"I hate, I reject your church gatherings, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 

Take away from me the noise of your praise and music. 

But let JUSTICE roll down like waters.!" Amos 5:21,23,24

  

We cannot put God in a box; just like this tree; how it gets water, fertilizer and light defies nature! And yet, it grows. Just like this tree God will seek and save in the Catholic church, the Mormon church, the Jehovah witness church as well as Protestant churches, even the ones that seem lifeless. 

 

 

I remember hearing this story years ago. 

  They say that the Eskimos, in order to catch a wolf, take a knife and coat it in blood, let it dry and re-coat it, again and again, until there is a thick layer of frozen blood on the blade. Then they take it in the woods and bury the handle, with the blood soaked blade above the snow. The wolf is attracted by the scent of blood and begins to lick the blood from the blade; and as his frenzy increases, he licks so hard his tongue is cut and he begins to bleed: but not being able to recognize his blood from the blood on the blade, he ends up wounding and killing himself by his own blood-lust. 

The application to ourselves is easy. 

Context is everything when reading the Bible: read the words of Christ considering this homeless woman -- 

"Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes what is yours (like a gift of money or time) do not demand it back. (expect in return the goal you desired for it.) 

And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same thing. But love your enemies, and do good, expecting nothing in return; (your desired goal) and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 

Be merciful as your Father is merciful. And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return." Lk.6:30-

So each of us must examine our standard of measure......
 

 When I first read this I thought, God is good, when no one's there, he will bring a dog or animal to show unconditional love; and many testify that if it weren't for an animal they may have given up. 

But then I thought, what a tragedy that when someone really needs a hand, all they find is a paw! Oh soul of mine, Oh brothers and sisters, there is a world out there in great distress and suffering, may none of them ever need a hand and only find a paw. 

 

This passage really stood out to me today --

"Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:78-79

I looked up the word "Darkness" and my Bible dictionary said, "Obscurity, including the idea of sinfulness and the consequent calamity", among other things. 

The impression I was left with is, that as Christians, upon whom God's tender mercy has shown upon, we are to seek those in obscurity suffering calamity as a consequences of their sin. 

When I was a young Christian, I spent most of my time wrangling with people that were not in these conditions, and, frankly, bore little fruit. Of course we should be prepared to share "in season and out of season" because we never know if they are in the season of "darkness, obscurity and calamity" which humbles the soul and opens the heart. 

 

  This photo really convicted me, here is a girl who has apparently taken her life, and her classmates are oblivious to the tragedy right in front of them. I couldn't help but think that tragedy is around every one of us; the suicide rate in teens is at an all time high, drug addiction is epidemic, nearly a third of our girls are sexually molested before age 18, violence is celebrated in all forms of media, God is mocked and the church in America is rapidly vacated by the young. Mercy, we all know the state of our country and our world, which is crying out for answers and direction. So may it never be that we,--me, act like these pictured. 

"The fields are ripe and ready for harvest, but the workers are few." 

 

   "My hearers, immortality is a glorious doctrine; but not given to us for speculation or amusement. Its happiness is to be realized only through our own struggles with ourselves, only through our own reaching forward to new virtue, and devotion. To be joined with Christ in Heaven, we must be joined with Him now in spirit, in the conquest of temptation, in charity and well-doing. Immortality should begin here. The seed is now to be sown which is to expand for ever."  

"Be not weary then in well-doing; for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not." 

  

  "The growth of our mind and spirit is inexhaustible; in every step of its progress we see a new impulse gained, and the pledge of nobler acquirements. We see within us that virtue by illustrious efforts replenishes instead of wasting its life; that the mind, by perseverance in well-doing, instead of sinking into a mechanical tameness, is able to conceive of higher duties, is armed for a nobler daring, and grows more efficient in charity. The mind, by going forward, does not reach insurmountable prison-walls, but learns more and more the boundlessness of its power, and of the range for which it was created."  William Ellery Channing. 

 

 "When I was in Rome, Onesiphorus eagerly searched for me, and found me." 2 tim. 1:17

Onesiphorus was a Christian brother that often refreshed and encouraged Paul in his many distresses. What stuck out to me was how Onesiphorus approached Paul's need: he "eagerly searched." 

Paul chose the word eager, which means, "wanting to do something very much; marked by enthusiastic interest." I asked myself, am I EAGERLY SEARCHING for others I'm enthusiastically trying to bless?  

 

   I don't know who it was, but I remember the feelings of encouragement he gave me, when an older Christian man encouraged me to read about faith and the works of wisdom. I'm so happy I took his advice because now I have a fifty year old collection of classic Christian works of faith and inspiration, and frankly, in all of my den, I like looking at the beauty of old books more than anything else. 

 

 Thomas Sowell observes that every new generation is an "invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it's too late." 

What do you see here?

Opportunity!

If I were let loose in this crowd for a week, what could I accomplish? How many could I touch? How many could I leave a lasting impression on? Am I equipped if I had the opportunity?

These are deeply important questions we must ask ourselves, don't you think? What would be the very first thing you would do?

 

  Hannah, in her emotional affliction, went to the temple to pour out her heart to the Lord; in her distress she wept bitterly and prayed to herself quietly, only her lips moving. Eli, the mature Priest, Judge and leader of God's people, noticed her and saw her lips moving but heard not her voice and thought she was a drunk, and rebuked her. 

Will I see some poor, homeless person and make Eli's mistake? 

"Truly I say to you, unless you are turned and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 18:3

This is one example of Christ's meaning; children have to be taught to hate.

  

"The name passive virtues has been given to humility, patience and resignation; and I fear that the phrase has led some to regard these noble qualities as allied to inaction, as lacking energy and determination. Now the truth is that the mind never puts forth greater power over itself than when, in great trials, it yields up calmly its desires, affections and interests to God. There are seasons when to be still demands immeasurably higher strength than to act. Composure is often the highest result of power. Think you it demands no power to calm the stormy elements of passion, to moderate the vehemence of desire, to throw off the load of dejection to suppress every repining thought, when the dearest hopes are withered, and to turn the wounded spirit from dangerous reveries and wasting grief to the quiet discharge of ordinary duties? Is there no power put forth when a man, stripped of his property, of the fruits of a life's labor, quells discontent and gloomy forebodings, and serenely and patiently returns to the tasks which Providence assigns? I doubt not that the all-seeing eye of God sometimes discerns the sublimest human energy under a form and countenance which by their composure and tranquility indicate to the human spectator only passive virtues."   William Ellery Channing. 

When we're young and seeking a spouse we have our eyes filled with moonshine and stardust; but marriage, like all of life, is uncertain, and when we pledge our lives to someone we may be called to love more deeply than we ever imagined. It's not all about sex and romance, laughter and thrills. Many a person on this web-site can attest to it.

I'm really enjoying the thoughts of William Ellery Channing, so I thought I'd share a piece from his chapter on Self-control. He explains how we differ from animals regarding appetites and how excess can damage us. 

 

 

  In my fifty plus years as a Christian, I've seen many distractions hinder the true work of Christ. I was saved a year before the book, The Late Great Planet Earth came out, and many flooded the seminars, conventions and sat under teachers and pastors as the End Times Theology dominated much of the church's time, money and resources. Then there was the divide between charismatics and non charismatics; and for years some claimed tongues are the sign of the Holy Spirit while others strenuously opposed. The arguing went on; one side decrying the "social gospel" and the other side fiercely promoting old ways and systematic theology. The 80's brought the church front and center in the political arena with the "Silent Majority" spreading the new gospel. The Calvinist and the Armenian continue their divisions, and today we are examining the sheep to see if there fur reveals any "liberal/progressive" wolves hair! 

All the while poor Lazarus sits at our gate, lost, destitute, addicted, wounds gaping while he hungers for just a few crumbs from our table. 

So brethren, "choose your battles wisely because if you fight them all you'll be too tired to win the really important ones." 

FRUIT

This is a famous painting of "FRUIT, MUCH FRUIT."

As we grow in Christ and follow in His footsteps; we too will become like Jesus as He is depicted here ministering in love to the elderly, the sick, the fatherless little girl, the struggling single mother, the widow and abandoned little boy, the man seeking answers for his soul, and the crowds of lost, destitute and forgotten.

 

 

The single most important decision you will ever make will be in dating and choosing a spouse. No where will you meet more wolves (or leopards) in sheep's clothing than when dating.

 

 

 

 

   I posted this on social media because I frequently hear people lament that God doesn't answer their prayers. I believe we all experience hardships in life, and some, without question, are so hard to bear; but each hardship will sensitize our hearts to the needs of others, and our own sorrows help us sympathize with others. Many that have lost their homes because of Covid will, no doubt, never see homeless people the same. God will use our challenges and will not allow any grief to be wasted.  

  What I like about art is it evokes so many emotions; we each react to a picture so differently. When I saw this woman sitting in a completely bare room, with nothing but her body to focus on, I felt like it was a statement boldly saying, "I have value and I'm loved." Certainly she is unashamed even though she is far over weight, but holding her hands over her heart represented to me the feelings of love she has for others, and that she receives from others, outward appearances have no bearing on that. 

 

Wisdom for young men and women

"You will bring with you from your books and solitary reveries a wrong measure of men and things, unless you correct it by careful experience and mixed observation. 

You will raise your standard of character as much too high at first, and from disappointed expectation, it will sink too low afterwards. But you had, after all, better wait and see what things are than try to anticipate the results. You know more of a road by having travelled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world. 

You will find the business of life conducted on a much more varied and individual scale than you would expect. People will be concerned about a thousand things that you have no idea of, and will be utterly indifferent to what you feel the greatest interest in. You will find good and evil, folly and discretion, more mingled, and the shades of character running more into each other than they do in the ethical charts. No one is equally wise or guarded at all points, and it is seldom that any one is quite a fool. 

  Do not be surprised when you go out into the world to find men talk exceedingly well on different subjects who do not derive their information immediately from books. Common sense is not a monopoly, and experience and observation are sources of information open to the common man of the world as well as to the educated student. If you may know more of the outline and principles, he knows more of the details and practice of life. A man may give a singular account of the method of drying teas in China without being a profound chemist. It is the vice of scholars to suppose that there is no knowledge in the world but that of books. If you want to avoid it I urge you and thereby save yourself the pain and mortification that must ensue from finding out your mistake continually."   William Hazlitt.

   "The Queen of Sheba came to King Solomon and spoke with him about all that was in her heart." 1Kings 10:2

If we are truly "walking in the spirit", we too will have others coming to open their hearts to us. We are told to "Examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith", this is a good measuring stick.