Hot Days

     This is about the hottest day I can remember for the last three or four years.  The temperature itself isn't so bad, but the humidity is horrendous.  I'm beginning to feel the need to move to a much cooler climate.  I know that Toby never could stand any heat. He would always find the spot in the house right where the coolest air was coming from the air conditioner. He loved the cool weather just like I do. The two of us went for long walks in the fall. Where I live, late October and November were the two months with the temperatures Toby and I enjoyed. We'd take our time wandering through the orchard and just enjoy being alive and together. When the heat came, we stayed in as much as possible. I hope that in Heaven the temperature for him is about 50 degrees just like we liked it.

Old TV Shows

     I don't get cable TV where I live, so I just watch what comes over the public air waves. Last week, a new station came on that shows old programs from the 60's, 70's and 80's.  I enjoy watching these programs, especially the comedies that didn't have to sink to the level of the crude and rude to get laughs. I wish that there were more good contemporary programs being produced today.

A Parable About Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35 is a parable about forgiveness. Peter comes to Jesus and asks if he should forgive someone who has offended him up to seven time. Jesus says that Peter shouldn't stop at seven times, Peter should forgive seventy times seven times. To illustrate His point, Jesus tells a story about a king and a servant who owes the king an extraordinary amount of money. There's no way the servant can ever pay back his debt, so he begs the king to have patience and he would pay him. The king was moved to have mercy on the servant and forgave all the servants debt.
     Later, the servant whose debt had just been forgiven found a servant who owed him a small amount of money. The servant in debt begged for more time to pay the debt, but his fellow servant had him thrown into debtor's prison.
     When word of this got back to the king he became very angry and called the unforgiving servant into his presence.  Because the servant had received such extravagant forgiveness from the king, the servant should have been willing to forgive his fellow servant. Because of this, the unforgiving servant was cast into prison until all of his debt was paid.
     All of us who have come to faith in Jesus Christ have been forgiven of our extraordinary debt of sin. It was a debt we could not pay. The Lord now expects us to be a forgiving people. Nothing that anyone can do to us can compare to the offense our sin brought against God. 
     Jesus said that we should forgive others from our heart. That is part of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

A Good Program

     Last night, I watched a program about how the Palomar telescope was made. The program was called "Journey to Palomar" and was broadcast on PBS. This was an excellent show, and I encourage everyone to watch it if you have the chance.

Jesus Has Done It All

     I read an article in a religious magazine today about how salvation is a work of grace and human cooperation. In some way, we supposedly accept Christ and then keep ourselves in the faith by not sinning. If we sin to much, we're lost.
     We are not saved by any work that we can do.  Salvation is all of Jesus and none of us. Good works never saved nor kept anyone saved. To be born again, we must put our full faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and rely not one iota on ourselves.

Verse For The Day

Revelation 22: 12-13-"Behold, I am coming soon. My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

The Lost Sheep

  Matthew 18:10-14
     This is one of my favorite parables that Jesus tells.  I like sheep and sheepdogs.  I wanted to have a sheep ranch with working Border Collies in my younger days. 
     In this parable, Jesus talks about the responsibility of a good shepherd.  The good shepherd is responsible for all the sheep in his care.  If there are 100 sheep, it doesn't matter if 99 return to the fold at night.  The good shepherd goes out and searches for the one lost sheep until he finds it and brings it back to the fold with great rejoicing.
     Those without Christ are the lost sheep, and Jesus is the good shepherd.  He doesn't want to lose a single sheep.  The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Duncan MacDuff

     My Mom had a little Scottish Terrier she got after Toby passed away.  We named him Duncan. Duncan was a cute little dog who loved to sit for most of the day in my Mom's lap. At night, he like to sleep with me. Duncan's favorite past time was watching airplanes. When he would hear a plane he'd scan the sky until he located it and would watch the plane until it was out of sight. I often wondered if he wished he was up there flying around and seeing the world.

Good Bible Teaching

     I'm thankful for the good Bible teaching available over the radio. I've been listening to Charles Swindoll, Alistair Begg, and John MacArthur quite a bit lately. These men have been blessed with the ability to make the Bible come alive with deep meaning. I recommend their teaching ministry to you.

What is of the Most Value

     Matthew 13:45-46 contains the story of the treasure hidden in the field and the very familiar account of the pearl of great price.  Both of these deal with discovering what is of the greatest value in our life.  In both stories, the two men in question give up everything to obtain the one thing that they find to be of the highest value.
     What do we find to be of the most value in our lives?  What are we willing to give up everything for in order to obtain that which is most valuable?
     The most valuable thing in life is a relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is the pearl of great price.  Knowing Jesus is the key not only to time but to eternity.  We must realize that He is God come as man to sacrifice Himself for the salvation of the world.  He is risen, and He will come again.  I hope that you know Jesus.

The Shortest Chapter in the Bible

     Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible. Here's what it says in the New International Version of the Bible.
     Psalm 117---"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.  For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord"

     We all need to praise the Lord.  He has done great things. He loved us and gave us his Son the Lord Jesus Christ to provide for us the way of salvation.  The Lord will keep His promises.  He will not forget us, or turn away from us. May His great name forever be praised.

Writing About Jesus

     Now that the study I was doing on the little books of the Bible is finished, I want to focus on Jesus.  As it says in Hebrews, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. The parables of Jesus are of great interest to me.  It seems that no matter how many times I read them, I always find something new or a new way to apply them to my life. Next week I'll start with Jesus' parable of the pearl of great price.

Antis the World War II Dog

     I've been reading about famous dog's who served along with the soldiers in various wars.  One of the most interesting stories I've come across is the story of Antis.  Antis flew as part of bomber crew in WWII. There are two books available about him: "One Man and His Dog" by Anthony Richardson and "Freedom in the Air" by Hamish Ross.  I recommend them both.

The Pastor's Job

     I've been thinking about what the real job of a pastor should be.  It seems like pastors are overly involved in the business and social aspects of the church.  In some ways, many of them seem like leaders of a club.  This is quite different from the early church model.  In Acts chapter 6, the apostles appointed deacons to handle church business.  As it states in Acts 6:4-"But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."  This is what the pastor's job is.  They are to handle the spiritual life of the congregation. I think the church in this country would be different if ministers were more focused on the word of God and preaching the word of God in depth.

Proofs Received

     I received the proofs today for the story I wrote about my Corgi Toby.  This fall the story will be in an anthology of dog stories.  I'm really looking forward to the book coming out.

Verse for the Day

     Genesis 1:1---"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

The Little Books---Philemon

     We've finally made it to the last of the little books we've been studying.  Philemon is a letter written by the apostle Paul to a man named Philemon.  Philemon's slave Onesimus had escaped and become acquainted with Paul.  Apparently, Philemon was already a Christian and while with Paul, Onesimus became a Christian. In this letter, Paul asks Philemon to receive Onesimus when he returns as a brother and not as a slave.
     One great truth from this book is Paul's request that if Onesimus owes anything to Philemon it should be charged to Paul.  This models the idea that our sins were placed upon Jesus. He took our sin debt and wiped it clean  through His death and resurrection.---- Now that the little books are complete, I think that I'm going to look at some of my favorite parables of Jesus.

Travels to the Edge

    I watched a great show last night called Art Wolfe Travels to the Edge.  Art was in India photographing Tigers.  He always has interesting shows and visits cool places.

Jude--Conclusion

     Jude concludes his letter with a beautiful benediction that is often used at the close of church services.  It's all about Jesus.  Only He can keep us and only He can present us sinless and spotless clothed in His righteousness to the Father.  All the praise belongs to Jesus. ----We have one more little book to go.  Philemon will start soon.

Heat

     It's been way too hot too soon this last week. When the weather gets like this, I wonder why I live where I live.  Thank God for air conditioning

Jude--Part 9

     As Jude comes to the end of his epistle, he urges the believer to remain built up in the faith through prayer.  Without our connection to heaven, and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, how can we remain strong? 
     Jude also urges us to remain in God's love and to, in compassion, spread Jesus' saving love to others.  We know the greatness of the love of Jesus.  Let's tell other people that Jesus loves them and wants to have a relationship with them.
     In verse 23, Jude urges us to live a life of holiness.  We separate ourselves unto the Lord, hating sin and following the commandments of Jesus Christ.

A Sad Day

     June 5 is one of the saddest days of my life.  On this date, fifteen years ago, my best friend Toby passed away.  I think I miss him more as time goes by, if that's possible.  I'm really glad that part of our story together is set to be published late this year.  I know that we will be together again one day.

Thomas O'Malley

     I've had mostly dogs in my life, but I did have a cat I especially liked. He was a gray and white cat named Thomas O'Malley.  He liked all of the dogs and they all got along with him.  In fact, Thomas and the pugs used to sleep in a big clump pushed up right next together.
     Thomas was a master hunter. The pursuit of rabbits was his speciality.
     We had Thomas for many years, but I don't know whatever happened to him. One day he just didn't come home. I haven't had a cat since.

Heaven

      I've been thinking a lot about Heaven lately.  All of my family are there, and I look forward to us all being together again.  Come quickly Lord Jesus.  There is a great book about Heaven written by Randy Alcorn that I recommend. It's the most comprehensive look at the subject I've come across.  Although not about Heaven in particular, John Wesley's sermon "The General Deliverance" is a good message about the redemption of all things in Christ. 

Jude--Part 8

     At this particular time, I find Jude verse 18 particularly interesting. Jude says "there will be mockers in the last time". 
     Let me state right off that date setting about the end of the world is clearly contradicted by the words of Jesus.  However, I was alarmed at the level of mockery, even by Christians at the general idea that the world will end one day.
     The second coming of Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith.  As the Apostle's Creed says, Jesus will come to judge the quick and the dead.  That is why I find it so amazing that even Christians heap scorn on the idea that this world will end and the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth.
     Read the Bible.  Find out what it really means to be a Christian.  Don't set dates and don't follow those who do.  But, please don't mock the idea that Jesus will come again and make all things new.