Category Archives: Encouragement

Do You Worship Chaos?

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Thought process:  Warning, the following may be tough on your brain.  

Sitting all night in Chicago. Yeah in Chicago. The O’Hare oasis as a matter fact. The Lord brought me to a parking spot just before rush-hour. Unless you’ve tried to do that with a 53ft trailer, you have no idea what a miracle it is. Thank you Lord Jesus.  


Why would anyone seriously choose to live here. I break it down to the elemental things, it has to do with distractions. They prefer a busily entertained life to following cows around in the pasture.  

Warning leap of thought:

God is not a distraction.  


(That would be the reason why most of the billboards around Chicago have to do with sex, luxury, gambling or alcohol. Oh yeah, there is the occasional “make you feel guilty” billboard. Hospitals, oh yeah, hospitals are a Big thing. And I can’t leave out the governmental mandates to be happy. Apparently God’s not allowed to be the God of Chicago. It beats me to death to figure out how a city, that has to be so well organized, can worship chaos.)


He himself, in Jesus, is life. Religions are distractions. But Jesus is the center of every religion.  (just leaping from one rock of thought to another.  Following me this morning takes a little bit of agility.)


This is not to say that every religion recognizes or worships the living God’s holy son. But Jesus provides life. Man’s interpretation of Christ’s sustaining is called religion.  


A thought I had earlier:


You can tell someone that Jesus is the son of the living God. They might nod, meaning they understand. But learn to spend quality and dedicated time in prayer with him and the meaing changes exponentially.  He is no longer just an invisible figurehead, he becomes the source of your very life. Gladly our personal religion gets tossed out the window. In its place comes a living faith.  


(here’s a bit of a rub for you: The living faith I’m talking about is not based on opinion. It is based on the words of the Bible and constantly compared to those holy words. If it weren’t, it would be no different than any other religion; filled with opinions of Man.)


There are fanatics of every distraction, from religions about God to football 🏈 🙃, and every conceivable aspect of life in between. But the true fanatics of Jesus know what I’m talking about. Once he touches your soul personally, you never forget it. You don’t have to memorize a personal religion anymore. You’ve arrived at the place that surpasses them all.  


Sorry if this is disjointed. I didn’t intend to write a 300 page book. But to explain all this would surely take at least 300 pages. The mind can put things together in a much smaller space.  


Happy assembling.  

Panacea

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Thinking about medicines. How we all wish there was one single pill you could take and everything would be great forever. That pill is called panacea. “The fix all to end all troubles.”  

This week I’ve been stuffed full of antibiotics. So I’ve given a Little thought about a panacea. Surprise! Wouldn’t it be great. But it’s just wishful thinking. There is no such pill. But there is a panacea.  


Everybody gets to take it. And it’s strength is endlessly useful. The funny thing is, no one seems to want to take it. But as soon as they do everything becomes perfectly right. It’s called death.  


At the moment we take it, everything is divided into the places it should be and will be forever. Everything evil goes to the place where everything evil belongs (The wastebasket of eternity). And the righteous are released into eternal glory and joy. It is so powerful that once you take it it can never be undertaken.  


Now that’s a panacea!   Who’s next?

In God We Trust

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“In God we trust.” I know what that means. You know what that means. Our minds understand the definition. But our lives will prove something greatly less.  

In the history of Man, only Jesus could say it fully; “In God I trust”. Everyone else holds something in reserve to themselves.  


It is because of our living definition (the proof of our choices) that we find so much tragedy in this world. Every single place we reserve the right for judgment, wisdom, righteousness, and doings, we add to the chaos of this world. Everyplace we deny him the right to be our God, we frustrate his desire.    


You want a New Year’s resolution? Improve your intent to trust God. Strive to let Jesus be your master more and more this year.  


It was said that when Jesus knew his time was near he set his face like flint toward Jerusalem. As we employ that same attitude we can refine our definition of trust in the living God.  


May God grant us eyes to see and ears to hear that he may have what rightfully belongs to him.  


Amen.  

Differences All the Same

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I thought provoking question of the day.  

Are you able to explain the gospel. I mean, if someone was to ask you could you tell them what the gospel is?


This seems like a straightforward question. But add the following to it.  


A musician writes a song about the blue sky. The color and texture of his music is related to blue skies. He writes another song about mud. Agreeably the color and texture of that music will be different. He writes other songs. He writes about marriage, divorce, death, birth, roles in life, troubles galore, Freedom and joy. And every song is slightly different because of the material he deals with. If he only use the notes to “Mary had a little lamb”, the impact just wouldn’t be the same.  


So when I ask can you share the nature of the gospel of Christ, I’m talking about delivering it in a variety of ways depending on the person you’re sharing it with. Now that gets thought-provoking.  

Do you hear what I hear?

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“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.”

Do you hear what I hear?


“A child, a child, 

shivers in the cold 

let us bring him 

Silver and gold.”


What good is our profit 

When the cross is in sight;


When he strained so hard 

That glorious night?


Let his body be covered 

With bleeding sweat.  


Father’s will to be done!

And yet.


The pageantry of Christmas.  

Some shiny toy, a new dress.  


Does this keep warm 

The Word of God?


Does this help the message

Be cast abroad?


Or is it something deep within;

Someplace that’s hidden

From our sin.  


_______


Do you hear what I hear,

Whispered in the streets?


The silver and gold 

He desires so

Cannot be carried 

By feet.  

________


Believe! Believe!

Deep down in your soul.  


Let the seed of Word

Have a place.  


“Come in, come in.  

Come out of the cold.  


Let me taste 

The meaning of gold.”

Is Repetition Valuable

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In our personal religion (that is to say, out response to what we know of God) there is an element of repetition. This repetition is necessary, by virtue of our state of affairs. But do we have room to receive something vastly beyond our petty repetition?  

By the use of the word petty, I don’t mean that we are being childish (or even foolish and useless) in our repetition.  


What I mean is that the way we perceive things is always shrouded by chaos and death. We may be doing well with what we have; those things we really understand correctly. But I’m convinced there’s something greatly more, and I’m convinced that it’s right to be so convinced.  


I guess the question is this, “Is our religion designed so that we can be heard in Heaven? Or is it designed to hear what comes from the God who is absolutely life?” If our religion doesn’t give birth to the second, can it really be valuable?