The Stubborn Donkey

The Stubborn Donkey

“Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied,

and a colt with her; loose them and bring them to Me.”  Matthew 21:2

Many years ago, my children wanted a story about Palm Sunday and after some thought, I came up with this fictional story about the donkey that Jesus rode through the streets of Jerusalem.  The crowds lined the streets and threw down their cloaks on the ground.  They cut down palm branches and as He rode by they waved the branches and cried out, “Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna!”  Now for the rest of the story!

In a small village outside of Jerusalem, two donkeys stood in the heat of the day.  The larger of the two was the mother; the smaller, her son, was a colt.  The mother donkey stood quiet and patient, but the colt stamped about; occasionally braying loudly.  “Will you ever learn to behave yourself,” asked the mother.  “The man who owns us will soon get rid of you because you are naughty.”

The colt refused to carry a rider, or even a small load to the market place. He was so stubborn that many times he refused to even move.  At other times, if someone came near he would kick up his hind legs just to frighten them.  Yes, it was true; his owner would soon sell him if he was of no use.  

This day the little donkey was even more restless than usual.  He had a feeling that something very exciting was about to happen.  He told his mother how he felt, but she only brayed loudly, which is the way donkeys laugh. 

A short time later two strange men came walking up to the donkeys and began to untie them.  The owner came running out of his house shouting, “What are you doing with my donkeys?”

“The Master sent us for them,” replied the men.

“And who is your master?” asked the owner.

“Jesus of Nazareth”, they answered.

The owner’s face softened and with a big smile he happily agreed they could borrow the donkeys as long as they were needed.

The men led the two donkeys down the road until they came to a group of people standing around a tall, dark, kind-looking man.  “Here are the donkeys, Master.  We think you should ride the big one who is quiet and well trained.  The colt is very frisky and has never been ridden.”

The Master looked at the donkeys as the mother stood patiently waiting to carry the rider, but the colt pawed at the ground and brayed loudly.  “No one is going to ride on me” said the colt to himself.

Then Jesus laid his hand gently on the young colt.  “This is the one I will ride,” he said.

The colt felt the gentle touch and heard the soft voice; he quieted down and stood still while the disciples placed their cloaks on his back.  The, he felt the strange weight when the Master carefully sat on him.  Without a word of command the young donkey started down the road toward Jerusalem. 

As they neared the city, crowds of people joined them shouting, “Hosanna in the Highest; Jesus, the Christ, the King of Israel.”  They went through the city waving palm branches and sing.  The little donkey held his head higher and began to prance.  He was so proud he had been chosen to carry the King.

In the evening the colt was returned to his home.  He was so happy to see his mother and nuzzled her, then stood quietly.  His mother was amazed at the change in her son. “I can’t believe you would carry a man on your back.”

“Mother, he wasn’t just a man.  He was the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord.” 

At times we are like that little donkey, stubborn and restless.  Yet, when we feel the Master’s touch, our hearts are filled with love and joy, we too will wave palm branches and sing, “Hosanna to King Jesus, Savior of the world.”

Palm Sunday is one of my favorite days at church, waving a palm branch and singing “Hosanna”.  Closing my eyes, I am taken back in time; I hear the crowds, feel the dust rising from the press of people.  I gaze on the face of Jesus as he goes by; my heart is thrilled and my faith is full. 

Stone Soup

Stone Soup

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to

             give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven                            good things to those who ask Him!”        Matthew 7:9-11

Many of you have read or heard the story about ‘Stone Soup’, but I have put it here to read again:

Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty and nutritious meal which they share with the donors.

Reading this again reminded me of a church when it began.  To start with, it was just a building; an empty building.  At first some people scoffed at the idea of building a church in a pine grove off a highway.  They said that no one would come there because it was in the country and also because the pastor and his wife were young and inexperienced.  However, people began to come.

They came from many different places; some totally un-churched.  They came from the city, from the country and from great distances.  Each one was different and in their differences brought different flavors and different ideas.  Some were already saved and those that weren’t soon accepted Jesus as their Savior.

I hope you get the picture; the building is the pot and it takes all different kinds of seasoning to make a delicious soup, or a great mixture of people to make a great church. The main ingredient that must be part of the flavor is a huge cup of love. Sometimes something is put into the pot that doesn’t taste good, so gradually it must be strained out of the pot and thrown away before it spoils all the soup. That is the stone. At times the soup gets cold and the Holy Spirit comes in and relights the fire until it flames up and heats up the soup again. You may get other stones in the church at times so don’t let it remain there too long so it will ruin the soup.

This is called a church!  It is gradually changing and if it doesn’t people get bored.  Ask yourself this, could you eat the same soup day after day for years?  Of course not!  People come and they go in most churches and that’s okay.  Maybe they need to go somewhere else that needs more flavoring.  But remember this; if you leave you take some of the seasoning with you, but maybe God wants you to stay so the soup tastes better.

Our job is to make our soup more favorable and we do that by asking friends and neighbors if they have something to add to the soup.  On the other hand, they may be hungry and just need to be encouraged to come and share our soup.   

This is how churches are built and in spite of what you may think, if the Word of God is shared in the building, whether from the pulpit, Bible studies or children’s church, it goes forth and will not return void. [Isaiah 55:11]  That is what you may call a successful church.

There is a great opportunity in these times to allow God to stir up the soup and add more flavor to it.  Just remember that it is not the Pastor’s job to add the seasoning.  It is our job, and I should not say job, but an opportunity to bring them in.

Again I turn to my old and tattered song book of my youth.  There is a song in there called, ‘Bring Them In’.  The second verse goes like this:

 “Who’ll go and help this Shepherd kind, Help Him the wandering ones to find?  Who’ll bring the lost ones to the fold, where they’ll be sheltered from the cold?”

Chorus:  “Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin; bring them in, bring them in, bring the wandering ones to Jesus.”

Go out and bring the seasoning in for our Stone Soup.

How Can We Know When God is Angry?

How Can We Know When God is Angry?

“Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken,                       because He was angry.”     2 Samuel 22:8 (NKJV)

Did any of you listen and feel the storm we had last week? Here is what I thought: When those huge claps of thunder roared overhead, our windows rattled and the ground shook like an earthquake, I wondered what would happen next.  I don’t think I ever heard thunder like that and at the same time, the lightning was so bright, it shown right through our window darkening drapes.  This was what my grandfather would have called, “a hum- dinger’ of a storm.

My daughter called and ask me if there wasn’t something in the Bible about the earth shaking.  It sounded interesting and so I looked it up.  There were several places the Bible talks about the earth shaking and trembling and why it happened.

I have been following this past year and so far this year, for the tragedies happening concerning the weather events, on our side of the world. I have lived for many years and have never seen such extremes in weather, wind and fires.  I have personally experienced weather changes, but I do not believe in ‘global warming’. I have read about the great ‘ice age’, and ‘the great flood’, and the Sea splitting in half, and I believe all of it and know that someday this earth as we now know it, will be changed. “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Revelation 21:1

So, why has the weather become so extreme? (I only speak for this country and others probably speak the same of their country.) This country has become so evil that I believe God’s anger is intensifying.  In Psalms 18:7 we read, “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.”  In another Psalm 77:18, it says, “Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook.”  God is not happy with us; He is not happy with this people who sacrifice their unborn children to the god of this world, Satan. Yes, Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.”

We give in to all the evil we see all around us and even God’s people feels desires rise up within themselves and many who are not grounded in the Word of God, give into those desires. The evil which we see from within our own government follows evil and not good.  We pray it will change quickly with a new leader at the helm, but the former is out to destroy the present.  What does God think of all this?  I can’t pretend to know the mind of God, but we must trust in his Word.  Jesus, himself was telling the disciples what was coming in the future and in Matthew 24:8 when he had told them of the horrors people would have to go through, he said, “All these are the beginnings of sorrows.”  It is going to get worse.

There is a time coming when we feel the earth shake and the lightning striking around us that worse things are coming in these end times.  In fact, in Hebrews 12:26, (God) “whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.  What we experienced last week with the thunder and lightning was like a practice run.  If that scared you, hang on.  There is no doubt that God is getting fed up with this country and the whole world and it remains to be seen how quickly we will have more of this.

It is time to pray and remember to pray for those who cannot see to follow God.  Our time here is swiftly passing and we will meet with God one of these days.  Prepare your heart that you may be able to go with him when he appears to you.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

My own interpretation of Romans 12:9 is “Hate what is evil and Love what is good.”

At times we look at the world as bad and even downright ugly.  We may look at it carefully, but often we can’t see any good. Watching the news one can say, “Why can’t they put something good on the TV?”  The reason being, is that bad and ugly news sells.  Let’s take a look in the Bible for the reason it’s that way.

Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”  What a beautiful place earth was.  God wanted a perfect place for his people to live; it was truly a Paradise.  We all long to have a Paradise in our own lives, but will never be in our lifetimes.  You may think that living on a south sea island would be paradise, but it’s not true.  We will still have sickness, sorrow and pain.  The only time we will experience paradise is when we are with Jesus.

When sin entered this world through Adam and Eve, it began to grow in the human heart.  It grew so evil that God decided to destroy what he had made perfect in the beginning.  “So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!” Genesis 6:13 (NLT) Only Noah and his family survived because Noah was a righteous man.

Think about this; the good turned to bad and then to ugly in a short amount of time.  Now there were only Noah and his family on the earth and in a short time sin began to raise its ugly head and as time went on, it grew and grew and grew.  Why?  Why couldn’t it stay good; they had a second chance?  As it says in Romans 3:10, “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one.” 

I know that God is over all mankind, but Satan in the ruler of this world.  You might not believe this, but in 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.”  You see, if you are not a Believer, you are open season for Satan.  No matter how wise you think you are; no matter how much of a Christian you think you are, if you are not born again and serving the Lord, Satan controls you.

The Holy Spirit is continually drawing you, but if you don’t want any of the Lord, he will not keep you away from the enemy of your soul.  Here is what happens, “According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience….” Ephesians 2:2.  This is why God has given us complete instructions to fight Satan and keep on God’s side. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Ephesians 6:10-12

We’ve been showing the Good, the Bad, but not the ugly.  Turn on the news and watch the extreme evil, which I call, the Ugly.  Men, women and children who are being tortured, heads cut off and put in prisons which are like the pit of hell.  There are those which are so evil there are no words to describe them.  This is the ugly!  Yet we have people in our own country of hope for man who can’t see beyond the lies of the enemy.  They stand on the corners and in the streets crying for our country to invite the good, the bad and the ugly to come and be part of their godless lives. 

Yes, not all who enter into the USA are evil, but until there is a way to sort through them and their past we are not safe.  This is not hate; it’s being careful and not allowing danger to come into our lives.  Satan has been very busy at dividing our country; he is smarter than you think.  Go back and read Ephesians 6:10-12. Note that we need to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. What does that mean?

Wiles means, “cunning, stratagem, ploy, schemes, lure, entice, devious, guile, craftiness, etc.; none of this is good, so that means it’s bad and evil.  God gives us a warning in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  How do we do that?  Be obedient to the Word of God.

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.”  Mark 12:30 

Are Tattoos Sinful?

Are Tattoos Sinful?

“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you:               I am the LORD.”   Leviticus 19:28

We are living in a time when so many people think it’s (cool) to decorate their bodies with tattoos. It isn’t just young people or rockers; the elderly want them too.  For some people, the more tattoos on their bodies, the better.  Let me tell you something, it was also cool over 35 hundred years ago. Early finds in Egypt, China, Japan, Greece and Rome have shown different types of tattoos and even on mummies. Even Moses had to warn the Israelites about tattooing.

You can see from the scripture above, they were told not to do this.  However, let’s see why Moses told them this.  There were no doubt that some of the people that came out of Egypt still had not given up their idol worship which they had been a part of in Egypt.  Then when they would enter the Promised Land they would see thousands of people worshipping Baal. 

When those that worshipped Baal, got so carried away, they would cut themselves and mark their bodies with tattoos to honor their gods. Many would offer up their babies on altar to be killed for their idols. That is so evil, I can’t imagine offering your child to be killed.  Just a minute, don’t millions of women each year have their unborn babies aborted?  It’s called murder and is no different than what the heathens did thousands of years ago, so that shouldn’t shock any of you.

In the Old Testament, Elijah was a prophet of God.  God sent him to King Ahab to prove to him there was only one God so Elijah met with the prophets of Baal and there were 450 of them and only one of Elijah.  Elijah challenged the prophets to put animals on their altar and cry out to their God to set it on fire.  So the priests of Baal danced around the altars, chanting frantically and cutting themselves with knives to inspire the attention of Baal, their god.  Nothing happened.

Elijah poured water over the animals and onto the ground and then called out to God and fire came down from heaven and it consumed the sacrifice, the wood and the entire altar.  All the worshippers of Baal had nothing happen even with all their cutting and frantic dancing.

Over the past centuries, people have been cutting their bodies and tattooing themselves, but it didn’t do a thing to help them.  Tattooing in itself isn’t a sin, it just makes people look like it.  It depends on why you want to be tattooed.  Tattooing can be a useful tool today, mainly for cosmetic reasons.  Women whose eyebrows have disappeared over time, find having them done on your brows are an easier thing then to have to draw them on your brows every day.  Some men in particular, who may be grieving about the death of a loved one will have them tattooed in remembrance.  However, evil tattoos like a picture of Satan or evil beings has no place on your body.

If you just want tattoos all over your body for attention or to look tough if you are illegally doing something you shouldn’t, then you better pray about what you are doing.  I see nothing wrong in having a tattoo or so, but covering your whole body, shows others you probably have a deep seated issue.  You may be even punishing yourself in some way.

This brings up the issue of cutting yourself which is happening to our teenagers who no doubt have multiple issues with relationships, how they see themselves, or peer pressure among other things.  Cutting your self is not what God wants you to do.  He wants you to turn to Him for help and not to abusing your own body by cutting.  God wants to love you and not hurt you.  Self-injury is not pleasing to God.

God wants to tell you that God says, “Behold, I have graven (tattooed) thee upon the palms of my hands.”  Isaiah 49:16 (KJV)  No matter what was sinful in your past, God wants you to ask forgiveness and invite him to come into your heart.  God loves you and wants a relationship with Him.  He will never leave you or forsake you.

What is the Word of God?

What is The Word of God?

“The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone,

But by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4

We are living in a time when it is so very important for people to understand what the “Word of God” really means.  Everyone knows what the Bible is; it’s a book about Christians and what we should do and what we shouldn’t do.  For many that is the sole purpose of the Bible.  Some may read it and some may not. Let’s go beyond skimming the surface of it.

If we only pick a few verses out of the Bible, your understanding could be like this: “Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."” (Matt. 27:5 and Luke 10:37)  We certainly don’t want to make a teaching out of that.  It doesn’t make any sense and certainly doesn’t show the love of God.

 

The Bible tells us that we should meditate on the Word of God, so we can have understanding of what he is showing us.  In Joshua 1:8 it says, “Study this Book of Instruction (Bible) continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”  This is so simple and yet people ignore it. You need to read the Bible faithfully every day and then think about it.  That way you will understand what God wants you to know and live like it says.  If you live like God tells us to, you will succeed in all you do.  What is so hard about this?

However, there are many, not a few, but many who are teaching otherwise.  Quoting Pastor Rob Bell, “Ignoring the Bible will help the church stay up to date in the current times.”  He goes on to say that 2000 year old scriptures can’t help anyone and does not fit in our culture.  It reminds me of a verse in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” People like Bell are preaching a different Gospel and are not true Christians or they would not denounce the Word of God. 

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”  The Word of God is God!  If you start at the beginning with Genesis, when God created everything it began with “God said”! Over and over again it is “God said”.  If God is who he said he is and he said he is the same now and forever, who can argue with that?  The Word of God has such power.

The Word of God is alive; it speaks to your heart and minds. There are times when you are looking for an answer, so you read the Bible and God will give you the very scriptures that answer your questions.  Even though I have read the same verse many times, this time those words pierce your heart and soul.  There may be times that God warns you about something in your future.

There is such a thing as discernment and it comes from God.  You may meet someone and right away you know that something is not right.  You may feel a darkness about them; it may even be a supposedly godly person, but if you have the Holy Spirit you will understand. How do you know about such a thing as discernment? God told you in his Word he was sending the Holy Spirit to teach you.

By discernment you will see people for who they are and not through what they are pretending they are. Read this in the book of Matthew 7:20, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. When I became a real born-again believer God changed my life and gave me a whole new attitude. I wanted to listen to what God told me and do what he said to do in the Word. I am a serious believer and I love the Word of God.  The words of the Bible speak to my heart.  The Word came to me before I ever understood it.

As a child I sang all the time; in fact I was singing on stage by the time I was five years old.  However, my real desire was to play the piano and when I was twelve years old my parents bought me an old upright piano.  I finally began lessons and as soon as I learned notes, I tried to play something. We had an old Hymnal and I turned to page 333 (I still have it) and tried to plunk out the keys.  Its title was “Wonderful Words of Life”. I sang along with it and the words went like this:

Sing them over again to me, Wonderful Words of Life;

Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful Words.

Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of Life

Even then, God was showing me to love the Word of God.  I eventually learned to play that song like it should be played.  It is still so meaningful to me after all those years.  I keep that songbook on a shelf right over my desk.The Bible is more than just a quick glance; it is so deep and its words are always fresh and true.  Drink it in and you will find a deep love of its words.  They are truly “Wonderful Words of Life!

 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 

Ready - Set - Go!

Ready-Set-Go!

             "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be  afraid,                                     

 nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

After watching the news and reading newspapers, I have come to the conclusion that we are standing on the threshold of an open door.  When you step over it, you will hear the words, “ready - set – go”, and you will be off and running toward an unknown goal. January and February were like a practice run, but now is time for the real race to begin.

The Bible tells us about the ‘race’ of life in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  It doesn’t tell us what we see and hear as we run.  It does give us encouragement by saying, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 3:14]   This is what we need to do; keep your eyes on the goal!

We watch as worse and worse things happen in our country and the division gets wider and wider.  Somehow, if this country doesn’t stand together, it will bring bloodshed.  Third world countries have lived like this most of their lives, but we are still a free country under the protection of an Almighty God.  As people turn from God, worse things will happen.

This is not prophesy, but is logic when looking at our country as a whole.  The Civil War was the worst thing that ever happened in this country where 3 million fought and 600,000 died in the four year war.  If that were to happen today, there would be more destruction and many, many more deaths because of the weapons we have.

My question is this, is dividing our country purposely worth the cost?   It cost our nation dearly over 200 years to achieve what it is.  Is being Liberal worth the things they are doing now, trying to abolish a conservative government?  They keep saying people are scared by the Republican government, but more people are scared of a Liberal government or they wouldn’t have voted for President Trump.

The truth is, a true born again Bible believing Christian with good conscience, could not vote for a Liberal President. They allow things that totally go against the Word of God.  You cannot keep God out of the picture or you will have nothing to rely on. However, a liberal government does believe in things like freedom of speech, progress and reform.  The problem is that they take it a step beyond by allowing ‘anything goes’ pattern because they believe in, “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” [2 Timothy 3:5] 

A good example of Liberals is found in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.”  I’m sure you get the picture. 

The New Testament was written 2000 years ago, yet it tells us what was going to happen in our present time.   Not only does the Bible tell us what would happen, but going on it tells us the consequences of those who follow this pattern of life. In verse 7, it further explains how these people who pride themselves in their intelligence are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

We must make a stronger stand than ever before of our Christian belief in morals, faith in one God, and in the Truth which is the Word of God.  We must not allow the enemy of our souls to defeat us. God is on our side.  Be bold and be ready. Our goal is looking for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Always be Ready Set Go!