"This is a ‘Claw & Fang’ word I gave to the men at the Union Gospel Mission chapel service.

Samson was a Nazarite from birth(Judges 13:5), part of that consecration prohibited tasting or consuming grapes and wine and touching dead things (Numbers 6:6-7).

Samson disregarded his consecration and meandered through a vineyard on his way to check out a Philistine lady he was interested in marrying (also a forbidden choice: Deut. 7:3).

He was the right man in the wrong place and was attacked by a lion (Judges 14:5-6,8-9).

“…at that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands.” -Judges 14:6

The power of the Holy Spirit enabled him to slay what was trying to kill him. 

God empowered his own hands to claim a mighty victory. 

But Samson was a compromising man who chose to run through life on the thin line edges between life and death. 

Even still God used him for his purposes.

His delusion was that consecration wasn’t necessary because he was chosen by God. 

He gave himself to doing great things for God, 

while neglecting a life of communion with God. 

Great acts without deep relationship always lead to deception and devastation.

“Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, 

he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. 

And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 

9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. 

He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. 

But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.”

There are too many men eating honey out of carcasses. 

Addictions are honey out of lions that defile our souls and bodies. 

Our lust for the honey of the dead lead us to not only defile ourselves 

but we often end up harming those who are closest to us too. 

We deceive our friends and loved ones by our uncleanness.

There is a lion stalking us all.

1 Peter 5:8 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. 

He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

Half the battle against Lions is staying out of the places where Lions lurk. 

Flee the vineyards!

The other half is faithfully maintaining our covenant and consecration through communion with the Lord Jesus. 

Such a posture of life prepares us to fight through the power of the Spirit and Word.

The Lion’s claw and fang are very real battles that can’t be overcome in our own strength. Christ’s defeat of death and the devil are the basis for our hope over everything that seeks to devour us. 

God has a victory that he wants to complete through our very own hands because Jesus has overcome and we can prevail through Him.

You are destined to rip some jaws apart!" 

Pastor Eric. 

 

 

Here are the lyrics to my Grandson's new song. He was dramatically rescued by Christ last year and his soul is on fire! He writes and plays all the music and calls his band "Hell's Enemy." 

"Welcome to Sodom

Witness the depths of human depravity

They march in the streets

And celebrate every form of impurity

At war with the Lord

At war with His Church

At war with the laws of nature

And demons prance in the fires

Sparked by their burning lust

Oh

Humanity consumed by madness

Will their hunger have no end?

Famished for their own destruction

This culture worships death

Faith denied nationwide

This is spiritual suicide

Virtue is tossed aside

Wealth and pleasure are deified

Usury, treachery

State sponsored immorality

Tyranny, misery

Erasure of human dignity." 

 

 "Here’s a post I read online that describes a lot of church world issues, the church is people and people sin, so the “church hurt” moniker is kinda misleading in some sense but as a catch all word I think it fits when trying to get at the issues.

The ‘Green Leaves of Spring’ wrote:

“This is a shout-out to all the 'unwanted' Christians. The ones who turn to the the Church and find no help, no support, and only a shallow and conditional welcome - which is no welcome at all. The ones who sit through message after sermon after Bible study which is entirely irrelevant to them. The ones who mess up the church's picture-perfect image.

This is for the Side B Christians, the divorced Christians, the single parents trying so desperately to fill the role of two people. This is for the Christians who have never taken Communion, or who have - for whatever reason - never been baptized. This is for the Christians who must choose between food and rent this month, or tithing. This is for the quiet Christians, the shy ones, the ones who'd rather hide under the table than volunteer for helping with the fellowship dinner.

This is for the Christians who admit something in shame and repentance and sorrow and are drawn away from and ostracized. This is for the Christians condemned by their 'brothers' and 'sisters' for things beyond their control. This is for the fatherless children who are not orphans but abandoned by their parents, for the widows left struggling while the local assembly hall is remodeled. This is for the children shut out of the friend groups and pushed away from their peers because of their parents.

This is for the Christians who are blamed for being abused. This is for the Christians who are trying to escape abuse and finding only platitudes and closed doors. This is for Christians who are trying to learn new behavioral patterns and find only condemnation for the old ones and no help. This is for the Christians struggling with mental illness who are told to pray it away. Christians struggling substances. With addictions. With anything. For the Christians who have gone to their pastor or the elders or their peers and found no help.

This is for all the Christians who have no home and no shepherd and no church to nourish them because they are inconvenient. The Christians who mess up the optics. The members who are least in honor.

This is for anyone who has ever sought the comfort of the Church and found instead stones and snakes.

I see you and I love you. Even more than that, God sees you and loves you.”

You are not alone."

 

 The devil appeared to three monks and said to them: "If I gave you the power to change something in the past, what would you change?"

The first of them, with great apostolic fervor, replied: "I would like to prevent you from leading Adam and Eve to sin, so that humanity does not separate from God."

The second, a man full of mercy, said to him: "I will prevent you from straying from God and condemning you forever."

The third of them was the simplest and instead of answering the tempter, he knelt down, made the sign of the cross, and prayed: "Lord, deliver me from the temptation of what might have been and what was not."

The demon, screaming and trembling with pain, fled.

The other two were surprised and said to him: "Brother, why did you react like this?"

And he answered them: “First, we should never talk to the enemy.”

“Secondly, no one in the world has the power to change the past.”

“Third: Satan’s interest was not to prove our virtue, but to trap us in the past, so that we neglect the present, the only time God gives us His grace and we can cooperate with Him to fulfill His will.”

Of all the demons, the one that most holds men back and prevents them from being happy is “what could have been and was not.” The past is left to the mercy of God and the future to His providence. Only the present is in our hands. Live today loving God with all your heart.

 She said: “I’m a prophet.”

  She let that declaration hang in the air in an awkward way, 

part confrontational and part explanation.

 She told me that her slightly adversarial posture was because she was sent to people and churches to discern and speak the truth. 

She wanted to let me know that I hadn’t explained the story of Martha and Jesus in John 11 correctly in a previous chapel service.

 I asked her to explain to me her thoughts from the chapter in the Bible on her lap. 

She read its words and in reading the verses they contradicted her conclusions. 

It was an awkward pause as she realized she was bringing assumptions to the text that the actual words didn’t say, in fact the opposite was affirmed.

 She exclaimed in a tense tone 

that I was correct and had shown her she was wrong.

 But it wasn’t a submission to the truth of the text, 

it was an accusation that I had beat her.

 

I saw that she identified the exchange as 

a form of abuse, 

a take down, 

a masculine exertion of pushy superiority.

 I realized that there was very little space to discuss any differences and almost none for any form of correction no matter how purposefully soft I had tried to tiptoe through the moment.

 She then told me that I needed to use gender inclusive language and Bible translations. 

I explained that I use NIV and NLT versions that do. 

I asked her what the Bible translation she used that was in her hands. It was a ESV, a version that doesn’t.

 She then went into how she doesn’t accept that women should submit to men, 

that Jesus wasn’t a Rabbi because he told his disciples to not be called rabbis. 

I reminded her that Mary Magdalene called Jesus Rabbi at the tomb at his resurrection appearance to her. 

She said it was a scribe that put that in the Bible.

 

I realized this convo was becoming ping pong, 

so I thanked her for the admonition to be sensitive to words with a women’s audience when preaching. 

I wanted her to see that I valued her thoughts and would work to be more purposeful in preparation.

 I was becoming aware that I was on trial for crimes that someone else had committed and there were far deeper matters at work in this exchange but I wasn’t the counselor or teacher needed to do this work.

 

Then she closed her eyes and began to pray: 

which was a series of declarations that rebuked Satan 

and included the spirit of misogyny. 

Her finger pointed out into the space between us as she cocked her head, poked her finger out at a dark reality that she fully understood and was combating.

 She ceased, opened her eyes and looked at me with a slightly tense and awkward smile.

 Moments like these are difficult.

 They provoke thoughts and feelings and can often spark responses that can inflame the situation. 

They always feel precarious and very unnerving.

 I knew it was time to step back from the waters edge of this woman’s soul or we would further slip into a depth where our feet couldn’t touch. 

I knew a fierce, frenzied and frantic clash of drowning victims would result, so I gently brought the conversation to a close.

 

I’ve been prayerfully holding our encounter in my heart and mind through the evening, night and morning. 

Trying to listen. 

Trying to understand. 

I know each person I spend time with is a moment God can use to help me grow and learn. 

Though this one was like traversing a briar patch, 

I valued its complexity and difficulty. 

Humility is a grace to give each other, especially when navigating lives that have profound wounding experiences in their story. 

A wound can produce wisdom 

but it can warp our views of ourselves and others. 

We are all wounded in various ways and that’s why walking and caring for one another is so fraught with trouble. 

Life is a long learning curve and loving others doesn’t guarantee we will not misstep or misspeak but it can help us become better at being together.

 Our words matter.

 Early this morning Jesus reminded me of his words:

“Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more.” -

Jesus (Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ )

Pastor Eric. 

 Here are some activities for kids that don’t involve screens. 

1. Outdoor Play: Encourage activities like biking, hiking, playing sports, or simply exploring nature.

2. Arts and Crafts: Provide materials for drawing, painting, clay modeling, or making crafts.

3. Reading: Visit the library or create a cozy reading nook at home with a variety of books.

4. Board Games and Puzzles: Play family board games or work on puzzles together.

5. Cooking and Baking: Involve kids in cooking or baking simple recipes.

6. Gardening: Start a small garden and teach them how to plant and take care of flowers or vegetables.

7. Science Experiments: Conduct simple and fun science experiments at home.

8. Music and Dance: Have a dance party, play musical instruments, or sing karaoke.

9. Building Projects: Use building blocks, Legos, magnatiles or household items to create structures.

10. Role-Playing Games: Encourage imaginative play with dress-up costumes and role-playing scenarios.

11. Visiting Parks and Playgrounds: Explore local parks, playgrounds, and nature reserves.

12. Storytelling and Writing: Write stories together or encourage them to create their own.

13. Physical Exercise: Practice yoga, have a mini workout session, or organize a small obstacle course.

14. Community Activities: Participate in community events, local clubs, or volunteer opportunities.

Follow @paigekoser for more motherhood content.

 

 Last night at the jail, Sarah, a battle hardened Christian sister that's preached in the jails and urban Missions here, shared her story of the Prodigal son (daughter). 

We are tag-team evangelists: she brings the maternal nurture and I bring the paternal. 

We hit hard last night on the anguish of sin and the joy of Christ's  hope and power to restore. 

After the service a few of the brothers talked with me, and one young man talked with Sarah. He poured out the story of his life after his mother abandoned him when he was 8. 

Eight years old, and he was now to be a strong "little man," and battle life alone. He took pride and defined himself by his inner strength, but Jesus drew the little boy out of him last night, and he began to cry. Immediately he was embarrassed by his tears and hated that he was showing weakness. Oh but Jesus had Sarah there, this warm maternal figure that poured out love and empathy, and he just broke down. He began to weep, then he would get angry for showing weakness, but then another flood of emotion poured in and out his eyes, and again he would fight to restrain the weakness. So back and forth he fought this battle to hold on to his inner strength, but the presence of God was reaching his inner child and his shoulders began to heave and he sobbed beyond his ability to control.                      The dam had broken, and twenty years of sorrow began to flood. 

I couldn't help but think of the old Hymn, "He touched me." 

 

 

 

"She stood there with little emotion on a face that had Meth scabs mingled with freckles. 

She was young and going nowhere but down, but here at the shelter she had found a rest stop in the wandering. 

“I don’t know where I’m going or what’s next.” is the normal response I get to any inquiring questions about the future. The present is known, pretty much everything else “out there” is that part of ancient maps that say: “Here there be dragons”. 

The bodies of many guests in rescue and crisis shelters have dragon tooth wounds to prove it. Tracks or Scabs or both, often witness to the dark and desperate battles taking place in people’s bodies, minds and souls. 

Psalms 38:5-11

“My rotting wounds are a witness against me. They are severe and getting worse, reminding me of my failure and folly. I am completely broken because of what I’ve done. Gloom is all around me. My sins have bent me over to the ground. My inner being is shriveled up; my self-confidence crushed. Sick with fever, I’m left exhausted. Now I’m as cold as a corpse, and nothing is left inside me but great groaning filled with anguish. Lord, you know all my desires and deepest longings. My tears are liquid words, and you can read them all. My heart beats wildly, my strength is sapped, and the light of my eyes is going out. My friends stay far away from me, avoiding me like the plague. Even my family wants nothing to do with me.”

The oozing and partially scabbed over wounds are the byproducts of meth madness that results in 30-45% of meth addicts.  

“Meth mites, meth bugs, ice mites, or crank bugs are the names designated for the imaginary bugs that methamphetamine users believe are on and under their skin while on the drug. Meth mites are a result of a hallucination specifically called formication that is perceived through a sense of touch and sometimes sight. This sensation is so overwhelming that meth users will engage in intense itching and skin picking to try for relief.” -Banyan Treatment Centers 

The psalmist’s “cold as a corpse” description of living death captures the hell and horror of such addiction manifestations. 

Her arms were the Devil’s rosary.

My heart was heavy talking to this young girl, trying my best to look past her oozing sores to the daughter of God stiff and awkward before me. Short and polite answers to each question or comment but she’d drop almost every ball tossed to her because she wasn’t playing. She was here by necessity, not for recovery. A quick exhausted sit in the corner of the ring, but little intention of ending her dance with the dragons. 

In moments like these, I pray that these individuals will warm to the ministry of care that happens in the Shelters. That the coldness of the lying whispers will not lure them back to the streets. I know that lives literally hang in the balance, Death is at the door waiting to escort them back to the chaos they fled. 

Recently Maurice Smith of our local ‘Rising River Media’, an advocate and activist for the good of our community members struggling with homelessness and addiction told me: 

“The Spokesman-Review, the Spokane Medical Examiner stated that 104 people had died from a drug overdose in the first 5 months (154 days) of this year. 107 deaths spread over 154 days is 1 death every day-and-a-half (154/107=1.439).  Translated into hours, that's one death every 34.5 hours, or roughly 1 death every day-and-a-half or 36 hours. I went with 36 hours as a round number, but by doing so I actually understated the rate at which people are dying from drug overdoses in Spokane (some 64% of which are fentanyl related).” (https://myroadleadshome.org)

These numbers are horrific, I don’t want to acknowledge them, but “tracks and scabs” aren’t easily expunged from my memory, the gore gets me. I can’t imagine my own daughter or sons with pink arms of picked flesh. But these are someone’s kids and that compels me to try to be something helpful because I’d want someone to be there for my kids or grandkids. 

I sat there in the plastic chair waiting to take anyone wanting to go Church as she came up the hallway. She was checking out of the Shelter with her suitcase and a few other belongings and a plan to go to another city. 

We said goodbye and I noticed her “tracks and scabs” were healing up, becoming scars. 

“…keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭23‬

Not all who wander are lost, but most are, so I keep loving, waiting and snatching while hating the tracks and scabs. As she walked out of the shelter, in my heart I hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t ‘poke or pick’ again…but my mind knows better." 

Pastor Eric, Jacob's Well Spokane Wa. 

 

 

“As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”” -Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭12‬-‭13‬

"In over 30 years of preaching I’ve learned to not trust emotions as evidence of true spiritual birth, it’s only the water breaking.

Tears might be the sign that something living is about to emerge,    but it’s not a guarantee. Only time will tell if a decision has been made in the will, not just the emotions. Has a choice been made reflecting being chosen? “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14).

I want to see people mobilized to action, not just moved by the message. Tears are often part of the process, but I’m looking for decisions born of serious revelation and contemplation.

Moments of transformation happen in the churning of the mind, will and emotions. When new creation is happening, the Spirit hovers over the chaos of the deep. It’s chaotic order and purposed separation is taking place between darkness and light. Old and new Creation emerges with angels singing and babies crying.

““Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” -Job‬ ‭38‬:‭4‬, ‭7‬

I often witness singing and weeping as death loses its grip and resurrection life cracks open cold, dead souls.

Last night after preaching at a UGM chapel I had a woman crumble into my shoulder in sobs of uncontrollable weeping. She tried desperately to hold it all back but was powerless to constrain the emotions. She was embarrassed as her survival mode protections failed and the vulnerable heart inside silently screamed for breath. The soul must breathe and hard living is a suffocating decent. Souls being brought up from the dark depths often grasp light and life like the drowning. She clung to me like a life preserver cast into a tempestuous sea. I held her as her soul wretched out the turmoil.

Only Jesus can tell a woman that her time of weeping has come to an end. He alone holds the power to give life. Like a midwife we tend the transitions, but everything hangs in the balance.

These are the moments of chaos where death and life are difficult to discern. Are tears, gasps, grip, pain, and the tearing asunder signs of life being born or death roaring like a dragon!?!

I do not know, but in such moments I speak to God in prayer, my lips proclaim truth, my spirit cries in groans and faith strains into the fire seeking the evidence of life struggling to emerge.

It is apocalyptic.

The tears do not tell the ultimate truth, only time will confirm the victory or victim of these battles taking place on the edges of eternity."

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By Eric Blauer ·  

My views of Grace have changed measurably over the years.

Each year they get wider and more tolerant.

Grace really became far wider when I went to work for Adult and Teen Challenge, the Christian drug and alcohol recovery program.

It was all new to me, and to be honest, I saw many men,

that up till then I would have written off,

and I truly felt they would have had no hope.

Oh but I saw the God of all hope steal in and swoop up lost and broken hearts, work so tenderly with them,

overlooking glaring shortcomings

but always pressing to the goal of wholeness.

Lives that staggered, swayed and stumbled seeking God,

with behaviors that repelled me

and over and over I saw men tread the grace of God underfoot.

Relapses so virulent and outrageous I wrote them off as reprobate!

But they would come

dragging back,

bodies wasted,

minds blurred,

actions detestable,

and yet,

God's arm was outstretched still.

How can His grace be so big!!!!!

That being said, at no time were they comfortable in their sin, far from it.

To the altar they would fly and pour out tears of repentance,

vowing to walk obediently. Of course, they could not,

but God patiently and tenderly raised them back up towards the goal of holiness and wholeness,

never compromising the goal,

never accepting the sin,

but always forgiving the sin that was hated and turned from,

though they returned often to their own vomit.

If we seek comfort in our sin we will pay a heavy price,

but if we seek,

ever so feebly,

to renounce our sin, Grace will be there no matter how much we falter.

We may look like a pin-ball bouncing, ricocheting and falling against the walls, but we will find our way home if the walls are

on the "Narrow Path" that leads to life.

I like to tease. 

I like to approach certain strangers that are near my age, with a smile and some presumptuous humor.  I treat them as though we are familiar and free to be open. 

Now this is after assessing what I think they were like fifty years ago.  Sometimes it backfires, but not often. 

Old people like to talk to old people. LOL 

Some time back I did so with a checker at the grocery store. She is very small in stature, and she looks like she could either be Amish or a wild sixties child. 

I was intrigued. 

So, I opened a conversation and she said she was a very good girl, never got caught up in the promiscuous spirit of the sixties, but she admitted she thought she missed a lot, and wished she would have been freer. 

I, on the other hand, wish I had been better, so I tried to make that point in the short time I had to chat with her. That was about three months ago. 

Today, I found myself in her checker line again so I opened with, 

“So, how is my nearly Amish checker today?” 

She had a perplexed look on her face so I reminded her of our previous conversation, which she remembered and reiterated her lamentations for being “too good.”

 She then asked me what I was like in High School? 

I gave her a brief account of my father’s death when I was a young teen and how my life spiraled down after that until I was 23. 

She remarked, “It’s good you recovered so quickly, my daughter is thirty and has struggled with addiction ever since her father committed suicide when she was seven.”

I have a Great Granddaughter that is seven...... so her news shocked me and I felt a hot flash bolt through my blood, and every hair on my body raised, as my heart broke for her.

The woman in line behind me was patient so I rushed as I continued to give her some love and consolation. 

I’m not certain what I will do now, but I pray the Lord gives me insight what my next step should be. 

As I was about to leave, the woman behind me, about thirty, confided that her father died three years ago from lung cancer. 

Again, we had such a limited time to chat, but I think all three of our hearts are better for those short candid moments. 

 

“Every sin is like a sword in a penitent man’s bosom, and therefore whilst confessions are in his mouth,
you shall find
either tears in his eyes
or sorrow in his heart.

And indeed, true confession of sin is many times rather a voice of mourning
than a voice of words.

Sometimes a penitent man’s eyes will in some sort tell what his tongue cannot utter.

Many times, the penitent is better at weeping than he is at speaking. Ps.39:12

Penitent tears are undeniable ambassadors,
and they never return from the throne of grace
without an answer of grace.

Tears are a kind of silent prayers,
which though they say nothing,
yet they obtain pardon;
they prevail for mercy,
and they carry the day with God,
as you may see in that great and clear instance of Peter.
He said nothing,
he confessed nothing that we read of,
but he ‘went out and wept bitterly’,
and obtained mercy.”

Thomas Brooks.

 

Living Beyond The Wall

Our obligation to the Barbarians

"Sometimes when I am present at the various shelters that I offer pastoral presence within, I think about how the Apostle Paul must of felt in his unfolding missionary work when he said: “I am obligated both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” -Romans 1:14

The word barbarian is a deep and difficult word that captures in my mind all that is beyond one’s known experience, that dangerous, dark and mysterious world where some people live. 

They live beyond the wall. 

Here is civilized, there is uncivilized. Here are the educated, there are ignorant. (Interesting how we tend to put ourselves in the more flattering category when we hear such categories). 

Paul felt an obligation to be among the barbarians. To cross the wall, go to the edges, be among those who he didn't understand. To expose himself to many situations where he would be uncomfortable, perplexed, conflicted, shocked, disturbed, disgusted, astounded, bewildered, touched, convicted, surprised and humbled. 

Living beyond the walls does this. 

Sitting at tables with those who eat differently than you do is a challenging experience. Sitting with people who have chosen sexual partners different from you is difficult. Trying to explain a new God to people who have other gods is hard. 

But the love of God compels us (2 Cor. 5:14). 

I was having lunch with a few ladies and their children and one was wearing a T-shirt that said boldly: “Half Hood, Half Holy: that means pray with me, don’t play with me.” 

I sat there looking at her smiling face while wrestling her giggling son who was spitting out his food, squirming and inciting the other knee-bitters at the table to mount their own mother rebellions. She was honest about who she was, living out loud, unashamed, a bit in your face, but coy. Not afraid to own the truth of who she was in this moment, in transition and change. She is full of complexities that don’t always make it easy for anyone who is black and white. I admired her spunk and told her I loved her shirt and would wear it on a Sunday. She laughed with a look of surprise. 

It’s in moments like these when my admiration for the raw truth telling, the nerve and pluck of the 9th round beatdowns who get back up grows. I look at myself and wonder who is really the civilized and uncivilized living among us…and within us.  

I ordered my t-shirt today." 

Pastor Eric.  

 My son shared this quote by Spurgeon 7 years ago, it is so good!!!

"I passed by a preacher, one evening, who was addressing certain villagers in the most terrific strains.

He was telling them, "The Lord is coming! The Lord is coming! You will all be destroyed!"

There was plenty of sound,
though I fear not an excess of sense—

and there was a savor of delirious prophecy
which went beyond the Scriptures
into personal visions and figments of the man's own brain!

I wondered what he hoped to do.
The people were standing at their doors, smoking their pipes and taking it in as a curious kind of display.

Perhaps better that he should rage like a sea in a storm than give the people no warning
and yet I do not suppose any good could come of his shouts.

Had he spoken gently to them,
one by one,
concerning faith in God, and had he gone to their doors and spoken of the great love of Jesus Christ—
perhaps there would have been some result.

But one would not look for good fruit from the boisterous shouts of nonsense!

And yet there are many who feel that if a man shouts and perspires, something must be effected." -
Charles Spurgeon


Deuteronomy 32:2
My doctrine shall drop as the rain,
my speech shall distill as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb,
and as the showers upon the grass:

 

 "For the Christian, in his own household he is to be the guide and the support of his children; and out of his household he is still to be the father, 

That is, the guide and support of the weak and the poor; not merely of the meritoriously weak and the innocently poor, but of the guiltily and punishably poor; of the person that ought to have known better -- of the poor who ought to be ashamed of themselves. 

It is nothing to give a pension and cottage to the widow who has lost her son; it is nothing to give food and medicine to the workman who has broken his arm, or the decrepit woman wasting in sickness.  

But it is something to use your time and strength to war with the waywardness and thoughtlessness of mankind..." 

John Ruskin. 

  "You know how often it is difficult to be wisely charitable, to do good without multiplying the sources of evil. 

You know that to give alms is nothing unless you give thought also; and that therefore it is written, not, "blessed is he that feedeth the poor," but, "blessed is he that considereth the poor." 

And you know that a little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money." 

John Ruskin.  

 Where does Jesus lead?

Christ guides us into the opened hearts of those in need.

I say ‘opened’ and not open, because the tyranny of living may have

closed off the heart,

shut down the trust,

and sealed the innermost thoughts of a wounded soul.

But the “gates of hell” will not prevail when the Holy Spirit breathes and connects us with downtrodden.

Jesus warms the cold, ruptured heart;

glimmers of hope begin to rise and Christ grants a trust where the

‘Confessional work of the Spirit’

opens wide the tomb of terrors,

and tears begin to fall,

silence is broken,

and words, which may have been hidden for a lifetime, begin to flow.

The healing balm of Christ’s presence, brings to the downcast a foretaste of healing, the anticipation of liberty from sorrows past and present.

There is a holy quiet as knitted hearts realize

“It is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure”

which is the liberation of another child of His.

Terrible as an Army with Banners

Being the Church militant

"Don’t be surprised if the wolves bite when you’re stealing their prey. The enemy doesn’t surrender his captives easily. Kingdom advance is a dirty street fight not an evangelical excursion of conscience-soothing dogoodersim.

Matthew 5:10-12

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds.

And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”

Jesus’s first sermon ended with folks trying to throw him off a cliff.

“When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, -Luke 4:28-29

Maybe our sermons are too soft?

Devils don’t dance, they kill and outreach isn’t a mere act of mercy, it’s an act of war. We are stepping into a very real battle of life and death with an enemy who is on the prowl to devour.

The Church is a Bride dressed for battle.

“Who is this, arising like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, and terrible as an army with billowing banners?” -Song of Songs 6:10

This is also why outreach is abandoned, neglected, skipped or personalized out of an actual accountable and measurable activity.

Storming beaches, busting strongholds and crossing enemy lines isn’t just rhetoric for faster worship songs, it's the very mission of God.

It’s why Jesus bled, martyrs burn and Heaven is in a continual building project for more mansions."

Pastor Eric.

  

 "All rivers, small or large, agree in one character; they like to lean a little on one side; they cannot bear to have their channels deepest in the middle, but will always, if they can, have one bank to sun themselves upon, and another to get cool under; one shingly shore to play over, where they may be shallow, and foolish, and childlike; and another steep shore, under which they can pause and purify themselves, and get their strength of waves fully together for due occasions. 

Rivers in this way are just like wise men, who keep one side of their life for play, and another for work; and can be brilliant, and chattering, and transparent when they are at ease, and yet take deep counsel on the other side when they set themselves to the main purpose." 

John Ruskin.