"Middle-Class Jesus"

There's a Middle-Class Jesus

I've seen around town

But He doesn't reach-out

To the poor and the down

He lives in the temples of steel and wood

He only hears prayers

Of the ones who are good

And He answers them faster;

The ones who can pay

He's a Middle-Class Jesus

What can I say?

There's a Middle-Class Jesus

Asleep on your pews

He rests in the buildings

Of the old and the few

He lives in the malls of the large and the proud

But not in your hearts

For crying out loud

He's bored of your rituals

And tired of your prayers

He's tired of your "Hired-Guns"

With the Donald Trump Hair

There's a Middle-Class Jesus

You know Him too well

And unless you repent

He will lead you to Hell

He isn't the One who died for your sins

He's the one who is made in the image of Men

Don't give me a "church" of  steel and wood

Where men are paid

To tell you how to be good

Give me a church

Made of lives fully given

By men themselves, who are fully living

Who worship from lives, which are real and are broken

Who offer-up prayers which are more than a token

Give me a church that is made-up of men

Where sinners are loved in spite of their sin

Where hope is alive for all who will come

Where Christ is the help for lives undone

Give me a church

Found in the souls of the feeble

Where the hurting are helped

Without the aid of a steeple

Without carpet or pews or a church building;

They meet

But wherever they are

They're at the Savior's feet

When you were yet a maiden

When you were yet a maiden


And I was in my Prime

You saw me as your gallant knight

Sent from an older time

You thrilled as I fought dragons

You thrilled to see me fight

Your were my fair young maiden

and I your gallant knight

My armor from a distance

Seemed perfect in your eyes

You did not see the scars of war

Beneath my steel disguise

We’ve travelled so many desolate roads

So much we’ve yet to see

But now I wonder if you love me still

At past a quarter century

You know my every weakness

The closer we’ve become

The armor doesn’t shine as much

As when we first begun

The dragons that once thrilled you

As the same you’ve seen before

You wonder why the beasts still stand

If in fact I have waged war

The blemishes you thought would dissappear

Seem cancers on my skin

A Different Bed To Sleep In By Gary L. Holman

“She’d rather sleep with her anger than sleep with me” James’s words echoed off the night as the blue shadows painted the bedroom walls.

It was not the stone cold pillow beneath his heavy head that left him uncomfortable as much as it was the rumbling thoughts cascading within.

How had they gotten to this place? When had they become so readily adversarial? Who was this woman that he loved so desperately in spite of the hurt? How had the two of them transitioned from being friends who could hardly bear to be apart into these two people who could barely stand to be in the same room? Why were they so compelled to make this relationship survive?

Where was Tina with her soft brown hair, large chestnut eyes and easy smile? Where was the girl who had captured James heart so long ago? Jim had always loved the upturn of her full pink lips. He delighted how her smile brightened her whole face, and his.

James remembered the first time Tina had shared that smile with him; they were standing in line together at Long’s; the campus bookstore. The uncertainty of the pimply faced clerk trying to price “THE REASON OF MAN” has given James pause long enough to glance at the petite girl waiting in line behind him. “Sorry” he muttered. “I’m in no hurry”. Her words came softly, framed by the smile that caused her whole pixie face light-up. Something about the sparkle in her soft eyes caused Jim’s heart to skip. Instantly he was also slightly out of breath. “Only back to the dorm to study, I’m really not anxious to get back to “trig”. “$ 175.00 the awkward clerk interrupted, smacking his gum, as if for emphasis. “Is that with my student discount?”

Usually such ineptness would have been a cause for irritation, but at this moment, on this day, the delay gave Jim time to invite this goddess to spend a few more minutes with him. “Do you do coffee? I mean do you drink. . . “Yes, I love coffee, Tina offered. “Well, do you have time for a quick cup before returning to your studies? There’s The Java Cup just a few doors down the street. We could walk there if you like?” “Trig can wait Tina quickly answered, as if for reassurance Tina offered another smile.

The Java cup was currently the campus “hotspot”. The battered hole-in-the-wall was run by a couple seniors from the college’s school of business. The old storefront couldn’t really be much more battered dingy or depressing. What had been a tailor’s shop back when college students still needed such a place was run by a pudgy old man who wore his glasses down on his nose and colorful Hawaiian print shirts summer or winter.The harmless flirty old man was a part of the charm of campus for as far back and anyone could remember. He had passed on and the once vacant building was alive again.

A shiny brand new espresso machine pumped out cups of goodness upon an improvised counter where the old man’s treadle sewing machine had fascinated passer-bys for decades.

Just outside the front door at a throw-away table James fumbled to make conversations as Tina politely sipped her Caramel Machinate; skinny, no whip.

Tina was far more interesting to Jim than his “Javo Jo”; a large cup of Sumatra Coffee with two shots of espresso. The “Jo” was the legendary brew of “All Nighters” and “Morning Afters” which kept the dorm lights burning in this Midwestern college “cow town”.

Everything about Tina back on the day of their meeting seemed so perfect, from the way her gauzy peach top landscaped her smaller, firm breasts to the way her black kaki’s clung to her “walker’s butt and legs”. James instantly realized that this girl had no concept of how beautiful she was. He decided then and there that it would be his mission in life to help her realize that fact. James had found a flower to nourish.

The early Midwestern days gone by, was the spring of their love. Those were days of uncertain beginnings. Together they broke the ground of adulthood. As the crocus and daffodils fearlessly, but cautiously break the snows of winters past, so their passion melted their individual experiences, as cold and disappointing as they had been rewarding them both a promise of a beautiful summer's garden.

Devotion had led to love, love had led to marriage, marriage; children, children to a slow disintegration of the unity of the two, who had become one. Two became one and then three and soon four and somewhere between the sports, academics, scouts and the work required to pay for the domestic bliss, Jim and Tina became Mr. and Mrs. James and Christina Dunn, then Mom and Dad, Father and mother and eventually strangers. As they became Empty- Nester's, what was lost was absent from their hearts as well as their home.

Otherwise time had been kind to the two of them, relatively speaking. Both were paunchier and slower but James could still  see a glimpse of the buoyant Tina peeking from within Christina occasionally when her doe eyes still sparkled. Jim's hair was no longer golden or shoulder length, but just as full as when he was six years out of high school as was his heart although lately, harsh words spoken in anger easily obscured it from his wife's sight.

"She'd rather sleep with her anger than with me" Jim said again out loud to no one in particular as he tried to make sense out of their fractured life.

"It's gonna be a long night and a long cold winter". Jim pulled the woolen duvet up tight against the cold. As he tossed once more and hoped for the arrival of spring.

Right Here In America?

What I offer below is not the Word of God, but my own expectations;

I believe within a very short order of this date, May 25, 2011 the United States economy is going to completely collapse. Investments within this country will be worthless; our money will have no value. I believe that our country, as we know it now will also collapse, at least for awhile. We will have realized too late that we have given our country away to those who do not desire to be American.

A sign toward the end will be the astronomical cost of everything we have become dependent upon. Those who have their trust invested in their riches won’t survive; many will take their own lives, others will lack the skills for basic survival.

Our cities will become war zones as looting and robbery will be the only means to survive. Houses will be abandoned as families group together in largely rural areas where hunting and planting will once again become the source of life. Families and church families will surrender their individual living styles to group together in order to provide for one another. The Federal Government will not hold a solution, they may well be much of the problem. The proposition of a National Idenity Chip could well be instituted in order to buy or trade, if it has not already been established before this time.

Life will no longer depend upon commerce in a financial sense, but will be dependent upon each man to care for his own family group through primitive means. Bartering of skills will be of much greater value than useless knowledge gathered through the previous years. Stores will be empty of much and what will be available will not be obtainable to the common man. In that day, only those who understand that their dependence upon God and one another, as the means to survive, will survive.

While political socialism by a One World Government will be offered as the solution, only a life of community, apart from such a system will assure the reestablishment of our independent Nation.

NO MAN CAN SERVE GOD AND MONEY

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. MATTHEW 6:24


Any time we begin a thought by saying, “Jesus said .” our hearts ought to be more in-tune to what our mouths are about to say than at any other time. It is the equal of the Saints of old proclaiming, “Thus Saith The Lord! That is to say, the words ought to bare more weight in our consideration for the very Son of God, the second party of the Trinity of God is speaking into the lives of we who mere mortal beings.

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. MATTHEW 6:24

So is the term “Christian Businessman” an oxymoron? I believe it nearly is for Jesus also said, “I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, IT IS VERY HARD FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”. MATTHEW 19:19 He didn’t say it is impossible for a rich man to get into Heaven for God’s grace is sufficient even for those who have money, if they are willing to surrender all they have to follow Him. Wasn’t that His challenge to the “Rich Young Ruler”?



We have made the mistake of thinking that Jesus singled out the Rich Young Ruler due to his greed or love of his money, but the truth is that ‘FULL SURRENDER OF WHO WE ARE AND OF WHAT WE HAVE’ IS ALWAYS THE COST OF BEING HIS DISCIPLE – NOTHING LESS! Jesus did not say to His Disciples, “gather your stuff and follow me!” In fact when He sent them out into ministry He instructed them to leave EVERYTHING behind, except for the clothes on their backs – so that they would be wholly dependent upon God to supply their needs through those to whom they ministered.



So the test is God MORE important to you than your possessions? If He told you to give it all away today and become the poorest with the poor, would you? Could you abandon the comforts and trappings of which you are so accustomed to live with and to serve those who have nothing? Could you be the Mother Teresa where you live or is it that God has only called His 11 and Mother Teresa to such a call?

Here is the harder part of the call; our people more important to you than your possessions? God calls you to prefer others above yourself; do you? He calls you to love others as you love yourself, so do you routinely treat associates, venders, partners and employees with respect, and consideration? Do you cheat still to get ahead or do you try to scheme your way to the biggest profit? Are people more important than your money? Do you talk about people who used to work for you in less than flattering ways? Have you lied about them? Is it MORE important for you to make money or to help others? Could you trust God to provide for you as you mentored an employee in your business or do you constantly replace employees without regard for them and their families? Ask yourself this question; do you treat others with love and preference or are you unwilling to trust God to bless you as you bless others?

LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR MIND, ALL YOUR SOUL AND ALL YOUR SELF AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS AS YOURSELF – That is NOT what it means to be a “GOOD CHRISTIAN”, that is the minimal of what it cost to follow Him.

No matter who you are, You Are Gonna Serve Somebody – it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, it may be your Money or it may be God, but it CAN’T BE BOTH. That is The Word of God and without dispute.

Of What This Kiss?

Where does the greatest danger lie,

In honest kiss,
or stranger's lie?

Is it yet best
That kiss is gone
or deceptive still it lingers on?

When passion still ignites the coals
Yet only death lives in the soul

Emotions strewn across life's shore

as empty shells and nothing more
Where does the greatest danger lie;

in honest kiss,

or stanger's lie?

Do ever young lovers dare to think

that one or other

may someday sink

to kiss with only lips of flesh

without a thought or smallest care

of whom it is they're kissing there

an empty kiss; devoid of bliss

what must we think
of what this kiss?

Is it a lie

or pledge of hope

or memory of what was best?

Is it a lie

or pledge of hope

perhaps a foolish lover's test

to see if what grew from within

might now reverse

love born again

Where does the greatest danger lie;

in honest kiss,

or stanger's lie?

Is it better that lips grow cold
or continue to kiss beyond love's bloom

tell me, what you think of this

tell me, of what this kiss?

LOVE WITH A PERFECT LOVE

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. Romans 14:10

Men who have been terribly hurt do terrible things: the worse is how we mistreat one another. It's a fact that the abused become abusers. Some do it with fists and guns others do it with words, a lot of us do it with attitude and grudges.

What isn't healed will hurt. Too often that hurt will come back to visit those we love the most. So let us, even though we are hurt, remember to exchange love for hate, generosity for abuse, forgiveness for a hardness of heart.

Let us all walk in meekness and remember those who are the meanest among us who deserve the most pity. God forgive each one of us for we all fall far short of the Glory of the Father of us all.

SHOULD CHRISTIANS BORROW AND LEND?

I have recently been asked repeatedly as to whether or not it is proper for the Christian to loan to those in need. Some have also wondered if we should ask for interests upon that money. There are many Scriptures that instruct us to freely give and as God has blessed us, we should freely bless others. Deu 16:17"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.” In fact Scripture tells us that God blesses us intentionally, so that we can bless others.


There are time when we can and should lend, but even in lending to other believers we should never give what we cannot afford to get back, for the Word tells us not to demand it back, in fact we should lend with an inner understanding that we do not expect it back, Jesus said, "And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. LUKE 6:34-35 Due. 14:6,7"If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.

When lending to fellow believers, you are NOT to ask for interest; "If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest. Exodus 22:25

Should believers borrow? The short answer is no, not if it is avoidable. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 I do not believe that to borrow is sin, but I do believe that as long as you owe anyone anything, you are in bondage to them, unless as a brother in Christian love it is given without expectation that it will be repaid. The Word warns us; “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower [is] servant to the lender.” Pro 22:7 “And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.” Isa 24:2

It is for good reason the Word says, “The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” Due. 28:12

The day of returning to Christian Community is upon us, as the oil prices raise and the Governments force us to rely upon them for our existence, we who are believers must ban together instead and care for each other. I believe the day of independent households may come to an end is quickly; where it will be necessary for Christian Communities to live together in order to survive.

Even now our church is considering ways to support one another so that we do not suffer from the financial crunch which is upon us. Within such Christian Community, understanding of lending and giving will be essential. Someone said last Sunday, “we may have to sell all that we have and depend upon God and one another” and I thought; it sounds like the first church.

Meanwhile, today; here are a few short principles to live by; Avoid debt. If you are in debt, GET OUT OF DEBT as quickly as possible. How do you do that? I would say, Pray – use the resulting blessings to give to God and others and pay off your debt and refuse to get into further debt. You can also sell anything you have not used within the last year and reconsider those nonessential bills and cable is NOT essential; food and gasoline is. That said; rethink what you eat and where you go. You can save a lot by surrendering nonessentials from the grocery list and by planning to do all extra driving in a single day. My daughter lives in a rural area of Ohio. She and her husband do any shopping, go out to eat together or any other running around on the same day each week. She has to plan ahead so that she doesn’t need extra diapers or milk or bread, but making on trip a week to do it all saves a lot in gas.

Most importantly understand that everything you have is a blessing from God and therefore belongs to Him. Don’t get greedy with God’s stuff! Freely give and if asked lend, if you can lend with the understanding that those you lend to may not be able to repay you. And remember the promise of Scripture; pray for yourselves and for your fellow believers; "The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow! You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you! Due. 14:6

ARE YOU COUNTING THE COST?

In a quiet moment this morning I began to contemplate the words of Jesus in Luke 14:28 “FOR WHICH OF YOU, INTENDING TO BUILD A TOWER; DOES NOT SIT DOWN FIRST AND COUNT THE COST, WHETHER HE HAS ENOUGH TO FINISH IT”


Your life is like a tower; through it you can reach great heights. But such heights can only be reached through patience and careful planning. A hastily built tower may be beautiful, but with the proper foundation and inter-structure it will not stand the test of storm or time.

Whatever our dreams, they must be built with careful consideration; the finished product will never be better than the preparation and unseen foundation.

Jesus focuses here on another problem; it doesn’t matter if you have “enough” to begin a project if you will not have enough to finish it. “Enough” what, you may ask, Enough money, enough skill, enough endurance, enough vision, enough cooperation, enough of whatever is required to build the tower.

For example, if I choose to build a home and I consider the price of the land, the materials, the time or the energy, but I do not consider what it will cost me to supply lights and heat and transportation to and from that home, if I do not consider what it will cost to insure it or make repairs or to do regular maintenance, than I may very well be able to be a house that I cannot afford to move into.

If I buy my “dream home” and it has all the luxuries a house could offer to a man, what good is it if I cannot afford to live there for any length of time?

Consider a race; you do not win it by how fast you begin. You win a race by how well you finish it.

Whether you’re talking about a race, a house, a tower or your life; the success of it will be measured by how well you finish.

So how do we finish well? Jesus gives us the answers; first He says you need to “SIT DOWN”. Life has a way of rushing us into what we are not prepared to finish. The most important step toward finishing well is taking the time to stop the present momentum of life BEFORE we begin to build.

Only by stopping and sitting down can we honestly “COUNT THE COST”. Every dream comes with a price tag. The question becomes are you willing and able to pay the price for your dream?
We live in an age of entitlement thinking; many people believe that because they have the desire for something, a house, a car, a child, a wife, a retirement; that their desire alone entitles them to their desire.

I may want a luxury automobile, but before I decide to buy one, I need to ask whether I can afford also to store it, as well as operate it. What good is my luxery car if it is sitting unoperational out in the elements?

I am convinced that most people do not count the cost of the most important decisions of their life, therefore it is not surprising that they do not count the cost of how they will finish their lives either.

If we divide our lives into thirds; Youth, Adulthood and Retirement, we can easily understand that in our youth we plan for EVERYTHING; in fact what do you almost automatically ask every child you meet? Don’t you often say, ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW-UP?” We do this instinctively because we understand the importance of a child to possess dreams.

As young adults we plan for our marriages, our children our homes and our kid’s schooling, everything.

Surprisingly most people never plan to get older. In a recent survey of Americans; over 70% said they “plan” on social security to keep them in their retirement. In the same survey nearly 70% of the same people said that they expect The Security System to collapse before they can collect from it. U.S. Census Population Estimates supports such pessimism, it says; “For every 20 people entering the 50+ market... only 1 will be entering the 18-49 demographic over the next five years.” This married to the fact that the Federal Government has already emptied the social security accounts by “borrowing” from them what it cannot afford to repay paints a grim picture indeed.

So in reality, most people have no plan of how they will survive the last third of their lives; a time when, ironically, they will have increased living expenses, especially medical, and little or no income.

If we are going to live well; if we are going to leave a legacy of a job well done, we must heed the words of Jesus, here in the New Living Translation; “SUPPOSE ONE OF YOU WANTS TO BUILD A TOWER, WILL HE NOT FIRST SIT DOWN AND ESTIMATE THE COST TO SEE IF HE HAS ENOUGH MONEY TO COMPLETE IT?”LUKE 14:28

Bitter or Better

Lately almost daily God has been reminding me that with each day I have a choice to make; I can choose to be BITTER or BETTER. I know it sounds trite but it really is a simple choice that we each need to make.

I can awaken and be thankful for the blessings scattered throughout my life or I can allow myself to focus on the darkness that often evades my space. I can concentrate on the silky beauty of the rose petals; the glory of their beauty or I can dwell upon the ugly stem with its thorns, which prick my skin.

Each day, God hands you a Rose. Each day you have the option of how you will view it. Life is not all beauty, but neither is it all ugliness.

Jesus said, “IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TRIALS, BUT I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD”. So trials will come and with each trial, I will be tested, if I persevere with an attitude of gratitude my life will become sweeter and as I press against the burdens, I will ultimately become stronger and BETTER or I can allow the trails to crush me and I will, within my defeated frame of mind become BITTER. Bitterness will not allow me to escape the present heart-ache; however searching the redemption hidden within the trial will certainly help me to endure.

Life is never easy. Some days are better than others, some days are worse. We can, as the old hymn suggests; COUNT OUR BLESSINGS and be thankful for a single ray of hope engulfed in the world of darkness or we can keep a close account of every failed expectation, every disappointment and every accumulated sorrow. Such book-keeping will most certainly leave you feeling worse for your trouble.
Some years ago I was in the midst of losing everything, including my immediate family, as I sat with a Pastor he brought me back to reality. He said, at this point in your life you will either fall upon the One who is The Rock or this Rock of tribulation will fall upon you and crush you. It was a simple if, irrational choice, I could either thank God and fall upon Him or I could surrender and allow the weight of the trail to crush me; I chose to fall upon God.

A few nights later I found myself lying on the ground under the open night sky; as I was lying there looking at the beauty of the constellation I realized I was thanking God that I could freely serve Him; I had no restrictions, nothing more to lose through my obedience to Him and as the Word tells us “THOSE WHO CHRIST SETS FREE ARE FREE INDEED”. What can the enemy take from someone who has already lost it all? I didn’t know where I would be living. I still didn’t have a job or my family. I was out lying in an open field, but beneath that ebony blanket of twinkling stars I realized that I was the King’s Kid and I had nothing more to lose!

You can’t predict what will happen in your life today; neither can you prevent it, but you have a choice will you see the beauty of life or will you cast that beauty aside, afraid of thorns which surely accompany that beauty; the choice is yours, will you become BITTER OR BETTER?

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

Valentines Day is a great day toreexamine this wonderful Blessing called Love. While much of the world will only be celebrating the physical aspect of love, for the Christian Believer
Love ought to be a celebration of who we are; if Our God is Love and we are to
like Him, we also ought to exhale Love.

Love is not an Emotion; true love is so much more. True Love is Commitment and Covenant and sacrifice. Love is giving; true love cares more for the other person than for ourselves and we cling to one another, not until or emotions run dry, but as they ebb and flow
throughout life.

I spoke to a man who wasburying his wife of 60 plus years. I said, "And you never had a bad day . ." He laughed, "very few bad days, we had a couple bad
months and even a couple sets of bad years, but in our later years we never
left one another and we were so glad that we had held on, but of course, we
were never abusive or anything like that, but we weren't always friendly . .
" he paused and with a tear running down his face said, "We always
loved one another."

We use the word LOVE to describe our favorite TV show to our House to our
spouse and children; we most often forget hat REAL LOVE is, Let's go bad to the
God's Word and rediscover God's definition of LOVE:

1 Corinthians 13

 

If I speak in the tongues of men or
of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal.

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries
and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not
have love, I am nothing.

³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body
to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵ It does not
dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs

⁶ Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the trust

 ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they
will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is
knowledge, it will pass away.

⁹ For we know in
part and we prophesy in part,

¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of
childhood behind me.
¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we
shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I
am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love.

How To Love Your Wife

Ok men, this is a day late, but just as valid as if I had
written it yesterday.

This lesson comes as much from life-experience as anything I
have ever heard or read. In as much as you and my fellow men need to feel
respected in order to know we are loved, our wives need to feel “cherished”

This is a tall order, if you think not consider the words
of  The Apostle Paul; “HUSBANDS, LOVE
YOUR WIVES, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER .  . .”
EPHESIANS 5:25

A newly-wed husband recently asked me, “When am I going to
figure out my wife?” Isn’t that just lie a man? Give me the instructions, tell
me what to do and I can make this thing work! Give me the code now and I will
be gold for the next 60 years or whatever we might have together  . . . I answered the young groom as honestly as I could, “NEVER! About the time you begin to know what pushes her buttons,
the buttons will change! Once you know where they are, the buttons will move!”
The young man look like he wanted to cry. I said, “Son, Marriage; like life is
a journey, not a destination! "

I can’t ‘tell’ you how to cherish your wife, but she can and if you listen, she will
and those directions will change about as often as you change your socks. You
can only hope that you are doing your best, in loving her as she needs, in as
much as you are in constant communication with her. Doesn’t the love of Christ
Always find us, regardless of where we are? And so must your love always be
there for her. The only way to define it or where it should be is to be in
constant communication with her. This much I can promise, the only love which
will allow her to know that she is cherished is the love that is costly to you.
Real, eternal, unconditional love will cost you EVERYTHING, ETERNALLY. You must
not only be willing to lay down your life for your wife; real love can be
experienced by any lesser price.

But in the words of a wise man; “THE ONE WHO LOVES HIS WIFE,
LOVES HIS LIFE” EPHESIANS 5:28             AMEN!

MAY YOU EVER BE CAPTIVAED BY HER LOVE

“A LOVING DOE, A
GRACEFUL DEER – MAY HER BREASTS SATISFY YOU ALWAYS, MAY YOU EVER BE CAPTIVAED
BY HER LOVE” PROVERBS 5:19

I remember a
Christmas movie in which children had to quote a Bible Verse in order to get a
Christmas treat and a rotten little boy quoted this one and shocked the bitter
old bitty from the church handing out the goodies. My best friend Dave use to
also claim this as his favorite passage of Scripture, but the truth is every
bit of Scripture is given to us for a reason.

We live in a day, where ungodly prudishness and self-manufactured righteousness
prevents the church from addressing life-issues in a meaningful relevant manner
or in some cases where God’s gifts of desire and the mystery of a Godly union
is depicted as something lurid and disgusting by men and women with an
unhealthy view of love and marriage and the marriage bed.

In recent years the divorce rate among believers is as high as it is among
non-believers, adultery is rampant and pornography use among believers is
epidemic. The occupation with the second highest divorce rate is pastoral
ministry, this ought not to be.  You
rarely see married believers showing any signs of affection for one another;
many, once they are married no longer care about their physical appearance or
whether or not their spouse still finds them attractive and we wonder how sin
creeps in.

If we men
would take the instruction for our relationships from God’s Word; if our women
would look within for their instructions as well, the divorce rate would not
match that of those who do not serve our God, Christian couples would be, as
they should be among the closest and happiest and most satisfied, throughout
their long live together.

As Valentine’s
Day approaches, here is a suggestion from God’s Word how men should desire
their wives; “A LOVING DOE, A
GRACEFUL DEER – MAY HER BREASTS SATISFY YOU ALWAYS, MAY YOU EVER BE CAPTIVAED
BY HER LOVE”  Men; see what God is saying -  your wife is a beautiful, graceful creature –
let HER BEAUTY satisfy you always! The beauty that drew you to her the beauty
that captivated you – the longing you still possess, he says your wife is to be
the woman that you desire. And here is the natural progression of a man’s love;
her physical beauty may attract you, but He says allow her love to hold you.
God says; literally allow yourself to be a prisoner of her love; a bond slave,
just as it was Christ’s great love for us that allowed Him to give Himself for
us, so our great love for our wives ought to allow us to love our wives as
Christ loves the Church. Women; understand, God has created your husband to
desire your physical beauty, so rather than resent him for that, understand
that is how he is wired. While no one wants a one dimensional love, (That’s all
he wants from me!), a smart woman understands her man’s desires and feeds those
desires to keep as they use to say, the home fires burning.

Tomorrow a
word to you men about your women need.

What is Church?

I can remember sitting in Sunday School as a 4 year old and being taught
that "the church" was God's People, wherever they gathered. That was
what I was told, but through the years "Church" became defined by practical
experience of being something much more mechanical and artificial.

I soon learned that "Church" as it was practiced was not so much a
living organism, but rather a stale organization. It was a business based upon
a formal hierarchy; our product was Jesus, our customers; were believers who
had to give according to code and attend a certain number of meetings to stay
in good standard. You were expected not only to attend, but also to
"Volunteer" so that the business would grow, although we always told
ourselves that our business was to reach unbelievers.

I learned that "Church" was a complex spider web of laws. These
laws were to be found in the Bible. The particular important laws were decided
by either the Church board or the Church Pastor.

Every church I ever attended had a liturgy; an order of service, in the more
formal churches this was written out for you in a bulletin, in the ones that
considered themselves "more spiritual" the liturgy was just known
with the key elements projected on the wall by overhead. In the more formal
church we dressed-up more, with suit and tie and sang songs out of hymnals; in
the “more spiritual” churches we still dressed-up, but out of choice to “honor
God”, rather than by compulsion and we sang our songs “more freely” because
they weren’t written on paper, but shone on the wall. In the more formal church
we had a choir, in the “more spiritual church” we had a worship leader, who was
like the Mick Jagger of Church because he fronted the Praise band. In the more
formal church the songs were old, tried and true; in the “more spiritual”
churches they were new and often less true. One thing all the church structures
had in common; Church  was about how many
services you attended and how much you gave, either financially or personally
through work to the church.

Today, by God’s grace and direction, we have gone back to being “The Church”
as identified when I was a child. We are God’s People and Church happens
wherever we happen to be, sometimes in the most uncommon of situations – just
like often happened with Jesus.

When we gather, we may or may not sing; we seldom preach, there is still an
order of service as much as we try to break that pattern. Attendance,
participation and giving are out of desire not compulsion. We have no programs
or formal “ministries”. Each member of the body is a minister and participates
in the service as God leads and may function through any of the Spiritual
Gifts, which are seen as function rather than position. Our model is the New
Testament Church, rather than the religious tardyons of men. We are not “More
Spiritual” than any other form of Church; we are true to who God has called us
to be. It is exiting to be more Organic; a living organism that functions
without board, horizontal hierarchy. We don’t go to church; we are the church.

The Forgotten Song of Praise

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? "Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" LUKE 17:12-17 Ten men came to Jesus; each were equally in need, ten asked to be healed, Jesus performed the same miracle for each one of the ten and ONLY ONE came back to say, “Thank you!” That is the nature of ministry. How often have you been discouraged by the thanklessness of people you have reached out to help? How many times have you wanted to turn your back on anyone else due to the rotten attitude of most? Men were no different when Jesus walked the earth; they came needy and asking and receiving, but having received they quickly moved on and quickly forgot to give God praise. So many times I have seen good men and women of God pour their very lives into people who not only walked away, but forgot them or even turn on them, as well. So many times the children of Pastors have been pushed aside as their father do their best to carry for others, who then walk away ungrateful. Those who have received never consider the cost, not only to the Man of God, but to his family as well. His family has lost hours with their father that he will never be able to give back to them in order to care for others who in turn, never even say, “Thank you!” Even more interesting is the fact that the man who did return to say “Thank You!” was the unbeliever. While Christ healed believers and unbelievers alike, it was only one of the unbelievers who returned to praise God, why? It is the man who KNOWS that no goodness resides in him that appreciates the vastness of the goodness of God when he experiences it. It is the broken man, the fallen man, the sin-stained man, the humble man who understands that he does not deserve to have his negligent ways rewarded by God’s direct attention; “I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT KNOW I’M FOUND – WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE!” It is often we; who claim to love God, walk with God, trust in God who come to believe somehow because of our belief in Him that He OUGHT to reward us; God help us. Please understand; God does NOT love you because you are good and He does NOT hate you because you are bad, neither do you go to Heaven because you ARE good and to Hell because you are bad; you are rewarded, you experience God’s goodness because HE IS GOD and HE IS GOOD. Let us each one Thank God for His Unmerited Favor. Amen!

Thank God Who Never Fails

 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever." Amen. Ephesians 3::20,21

Do not let us forget from whom our blessings come. Frustration becomes manifest in our lives and anxiety in our hearts when we take upon ourselves the burdens of succeeding. Our good Father knows beyond and before we can ask or even think of what our needs are. Will not the One who cares for the smallest of His creatures care for you and I.

Regardless of the challenge before us today, join me in giving glory to God. Let us thank Him for His goodness. Let us thank Him for His abundance. Let us thank Him for His eternal love, with which He loves you and me and for His boundless mercies, which are new every morning. "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - I SHALL NOT WANT!"

Thank you Lord for watching over us this day. Thank you for your boundless love and matchless Grace. Thank You for going before us and opening the gates of your favor. Thank You for making the way in the wilderness where there seems to be no way. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen!

Another Man

Ok, here's the deal; my wife is involved with another man. Even worse is the fact that they are trying to do away with me!


She's been spending ALOT of time on line with Dr. Oz. You know the guy; he claims to be a Dr. in real life and plays one on TV. Yeah, he's the one that put subversive ideas into women's heads about nutrition and fruits and nuts and speaking of fruits and nuts, this guy has convinced my wife that I need to be taking vitamins!


Tammy said, "Gary, I got you some vitamins today!" I said, "Ok", but I was thinking tiny little "One a Days" or even better "Chewy Flintstone", but no, and I should have known, she sounded funny when she told me. I opened my pill box to find capsules are large as a healthy cockroach and looking just about as easy to swallow. The "main vitamin" is slightly larger than that and has the consistency of concrete! Get this, there are a total of nine for each day - nine! I wanted to ask her, "When you look at me do you see skin and bones?" Do you have some kind of "spouse anorexia" or something? Do these love handles look fragile to you?


I thought, oh well at nine a day, at least they won't last long, but that's when she said, "I got such a good deal, I got a supply of 500." 500, she be shoving these things up my noe after I dead and cold.


I'm certain, Tammy's obsession with this Dr. Kildare wanna-be, that she's hoping I choke to death during my twice a day ingestion of these pills.


She is obsessed with this man, its "Dr. Oz...This and Dr. Oz. that and Dr. Oz says, and I really don't care what this Wizard says! I can't even talk to her that she's not watching him on her laptop or reading something new that he has written. I said, "Exercise and eating right doesn't help, Jack LaLane just died!" Tammy says, "But he was 96" But I'm sharp, she doesn't fool me, "Well, if he hadn't worked so hard, he might have made 100!"


Even worse, I came home from work the other night; she had dinner waiting for me. I sat down in my recliner and she brought me my plate like she always does, but it's full of salad! I couldn't help but ask, "Do I look like Bugs Bunny? Am I showing signs of carrot withdraw? C'mon!" Do you see how diabolical this is? Tammy just smiled and said, "Eat that and I'll bring you Pasta!" She lied; what she put on my next plate was about the size of a deck of playing cards and I think she called it "natural" lasagna. Let me tell you, there wasn't anything natural about it.


This is the same night she introduced me back to "whole" milk. I had forgotten what real milk tastes like; it was so think that I think it has EVERYTHING in it, including the cow. It even comes in a glass bottle that we are required to rinse out and return for a deposit. This is forward thinking?


Anyway, after my near - fatal tooth brushing episode and my new eating regimen, I am convinced that my wife and Dr. Oz have something going on. I really am happy that she wants me to be healthier, and she wants to eat right, but just in case I die of malnutrition or exertion, you all know the two to blame!

Consider this: Life is the best teacher of living truth.

Life is the best teacher of living truth.

It's been said, "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS". I may say "I believe in you son!" But if I never give my son the opportunity to fail or succeed. My words become meaningless.

The father has to allow his son become a prodigal before he could see His Heavenly Father bring his boy home again.

Too often the silent message in "Church" as in Business is "YOU DARE NOT FAIL" If you take a Sunday School Class and the kids aren't entertained, you're not going to be asked to sing in the church pageant. You blow a presentation or forget an appointment and many times you will not get a second chance. It ought not be that way in the Kingdom of God or in Life.

But how do we grow, if we never fail? How do we succeed and how do we appreciate that success if we have not first failed? Not a single one of us could learn to walk as adult, as we learned as infants. Do you know why? Because as adult mind stumbling and falling down are too often equated with failure. I heard a remarkable man who had to learn to walk as an adult after a serious illness had crippled him say, "As long as I saw falling as failure, I was stuck in the wheelchair, when I decided that each time I fell I was actually closer to walking, after all walking is just a controlled fall forward, I began to walk!"

What message are you sending your loved ones? Are you lovingly allowing them to strive an to try, even if it means they fail? Are you as willing to love them if they don't succeed as if they do?

The Prodigal Son came home to family and to God and was welcomed with open arms - they threw a party, not because he had squandered all that he had, not because he had stained the family's good name, not because he was once young and foolish and fell in the pits with the pigs, no. They celebrated because he who was once lost had been found, the one who had fallen and fallen and fallen had finally learned to walk and to stand.

FATHER GOD,
WE ALL FAIL, BUT MAY I BE AS B GRACIOUS WITH MY BROTHER AS I DESIRE YOU TO BE WITH ME. MAY MY LOVED ONES ALLOW ME TO BE AS GRACIOUS WITH OTHERS AS THEY DESIRE YOU TO BE WITH THEM. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN!

Jesus' Prayer For You

“I DO NOT PRAY FOR THESE ALONE, BUT ALSO FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN ME THROUGH THEIR WORD; THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER, ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU; THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US, THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT ME. AND THE GLORY WHICH YOU GAVE ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE JUST AS WE ARE ONE;” John 17:20-22


If you could ask Jesus to pray for you, what would you ask Him to pray? Perhaps you would ask for wealth or fame or eternal security. Would you ask for health or joy or greater virtue? Jesus is ever-interceding before the Father for you and I, but look at how He prayed, for his disciples, but also all of us who believe in Him through their words;
“I DO NOT PRAY FOR THESE ALONE, BUT ALSO FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN ME THROUGH THEIR WORD; THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER, ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU; THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US, THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT ME. AND THE GLORY WHICH YOU GAVE ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE JUST AS WE ARE ONE;”

Dear ones, Christ knows nothing of casual “Sunday Relationships”; His desire, His design is that we share life and that life eternal. How are we to relate to one another? Look at the relationship of His Disciples; they left family, fortune, home and possessions to follow Christ and before He left He ask the Father to make it a permanent relationship and soon baptized them in the Holy Spirit, that the impossible become reality.

I have always seen Church Membership and the Marriage Covenant one and the same. I believe we are to carefully follow God to where we are suppose to be and unless blatant, unrepentant sin akin to adultery enters in we are to do the impossible and having covenanted together, grow there. “What, for the rest of our lives?” What is the Disciples example to us? What is Christ praying here?

Thank God the Holy Trinity cannot strive against itself and fall apart. Is that not the relationship that Christ is praying for us to experience?

He never intended for us to be jumping from place to place, church to church, every time we got our feelings hurt, or we like the worship somewhere else better or the programs “over there” more than where we are. What “programs” did the Disciples enjoy? Do you think Peter was the best Worship Leader in the entire known world? Do you think, for a minute that the Disciples all got along with one another all the time? Apparently not; look at this prayer; “THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS YOU FATHER, ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU”. Christ asks His Father to engraft us into a “Trinity Relationship”; we are to be so tightly knit together that the world cannot see me without seeing you. That is why it is written, “THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE”.

God calls us to something more. God calls us to something permanent. God calls us to something impossible, by man; but the only way to continually grow in Him; that we be ONE, even as He and the Father are One. Amen!

AND GOD PUT ALL THINGS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST,

AND HE GAVE HIM THIS AUTHORITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CHURCH” EPHESIANS 1:22 NIV

Carefully read this promise of God. God, who is authority over ALL, passed that same authority with Christ. He did it for the believer’s benefit – for you and I who believe.

Let me state the obvious; God has made Christ the head, over all things created for our benefit. If God who created all things is above all things and shares that authority with our Savior for our sakes, what does that mean? Dear brothers, sisters, it means that you and I also stand in the authority of God over every underling that would raise its ugly head to defeat us.

Secondly, God has not shared such put ALL THINGS under the authority of Christ for a building. Isn’t that most of us are think of when we say, “Church”? NO, the church is the living-breathing expression of God in this earth – “The Church” are God’s people; His Redeemed. Christ did not die to have victory over buildings or denominations or name plates. God put all things under the authority of Christ so that nothing should rule over us; all sin is already subjected to His authority, all principalities and powers, every trial tribulation and heart-ache. That is not to say that we will never experience such battles; it does indicate that we have already won those battles as we face them.

Jesus said, “You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it.” JAMES 4:2

Why is it that you are I are more likely to fight and strain and scheme than to merely turn to the Father who loves us and ask? Dare I say we are crippled by the lack of wisdom and faith? I say wisdom rather than knowledge because most believers understand that God is able to help, but, by our lack of faith, we don’t know how to ask. Our natural initial response is to struggle on our own rather than to turn to the One who has been all authority over Heaven and earth and ask.

Let us, who are the Church look to our Head, who is not the Elders or the Pastor, but is Christ and let us freely ask Him for all that we need. Amen!

GOOD TO KNOW

"HE HAS SHOWERED HIS KINDNESS ON US,

ALONG WITH ALL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING."

EPHESIANS 1:8 NIV

God is the perfect Father; He showers His children with kindness not because we deserve it, but because He can do nothing else. The unbeliever might say, "but doesn't He issue warnings and corrections; isn't there ugliness in this world all around us?" Of course the answer to all three questions is yes, but the warnings and corrections are born of His unfailing love for us, while the ugliness of this temporal world is born of man's own sin nature, which is born of His independence from God.

It is sin that stains the good intentions of men and women apart from God. Our best intentions our best efforts are meaningless and futile apart from the blessings of God; for example, the parent who refuses to punish the child that they love. That parent often lives to see that child's life destroyed due to the lack of self-control and recklessness at the hands of the enemy who seeks to destroy us all, unless that child should first turn to God who is ever ready to restore him.

Father God's kindness does not come as a trickle or sporadically; He showers us with kindness. His kindness reaches places within us that ourselves cannot even touch, just as a shower of water completely immerses you.

God's kindness alone would be enough and yet God says, "No, there is more . . ." "HE HAS SHOWERED HIS KINDNESS ON US, ALONG WITH ALL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING."

When God offered Solomon of old the possession of anything in all of His Creation, Solomon chose the wisdom. Wisdom is the knowledge to understand the heart and ways of God. How can creation begin to understand its Creator? We can only begin to understand the heart and the will of God as God Himself grants us that ability. Such understanding makes all life right. The ability to be raised-up above the obstacles that block our view, the troubles that hinder our hearts, the worries that cloud our minds; to begin to understand His ways which are higher than our own, oh dear friend, what a blessing, and that blessing is called wisdom. Don't the "whys" of life help us to understand the "don'ts"?

And while Wisdom allows us to better know our God, Understanding helps us to better know ourselves we can rely upon our mind, but God says our minds have been corrupted by sin: He says we need our minds renewed. We can rely upon our hearts, but He reminds us that our hearts are deceitful above all things; our hearts will lie to us, so where do we find our direction for life? We need Understanding, which comes from God.

Look at the promise we have before us his day. What does God say? What does He promise? "HE HAS SHOWERED HIS KINDNESS ON US, ALONG WITH ALL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING."

So today let you and I accept these gifts with grateful hearts, let us each one say, "YES LORD, SHOWER ME IN YOUR KINDNESS AND WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING, THAT I MIGHT LIVE MY LIFE THIS DAY IN A WAY WHICH BRINGS GLORY TO YOU! AMEN!"