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Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. While we could go into a discussion on abortion with this verse as proof text that God sees the unborn as already planned, we won't. Not that it isn't a worthy topic, because it is. It is an urgent subject that needs to be screamed from the house tops.  What I want to think about this today is the ordination of our days. In his Supreme power and creative control, God knows the future. In his omnipresence, he is already in the future. You've heard the phrase, "God lives outside of time." He has no time constraints. He not only isn't under a deadline he has completed his creative work.  We see some of this thought in this verse when David says that God has ordained our days. He has them planned out. They are recorded in his book.  This does not mean that God guesses about how long that you are going to live. This means that he knows,...

  John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. How many times have you read these words and taken comfort in what Jesus was saying? I have used this text when giving the gospel. Chapter ten of John's gospel is an amazing passage. Jesus used the sheep fold as an illustration of salvation and separation. Sheep in the fold are safe and the fold is a way of separating the true sheep from those outside the fold.  Jesus knows his sheep and they know him. His voice is familiar.  Shepherds care for their flock by calling them. Their familiar voice brings direction and comfort. The shepherd calls the sheep into the sheep pen at night to keep them safe. Salvation in Christ is the safe.  Notice that it is Christ that gives eternal life. This is a ...

In the beginning was the Word  John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. In this incredible paragraph we have a summary of who Jesus is and what he has done. In an economy of words that stuns us we see that Jesus was the communication from God to man, the Word. Jesus was eternal because he was with God in eternity. Jesus is Divine because he is God. To emphasize his point, as if he had to, John says it again, "This same Jesus, was with God in the beginning.  He goes on with another astounding declaration," All that exists was made by him". Here, if we pause to contemplate what he just said, we realize that Jesus is incomprehensible. We begin to grasp a molecule of Jesus' humility in Paul's words in his Philippian letter, "(Jesus), ...

There are certain friends who I would love to ask this question. It seems like a fairly straightforward inquiry. Only three words that cut through the spiritual fog and right to the point. It seems that a short, one word, answer would quickly follow. Yes! No! Period.  However, it seems that salvation, the Bible way, is a cloudy issue for some. To be saved, in their perception, means that some sort of work has to be achieved. Things like: baptism, giving of money or time, helping the poor or needy, all are considered as part of the salvation process.  It is true that the many religions teach such things. There must be work. For why would God accept us without a decent effort at goodness? It doesn't make sense. We have to do our best or we don't get to go to heaven. Right?  Let me first say that good works do play a part in salvation. However, they are not the aspect that saves. They are the results of Christ saving work showing itself in our life. Before salvation we can ...

We are a fickle bunch. We often talk of God's blessings and rightly so. He blesses us daily and moment by moment. Each breath and heartbeat are blessings from our father. We talk about how we trust in him for our guidance and strength. We are very confident and bold in our proclamations of faith, when all is well.  But let something go amiss and watch out. We forget the blessings and want immediate attention and action. We become the focus of our universe. There is none more important than us.  Maybe I am talking to myself here. Maybe I am the only one who feels like this. However, I don't think so. We even see this atitude in many of the people who were cured by Jesus. They came in desperation and fell at his feet, needing something that only he could provide.  I sometimes wonder where all these people were on crucifixion day? Where were the 5000 and the 4000. Where were they all when Jesus needed them? The eleven? What happened to them? They didn't even stay awake when ...

In my bible reading I came across a familiar figure that I have never really studied before. John the Baptist. Who is he and why should we know more about him? He was born in a similar way that Issac was born to Abraham and Sarah. In their old age, Zacarias and Elizabeth would be blessed with a son. That story is recorded in Luke 1. John’s birth was announced by the angel Gabriel. The same angel who would announce Jesus' birth. Gabriel said  Luke 1: He will bring joy to many 14 He will be great in God's sight 15 He is to be set apart to God 15 He will be filled with the holy spirit before birth 15 He will point many to God 16 He, in the spirit of Elijah, will prepare the way for the Messiah 17 Mark tell us how he dressed and what his message was mark 1;4-8 His connection with Elijah is interesting.  The last two verses of the Old Testament say  Malachi 4:5 "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the ...

"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29,30) I think about this passage as I reflect on my missionary career. Sometimes when I am feeling sorry for myself and sometimes when I am wondering if it has all been worth it.  When Jesus uttered these words he was talking to his men about the rich entering the kingdom. Peter had spoken up and said, "We have left all to follow you, what is in it for us? (my version).  John Piper said that Jesus was clearly using hyperbole here, because one hundred mothers would be a stretch.  So, what did Jesus mean?  I can speak from my situation and say that it seems like I have received hundreds of these things. We sure have moved a lot and...