Month / January 2011

by In Light Of The Cross

John 8; God’s Cry To Be Loved.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 8:42  If God were your Father, ye would love me…

I encourage you to read John chapter 8 and see what you see. There is a very intense argument going on. There head to head conflict. The Jews are being very two-faced with Jesus, saying in chapter 7 that no one seeks to kill Him and then turning around in chapter 8 and trying to stone Him to death! I deal with conflict but would rather not. I am firm in my beliefs and can defend my faith in conflict, but instead of getting into a heavy debate, I would rather talk about what your favorite restaurant is, or how funny it would be if the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl this year.

But as deep and intense as the discussion is in John 8, I see the crux of it all in verse  42.  In this whole chapter, I can see beyond all the theological debates, past all the so called doctrine and law, and I see a God crying out for love. He is standing in the midst of His church, talking with His leaders, and what is breaking His heart, is not their misunderstanding of what we call theology, or the law or Bible doctrine. He stands there, as a Son, as Brother, as a friend, and declares, “You don’t love me.” In verse 42 He is not saying, you don’t understand the law, doctrine, or theology. He is saying, You don’t love me. I see in this chapter a God crying out for love.

Isn’t all creation crying out for love? I have seen children of divorced parents, who are left with the grandparents because neither parent wanted them. The children take up all the hobbies their parents took up, not because they like the hobbies really, but because they want to have something to link the parent back to them and love them. I have seen the elderly holding and adoring a puppy, enjoying having a faithful creature, that they can pour their love on without being hurt in return, like they have with people for so many years.

I could go on, but all I am saying is, all around us there are people who just want to be loved. Sometimes their mannerisms that annoy us, are nothing more than their cry for love. And I believe in John 8 there is a God who more than wanting to praised as Mighty, Powerful and Awesome, has maybe let down His guard a bit in verse 42, and standing there alone, as it seems the whole world is against Him in His own church, and cries out to be loved.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 7; It’s a Conspiracy!

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and [yet] none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 

 7:20       The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 

Either the group talking to Jesus here, were ignorant of the conspiracy to kill Him or they were two-faced. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5 that we are not to be paranoid about conspiracies, but to cast all of our care upon Jesus. At the same time, Peter acknowledges that the devil is out to get us.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

 5:8         Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

 5:9         Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

In John 7 the multitude had mixed opinions about Jesus. However His conduct is what validated His words and works.

While people are telling Jesus that He is crazy for thinking someone wants to kill Him, the Pharisees send out a group of conspirators to get Him.

7:45        Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 

 7:46       The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 

The officers who were sent to take Jesus reported that never man spake like this man. But the reason of this was that never man lived like this man; for if he had not so lived, he could not so have spoken. His words bore with them a convincing power, because they came from a heart pure and holy, full of love and sympathy, beneficence and truth. There is eloquence beyond that of words, in the quiet, consistent life of a pure, true Christian. We shall have temptations as long as we are in this world, but instead of injuring us, they will only turn to our advantage, if resisted. The bounds are placed where Satan cannot pass. He may prepare the furnace, but instead of working injury, it will only consume the dross, and bring forth the gold of the character, purer than before the trial.  {Gospel Workers 1892 P, 244}

No reason to be paranoid about Satan’s conspiracies. Just keep living for Jesus!

by In Light Of The Cross

John 6; Jesus Has a Solution Before We Have a Problem

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 6:5 When Jesus then lifted up [his] eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 

 6:6         And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 

Jesus already had a solution before Philip even knew there was a problem. Jesus was testing Philip to see if He would trust him. Jesus does the same with us. He already has the solutions before we even  see the problem.

“Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.”  {Desire of Ages, p. 330} 

 6:7         Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 

 6:8         One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 

 6:9         There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 

Good thing there was a young boy there with a small lunch. Good thing Andrew did not tell him he was too young to help and to come back later when he grew up. Jesus could not wait for him to grow up. He needed the boy now. Jesus needs all of our young people today, not later.

 6:10       And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 

 6:11       And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 

 6:12       When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 

 6:13       Therefore they gathered [them] together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 

The young boy who gave all he had did not go hungry that day either. I am sure Jesus could have worked the same miracle with just one loaf of bread, but after hearing about Jesus and His love it wasn’t enough for the boy to give a little. He had to give all! Just like the widow had to give all when she gave her two mites, and the woman who washed Jesus feet with the perfume that cost all she had, when the boy heard of Jesus’ love He had to give all. It’s just a natural response from anyone who understands the gospel and the cross of Christ.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 5; Don’t Sleep Through The First Ressurection

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

 5:26       For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 

 5:27       And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 

 5:28       Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 

 5:29       And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

In verses 28 and 29 Jesus refers to the two resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of the thousand years, and the resurrection of the lost who meet their doom at the end of the thousand years.

In verse 25 Jesus is obviously referring to the first resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous. When I study with people about what happens when you die, I like to conclude with this verse and an appeal. I share that we can get so use to listening and responding to the voice of God, that we will even hear His voice in the grave. Some though will be so used to ignoring His voice, that they will sleep right through the first resurrection. I appeal to them to spend their life listening and responding to the Word of God. Then they will be so tuned into His Word that one day, if they die, His voice will wake them from the grave.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 4; In The Spirit

I wrote this about seven years ago while living in the beautiful Dallas-Fort Worth area.

As I am making my current journey through the New Testament, when I came to John 4, I remembered something I had written about seven years ago, right before I moved to Florida. One of the things I love about writing, is taking a look back every now and then at how I thought years ago. In the article below I am writing about my attitude about moving to Florida. After being here now for seven years, I find it interesting that I seemed to have a self-fulfilling prophecy about making friends here. Glad everything happened even better than I ever dreamed. Below is my article, exactly how I wrote it seven years ago.

God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

With the possibility now, of me moving to Florida where I will be hundreds of miles from any of my friends, it has me thinking a lot lately about my friends and what their friendships mean to me. In light of this, I found something in the above verse that is very comforting to me. I am sure that you have friends that no matter how long you are apart form them, once you get together, your friendship resumes right where it left off as though you had never been apart. This may sound weird, but maybe in one dimension you never were apart! We have physical dimensions such as time and space, but have you ever thought that there is another dimension we can be in that is not bound by time or space? To me, that dimension is the Holy Spirit. I believe why many of our Christian friendships take up right where they left off even after long periods of no physical contact is because we have actually been together the whole time “in the Spirit!” Why do those friendships take up right where they left off as though no time has passed by? Because we are in the great “ I AM”. With God thee is no time. He is in one eternal now. He is not the “I WAS” or “ I WILL BE”, He is the I AM. Same with space, The Holy Spirit is everywhere. The Holy Spirit is with our Christian friends, so if we are in the Spirit and our friends are in the Spirit then we are together.

As a matter of fact, all the love we receive from our friends actually comes from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if I leave my friends in Texas and go to Florida and make new friends there, I am still receiving the exact same love I had in Texas. Love does not come form human beings. We can not generate love; all we can do is let the Holy Spirit’s love flow through us. Therefore, the love I receive from people half way across the world is the same exact love I receive from the people I live with right here. It all comes form God. So as long as you have God’s love you can’t miss a friends love, because the only love they gave you came from God and He is still with you!

I am so thankful for all my friends whom I can share God’s love with! Thank you for being a part of my life. I hope God has been able to love you through me as we worship Him in Spirit.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 3; God’s Cure for Unbelief

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John  3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 

 3:15    That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

 3:16    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

 3:17    For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

 Eve sinned when she stopped believing in God’s love, and started believing Satan’s lie, that the forbidden fruit would give her a better life than what God had offered her. The root of sin is doubting God’s love. When we sin, we are saying, “I do not believe God loves me.” When we sin, we reject God who is life and we choose death. See Proverbs 8:36

In the desert the children of Israel, complained about God, strongly hinting that He must not care for them. God left as He does not stay where He is not wanted. In leaving, God opened the way for snakes to come into the camp. He did not send them in so much as He was just no longer there to keep them out. This opened their eyes to God’s love and they said they were sorry. Sorry for doubting God’s love. Moses made a brass serpent so that anyone who had been bitten could look and live.

So today, when we have been bitten by the lie of that old serpent the devil, saying God does not really love us, we can look to the cross. There we see a God who loved us so much that He died for us. Satan’s lie is exposed. We no longer believe in Satan. We believe that God really does love us. We reject Satan’s lie and we reject death. Eternal life is restored the moment we believe God loves us.

When we choose to believe Satan’s lies about God’s character, we reject God and choose death as an escape from the presence of God. When Satan’s lies are all exposed at the cross, we believe in God’s love and eternal life is restored. As we continue to believe that God really loves us, we continue to obey Him.

Eve rejected eternal life the moment she stopped believing God really loved her. Eternal life is restored the moment we believe in His love. At the cross we see that love.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 2; A Savior From Social Embarrassment

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 2:1       And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 

 2:2      And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 

 2:3      And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 

 2:4      Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 

 2:5      His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it]. 

 2:6      And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 

 2:7      Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 

 2:8      And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare [it]. 

 2:9      When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 

 2:10    And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now. 

Not only was this Jesus’ first recorded miracle, but consider why He performed this miracle. It was to save the host social embarrassment. That tells us something about Jesus. It tells us that He was a very social person, and He was very sensitive to the feelings of others. Did the people really need wine? No. They could have survived with water. Jesus obviously wanted people to have fun at the party and did not want the host to be embarrassed. That right there tells me a lot about our God.

I like the simple words of Mary, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” It is as simple as that. I remember several years ago, while living in Texas, I went to a three church district in Oklahoma to preach one Sabbath. On most occasions, when I did this, each church that Sabbath would give a little offering to help with my gas expenses. It usually totaled around $200.00 give or take a few.

One Sabbath when I arrived at the first church where I spoke that Sabbath, I found out that one of the families in that district had just lost a young boy. The family was poor and did not have the money to bury him. The pastor said an offering would be taken to help the family. He assured me there would still be an offering for me.

As I sat on the platform getting ready to preach, I heard a testimony about the family who lost the little boy. The Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder (heart?) and told me to tell the pastor sitting on the platform with me, to not take up an offering for my expenses but to have it all given to the family. I thought about it for a second, and started doing the math, thinking about how much money I would be losing and how I could get by without it. As I was doing the math in my head, the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder again and said, “I already told you what to do. Why are still trying to figure things out?” I then leaned over and whispered in the pastor’s ear to not have an offering for my expenses, but to give all the money that Sabbath to the family. I never missed the money. More importantly I learned the simplicity of Mary’s words, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” It doesn’t have to be complicated. Don’t worry about the consequences. Simply do as He says, and see if Jesus does not bless your life the way He blessed that wedding party in Canaan.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 1; John Sees What is Right With The Church

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 

 1:27       He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 

I have already noticed something different about the book of John. The other gospels record the strife between the disciples as to who is the greatest. John does not record this strife. John speaks about John the Baptist leading people to Jesus and not to himself. In John 3:30 John records John the Baptist saying, “He must increase, I must decrease.”  I think John is focusing on what is right with the church instead of what is wrong.  He is giving us some good role models. Former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, once said, “Nothing is wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” I choose to believe that there is nothing wrong with the church that cannot be cured by what is right with the church. Of course, Jesus is what is right with the church, but let’s look at what else is right with the church.

1:40 One of the two which heard John [speak], and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 

 1:41       He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 

 1:42       And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. 

 1:43       The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 

 1:44       Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

 1:45       Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 

 1:46       And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 

 1:47       Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 

 1:48       Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 

 1:49       Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.  

 1:50       Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 

We have Andrew who is working hard and quietly behind the scenes to bring people to Jesus. In the other Gospels we never heard him mentioned by name, like we did James and John in the fracas as to who was the greatest. We never heard him making outrageous boasts like Peter made. About the only other time we hear of him, is when he found a boy with a sack lunch that saved the multitude from hunger. Andrew seems to work best one on one and without much fanfare. I would say he is what is right with the church.

Next we have Nathanael. Nathaniel seems to be a man of prayer. Jesus says Nathanael is an Israelite who has no guile! Wow! I pray Jesus can say that about me! That would be awesome. I do not know of a higher compliment that Jesus ever gave to anyone, and he gave it to a man the other three gospel do not even mention, and is only mentioned six times in the book of John, five of those times are in this brief story above. This tells me there are people in our church today who have no guile. We may not notice them because they are not drawing attention to themselves. They are quietly praying and bringing people to Jesus instead of arguing over who is the greatest.

by In Light Of The Cross

Luke 24; Seeing is Not Believing

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Luke 24:13   And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem [about] threescore furlongs. 

 24:14            And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 

 24:15            And it came to pass, that, while they communed [together] and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 

 24:16            But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 

 24:17            And he said unto them, What manner of communications [are] these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 

 24:18            And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 

 24:19            And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 

 24:20            And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 

 24:21            But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 

 24:22            Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 

 24:23            And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 

 24:24            And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found [it] even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 

 24:25            Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

 24:26            Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 

 24:27            And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

 24:28            And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 

 24:29            But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 

 24:30            And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed [it], and brake, and gave to them. 

 24:31            And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 

 24:32            And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 

Whenever I give a Bible study on the Scriptures, I always share this story, about how Jesus showed them in the Scriptures all the things that pointed to Him as the Messiah, instead of just letting their eyes be opened and see that it was Him to begin with. He did not want them going by sight. He wanted them going by the Word of God. Seeing is not always believing. Look at all the miracles the children of Israel saw and still did not believe. Jesus performed miracles all the time and the Pharisees did not believe. Belief takes place in the heart and not the eyes. Jesus opened the Scriptures and their hearts burned within them. Today we must put the Bible above anything that we see or feel. Like Jesus we must go by the Scriptures and not by sight.

by In Light Of The Cross

Luke 23; The Prayer That Embraced The World

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

I love how the prayer of Christ on the cross embraces the entire world!

The Saviour made no murmur of complaint. His face remained calm and serene, but great drops of sweat stood upon His brow. There was no pitying hand to wipe the death dew from His face, nor words of sympathy and unchanging fidelity to stay His human heart. While the soldiers were doing their fearful work, Jesus prayed for His enemies, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” His mind passed from His own suffering to the sin of His persecutors, and the terrible retribution that would be theirs. No curses were called down upon the soldiers who were handling Him so roughly. No vengeance was invoked upon the priests and rulers, who were gloating over the accomplishment of their purpose. Christ pitied them in their ignorance and guilt. He breathed only a plea for their forgiveness,–“for they know not what they do.”   

     Had they known that they were putting to torture One who had come to save the sinful race from eternal ruin, they would have been seized with remorse and horror. But their ignorance did not remove their guilt; for it was their privilege to know and accept Jesus as their Saviour. Some of them would yet see their sin, and repent, and be converted. Some by their impenitence would make it an impossibility for the prayer of Christ to be answered for them. Yet, just the same, God’s purpose was reaching its fulfillment. Jesus was earning the right to become the advocate of men in the Father’s presence. 

     That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It took in every sinner that had lived or should live, from the beginning of the world to the end of time. Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God. To all, forgiveness is freely offered. “Whosoever will” may have peace with God, and inherit eternal life.  {Desire of Ages, p. 745}