On God's Time

In this post I would like to offer some hint of the way
we should conduct ourselves in the workplace. So that
we may not damage the witness we desire to be. The one
thing that never ceases to amaze me is how a believer
who is trying to please God and witness to his
co-workers can habitually show up for work late.
Employees and employers know that this will sometimes
happen, but I have noticed that some Christians make a
habit of dragging in late almost everyday. You can
rely on them always to be there, but in their own
time. I had one older brother tell me years ago that
when he was younger his boss started work at a certain
time but had him coming in 30 minutes earlier. When he
asked his boss why, he answered that he could count on
one thing about him. That was that he would be late
everyday at least 30 minutes. That put him at work on
time.

Do we seriously believe the Lord is pleased with this
attitude? How would we feel if all of our prayers and
blessings from God where always late. Our witness of
God would be like this: "My God answers prayers all
the time. Always late, but hey, better late than
never. Right?"

This attitude of serving our employer at our own convenience
usually spills over into the church. I find it easy to
make it late to services. Surely it's different than
work, I don't get paid to go to Church (Or do I?) But
lately I've seen that it's not a matter of distraction
that keeps us tardy but an attitude that we're get
there when we get there. The whole world moves around
us and "if " we make it at all, those waiting should
count themselves blessed that we did.

I cannot picture the Lord Jesus as being late for
anything. He was accused of being late for Lazarus but
they found out different. God the Father told Him to
wait on arriving in Bethany, but I'm sure He was never
late getting to the carpenter shop or the synagogue.
The whole life of Christ was spent being on God the
Father's time and not His own. If we are to walk as
Christ walked, should we also live our lives on God's
time and not our own?

And remember; "Servants, obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service,
as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing
God. And whatever you do, do it as to the Lord and not
to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive
the reward of the inheritance; for you serve (work
for) the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:22-24

This is a re-post from 2005

Our Biblical Employee-Employer Relation

"Exhort(employees)servants to be obedient unto their own
(bosses)masters,and to please them well in all things; not
answering again;not purloining,but showing all good
fidelity;that they may adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior in all things."
Titus 2:9-10 teaches us quit a few things about how we
are to treat our bosses and employers and why.
First we are to be obedient or submissive to those
over us at work. Even if we do not like what we are
told to do. We are to do it without talking back or
grumbling. It is a shame for a professing Christian to
be reprimanded or released because of being
insubordinate.
Second, We are not to steal from our employers and
to work honestly. Although this is common sense if we
think about it, how many of us has took from our
employers. Office supplies, product or clocked-out
early. Taking what wasn't given to us. Taking it
believing we earned it or really deserved to have it.
Stealing.
And third, which brings us to the whole reason that
the Lord is concerned about how we live our lives at
work. It is the Lord's plan for us to be an example of
the transforming power of the Word of God. Power to
transform an unprofitable servant named Onesimus to a
more profitable servant for his master Philemon. And
the Apostle Paul believed eventually profitable to
himself and the cause of Christ.
I would paraphase this verse as so:
"Teachers, encourage workers to be obedient to
their bosses. Make them happy they hired you. Do what
you are told without talking back or grumbling. Do not
steal from them. Give them a honest days work for a
honest day's pay. Doing this so that you will be an
example of the transforming power of the Word of God
in all that you do."
Also read Eph. 6:5-8 and the book of Phileman
(This is a repost from 2004)

Jesus' Hot Topic

A couple of weeks ago as I was preparing to share at our Church service, I was moved to focus more on the guys who attend that are in the OIC program. Since I can only attend every-other weekend due to work, I saw that these guys come and go quickly. Some I may only get one chance to share with. So I decided from now on to be sure I share as if it was the last message I was going to get to do.
I conduct the weekly Communion part of the service. We do it every Sunday in order to try helping the Church grow together. So during this portion I am allowed to share some with the group.
Anyway, I was wondering what to share. Something that if I was only allowed one more time. I decided the least spoken message of today was on Hell. And if I was really concerned about these guys I would make sure they knew the truth on the matter.
I had done a previous post on Hell intitled:"The Hell You Say."
Preachers today seem to do more preaching on self-help and subjects for the seekers. No messages that might upset or offend the potential Church going and hopefully tither. This is just a lose observation. I am sure there are a lot of Churches that are preaching the truth. They are the ones that are shrinking in size.
Enough rambling, We used to say Hell was a hot topic but not anymore although Jesus spoke of it more than He spoke on Heaven. It was His Hot Topic. Now we hear of popular preachers saying that Hell is only the absence of the presence of God. Or that in the end all will be saved.
There are a lot of passages on this subject. I did not go through all the verses and related interpretations on the subject, Soul sleep, purgatory and such. I felt the end result was the best way to go. I am using the TEV, a very simple easy to read translation. Not good for real study, but an easy read for those not accustomed to the other better translations.
"Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulpher, were the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night, for ever and ever." Revelation 20:10
Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) Whoever did not have his name written in the book of the living was thrown into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:14-15
As you can see it plainly says that Hell is hot and forever.
Now the main argument I hear is," How could a loving God send people to Hell?" and to me the most stupid statement in the world, "I could not spend eternity with a God that sends people to Hell." (second stupid question, “Why can't the government do something about the gulf disaster?")
I pondered these questions at work and realized! The problem is that people today don't think they deserve hell. People do not think they have done anything that would warrant spending eternity suffering in Hell. When I was born again, I realized, I DESERVED HELL! And from there I received forgiveness and a new life in Christ.
Until people see how lost they are, they will never see the need for Christ.
I also pondered, what sin would warrant this penalty of eternal suffering. Surly there is no sin that was committed in a person's lifetime that would take an eternity to pay for in Hell. Then it came to me, there is one sin. The sin of not excepting Jesus' free gift of deliverance.
Picture this if you will. The creator of the universe comes down to live with man. Shows mankind Himself. Submits to torture and death to bridge the relationship between Himself and mankind. Offers new life for eternity for anyone who receives it. And there are those who hear, but WILL not believe. It's not that they can not believe. The Holy Spirit gives us the faith we need. We can not believe on our own. But these choose NOT to believe. They have turned down all that the loving creator has offered. They have chosen Hell. We Christians like to quote the verse:
"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalms 37:4 KJV
This verse works both ways. We will get what we chose. A true Christians’ only desire is the Christ. The non-believers desire is to have nothing to do with Christ or not to have Christ's control over them. They will get what they desire, eternity without Christ. They problem lies in that in the end there are only two places to go, Heaven (City of God) or Hell (the bottomless pit, lake of fire etc...)
Picture this if you will, when Christians are resurrected they will be given eternal bodies. So will the non-believers. Eternal, can not be destroyed. They have chosen eternity without Christ so they have only one place to go. To the lake of fire.
if you have ever nearly drowned in water. Head goes under. No place to plant your feet. Swallowing water. Now picture: Head going under in fire. Burning but not consumed. Swallowing fire but not dying. Not place to plant your feet. That is Hell.
This is really gruesome and no wonder we do not like to speak of it. Be careful of preachers that do preach it with a smile on their faces. But if we really believe this and truly care for the lost we will tell the truth.
Search the scriptures for yourself.
Your eternity hangs on what you believe or not believe.

Poured Out

“Then He (Jesus) took the cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” He said; “for this is my blood, which seals God’s covenant, My blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins.” Matt. 26:27-28 TEV
As I was preparing the communion elements for the Sunday service, I read these passages in order to see what the Lord wanted me to share during the communion part of the service. The phrase, “My blood poured out for many,” stuck out. Later at the church building while filling the little cups I noticed that while I was pouring the grape juice from the little Pyrex measuring cup, I would run out and have to refill it.
Jesus when He offered Himself as an offering for all mankind, He gave all that He had. All that was needed.
To be a real disciple we must pour ourselves out for Him in service and devotion, not worrying that we may also give all with nothing else to give. For when we are empty in His service, He fills us up again.
In our service, communion time is a great opportunity to be refilled.

During the early church years the Romans killed many Christians because they believed they were cannibals by eating Christ’s body. Later during the middle ages, Christians were killed because they DID NOT believe they were eating Christ’s body. Some may say that the communion service means nothing to them and that it is just a part of the church service.
How dare we partake of communion and it not mean anything? Whether you believe it turns to Christ’s body or not, whether it saves or is just a symbolic ritual.
Do it in remembrance of Christ and what He did and do likewise. Allow ourselves to be poured out in Jesus name.

Stand By Me: 2 Timothy 4:18

"The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen"

2 Timothy 4:18 NAS

Paul wrote these words after noting that at his first defense, "no one stood by him". v.17 Have you ever really felt alone? And you just needed someone to defend you. Not give excuses for your sin and mistakes, but to just stand by you as you try to get free. Although Paul's only addiction was the Word of God, he states that the Lord stood by him when he needed that someone. He is saying that if you will seek the Lord's will in your life, He the Lord will stand by you.

The Lord has also promised in

Hebrews 13:5 and 6,"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you , nor will I ever forsake you ," so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper , I will not be afraid . What will man do to me ?"

Choose this day not to deal with you problems alone. And if there is no one around to help, trust in the Lord to Stand By You.

Mover of Men and Mountains

Been off a little on the blogging. I’ve been working rotating shifts and my hours of awake-time has been funny. I’ve been trying to get some work done at the Ark Christian Ministry Center here in Dothan. Our number of volunteers have dropped off and there is just to much to do around the thrift store and such.
So to get back into the groove of blogging I wanted to do a post on one of my favorite Christian Leaders, R.G. LeTourneau.

I came informed about Mr. LeTourneau through a book I found entitled, ”Mover of Men and Mountains”.
The book was thrown away next door when an elderly couple passed away and their children put all their books and unwanted items out by the road. Well seeing a garbage bag full of books only made me giddy. There I found this first edition and autographed copy of “Mover of Men and Mountains”. When I started reading it I could not put it down.
The book chronicles the life of Mr. LeTourneau and the lessons learned. Here is a quote that will explain more than I can write.
“If there is no logical explanation of my development of the digger, there is a theological one, available to all of us, including the weakest. By accepting God as your partner, no limit can be placed on what can be achieved. But God is no remote partner, satisfied if you go to church on Sunday and drop some religious money - the small change that goes to church - on the platter. He isn’t overwhelmed if you read the Bible once in a while and obey the Golden Rule. That isn’t active Christianity, but just half-hearted way of getting along. When you go into partnership with God, you’ve got a Partner closer and more active than any human partner you can ever get. He participates fully in everything you let Him do, and when you start putting on airs, and thinking you’re doing it with your own head and steam, he can set you down quicker and harder than a thunderbolt. There’s nothing dull about being in partnership with God.”
If you are not in business and are thinking this does not apply to you than you are wrong. He is speaking of “servantship” (hey, this word is not even in my spell check, but I added it) the missing factor in allot preaching today. It’s giving over the control of our lives to Christ. Governing our lives by His rules and His words with no promise of blessings and riches. Just doing it because He desires it and He knows best.
They payback, if you can call it that since we are the ones in debt, is unspeakable. Not a burdensome servant hood since our burdens are lifted and He says His burden is light. Not a dull servant hood for He will fill your life with exploits. A servant hood so amazing that knowing you can leave at anytime, you wonder, “why would you?”.
Yes, Mr. LeTourneau found the secret to the Overcoming Christian Life, not confessing and proclaiming, but living and walking. And being made a Mover of Men and Mountains.
For more info on R.G. LeTourneau see these sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._G._LeTourneau Wikipedia Bio
http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm LeTourneau Inc
http://letourneau.org/index.php LeTourneau.org
http://www.letu.edu/ LeTourneau College

Spacial Note: the autograph in my book has the verse reference Matt 6:33 onder it.
"But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Boynton Beach Martyrs

In this April 2010’s of Christianity Today there was an article about two men shot to death in Boynton Beach, Fl. for witnessing on the streets. This surprised me because I had not heard of this before. Why I was surprised I do not know. So I looked it up and here is what I found.
Back in January 2010 two Christian men were witnessing on the streets and stopped to witness to one young man, the young man received a cell phone call and after answering it shot the two men while they were walking away.
There are rumors that the incident was gang related, but according to West Palm Beach News the killer reported to the police that he shot them because they were preaching to him.
Stephen Ocean (second Pic) and Tite Sufra (first Pic) were two young Christians with some reported spotted backgrounds before coming to Christ. A lot has been made of their past and how it may have ended in the cause of their deaths. We being “born again” as new creations like the Bible says, our past is behind us but I can tell you from experience the past has a way of catching up. Until the world we live in comes under the rule of Christ, it will always be so. We can not sow weeds and pray for a crop failure.
But I did not want to get into this or the fact that if two Muslims were shot CNN (Fox did have a small spot buried) and all the networks would be all over it. I wanted to share with you that we need to keep these people in our prayers. You may not like the street corner preacher on his bull horn and you may think he is wasting his time and giving all “good” Christians a bad name. I’ve done street ministering in the 80’s and 90’s and I’ll tell you there will be a special place in Heaven for them all. If you know of a group that is involved in this ministry, see what you and your Church can do to help. Get on their email mailing list. Take them some boxes of tracts (with your church address on them) Take them some cold water or heck just yell out your car window that you are praying for them. Do something that you feel the Lord would do instead of criticize.
I hope to go back to the streets again. I may be posting more on this and posting updates on a local ministry called “Street Lights” to bless them. Watch for “Street Lights Updates”.
But let’s remember the two young men that gave their lives.

Is Anyone Called to Witness on the Streets? by Larry Rosenbaum

In my last message, I gave statistics that have shown, in a dramatic way, the spiritual decline that has taken place in the U.S., especially among youth who claim to be “born again” Christians. The majority of these youth, while claiming to be certain of going to Heaven because of a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, do not believe that Jesus lived a sinless life on this earth or that it is impossible to get to Heaven by good works. According to pollster George Barna, while 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview, less than ½ of 1% of Americans aged 18-23 have a biblical worldview.
This lack of a strong Biblical foundation in many Christians reflects itself in their attitudes towards evangelism. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Christian youth spend millions of dollars on “mission trips” that involve work projects and food distribution, but no mention of God’s plan of salvation. In the U.S., countless Christian youth are involved in giving out food to the homeless and similar “ministries” that don’t involve talking about Jesus. Many Christians, it seems, believe that people will be saved if we pray for them and live a good life in front of them. They think there is no need to share the gospel with unbelievers.
As our nation becomes increasingly hostile towards Christianity, Christians are looking for new methods of “evangelism” that will avoid any possibility of being rejected or persecuted. Perhaps, they think, if Jesus and the apostles had used our new “evangelism methods,” they would never have been persecuted. I often hear from Christians that not everyone is called to witness on the streets. Sometimes, however, I wonder if anyone is called or, rather, if anyone is responding to God’s call. I’m exaggerating, of course. There is a small group of Christians who faithfully witness with us. And there are other Christians witnessing throughout the country. But the laborers are indeed few, and they seem to get fewer each year.
Last April, in an attempt to recruit Christian youth to work with our ministry, I went on Facebook. Almost every day, I have been adding young Christians from Bible colleges and other Christian groups to be my “friend.” I now have over 7000 friends, most of whom are under 30. Occasionally, I let them know about our ministry house. Less than 10 have expressed interest, and, so far, none has moved in. I certainly did not expect all 7000 Christians to respond to my appeal. All we need are three or four Christian men to live in our house. But, so far, we have not found one. As far as I know, there is no other house like the one we have, where Christians can live with others who are interested in doing street evangelism. Most Christians who want to witness on the streets find it hard to get other Christians to join them. A few people may come one week; nobody the next week.
Eventually, street witnessing teams tend to die because they lack consistent involvement from Christians. By having a core group of Christians who are committed to witnessing on the streets regularly, and who hold one another accountable to this commitment, we have been able to maintain a regular street outreach for over 30 years in San Francisco. One reason that it is difficult to get Christians to do street evangelism is the hardness of many people’s hearts towards the gospel. If I could guarantee a Christian that every time he witnessed at least one person would be genuinely saved, we would have no lack of workers. There are witnessing “methods” that can get a lot of people to “say sinner’s prayers.” Unfortunately, when we try to follow-up on these people, we find that few who recite these prayers are truly converted. It is far more satisfying to us to witness to a person who really wants to get saved, than to someone who is hardened to the gospel message.
But are we witnessing to make ourselves happy or to obey God and reach the lost? It is hard for us to walk by faith and trust God to use our witness to work in people’s hearts. We want to see results, and we can’t see what God is doing in someone’s heart. I haven’t given up on Facebook. It is a great way to let thousands of Christian youth know about our ministry and encourage them to witness for Jesus. In the past, I would call churches and Bible colleges, and try to set up meetings to share about evangelism and about our ministry. Almost all would say no. A few times, I have had an opportunity to speak to Christians at a Bible college chapel. The Christians who attended, it seems, soon forgot about us. We saw no response from any of these meetings. With Facebook, I can invite almost every Christian in a Bible college to be my friend, and continue to share with them about our ministry, and about evangelism. But it seems that the task of finding a few Christian youth to join our ministry will be harder than I originally thought.
Please pray for us that God will give us guidance in this matter, and meet our need.
Larry Rosenbaum

Become Untangled

"Thou therefore suffer affliction as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:3 & 4 Geneva Bible 1599

My wife and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. My daughter gave me a copy of Richard Wheeler's Lee's Terrible Swift Sword. I devoured it immensely and greatly enjoyed it. The book chronicles the first victories of the Confederacy and the factors behind them. The blunt of it was that Lee's army was able to out maneuver the Union army because they did not have as many supply wagons to keep up with like the Union did. Johnson and Burnside were very concerned that their troops were comfortable and content. Lee knew that victories made troops comfortable, not food, clothes, shoes, etc… Lee would have supplied his troops better if he could have, but he wasn't going to let the lack of it slow his army down. It wasn't until northern leaders who knew what it took to win came into control, that the South's victories became few and far apart.
When I read this, I thought of the verses above that show that we are a Spiritual Army. And these things we must know:

1. Flesh beings are not our enemies but the fouls in the spirit world.
2. We are chosen and our only pleasure will be in our calling.
3. You will know a good soldier because he will only want to please his Commander.
4. The only way to victory is to focus on our mission and do not become entangled with worldly pursuits.

These are the characteristics of a good soldier of Christ and you may feel that you have no calling in this area of Spiritual life.
Rest assured that a soldier knows when he has been chosen. Most Christian don't see that most of their lives is "Basic Training" and the more we buck the training and fail to enter into our calling, the more dissatisfied we become.
So you can just go abut your life and adjust or join in the Battle for the minds (soul) and spirit of those under attack.

Spiritual Warfare Ref: Eph. 6:14 -17; 1 Thess. 5:8; 1 John 5:4 -5; Romans 16:20;
Gal. 5:24