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 Do you believe in Hell? If you do, did you know that Hell is not the final destination of the damned? Revelation 20:14 says, Then death and Hades (Hell) were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death . So these days, the lost go to Hell when they die. Eventually, after the final judgment, they will go to the lake of fire. There will be torment forever.  Does that seem hard to imagine? It should. Trying to comprehend an eternal Hell is like trying to understand eternal heaven. It is impossible.  So, what are we to make of these two places and their resulting torment or bliss? If we believe that the Bible is describing real places of punishment and reward, we understand that both are real places. I believe in the Bible.  With that understanding, I must confess that both places still leave me wondering. I take the following position, God is in charge of his creation, every aspect of his design. I don't get some of what he is doing because I am ...

Just say these two words, and your eyes become hazy, and a confused look takes over the landscape of your face. The Revelation, which means the reveal, is like going to the Detroit Auto show, seeing the form of a car under a lovely velvet cover, only to have another velvet cover thrown over it.  To say that the Revelation is complicated is a mild compliment. As I began to study the letter to the seven churches a few months ago, I quickly discovered various opinions about most paragraphs. For years I avoided looking deeply into the Revelation for the simple reason that it is so hard to understand. I kept saying that one day I was going to go through the book verse by verse.  That finally happened in the second half of 2019. By the time we came to chapter 20, Dawn and I moved, and the world shut down because of the COVID 19 scare. You talk about timing!  As mentioned, in a previous post, during my simple study of the most complicated book, I discovered various opinions abou...

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people . Jude 3 Jude, the brother of Jesus Christ, wrote a short letter that found its way into the scriptures. It is short but sharp. In it, Jude talks about chained angels, wicked Cain and Balam, and Enoch's prophecy. Each subject of which would require a good-sized volume to explain.  Jude wrote to warn us to fight for our faith, that faith that was “once delivered” to God's holy people. This last sentence is incredible. It is saying that, if you are a God follower, a believer in Jesus Christ, that you are one of God's holy people. Do you feel like a divine person?  When God does his work in saving us, a creation that took place before time, we become holy people. You will notice that Paul begins most of his letters by addressing them to the saints. The Roman Catholic church...

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18) Why is it that we want to grow up when we are kids, and when we are adults, we want to be kids? Is it the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome? Might be.  Whatever it is, it is impossible to accomplish either scenario. We, as adults, are always saying or thinking, "What on earth? How did you grow so fast?" when we know very well what has happened. Time has ticked away steadily and constantly. Time does that. On the other end of that spectrum, we might look longly to the past, wanting to return to our childhood.  Children will grow with time because growth is natural; only an early death can stop it. Sometimes we might hug a little one very hard and say, "I'm not going to let you grow up!" In reality, we’re expressing our desire that the little loved one stay at their innocent stage of life. However, w...

 1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. To want is to desire. One author puts it this way, "There is a distinction between God’s desire and his eternal saving purpose, which must transcend his desires." God desires that all should come to repentance, but his saving purpose overrides that desire as it sees the judgment of sin against his holiness as a divine requirement.  The above verse from 1 Timothy is a classic text used to defend God against Calvin. Calvin realized through his scriptural studies that God had a chosen remnant. He realized that without that group, there would be no one saved. He had read and studied Paul's letter to the Roman church and saw the plan in chapter nine.  God must follow his divine plan without vacillation. To have that remnant of redeemed, he, not we, had to act. We could not choose him because we were dead in sin. In his action, he decided to resc...

We’ve had our share of dogs during the years: Fido, Butch, Babs, Sammy, Old Dog, Ursinha, Sheba, and Marly, and Neguinho were their names. In here now laying, at our feet and sometimes in our bed are, Branquinho, Cookie, and White. That's twelve—three in our stateside years and nine here in Brazil. Dogs are more plentiful here because there is no Humane Society to kill them. Oops.  Anyway, I just heard one of our neighbors beating the buggers out of his dog. It seems to happen about once a week. You hear the dog screaming and would love to sock the neighbor in the kisser. However, we can never catch the person in the act. By the time we realize that it is "beat the dog" day, we can't get to the gate fast enough to discover precisely where the massacre is taking place. It's a frustrating sensation.  Why is it that I feel so strongly about dog beatings, and I don't care as much about people going to hell? I see a stray dog and always feel bad. I see a street per...

Have you ever done the Ancestry.com thing? You know what I’m talking about, right? It is a site where you can research your roots. I was writing my historical fiction autobiography three years ago and got into that search cycle. I called a search cycle because once they hook you with a subscription, there is an endless journey into the past. The carrots on a stick that they dangle just out of your reach make you want to invest just five more bucks in finding that tidbit that ties you to the Rockefeller’s wealth or Jack Sparrow’s linage.  I will admit that it is so intriguing to follow what the site traces as your history and that I did invest a few bucks. I discovered that my grandma Jewell got married young, in CANADÁ of all places. What? My dad mentioned that he had some long-lost relatives in Canada who were involved in the liquor trade during the Prohibition. Hmmm, maybe the Jack Sparrow side of the tale.  In 1 Timothy 1:3,4, Paul tells his son in the faith to stay in Ephe...

I have determined to write a devotional thought every day this year, and here I am on April 23rd with seemingly nothing to report. So it must be that I'll have a brainstorm in just a few minutes.  Let's see. Ah yes! In our Bible study with Cida today, we talked about salvation. How that God planned it before time began. Ephesians 1:4 tells us a smidgen about that plan. We also talked about how, if we look at the world around us, we can see that there are seemingly nothing but sinners in every level of society and every country of the world. We know that this is the case because of what Romans 3:10 and 3:23 tell us. There is none righteous, not even one.  We saw that sin had affected human life more than covid or any other flu in history. It has a 100 percent kill rate. No-one escapes. All die. Genesis 5 tells the story of Adam's breaking race. Eight times in that chapter, the little phrase "and he died" shouts total extinction.  However, there is hope in Christ. J...

 Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,   Have you ever felt dead? We might often say, "I'm dead tired" or just "I'm dead". Even though we are right in front of someone when we says that. We don't literally mean that we are dead. We're just tired.  Paul here tells believers in Christ that before they came into a saving relationship with him, they were literally dead spiritually. It was the effect of what Adam and Eve did in the garden. God, way back then said that the day was that they até that fruit, that they would die. And they did. That act of disobedience has cost billions of lives through the years.  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, even you were dead before you found life in Christ. Paul says this later in this passage. You walked around. You worked and lived the "normal life" of any dead person. However, when the Holy Spirit began his work it was then that your life truly began. You were on th...

“How holy are we supposed to be?” I was asked this question years ago. My simple answer was, “Just as holy as God. That’s all.” That is a tall order, impossible in fact.  However, in Ephesians chapter one, Paul says the following about our holiness possibilities. It’s in verse four where he says this, “ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him. ” What makes this statement so wonderful is what he says in verse three of this same chapter. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Have you ever wondered about what all of those “spiritual blessings in heavenly places” are? Of course, it is the fact that God has chosen us to be holy and blameless. The only way that sinners like you and me could imagine being holy and blameless would be through a miraculous work of God in predestination. That last word sometimes ...

Funny how we go in emotional cycles, isn't it. One minute we can be the life of the party, and the next, we can be in the dumps. Dawn and I are relatively even-keeled, but now and then, we get discouraged. Lately, it seems that we've been in the latter mood, partly because of the blasted lockdown of our city.  We celebrated our first anniversary here recently, and for the most part, it's been lovely. It's just that we thought that we'd have seen more progress in the work by this time.  Though, in actuality, we're blessed beyond measure. I remember a missionary friend of mine saying, "I get paid to tell people about Jesus!" And that is so cool. We get paid to tell people about Gods saving Grace. We also have been delighted with the group of people that make up our tiny church. They are hard workers, most working six days a week from dawn to sunset. Yet, they are always in service. It's fantastic to be a part of this congregation. I recently started ...

The WWE wrestling belts are rather elaborate, considering the sport that they represent. WWE wrestling is an absurd travesty of the sport of wrestling. Of all of the outlandish and obscene characters that "fight" only one has the right to be called the champ.  These jokers are all trying to gain fame with that special belt. When it seems that they should be put into the Circus. Really crazy stuff.  In Ephesians 6 we read these important words in verse 14, Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist....  Paul used his prison stay to observe different soldier ware. This from a Wikipedia entry, "A cingulum militare was a piece of ancient Roman military equipment in the form of a belt decorated with metal fittings, which was worn as a badge of rank by soldiers and officials and was used to hold their pants up in battle."    As soldiers of the cross our badge of rank is truth. We hold up our spiritual pants with truth. When we do we're never cau...

  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This sentence in psalm 91.1 is mathematically fascinating. Do you see it? It is an equation. If a person does X, Y will happen. Whoever dwells will rest.  Dwell is a strong word that we don't use too much these days. It means to stay put, be fixed, and firm. Someone dwelling is not moving.  The phrase Most High is a designation for Jehovah God. Jehovah is Most High because he is the only God. Every imagination or demon who calls itself god is none but an imposter.  I was thinking about dwelling in the shelter. Recently, just before the end of the world, on December 21, 2012, I saw an article about a guy who had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to construct and furnish a colossal concrete ball house. He went to such trouble to avoid being part of the earth’s terminus.  Today, January 4, 2013, this individual must feel like a ninny. The end didn't come, and he ha...

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.   Have you ever been called a tricky devil? If so, it might surprise you to know that you are not alone in the world of trickery. The devil, since before time, has been a schemer. He was supposedly the guardian angel for God's throne. Then he coveted that place of supreme authority and was tossed out of heaven. He was the very first sinner and has not stopped since.  Maybe that is why he is called the father of lies. Jesus told the Pharisees that their father was the Devil, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Look at that exchange in John 8:44, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." So, what do we gather a lot from this ...

I heard a podcast the other day about the cruise industry that was quite shocking. It told the grim tale about how 2020 had essentially gutted the cruise season and shut the whole industry down for months. That is that COVID SHUT the WHOLE industry down for the rest of the year. In that cast I learned that each company makes money by the boatload (LITERALLY). They have seasons where they make billions and so, like Joseph in Egypt during the years of plenty, they do what the interviewer stated as, “stocking their war chests”.  The cruise ship industry seems like such a romantic way to make a living but it has its pitfalls. One of those was brought to light last year when without notice the companies received word from host countries that they were no longer to accept any passengers. Did you know that each of those big babies has 1,000 workers and crew aboard? That is a lot of people even without guests. So, the dilemma that was caused was that they had to figure out how to get thos...

These days it seems that our biggest enemy is an unseen one. With either COVID or Dengue fever lurking invisibly to get us down. We've seen friends contact the COVID 19 virus and die while others seem to have little effects after their bout with the disease. Dengue to an American seems like a tropical sickness that is no threat to most of them. If they even know what it is.  In our study of Ephesians 6 and the believer’s armor, we have so far discovered that our strength comes from the Lord and his power. We have also learned that God has provided us with supernatural armor that can deflect the devil’s twisted schemes.  In this study, we’ll begin to see who our enemies aren’t and who they are in more detail. Have you ever played a video game where you had to seek and destroy your enemies who were lurking around every corner? Or have you ever done paintball where you had a rifle with paintball bullets and you were not only hunting but also being hunted? It is an adrenaline rush...

I found the following that I wrote in 2013. I think that you'll like  We just received 7,700.00 Brazilian buck to continue the construction! This gift was 13 years in the making and comes just as our need is greatest. How did THAT happen? A complaint was lodged thirteen years ago in the Brazilian legal system. Today a need was met as a result of that suit. I try to imagine all of the twists and torchered turns that litigation took for that money to end up buying more cement for our "bit-o-nothing" project. When that case went to court pastor Alexandre had yet to begin his five years of seminary training. He was just one year old in the faith. Now he is pastor of Faith! The system here is corrupt. Just yesterday I heard a phrase from a veteran businessman.  “The right are wrong and the wrong are right!” he hissed through teeth almost as crooked as the system. Here drug dealers, murderers and pedofiles walk and widows are assessed exorbitant fees on defaulted loans co-signe...

Looking at the David and Goliath story and thinking about how terrifying that giant looked to most of the soldiers, we can draw a parallel with how the Devil must look to the “natural man” or that person who doesn't have access to God's armor.  Goliath looked impermeable. He was protected from head to toe. There seemed to be no weakness to his protection and he was armed enough to do mortal damage to his foe. The Devil is an even more powerful foe and he is INVISIBLE! How are we supposed to fight him? Paul says that he is a schemer. What exactly did he mean? The word Scheme means, “to be crafty, or to be a strategist”. Think about it this way, the devil has had a lot of experience with people. He knows how we think. He can’t read our mind but for the most part, he doesn't need to.  Have you ever heard of AI? It stands for Artificial Intelligence. Wikipedia says that “Artificial intelligence is intelligence demonstrated by machines... which involves consciousness and emotion...

11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  We’re examining Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 6 regarding the spiritual armor and the battle that makes it necessary. Yesterday we looked at the source of the strength to use that armor. We talked about David and how he realized that his cause was a worthy one and that his strength came from the LORD.  Something that happened in the process of preparing for the battle with Goliath, which is kind of funny if you think about it, was the following. Saul, being the great king that he was, sat around a lot. I don’t know if you have noticed. In this account, he was on a battlefront and he was in his tent sitting there worrying. When David told him that he was willing to fight the giant, Saul didn’t want to send him but he eventually relented and offered David his armor to use as protection. David, a shepherd boy not a soldier, tried on the bulky armor but it didn't fit. David realized tha...

So, I stopped at this light yesterday and glanced to my right just in time to see one of those blow up punching toys. You know the kind I mean. It has a little sand in the bottom to keep it coming back for another punch. It is kind of oblong and about four foot high. Yeah that toy.  They all come with a picture on them. I imagine that it would be less fun without someone’s face to punch? I did a double take on this one, however. There, as big as life, was... none other than.... I’m purposely drawing out the suspense. I know that you are thinking, “King Kong, the HULK, Superman or Batman.” Nope. None of the above. There she was. Cinderella. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I laughed my head off for at least a block! What on earth were they thinking?! Putting Cinderella on a punching bag!! I mean, GIVE ME A BREAK! Wife beating is a common malady here in Brazil. Everyday it is in the news. It is a sad statistic with no end in sight.  Now I know why. Cinderella punching bags. Give Junior...

According to my, not too in depth or lengthy, research, the average person, during their lifetime, waits at a stop light for THREE YEARS!! I KNEW IT!! It is NOT my imagination! As I sat at one this afternoon I brooded over the Brazilian’s lack of understanding regarding the timing of said lights. I am always “commenting” about such things while driving. It has come to the point where Dawn tells me that God is going to put me in charge of the transit system in heaven! THANKS DEAR (through clenched teeth). God’s direction seems like a traffic light at times doesn't it? You ask him for something in plain English, or whatever your mother tongue, and... ZIP! NADA! Nothing happens. There is, however, always a willing and kind soul to tell you, (In a whining tone) “God answers in three ways: Yes, No and wait!” O HUSH dear (through gnashing teeth). I don’t often like “No” for an answer. Nor do I want to wait. I like, “Ok son here you go. I have been working on this for some time now and ha...

So, today  I withdrew our worker’s weekly salary. I used the “Old Folks” line at the bank  for the first time. I usually take my Kindle to the bank because the lines can be long. However, this time I decided to use the short one. I didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed. I waited five minutes, got Two Thousand Reais and left.  Walking with a wad of cash can be dangerous here. But, I walked. Looking as nonchalant as I could with a bulging pocket. Don't worry, I am not leading up to a robbery story.  My walk took me to the nearest “Old Folks” Parking spot about five blocks from the bank! Brazilians have the concept of making room for the old and weak but they often lack the space to do it.  Anyway, as I get into the van I decide to separate all of the dough! I split the wad into three piles. One for the mason, one for his helper and one for the electrician. Then I thought of a cool hiding place for the cash. In my Tiger’s cap. No one would see it and it would be sa...

I have a big red nose. I have had it for a while now. It is big. It is red. It is big. Oh I already said that didn't I. Sometimes I wonder what I would look like with a different nose. I wonder how it might be to have a tiny proboscis. I said the same thing twice because I wonder in various ways.  I laugh and tell people that God has a sense of humor because of the way he made my nose. I laugh on the outside but cry inside. Not really. I don't cry or even think much about my nose.  I'll have you know that my nose was a part of God's plan. As the old saying goes, “God don't make junk!” So, I knows that my nose is no junk.  I read Isaiah 29:16 this morning and thought of my nose. In the NKJV the text reads like this: Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Well, shall it? Shall the...

We are in strange days, and we all know that, I thought it would be good to focus on a battle plan for the coming days. This plan will help us to be prepared and to be proactive rather than just spectators or casualties? Our faith is being challenged and we need to be ready to answer when asked about our faith. One passage that came to mind was Ephesians 6:10 - 18. We commonly call this passage Paul’s description of the believer’s armor. Let's turn to Ephesians 6 and look at this important text that will help us to be ready for whatever comes our way. Ephesians is one of Paul's prison epistles. That means that he wrote it while he was in jail. An interesting aspect of this letter is that he doesn't say anything about his prison stay under the Roman government except when he mentions in chapters 3:1 and 4:1, and in both verses he calls himself a prisoner of Christ. Some believe that Paul used the armor motif because he was chained to a soldier or he was in close contact...

Have you ever looked at someone and said that they were a lost cause? Maybe you saw the way that they dressed or acted. Maybe it was their background that told you they could never understand the Gospel. Or maybe it was their religion that put them out of reach of the saving knowledge of Christ.  It's sad how we often do the Holy Spirit's work isn't it? We judge a person by outward appearance and set them outside of the Gospel's reach. That was what happened to Saul of Tarsus.  Saul was a religious zealot who knew the Law of the Pharisees like the back of his hand. He had been steeped in doctrine from his youth. He was the son of a pharisee and a champion of the cause. He was so fanatical that he was a witness to and the cause of murder. He was surely a lost cause. Too religious to become a Christian. But then he met Jesus.  When Jesus got a hold of him, his fanaticism did a one eighty from being a Pharisee to becoming a child of God. Rather than trying to eliminate The...