Just Keep Praying

Acts 28:25-28 ESV

And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

“‘Go to this people, and say,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

For this people's heart has grown dull,

    and with their ears they can barely hear,

    and their eyes they have closed;

lest they should see with their eyes

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

    and turn, and I would heal them.’

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

If you are at all in tune with what is happening in today’s institutional church, you are probably aware that the truth that Jesus taught, and the truth that Paul taught is largely not what is being taught as the gospel here in America, not in its fulness. For so many people are now diluting and altering the gospel message and the character of God/Christ to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly.

For so many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are stopping up their ears, and they are closing their eyes to the truth, and they are refusing to listen. For they want to hear that nothing is required of them other than some obscure faith in Christ that is of their own creation, or that is created in the minds of other humans who also do not want to hear the truth of the gospel. They don’t want to hear that they must repent and submit and obey the Lord.

They like the messages which tell them that they can just believe (not usually biblically defined) in Jesus Christ once in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die regardless of how they live. And so they reject the messages which teach the necessity of dying to sin daily and of walking daily in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord Jesus.

So, this isn’t exactly what Paul was generally faced with, although he was to some degree, for he wrote much on this subject of how we need to die to our old lives of sin and how we need to now walk in holiness and in obedience to our Lord. But he generally was up against the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah, and so that is why the Lord sent Paul to the Gentiles (non-Jews), for they would listen, though not all did.

So, it isn’t that we are being faced much with non-believers who are refusing to believe in Jesus, but what we are up against are many nominal Christians who profess faith in the Lord but who try to find wiggle room around his commands so that they don’t have to obey them. So, in this sense, we are faced with the same situation as Paul, for the Jews had been God’s chosen people, and the promise of the Messiah was given to them first, but the Jewish nation, as a whole, but not every single Jew, has denied Jesus Christ.

So, we should be in prayer for the people of our nations, wherever we live, that God will open spiritually blinded eyes, that they will turn from darkness (sin) to light (truth, Jesus Christ, the gospel) and from the power (control) of Satan to God (his wisdom, his counsel, his gospel message, his salvation) so that they will receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified (made holy) by faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord (see Acts 26:16-18).

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Just Keep Praying

Video Talk

May 28, 2023

https://youtu.be/uKiG4fil-Sk 

Caution: This link may contain ads

Constantly Abiding 

By Anne S. Murphy, 1908 

There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave,

A peace it cannot take away;

Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,

I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,

When peace sweetly came to my heart;

Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,

Blessèd Jesus, how glorious Thou art!

This treasure I have in a temple of clay,

While here on His footstool I roam;

But He’s coming to take me some glorious day,

Over there to my heavenly home!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:

“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnmojpwHb0

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The Lord, The Lord

The Lord, The Lord,

He is my light.

He’s the Rock

  Of my salvation.

In Him I trust.

The Lord, The Lord,

He is my strength.

He’s my hope

  And He’s my comfort.

In Him I rest.

The Lord, The Lord,

He is my song; 

My delight

  I now find in Him.

To Him belong.

The Lord, The Lord,

He is the truth.

He’s the way

  Of Christian living.

I trust His Word.

The Lord, The Lord,

In Him secure.

Fellowship

  I now have with Him.

Through Him endure.

The Lord, The Lord,

My husband is.

One day will

  I go to meet Him;

Forever live.

An Original Work / April 27, 2018

Crazy for Jesus

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” (Acts 26:24-29 ESV)

When we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and we do what he has called us to do, as his followers, we are going to be called all sorts of names, and “crazy” may be one of them. For even many professing Christians and even some pastors and elders of church congregations will find us odd and peculiar if we actually take the word of God seriously and we put it into daily practice. For it appears not many people do these days. 

But it isn’t just “these days” I was recalling as I recorded the video to go along with this. For I recalled when I was a youth that our youth leader told us that we are to pray for the missionaries. And then he added, “But none of us do.” And so I shyly raised my hand and I said, “I do.” For, you see, I was one of those children and youth who took God seriously. And if I was told that I was to pray for the missionaries, that is what I did.

Now I was not a perfect child, but I also was not a willfully rebellious and defiant child, either. I don’t believe I ever thought of talking back to my parents and I rarely disobeyed them, partly because my father was an abuser, and I feared him greatly. But also because it was wrong, and it would be treating them badly. But that doesn’t mean that I did everything right, either. But generally speaking I was a rule follower, and I took God and his word seriously, and I wanted to obey the Lord.

When I was in college and I was in our college youth group from my local church fellowship, we gathered together at someone’s home some Sunday nights after the evening service, and we had a devotion of some kind and some snacks. And I recall many of them were buying into the whole thing of evolution, and they were questioning, to some extent, the story of creation as it is told us in the Scriptures. And I thought that was just wrong, and so I was regarded as odd. I just didn’t fit in with most people my age.

But the Scriptures teach that we are to be God’s holy people, and that we are to be holy in all our conduct. And to be holy is to be different from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. But if we are different, we are regarded as odd, peculiar, religious fanatics, crazy, antiquated and as dinosaurs, i.e. as “a person or thing that is outdated or has become obsolete because of failure to adapt to changing circumstances” (Oxford Languages).

But I think of it this way. Jesus’ family members thought he was crazy, and they wanted to put him away, for he was probably an embarrassment to them. I know Paul was called “crazy” (out of his mind), and so was Jeremiah, I am fairly certain, as probably were some of the other prophets and apostles in the Bible times. So, if they call us crazy, well we are then in good company – the company of Jesus, Paul, Jeremiah and the others who served the Lord faithfully and who did what God said.

The other comfort I find in this is that I know I am speaking the truth of God’s Word, not that I am saying I have everything down perfectly, but that I am a diligent student of the Scriptures who works hard to make certain that I am sharing the truth and not the lies. And I am one who is walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus and who is doing what he called me to do. So, if they call me names, it is okay, for I know that what I am sharing is what is necessary to people’s faith, salvation, and eternal life with God. And so I am at peace. And if people find me odd, well then, praise the Lord!

Crazy for Jesus

Video Talk

May 27, 2023

https://youtu.be/6fEgpj9PIdk

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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Ring Out the Sound

Ring out the sound, ring out the bells,

And of the gospel, tell them, tell.

Do not hold back, and please don’t slack,

For many of the truth do lack.

Get that truth out, give it a shout,

And don’t you now have any doubt

That God can take it, take it far,

So be his witness near and far.

Say, “Do repent,” and don’t relent,

And “Obey God. Don’t be a fraud.”

And tell them well for their own sake

So Jesus they their Master make.

For many making much pretense,

But Christ is not their Lord (intent),

For sin is what they want the most,

So Christ as Lord they do not host.

An Original Work / January 20, 2023

Giving Thanks to God

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14 ESV)

Now this is addressed here to those of genuine walks of faith and obedience to our Lord Jesus who are faithful in service to him. It doesn’t mean that everyone among us is of such faith, but that the words expressed here were written to those who have died with Christ to sin and who are now living to God and to his righteousness in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, in practice. We are those in Christ Jesus who love others with the love of Christ, who are bearing spiritual fruit for Christ in keeping with repentance.

We who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives are to be living the life in Christ which we profess with our lips. We need to be students of the Scriptures who study them IN CONTEXT, who are listening to what our Lord is saying to us, and who are walking in obedience to his commands. For this is the way in which we are filled with the knowledge of God’s will for our lives in all spiritual understanding and wisdom, but under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit of God. 

And we need this wisdom and understanding, which comes from God, so that we, as Christ’s followers, will walk (in conduct, in practice) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. And “worthy” means “fitting, proper, suitable.” Our walks of faith must be fitting to our Lord and to who he was and is, and to the life that he lived, and to the life to which he has called us to live, which requires that we deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and walk (in conduct) in obedience to his commands in holy living.

But many people these days are twisting the Scriptures and the words of our Lord to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world. And so they will teach only that God makes us worthy and that we have no part in that process, and that we are already pleasing to God since we professed faith in him, and so we don’t have to do anything to be pleasing to the Lord. That is a lie. In the power of God we must do what God says we must do to be worthy of and pleasing to him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 10:37-38; Matt 22:8; Lu 9:23-26,62; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Gal 6:8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1; Eph 5:10; Php 1:27; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4,12; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 2:17; 1 Jn 3:22] 

So, making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior must be followed with self-denial, dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, and walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, by the Spirit, and empowered by God. For our salvation is progressive sanctification, not a one-time deal and now “we are in”, done deal. We must be those who are maturing in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord under the guidance and direction of the Scriptures (in context) and the Holy Spirit, producing good works.

But that is not what largely is being taught today. So much of what is called “faith” and “believing in Jesus” and “the gospel” is human-produced and not the gospel according to Christ and to the Scriptures. So much is being taken out of context and is being made to say what it does not say if taught in context. And many people are believing the lies and not the truth, and so they have a false faith and a false hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God, which is the goal of this false gospel message.

So many are teaching that all we have to do is just to verbalize “Jesus is Lord,” and claim that we believe in his bodily death and resurrection, and now we are saved for eternity, done deal. But that is out of context. For Jesus and his NT apostles taught a gospel of salvation which requires that, by the grace of God, we die with Christ to sin and we now walk (in conduct) in obedience to his commands. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience, we do not have salvation from sin nor the hope of eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

For, by faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, and is not of our own doing, our Lord delivers us from the domain (control) of darkness (sin), and he transfers (relocates) us to the kingdom of Christ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. For Jesus, in his death on that cross, bought us back for God (redeemed us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we can now, in his power, live holy lives pleasing to God in walks of obedience to his commands and in self-denial and dying to sin daily.

Paradise Valley

Lyrics by Noah White, Music by Virgil Stamps (1935).

As I travel thru life, with its trouble and strife, 

I’ve a glorious hope to give cheer on the way; 

Soon my toils will be o’er and I’ll rest on that shore, 

Where the night has been turned into day.

As I roam the hillside, or I list to the tide, 

As I pluck the sweet flowers that grow in the dale; 

A faint picture is there of a land bright and fair, 

Where perennial flowers ne’er fail.

Tho’ your garden is rare, it is naught to compare 

With the flowers that bloom in the garden above, 

In the midst of it grows, Sharon’s perfect sweet Rose; 

‘Tis the wonderful Flower we love.

Up in paradise valley By the side of the river of life, 

Up in paradise valley, We’ll be free from all pain and all strife; 

There we’ll live in the garden, ‘Neath the shade of the evergreen tree, 

How I long for the paradise valley, Where the beauty of heaven I’ll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcfpFmzHqos

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Be Aware

“When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’

Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.’ So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, ‘Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.’ 

The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, ‘What is it that you have to tell me?’ And he said, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.’” (Acts 23:12-21 ESV)

Now I am going to relate this story to our lives and world and church today. For what was going on here was deceptive. It was trickery. It was a trap. For they wanted to kill Paul in order to shut him up, and possibly also in hopes that the movement he was leading would then disperse. It is kind of like what they did with Jesus, hoping that by killing him it would silence not only his voice, but that his followers would disperse and that they would not have to deal with them anymore.

But I want you to be aware that this kind of trickery is going on within the gatherings of the institutional market-driven "churches" of today, and it is being done by some pastors and other church leaders as a method of controlling people and situations to go the way they want them to go. And even many pastors are being trained in deception and trickery as a way to make things happen the way that suits their marketing goals and purposes.

And my husband and I were church planters twice, so we went through some of this training. And at one of our training sessions we were taught that we are to use (take advantage of) “needy people” in order to get our church plants up and running. But once our church plants were well on their way, we were instructed to get rid of the needy people, for they would weigh us down. Wow! The people in our tiny congregation were needy people. For we were ministering to the hurting, and the rejected, and the neglected.

Also my husband and I had a ministry to college students and to college-age adults out of our home for 7.5 years, from early 1999 to mid-2006, and there were times when we tried to connect this ministry to a local institutional church, because we thought that was the right thing to do. And so we partnered with a local IC (institutional church). We provided the college ministry for their congregation, and they provided us with a facility where we could meet. And at first it went well.

But Then…

I was doing some volunteer work at the church office one day when the pastor called me into his office to talk. He asked me, “Would you say that your praise band would draw in large crowds of people from the world?” I knew exactly where he was going with this, and I also knew that this was contrary to our partnership agreement. For we told him our goal in ministry, at that time, was to provide a place for young people where they could feel included, and where they could feel valued and needed and wanted.

What he said he wanted to do was to replace our band with another band, and he wanted me to talk about that with our ministry team. So, I did, and we decided to all meet with him, and we did. And when we met with him, I asked him to tell the group what he told me, and all he would say was, “I would never do that.” So I asked him, if he would never do that, then why did he ask me to ask our ministry team about doing that. But his answer remained, “I would never do that.”

So, what he was doing was a non-denial denial. He neither admitted to saying it nor did he deny saying it. He just said he would never do that. So, afterwards he and I talked more but he still would not answer my question as to why he said that if he never intended to do that. And then their “Session” (of the Presbyterian Church) called me to a meeting. But they made it a prerequisite that I must admit I lied about the pastor before I could come to their meeting.

But I didn’t lie. I am not the one who was being deceptive. And I had been totally submissive. So I asked the Session if they would remove that requirement and they refused. So, I could not attend their meeting, because I would not lie. And so they put me on church discipline, which is totally against the Scriptures and the whole purpose for church discipline. But what they did, and a lawyer was one of the ones involved in this, would be like if someone accused you of a crime, but before they would give you a fair trial to determine guilt or innocence, you would be required to admit guilt. If you could (or would) not admit guilt, then to jail you went, no trial at all.

Do you see how absolutely evil what they did was? That lawyer knew better than that, and so did that pastor. I think the Session did not really know what was going on, in my opinion, but they were just acting on the word of the pastor and of the lawyer. But they had to know that what they were doing was wrong. You don’t make someone admit guilt before you even give them a chance to be heard. That is criminal! But so many of these ICs are being taught to use deception and trickery in order to get people to do what they want them to do, and/or in order to get rid of the undesirables. 

Bottom line, we pulled our ministry out of that IC, and we took it back to our home, which is where I believe the Lord wanted it to be anyway. And the reason the Lord is having me share this with you is so you will be aware of the kinds of trickery and deception and manipulations which are going on in many of these ICs which are market-driven and which are trying to draw in large crowds of people from the world. Since I was not on board with what they were up to they found a way to silence me, but they lost access to our ministry to college students as a result. So, keep your eyes and ears open.

Be Aware

Video Talk

May 26, 2023

https://youtu.be/qdJ_-KoZLo4

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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The Tapestry

The tapestry was marvelous,

Well done, and was not frivolous.

All shown to fit together well

For all who on the earth do dwell.

For God had His design in mind

In hopes that Him the people find.

He showed Himself to everyone

Through His created works, well done.

But humans have a different mind,

And therefore not all God do find.

For many cast off truth they know

And worship God they do not show.

Instead they worship God’s creation,

The things of earth in jubilation.

They make the things of earth their idols,

And lusts of flesh they do not bridle.

So God, He gave them to their pleasures

To do what in their hearts do treasure,

To live their lives in much confusion,

To treat the Lord with much derision.

But God is calling out to all of us

To live our lives for Him who’s marvelous.

To make Him Lord and Master of our lives,

To live for Him, and to reject the lies.

An Original Work / March 10, 2024

Based off Romans 1:18-32

Tell Them the Truth

In Acts 6:1-15 and Acts 7:1-60 we read about Stephen, a man of great faith, who was being persecuted and lied about by Jews who were libertines. We read of how he was brought before a council and how false witnesses testified against him, but how, when asked if these accusations were true, he chose to talk about the history of the Jews, and how those Jews who were persecuting him were stiff-necked people, always resisting the Holy Spirit, which was a true statement. After that his opponents stoned him to death, and Saul (later called Paul) approved of his execution.

Acts 8:1-4 ESV

“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

What I am getting out of this passage of Scripture today is the importance of telling people the truth regardless of how we get treated in return. It has to be more important to us to tell them the truth, so that they have an opportunity to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, than we value our own reputations and that we care about how people treat us and whether or not they like us. Now this is not saying we should not care at all, for Jesus cared, and Paul cared, for they expressed those sentiments. 

Now since we know that Stephen was a godly and a righteous man who loved the Lord, we know that his intention was not to get even with his persecutors, and it was not to “trade tit for tat.” He wasn’t being hateful or nasty or uncaring. In fact, he cared a lot about his persecutors or he wouldn’t have said what he said to them. I mean, why bother putting yourself in a position where you will most likely be hated, rejected, slandered, and killed if you don’t really care about the people you are addressing with the truth?

So, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to speak the truth to people, but in love. But “in love” never involves compromise of the truth and of righteousness in order to not offend people. For the truth offends. It does! But we need to be willing to offend, if need be, in order to tell them the truth as Jesus told the truth and as the NT apostles told the truth. And none of them sugar-coated it, either. They were kind, but they spoke the truth straight out, and they did not dilute it so as not to offend other people.

So, where the Scriptures teach that we are liars if we claim to be in fellowship with God while we walk in darkness (sin), and that we are liars if we profess to know God but while we do not obey his commands (New Covenant), we need to speak those same truths without compromise and without shame. And where it teaches us that if sin is what we practice, and if obedience to our Lord and righteousness are not what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, we need to speak that same truth uncompromised (see 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).

And yes, we will be hated and persecuted as Jesus was, and as his NT apostles were, and as the prophets of old were also hated and persecuted for telling the people the truth they did not want to hear. So be kind, but don’t water down the truth to be less offensive. Speak it as the Scriptures speak it, for that is how the people need to hear it so that they will be convicted of their sins and repent and turn and obey the Lord. For that is the goal of speaking the truth in love, to help others to be of genuine faith in the Lord and to walk in his ways and in his truth to the very end of time.

The Truth we need to be speaking:

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Tell Them the Truth

Video Talk

May 23, 2023

https://youtu.be/2ZON32JpVOE

Caution: This link may contain ads

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

http://youtu.be/_XQkomPFz4Y

Caution: This link may contain ads

No Other gods Before God

 

Many Antichrists Have Now Come

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 ESV)

This word “love” is “agapē,” which means to prefer, to prefer what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, just, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant. For the believer in Christ, it means to prefer to live through Christ, embracing God’s will, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power. This refers to a selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love that believers in Christ are to have for God and for one another. And it can also mean to “take pleasure in, long for,” which is how we are to love God.

So if we “agapē” love the world, it would mean that we prefer the world over God, and we take pleasure in, and we long for, and we live for the pleasures of the world, and for the passions of the flesh, in place of God. So it is replacing our love for God with the love for what is in this world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. And this would describe the character of those who give lip service to the Lord, but who are the self-indulgent and lovers of intoxication to sin, who prefer their sinful addictions over and above love for God or for anyone else.

So, what does this say if that is the case in our lives? If we prefer, if we long for, and if we take pleasure in the passions of the flesh, in place of God, the love of the Father is not in us. And it does not matter what we profess with our lips. If sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not godliness, and not moral purity, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, we do not have a relationship with God, we do not know him, we are not in fellowship with him, we do not have forgiveness and salvation from sin, and we will not have eternal life in him (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:18-19 ESV)

If anyone is antichrist, they are against Christ, i.e. they are opposed to who he is and all that he stands for and all that he taught when he lived on the earth. So they can be those who give lip service to the Lord, and who profess that he is their Savior and Lord, but who do not bow to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives, who do not submit to his will and purpose for our lives, and who do not obey his commands, in practice. And to “go out from us” has to do with departing from the true faith and the true gospel, while they still may be gathering with “the church” on a weekly basis.

But an “antichrist” doesn’t have to just be a human being. It can also be a false gospel message which has largely replaced the true gospel message in our day and time, which is deceiving many people. It is outside of the true faith and yet it is what is largely being put out in the front as though it is the true gospel. And it is what is largely being used to invite the people of the world into a relationship with Jesus Christ. But it is dead. And those who buy into it will also remain dead in their sins and will not have the hope of salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. For it replaces the true gospel.

So what is this false “harlot” gospel which is out in front being presented as the truth, and which is replacing the true gospel of Christ? It is that we can profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips and acknowledge Jesus’ bodily death and resurrection, and thus we can be saved from our sins, forgiven of all sins (past, present, and future), and have heaven guaranteed us when we die, and it not be taken away from us, but regardless of how we live. But if we read the Scriptures in their context, and not teach them out of context, we will learn that is not the true gospel message coming from our Lord.

But what happens when people believe this false gospel, which is replacing the true gospel? They do not die with Christ to sin, and so they are not raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, there is no heart change that takes place in their lives. Thus, they remain in their sins without the hope of salvation from addiction to sin and without the hope of eternal life with God. So their hearts remain hard, determined to go their own way, without conviction of sin and a desire to serve the Lord with their lives.

So, we who serve the Lord Jesus with our lives need to be standing against this false gospel message, which is permeating the American church, and perhaps the church in other nations, too. We need to be exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are and bringing people into the light of the truth of the gospel. For this false gospel message is not of God and it will lead many people to believe a lie which will land them in hell on the promise of heaven as their eternal reward. And this is true love, to expose the enemy’s lies, and to tell the people the truth of the gospel.

So, what is the true gospel that we are to be sharing? It is that if we are to come after Christ we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self), and we follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God, but provided that we stay the course and we do not revert back to living in sin and for self.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

No More Vain Offerings

Ah, Sinful Nation!

Isaiah 1:4-5 ESV

“Ah, sinful nation,

    a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

    children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

    they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

    they are utterly estranged.

Why will you still be struck down?

    Why will you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

    and the whole heart faint.”

Back at the time this was written, this nation was God’s Holy People Israel. They were God’s people by physical birth by being descended from Abraham. So, they were both a physical nation of God’s people as well as they were a spiritual nation, although not all of them trusted in God with genuine obedient faith in the Lord. Some of them probably never had genuine faith in God, while others did, but some were wandering from that faith. And they were doing all sorts of evil, and thus they were forsaking the Lord.

And during the time of the wilderness there were many who died and did not get to enter into God’s eternal rest because of such disobedience (unbelief):

See: [1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13]

Today God’s holy nation is not a physical nation of people, but it is a spiritual nation of believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile by physical birth. It is the church, the body of Christ. And in many of their gatherings, at least here in America, there are those who are walking in faithful obedience to the Lord, and there are those who are presently wandering from the faith they once walked in, and there are those who give lip service only to the Lord but who never died with him to sin, and who never walked in his holiness. And there are also those who never have professed faith in Jesus Christ.

God’s holy nation today is the church: [John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 9:4-8; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:14-18; 1 John 2:22]

Now, although God’s holy people are now a spiritual nation, and not a physical nation, there are physical nations on the earth with a large majority of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, such as the USA. And so this “sinful nation” being spoken of here, as applied to today, could be speaking both of the church at large in America, and of America as a nation, too, which fits with the biblical description of Babylon. For America, and what appears to be the majority of what is called “the church” here in America, fits with what Isaiah was saying here.

So much of what is called “Christian” here in America is so watered down to where it barely resembles what a biblical Christian should look like. There is barely any distinction between the church and the world anymore, and it appears that most people don’t care. The church here in America has become so much like the church of Laodicea as described in Revelation 3:14-22, for so many are neither on fire for the Lord nor are they totally opposed to the Lord. They are spiritually lukewarm, and so they need to repent and to turn back to the Lord so that in the end they will be saved.

But it isn’t just that so many are lukewarm Christians (or lukewarm professing Christians), but that so many are living sinful lifestyles, deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord and against other humans, and seemingly without conscience and without true remorse. 

Like Sodom and Gomorrah!

Isaiah 1:9-13 ESV

“If the Lord of hosts

    had not left us a few survivors,

we should have been like Sodom,

    and become like Gomorrah.

Hear the word of the Lord,

    you rulers of Sodom!

Give ear to the teaching of our God,

    you people of Gomorrah!

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

    says the Lord…

“When you come to appear before me,

    who has required of you

    this trampling of my courts?

Bring no more vain offerings;

    incense is an abomination to me…”

When I take a good hard look at my nation from many different perspectives, but especially from a biblical perspective, I can certainly see in my nation what I understand biblically about Sodom and Gomorrah. But let me say this. So many professing Christians are so caught up in attacking homosexuality and transgenderism, etc., that they are not seeing nor are they dealing with the sins in their own lives. 

For they are like those in Romans 2 who are so busy pointing the finger at others while they are sinning in much the same ways in sexual immorality, adultery, and idolatry. So don’t think that “Sodom and Gomorrah” only applies to those who have same sex relationships or to those who are changing their sex. It applies to all sexual and sinful perversion. 

And many Christians (or professing Christians) are presently engaged in sexual immorality of some kind, according to statistics. So, this is huge! So don’t go pointing fingers only at those of same sex relationships and those who are changing their sexes, if you are deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord, especially in sexual immorality of your own kind. First get that log out of your own eye and then you can see clearly to take the speck out of someone else’s eye.

So, yes, I see America and the church at large in America (not including all congregations) as very close to being like Sodom and Gomorrah. And the reason she is not all the way there is because the Lord has left us with a minority of people who are still walking in holiness and in righteousness, and who are still serving the Lord with their lives, and who are still sharing the truth of the gospel, and not the lies.

But one more thing here. So many people calling themselves “Christians” are going to institutional market-driven “churches” (businesses), or to true fellowships of true believers in Christ, and they are going through the motions of religious practice, but it is not leading them to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices to God. And they feel God is pleased with them for they “went to church.” But God is not pleased with us if our lives are not surrendered to him and if we are living just like the world.

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily, and follow him. I believe he is saying that we must deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and to follow him in obedience if we want to be his true followers. For, in essence, what he said next was that if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self that we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Christ we die with him to our old lives of sin and we deny self and we follow him in obedience, then we have life in him. So, surrender your lives to the Lord today (Luke 9:23-26).

No More Vain Offerings

Video Talk

May 20, 2023

https://youtu.be/sg3qWbfFr10

Caution: This link may contain ads

Blessed Be Your Name

by Matt Redman

In the land that is plentiful 

Where Your streams of abundance flow

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

On the road marked with suffering 

Though there's pain in the offering 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4H5t3TwHM

Caution: This link may contain ads

No Matter

No matter what may come my way,

I choose to not from my Lord stray.

I welcome Him, with open arms.

My circumstances, not alarm.

He comforts me with all His love.

I keep my eyes on what’s above.

He tenderly speaks words to me.

They tell me who I ought to be.

My Lord loves me, and I love Him.

My love for Him is not a whim.

I follow Him where’er He leads.

He teaches me, and my needs meet.

I love to hear Him gently say,

“I love you, daughter, for always.” 

He never will leave, forsake me.

In Him, I live eternally.

An Original Work / June 16, 2018

20 Year Anniversary

20 years ago this month I began a journey unlike anything that I had ever imagined or experienced before. In 2004 the Lord began calling me to write down what he was teaching me through his word each day and to place these writings on the internet. Beginning in November, that is what I have been doing the past 20 years. Later he added on songwriting, then poems, then 2 books (testimonials), then video talks, and then Christian memes. And these are being read and viewed daily by people all over the world. 

Lately he has had me planning the days’ writings in advance, so the pink notebook (in the photo) contains writings and videos from Thanksgiving to Christmas of this year, already written and cued up to be posted on the assigned days. I  don't know why he did it that way other than this leaves a legacy for my children and grandchildren when one day he takes me home. For there are now paper copies of (some of) the devotions, the songs, the poems, the books, and some of the video talks (the written portions) and the memes.

All glory, praise, and honor go to God, and to God alone, for any good that the Lord has accomplished through these writings and videos in other people’s lives. My assignment was just to write these down and to place them on the internet so that a herald may “run with it” (the title of my blog), and the Lord took them where he wanted them to go. And I trust that God has used them in other people’s lives for his purposes and for his glory. And I don’t know how much longer this journey is going to last, either.

Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation

And make it plain on tablets

So that a herald may run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;

It speaks of the end

and will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it;

it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3 NIV’84)

Reverent in Behavior

“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” (Titus 2:3-5 ESV)

First of all, most all of these qualities are for all of us no matter our age or whether we are male or female, and it should be obvious which ones are strictly to be applied to females and also to us older or younger women. For example, we should all be reverent in our behaviors. And to be reverent is to be respectful and humble, and to show consideration and regard first of all for God, and then for other people. But this should never involve compromise of truth and righteousness, for first and foremost we are to show reverence and respect to God.

None of us should be slanderers. And to slander others is the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. We, as followers of Christ, should never make up lies about others and then to spread those lies to other people, especially with the willful intention of damaging another person’s reputation. That is just outright cruelty, and it is hate, and we are not to be people who hate others and who are cruel to others, for this literally could mean their deaths, in some cases.

Now all of us are to love all people, not just our spouses and our children, but we should definitely give preference to our spouses and to our children over other people, for they should be our first concern. And this word “love” (agape) means to prefer to love, and to prefer what God prefers, who is love. And what he prefers is what is holy, godly, righteous, morally pure, upright, faithful, and honest, etc. So if we are loving our spouses and our children we are going to do right by them and not harm (not evil).

All of us are to be self-controlled, but this is not of ourselves, but it just means that our lives are not out of control, but that they are under the control of God, and we are people who exercise good discipline and restraint and modesty and moral purity instead of living wild lives which are out of control, lacking in restraint. And this goes along with being pure, which is to be unadulterated, wholesome, and unpolluted by what is sinful and evil and of this sinful world. But it also means to be genuine and not fake.

Now young women are to be working at home, but out of necessity many young women are having to work for money to be able to pay their bills because of the high cost of things these days. And so I tend to see “working at home” as meaning that they are to be caring for the needs of their household, their family members, and their home, and that they are not being neglectful of them. If working outside the home means they are neglecting the needs of their household, it would be better if they could work at home, but I understand that is not always possible, especially in the case of single parents.

Now all women should be submissive to their husbands, for God has set the husband to be the one in authority over the household. But submissive doesn’t mean the woman is the slave and that the husband is the slave master. The Lord created woman to be man’s helper, and so in a good marriage the husband and wife should work together side by side. But where there is a difference of opinion, the wife should yield to her husband unless her husband is requiring her to do something sinful or unsafe. For all of us first and foremost are to be obedient to our Lord and submissive to Him.

Reverent in Behavior

Video Talk

May 18, 2023

https://youtu.be/-ImOfsE43zY

Caution: This link may contain ads

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

Caution: This link may contain ads

A Believer's Prayer

A Song of Personal Testimony

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray 

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

https://vimeo.com/114796263 

A Life Devoted to Jesus Christ

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

    And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not lift up his soul to what is false

    and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the Lord

    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

    who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah” (Psalms 24:3-6 ESV)

There are many people these days, at least here in America, many of them very recently, who are claiming to have faith in Jesus Christ. Some of them are elected government officials and their devotees, and many are just common folk who, by the masses, now seem to be making professions of Christ as their Savior, with baptisms as evidence of genuine conversion, and the singing of “worship” songs and the waving of their arms in the air as evidence of true worship of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. 

But is that to be trusted, just from a very surface evaluation? Does it fit with the general character and teaching of the American church at large (not to include all congregations)? And/or does it fit with the teachings of the Scriptures? Can we just make a verbal profession of Christ as Savior, and then get baptized, and/or then join in “worship” of God via the singing of songs and the lifting of our hands and call that, in and of itself, genuine worship of God, and genuine salvation from sin and the hope of heaven?

No! We cannot! Why? Because the Scriptures do not support that, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Now, can any of us be saved from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God in our own human effort? No! It is truly only by the grace of God that any of us can come to genuine saving faith in our Lord Jesus. But that grace instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14).

But this faith in Jesus Christ is not man-made. It is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man, lest any of us should boast that we were saved by our own human effort. But is this salvation absent of works? No, it isn’t! For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

[Tit 2:14; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 1:12-13; Jn 6:44; Rom 6:1-23]

We cannot stand in God’s holy place unless we have genuinely repented of our sins, died with Christ to sin, and been reborn of the Spirit of God to now walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Now we are to have clean hands (righteous deeds) and pure (undefiled) hearts and minds, and we are no longer to lift up our souls to what is false (to false gods and to sinful addictions), and we are to be those who speak the truth to others and not lies and deceptions.

This does not mean we will be absolutely perfect in everything that we do and say and are, for we are all works in progress. But sin should not be our practice, and lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. We need to be those whose hearts and lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ and are committed to serving him with our lives in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God. And we will receive a blessing from the Lord.

For our Lord is to be our guide who gives us counsel in how we are to live, and then we are to obey him in what he says we are to do or to not do. We are not to be those who rely on our own understanding, but whose trust is in the Lord in all things and who follow in his straight (upright) paths. For we are to be people of God who are of purity of heart and mind and who do not dabble in anything that is evil and immoral. For our Lord has delivered us out of our addiction to sin so we can now follow him in obedience to his way.

And Jesus Christ taught us that if anyone would come after him that he must deny himself (or herself), take up their cross daily (die daily to sin and self), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin (forfeit our old lives), and we follow him in walks of obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But if we deny him by how we live our lives, we will die in our sin.

Basically, it is not those who only make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, and/or who get physically baptized, and/or who sing praise and worship songs, and/or who join an institutional church, who are true worshipers of our Lord, who are saved from their bondage to sin and who have the hope of heaven when they die. We must deny self, die with Christ to sin, and now follow him in obedience to his commands. And then we must live holy and pure lives free from sinful practices, serving the Lord now with our lives.

[Ps 24:3-6; Ps 73:24; Pro 3:5-6; Pro 22:11; Is 53:6; Matt 6:22-24; Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 14:33; Lu 17:33; Jn 8:31; Jn 12:25; Jn 15:14-15; Ac 26:18; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 13:1-3; 2 Co 7:1; Gal 2:20; Heb 12:1-29; Jas 4:6-10; 1 Pet 1:22-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:1-12; Rev 22:1-21] 

 

Purer in Heart – Merciful God

The Acappella Company

Purer in heart, O God,

  Help me to be;

May I devote my life

  Wholly to Thee

Watch Thou my wayward feet;

Guide me with counsel sweet;

Purer in heart

  Help me to be.

Purer in heart, O God,

  Help me to be;

Teach me to do Thy will

  Most lovingly.

Be Thou my friend and guide;

Let me with Thee abide;

Purer in heart

  Help me to be.

Purer in heart, O God,

  Help me to be

That I Thy holy face

  One day may see.

Keep me from secret sin;

Reign Thou my soul within;

Purer in heart

  Help me to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPPD69FvIc

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On Thanksgiving Day

On this Thanksgiving Day,

What is it you say?

Do your words honor God,

Or are you a fraud?

Is your heart full of praise?

Your lips to him raise?

Such honor, you give him,

Because you believe him?

Are you thankful he died

On a cross for your sin?

Have you forsaken sin,

Your life now in Him?

Or…

Are your thoughts filled with greed?

Your stomachs you feed?

And, He’s barely mentioned,

Not even intentioned?

It’s a day of tradition?

Not of contrition?

It’s a day to receive?

But not to believe?

So…

Why do we celebrate?

What purpose, give you?

To whom are we thankful?

Our worship give due?

Should God not be first?

Our praise to Him give?

Our thoughts focused on Him?

Our lives, for Him live?

So…

Today, let’s reflect on Him.

Give Him our praise.

Let’s lift up our voices,

Our hearts to him raise.

Let’s give Him the honor

That truly is due to Him.

Not just with words we speak,

But, Jesus Christ we seek.

Let’s give our all to Him,

Not just today,

But fully, completely,

Be Jesus’ always.

An Original Work / November 22, 2018

They Turn From the Truth

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV)

What this teaches us here is not confined to just men or just to those who are official preachers and teachers and pastors. We are all commanded of God to speak the truth in love, one to the other, so that we are not led astray by false teachers in their cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming. And we are all to encourage one another in our walks of faith to maturity in Christ, and we are all to exhort one another so we are not led astray by the deceitfulness of sin.

And we are all to use our spiritual gifts to encourage the body of Christ and to serve in the areas of ministry where God has assigned to us. And we are all to address one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And we are all to let the word of Christ dwell in us, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. And we are all to provoke one another to love (the love of God) and good works (which God prepared for us to walk in). And we who are spiritual are all to help someone caught in sin to come out of sin.

And we are all to preach, for to preach is to proclaim the word of God, and we are all to be doing that. And we are all to be sharing the truth of the gospel with others as part of our everyday lives. For we are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and we are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and we should all make disciples of Christ of the people of the earth, so they might turn from darkness to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they can receive forgiveness of sins and be included in the family of God.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3-5 ESV)

Since we are all to proclaim the truth of the gospel, and we are all to speak the truth and to refute the lies, and we are all to help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in our Lord Jesus, and we are all to exhort one another so we are not led astray by sin’s deceitfulness and by false teachers and false gospels, then we all need to be spiritually alert to the times in which we are living, which is what is being described for us here. And then we need to speak to these issues to lead people away from the lies.

Therefore, we must know that the Scriptures teach against us being followers of man and of man-made religion, and we are chided in the Scriptures against saying we follow this person or that person, which could be translated over to chiding us against being followers of church denominations, saying “I am a Baptist,” or “I am Methodist,” or “I am Church of God,” etc. For it is Jesus Christ and his Word which we are to follow, not men, many of whom now are teaching lies and not the truth.

Also know that Jesus spoke strongly against turning his house into a marketplace, yet that is what appears to be what is being done by the majority of gatherings of what are called “churches” here in America today. And we read in the Scriptures where we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and yet that is what is happening within these market-driven “churches” (businesses) in America today. And we are being told that we are to come out from the midst of them so that we do not share in the harlot’s sins and in her punishment.

But then we must accept the fact that if we speak the truth and not the lies, and if we confront and expose the lies for what they are, we are going to be opposed, even by pastors, and by others who profess faith in Christ, and even by family members. And we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. But we must endure suffering for the sake of the truth of the gospel and for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and for the sake of the salvation of human lives from sin and from hell.

[1 Corinthians 1:10-17; John 2:13-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Revelation 18:1-5; Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

They Turn From the Truth

Video Talk

May 17, 2023

https://youtu.be/vkX53Gwipl8

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Hear my Voice 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally. 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

https://vimeo.com/119813963 

Confession of Sin

Based off Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O my God.

According to Your gracious love.

Blot out my sins.

Cleanse me within.

Bring comfort to me from above.

I come before You with my sin.

Such evil against You I’ve done.

Sinful at birth;

Covered with filth.

Yet, faithfulness still You did want.

Of joy’s gladness, let me now hear.

From me, all my sadness, expend.

Pure heart, let be,

Now within me.

Renew a firm spirit within.

Then I will teach sinners Your ways,

Now turning their hearts back to You.

My tongue will sing

Of righteousness.

Lord, from my lips, now praise is due.

I sacrifice my life to You,

So holy and pleasing to God.

A contrite heart

You’ll not despise.

To my Savior, I give my heart.

An Original Work / March 27, 2018

But I Received Mercy

1 Timothy 1:12-14 ESV

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

The last devotion the Lord had me write was from Psalms 139, and there it talks about how God formed us in the wombs of our mothers, and how all the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came into being. And this was on Mother’s Day, so I was talking about how not everyone had parents who they believed loved them and who treated them with kindness and who did not abuse them. For some of us were abused as children, and so Psalms 139 is a difficult reality for some.

But then the Lord had me talk about the sovereignty of God over our lives and how he is the one who put us in those households knowing full well that we were going to be persecuted, but then he also had me talk about Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery and how many years later he met up with them again, and once he revealed to them who he was they felt badly for what they had done to him. But he told them that Satan meant it for evil but God meant it for good for the salvation of human lives.

So, then my next passage was this one, and so I was thinking about how God took a man who was a persecutor and a murderer of Christians and how he turned his life around, and how he used him to spread the truth of the gospel and to write half of the New Testament books, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And I was thinking about how God has used this man in all of our lives in teaching us the truth of the gospel and what it means to be a Christian and how we ought to live and not live, etc. 

So, then I was thinking about how God, in his sovereignty, not only uses evil done to us for good in our lives, but he can even use us who have done evil for his purposes and glory and for the salvation of human lives once he has turned us around and we are no longer doing the evil we had once done but now we are living for him and we are walking in obedience to his will and to his ways which he has for us to walk in. For all that we have gone through in our lives can be used of God to prepare us for the ministry he has for us.

And then I relayed how I had known the Lord since I was seven, and how I had served the Lord in ministry many years, but how I had been abused and mistreated and persecuted much over my lifetime, and how it got so bad at one point in my life that I cracked from the pressure of it all and I gave into the flesh and I sinned against my Lord on and off over a period of time. And then one day the Lord brought me back to my senses and he taught me to trust in the sovereignty of God, and then he called me to this ministry.

And the point of what I was sharing in the video is that no matter what we have gone through in our lives, and no matter where we have been, or what has been done to us, and no matter what we have done, God can use us for his purposes and for his glory and for the salvation of human lives when we turn to him or turn back to him in faith and obedience, and like Paul we are no longer who we were before, doing the things we did before, for the Lord transformed us and so we are now living our lives for the glory of God.

But I Received Mercy

Video Talk

May 14, 2023

https://youtu.be/Uhez7Q2OLME

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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Danger's Lurking

Danger’s lurking, humans squirreling,

Minds are filled with garbage hurling,

Life’s disaster going faster,

Sin is now their Lord and Master.

Open letter to the hurting,

Sin is danger, don’t be flirting.

Don’t escape in what is magic

Or life can turn and be tragic.

Time on earth not without limits,

Time is ticking hours and minutes,

No one knows the final hour

When his life will have no power.

Life is not for sinful pleasure,

Life is gift of God in measure

Given us to live for Jesus,

Not to do just what will please us.

Turn from your sin, follow your Lord,

Forsake idols, do not them hoard.

Make the Lord your Lord and Master,

Life will not end in disaster.

Please take this to heart and do it,

Give your sins up, now be through it.

Surrender your life to Jesus,

For from our sins he does free us.

An Original Work / June 6, 2022

For Correction and/or For Love

 

“At this also my heart trembles

    and leaps out of its place.

2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice

    and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

    and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

4 After it his voice roars;

    he thunders with his majestic voice,

    and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.

5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;

    he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

    likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

7 He seals up the hand of every man,

    that all men whom he made may know it.

8 Then the beasts go into their lairs,

    and remain in their dens.

9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,

    and cold from the scattering winds.

10 By the breath of God ice is given,

    and the broad waters are frozen fast.

11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

    the clouds scatter his lightning.

12 They turn around and around by his guidance,

    to accomplish all that he commands them

    on the face of the habitable world.

13 Whether for correction or for his land

    or for love, he causes it to happen.” (Job 37:1-13 ESV)

Our God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – is the sole creator of the universe and of all living beings and creatures upon the earth. And he is absolutely sovereign over everything that he has created. And nothing and no one can thwart what he has planned and purposed for his creation. Everything and everyone is under his control, even if they do not acknowledge him as the one and only true God of this planet called earth.

Now, let me interject here that not one of us, of ourselves, can ever be made right with God. We are all born into this world with sin natures, unable within our own flesh to be acceptable and approved by God. And that is why Jesus died on that cross. But not one of us can believe in Jesus unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless God first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to turn from our sins and to now obey our Lord with our lives, in his power.

But this is not to say that human beings have no free will and that we are all being controlled by God like marionets attached to strings which are being guided by their creator. We make our own choices, for good or for evil. We choose to serve God or the flesh. But God sets limits on what human beings can do. He sets limits on what he allows Satan to do, too. But he allows evil to exist. He allows evil people to do evil to other humans, for a time, too. For to stop all evil, he would have to remove all humans from the world.

But our God is in control over all nature. But this is not to say that man has not done things to alter nature or to attempt to imitate God’s works in nature, such as bringing snow, ice, and rain upon the earth. I believe there is much reliable evidence that man has the ability to manipulate the weather, to a certain extent, but only so far as what God allows it, and he allows it for his purposes. For we read in the Scriptures regarding the last days of how the evil ones will even bring fire down from heaven. See:

[Revelation 16:13-14; Revelation 13:11-14; Matthew 24:24-25; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:29-31, and more like these]

So, in the times in which we now live there are many humans who are trying to replace God or to take over for God or to attempt to create what only God can create, but they will have some success (see Scriptures referenced above), but God sets limits on what he will allow man to do. No matter what man is able to accomplish on this earth, God is still sovereign, and man can go no further than what God allows it. And he will allow evil people to do evil things, often with the purpose to get his people to repent and to obey God.

Therefore, the last days events described for us in Revelation 13, and in other passages of Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, can only take place because God allows it for his purposes which I believe primarily is to get the people of the earth to bow to him as Lord and to get those who have fallen from their walks of faith to repent of their sins and to return to following the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living, and in dying daily to sin, by the Spirit.

I truly believe that we are living in these final days before the return of our Lord, and that the signs of the end of the age are all over the place. But the main thing we all need to be aware of is how the Scriptures describe this time as a time of great deception, and that even the elect of God can be deceived. And they tell us that many false prophets and teachers will appear and will deceive many, and that they will perform all kinds of signs and wonders. So we need to be discerning people who test everyone!

Right now I do believe that we are going through a time of tribulation, the purpose of which is God correcting and discipling his people who have wandered off to follow after other gods and the ways of the world. And it is to bring them to repentance and renewed faith before the time of the end. And so, again, be aware of the times in which we now live, and pray to God to open your eyes to any lies you are believing and to any false teachers or prophets or politicians who are presently deceiving you with their lies.

And just know that we live in an age of great deception, that lies and liars abound in the church gatherings, in the media, in the government, in the public education system, and in the world of medicine, etc. So don’t take everything and everyone at face value. Test them all! For anything can be faked and altered and made to appear as one thing while it is something else. And the gospel is being diluted and twisted by people whose goal it is to deceive and so they teach the Scriptures out of context. Know the truth!

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

Paradise Valley

Lyrics by Noah White, Music by Virgil Stamps (1935).

As I travel thru life, with its trouble and strife, 

I’ve a glorious hope to give cheer on the way; 

Soon my toils will be o’er and I’ll rest on that shore, 

Where the night has been turned into day.

As I roam the hillside, or I list to the tide, 

As I pluck the sweet flowers that grow in the dale; 

A faint picture is there of a land bright and fair, 

Where perennial flowers ne’er fail.

Tho’ your garden is rare, it is naught to compare 

With the flowers that bloom in the garden above, 

In the midst of it grows, Sharon’s perfect sweet Rose; 

‘Tis the wonderful Flower we love.

Up in paradise valley By the side of the river of life, 

Up in paradise valley, We’ll be free from all pain and all strife; 

There we’ll live in the garden, ‘Neath the shade of the evergreen tree, 

How I long for the paradise valley, Where the beauty of heaven I’ll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcfpFmzHqos

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Outside of God's Will

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV)

The body of Christ, the church, is comprised of all who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. We have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now to live as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin is to no longer be what we practice, but now righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord are to be our practice.

However, here in America anyway, so much of what is being called “church” isn’t really the body of Christ, his true church, but they are people of the world, and they are the worldly, and they are people who are building their businesses and their earthly kingdoms, and who are following after men in their deceitful scheming. And so they are also people who have altered the character of God and the gospel to make it more appealing to the world.

And so the gospel which is progressing and gaining much ground, and which is permeating so much of the church today (or what is falsely being called “church”) is not the gospel taught by Christ and by his New Testament apostles. But it is a half-truth gospel created in the minds of men who are wanting to attract the world to their gatherings. And it is moving further and further away from the truth, so it probably isn’t even half true today.

Therefore, the gospel message which is gaining much ground today, and which is showing up in movies and TV shows and videos and books and memes on social media and in people’s sermons, is outside of God’s moral boundaries, and it is outside of God’s will for his church, his body. For it is teaching or it is leaving the impression that you can believe in Jesus, have your sins forgiven, be on your way to heaven, but it doesn’t have to change how you live, or it is regardless of how you live. But that is a lie from hell.

Thus, this false walk of faith which is being strongly promoted today through so many mediums is a departure from biblical walks of faith, and it is in opposition to the true gospel and to its messengers. And it is attacking the true faith, calling it false, while it keeps moving further and further away from the truth altogether. And so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are buying into its lies and they are not living for the Lord Jesus.

But this passage of Scripture from today, and all of the New Testament, tells us a different story. For we, as followers of Christ, are to walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the teachings of the Scriptures (under the New Covenant), and according to the expressed will of God, and according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. And we are to walk in holiness and righteousness, and not in sin, in walks of obedience to our Lord.

Therefore, sinful practices of any kind should have no part in our lives, and we are definitely to abstain from sexual immorality. And have you noticed how often sexual immorality and/or sensuality or immorality or adultery show up in the lists of sins in the Scriptures? And usually they are at the front of the lists, too. And sexual immorality is rampant today within the gatherings of the church (or what is called “church”).

But we, as God’s people, are not called to impurity, but in holiness. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. So, just know that if sin is what you practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord is not what you practice, you will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith in Christ Jesus you profess with your lips. See:

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Outside of God’s Will

Video Talk

May 11, 2023

https://youtu.be/cMCJqlRGEPQ

Caution: This link may contain ads

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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Talk About Jesus

Talk about Jesus when the sun arises.

Don’t be a phony, putting on disguises.

Talk about Jesus middle of the daytime,

Not just at church or in your prayers at mealtime.

Talk about Jesus to your friends on Facebook.

Don’t be ashamed of him or of the Good Book.

Talk about Jesus in your tweets on Twitter.

Don’t vacillate in your beliefs or flitter.

Talk about Jesus in the early evening

On the internet’s sites, blogs, even texting.

Talk about Jesus naturally as most things.

Make him a part of everyday conversing.

Talk about Jesus, not just on holidays.

Is He your best friend? Then, that you should convey.

Our faith in Jesus not just for special days.

If we believe Him, each day, then, we should say.

An Original Work / April 3, 2021