Speak Before They Go

The reason why I've been absent for the past couple of weeks is because my mom passed away. and I was busy attending to all that comes with that. I was lucky enough to have a chance to speak with her over the phone just a few hours before she graduated and I was faced with the question: What do you say to your mother knowing that she is in her last few moments of life? But wait - before you answer that, keep in mind that she is so lost in dementia that she has no idea who you are and the sight of you scares her because she's afraid of strangers.

Yes, the right thing to do is talk to her about accepting Jesus as her savior, to love and trust him. Her husband of 60+ years, my dad, was saved on his death bed, something I will be eternally joyful about. But as for mom - she wasn't mom any more, she lost her nouns years ago, and the proper nouns were the first to go so Jesus was just another word she couldn't understand. She wouldn't have known who or what we were talking about, in fact she believed she has lived in a Florida nursing home her entire life.

But she did remember her trip to the Colorado mountains, so that's what I talked to her about even though she had no idea who I was. Don't get me wrong - we did talk about Jesus at length a few years ago before she began her slide into dementia, and her love and faith in Christ Jesus was strong and hot. He was everything to her.

This kind of love and faith in Christ was almost surprising to me, because mom was Roman Catholic Über Alles. A woman steeped in Roman Catholic tradition and indoctrination who for many years put every iota of her faith in the papist Catholic scorecard of works; eucharist, confession, tithing+, holy days of obligation, rosary, novenas, stations of the cross... In the end all that frippery did nothing for her, and just like dad, it was the acceptance of Christ as their personal savior that saved them. The parish they attended for years turned their back on both of them and ignored them in their final years of life. I guess the priests and deacons were too worried about collecting money from the living to care about the dying, ain't that right St. Sebastian Catholic Church of Sebastian FL?

And now both of my parents are gone before us, we who are left behind will mingle their ashes together and inter them in a spot that they loved. It is their camping spot on my grandfathers farm among the tamarack trees and the remaining cherry and apple trees of an orchard that was long ignored by the time grandfather purchased the farm. (You can't believe how tall a cherry tree can grow!) And that will be it, hopefully for my sisters there will be closure, "Ma Evans" and "Peepin' Wally" will be gone.

I've been pondering it, and this whole closure thing, I don't really understand it, but then I'm Christian. To pagans there are ghosts and spirits and the pagan beliefs held by the poor pagan torture them into thinking that these ghosts of dead people are still around, observing them and giving them signs. My sister thinks that when she finds a penny on the ground it's a sign from dad. Our dad wouldn't use a penny as a sign, he'd use a bullhorn "DON'T LEAVE YOUR (STUFF) LAYING AROUND THE LIVING ROOM!" When you believe that you're seeing signs and wonders from a dead person's spirit, and blithering nonsense like reincarnation how can there be closure?

WWUTT - Born in a Barn?

Resistance is Futile

The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States. It was passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995  it passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 374 to 37 and in the Senate it passed with a vote of 93 to 5. 

It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999. However the president at the time, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton III, took time out from doing what his party does best, and demanded an 'out' in the bill so he didn't have to attempt any actual diplomacy and could allow the farce that was/still is the Middle East "Peace" talks to meander on with no actual end in sight other than the destruction of Israel. 

Fast forward 22 years: President Donald Trump, who succeeded the most anti-Semitic president that the United States has ever produced, enacted the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. The press went crazy, I believe because it wasn't their decision to move the embassy. Anyhow, one of my favorite authors, Andrew Klavan, summed it up quite nicely: 

Spurgeon Thursday - Christ and the Pope

Christ Did Not Die for Pope To Be Glorified: 

Christ did not redeem His Church with His blood that the Pope might come in and steal away the glory! He never came from Heaven to earth and poured out His very heart that He might purchase His people so that a poor sinner, a mere man, should be set upon high to be admired by all the nations and to call himself God’s representative on earth!

The Lord Jesus Christ has always been the Head of His Church

It is not possible for any to be Head in the Church of Christ, but Jesus! Has God exalted Him and made Him to be the Head over all things—and it is usurping the prerogative of Christ for any to suppose they can be Head of the Church of Christ, for Jesus Christ is the Head and He, alone, holds power over ecclesiastical organizations! Over the sacred mystical, blood-bought, redeemed, regenerated Church of Christ there never can, by any possibility, be any other Head but Jesus Christ, the Lord Himself! 

Now mark, God has exalted the Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His Church All authority, all authoritative rules in Zion come through Jesus Christ. All true teaching in Zion comes from His lips. We call no man, master, upon earth, for One is our Master, and that One is Christ. No man is Rabbi in the Church, but He is our Rabboni, our Teacher, and all other teachers are thieves and robbers if they teach on their own authority. They only are accepted as the Lord’s shepherds, who speak Christ’s Truth in Christ’s name—and in the power of His own Spirit. God has made Christ to rule supremely throughout the Church, and in this He has glorified Him!

Christ Did Not Die for Pope To Be Glorified by C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892); an excerpt from Christ Glorified: Sermon No. 3436 delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Thursday Evening, February 4, 1869.

No, Jesus didn’t ‘hang out’ with sinners

No, Jesus didn’t ‘hang out’ with sinners

by Matt Walsh May 11, 2017

I was recently informed by a fellow Christian that it’s perfectly OK for a follower of Christ to march in a gay pride parade because, as he explained it, “Jesus hung out with sinners.” It was far from the first time that I’ve heard a clearly objectionable act justified on these grounds. This is just one of the many dubious slogans that has overwhelmed and suffocated the faith in our country. For many of us, our faith is really nothing more than a collection of these empty mantras, which we confidently shout over and over again, hoping repetition will make them true.

Of course, “Jesus hung out with sinners” is a loaded statement. There’s always some erroneous insinuation or conclusion attached to it. “Jesus hung out with sinners, therefore [xyz].” Jesus hung out with sinners, therefore it’s OK for me to do whatever it is I’m doing right now. Jesus hung out with sinners, therefore I need not follow whatever commandment or moral teaching we’re currently discussing. Jesus hung out with sinners, therefore this sin that we’re discussing isn’t as bad as you suggest.

I’ve heard “Jesus hung out with sinners” as a sincere justification for going to strip clubs and gay bars. I’ve seen “Jesus hung out with sinners” trotted out during debates about pornography. Somehow “Jesus hung out with sinners” tends even to enter discussions of abortion. “Jesus hung out with sinners, therefore killing babies is alright.” Generally, whatever the application, the argument is always that Jesus “hung out with” such and such a sinner, which means He didn’t mind such and such a sin.

Last week I wrote a piece about misconceptions around the idea of Christian compassion, and many of the critical responses hinged on this theme. One example:

“Matt, this was nothing but a badly disguised anti-gay diatribe. Jesus would have hung out with the people you are judging. Jesus wasn’t judgmental and in your face like you. He didn’t shove religion down people’s throats. Jesus hung out with sinners….” Etc. and so forth.

Leaving aside the bizarre contention that any discussion of Christian morality is automatically “anti-gay” (I didn’t mention gays in the post at all), what we have here is just your standard “Jesus hung out with sinners” formulation. Jesus “hung out” with people who sinned, ipso facto Jesus had no problem with the sins they committed. And if it were true that Christ merely “hung out” with people, this line of logic would hold a little water. 

Spurgeon Thursday - The Preaching of Christ

Local Carpenter Wows Them at the Nazareth Synagog

Luke was a historian so he built his Gospel on historical evidence that proved Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. Luke skipped some of the miraculous stuff that was reported in other Gospels like the wedding at Cana. Luke looked for the legal proof, it may sound that he was being legalistic but he was being legalistic. This is because he was living in a legalistic society and early Christianity was merely another facet of Judaism, so it made sense to concentrate on actual proof based on prophesy.

Luke covered the prophesies involving the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus then covered the actual births and circumcisions of both. Luke skipped the flight to Egypt, and I guess this is because even though it's an important narrative, it does nothing to advance the fact that Jesus is the Son of God and legitimately the Messiah.

What could be more beautiful than Luke's coverage of the Baptism of Jesus, explaining how Heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a Dove and God spoke aloud “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” The only time the Trinity is mentioned together in the text of the Bible

Then Luke traced Jesus linage back from his legal father Joseph to David, and on to Adam proving legally that Jesus was of the linage of David, a needed item in the checklist of identifying the Messiah:

Keeping the Holy Family Humble

Merry Fourth Day of Christmas! I wanted to find an illustration of the humble family of Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus, but there appears to be no such thing. You can find lots of pictures of them in a stable emblazoned with halos and surrounded by the heavenly hosts. I can find a lot of pictures of Joseph leading a halo branded Mary on a donkey but there's nothing in the bible about a donkey, I just wanted a humble, poor holy family. 

So instead I went the other route. Here's a beautiful mosaic in the Hagia Sophia (pronounced Haya Sophia, it means "Holy Wisdom"), a visit to that 1,400 year old historical masterpiece is definitely on my bucket list. Here we see Mary holding the baby Jesus being visited by the Roman* emperor John II Komnenos and his wife Irene of Hungary. John is handing Jesus a sack of cash and Irene is handing Mary an official decree. Let's not let the fact that John was born 1,118 years after Jesus was born get in the way of a very beautiful mosaic. 

In fact other than the wise men and some shepherds showed up at Jesus' birth, this family was humble and they were humbled, and for some reason this realization hit me a bit harder this Christmas. We all knew that God gave his son humble beginnings but He did so in a way that insured his life would remain humble. Let's start at the very beginning...

Spurgeon Thursday - Unto Us A Son Is Given

If unto me a child is born then I have been born again; and, moreover, I am now in consequence of that new birth, a child. If, again, a Son has been given to me, then I am a son; and again I am given to that Son who is given to me. 

I have tried to put these tests in the way that the text would suggest them. I pray you carry them home with you. If you do not recollect the words, yet do recollect to search yourselves, and see, my hearers, whether you can say, "Unto me this Son is given." For, indeed, if Christ is not my Christ, he is of little worth to me. If I cannot say he loved me and gave himself for me, of what avail is all the merit of his righteousness, or all the plenitude of his atonement? 

Bread in the shop is well enough, but if I am hungry and cannot get it, I starve although granaries be full. Water in the river is well enough but if I am in a desert and cannot reach the stream, if I can hear it in the distance and am yet lying down to die of thirst, the murmuring of the rill, or the flowing of the river, helps to tantalize me, while I die in dark despair. 

Better for you, my hearers to have perished as Hottentots, to have gone down to your graves as dwellers in some benighted land, than to live where the name of Christ is continually hymned and where his glory is extolled, and yet to go down to your tombs without an interest in him, unblessed by his gospel, unwashed in his blood, unclothed of his robe of righteousness. God help you, that you may be blessed in him, and may sing sweetly "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given."... 

WWUTT Wednesday - God's Gift To All Of Us

Today is my birthday, and a very bittersweet one it is. Not because I have many many more behind me than I do ahead of me, but because of what is going on at work. 

Due to corporate restructuring many of my friends lost their jobs today. some of these men and women I have been working with since the turn of the century, we moved from one company to another "together" as mergers and bankruptcies occurred. Very few people in the world do what we do, so as we move around in the industry we may not know a person when they show up at our office, but it's guaranteed that we are friends with many of their friends.

 The cuts were sudden and drastic, my small group lost 30% of our people. I found out that my friends were gone only by the way their existance was wiped out of my computer. I was in a pretty bad mood, until WWUTT reminded me of God's love

Deluded by a False Spirit

What does the bible say about ethnic harmony? 

34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. (Acts 10:34-35)

People that think that their ethnicity is all that matters are deluded by a false spirit, they've been taken in by a lie. To God there's only two kinds of people, those that worship him, and those that do not.  There's no breakdown of black or white or brown or red or yellow. In fact the bible never even says "race". As Peter said in acts, there's only two kinds of people in God's eyes. Jesus said it too:

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

To God there's no race but He does categorize humans into two groups, there's those that love and worship Him, and everyone else. He makes this distinction  regardless of skin color or country of origin. Racism is a human construct, with a little.help from Satan, of course. But what does the bible say about racial harmony? Nothing. Like I said, God doesn't care about race, for He is spirit and being created in His image, we are spiritual beings. Skin color has no bearing on a spirit, He calls for us to love each other regardless of skin color or country of origin;

Spurgeon Thursday - The Best Sermon

Charles H. Spurgeon liked to related this story of a young English preacher delivering a sermon before a renown pastor of many years:

Upon finishing his sermon, the young man went to the old pastor to ask how he had done: "What do you think of my sermon, sir?" he asked. 

"A very poor sermon indeed," he said. 

"A poor sermon!" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it." 

"Ay, no doubt of it." 

"Why, then, do you say it was poor; did you not think my explanation of the text to be accurate?" 

"Oh yes," said the old preacher, "very correct indeed."

"Well,then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate, and the arguments conclusive?" 

"Yes, they were very good, as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon." 

"Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?" 

Spurgeon Thursday - Let the Lion out!

A great many learned men are defending the gospel; no doubt it is a very proper and right thing to do, yet I always notice that, when there are most books of that kind, it is because the gospel itself is not being preached. 

Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, a full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! 

I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best “apology” for the gospel is to let the gospel out. Never mind about defending Deuteronomy or the whole of the Pentateuch; preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let the Lion out, and see who will dare to approach him. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will soon drive away all his adversaries.

WWUTT Wednesday - Who Is Jesus?

Who is Jesus? We know His name was really Yeshua (Joshua), and that he was the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation, the messiah. Messiah means "anointed" which in turn means chosen. He's the central figure of Christianity, and He's my brother. Personally (and Biblically) Jesus adopted me as His brother

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (Ephesians 1:5) 

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

This is cool, I've never had a brother, and I'm not going to go in to how incredible it is to suddenly realize that I have one who created the heavens and earth and actually died to save me, but He is so much more than that...

WWUTT Wednesday - Did Jesus Hate Religion?

Did the Prince of Peace really hate religion? The bible is very clear about Jesus and his discussions with the Pharisees, He even had Seven Woe's for them. So He clearly doesn't like religion because he didn't like the Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in what we now call The Old Testament and believed it was the inspired word of God, but they also gave equal authority to oral tradition and attempted to defend this position by saying it went all the way back to Moses

Then there were the Sadducees. the Sadducees believed that only the written law of Moses was authoritative, they saw worship at the Temple as the main focus of the Law (which meant that when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD the Sadducees were destroyed too) Because the Sadducees were more concerned with politics than religion, they were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid He might bring unwanted Roman attention. It was at this point that the Sadducees and Pharisees united and conspired to put Christ to death. The Sadducees are also implicated in the death of James by the historian Josephus.

Money changers in the temple, the whip made of cords, clearly Jesus doesn't like religion, right?

Spurgeon Thursday - It's All About Jesus

Coexist?

Did Jesus Go To Hell?

The Apostles creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, 
creator of heaven and earth. 
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, 
suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
was crucified, died, and was buried; 
he descended to the dead. 
On the third day he rose again; 
he ascended into heaven, 
he is seated at the right hand of the Father, 
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Depending on which version your congregation says, Jesus may have descended to the dead, or he may have descended into hell. The latin version says "descendit ad inferna" which is hell. This makes it the most controversial statement in the Apostle's Creed. Some denominations consider it optional or refuse to include it at all. The Greek version has "he descended unto κατώτατα (the lower regions)" which is more palatable, but it still begs the question - between His death and resurrection where did Jesus go? 

For one thing, we know that he went to paradise and he took one criminal with him when He went to paradise

Spurgeon Thursday: What we can Learn from Palm Sunday

Excerpt from a sermon delivered on Sunday Morning, August the 18th, 1861 by the
Rev. C. H. Spurgeon At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington:

The Saviour, in his triumphal entrance into the capital of his fathers, declared to us very plainly the practical effects of his kingdom. Now what are these? One of the first effects was that the whole city was moved. What does that mean? It means that everybody had something to say about it, and that everybody felt something because Christ rode through the street. 

There were some who leaned from the tops of their houses, and looked down the street and said to one another - "Aha! Did ever you see such fool's play as this? Humph! Here is Jesus of Nazareth down here riding on an ass! Surely if he meant to be king he might have chosen a horse. Look at him! They call that pomp! There is some old fisherman has just thrown down his bad-smelling garment; I dare say it had fish in it an hour or two ago? "Look," says one, "see that old beggar throwing his cap into the air for joy!" "Aha!" say they, "was there ever such a ridiculous thing as that?" 

I cannot put it in such terms as they would describe it; if I could, I think I would. I should like to make you see how ridiculous this must have seemed to the people. Why, if Pilate himself had heard about it he would have said - "Ah! there is nothing much to fear from that. There is no fear that that man will ever upset Caesar; there is no fear that he will ever overturn an army. Where are their swords? There is not a sword among them! They have no cries that sound like rebellion; their songs are only some religious verses taken out of the Psalms." "Oh!" says he, "the whole thing is contemptible and ridiculous." 

In Like A Lamb

Genesis 22:8

Welcome to March. March is Women's History Month, National Nutrition Month, American Red Cross Month, and Fire Prevention Month. In March Daylight Savings Time begins, and winter ends. It is the time of year when animals start to wake up from hibernation. 

Along with St. Patrick's Day, other "holidays" in March include National Potato Chip Day, Hug a GI Day, Fragrance Day, Take a Walk In the Park Day, and (believe it or not) Dyngus Day.

And this year Easter falls on March, which makes this month a wonderful dichotomy. The old March weather proverb "In like a lamb, out like a lion" comes to life this month, as we celebrate Jesus Christ the sacrificial lamb of God at the beginning of the month, and Jesus Christ the Lion of Judah rising victorious over death at the end of the month. 

I'm sure this imagery is brought up ad nauseum every time Easter falls at the end of March, but I like this imagery. Just before their exodus from Egypt, God commanded the Israelites to take an unblemished lamb, slay it, then smear its blood on the doorposts of their homes

3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it....  12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:3-7, 12-13)

The blood of the slain lamb set apart the people of Israel from the people of Egypt when the death angel came during the night to slay the firstborn of the land. Those who had obeyed God and marked themselves with the blood of the slain lamb would be spared. 

Centuries later John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching him, stops what he was doing, and declares to all present, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), A couple of years later on Passover, the Lamb that God sent to us, a perfect and unblemished male, was killed. And His blood is a sign to us that God will spare us from the wrath that we so horribly deserve, and our Lamb will return as a Lion to lead us to victory over sin and death as He did two millenia ago.