Forgiven, Not Thrown Under the Bus

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world,^[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

(ESV)

One of the attributes of God that brings me the most joy as a Christian is that God is not a God of condemnation but a God of forgiveness (John 3:16-17).  The reason this brings me much joy is that I know I have sinned and missed Gods mark of perfection (Psalm 18:30) and deserve to be thrown under the bus by God but instead out of his love receive His forgiveness.  It is this simple yet powerful truth that separates Christianity from every other religion on earth. 

Unfortunately, however, the secular world tends to lump Christianity in with other religions and views Christians sharing their faith with others as trying to earn points with God at the expense of any enjoyment in their lives.  This belief represents a continuation of the deception from the devil that began in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-2).  Satan was successful in deceiving Adam and Eve into believing God had not been truthful with them and was depriving them of something.  Once this deception was in place, Adam and Eve disobeyed the one simple command of God (Genesis 2:16-17). 

In today’s pleasure obsessed society, Satan has succeeded in deceiving many into the belief that living for Christ means depriving themselves of any enjoyment in life.  For the most part, these individuals will just reject our attempts to share Christ with them and allow us to have our beliefs.  However, in our social media society, many will hide behind the anonymity of the keyboard and launch out in a vitriol of hatful speech at anyone attempting to share the Gospel with them and deprive them of their enjoyment. 

To combat this we as Christians must,

1)      Pray (James 5:16) – Prayer is an extremely powerful weapon in the hands of a believer.  In fact, after listing the spiritual weapons of our warfare (Ephesians 6:13-17), Paul admonishes us to pray earnestly for all the saints.  Our prayers should not only be for the lost but also for saints or fellow believers who may come under attack for their declaration of faith.  While we desire to be the one to lead our friend or loved one to Christ, we must also pray that God will send someone into their lives that can share the Gospel message of love with them.  We must also pray that somehow the hard shell of unbelief that surrounds their hearts is shattered by the loving and powerful truth of the Gospel message. 

2)      Be better at communicating the love of God in the message of the Gospel – Matthew 7:1-2 tells us not to judge warning us that we too will be judged with the same standard with which we judge others.  Unfortunately, many Christians do not heed this warning and lash out at unbelievers with personal condemnation.  Is it any wonder these nonbelievers lash back with condemnation, especially when they see the sin in our lives?  While homosexuality and abortion abhor us as believers, we must remember that we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that Jesus came not only to die for us but also for those engaging in these activities (Romans 5:8). 

3)       Be better at communicating the love and grace of God in how we live and what we say – When well-meaning believers lash out in condemnation at the abhorrent lifestyles of nonbelievers, we are telling them that to come to Christ they must stop the sin in their lives first.  In other words, we are, whether we know it or not, communicating a message of salvation by works instead of a message of salvation through the grace of God (Titus 3:5-7).  Instead of lashing out in condemnation let us begin to share the loving Gospel message of God becoming one of us and paying the death penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23), making it possible for us to enjoy eternal life (John 3:16).  This does not mean we are to condone the sins of nonbelievers but that there is a loving God in heaven that has provided a path to forgiveness for the sins of anyone that will call on God to forgive them (Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9).  However, more than just saying it, nonbelievers need to also see us living, not sinless lives, but lives where we sin less. 

I am thankful that even though God could have thrown us under the bus for our sins, he chose instead to send His Son Jesus Christ to become one of us and suffer the death penalty.  It would be a dereliction of duty if I did not close this posting by extending an invitation to anyone reading this that does not know Jesus as their personal savior to do so now by praying with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

The prayer you just prayed is not some magical prayer that means your life from this point forward will be perfect and free of trouble.  It also does not mean you will not mess up and sin from time to time.  What praying the above prayer means is that God has forgiven your sins because he deeply loves you and sent his only Son to suffer and die for your sins.  I encourage you now to respond out of love for God who has saved you by, with God’s help, striving to sin less and sharing the loving message of the Gospel with others that need Jesus’ salvation in their lives. 

May God bless everyone reading this.

Do We Have the Resolve?

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

(ESV)

June 6, 1944 is an important day in not only U.S. history, but history for many other nations of the world for it is the day when more than 160,000 allied troops landed along a 50 mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany.  General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”  (1)  While the cost of life during this campaign was high with 9,000 allied soldiers being killed or wounded, their sacrifice paved the way for more than 100,000 soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, leading to the defeat of Adolf Hitler. 

Most of the men who landed on the beaches of Normandy were young men barely out of high school.  As such they had their entire lives in front of them and instead of risking, and for some sacrificing their lives at Normandy, one would think these young men would have been thinking of their future and their careers.  We must ask ourselves what caused these young men to put all of that aside to risk, and sacrifice as was the case for the 9000 that paid the ultimate price of their lives for their fellow men and women at home. 

In his discourse during the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that there is no greater love someone can show to another then to lay down his or her life for them (John 15:13).  These words of Christ were not just empty words for the very next day Jesus would put action behind His words by laying down his life for not only his disciples, but for all humanity past, present, and future.  Truly Jesus demonstrated a level of love no other human being has ever demonstrated, or ever will. 

I want everyone reading this to take a moment to reflect on the fact that God, the creator of all that we see, including us became one of us.  By becoming one of us he experienced all that we experience.  During his time on earth Jesus suffered

1)      Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) – One of the things we face daily is temptation.  We are inundated with advertisements in the form of commercials, billboards, banner ads on the internet all in an effort to entice us to buy someone’s product.  There is a saying in marketing that sex sells and according to an article from June 7, 2012, sex is still powerful in advertising.  (2)  Because of this, we should not expect the use of sex in advertising to slow any time soon.  While Jesus did not experience the bombardment of sex through mass media as we do today, there were prostitutes in the time of Christ.  The woman at the well comes to mind (John4:1-45) along with the sinful woman, most likely a prostitute, who washed Jesus feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-40).  Interestingly the religious leaders of the time of Christ would have nothing to do with prostitutes, perhaps fearing they may give in to temptation but Jesus had no problem with them for he knew how to resist temptation showing us the way.

2)      Rejection (Matthew 26:47-56) – Jesus was not only betrayed and rejected by Judas, all his disciples left him and fled when the going got tough.  In fact, Peter, one of Jesus closest disciples, rejected him three times (Matthew 26:69-75).  This rejection led to Jesus crucifixion on the cross.  However, what Satan intended for bad, became the greatest blessing for humanity for by Jesus death, and resurrection three days later, we can all experience salvation and reconciliation with our creator.  Perhaps the greatest rejection experienced by Jesus was his rejection by God the Father (Matthew 27:46). 

3)      Pain – Crucifixion is an excruciating painful way for one to be executed.  It is believed the main cause of death from crucifixion is asphyxiation but contributing factors could also be physical shock, dehydration, and exhaustion. (3)  However, whatever the cause of death, Jesus crucifixion, preceded by a severe beating would have been extremely painful.  In fact, in the Garden Jesus, knowing what he was about to experience asked the Father if there was another way (Matthew 26:49). 

God did not need to come to earth and redeem fallen man but only did it because of His immeasurable love for us.  Driven by this love for humanity, God sent His Only Son to suffer for us, not to condemn us, but to save us (John3:16-17).  It is this type of resolve that those storming the beaches of Normandy demonstrated.

Once again, we find ourselves in a dangerous world facing dangerous people but this time the face of evil does not have a name like Adolf Hitler and instead comes at us from among people that live among us who have been radicalized by some violent religious philosophy or heated political rhetoric.  Most recently we have witnessed the bombing of a concert in Manchester (4), the attack on London Bridge (5), and the attempted assignation of members of Congress at a baseball field in Virginia.  (6)  What all three of these attacks have in common is that they occurred in locations where individual’s guard was down because they were engaged in what they believed to be non-threatening activities.  The attacks were also carried out by attackers appearing like ordinary people. 

Back in the time of World War II, leaders and citizens were swift to volunteer and begin dealing with the enemy to save lives.  Unfortunately, in our politically correct and self-centered culture today, people and leaders seem to adopt a laze fare attitude towards these attacks.  Attempts by the President of the United States to limit people coming into the country in an effort to prevent more acts of terrorism is just one example of allowing political correctness in the guise of compassion to endanger citizens.  (7)  Then there is the London mayor who has told his citizens to become accustomed to acts of terrorism.  (8) 

Instead of politically self-serving leaders hiding behind the shield of political correctness we need leaders with the resolve of a Winston Churchill or FDR who in the face of their nations coming under attack, responded by fighting back and defeating the enemies of their nations.  Their strong leadership is what inspired young people to abandon their selfish self-serving life agenda and rally behind their leaders resolve to defeat the enemies of their citizens.  Their resolve to be willing to lay down their lives in the defense of their fellow citizens and friends stands as a demonstration of the true love Jesus spoke about in John 15:13. If you agree that we need leaders and people with such resolve today or if you are such a person, please feel free to comment to this post. 

May God bless everyone reading this.

1. army.mil. D-Day June 6, 1944. www.army.mil. [Online] [Cited: June 8, 2017.] https://www.army.mil/d-day/.

2. Mulvey, Jeanette. Why Sex sells ... More Than Ever. www.businessnewsdaily.com. [Online] Business News Daily, June 7, 2012. [Cited: June 17, 2017.] http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2649-sex-sells-more.html.

3. The Nazarene Way. Details and History of Crucifixion. www.thenazareneway.com. [Online] The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies. [Cited: February 26, 2017.] http://www.thenazareneway.com/details_history_of_crucifixion.htm.

4. BBC News. Manchester attack: What we know so far. www.bbc.com. [Online] BBC News, June 12, 2017. [Cited: June 17, 2017.] http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40008389.

5. Alexander, Harriet. London Bridge attack - everything we know. www.telegraph.co.uk. [Online] The Telegraph, June 6, 2017. [Cited: June 17, 2017.] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/03/london-bridge-everything-know-far/.

6. Pete Williams, Alex Moe, Erik Ortiz. Congressman Steve Scalise, Three Others Shot at Alexandria, Virginia, Baseball Field. www.nbcnews.com. [Online] NBC News, June 14, 2017. [Cited: June 17, 2017.] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/congressman-steve-scalise-shot-alexandria-virginia-park-n772111.

7. Fox News. Trump travel ban blocked again: Timeline of a legal journey. www.foxnews.com. [Online] Fox News, May 25, 2017. [Cited: June 17, 2017.] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/25/trump-travel-ban-blocked-again-timeline-legal-journey.html.

8. Oazvini, Michael. FLASHBACK: Muslim Mayor Of London Tells Citizens To Get Used To Terrorism. www.dailywire.com. [Online] The Daily Wire, May 23, 2017. [Cited: June 18, 2017.] http://www.dailywire.com/news/16770/flashback-muslim-mayor-london-told-citizens-get-michael-qazvini.

Decision Paralysis

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joel 3:14

Multitudes, multitudes,
    in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.

(ESV)

Decisions are a part of everyone’s daily life.  While most decisions we make daily are small involving simple things like what to eat or wear, life also has big decisions like what career to choose or who to marry.  It is these big decisions that cause us to struggle and can even lead to decision paralysis. 

Decision paralysis often occurs when we become overcome with fear of making an incorrect decision.  While no one wants to make a bad or wrong decision, failure to make any decision at all due to decision paralysis is in essence making a decision, a decision that is usually wrong.  We therefore must overcome decision paralysis by,

1)      Taking time to pray and seek God’s wisdom – Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that waiting on the Lord renews our strength.  While seeking God’s wisdom in the decision process there may be, and most likely will be, a waiting period since God knows our future and the consequences of our decisions and has perfect timing.  In other words, God will help us arrive at the right decision but He will do it in His perfect timing which may not agree with our time.  Unfortunately, we tend to be impatient and may give into the temptation to jump out ahead of God’s own timing and push forward with the decision we believe is right, only to have things end in disaster. 

2)      Seek Godly wisdom from a fellow believer we can trust – While we are seeking wisdom from God in prayer, it is also wise to seek Godly wisdom from a trusted fellow believer (Proverbs 11:14).  We should seek out someone that we can trust who has faced a similar decision in their lives.  God will often use a fellow believer to confirm something God is already speaking about to our hearts. 

3)      Resisting temptation to give in to fear or political correctness – Once arriving at the decision we believe is right for us, we must remember that the enemy is crafty and will always make a point to send someone our way to serve as a nay-sayer trying to get us off track.  These nay-sayers will often resort to fear telling us we are not good enough, or smart enough to embark on whatever God is leading us to do.  They may also tell us that doing whatever God has led us to do is not popular or politically correct and even disown us as a friend or family member.  This represents a fragile moment in our decision-making process.  However, we can find strength in knowing that fear is not from God (2 Timothy 1:7) and that God’s ways are not the worlds ways (Isaiah 55:8) and thus often viewed by the world as not being wise or politically correct.  We therefore must press on with God’s plan for our life and not give in to the temptation to quit.

4)      Acting out of courage and strength (Joshua 1:9) – Even though Joshua was one of only two to return from spying out the Promised Land with a positive report, the prospect of now leading the next generation of Israelites into the Promised Land must have been daunting.  In Joshua 1:1-9 God commissions Joshua with the dubious duty of leading the nation of Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.  There are many enemies in the Land but just as God promised Moses He would drive all of these enemies out of the Land (Exodus 34:11), he is now commissioning Joshua to be the one through which this will occur.  God never commissions us to do something without also providing the resources necessary to carry out His plan for us.  We therefore can like Joshua act out of courage in strength knowing God will enable us to overcome any obstacle the enemy throws in our path.

Our world is in trouble and in need of Godly leadership not stifled by decision paralysis.  In (Matthew 9:37) Jesus reminds us that the harvest is ripe but the laborers are few.  I therefore urge my readers who have decided to make Jesus their savior to not succumb to decision paralysis but to move forward with what God leads them to do with their lives.

I cannot conclude this post without giving anyone who has not made the decision to make Jesus their savior an opportunity to do so now.  You can rest assured that this is a wise Godly decision for there are most likely many friends and family members already praying that you would make this decision.  You can also rest assured it is the right decision for God does not want anyone to die without making this decision (2 Peter 3:9).  Therefore, do not allow decision paralysis to prevent you from making this life changing decision and pray with me now,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

Now go out and tell someone else about your decision so they can be freed from decision paralysis and experience salvation from God.  

In the World but not of the World

By:  Dale Weckbacher

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. ¹⁰ But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. ¹¹ I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer^[a]yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

(NLT)

Some have erroneously interpreted 1 Corinthians 5:9 to believe we as believers in Jesus Christ are never to associate with sinners.  The reason I claim this belief is erroneous is that in the very next verse Paul states that to avoid unbelievers we would have to leave this world and since God does not immediately transport us to heaven upon our salvation, avoidance of unbelievers is impossible.  Instead the Apostle Paul is telling us to not associate with believers participating continuing to live a sinful lifestyle.  We therefore face the challenge in our walk with the Lord of balancing a life physically lived in this world while learning to live in a manner that is different from the world. 

The fact that the evil and sin we see around abhors us means that our hearts have been changed by the Spirit of God that indwells us when we are saved.  This abhorrence in our hearts puts us at odds with unbelievers in the world that we must work with, do business with, and even live with if they are part of our family.  While our initial reaction to someone’s abhorrent behavior may be to lash out in condemnation we must remember Jesus Himself did not come to this world to condemn it, but to save it (John3:17).  We therefore must learn to react to abhorrent behavior out of love.  This, however, does not mean we condone the behavior but extend a hand of grace and love to the sinner just as Jesus did when he died on the cross for them.

While we presently live in a time of grace free from the condemnation of God, a day is coming when Jesus Christ will return to earth, not as a suffering savior, but as a conquering King with a mission of riding the world of evil.  However, God is delaying the return of Jesus as judge to give everyone a chance to escape the judgement of God and eternal separation from God.  This represents the primary reason God leaves us in this world after our salvation.

We are ambassadors for Christ on this earth (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Just as an ambassador to a foreign country has the duty of representing his country’s interest in a foreign, and sometimes unfriendly, country, we too have a duty to represent our Lord in this world by learning to live in the world while living in a manner different from those in the world bringing glory to God.  We can accomplish this by,

1)      Speaking out against sin while associating with sinners as Christ did (Matthew 9:10-13) – The Pharisees of the time of Christ were men full of selfish pride.  They believed their position afforded them special privileges from God and therefore looked down on anyone not a Pharisee.  In order to preserve this prideful image of holiness, they took care never to associate with known sinners.  Jesus, however, shook this all up by not only dining with sinners and abhorrent tax collectors, but he even had the audacity to make a tax collector one of his disciples (Matthew 9:9-13).  We too can become like the Pharisees with the message of the Gospel by placing ourselves on a pedestal of righteousness. (1)  Instead, we must learn to speak out against sinful behavior while lovingly pointing the sinner to Christ, the source of their salvation.

2)      Changing our behavior – We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standard (Romans 3:23).  In fact, even after making Jesus our Savior and having our sins forgiven, we may sin and need to seek God’s forgiveness.  The good news is that we can do that whenever we sin (1 John 1:9).  When we as Christians lash out in condemnation at unbelievers living in sin instead of just condemning their behavior, we may feel vindicated but what they see is a hypocritical sinner.  Just as Jesus condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, unbelievers will reject the Gospel when they see Christians standing on a pedestal of righteousness with sin in their lives.  Sharing the Gospel is not our putting ourselves on some pedestal of righteousness but instead pointing unbelievers to Jesus, the source of their salvation.

3)      Letting unbelievers in our life know we are praying for them and their needs – Nobody likes to be preached at or lectured to and when we as well-meaning believers keep preaching at the unbelievers in our lives, they turn us off and do not hear what we are saying.  The truth is that these unbelievers have needs in their lives, especially their need to accept Jesus as their savior.  I have a friend whose wife is going through some major health problems at the moment.  To my knowledge, they are not believers but instead of preaching at them out of a sense of urgency, I let them know I am praying for them.  Part of my prayer for them is praying for God to provide an opportunity to share the message of the Gospel with them. 

4)      Not being ashamed of our faith – Nobody likes rejection and when we accept Jesus as our savior and let Him change how we speak and behave, we also open ourselves up to rejection.  At this moment, we can either back off by remaining silent or worse yet, begin behaving like the unbelievers we associate with or we can incur rejection by not being ashamed of our faith. 

We as Christians live in an ungodly world that is actually infuriated (Psalm 112:9-10) by our faith.  Our challenge is learning to live among those infuriated by our faith while living in a manner that brings glory to Christ.  This may mean suffering rejection or in extreme cases physical harm for our faith.  The question we must ask ourselves is are we up to the challenge?

1. Needham, Kelly. Four Marks of A Pharisee. kellyneedham.com. [Online] May 20, 2013. [Cited: June 10, 2017.] https://kellyneedham.com/posts/2013/05/20/four-marks-of-a-pharisee.

Righteously Offensive

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 112:9-10

They share freely and give generously to those in need.
    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
    They will have influence and honor.
¹⁰ The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
    They will grind their teeth in anger;
    they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

(NLT)

Most of us remember what we were doing on September 11, 2001.  For me it was a day visiting family members in the hospital.  My wife was going to the hospital that morning for surgery and as such, we were busy getting her ready and had not been watching the news.  Upon arrival at the hospital I remember seeing the World Trade Towers on fire thinking it was some movie, only to find out it was real and our nation was under attack.  Fortunately, this did not stop my wife’s surgery and all went well.

After my wife’s surgery, I went across town, not a small task when you live in Phoenix Arizona, to visit my father who was in the hospital recovering from surgery.  My dad was a World War II veteran and as we might understand, was infuriated by what he saw on the TV.  Soon after arriving to visit my dad, one of the members of his church came in to visit and asked a question many reading this might have asked on that fateful day, why do they hate us so much?

After what seemed to me an eternity I answered the question.  Their extreme hatred was due to a disagreement with our beliefs and a belief that they must eradicate anyone not sharing that belief and that dying in the process of carrying this out leads to some reward in heaven.  Just as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 112:10, these wicked individuals were infuriated with the predominate belief of citizens in the United States and out of anger felt justified in killing massive numbers of these citizens even though it cost them their lives. 

One of the things that makes Christianity unique is its belief nothing we do earns our salvation but instead salvation is a free gift awarded to us by the substitutionary sacrifice of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).  While I believe the only way to salvation is through belief in Jesus Christ as savior (John 14:6), the fact that my total salvation is based upon God’s grace means I earn no special favor from God by taking out someone not sharing my belief.  Therefore, when I encounter someone not sharing my belief, I pray for them trusting that the Holy Spirit will minister to them, placing them under conviction and lead them to their savior.  If that leads to an opportunity to share the Gospel with them, I am prepared to do so. 

While Christianity is not spread through violence, the fact that it stands in opposition to the beliefs of other religions and even atheists is a cause of infuriation for these individuals.  For this reason, non-violent Christians throughout church history, and in many parts of the world today suffer violent persecution at the hands of wicked individuals.  This leads to the question, why would anyone risk their lives sharing the Gospel with someone?

1)      There is a reward of eternity with God (John 3:16) – The fear of death stems from our fear of the unknown.  From our limited earthly perspective, death appears final with one ceasing to exist.  However, when we place our faith in Jesus as our savior, we have the promise of eternal life with Jesus as a reward.  Potential death for sharing the Gospel with someone so they too can have this reward is worth it for to be absent from this earthly body means living eternally in God’s presence (2 Corinthians 5:8).

2)      Jesus commanded his followers to spread the Gospel (Mark 16:15) – In response to the tremendous sacrifice God and Jesus made to provide my salvation, it is my desire to live in obedience.  While I am not perfect, I do have total obedience to Christ as the goal of my life.  Jesus last words to His followers prior to going to be with His Father was to share the good news of the Gospel.  Total obedience is a willingness to do this even in the face of death or rejection by friends. 

3)      God does not want anyone to die without being saved (2 Peter 3:9) – For one to live a life of total obedience to God, one must desire what God desires.  The main reason for the delay in Christ’s second Coming is His desire that nobody die without receiving salvation.  While this will not occur since acceptance of the gift of salvation is our choice, we should take every opportunity God gives to us to share the Gospel for it is what God would want us to do.

4)      A firm unwavering belief based upon what God has done in our lives – Lack of a fear of the finality of death gives us courage to share the Gospel and our love for others drives us to share our gift with others.  While we may not wax eloquent in our theology, all of us that have accepted Jesus as savior have a story to share.  We therefore must allow our unwavering belief in the miraculous gift we have received from God drive us to share our story with others.

While the message of the Gospel may be offensive to some, we must not fear offending someone with its message for while it may be offensive, it is righteously offensive giving them an opportunity to be reconciled to God.  I cannot close this posting without giving anyone reading this that has not accepted Gods gracious free gift of eternal life an opportunity to do so now by praying with me.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

You now have eternal life with God in your future.  Now do not fear sharing your story and even this post with others so they too can have an opportunity for eternal life with God in heaven.  

Patience: God’s Way of Exceeding our Expectations

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 11:20-23

When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

(NLT)

In Matthew 7:7, Jesus promised to give us whatever we ask of him.  However, some have interpreted this to mean that God will give us anything we ask for, even if it is something that would harm us or be detrimental to our faith.  Taking this verse in its total context equates this to a son asking his father for something (Matthew 7:9-11).  God is a good father and would never grant us His children a stone or serpent that could harm us and instead is willing to give us bread or a fish.  In other words, God is more than willing to meet our genuine needs. 

In Psalm 37:4, God promises to give us the desires of our heart.  My fleshly heart may desire and even treasure having a luxury car or a big house but what this verse really means is for us to allow God to transform the desires of our heart (Psalm 51:10) and bring them into alignment with His desires for us.  My prayer for everyone reading this is that they would treasure their relationship with God and develop a heart that treasures God, allowing God to govern their actions, feelings, and thoughts. 

While it is okay to be specific in our prayers to God, our specificity can limit God.  The Gospels provide two accounts where someone approached God about a genuine need in their lives and specifically asked God for what they wanted, only to have God delay so He could exceed their expectations.  Let us take a moment to look at these two accounts,

1)      Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:40-56) – Jesus has returned to Capernaum after delivering the demon possessed man of the Gerasenes (Luke 8:26-39).  Word must have spread about this miracle for people were waiting to welcome Jesus back.  One of these individuals was Jairus, a ruler of the local synagogue who was seeking Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying daughter.  However, instead of immediately going to the House of Jairus, Jesus takes time to minister to a woman (Luke 8:43-48).  Unfortunately, during this delay Jairus’s daughter died.   Imagine if you will that this occurred in our litigant modern society and Jesus was a paramedic or doctor who delayed leading to the death of someone because they stopped to care for a less urgent call on their way.  However, Jesus is God and therefore is never late and every action of His has a purpose.  Instead of receiving the healing which Jairus specifically asked for, Jesus exceeded his expectations by raising her from the dead as a demonstration of His power over death, a precursor of His own resurrection. 

2)      Lazarus (John 11:1-44) – Mary’s, the one who anointed the Lord’s feet with ointment and her hair, brother is ill and Jesus has heard of it but instead of immediately going over to pray for Lazarus, Jesus delays four days.  During this delay, Lazarus dies just as Jairus’s daughter did.  Martha, hearing that Jesus has finally arrived goes out to meet him and give him a piece of her mind believing that if Jesus had come immediately, her brother would be alive.  Once again, Mary and Martha expected a healing from Jesus but Jesus was about to exceed their expectations by giving them a resurrection. 

While specificity in our prayers is important, we must also be open to allowing God to exceed our expectations by waiting for him to answer our prayers according to His will.  Unfortunately, it is the waiting part that causes us to struggle and even begin to doubt God even hears us.  However, it is during this waiting period that the Lord renews our strength (Isaiah 40:31).  Isaiah 41:1 continues this thought by encouraging the People of Israel to renew their strength by listening to God in silence. 

Unfortunately, in our modern society with numerous distractions, sitting in silence can be difficult.  However, we still have genuine needs and often must learn to wait upon the Lord to meet those needs.  We therefore must make a concerted effort to set daily time aside in prayer and God’s Word to renew our strength during the waiting period, enabling God to exceed our expectations. 

The Serpent in the Swamp

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Revelation 12:9

This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

(NLT)

During his campaign for President, Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp and as an outsider to politics was uniquely positioned to be the swamp drainer upon taking office.  (1)  Drain the swamp became a slogan of Trump’s campaign along with “build the wall,” and “lock her up.”  The process of draining the swamp began with the passage of an executive order enacting a five-year revolving-door policy for his appointees.  However, he also promised to ask Congress for a similar policy, which has yet to be enacted.  While some contend there is no evidence of such a request, it is also possible the Congress has ignored the request in order to protect their careers as lobbyists once leaving office.  (2)  However, the appointment of lobbyists to positions where they oversee their former employers creates suspicions of conflicts of interest. 

While a slogan of “drain the swamp” may create excitement during a campaign and allow someone to win election to office, the reality is that the swamp in Washington DC is massive and draining it will take some time.  There are also swamp creatures in the swamp with an agenda of stopping the Trump agenda.  Among these creatures are,

1)      Congressional Water Moccasins – As one of the most venomous snakes of the swamp, the water moccasin can bite its prey and recoil back to its coiled position in less than one-half second, primed to strike again.  (3)  While Republicans control both houses of Congress and it would appear Trump should have no problem with passage of his agenda through Congress, the Obamacare repeal legislation that narrowly passed congress and remains stuck in the Senate has revealed the presence of dangerous congressional water moccasins ready to strike repeatedly from their coiled positions.  In addition, numerous scandals, whether true or fake, are causing members of Congress and the Senate to focus more on retaining their seats in Congress in the 2018 election, losing focus on passage of the Trump agenda.  (4)

2)      Media Alligators – Alligators rarely hunt for pleasure or sport and their hunting is strictly business.  (3)  Trump and his supporters often refer to fake media.  While some in the media give the proverbial eye roll when one makes mention that media coverage of President Trump is largely negative and even over-the-top, a recent study conducted by Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, reveals that the media coverage of the first 100 days of the Trump Presidency has been 80 percent negative and only 20 percent positive.  (5)  Just as alligators seldom hunt for sport, these media alligators have one agenda, taking down the President the people of the United States duly elected.   To justify their agenda, the media continually beats the drum of their mantra that somehow the Russians hacked the election to insure Trump’s election.  However, after numerous investigations, no evidence of any such tampering has surfaced, something confirmed by both former President Obama and the U.S. Intelligence Community.  (6)  However, these media alligators are not about to allow lack of evidence to get in the way of eating their dinner, President Donald Trump.

However, there is another creature in the swamp that is even more dangerous.  This swamp creature is nothing new for it is this creature that was present in the Garden of Eden leading to the eviction of Adam and Eve, and all their future offspring including us (Genesis 3).  While this creature is not visible, all the other creatures in the swamp are directly or indirectly ordered by him.  The creature I am talking about is Satan (Revelation 12:9).  While this swamp creature’s demise was foretold in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), and fulfilled through Jesus completed work on the cross (Galatians 3:13), he continues to be a force we must reckon with. 

While this serpent in the swamp will face his demise (Revelation 20:2, 10), we must deal with him and his evil intentions until that day.  The good news for us all is that Jesus did not leave us defenseless and has provided the means with which we can defeat this vicious swamp creature.  We can,

1)      Pray (Ephesians 6:18-19) – Prayer is a powerful tool but unfortunately, a tool most of us fail to use often enough.  Jesus urged us to be constant and persistent in our prayers (Matthew 7:7).  James goes on to remind us that our earnest prayers are extremely powerful (James5:16). 

2)      Put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) – While we can visibly try to defeat the congressional water moccasins and media alligators through elections and who we choose to view, listen to, or read in the media, the invisible swamp serpent behind these swamp creatures requires a different set of weaponry.  Defeating this serpent requires truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.  Prayer keeps us on alert as we enter spiritual battle armed with these weapons.

There is little doubt there is a massive swamp to drain.  While a strategy of elections to defeat swamp moccasins in congress and turning off fake media can help, without defeating the swamp serpent behind them, there can be no long-lasting solution.  I therefore urge my readers to continue being engaged politically in elections, speak out against fake media news but I also urge everyone to more importantly pray and put on the armor of God in order to render the serpent in the swamp ineffective. 

1. Fleischman, Jon. The true promise of a Trump presidency: Draining the swamp. www.ocregister.com. [Online] The Orange County Register, December 1, 2016. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.ocregister.com/2016/12/01/the-true-promise-of-a-trump-presidency-draining-the-swamp/.

2. Overby, Peter. Trump's Efforts To 'Drain The Swamp' Lagging Behind His Campaign Rhetoric. www.npr.com. [Online] NPR, April 26, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525551816/trumps-efforts-to-drain-the-swamp-lagging-behind-his-campaign-rhetoric.

3. Okefenokee Swamp Park. Swamp Animals. www.okeswamp.com. [Online] Okefenokee Swamp Park. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.okeswamp.com/about-the-park/swamp-animals.

4. Time. President Trump's Agenda Slows to a Crawl Amid Latest Scandals. time.com. [Online] Time, May 16, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://time.com/4781631/president-donald-trump-mitch-mcconnell-congress/.

5. Kass, John. Harvard Study: Media Has Been Largely Negative on Trump. https://townhall.com. [Online] Townhall, May 23, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] https://townhall.com/columnists/johnkass/2017/05/23/harvard-study-media-has-been-largely-negative-on-trump-n2330482.

6. Adams, Becket. Reminder: 'Hack the election' is garbage shorthand for Russia's alleged meddling. www.washingtonexaminer.com. [Online] Washington Examiner, May 11, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/reminder-hack-the-election-is-garbage-shorthand-for-russias-alleged-meddling/article/2622858.

Weathering the Storms of Life: What we Treasure Determines How We Weather the Storms of Life.

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(ESV)

In 2008, me and my family had the privilege of visiting the nation of Israel.  As part of our tour we spent three days in a hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The first two days there the weather was beautiful but on the morning of the third day, we woke up to rain.  This also happened to be the day our tour had scheduled a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee making us wonder if the boat ride would be canceled due to the stormy weather.  Fortunately, the storm subsided, after prayer, and the ride went on as scheduled. 

Storms on the Sea of Galilee are common for even Jesus Himself had to calm such storms during His ministry (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25).  In each of these accounts of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee we observe the disciples at first fearing the storm and after Jesus calmed the storm, being afraid wondering who Jesus was.  Let us now take a moment to look at how the disciples responded to this storm and learn how this can help us in weathering the storms in our lives. 

1)      These men were professional fishermen and most likely had experienced many storms like this in their lives.  The fact that they feared this storm means that it must have been a storm of massive proportions.  In our lives, we will experience storms both large and small.  It is easy for us, when we encounter the small storms in life, to believe we can weather them based upon our own knowledge and experience.  While this may be true, it is always wise to welcome God’s involvement for even though we may be able to come up with a good solution, we lack knowledge of the long-term repercussions of our decision and should welcome God’s input.  However, when the massive storms of life come, it is normal for us to experience fear.  However, just as Jesus was asleep in the boat with the disciples, he is always with us in our hearts and waiting for us to call on him to calm the storms of life. 

2)      After witnessing the miracle of calming the storm, the disciples realized they were in the presence of a man with enormous power and authority.  These were simple fishermen from the poor section of Israel and most likely their fear was based upon a feeling of unworthiness at having the privilege of being in the presence of a man having such great authority.  Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that to have a fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, but it is not a cowering fear but a reverential fear.  (1)  Such a reverential fear is healthy in our lives and causes us to treasure God and His word more and become more dependent upon God to calm the storms in our lives. 

Matthew 6:21 tells us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.  Often, we use this verse when encouraging people to give to the work of the Lord but it also has other applications for what we treasure in our lives drives how we act, feel, and think when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm.  When we treasure Jesus and His Word we will,

1)      Act as if God has it under control.  While the disciples feared the storm, they knew Jesus was with them and asked for his help.  Granted, Jesus was physically with them and since they had already witnessed many miracles from him, no doubt believed he could perform a miracle here too.  While we do not have Jesus physical presence with us in bodily form as the disciples did, Jesus did promise never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  When we treasure God our first action therefore should be one of calling for his help.

2)      Don’t be ruled by feelings of fear.  God has not given us a spirit of fear but power, love, and soundness of mind or self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).  However, we also still live in fleshly bodies and must deal with fleshly fear of the unknown.  This type of fear is not like the fear mentioned in Proverbs 9:10 but a fear of catastrophe.  Unlike a healthy reverential fear of God based upon who He is, this type of fear demonstrates a lack of trust in God to calm the storm of life we find ourselves in.  Learning to make Jesus and His Word the treasure of our lives helps dispel the fear of catastrophe. 

3)      Focus our thoughts on the promises of God’s Word.  When the storms of life come our fleshly mind immediately goes to thoughts of pending doom and disaster.  Instead of allowing these thoughts to govern our actions and causing fear, we must learn to treasure the Word of God and go to the promises contained there.  Romans12:2 reminds us not to conform to the behavior and customs of the world but to instead let God transform the way we think.  When we treasure the Word of God and spend time studying it, we are allowing it to govern our thoughts, dispelling any thoughts of disaster or doom. 

The storms of life will come but when we make the treasure of our life our relationship with God through our relationship with Jesus and through God’s Word we have what we need to endure these storms. 

1. Bible Hub. 3374 yirah. biblehub.com. [Online] Bible Hub. [Cited: May 25, 2017.] http://biblehub.com/hebrew/3374.htm.