We Need Each Other
A little time ago, I went to one of the most beautiful memorials I have ever been to. It was for a young man who had died completely unexpectedly. He was fine one moment, and then the next he collapsed on his living room floor, gone, leaving a young wife and three young children. It is extremely heartbreaking. The death of a loved one is the most punch-in-the-gut sad life experiences that I can’t wait to finally end.
Raising the Dead
On December 14, 2019 two-year-old Olive Heiligenthal died. Her church, the Bethel Church in Redding, California asked that she remain in the coroner’s office while the church attempted to raise her from the dead. In an Instagram post on December 16, the church stated they believed in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated every grave. They asked for bold unified prayers from the global church to stand with them and believe that God would raise the little girl back to life. After about a week they stopped the attempt to raise little Olive from the grave.
More than a Resolution
The New Year is always when many of us come up with resolutions/goals. It is a good thing to see something that you may need to improve on or change in your life. We are human; therefore, there will always be room for improvement. Unfortunately though, according to a survey by Statista, only four percent of people who made New Year’s resolutions actually kept all of them*. I am no expert, but I think maybe when the only person that we are accountable to is ourselves, we sometimes fall short.
Why Anti-Semitism?
Once again anti-Semitism is rearing its ugly head. Two of the more prominent events in the last month include a shooting in a Jersey City, New Jersey kosher deli and a machete attack in a Rabbi’s house in Monsey, New York. Over the past three weeks in New York state alone 13 anti-Semitic attacks have occurred. In New York City there has been a 21 percent increase in anti-Semitic crimes in the last year. Why is it that Jews continue to be a target for these crimes?
Gender Bender
A recent Washington Post article (12/6/19) titled “Argentine Teenagers Rewrite the Rules of Language” caught my attention due to society’s increased acceptance of transgenderism. Transgenderism is a male-to-female or female-to-male gender orientation or self-identity. The article went on to discuss an Argentine teen named Natalia Mira, 18, who used gender neutral language in a TV interview that made headlines in the Spanish speaking world last year.
Valuable
You are valuable. Do not ever doubt it. I think that sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that. We are important to God. We are loved by the Creator of the universe, and we are so valuable to Him that “He gave His one and only Son that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We are so valuable to Him that He wishes to spend eternity with us.
Reconciliation
There is a lot of need for reconciliation in the world today. It seems that 99 percent of the news is about groups of people who can’t stand each other, and it is not just an American problem. I know that without Christ’s return, this problem will continue, but it is sad to see. Hatred creates more hatred. No one likes it when someone disagrees with them, but instead of debating differences, people just seem to yell at each other and call each other names. It is like watching three-year-olds throwing a temper tantrum when they don’t get their way; however, unfortunately, instead of three-year-olds they’re grown adults. Yet, as I said already, in the world these things will continue because this is Satan’s world (2 Corinthians 4:4).
On a Mission from God
What is a mission? A mission is a very important assigned task. We are surrounded by different entities with unique missions specific to their cause. Our government has a mission, our companies have a mission, our favorite teams also have a mission, our kids’ schools have a mission, etc. Does the Church have a mission assigned to it? Some of us may be shocked to find out the Church does have a mission assigned to it by God. We’re all aware that by the word “Church” we’re not speaking of a building, but those who follow and strive to keep the laws of Jesus Christ. “What is that mission?” you ask.
Paying With Your Right Hand or Forehead?
I recently read an article in Midnight Call magazine (December 2019) titled, “Takeover of the Human Body for Payment.” The article related the story of a man who went to a Whole Foods shopping for groceries. When he wanted to pay he realized he had left his wallet at home. All he had to do was unlock his iPhone thru the facial recognition software and pay for his groceries with a mobile payment app.
Mobile payment is being employed all over the world. By mobile payment I’m talking about using phone apps and other methods to pay for things in lieu of cash, checks, or credit cards.
Do Not Lose Your Soul
What is it worth to gain the whole world but to lose your soul? I am coming to the conclusion that it is vital to ask God what His will for our lives is, even if that means we have to let go of our own goals and dreams when they do not line up to what He desires for us to do. This is not an easy thing to do, and I have yet to fully accomplish doing this. Yet, I realize that it would be so freeing to wake up every morning and say, “God what do you want me to do today? Show me what priorities/tasks that I need to accomplish today.”
It Can Happen
Many of us in God’s Church can become discouraged in sharing our beliefs due to a lack of success in having others listen to us. It’s normal to draw inward after just a few unsuccessful attempts at sharing your faith with others. I want to encourage everyone to continue to share your beliefs with others because it is your duty as a Christian. Sometimes you may never even see the positive results that may flow from your sharing.
Let me provide an example from my own experience. In high school I first heard about the pagan origin of Christmas from a Jehovah’s Witness friend of mine. I asked my mom about what my friend related to me and she informed me not to concern myself with this new information.
All You Need Is Love
As the Beatles song said, “All you need is love!” We sing great songs about it and make lots of movies about it, yet it seems like something mankind will never truly grasp. We can look all around us and see the growing coldness in man’s heart. Christianity is the religion of “LOVE,” but many have done evil in the name of Christianity. We even have organized groups and churches that spread hate, yet they are listed as Christian organizations. How can this be?!
Millennials Losing Their Religion
In my last blog I discussed the decrease in the number of people of all ages in the United States claiming to be Christian. In this blog I’d like to address the specific demographic of 23-38 year olds. Most people in this age range are known as “millennials.” Economist Michelle Freeman of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found our younger generation in early adulthood has dramatically stepped back from religious activities. She bases her assessment on information from two studies released in October 2019 which analyzes data from the American Time Use Survey.
Conduit
My family and I had a wonderful edifying Feast of Tabernacles this year in Lake Texoma, TX. The theme of the Feast was 1st John 4:19—“We love Him because He first loved us.” I do believe love was there at the Feast. We had a mix of different types of believers, and we all, at least as far as I know, got along great. It was awesome to see different styles of worship and to fellowship with people who had different backgrounds.
The House of Mourning
I have been to two funerals in just a couple of weeks. I also know of a few more people that have unexpectedly passed away recently. Life is so fragile and short no matter how long we live. Solomon taught that “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). I know it may sound hard, but death is a reminder of how short our lives are, which in turn should make us learn to live each day to its fullest. We never know when our final day in this lifetime will occur, and the house of mourning is a reminder of that.
Troubling Church Survey Data
I recently read some troubling survey data in Midnight Call magazine on church membership in the United States (US). The article was titled, “Church Membership Down Sharply.” Here is some of what I learned.
Between the years 1937 and 1976 US church membership was 70% or higher. From the 1970s to the 1990s it was down to an average of 68%. Gallup data from 2018 shows the percentage of US adults who claim church membership down to 50%.
Why Do We Refuse to Believe?
The debate has continued to rage on; does He or doesn’t He exist? We have seen so much archeological evidence that showed well above average levels of lime and brimstone confirming the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We can see the Dead Sea Scrolls as they have been taken on a tour around the world. And it’s a fact that even the medical community has finally admitted that prayer has had a positive effect on the healing of sick patients, and medical miracles have been witnessed by medical doctors, according to the article, “Can Prayer Heal the Sick?” on CBN.com. Yet, the debate continues!
The Body
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it (Psalm 139:14, NLT).
Have you ever thought about how wonderfully complex our bodies are? How intricate the Designer created us? Just think of our brains for instance. A professor from Stanford University, Dr. Kwabena Boahen, stated that our brains are “actually able to do more calculations per second than even the fastest supercomputer” (https://www.livescience.com/27907-neurogrid-brain-simulator-brain-awareness-nsf.html). There is so much going on in our bodies at every given second that we do not see. We have a complete electric circuit system inside us. It is amazing to think how sophisticated the human body can be. It is full of different talented systems that have to intricately and cohesively work together for us to be alive.
The Desire of God
Hosea 6:6 (emphasis mine):
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (NKJV).
For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (NASB).
For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings (Darby Bible).
I know it may be redundant to put three different translations of one scripture, but I wanted to show the different terms that translations used for the word checed, which means goodness and kindness.
Freedom of Choice
I usually have songs going through my head. They can be anywhere from classic rock to some stanza in a classical song to Christian music. My favorite is when I'm thinking about something and a song that seems to pertain to the situation pops into my head.
Here lately I have been thinking about the fact that we can't control many things that happen to us in our lives, however, we can control how we react to it.