I am sorry that I am late getting the sermon posted today, but it has been a terrible morning. It's been raining all week, and my crawlspace under my house and my garage got water in them this morning. I dealt with that, and then my friend's motor blew out in his car. I had to help him with that.
I hope that everyone who reads the blog had a chance to read the book review that I posted on Wednesday. I plan to post a review of an animal book each Wednesday for the next few weeks.
I'd like to ask everyone to pray for the people in my area who have been affected by the flooding. Please pray that the rainfall in this area will stop for awhile. Also, please continue to pray for those who were affected by the tornadoes. This last week, one of the the little towns in Kansas where my uncle Allan once served as pastor was hit by a tornado. This little town of 150 people needs prayer.
In our last message, we focused on Jesus' teaching commonly referred to as the Golden Rule. We saw that we should treat others in the same way that we want to be treated. Our example in the way that we should act in every situation in life is the Lord Jesus.
Today, we turn our attention to Jesus' teaching about two gates and two ways. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it."
These verses contain some of the most controversial statements that Jesus made.
Jesus taught that the human race has a choice of paths to follow in this life. We can follow a narrow path that leads to life or a path that leads to death.
Everyone who is born is born on the road that leads to death and destruction. Every person is born a sinner. The only human being who never sinned was Jesus. All of the rest of us are sinners. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. The gate that leads to the way of destruction is birth. We are born in sin.
The vast majority of people will continue on the road to destruction away from God and His will as a result of their own choice. According to Scripture, humanity is at enmity with God. As Isaiah says, "We have turned everyone to his own way."
Most people give little thought to God and His Word. People want to do their own thing, and they don't want to follow God. The Bible says that people live in darkness, and they do not want to be exposed to the light.
Thanks be to God, the Lord is loving and gracious. He did not want to leave the human race without help living their lives as they headed down the road to destruction. God sent His Son to this earth to live a holy and sinless life. Because Jesus was sinless, He could be the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross. Jesus was buried. He then rose again from the dead overcoming death and Hell.
People now have the choice whether to continue on the path of sin and death or choosing a new path that leads to forgiveness, life and a relationship with the Father through His Son.
Jesus is the door. Jesus is the gate to the narrow path that leads to life. To enter into this path, a person needs to realize the he is a sinner. He must confess his sin and ask Jesus to forgive him. He must believe that Jesus was God and man and died for his sins. He must believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave, and he must then accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.
If a person makes this choice by the grace of the Lord, that person is on the narrow path that leads to life. He is transported from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Now here's where the controversy comes in. Jesus said that He was the only way of salvation. No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
Jesus said that only a few people would be willing to accept Him. Jesus said that most people will remain on the path that leads to destruction.
People don't like to hear that there is only one way. Many find it offensive. They want to say that Jesus is one path to God but not the only path. They want to believe that everyone is on a path to God whatever that path might be.
This is not the teaching of Scripture. This is not the teaching of Jesus.
If you want to be sure that you are on the path to eternal life, if you want forgiveness of sin, then you must give your life to Jesus Christ. No other religion or religious teacher has the power to redeem you from sin. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ.
Anyone can come to Jesus. You can receive Jesus today by asking Him to be your Savior and Lord. I hope that you will give your life to Jesus today.
For those of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is our responsibility to share the gospel with the world. As Jesus said, the fields are white unto harvest. Many need to hear about the life changing love of Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with the Sermon on the Mount. I will probably wrap up this series in the next two to three weeks. Then, Lord willing, I am going to do a brief series on Nahum. This Wednesday I will post another review. May God bless you. Amen.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Book Review
Today I am starting a series of book reviews on some animal books that I have read recently. This week, I am reviewing the book "Paw Prints In the Moonlight" written by Denis O'Connor.
Denis O'Connor was a teacher living in Northumberland, England when one evening he saw an injured cat. He tracked the injured cat through the snow and found that she was staying in an old barn with her recently born kittens. The author rushed the cat and kittens to the vet, but the author was only able to rescue one of the kittens.
The book tells about how Mr. O'Connor cared for the kitten who he named Toby Jug. The book covers the first year that these two spent together living in their home at Owl Cottage. One of the best parts of the book details the outdoor adventure the two went on in the Cheviot Hills.
I highly recommend "Paw Prints In the Moonlight". This is one of the best cat books that I've read in a long time. These two really had a great relationship.
Denis O'Connor was a teacher living in Northumberland, England when one evening he saw an injured cat. He tracked the injured cat through the snow and found that she was staying in an old barn with her recently born kittens. The author rushed the cat and kittens to the vet, but the author was only able to rescue one of the kittens.
The book tells about how Mr. O'Connor cared for the kitten who he named Toby Jug. The book covers the first year that these two spent together living in their home at Owl Cottage. One of the best parts of the book details the outdoor adventure the two went on in the Cheviot Hills.
I highly recommend "Paw Prints In the Moonlight". This is one of the best cat books that I've read in a long time. These two really had a great relationship.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Weekend Sermon
Matthew 7:12
Welcome to another posting of the Weekend Sermon. I want to wish everyone who lives in the United States a happy Memorial Day Weekend. I would also like to thank the many people who gave their lives in defense of freedom.
I also want to give thanks to the Lord for meeting my needs this month. Each month it seems like there isn't going to be an answer. However, the Lord has provided. I am once again truly grateful.
Before we get into the sermon, I would ask those who read this blog to pray for the people of Oklahoma who suffered such great loss in the tornadoes. Let us pray for those who mourn, and pray that God will help the people to recover and that He will graciously meet their needs.
In last week's message, I emphasized the inportance of perserverance in prayer. When things look bad, we need to keep praying and asking the Lord to intervene on our behalf. The Lord wants to give us good things. We should always give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful things that He has done for us. Everything that is good comes from the Lord.
Today, I will focus on just one verse from Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
If people will follow the teaching that Jesus sets forth in this single verse, the world will be a much better place to live in. However, those who are not followers of Jesus cannot be expected to folow the commandments of the Lord. It is the duty of those who have place their lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ to live up to the commandments that Jesus has given to His followers. The problem is that Christians don't follow the command in this verse very well. That leads to Christianity having a bad name.
The teaching is simple yet powerful. We should treat people the way we want to be treated. This extends to every area of our lives.
In general everyday life, if we want to be treated with courtesy and respect, we should treat those who we meet during the day with courtesy and respect. If we don't want people to be angry and mean towards us, then we shouldn't be angry and mean towards others. If we want to be treated fairly, we should treat others fairly.
This command applies in the home. If we want others to show love to us, we should also show love to them. If we want others to share with us, we should share what God has given to us with others.
In other words, we should follow the example of Jesus in all aspects of our behavior. If we make it our purpose to follow Jesus and pattern our life and actions after His life and actions then we will always treat other people the way that we want to be treated.
Jesus is our ultimate example. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Jesus said that we would fulfill the Law and the Prophets by living up to the teaching of this verse. Jesus said the same things about the Great Commandment and the one like unto it. Jesus said that if we love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourself, we will fulfill the requirements of the Law.
A heart filled with the love of Jesus that pours out of us toward others in this world is what will allow us to fulfill the Golden Rule. We can only treat others the way that we want to be treated when the love of Jesus fills our hearts, and our lives are under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
There is one other thing that I would like to mention about Matthew 7:12. We aren't to treat others the way that they treat us. Some people will treat us in a mean way in this life. They will say things to hurt us and be generally unloving. This isn't an excuse for us to treat those who treat us badly in the same way.
When others treat us poorly, we are still as Jesus' followers to treat others with love. Jesus showed us this when He was even willing to forgive those who nailed Him to a cross.
If Christ's followers are people of genuine love, it will revolutionize the world because the Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love. If Christians will love others in imitation of the Savior, many people would come into a relationship with the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
Let us all strive to be like Jesus.
Next week we will continue in our study of the Sermon on the Mount beginning with Matthew 7:13. This is another controversial section of the Sermon on the Mount.
Last Wednesday was the final post on my book about my friend Toby. I hope that you all had a chance to read all of the chapters that I posted. I could not post two chapters because they were published in other publications.
I don't know what I am going to post on Wednesdays, but I am leaning to posting some book reviews of dog, cat and animal books that I've read recently.
I've decided that when the Sermon on the Mount series is finished that I am going to do a short series on the Old Testamant book of Nahum. May God bless you. Amen.
Welcome to another posting of the Weekend Sermon. I want to wish everyone who lives in the United States a happy Memorial Day Weekend. I would also like to thank the many people who gave their lives in defense of freedom.
I also want to give thanks to the Lord for meeting my needs this month. Each month it seems like there isn't going to be an answer. However, the Lord has provided. I am once again truly grateful.
Before we get into the sermon, I would ask those who read this blog to pray for the people of Oklahoma who suffered such great loss in the tornadoes. Let us pray for those who mourn, and pray that God will help the people to recover and that He will graciously meet their needs.
In last week's message, I emphasized the inportance of perserverance in prayer. When things look bad, we need to keep praying and asking the Lord to intervene on our behalf. The Lord wants to give us good things. We should always give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful things that He has done for us. Everything that is good comes from the Lord.
Today, I will focus on just one verse from Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
If people will follow the teaching that Jesus sets forth in this single verse, the world will be a much better place to live in. However, those who are not followers of Jesus cannot be expected to folow the commandments of the Lord. It is the duty of those who have place their lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ to live up to the commandments that Jesus has given to His followers. The problem is that Christians don't follow the command in this verse very well. That leads to Christianity having a bad name.
The teaching is simple yet powerful. We should treat people the way we want to be treated. This extends to every area of our lives.
In general everyday life, if we want to be treated with courtesy and respect, we should treat those who we meet during the day with courtesy and respect. If we don't want people to be angry and mean towards us, then we shouldn't be angry and mean towards others. If we want to be treated fairly, we should treat others fairly.
This command applies in the home. If we want others to show love to us, we should also show love to them. If we want others to share with us, we should share what God has given to us with others.
In other words, we should follow the example of Jesus in all aspects of our behavior. If we make it our purpose to follow Jesus and pattern our life and actions after His life and actions then we will always treat other people the way that we want to be treated.
Jesus is our ultimate example. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Jesus said that we would fulfill the Law and the Prophets by living up to the teaching of this verse. Jesus said the same things about the Great Commandment and the one like unto it. Jesus said that if we love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourself, we will fulfill the requirements of the Law.
A heart filled with the love of Jesus that pours out of us toward others in this world is what will allow us to fulfill the Golden Rule. We can only treat others the way that we want to be treated when the love of Jesus fills our hearts, and our lives are under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
There is one other thing that I would like to mention about Matthew 7:12. We aren't to treat others the way that they treat us. Some people will treat us in a mean way in this life. They will say things to hurt us and be generally unloving. This isn't an excuse for us to treat those who treat us badly in the same way.
When others treat us poorly, we are still as Jesus' followers to treat others with love. Jesus showed us this when He was even willing to forgive those who nailed Him to a cross.
If Christ's followers are people of genuine love, it will revolutionize the world because the Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love. If Christians will love others in imitation of the Savior, many people would come into a relationship with the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
Let us all strive to be like Jesus.
Next week we will continue in our study of the Sermon on the Mount beginning with Matthew 7:13. This is another controversial section of the Sermon on the Mount.
Last Wednesday was the final post on my book about my friend Toby. I hope that you all had a chance to read all of the chapters that I posted. I could not post two chapters because they were published in other publications.
I don't know what I am going to post on Wednesdays, but I am leaning to posting some book reviews of dog, cat and animal books that I've read recently.
I've decided that when the Sermon on the Mount series is finished that I am going to do a short series on the Old Testamant book of Nahum. May God bless you. Amen.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Toby Book
Here is the final chapter in my book about Toby.
Chapter 16
After I graduated from college, Toby and I began what for us would be an event filled eighteen months. The summer after I graduated, Toby and I went out to Saint Louis for vacation. It wasn't a very long trip, but we had a lot of fun. We visited the Winston Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri on our way home. We got to walk around sections of the old Berlin Wall that are on display outside the museum. That summer was a time of just relaxing and enjoying the days. Dad and I did quite a bit of fishing, and sometimes Toby came along with us. Once when we were out together, we saw a huge flock of wild turkeys.
That fall, I decided to go to graduate school and get my master's degree is history. It was over an hours drive to get to the college, and I didn't like the professors at all. I was doing fine, and it was just about the end of the semester. I knew that I wasn't going to go back after Christmas. However, I had to quit before the end of the semester because I was injured in a car accident. An almost 90 year old woman hit my car and another car. She totaled the other driver's Mercedes Benz. She was not hurt in the accident.
I recovered pretty quickly. While I was still going to graduate school, I'd been spending my free time working on writing. I'd written a few poems and sent them in for publication. I was quite surprised when a few of these initial efforts were actually published in some small journals. I decided that I was going to give writing a try for at least a little while.
Being at home and working on my writing during the day was just like being back in home school again. It was great. Toby never left my side when I was working on my writing. When I was at my desk working on the computer, he would lay at the foot of the bed. We had fun setting up that computer together. As I was trying to get everything out of the box, Toby kept pushing boxes and bags around the room with his nose.
In order to improve as a writer, I enrolled in an off campus writing program with the University of Wisconsin. With writing, investing and studying I stayed very busy. But I was never too busy for my old friend. Toby was getting old. That year when I started writing, he turned twelve. Our walks became shorter. I really had to make sure that he stayed cool, because Toby never could stand much heat, and that became more pronounced as he got older. We still played hide and seek. Toby actually would chase the ball a little as he got older, but he never was much of a ball dog.
Our favorite activity was sitting out on the patio and having dinner together. I used to like to cook steaks out on the grill. It was always nice having a family meal together. We'd sit out on the patio just about every night until the mosquitoes started in.
About two days after Toby's twelfth birthday, our time of joy came to an abrupt end. Toby became extremely sick. For the past year, he had been in what for Toby was good health. But, one afternoon he just started vomiting uncontrollably. I called our regular veterinarian, but he was out of town, and he didn't have anyone handling emergencies. I called my back up vet, and he was out of town as well. I decided to call the vet in a town north of us, and they had an appointment available right away. She examined Toby, but she really didn't know what was wrong with him. She gave him some medicine to see if he would improve. Toby did improve a little, but he still wasn't right.
I got Toby an appointment with our regular vet as soon as he was back. He discovered Toby's problem right away. Toby had a large tumor in his abdomen.
My vet got Toby an appointment that same day with a cancer specialist. I feared the worst. The cancer specialist ran some scans, and he seemed optimistic. He felt that Toby's tumor was operable, and we scheduled the surgery for the next morning.
I really started to pray that night. I was so nervous. I was just about a basket case. I don't think I slept a wink which just kept Toby up, and he needed his rest. I took him into the surgeons that morning. The way that Toby looked at me when I handed his leash to the surgeon is a look I will never forget. His eyes looked at me like I was abandoning him and he couldn't understand why. It was horrible. I felt horrible. I prayed all morning and into the afternoon. Finally, I got a call from the surgeon. The tumor was malignant, but he thought that he got it all out.
Toby was supposed to stay at the hospital for three days after the surgery, but they called me the next afternoon and wanted me to take him home. They said that he was sad and depressed and they didn't think that he could stand being without me anymore. He was also trying to bite everyone who was trying to help him. He wanted his friend and was tired of everyone else.
When I came to pick him up Toby was so relieved. He let out a great big sigh of happiness.
The next day I received the bad news. Toby's cancer was so malignant that it had metastasized. They only gave Toby 6 weeks to live even with chemotherapy.
I decided to pray and ask Jesus to help Toby. I would not have any chemo for him. What would be would be.
Six weeks came, and Toby was acting like he was in the prime of life. He was jumping around and acting like a young pup again. I kept writing and getting things published. Every day Toby and I would play and just try to enjoy being together because each day that we could be together was a gift from Jesus.
Each month I took Toby into the vet's for a check, and he got a clean bill of health. His stomach improved and he wasn't really having many health problems. He just kept on going.
We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas. The two of us ate so much at Thanksgiving we had to lay down the rest of the day for fear that we might explode. Christmas at the house was always a fun time. Toby liked to push the branches over to me while I put the tree up. His favorite part of Christmas was playing in the wrapping paper.
We celebrated Toby's 13th birthday. He was still going strong. I was still giving the glory to God. But nothing lasts forever. Toward the beginning of June, Toby went down hill fast. His lungs started filling up with fluid and all of his blood tests were terrible. This time I knew it was the end.
Toby died on June 5. He lived 13 and a half months after his surgery.
Toby was the best friend that I have ever had. He came to me at one of the lowest points in my life, and he made me fell like someone loved me for who I was and not for what they wanted me to be. Toby has been gone for several years and I still miss him every single day. I know that he is in Heaven with my Mom and Dad. I look forward to a family reunion some day. I am thankful to Jesus that I found Toby on that cold day in January all those years ago. I love you Toby.
Chapter 16
After I graduated from college, Toby and I began what for us would be an event filled eighteen months. The summer after I graduated, Toby and I went out to Saint Louis for vacation. It wasn't a very long trip, but we had a lot of fun. We visited the Winston Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri on our way home. We got to walk around sections of the old Berlin Wall that are on display outside the museum. That summer was a time of just relaxing and enjoying the days. Dad and I did quite a bit of fishing, and sometimes Toby came along with us. Once when we were out together, we saw a huge flock of wild turkeys.
That fall, I decided to go to graduate school and get my master's degree is history. It was over an hours drive to get to the college, and I didn't like the professors at all. I was doing fine, and it was just about the end of the semester. I knew that I wasn't going to go back after Christmas. However, I had to quit before the end of the semester because I was injured in a car accident. An almost 90 year old woman hit my car and another car. She totaled the other driver's Mercedes Benz. She was not hurt in the accident.
I recovered pretty quickly. While I was still going to graduate school, I'd been spending my free time working on writing. I'd written a few poems and sent them in for publication. I was quite surprised when a few of these initial efforts were actually published in some small journals. I decided that I was going to give writing a try for at least a little while.
Being at home and working on my writing during the day was just like being back in home school again. It was great. Toby never left my side when I was working on my writing. When I was at my desk working on the computer, he would lay at the foot of the bed. We had fun setting up that computer together. As I was trying to get everything out of the box, Toby kept pushing boxes and bags around the room with his nose.
In order to improve as a writer, I enrolled in an off campus writing program with the University of Wisconsin. With writing, investing and studying I stayed very busy. But I was never too busy for my old friend. Toby was getting old. That year when I started writing, he turned twelve. Our walks became shorter. I really had to make sure that he stayed cool, because Toby never could stand much heat, and that became more pronounced as he got older. We still played hide and seek. Toby actually would chase the ball a little as he got older, but he never was much of a ball dog.
Our favorite activity was sitting out on the patio and having dinner together. I used to like to cook steaks out on the grill. It was always nice having a family meal together. We'd sit out on the patio just about every night until the mosquitoes started in.
About two days after Toby's twelfth birthday, our time of joy came to an abrupt end. Toby became extremely sick. For the past year, he had been in what for Toby was good health. But, one afternoon he just started vomiting uncontrollably. I called our regular veterinarian, but he was out of town, and he didn't have anyone handling emergencies. I called my back up vet, and he was out of town as well. I decided to call the vet in a town north of us, and they had an appointment available right away. She examined Toby, but she really didn't know what was wrong with him. She gave him some medicine to see if he would improve. Toby did improve a little, but he still wasn't right.
I got Toby an appointment with our regular vet as soon as he was back. He discovered Toby's problem right away. Toby had a large tumor in his abdomen.
My vet got Toby an appointment that same day with a cancer specialist. I feared the worst. The cancer specialist ran some scans, and he seemed optimistic. He felt that Toby's tumor was operable, and we scheduled the surgery for the next morning.
I really started to pray that night. I was so nervous. I was just about a basket case. I don't think I slept a wink which just kept Toby up, and he needed his rest. I took him into the surgeons that morning. The way that Toby looked at me when I handed his leash to the surgeon is a look I will never forget. His eyes looked at me like I was abandoning him and he couldn't understand why. It was horrible. I felt horrible. I prayed all morning and into the afternoon. Finally, I got a call from the surgeon. The tumor was malignant, but he thought that he got it all out.
Toby was supposed to stay at the hospital for three days after the surgery, but they called me the next afternoon and wanted me to take him home. They said that he was sad and depressed and they didn't think that he could stand being without me anymore. He was also trying to bite everyone who was trying to help him. He wanted his friend and was tired of everyone else.
When I came to pick him up Toby was so relieved. He let out a great big sigh of happiness.
The next day I received the bad news. Toby's cancer was so malignant that it had metastasized. They only gave Toby 6 weeks to live even with chemotherapy.
I decided to pray and ask Jesus to help Toby. I would not have any chemo for him. What would be would be.
Six weeks came, and Toby was acting like he was in the prime of life. He was jumping around and acting like a young pup again. I kept writing and getting things published. Every day Toby and I would play and just try to enjoy being together because each day that we could be together was a gift from Jesus.
Each month I took Toby into the vet's for a check, and he got a clean bill of health. His stomach improved and he wasn't really having many health problems. He just kept on going.
We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas. The two of us ate so much at Thanksgiving we had to lay down the rest of the day for fear that we might explode. Christmas at the house was always a fun time. Toby liked to push the branches over to me while I put the tree up. His favorite part of Christmas was playing in the wrapping paper.
We celebrated Toby's 13th birthday. He was still going strong. I was still giving the glory to God. But nothing lasts forever. Toward the beginning of June, Toby went down hill fast. His lungs started filling up with fluid and all of his blood tests were terrible. This time I knew it was the end.
Toby died on June 5. He lived 13 and a half months after his surgery.
Toby was the best friend that I have ever had. He came to me at one of the lowest points in my life, and he made me fell like someone loved me for who I was and not for what they wanted me to be. Toby has been gone for several years and I still miss him every single day. I know that he is in Heaven with my Mom and Dad. I look forward to a family reunion some day. I am thankful to Jesus that I found Toby on that cold day in January all those years ago. I love you Toby.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Weekend Sermon
I'm sorry I was delayed by one day in posting the Weekend Sermon. I have not been feeling well the last couple of days. I was mowing the lawn on Thursday, and I got too hot and almost passed out. I am feeling better now.
I hope that everyone has a very good week. I would like to ask everyone to pray for those who were hurt by the tornadoes in Texas this past week. Living here in the Midwest, I always dread tornado season. We are supposed to have a bad severe weather outbreak here on Sunday night and maybe Monday. I am praying that the whole thing fizzles out.
In last week's message, we finished our discussion about what Jesus meant and what He did not mean when He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." We then moved on to focus briefly on perseverance in the Christian faith. We need to keep going for Jesus even in the hardship of life. Jesus is with us and will help us on our journey of life and faith if we put all of our faith and trust in Him.
Now, let us continue with the words Jesus set out in Matthew 7:7 when He said, "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you."
In this verse, Jesus is encouraging His followers to be people of prayer. Prayer is a vital element in our walk with the Lord Jesus. It s the way we communicate with the Lord and it is one of the ways Jesus uses to communicate with us.
Jesus is also telling us in this verse that we should always pray and not lose heart when things don't look like they are going our way.
I wrote several sermons on Jesus' teachings on prayer a few months ago. If anyone wants to know about his subject in more detail, you can look up the blog titles with Jesus teachings on prayer in them. I think that I did six or seven messages on this subject.
One of the messages concerned the idea of perseverance in prayer based on Matthew 18. We should keep praying and asking the Lord to help us and intervene on our behalf even if all seems lost.
I really know in my heart what Jesus is speaking about here. I've prayed for a long time for the Lord to help me out of my financial difficulties. Right now, things are looking about as bleak as they ever have. However, I am not giving up. I am going to keep praying for deliverance because I know that Jesus loves me. Our Father in Heaven want to give good things to us.
Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7: 8-11. Jesus points out that when a son asks his father for a piece of bread, the father doesn't give the kid a stone. If the child asks for a fish to eat , the father doesn't give the child a snake. As Jesus says in verse 11, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in Heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?"
God our Father is better than mere mortals. If we give good things to our children who ask us, how much more will the Father in Heaven respond when we ask Him for good things.
I am believing in good things from the Lord. I want to keep believing and not give up. And that is what I am going to do in the coming days. I know that as I've said, God's ways aren't our ways. Sometimes, the answers to or prayers won't come until we are with the Lord. That is the ultimate gift the Father can give to us His children. Nevertheless, whatever God's will is for my life, I must continue to pray, ask and believe, always try to do my best to serve Jesus, live a holy life and spread the message of Jesus' love.
If you are facing a problem in your life, do not give up. Keep believing in the Lord. Keep putting your faith in His supreme goodness to work out everything in your life according to his gracious will.
I've mentioned this before, but on the occasion of this teaching it is appropriate to mention again. I've seen some real answers to prayer that were a long time coming.
When I was about thirty-two years old, I developed a skin condition called vitiligo. Nothing that the doctors did helped whatsoever. I prayed for 18 months asking the Lord to heal me. Nothing happened for the longest time. I kept praying, and about six months later, I was completely healed.
When Toby was with me, he had a very bad chronic skin problem caused by the medicine he had to take everyday for his colon. I prayed for three years before God healed Toby. After the Lord healed him, Toby never had this problem again.
In a church I used to speak at, we often prayed for peace in war torn places in the world. For some places, it took years of praying for peace to come.
What I am trying to say is keep praying, and don't give up. The answer to your need in life may be just around the corner. Just remember that everything that is good comes from on loving Heavenly Father who gave His Son the Lord Jesus to die for us, rise again for us, and one day Jesus will come again for us.
Next week, Lord willing, we will focus on the golden rule. I will post another chapter of the book about Toby on Wednesday. May God bless you . Amen.
I hope that everyone has a very good week. I would like to ask everyone to pray for those who were hurt by the tornadoes in Texas this past week. Living here in the Midwest, I always dread tornado season. We are supposed to have a bad severe weather outbreak here on Sunday night and maybe Monday. I am praying that the whole thing fizzles out.
In last week's message, we finished our discussion about what Jesus meant and what He did not mean when He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." We then moved on to focus briefly on perseverance in the Christian faith. We need to keep going for Jesus even in the hardship of life. Jesus is with us and will help us on our journey of life and faith if we put all of our faith and trust in Him.
Now, let us continue with the words Jesus set out in Matthew 7:7 when He said, "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you."
In this verse, Jesus is encouraging His followers to be people of prayer. Prayer is a vital element in our walk with the Lord Jesus. It s the way we communicate with the Lord and it is one of the ways Jesus uses to communicate with us.
Jesus is also telling us in this verse that we should always pray and not lose heart when things don't look like they are going our way.
I wrote several sermons on Jesus' teachings on prayer a few months ago. If anyone wants to know about his subject in more detail, you can look up the blog titles with Jesus teachings on prayer in them. I think that I did six or seven messages on this subject.
One of the messages concerned the idea of perseverance in prayer based on Matthew 18. We should keep praying and asking the Lord to help us and intervene on our behalf even if all seems lost.
I really know in my heart what Jesus is speaking about here. I've prayed for a long time for the Lord to help me out of my financial difficulties. Right now, things are looking about as bleak as they ever have. However, I am not giving up. I am going to keep praying for deliverance because I know that Jesus loves me. Our Father in Heaven want to give good things to us.
Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7: 8-11. Jesus points out that when a son asks his father for a piece of bread, the father doesn't give the kid a stone. If the child asks for a fish to eat , the father doesn't give the child a snake. As Jesus says in verse 11, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in Heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?"
God our Father is better than mere mortals. If we give good things to our children who ask us, how much more will the Father in Heaven respond when we ask Him for good things.
I am believing in good things from the Lord. I want to keep believing and not give up. And that is what I am going to do in the coming days. I know that as I've said, God's ways aren't our ways. Sometimes, the answers to or prayers won't come until we are with the Lord. That is the ultimate gift the Father can give to us His children. Nevertheless, whatever God's will is for my life, I must continue to pray, ask and believe, always try to do my best to serve Jesus, live a holy life and spread the message of Jesus' love.
If you are facing a problem in your life, do not give up. Keep believing in the Lord. Keep putting your faith in His supreme goodness to work out everything in your life according to his gracious will.
I've mentioned this before, but on the occasion of this teaching it is appropriate to mention again. I've seen some real answers to prayer that were a long time coming.
When I was about thirty-two years old, I developed a skin condition called vitiligo. Nothing that the doctors did helped whatsoever. I prayed for 18 months asking the Lord to heal me. Nothing happened for the longest time. I kept praying, and about six months later, I was completely healed.
When Toby was with me, he had a very bad chronic skin problem caused by the medicine he had to take everyday for his colon. I prayed for three years before God healed Toby. After the Lord healed him, Toby never had this problem again.
In a church I used to speak at, we often prayed for peace in war torn places in the world. For some places, it took years of praying for peace to come.
What I am trying to say is keep praying, and don't give up. The answer to your need in life may be just around the corner. Just remember that everything that is good comes from on loving Heavenly Father who gave His Son the Lord Jesus to die for us, rise again for us, and one day Jesus will come again for us.
Next week, Lord willing, we will focus on the golden rule. I will post another chapter of the book about Toby on Wednesday. May God bless you . Amen.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Toby Book
Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 14
Toby didn't really like anyone but me. He wasn't unfriendly, and he wasn't mean. My uncle always referred to Toby as a tranquil beast. Toby just didn't care what anyone did as long as I was there, and he wanted to keep me safe. That was his number one priority. He never displayed any aggression toward anyone who didn't deserve it. Except for one group of people. He didn't like 99.9 percent of preachers.
The first time that I noticed this was when the minister from our family's church came out for one of his regular visits. The minute he came into the house, Toby never took his eyes off of him. Toby actually growled at him, and Toby never did that when people came over even if he didn't like them. Something was up.
I didn't think too much about all of this until the pastor was over at the house a few weeks later. Toby growled at him again. All of the hair on his back was standing up, and he was getting angry. I went with Toby outside so the old boy could cool off.
Later, I figured out why Toby didn't like the man. This man would in the next few weeks lie about me and get me fired from a job so that his wife could get the job. Toby had this character figured out way ahead of time.
My family stopped going to that church after many years, and began attending another of the very legalistic churches that my parents seemed drawn to. This new minister came over, and Toby was once again extremely agitated. What really set Toby off was when the new minister asked me if I could remember the exact time in my life that I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I do not know why, but Toby started barking and barking and barking at this man after he said that. I had to take him out in the kitchen.
It wasn't too long before I realized that Toby had this man figured out too. In a sermon, this minister said that he had a dog once that he didn't like so he shot and killed it. Toby had the dog hater spotted.
Finally, Toby met the pastor that he disliked most of all. He disliked this man so much and became so mad that he almost had a stroke. This happened when I was gone, so this is what my parents told me. As I mentioned before, I was born with an inherited immune system problem. Since my health was bad, I was still living at home. This pastor had the nerve to tell my folks that they should kick me out of the house because I shouldn't be living there anymore. He had no idea about my health, and my Dad proceeded to inform him about it, and that where I lived was none of his business. My Mom said that when the pastor said this that Toby got so angry that my Dad told the pastor and the elder that was with him to leave. This whole incident just made my Dad fed up. He left that denomination my family had been in since I was born and he never went back again.
This reminds me of what happened with my Grandpa and my uncle. My uncle was a Methodist minister. My Grandpa had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. My Grandpa and Grandma went to the same kind of church that my parents did. Their minister was visiting my Grandpa in the hospital when my uncle the minister came for a visit. My Grandparents pastor laid into my uncle when he found out that my uncle was a Methodist pastor. He said that Methodist where all liberals and were going to hell for preaching a social gospel. This made my Grandpa very upset. He told the pastor to leave his hospital room and never come back. My Grandparents had been members of that church for years, and after that they never went back.
About that time, I'd had enough of organized religion. The folks started going to a little church up the road from our house. I just stayed at home with Toby on Sundays and the two of us just had fun together.
About one year later, my Dad had to have surgery on his foot and was laid up for about one month. During that time, the pastor of the little church came to the house twice a week to visit my Dad and try to help him any way that he could.
When this pastor first came over to the house, I thought that Toby wouldn't like him since all of the other pastors he couldn't stand. But Toby liked this man. Since this pastor was so nice, I decided to go back to church, and I really enjoyed it. I began to learn about the real Jesus and about how much He loves me.
I knew that Toby didn't really have anything against religion. All this time, I was studying in Bible College and he certainly didn't hate me. He picked up on the fact that either they didn't like me or that they didn't like dogs. Its terrible when people who are Christians don't like animals. How can you love the creator and despise His creation?
Chapter 14
Toby didn't really like anyone but me. He wasn't unfriendly, and he wasn't mean. My uncle always referred to Toby as a tranquil beast. Toby just didn't care what anyone did as long as I was there, and he wanted to keep me safe. That was his number one priority. He never displayed any aggression toward anyone who didn't deserve it. Except for one group of people. He didn't like 99.9 percent of preachers.
The first time that I noticed this was when the minister from our family's church came out for one of his regular visits. The minute he came into the house, Toby never took his eyes off of him. Toby actually growled at him, and Toby never did that when people came over even if he didn't like them. Something was up.
I didn't think too much about all of this until the pastor was over at the house a few weeks later. Toby growled at him again. All of the hair on his back was standing up, and he was getting angry. I went with Toby outside so the old boy could cool off.
Later, I figured out why Toby didn't like the man. This man would in the next few weeks lie about me and get me fired from a job so that his wife could get the job. Toby had this character figured out way ahead of time.
My family stopped going to that church after many years, and began attending another of the very legalistic churches that my parents seemed drawn to. This new minister came over, and Toby was once again extremely agitated. What really set Toby off was when the new minister asked me if I could remember the exact time in my life that I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I do not know why, but Toby started barking and barking and barking at this man after he said that. I had to take him out in the kitchen.
It wasn't too long before I realized that Toby had this man figured out too. In a sermon, this minister said that he had a dog once that he didn't like so he shot and killed it. Toby had the dog hater spotted.
Finally, Toby met the pastor that he disliked most of all. He disliked this man so much and became so mad that he almost had a stroke. This happened when I was gone, so this is what my parents told me. As I mentioned before, I was born with an inherited immune system problem. Since my health was bad, I was still living at home. This pastor had the nerve to tell my folks that they should kick me out of the house because I shouldn't be living there anymore. He had no idea about my health, and my Dad proceeded to inform him about it, and that where I lived was none of his business. My Mom said that when the pastor said this that Toby got so angry that my Dad told the pastor and the elder that was with him to leave. This whole incident just made my Dad fed up. He left that denomination my family had been in since I was born and he never went back again.
This reminds me of what happened with my Grandpa and my uncle. My uncle was a Methodist minister. My Grandpa had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. My Grandpa and Grandma went to the same kind of church that my parents did. Their minister was visiting my Grandpa in the hospital when my uncle the minister came for a visit. My Grandparents pastor laid into my uncle when he found out that my uncle was a Methodist pastor. He said that Methodist where all liberals and were going to hell for preaching a social gospel. This made my Grandpa very upset. He told the pastor to leave his hospital room and never come back. My Grandparents had been members of that church for years, and after that they never went back.
About that time, I'd had enough of organized religion. The folks started going to a little church up the road from our house. I just stayed at home with Toby on Sundays and the two of us just had fun together.
About one year later, my Dad had to have surgery on his foot and was laid up for about one month. During that time, the pastor of the little church came to the house twice a week to visit my Dad and try to help him any way that he could.
When this pastor first came over to the house, I thought that Toby wouldn't like him since all of the other pastors he couldn't stand. But Toby liked this man. Since this pastor was so nice, I decided to go back to church, and I really enjoyed it. I began to learn about the real Jesus and about how much He loves me.
I knew that Toby didn't really have anything against religion. All this time, I was studying in Bible College and he certainly didn't hate me. He picked up on the fact that either they didn't like me or that they didn't like dogs. Its terrible when people who are Christians don't like animals. How can you love the creator and despise His creation?
Friday, May 10, 2013
Weekend Sermon--Sermon on the Mount
As always, I'm happy to be able to come to the time of the week for the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone had a great week. I thank the Lord that I had a good week of writing. I felt pretty good this week, too.
We have a ways to go yet before we finish up with our current series on the Sermon on the Mount, but I am thinking about what we should study after our current series is over. Right now, I'm considering three possibilities. I've thought of going verse by verse through I Peter, studying the first three chapters of Revelation or going into the Old Testament and studying the book of Malachi. If you have a preference, leave a comment.
Last week, we studied what Jesus meant and what He did not mean in His statement, "Judge not that ye be not judged." We learned that we shouldn't judge the state of someone's eternal destiny, and we shouldn't judge what a person's motives are behind a particular action. The reason is that we can only look on the outward appearance. All judgment has been given to Jesus by the Father. Jesus is able to make the right judgment because He knows what is in a person's heart.
We also talked about not making judgments on personal appearance spiritually and in general. I want to talk a little bit more about this this week.
Jesus' brother James in his epistle talks about how that it is wrong for Christians to show favoritism or judge based on the clothes someone is wearing or whether or not someone is rich or poor. A lot of this type of thing goes on in churches today. I know many people who don't want to go to church because the people look down on them because they are poorer than the rest of the people in the congregation. They feel that they are looked down upon. This isn't right. We are to be brothers and sisters in Christ and not have prejudice or pride in our hearts.
Religious people are often very judgmental on external things. This was one of the major problems that I faced as a young man in the churches my family attended. You had to fit their expectations based on externals, or you weren't a Christian. Just because a man has long hair or a woman wears slacks doesn't mean they aren't a Christian, but the church that I grew up in thought this way.
Many people often stereotype people. This isn't right either. I get tired of people judging me by the stereotype of what a writer is supposed to be. I've actually had trouble finding a job outside of the field of writing because I've worked as writer most of my adult life. People will say to me that writers don't really work, or they all have strange personalities, or they can't be part of a team.
One reason that I love Jesus so much is that He never did this sort of thing. The only people that Jesus every criticized were the religious leaders of His day who looked down on everybody else, judged everyone and tried to exclude people from the love of God.
OK. I've said my piece on that subject. Now, let us look at Chapter 7 verse 6 where Jesus says, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls to the swine, or they will trample them with their feet, turn and tear you to pieces."
I have to tell you a story about something that happened to me that relates to this verse. As most of you who read this blog know, I love animals, especially dogs. Once when Toby was very sick, I mentioned to the pastor of the church my family attended that I was praying that the Lord would heal my dog Toby. The pastor said that it was wrong for me to pray for a dog because Jesus said not to give what is holy to dogs. He was serious. You can see what I was up against. When I look back on stuff like this, I wonder how I stayed a Christian. I learned who Jesus really was, and that made the difference.
I think that what Jesus meant by this statement is that we are not to keep trying to convince skeptics, scoffers and critics of the Christian faith who simply want to take what we say and use it to further ridicule the things of God. Some comedians I've heard are extremely blasphemous of all that is holy. There is no point in arguing with people who want to blaspheme. The best thing to do is pray that the Lord will give them the grace of repentance, and leave it at that.
Now, starting with verse 7, Jesus begins another area of teaching. He speaks about perseverance and prayer. Jesus says in verse 7, " Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
I believe that Jesus' primary application of these statements concerns prayer. We will talk about this next week. However, I think that there is a general application for the spiritual life in this verse. The Christian life is a journey. It is a hard road. I think that life is just hard period. Sometimes I feel like I want to quit in life. Sometimes in my spiritual life I get discourage when I see people who don't believe in God with all the money they need and good health while I was born with so many health problems.
These words of Jesus inspire me to keep going in spite of hardship and problems. Jesus is with me, and He will see me through. I am surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12. I must keep believing in Jesus and His love. I must keep doing my best in life knowing that whatever I do I am doing it as unto the Lord.
Whatever problem you may be facing, don't quit. Trust in Jesus. Ask Him several times a day to help you. Read His words in the Gospels, and know that He loves you. That is what helps me.
Next week, Lord willing, we will keep going in the Sermon on the Mount. Wednesday, I will post another chapter in the book about Toby. May you known the love of Jesus. Amen.
We have a ways to go yet before we finish up with our current series on the Sermon on the Mount, but I am thinking about what we should study after our current series is over. Right now, I'm considering three possibilities. I've thought of going verse by verse through I Peter, studying the first three chapters of Revelation or going into the Old Testament and studying the book of Malachi. If you have a preference, leave a comment.
Last week, we studied what Jesus meant and what He did not mean in His statement, "Judge not that ye be not judged." We learned that we shouldn't judge the state of someone's eternal destiny, and we shouldn't judge what a person's motives are behind a particular action. The reason is that we can only look on the outward appearance. All judgment has been given to Jesus by the Father. Jesus is able to make the right judgment because He knows what is in a person's heart.
We also talked about not making judgments on personal appearance spiritually and in general. I want to talk a little bit more about this this week.
Jesus' brother James in his epistle talks about how that it is wrong for Christians to show favoritism or judge based on the clothes someone is wearing or whether or not someone is rich or poor. A lot of this type of thing goes on in churches today. I know many people who don't want to go to church because the people look down on them because they are poorer than the rest of the people in the congregation. They feel that they are looked down upon. This isn't right. We are to be brothers and sisters in Christ and not have prejudice or pride in our hearts.
Religious people are often very judgmental on external things. This was one of the major problems that I faced as a young man in the churches my family attended. You had to fit their expectations based on externals, or you weren't a Christian. Just because a man has long hair or a woman wears slacks doesn't mean they aren't a Christian, but the church that I grew up in thought this way.
Many people often stereotype people. This isn't right either. I get tired of people judging me by the stereotype of what a writer is supposed to be. I've actually had trouble finding a job outside of the field of writing because I've worked as writer most of my adult life. People will say to me that writers don't really work, or they all have strange personalities, or they can't be part of a team.
One reason that I love Jesus so much is that He never did this sort of thing. The only people that Jesus every criticized were the religious leaders of His day who looked down on everybody else, judged everyone and tried to exclude people from the love of God.
OK. I've said my piece on that subject. Now, let us look at Chapter 7 verse 6 where Jesus says, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls to the swine, or they will trample them with their feet, turn and tear you to pieces."
I have to tell you a story about something that happened to me that relates to this verse. As most of you who read this blog know, I love animals, especially dogs. Once when Toby was very sick, I mentioned to the pastor of the church my family attended that I was praying that the Lord would heal my dog Toby. The pastor said that it was wrong for me to pray for a dog because Jesus said not to give what is holy to dogs. He was serious. You can see what I was up against. When I look back on stuff like this, I wonder how I stayed a Christian. I learned who Jesus really was, and that made the difference.
I think that what Jesus meant by this statement is that we are not to keep trying to convince skeptics, scoffers and critics of the Christian faith who simply want to take what we say and use it to further ridicule the things of God. Some comedians I've heard are extremely blasphemous of all that is holy. There is no point in arguing with people who want to blaspheme. The best thing to do is pray that the Lord will give them the grace of repentance, and leave it at that.
Now, starting with verse 7, Jesus begins another area of teaching. He speaks about perseverance and prayer. Jesus says in verse 7, " Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
I believe that Jesus' primary application of these statements concerns prayer. We will talk about this next week. However, I think that there is a general application for the spiritual life in this verse. The Christian life is a journey. It is a hard road. I think that life is just hard period. Sometimes I feel like I want to quit in life. Sometimes in my spiritual life I get discourage when I see people who don't believe in God with all the money they need and good health while I was born with so many health problems.
These words of Jesus inspire me to keep going in spite of hardship and problems. Jesus is with me, and He will see me through. I am surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12. I must keep believing in Jesus and His love. I must keep doing my best in life knowing that whatever I do I am doing it as unto the Lord.
Whatever problem you may be facing, don't quit. Trust in Jesus. Ask Him several times a day to help you. Read His words in the Gospels, and know that He loves you. That is what helps me.
Next week, Lord willing, we will keep going in the Sermon on the Mount. Wednesday, I will post another chapter in the book about Toby. May you known the love of Jesus. Amen.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Toby Book
Here is the next section.
Chapter 13
Just after I turned seven, my folks decided to move out of the city. We moved about 20 miles south of the city where we lived to a small town of about 175 people. Mom was getting into taking dogs to dog shows, and she wanted to live where she could have more than the three dogs that were allowed in the city.
I've lived in rural areas ever since. Except for one brief interlude that Toby and I could not stand. It was not a pleasant experience.
When my folks moved to the country, they kept their jobs in town. My Mom worked for the same doctor from 1957 until she retired in 2000. After she moved, she had to commute 32 miles each way. Living out in the country made it hard to get to work sometimes because the county often didn't make it a priority to clean off the rural roads. She didn't have any trouble getting to work when it was just snowy, because she had an old International Scout four-wheel drive. My Dad never did have any trouble driving in bad weather.
One year, we had a series of terrible ice storms. We even lost power for an extended period. Mom was having a terrible time getting to work in the slick conditions. So, she decided to move back to town. I have to say that I don't understand what came over my Mother at this point. She decided to sell all of her show dogs. Everyone of them!! Including my Dad's rottweiler, Abraham. She even wanted me to sell Toby so that she had better choices of apartments and condominiums to move in to. I said no way. I told her that if she tried to pull that, I was gone. I was a senior in high school at this time. I would have left too if she would have pressed me.
She found an apartment in town to move into. Toby and I just about died. We absolutely could not stand that place. It was a nice apartment as far as apartments go, but it was just terrible with all of the noise and confinement. I could only take Toby out on the leash, and he hated it. Mom was happy because she was close to work.
Well, Toby and I decided to try and make the best of bad situation. I told him that we could endure until I was done with high school, and then we could escape.
Then came a bad night. I decided to take a walk with Toby down through the back part of the apartment complex that led in back of some businesses in the area. We were a few blocks away when a car with three men in it pulled up. They rolled down the window and started making vulgar statements at me. I ignored them, and then one of the men told me to get in the car. About two blocks down, another car pulled on to the road, and the men in the car drove off.
Well, Toby and I headed for somewhere safe. We took off fast. Unfortunately, this was the time before cellphones, so I couldn't call the police.
Before we got very far, these same guys came back round again. They stopped, and one of them got out of the car. This set Toby off. He started growling, and every hair on his back was on end. He ran to the end of the leash and started barking his head off. The man who got out of the car started laughing, but he didn't laugh long when Toby got loose from me. He took after them. The man jumped back in his car and they took off. Thank God, Toby came back when I called him, but he was mad. If I hadn't been with Toby, those guys would have jumped me.
We made it back to the apartment quick. The police never did catch the men.
We lived in the apartment for about seven weeks. My Dad finally put his foot down. He usually did whatever my Mom wanted to do, but he wasn't liking the apartment. We still had the house, and Dad wanted to move back. And we did. What a dreadful episode.
One good thing happened. The people who bought Abraham called us about one week after we moved back home. They said that Abraham was too much for them to handle, and wanted to know if Dad would take him back. He sure did.
I like living away from people. Unfortunately, my health may not let me live in the rural areas too long. As I get older, it gets harder to take care of everything. I don't know if I will be able to stand living in town. One thing I know, Toby saved the day. He was just a corgi, but he was fierce. He sounded mean when he growled.
Toby saved the day one other time. My Dad had trouble with his heart, so he retired when I was a freshman in college. On days when I got back early from class,(this is after I graduated from Bible college and was going to a different college and not going to school at home) Dad and I would sometimes go to the little town about seven miles to the south and have lunch at the buffet restaurant. We got back home, and I could hear Toby going crazy barking and growling inside the house.
I went inside, and Toby was barking and barking at my parents bedroom window. I went outside, and I discovered the source. While my Dad and I were away, someone had tried to break in. The screen on the window was cut, probably with a knife. I could see where the intruder had tried to force open the lock and get the window up. The thief must have thought better of it when he heard Toby. Toby sounded meaner than my Dad's rottweiler. The thief probably thought that there was a monster in the house and split. Once again, Toby kept me safe.
Chapter 13
Just after I turned seven, my folks decided to move out of the city. We moved about 20 miles south of the city where we lived to a small town of about 175 people. Mom was getting into taking dogs to dog shows, and she wanted to live where she could have more than the three dogs that were allowed in the city.
I've lived in rural areas ever since. Except for one brief interlude that Toby and I could not stand. It was not a pleasant experience.
When my folks moved to the country, they kept their jobs in town. My Mom worked for the same doctor from 1957 until she retired in 2000. After she moved, she had to commute 32 miles each way. Living out in the country made it hard to get to work sometimes because the county often didn't make it a priority to clean off the rural roads. She didn't have any trouble getting to work when it was just snowy, because she had an old International Scout four-wheel drive. My Dad never did have any trouble driving in bad weather.
One year, we had a series of terrible ice storms. We even lost power for an extended period. Mom was having a terrible time getting to work in the slick conditions. So, she decided to move back to town. I have to say that I don't understand what came over my Mother at this point. She decided to sell all of her show dogs. Everyone of them!! Including my Dad's rottweiler, Abraham. She even wanted me to sell Toby so that she had better choices of apartments and condominiums to move in to. I said no way. I told her that if she tried to pull that, I was gone. I was a senior in high school at this time. I would have left too if she would have pressed me.
She found an apartment in town to move into. Toby and I just about died. We absolutely could not stand that place. It was a nice apartment as far as apartments go, but it was just terrible with all of the noise and confinement. I could only take Toby out on the leash, and he hated it. Mom was happy because she was close to work.
Well, Toby and I decided to try and make the best of bad situation. I told him that we could endure until I was done with high school, and then we could escape.
Then came a bad night. I decided to take a walk with Toby down through the back part of the apartment complex that led in back of some businesses in the area. We were a few blocks away when a car with three men in it pulled up. They rolled down the window and started making vulgar statements at me. I ignored them, and then one of the men told me to get in the car. About two blocks down, another car pulled on to the road, and the men in the car drove off.
Well, Toby and I headed for somewhere safe. We took off fast. Unfortunately, this was the time before cellphones, so I couldn't call the police.
Before we got very far, these same guys came back round again. They stopped, and one of them got out of the car. This set Toby off. He started growling, and every hair on his back was on end. He ran to the end of the leash and started barking his head off. The man who got out of the car started laughing, but he didn't laugh long when Toby got loose from me. He took after them. The man jumped back in his car and they took off. Thank God, Toby came back when I called him, but he was mad. If I hadn't been with Toby, those guys would have jumped me.
We made it back to the apartment quick. The police never did catch the men.
We lived in the apartment for about seven weeks. My Dad finally put his foot down. He usually did whatever my Mom wanted to do, but he wasn't liking the apartment. We still had the house, and Dad wanted to move back. And we did. What a dreadful episode.
One good thing happened. The people who bought Abraham called us about one week after we moved back home. They said that Abraham was too much for them to handle, and wanted to know if Dad would take him back. He sure did.
I like living away from people. Unfortunately, my health may not let me live in the rural areas too long. As I get older, it gets harder to take care of everything. I don't know if I will be able to stand living in town. One thing I know, Toby saved the day. He was just a corgi, but he was fierce. He sounded mean when he growled.
Toby saved the day one other time. My Dad had trouble with his heart, so he retired when I was a freshman in college. On days when I got back early from class,(this is after I graduated from Bible college and was going to a different college and not going to school at home) Dad and I would sometimes go to the little town about seven miles to the south and have lunch at the buffet restaurant. We got back home, and I could hear Toby going crazy barking and growling inside the house.
I went inside, and Toby was barking and barking at my parents bedroom window. I went outside, and I discovered the source. While my Dad and I were away, someone had tried to break in. The screen on the window was cut, probably with a knife. I could see where the intruder had tried to force open the lock and get the window up. The thief must have thought better of it when he heard Toby. Toby sounded meaner than my Dad's rottweiler. The thief probably thought that there was a monster in the house and split. Once again, Toby kept me safe.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
An Important Day
Today is an important day. This is my friend Toby's birthday. He would be 30 today. I can't believe that he has been gone so long. Toby was the best friend that I ever had, and I still miss him every day. I've always said it, and I will say it again. Toby was the dog Jesus sent me to be my friend when things were really bad in my life. I am thankful to the Lord for such a great friend. We will be together again one day.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Weekend Sermon--Sermon on the Mount
Welcome to another Weekend Sermon. The weather here in the American Midwest just gets more and more weird as the year goes on. It was 81 degrees here on Wednesday. Yesterday, it snowed 2.5 inches. This is the first time it has snowed this late in the year in the history of the area.
I want to thank the Lord for providing me with enough money to pay the end of the month bills. I am truly thankful. I am also glad that there was a fairly decent jobs report this morning. Hopefully, I can find more work. Please keep praying for me.
Last week, we finished up the last section of Matthew chapter 6. We began our discussion of Jesus' teachings in chapter 7.
We saw that Jesus' statement about not judging is a well known passage of Scripture, but it is a very misunderstood verse.
We focused briefly on what Jesus was not teaching when He said, "Judge not that ye be not judged." for one thing, judge not does not mean that we are not to identify what is true and false teaching or sound versus false doctrine. Jesus Himself said that we should do this as did Jude, Peter, James and John.
We live in a day when many Christians do not want to talk about doctrine. However, beliefs matter. There is an orthodox system of belief. As a minister, it is my duty to preach and teach sound doctrine, and speak out when I know someone or some group is teaching what is contrary to the revealed will of God.
I also think that it is clear that Jesus did not mean that as Christians we aren't to identify that which is sin. This is another problem the Christian church is facing today. Pastors are hesitant to say what is right and wrong. This is the reason why the values of the church people and those in the world are almost identical.
When the church speaks up concerning what is right and what is wrong, that does not mean that we have to be nasty, call people names, discriminate against people or downgrade them.
So, what does Jesus mean by not judging? First of all, we are not to be hypocrites. Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7:2-5. Jesus says that we aren't to tell our brother to take the speck out of his eye when we have a log in our own eye. We are supposed to deal with the sin that we have in our own lives. Also, if we do go and point out something in someone's life, it should only be done in the way Jesus outlined in Matthew 18:15-20. We're not just supposed to go about heaping condemnation on everyone we know.
I also believe that when Jesus speaks about not judging He is speaking about our judging someone's eternal destiny. It is not our place to determine if someone is going to Heaven or not. Jesus said that all judgment had been given to Him by the Father. He is the only one qualified to make a judgment about what is in a person's heart. Jesus said that man looks on the outward, but that He looked at a person's heart. There is nothing I dislike more than when I hear someone say that another person is going to Hell. Let Jesus deal with that. Let us love others, and share Jesus' message of love.
We also should not judge another person's motives for doing an action. Once again, we can't tell what is in a person's heart. Someone may be doing great and good works, and we may think that they are great. But in their heart, their motivation may be their own exaltation. There are other people who really in their heart want to do what is right, but they fall short, and the outward appearance makes them look bad. Jesus knows the truth. He will judge.
There's one other area that is really important to me that I don't think Jesus wants us to judge. We are not to judge someone's walk with God based on outward appearance.
When I was a boy, the church I attended always judged others by externals. If a man had what they considered to be long hair, that must mean that they weren't really a Christian. That kind of stuff is ridiculous. Jesus had long hair and a beard. If He walked in some churches they would think that He was one of those people who were obviously lost.
We also should not judge people on their outward appearance in life in general. I know a lot of people see overweight people and immediately think that they are lazy or stupid. This isn't pleasing to the Lord. In my own circumstance, I have had people speak abusively to me that I don't look like I have problems with my legs so why don't I go and get one of the warehouse jobs in the area. They don't know that almost every night I am in excruciating pain in my legs from the limited amount of walking I do in a day. They have no idea what the truth is, they just want to come down on someone and run someone down. I am sick of all this kind of stuff.
Jesus fought against the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day for judging people based on externals. The religious leaders rejected the sick, the people with skin diseases, those who had unclean jobs, tax collectors and others they considered sinners including the very poor. These are the very people that Jesus accepted and loved. Always remember that no matter what someone says to you that is negative and hurtful, don't let it bring you down. Remember that you are very valuable to Jesus, and that He loves you very much.
Whenever we think about judging someone we should remember the old phrase, "There but for the grace of God go I."
There is more that I want to say about this, but I will leave it for next week. I will post another chapter of the book about Toby on Wednesday. Toby's birthday is Tuesday. I wish that we could still be together. Next week we will continue with our study in the Sermon on the Mount. May God bless you. Amen.
I want to thank the Lord for providing me with enough money to pay the end of the month bills. I am truly thankful. I am also glad that there was a fairly decent jobs report this morning. Hopefully, I can find more work. Please keep praying for me.
Last week, we finished up the last section of Matthew chapter 6. We began our discussion of Jesus' teachings in chapter 7.
We saw that Jesus' statement about not judging is a well known passage of Scripture, but it is a very misunderstood verse.
We focused briefly on what Jesus was not teaching when He said, "Judge not that ye be not judged." for one thing, judge not does not mean that we are not to identify what is true and false teaching or sound versus false doctrine. Jesus Himself said that we should do this as did Jude, Peter, James and John.
We live in a day when many Christians do not want to talk about doctrine. However, beliefs matter. There is an orthodox system of belief. As a minister, it is my duty to preach and teach sound doctrine, and speak out when I know someone or some group is teaching what is contrary to the revealed will of God.
I also think that it is clear that Jesus did not mean that as Christians we aren't to identify that which is sin. This is another problem the Christian church is facing today. Pastors are hesitant to say what is right and wrong. This is the reason why the values of the church people and those in the world are almost identical.
When the church speaks up concerning what is right and what is wrong, that does not mean that we have to be nasty, call people names, discriminate against people or downgrade them.
So, what does Jesus mean by not judging? First of all, we are not to be hypocrites. Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7:2-5. Jesus says that we aren't to tell our brother to take the speck out of his eye when we have a log in our own eye. We are supposed to deal with the sin that we have in our own lives. Also, if we do go and point out something in someone's life, it should only be done in the way Jesus outlined in Matthew 18:15-20. We're not just supposed to go about heaping condemnation on everyone we know.
I also believe that when Jesus speaks about not judging He is speaking about our judging someone's eternal destiny. It is not our place to determine if someone is going to Heaven or not. Jesus said that all judgment had been given to Him by the Father. He is the only one qualified to make a judgment about what is in a person's heart. Jesus said that man looks on the outward, but that He looked at a person's heart. There is nothing I dislike more than when I hear someone say that another person is going to Hell. Let Jesus deal with that. Let us love others, and share Jesus' message of love.
We also should not judge another person's motives for doing an action. Once again, we can't tell what is in a person's heart. Someone may be doing great and good works, and we may think that they are great. But in their heart, their motivation may be their own exaltation. There are other people who really in their heart want to do what is right, but they fall short, and the outward appearance makes them look bad. Jesus knows the truth. He will judge.
There's one other area that is really important to me that I don't think Jesus wants us to judge. We are not to judge someone's walk with God based on outward appearance.
When I was a boy, the church I attended always judged others by externals. If a man had what they considered to be long hair, that must mean that they weren't really a Christian. That kind of stuff is ridiculous. Jesus had long hair and a beard. If He walked in some churches they would think that He was one of those people who were obviously lost.
We also should not judge people on their outward appearance in life in general. I know a lot of people see overweight people and immediately think that they are lazy or stupid. This isn't pleasing to the Lord. In my own circumstance, I have had people speak abusively to me that I don't look like I have problems with my legs so why don't I go and get one of the warehouse jobs in the area. They don't know that almost every night I am in excruciating pain in my legs from the limited amount of walking I do in a day. They have no idea what the truth is, they just want to come down on someone and run someone down. I am sick of all this kind of stuff.
Jesus fought against the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day for judging people based on externals. The religious leaders rejected the sick, the people with skin diseases, those who had unclean jobs, tax collectors and others they considered sinners including the very poor. These are the very people that Jesus accepted and loved. Always remember that no matter what someone says to you that is negative and hurtful, don't let it bring you down. Remember that you are very valuable to Jesus, and that He loves you very much.
Whenever we think about judging someone we should remember the old phrase, "There but for the grace of God go I."
There is more that I want to say about this, but I will leave it for next week. I will post another chapter of the book about Toby on Wednesday. Toby's birthday is Tuesday. I wish that we could still be together. Next week we will continue with our study in the Sermon on the Mount. May God bless you. Amen.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Toby Book
Here is the next chapter
Chapter 12
Allegri's Miserere is one of the finest examples of choral music known in the Western world. When the composer Mozart first heard the piece performed in the Vatican, he was so impressed and moved by its brilliance that when he arrived back home, he wrote out the complete composition from memory. If anyone listens to this piece, I believe that they will be impressed. It is all well and good for people to appreciate the wonders of Allegri, but when Toby showed his appreciation for Allegri, I was intrigued.
One July afternoon, when it seemed like I'd left no task undone, I sat down to relax and take in some good choral music from a recently purchased compact disc. Toby appeared quite content to listen to the selections from Bach, Handel and Palestrina. But when the selection from Allegri began to play, Toby raised his head and looked at the CD player with rapt attention. He really enjoyed the vocal beauty of this timeless work.
Immediately, when the singers began, Toby's ears pricked up and turned to capture a superior acoustical tone. As the soprano voices raised on high, Toby's head cocked slightly as if in contemplation of the words. Toby put his head back down, closed his eyes and went to sleep when the next selection from Mozart began.
I am a great fan of classical music, but I enjoy other types of music as well. I love jazz almost as much as classical music. I really enjoy the avant-garde style of jazz. Whereas Toby shared my appreciation of classical music, he did not like most jazz.
When most of the jazz I listened to came through the speakers, Toby would go into the other room, which is about the only time he wasn't where I was at. The only type of jazz Toby seemed to like was smooth jazz.
Another type of music that Toby expressed his displeasure with was contemporary Christian music. He always stayed in the room while it was on, but I'd hear him moan once in while as if he thought it was horrible. He liked hymns though. He didn't moan when they were on.
Well, no two creatures like all of the same things. I was glad that Toby liked to listen to classical music with me. You can't complain when a dog likes classical music.
One thing Toby also liked was to listen while I played the tin whistle. In addition to classical and jazz, I also enjoy Celtic music. I taught myself how to play the tin whistle so that I could play some tunes. Toby liked to sit and watch me while I played the whistle. I think that the ancient Celtic blood of the Welsh was stirred in him when he listened to the tin whistle.
The two of us had many good times listening to music. On many afternoons, we would relax in the back room or out on the patio and listen to my favorites from Barber, Rachmaninoff, Ives, Copeland and Faure. There aren't too many things better in this life than listening to great music with a grand friend.
Chapter 12
Allegri's Miserere is one of the finest examples of choral music known in the Western world. When the composer Mozart first heard the piece performed in the Vatican, he was so impressed and moved by its brilliance that when he arrived back home, he wrote out the complete composition from memory. If anyone listens to this piece, I believe that they will be impressed. It is all well and good for people to appreciate the wonders of Allegri, but when Toby showed his appreciation for Allegri, I was intrigued.
One July afternoon, when it seemed like I'd left no task undone, I sat down to relax and take in some good choral music from a recently purchased compact disc. Toby appeared quite content to listen to the selections from Bach, Handel and Palestrina. But when the selection from Allegri began to play, Toby raised his head and looked at the CD player with rapt attention. He really enjoyed the vocal beauty of this timeless work.
Immediately, when the singers began, Toby's ears pricked up and turned to capture a superior acoustical tone. As the soprano voices raised on high, Toby's head cocked slightly as if in contemplation of the words. Toby put his head back down, closed his eyes and went to sleep when the next selection from Mozart began.
I am a great fan of classical music, but I enjoy other types of music as well. I love jazz almost as much as classical music. I really enjoy the avant-garde style of jazz. Whereas Toby shared my appreciation of classical music, he did not like most jazz.
When most of the jazz I listened to came through the speakers, Toby would go into the other room, which is about the only time he wasn't where I was at. The only type of jazz Toby seemed to like was smooth jazz.
Another type of music that Toby expressed his displeasure with was contemporary Christian music. He always stayed in the room while it was on, but I'd hear him moan once in while as if he thought it was horrible. He liked hymns though. He didn't moan when they were on.
Well, no two creatures like all of the same things. I was glad that Toby liked to listen to classical music with me. You can't complain when a dog likes classical music.
One thing Toby also liked was to listen while I played the tin whistle. In addition to classical and jazz, I also enjoy Celtic music. I taught myself how to play the tin whistle so that I could play some tunes. Toby liked to sit and watch me while I played the whistle. I think that the ancient Celtic blood of the Welsh was stirred in him when he listened to the tin whistle.
The two of us had many good times listening to music. On many afternoons, we would relax in the back room or out on the patio and listen to my favorites from Barber, Rachmaninoff, Ives, Copeland and Faure. There aren't too many things better in this life than listening to great music with a grand friend.
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