story is a continuing one until the end of this planet. That Israel is a nation again is one of the biggest miracles of the ages… and should be of great encouragement to us.

God loves us all. The price He paid to redeem us is so high, that virtually NO human on earth could ever pay it. But God did! And for those of us who know Him, strain to hear the music He plays in our hearts, listening for His voice to lead us, we follow on by faith… step by step.  We know that ‘He who began a good work in us, WILL complete it.’ SO, fellow shiny one…“Let your light shine!”

I am going to work on doing that today! Because THAT… is MY job! How about YOU?

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Packing! If you want to go somewhere for any length of time, it is necessary to gather together the items you will need for the trip, and place them in a suitcase. Clothes, toiletries, medications and other ‘things,’ wanted or needed, must be gathered and organized into a suitcase. Preparation takes planning and effort!

Recently we’ve had to go through the packing process, then upon our return, unpack our ‘stuff.’ As we were preparing to go on a 5 day cruise, the thought hit me… what would or could I pack to take with me to Heaven? A silly question since, as the saying goes, “Ya can’t take it with you!” Or, I thought, could I?

Is there anything I can actually plan, prepare and take with me to Heaven? In light of this verse I came across, apparently… there is! So just like planning for a trip away from home, I began to ‘make up a list!’ Knowing my point of destination, and what the Bible says is awaiting me, my thinking traveled Heavenward.

I KNOW I have been created for a purpose. My life has a meaning and there are ‘good works’ for me to DO that Jesus expects from me. When I get to heaven, I know that my ‘just passing through,’ here on Earth, will be judged. I will be rewarded based upon my doing those things, and how well they were done.

Heavenly reward, I have come to believe, should be looked at as intentionally as preparing for a road trip. While I cannot take THINGS with me to Heaven, it is evident that I CAN plan ahead to receive a reward more valuable than ‘fun’ or ‘money!’ So what is my responsibility? What Heavenly blessings might await me?

The Spiritual Gifts that Christ pours out on His people are real. Some have been called to be teachers, evangelists, prayers, helpers and many other duties necessary to Christ’s Church. Along the way, we ALL have opportunities to tell, show, or live out the Life Christ has planned for, and given to us. But am I DOING?

Of course it’s just a thought. But if it only REMAINS a thought and is not acted upon, it would be like going on a trip with no bags! Are YOU packing UP for Heaven? What do you KNOW you will be rewarded for? And how much more can you DO for Him?

“…for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.” Luke 1:15

The message to all was “Next wire renew date March 16, 2025.” It was on the ship’s crane, used to lift items up, and onto, the ship. Being on vacation, with deliberately nothing to do… I read, then thought about it. I also took a better look at the existing cable that was already there… it was starting to look rough as of 11/2024!

Thinking about what that crane could possibly lift, I ruled out ‘people.’ But maybe I shouldn’t have. What the message said was that the cable, or lifting power, had an expiration date! If I was in a lifeboat, even in a position of being saved by that lift, I’d be worried if the day was say… February 22, 2025! That’d be too close to trust!

Naturally, on vacation with nothing else to do, I began running scenarios in my head. I understand that that specific date was probably computed by some engineer, way back in some office, possibly far from sea. But WHY boldly place it, in black letters on white, where EVERYONE could read it… and wonder?

Knowing the Holy Spirit, I knew He was trying to teach me a lesson with the ‘show and tell’ before my eyes. While coming up with several possibilities, the one that ‘stuck’ made me examine the expiration date on MY life. How much and how well have I lifted people, under my care, up to now. Can I improve? And for how long?

The story of Jesus’ birth is preceded by the story of John the Baptist. Reading it, I caught that he was to abstain from ‘wine and other fermented drink.’ Looking up commentaries on that, I learned the lesson that, when it comes to joy, NOTHING artificial is to be accepted. Only the Joy that comes from the Holy Spirit will do.

As I write, I am forced to examine my life to determine what artificial sweeteners, habits and hangups I might be relying on. How GREAT do ‘I’ look to Jesus? This is going to take some time and deep consultation with the Engineering powers of the Holy One. Care to join me in that introspection inspection this Advent? 

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!” Revelation 3:15

“Why is it so cold in here?” I thought. The temperature outside was chilly, but the electric fireplace was turned on and the heater was blazing orange! As I lay under a light blanket watching a football game, I still felt a chill… “must be my age.” That thought was suddenly interrupted when I asked Katie… ”Is our AC on?”

It is a habit to turn the AC down a little lower at night so we can sleep better. Waking up to a slight chill, I had tuned on the heater… totally forgetting about the air conditioner being on. Then last night, I had a conflicting chill in the direct presence of heat! DUH!! Feeling a little stupid, I remembered this verse.

Revelation 3 is Jesus’ continued evaluation of the 7 existing Churches at the time of John’s writing of Revelation. Judgments, which started in Chapter 2, end with this verse describing the very last of the 7 churches… Laodicea. Known as the ‘lukewarm church,’ Jesus was disappointed in them to the point of throwing up!

The 7 Churches really did exist when John wrote down the vision. But the 7 church’s judgments also describe the character of The Church, over time, to today. Today in 2024, I am living in the age of the Church of Laodicea! Yup… that means that, over all, ‘Christians today are noted for being mostly lazy and apathetic!!

As I lay there under the AC vent and under that blanket, I was chilly. But I didn’t really bother to get up to do anything about my condition. Finally, when I put 2+2 together, I took action. Jesus says He respects fired up followers of satan more than cold-hearted church goers. Those words leave me with a convicted choice!

Am I on FIRE for Jesus? Or am I just cool to the notion of being His fireball for change? And what about YOU?