To mention something desperately important.  They sang in prison because they were where God intended them to be.  He was there with them.  He was crucified upside down.  His love for God drove him there.  And the Lord was with him.  They lived their lives in obscurity, shame, wracked with pain, utterly vacated by friends, all the while a feeling of uselessness surrounded them.  But there he was, with them.

I testify to his love.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  And that no matter where we are, we are where he wants us.  He proved to Philip that hair has more uses then to cover our ears.  Therefore we are content to remain.  If he wants us somewhere else, we are not willing to resist.

By His Grace

By His Grace

It is a deadly game, this involvement in the gospel of the Lord.  Our feet become set on a narrow path to a narrow gate.  He has set the rules in the blood of His Son.  No man is allowed to save another.  It is commanded that every man will make his own choice.

We watch them die.  We watch them flounder in their sins.  Our heart aches for them.  Still the rules apply.  We press hard against the edge.  We reach our fingers as far as we can while we remain on the path.  We will honor our God.

As I pondered these things I heard the Lord.  His gentle whisper spoke volumes.  Two words.  With his beautiful compassion he simply said, “I know”.

By His Grace

This post is to all the millions who do not know the fullness of the gospel of Christ.

I will not speak to you about the gospel itself in this post.  But I will say to you that we are expected to understand what the gospel means.  Whether we get that understanding from the Bible, creation itself, or from the testimony of those who know, it does not matter.  We are created to reach up to our Creator and worship Him in spirit and in truth.  He demands this from all people.  And he is willing to explain personally who he is and what he requires.

The reason for this post is that there are many who have gone out to preach a gospel that is no gospel at all.  They will tell you everything is fine, you need to do nothing but say you believe in Jesus.  If that is the sum of it then what is the reason for all the trouble Christians encounters?

A Christian is despised from every corner of humanity.  We are shunned and given a deaf ear.  We speak the fullness of the gospel and are called wicked men.  I am telling you what is true.  If this is true then what should we make of this easy path these men preach?

I encourage you with all my heart and soul to look into these things.  What I have said to you is the center of all that is life.

By His Grace

By His Grace

Theological divisions in Christianity are often murderous. One man perceives the tail as a rope; thus the Beast is a rope. Another sees the legs as trees; thus the Beast is a tree. It is not possible that one can agree with another. And in Christ I cannot expect my future friends to relinquish their hold on their perception. It is cruelty to say, “I will love you if you agreed to my perception.” But is this not the love of man?

I have found a man who is willing to love despite disagreement. The glory is God’s alone, when men are willing to cross a chasm to embrace.

I know personally, that the Lord yearns for this love to arrive. For the love that was showered upon me at the conclusion of our conversation was deep and abiding.

Keep your pet the logical concerns. We will not allow them to surface. They lurk as piranha waiting to devour us both. But come, let us share the love and awe of our God. Surely the mysteries can be put aside. Let us clothe ourselves as we will appear before Him.

Man has caused too great a chasm for one man to erect a bridge. Begin on your side and I will on mine. By His willing grace we will succeed.

Thank you Michael Hardin.

Lord, we are the children who have inherited a war. We have tasted our own blood mixed with the blood of others, and we thought that by some means this was necessary. We are tired Father We are thirsty and worn out. We are sick of the stench of blood. And we so desire peace. By your grace my God, what you open cannot be shut and what you shut cannot be opened. Lead us all quietly through that magnificent door of love.

By His Grace

Train a monkey to act more human.  Watch him learn in isolation from other monkeys.  But place him back among his own kind and his actions will quickly revert to what it was before all you taught him began.  Be careful how much you fellowship with the unsaved.  They will certainly draw you back.   The Lord does not make the following warning without cause.

“ ‘Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,

and God has remembered her crimes.

6 Give back to her as she has given;

pay her back double for what she has done.

Pour her a double portion from her own cup.

7 Give her as much torment and grief

as the glory and luxury she gave herself.

In her heart she boasts,

‘I sit enthroned as queen.

I am not a widow;

I will never mourn.’

8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:

death, mourning and famine.

She will be consumed by fire,

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.  (Revelation 18)

Men think that because they do not respect God or His laws, they are not liable to His punishments.  Go ahead and play on the freeway.  Close your eyes and just have a grand ole time.  Are you sure nothing bad will happen to you?

I went fishing this morning.  I go every day to the sea and cast out a line.  My hooks do not have barbs nor sharp angles.  I cast out fish food and reel back to reload.

I have not caught a fish from this Sea in all my life.  But I make it my purpose to feed them for the Lord of the Sea.  Let them prosper while He whispers hope and life to them.  Let their bellies become full so that their eyes will see clearly.  There are larger fish they must avoid.  I desire them to be agile.

“Come near the shore!  There’s plenty to eat.  I feel the tug as you devour what is cast for your benefit.  But your eating is hidden from me.

I do what I am called to do.  There will be no pride in this feeding.  Those who fish with barbs eat what they catch.  They laugh at me because I make no profit from my efforts.  But they do not understand.

Let my ears cease their hearing.  Let their laughter fall on stones.  My heart is filled with a purpose.  Let the Lord gain what is rightfully His.

By His Grace.