I am reading an old sermon about Jonah. This sermon gives me so many thoughts.
Jonah did not want the Assyrians in Nineveh to get saved. It is about a sort of salvation. God has judged them. Their repentance saves them.
A key phrasing. God has not enemies. He only wants to love, he rushes in the help anyone who shows any interest at all!
I think this is so key. Jonah knew that and he did not like it.
How willing are we to share the great secret of God's love? Do we want people to know and share what we know? Are we willing to take the trouble to share and then help people to grow in Christ? Or are we too busy meeting our own needs?
I think I fall short quite a bit. There may be types of people that I would hate to find the Good News of salvation. But I am not aware of it. My problem is I am selfish and like to entertain myself.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
talking to Karen
Now that Karen is more than 2000 miles away it is easier for her to talk to us (me).
Last night she called during my class (twice) getting the ire of my professor up, I might add.
Anyway after class I called her back and we talked for over an hour. I finally had to call it off myself. I was a good talk. My cell has a limited number of minutes so she called me back on our land line. The land line is not as clear so somethings I did not hear too well.
But I heard about her garden and her plans for the basement. I heard about all their efforts to keep the varmints out, without killing them. Good luck.
Spring has not quite come to West Virginia, they just had a freeze the other day. She lives in the country with not much to do.
Oh yes we spoke of diet, losing weight, eating right. Some of what she said did not make sense to me. But she will learn. I hope and pray God will teach her.
Karen is still not a Christian. She is still not on fire for God. I know husband Mark's parents and we are still hopeful and praying for them.
Last night she called during my class (twice) getting the ire of my professor up, I might add.
Anyway after class I called her back and we talked for over an hour. I finally had to call it off myself. I was a good talk. My cell has a limited number of minutes so she called me back on our land line. The land line is not as clear so somethings I did not hear too well.
But I heard about her garden and her plans for the basement. I heard about all their efforts to keep the varmints out, without killing them. Good luck.
Spring has not quite come to West Virginia, they just had a freeze the other day. She lives in the country with not much to do.
Oh yes we spoke of diet, losing weight, eating right. Some of what she said did not make sense to me. But she will learn. I hope and pray God will teach her.
Karen is still not a Christian. She is still not on fire for God. I know husband Mark's parents and we are still hopeful and praying for them.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Great weekend
Saturday at Alpha weekend was so great. I summarized last post.
Then Rice baseball won. I got to see the last two innings.
I got in a nice walk. Maybe an hour. Maybe three miles.
Sunday early church was great. Then on to Rice baseball where sadly they lost and therefore lost the series. It has been a long time since Rice has lost a conference series. The reconstructing is still going on. Michael Fuda got back and the pop in his bat was noticeable. The lineup has been severely lacking in long ball potential. There are new bats this year and you can tell the difference, surely.
Then I was just in time for Celebration rehearsal. We had two sub section leaders. One is from Rice and I will try to show up for he recital this Saturday.
The girls go on retreat this weekend. My schedule is filling us fast. In fact I am double booked.
Evening church was very good. The singing was inspiring.
Then Rice baseball won. I got to see the last two innings.
I got in a nice walk. Maybe an hour. Maybe three miles.
Sunday early church was great. Then on to Rice baseball where sadly they lost and therefore lost the series. It has been a long time since Rice has lost a conference series. The reconstructing is still going on. Michael Fuda got back and the pop in his bat was noticeable. The lineup has been severely lacking in long ball potential. There are new bats this year and you can tell the difference, surely.
Then I was just in time for Celebration rehearsal. We had two sub section leaders. One is from Rice and I will try to show up for he recital this Saturday.
The girls go on retreat this weekend. My schedule is filling us fast. In fact I am double booked.
Evening church was very good. The singing was inspiring.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Alpha Holy Spirit Weekend
We had a great HS weekend at Kegans today. Quite a few people received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. We heard some great testimonies.
Several people prayed in tongues for the first time. They just started praising God and it came for them. Hallelujah.
I had a tough time staying awake for the first six hours. Then when we stood up to pray for the men I was very awake and God did a good job of coming through in the form of the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. It was great.
I was not too restrictive on my food. But not awful. But I was stuffed for two hours. That did not help.
I got teased about the bright red Jamaica shirt that I wore. I was "om fire" from the beginning.
Several people prayed in tongues for the first time. They just started praising God and it came for them. Hallelujah.
I had a tough time staying awake for the first six hours. Then when we stood up to pray for the men I was very awake and God did a good job of coming through in the form of the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. It was great.
I was not too restrictive on my food. But not awful. But I was stuffed for two hours. That did not help.
I got teased about the bright red Jamaica shirt that I wore. I was "om fire" from the beginning.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
2 Kings 21 - Mostly Manasseh
I skipped Hezekiah. Not that I did not have anything to say. But I got busy.
Manasseh was twice cursed because he led the people astray into sinful abominations. It is repeated in great detail the horrors that he committed. This is done so that later enemies could not say, "God abandoned you." No the opposite, God was gracious to withhold his hand but eventually he did judge and punish them as they deserved.
When God punishes us it is for our own good. But it is also so that scoffers around us cannot say, "That guy professes to be a Christian yet look at how he lives? And God just lets him be."
God is patient but he is not mocked.
Paul states it so well in Romans 6:15. Shall grace be an excuse for us to sin? To do what we want? Shall we act selfishly and sinfully and then say, "God is loving. He will overlook it."? MAY IT NEVER BE! GOD FORBID!
God loves us. Let us love him back enough to strive to act well, lovingly. Love our fellow man. Well we see a friend in need, let us help him all we can. We do not know who is looking and taking their cues from our behavior.
Manasseh was twice cursed because he led the people astray into sinful abominations. It is repeated in great detail the horrors that he committed. This is done so that later enemies could not say, "God abandoned you." No the opposite, God was gracious to withhold his hand but eventually he did judge and punish them as they deserved.
When God punishes us it is for our own good. But it is also so that scoffers around us cannot say, "That guy professes to be a Christian yet look at how he lives? And God just lets him be."
God is patient but he is not mocked.
Paul states it so well in Romans 6:15. Shall grace be an excuse for us to sin? To do what we want? Shall we act selfishly and sinfully and then say, "God is loving. He will overlook it."? MAY IT NEVER BE! GOD FORBID!
God loves us. Let us love him back enough to strive to act well, lovingly. Love our fellow man. Well we see a friend in need, let us help him all we can. We do not know who is looking and taking their cues from our behavior.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Galatians 3 - Adding to the gospel
"Jesus is God's everything. Jesus plus anything else is heresy."
When we add anything to the gospel of grace we ruin it, adulterate it. It is not worthless yet but we have started down that path.
Paul is very serious here. He knows that they originally believed that Jesus saved them. They needed no more for salvation than belief. Now this does not mean that he did not insist that they strive to live righteous lives. But this did not mean more religious practices. Of any kind.
Paul knew and loved the law, still. When he went to Jerusalem he was not opposed to following the old practices if it would help his fellow Jews to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah and all had gone as God had planned.
But for the Gentiles he wanted them to know that adding Jewish practices to their faith did not make them any more saved. He insisted they were free. Adding some comfortable rite started them down the heretical path of salvation by works.
Our debt to God is too great, death is too great, we cannot save ourselves by anything we do. We need a savior. I believe Jesus showed himself to be the Messiah. I believe that he is. His resurrection showed that God approved of Him. He defeated death and he gave us the gift of life.
When we add anything to the gospel of grace we ruin it, adulterate it. It is not worthless yet but we have started down that path.
Paul is very serious here. He knows that they originally believed that Jesus saved them. They needed no more for salvation than belief. Now this does not mean that he did not insist that they strive to live righteous lives. But this did not mean more religious practices. Of any kind.
Paul knew and loved the law, still. When he went to Jerusalem he was not opposed to following the old practices if it would help his fellow Jews to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah and all had gone as God had planned.
But for the Gentiles he wanted them to know that adding Jewish practices to their faith did not make them any more saved. He insisted they were free. Adding some comfortable rite started them down the heretical path of salvation by works.
Our debt to God is too great, death is too great, we cannot save ourselves by anything we do. We need a savior. I believe Jesus showed himself to be the Messiah. I believe that he is. His resurrection showed that God approved of Him. He defeated death and he gave us the gift of life.
Psalm 65 - Count Your Blessings
That is the what the psalmist is doing, counting his blessings. Some psalms recount God's mighty deeds of salvation, from Egypt, over the Red Sea, into the promised land.
In this psalm the author first thanks God for forgiveness after he acknowledges he has sinned. Then he thanks God for being chosen to be with God in his house. (Reminds me again of Ephesians 2:21 where God says the Gentiles too, all men, are now able to be a part of God's household because of Jesus' blood shed on the cross for us, only believe.)
The psalmist begins his psalm by saying, "There will be silence before thee." Silence and then praise. Silent speaks of peace. Silence speaks of completion. It is done. No more need be said or done. It is an absence of noise, of things that create chaos, confusion. God is the center of attention.
But then the psalmist counts his blessings. He sees God in nature, its beauty and its power. He sees God in the crops being watered and maturing. He sees God in the pastures where the animals raised for food and clothing are kept.
All the time he is picturing in his mind's eye their beauty and how they reflect God's beauty.
I count my blessings for family, for a man who came over last night just to hang with us. I do love seeing the city change. I got a great glimpse of the skyline yesterday, seen clearly because an old warehouse has been torn down and now the large area has become green with what some of looks like a lawn. It looks majestic, about as close as we get here in Houston to mountains.
Yesterday the weather was great. A lot of plants are sprouting new growth. A few have died from the freezes. We are finally pretty sure which are dead but I have not lost total hope yet. I still hope for the bougainvillea. The pecan tree has been pruned but it has not started putting out leaves yet. It is one of the last trees to break out of dormancy. The roses in our yard have been cut back and are beginning to rebound.
Count your blessings too.
In this psalm the author first thanks God for forgiveness after he acknowledges he has sinned. Then he thanks God for being chosen to be with God in his house. (Reminds me again of Ephesians 2:21 where God says the Gentiles too, all men, are now able to be a part of God's household because of Jesus' blood shed on the cross for us, only believe.)
The psalmist begins his psalm by saying, "There will be silence before thee." Silence and then praise. Silent speaks of peace. Silence speaks of completion. It is done. No more need be said or done. It is an absence of noise, of things that create chaos, confusion. God is the center of attention.
But then the psalmist counts his blessings. He sees God in nature, its beauty and its power. He sees God in the crops being watered and maturing. He sees God in the pastures where the animals raised for food and clothing are kept.
All the time he is picturing in his mind's eye their beauty and how they reflect God's beauty.
I count my blessings for family, for a man who came over last night just to hang with us. I do love seeing the city change. I got a great glimpse of the skyline yesterday, seen clearly because an old warehouse has been torn down and now the large area has become green with what some of looks like a lawn. It looks majestic, about as close as we get here in Houston to mountains.
Yesterday the weather was great. A lot of plants are sprouting new growth. A few have died from the freezes. We are finally pretty sure which are dead but I have not lost total hope yet. I still hope for the bougainvillea. The pecan tree has been pruned but it has not started putting out leaves yet. It is one of the last trees to break out of dormancy. The roses in our yard have been cut back and are beginning to rebound.
Count your blessings too.
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